bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nursing Informatics Implications from a Study of Unmet Nursing Care Needs
Authors: Lucero Robert
Published: February 2025

A number of issues related to data collection and analysis have impeded researchers from documenting a process of nursing care-outcome link. While health services research (HSR) continues to develop and test novel research methods to better understand the quality paradigm there has been steady progress in informatics research to represent, acquire, and store nursing data. The use of HSR methods may provide empirical and theoretical support for nursing informatics research. Moreover, large clinical datasets that include standardized nursing data provide an important basis for HSR.
Educational Effect of Nursing Process Exercises in Psychiatric Nursing, Using the Computer Assisted System for Learning
Authors: Kobayashi Sumiko  , Hayashi Kazue  , Okumora Junko  , Sikiura Misako  , Isomoto Yukuo
Published: February 2025

In the nursing process patients are understood holistically, based on a knowledge system unique to nursing, and patient problems are resolved systematically and logically. However, because problems in the patient are assumed, the focus in psychiatric nursing tends to shift toward the impaired aspect or problem rather than the healthy aspects that we want to focus on. Therefore, in 2006, with the aim of resolving this issue, we introduced the Computer Assisted System for Nursing Process Learning (CASYSNUPL), which was developed at our university, into the nursing process education for psychiatric nursing.
How do Patients Evaluate Their Education? – a Comparison of Two Education Methods
Authors: Heikkinen Katja  , Salanterä Sanna  , Leino-Kilpi Helena
Published: February 2025

A Randomized controlled trial was used to compare the ambulatory orthopaedic surgery patients' evaluations of Internet-based education (experiment) and face to face education with a nurse (control). Patients in the control group evaluated their education to meet their needs better than patients in the experiment group. Both groups evaluated the education quite positively.
Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice
Authors: Bickford Carol J.
Published: February 2025

The American Nurses Association published the third iteration of its nursing informatics scope and standards of practice in 2008. This work reflects the significant evolution of the specialty from the original scope of practice statement published in 1994 and the first nursing informatics standards of practice in 1995. Although the definition of nursing informatics remains essentially unchanged from that presented in 2001, the inclusion of “wisdom” reflects today's emerging mandate for evidence-based practice and decision support resources for the knowledge worker.
Nurse Informaticians in Finland – Who Are They and What Are They Doing?
Authors: Saranto Kaija  , Junttila Kristiina  , Ahonen Outi  , Ensio Anneli  , Heikkilä Rauha  , Lehtomäki Susanna  , Liljamo Pia
Published: February 2025

The role of a nurse informatician is not yet common in health care settings in Finland although electronic patient records have been in use since 1980's. A web-based survey instrument was compiled based on the surveys conducted by HIMSS in spring 2009. The aim was to find out what kind of positions nurses have in nursing informatics in the Finnish health care sector. Based on the results the role of nurse informaticians varied between hospitals and health centres based on organization size and affiliation weather on IT-department or clinical setting. In many organizations nurses are also working quite isolated due to scarce number of nurses in the field of informatics
Who Attended the NI Training Programs in Taiwan?
Authors: Lin Che-Ju  , Chang Polun
Published: February 2025

We promoted the Nursing Informatics since 2002 and started to hold a variety of NI training programs and workshops since 2003. In the period of 2003-2006 more than 310 participants have attended 24 training programs. The majority of attendants were from clinical settings, especially medical centers, and from northern Taiwan in which healthcare resources are more sufficient. We observed the needs in clinical settings and imbalanced distribution of HIS resources.
Application of Grid technology for automated detection of sleep disordered breathing
Authors: Canisius Sebastian  , Penzel Thomas  , Kesper Karl  , Krefting Dagmar
Published: February 2025

Sleep related breathing disorders (SRBD) represent a major disease in sleep medicine. For diagnosis and therapy control, extensive overnight investigations are required, encompassing long-term measurement of multiple biosignals in specialized sleep disorders centers. To date, evaluation of the examination is realized by comprehensive visual inspection of the data by an expert. Therefore, many approaches have been made to facilitate diagnosis, among them automated analysis of the ECG signal. In this article, we present a grid based infrastructure for computer aided diagnosis of SRBD, accessible for distributed users. As the analysis algorithms itself are still in a validation phase, and the Grid infrastructure is not approved for clinical applications, the application is currently used for research purposes only. But as important aspects of data-security, accessibility from protected environments, usability and fault-tolerance are already covered, the implementation is a solid base for further enhancement of the platform and paves the way for a sustainable service grid for sleep medicine.
A Collaborative Environment Allowing Clinical Investigations on Integrated Biomedical Databases
Authors: Assel Matthias  , van de Vijver David  , Libin Pieter  , Theys Kristof  , Harezlak Daniel  , Ó Nualláin Breanndán  , Nowakowski Piotr  , Bubak Marian  , Vandamme Anne-Mieke  , Imbrechts Stijn  , Sangeda Raphael  , Jiang Tao  , Frentz Dineke  , Sloot Peter
Published: February 2025

In order to perform clinical investigations on integrated biomedical data sets and to predict virological and epidemiological outcome, medical experts require an IT-based collaborative environment that provides them a user-friendly space for building and executing their complex studies and workflows on largely available and high-quality data repositories. In this paper, the authors introduce such a novel collaborative working environment a so-called virtual laboratory for clinicians and medical researchers, which allows users to interactively access and browse several biomedical research databases and re-use relevant data sets within own designed experiments. Firstly, technical details on the integration of relevant data resources into the virtual laboratory infrastructure and specifically developed user interfaces are briefly explained. The second part describes research possibilities for medical scientists including potential application fields and benefits as using the virtual laboratory functionalities for a particular exemplary study.
Metadata Extraction using Text Mining
Authors: Seth Shivani  , Rüping Stefan  , Wrobel Stefan
Published: February 2025

Grid technologies have proven to be very successful in the area of eScience, and healthcare in particular, because they allow to easily combine proven solutions for data querying, integration, and analysis into a secure, scalable framework. In order to integrate the services that implement these solutions into a given Grid architecture, some metadata is required, for example information about the low-level access to these services, security information, and some documentation for the user. In this paper, we investigate how relevant metadata can be extracted from a semi-structured textual documentation of the algorithm that is underlying the service, by the use of text mining methods. In particular, we investigate the semi-automatic conversion of functions of the statistical environment R into Grid services as implemented by the GridR tool by the generation of appropriate metadata.
An Overview of LSA-Based Systems for Supporting Learning and Teaching
Authors: Dessus Philippe
Published: February 2025

We present an overview of LSA-based systems that have been used in instructional settings. Current research on this subject does not take into account the cognitive aspects of learning and teaching, and describes the systems at a technical level. We propose a cognitive-based classification of these systems that can lead to the design of novel LSA-based applications.
A Recommender System for Collaborative Knowledge
Authors: Chen Weiqin  , Persen Ricard
Published: February 2025

To provide recommendations of learning objects and adaptive learning support has been one of the main areas within the AIED community. Learner-generated material could potentially be valuable as learning resources. How to identify relevant learner-generated resources and provide just-in-time recommendations to the learner is a challenging task. This paper presents a recommender system that can recommend collaborative knowledge constructed and accumulated by previous learners.
Detecting the Learning Value of Items In a Randomized Problem Set
Authors: Pardos Zachary A.  , Heffernan Neil T.
Published: February 2025

Researchers that make tutoring systems would like to know which pieces of educational content are most effective at promoting learning among their students. Randomized controlled experiments are often used to determine which content produces more learning in an ITS. While these experiments are powerful they are often very costly to setup and run. The majority of data collected in many ITS systems consist of answers to a finite set of questions of a given skill often presented in a random sequence. We propose a Bayesian method to detect which questions produce the most learning in this random sequence of data. We confine our analysis to random sequences with four questions. A student simulation study was run to investigate the validity of the method and boundaries on what learning probability differences could be reliably detected with various numbers of users. Finally, real tutor data from random sequence problem sets was analyzed. Results of the simulation data analysis showed that the method reported high reliability in its choice of the best learning question in 89 of the 160 simulation experiments with seven experiments where an incorrect conclusion was reported as reliable (p < 0.05). In the analysis of real student data, the method returned statistically reliable choices of best question in three out of seven problem sets.
Toward Scenario Adaptation for Learning
Authors: Niehaus James  , Riedl Mark
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a methodology for automatically customizing a scenario to suit a learner's abilities, needs, or goals. Training scenarios are often utilized to give learners hands-on experience with real-life problem solving tasks. The customization of scenarios has the potential to improve learning gains within these domains. We present initial steps toward an intelligent technology called a Scenario Adaptor that employs a partial order planning formalism to reason about learning objectives and causality, and we discuss how the Scenario Adaptor may add or delete learning objectives from a scenario.
Animal Companion Approach to Fostering Students' Effort-Making Behaviors
Authors: Chen Zhi-Hong  , Liao Calvin C.Y.  , Chien Tzu-Chao  , Chan Tak-Wai
Published: February 2025

The effort-making behavior is significant for learning, since it involves beliefs students hold within. In this paper, an animal companion approach is proposed to foster students' such learning behaviors through nurturing virtual pets, in which learning tasks are regarded as “work” and the value of effort is cultivated. In addition, inspecting open learner models is also encouraged by interacting with animal companions, which might be helpful to students' self-awareness for their efforts made.
Educational Narrative-Based Environment to Teach Ethics
Authors: Hodhod Rania
Published: February 2025

This paper presents AEINS, an educational system to teach ethics using the Socratic Method pedagogy [1]. AEINS is based on an architecture that marriages interactive narrative and intelligent tutoring. The idea is centered around involving students in different moral dilemmas (teaching moments). AEINS provides individualized story-paths and a personalized learning process. AEINS early evaluation shows promising results.
Thermal propagation around heat supply pipes – Determining thermal conductivity of soil specimens
Authors: Henoegl O.  , Leonhardt R.  , Riedler E.  , Honarmand H.
Published: February 2025

The Institute for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering at the Graz University of Technology is investigating thermal soil properties within a temperature range concerning e.g. the efficiency of remote heat supply pipes. Until now heat loss from the pipe is minimized by enlarging the polyurethane (PU) - insulation thickness around the pipe. An innovative method to minimize it could be the usage of thermally insulating bedding material. Conventional bedding sands cover all necessary soil mechanical properties, but have a high thermal conductivity of λ =1,5 - 1,7 W/(m K). A newly found bedding material “Thermosand” shows excellent thermal insulating properties of only λ=0,18 W/(m K) (dry) up to 0,88 W/(m K) (wet). To investigate the influence of varying moisture content on thermal conductivity a large scale model test was established, which provides a basis for developing numerical models regarding unsaturated soil mechanics with heat propagation, including the drying out of the soil during heat input. To interpret all measurements correctly, the thermal conductivity λ of the bedding materials is determined at different dry densities and water contents. The paper introduces a very sophisticated procedure for measuring the thermal conductivity λ with a new half space linear probe method. These tests were carried out in cooperation with the Chair of Geophysics, University of Leoben, Austria. With this system one can easily carry out repeated measurements under identical conditions and enlarge the accurateness and reliability of the results.
Appareillage pour diagraphie de perméabilité
Authors: Reiffsteck Ph.  , Dorbani B.  , Khay M.  , Haza-Rozier E.
Published: February 2025

Le Perméafor est un outil d'analyse en place des sols développé au début des années 80. Cet outil de sondage rapide donne une estimation de la perméabilité des couches traversées. Il permet l'élaboration de diagraphies continues de perméabilité dont l'analyse qualitative aboutit à un premier diagnostic de la structure des digues (repérages de niveaux de fuite essentiellement). Sa cadence d'auscultation est de l'ordre de 40 mètres linéaires par jour, ce qui en fait un appareil d'auscultation à « grand rendement », eu égard aux essais d'eau (type Lefranc) réalisés classiquement, qu'il complète avantageusement. La diagraphie de perméabilité obtenue est complétée par une courbe de fonçage (durée d'enfoncement pour 20cm) afin de juger qualitativement de la résistance à l'enfoncement du sol.
Analysis of P-Y curves for single piles from the cone penetration test
Authors: Bouafia A.
Published: February 2025

Design methods based on the load-transfer P-Y curves are currently considered as reliable approaches for the analysis of load-deflection behavior of pile foundations, taking into consideration the non homogeneity of soil properties as well as of the material non linearity in lateral pile/soil interaction.
Reliability of mooring dolphin structures: an insight into partial safety factors
Authors: el-Bordany R.  , el-Meligy M.  , Haldar A.
Published: February 2025

The steel-pile-soil-system as a mooring dolphin structure is an important element of marine structures. However, the reliability of this system is very difficult to predict due to inherent uncertainties in the marine environment. The objective of this paper is twofold; (i) to investigate the influences of several sources of uncertainties on different limit states of a steel-pile-soil mooring dolphin under axial and lateral loading conditions and (ii) to suggest partial safety factors required for the codified design. In doing so, the response surface method, RSM is used in reliability analysis. A grid of sampling response points is obtained from a realistic built up NLFEM. Then, this grid is used to formulate a response function equivalent to the implicit limit state function With the help of realistic examples, the most important random variables and limit state are identified. For routine design, partial safety factors are proposed.
Piles under cyclic loading: study of the friction fatigue and its importance in piles behavior
Authors: D'Aguiar S.C.  , Lopez-Caballero F.  , Modaressi-Farahmand-Razavi A.  , Santos J.A.
Published: February 2025

The main point of this paper is to model the behavior of piles under cyclic loading, aiming with this to identify the key features and load transfer mechanisms controlling friction fatigue. The numerical modeling makes use of an advanced elastoplastic, state dependent constitutive model, the ECP model, also known as Hujeux's model. Therefore, the cyclic loading simulations allowed identifying three different mechanisms, depending on the amplitude of the first load cycle, that control the level of friction degradation. Furthermore, the analysis also offers useful insights regarding the modification of the pile static resistance once this one has been cyclically loaded. All analyzes are carried out on Toyoura sand.
Behavior and mechanics of micropiles in rock
Authors: Holman Terence P.
Published: February 2025

This paper presents advanced analyses of two instrumented axial compression load tests on micropiles founded in rock; one in Pre-Cambrian mica schist and one in Triassic mudstone. The design loads on these test micropiles were 2002 kN and 623 kN, respectively. Vibrating wire strain gauges were situated along the piles' lengths and monitored continuously during the load tests. Trends of measured strain versus pile top load indicated strain stiffening behavior in the cased portion of the pile and softening in the rock socket with increasing load. The load distribution in the rock sockets was found to be nonlinear and concentrated in the upper 1/4 to 1/2 of the length even at the maximum test load. The mobilized bond shear stresses are similar to published values for similar geologic materials and environments.
Reduction of DDC-induced deflections of sheet piles by rectangular open trenches
Authors: Tan Y.  , Lu Y.  , Peng F.L.
Published: February 2025

This paper investigates the effectiveness of shallow rectangular open trenches in reducing the deflections of sheet pile walls during deep dynamic compaction (DDC), by isolating the energy waves propagating to the sheet pile walls. This investigation was achieved by a series of comprehensive numerical analyses using a two-dimensional finite element (FE) method. Rectangular open trenches with different dimensions were investigated, and the dimensional effects on reducing wall deflections were analyzed and discussed. The numerical analysis results indicated that excavating an open trench in front of the sheet pile walls is an effective measure to reduce wall deflections caused by DDC. For the investigated trenches, increasing the depth or the width of the trenches can efficiently improve their effects on reducing wall deflections. Finally, some charts that depict the dimensional effects of open trenches on reducing wall deflections due to DDC were established.
The mechanisms of debris flow: a preliminary study
Authors: Zhou G.D.  , Law R.P.H.  , Ng C.W.W.
Published: February 2025

Due to its complexity, the fundamental mechanism of debris flow is still not fully understood. In this study, debris flow mobility and reverse segregation were investigated experimentally. A 1.4 m long flume inclining at an angle of 45° to the horizontal and a 4.4 m long flume were used to study mobility and reverse segregation, respectively. Leighton Buzzard sands (fractions C & E) (uniform sands) and completely decomposed granite (CDG, a non-uniform sandy soil) prepared at different water contents were used to simulate different debris flows in the experiments. With the use of a high-speed camera, particle trajectories in dry granular flows were captured. The mechanism of reverse segregation during the deposition process was investigated.
Soil nailing in clay for dike reinforcement
Authors: Lengkeek H.J.  , Bruijn E.
Published: February 2025

Within the framework of the project Innovations on Stability Improvement enabling Dike Elevations (INSIDE) a new concept ‘dike soil nailing’ is developed, which stands for reinforcing river dikes (levees) by soil nailing. This way dike reinforcement can be achieved without widening the dike. In the present paper a feasibility study for the application of soil nailing in a dike reinforcement project along the Dutch river Lek is presented. Soil nailing design calculations are performed using the calculation models Talren and Plaxis 2D. Verification analysis of the design is carried out using Plaxis 3D Foundation modelling the soil nails as embedded piles. The design & verification analyses lead to interesting matches as well as disagreements between the different calculation models presenting sufficient challenges for further research and development. For the dike reinforcement project in Bergambacht-Schoonhoven the application of dike soil nailing is indeed a feasible and cost-effective reinforcement technique.
Diagnosing distresses of embankment dams using Bayesian network based on 150 incidents
Authors: Xu Yao  , Zhang Limin  , Zhang Jianhong
Published: February 2025

In recent years, dam safety draws increasing attention from the public. Diagnosis of dam distresses and corresponding causes is essential to ensure the safety of dams. To properly describe causes of dam distresses, it is necessary to study characteristics of the dams which have experienced certain incidents and shown signs of distress. In this work, a total of 150 incidents associated with 110 embankment dams in China are compiled into a database, including details of the dams, the distresses, and the causes. Based on the database, the distress characteristics of embankment dams are studied using the technique of Bayesian networks, which can tackle not only the multiplicity of dam distresses and causes but also the complex interrelations among the distresses and causes. The common patterns and causes of dam distresses are identified. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to find the most important factors contributing to the distresses of a dam. Such sensitivity analysis provides a solid basis for determining the priority of potential remedial measures. In the future, new dam incidents can be input into the Bayesian network for updating the diagnosing results.
Analysis of movements of underground structures from horizontal load
Authors: Dimov Leonid A.  , Bogushevskaya Elena M.
Published: February 2025

By what formulas should movements of underground structures be analyzed if a structure transfers load to the foundation horizontally? How do free surface of soil and actual rupture of aperture of foundation continuity influence on the value of horizontal movement? In what way and by what devices is it possible to determine the modulus of horizontal soil deformation? Does deformation anisotropy of naturally stacked soils take place in orthogonal directions or not? Brief answers on these questions are provided in this article.
Design of a deep tunnel in a layer of a normally consolidated clay
Authors: Jovičić V.  , Logar J.
Published: February 2025

The paper describes the procedure which was used to design a 400 m deep section of the tunnel in weak normally consolidated clays. A short description of geological conditions typical for a particular location is followed by the explanation of the geotechnical model used, including the design material parameters. The geotechnical model was based on the behaviour of normally consolidated clays when subjected to unloading, in this case caused by the excavation of the tunnel. The role of the rise of the resulting negative excess pore pressures on strength and stiffness of clays is discussed for undrained, consolidation and fully drained conditions. The full sequence of the construction of a 5 m diameter tunnel was modelled using both the 3D and 2D finite element analyses. The influence of the suction limit posed for the clays on the results of the finite elements analyses are discussed in some detail. Finally, the results of the analyses are presented and the conclusions are discussed with an emphasis to their relevance to the final design solution.
Evaluation of mechanical properties of jet-grouting columns using different test methods
Authors: Correia A. Gomes  , Valente T.  , Tinoco J.  , Falcão J.  , Barata J.  , Cebola D.  , Coelho S.
Published: February 2025

This paper evaluates the mechanical properties of jet-grouting columns used for soil improvement. This technique was used to create a slab for the excavation of the one subway station in Barcelona, Spain. Before field treatment of the very soft clayey soil, a field trial was built with some jet-grouting columns in order to define the correct grouting parameters and to determine the mechanical properties of the soil-cement mixture by collecting some samples from the columns. These samples were obtained with two different techniques: (1) as core samples, the traditional method in which the samples are collected in situ at a certain age and then tested in the laboratory; and (2) as fresh jet material, a new technique developed by the contractor for collecting the material in a fresh state, right after the grouting application, and then curing the sample in a controlled laboratory environment. At the same time, a laboratory-based formulation study of soil-cement was developed using samples of the clayey soil and the same kind of cement employed in the field trial. Afterwards, the mechanical properties, strength and modulus of the soil-cement mixture made in laboratory were compared with those of the field samples, for the same of specimen ages. An attempt was made to establish correlations between the mechanical properties obtained by the different test methods, for the different types of soil-cement mixtures.
SmartSoils, Adaptation of soil properties on demand
Authors: Molendijk W.O.  , van der Zon W.H.  , van Meurs G.A.M.
Published: February 2025

In 2003Deltares (previously GeoDelft) launched the concept of SmartSoils®. The potential of enhancement and control of various natural geological processes in soils by microbiological means was discovered essentially by realizing what microbiological research and development has achieved in agriculture, nutrition, medicine and electronics. Where natural calcareous sandstones need thousands of years for their diagenesis, SmartSoils techniques like BioGrout applied on loose sand, only take days to convert it into sandstone with an unconfined compressive strength of up to 35 MPa. Consequently, the basis was laid for a paradigm shift in geo-engineering. In civil engineering, ordering the desired properties of concrete and steel are common practice for decades. With SmartSoils techniques, the mechanical and hydrological soil properties can now also be adapted in-situ to meet engineering requirements. BioGrout adapts the strength and stiffness of sand without reducing its permeability significantly. Therefore, it opens new perspectives for the reduction of (soil) liquefaction and the upgrading of existing foundations. BioSealing, another SmartSoils technique, can stop groundwater leakage in various civil engineering constructions or under natural circumstances like saline water seepage in a polder. Sealing is realized without the need to know the exact location of the actual leak in advance. BioPeat, as a last example, diminishes oxidation of peat and improves its strength and therefore it may enable shallow underground constructions. Research in the field of SmartSoils has lead to several spin offs; like research for application in the mining industry, architecture and many more fields.
The effect of different binders on freeze durability of stabilized soil
Authors: Lindh Per  , Rydén Nils
Published: February 2025

This paper examine a test method to evaluate the durability of stabilised soils with respect to freeze and thaw properties. The paper also shows a methodology to evaluate the effects of different binders and their possible interactions. Further the paper indicates a need for a standardized test methodology for stabilised soils regarding frost resistance.
Small strain stiffness of uniform granular materials based on dynamic and static measurements
Authors: Wicaksono R.I.  , Kuwano R.
Published: February 2025

A triaxial test apparatus combined with two independent wave measurement methods, i.e. Trigger Accelerometer (TA) and Bender Element (BE), was employed. Specimens of Toyoura sand, Hime gravel, crushed glass, and glass beads were prepared under dry and saturated conditions. Small strain cyclic loading and wave measurements were performed at several designated stress states of isotropic and anisotropic conditions.
Rate-dependent behaviour of clay during cyclic 1D compression
Authors: Kawabe S.  , Kongkitkul W.  , Hirakawa D.  , Tatsuoka F.
Published: February 2025

Drained constant-rate-of-strain one-dimensional compression tests at different strain rates with and without large unload/reload cycles and many sustained loading (SL) stages, as well as standard consolidation tests, were performed on reconstituted and undisturbed soft clays. Significantly rate-dependent stress-strain behaviour of Isotach type, not due to delayed dissipation of excessive pore water pressure but due to the viscous properties of clay, was observed. The creep axial strain rate at SL stages while otherwise the effective axial stress σ′awas increasing at positive axial strain rateswas always positive. The creep axial strain rate at SL stages while otherwise σ′awas decreasing was basically negative, whereas it was positive immediately after load reversal from primary loading. Irrespective of the signs of currentand, primary loading and reloading are defined by0$]]>, while unloading by. These trends of behaviour are simulated by the non-linear three-component elasto-viscoplastic model.
The non-uniqueness of the end-of-primary (EOP) void ratio-effective stress relationship
Authors: Degago S.A.  , Grimstad G.  , Jostad H.P.  , Nordal S.
Published: February 2025

How to extrapolate creep behaviour of soft clays from a thin laboratory specimen to a thick in-situ soil layer is one of the key research topics in understanding the fundamentals of clay compressibility. Investigation of whether the end-of-primary (EOP) void ratio-effective stress relationship is unique or not is a central part of this research. There have been several discussions and active debates for and against the uniqueness concept. However, most of the arguments against the uniqueness concept have mainly been based on discussing theoretical assumptions rather than explaining experimental observations. In this paper, selected experimental results that seemed to illustrate the uniqueness concept are thoroughly studied. These measurements are re-evaluated and the tests are analyzed numerically. This work shows that the end-of primary void ratio (strain)-effective stress relationship is not unique. The study also supports the view that soil compressibility is well described by the Isotaches concept.
Management of geotechnical data and processes
Authors: Toll D.G.
Published: February 2025

This General Report reviews the topic of Management of Geotechnical Data and Processes based on the papers submitted to the 17th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Alexandria, Egypt. The contributors agree thatdata standards are needed to allow interchangeability and sharing of geotechnical data. Hence, developments in data representation using XML are outlined that will allow the World Wide Web to become an international repository for geo-engineering information. XML provides the flexibility needed for representing heterogeneous data obtained from field monitoring. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) provide great opportunities for geotechnical engineers, particularly for the storage of large amounts of borehole data. The need for handling uncertainty and managing risk in geotechnical engineering is highlighted. Risk sharing should ensure that each risk is assumed by the party best able to control it, given their technical competence and contractual commitments. Risk mitigation measures need to be put in place when the risk level is high. Event Tree Analysis provides a useful way of assessing risk levels, and can incorporate expertise from different disciplines. Greater amounts of site investigation data will reduce the probability of under-or over-design of geotechnical structures, although there may be an optimum point beyond which further data will provide limitedimprovement. The degree of uncertainty in geotechnical engineering is evident from abenchmarking exercise for seismic site response analysis that showed variations of up to 4100% between participating teams, making assessments from the same input datasets. Specific examples and case studies are described in the application areas of Slopes & Landslides and Seismic HazardAssessment.
Administrative Report: 2005 – 2009
Authors: Honjo Yusuke  , Zhang Limin
Published: February 2025

This report reviews the activities of ISSMGE's Technical Committee TC23 for the period 2005 – 2009. It has been prepared at the request of the Secretary General for distribution at the time of the ISSMGE International Conference in Alexandria. The report concludes that the terms of reference set by the TC have been largely met. It is hoped that the documents produced by the TC on workshops and conferences will be valuable references for the ISSMGE members who have interests in this area.
Thermo-mechanical constitutive modeling of overconsolidated saturated clays
Authors: Hamidi A.  , Khazaei C.
Published: February 2025

Using modified Cam-clay model and implementing a new approach to achieve deformation formulas, a thermo-mechanical model for saturated clays is presented in this paper. Proposed model does not include the required formulation for simulating changes in volume and pore pressure of soil in isotropic loading conditions which means that the model only predicts soil's response against deviatoric loading at fixed temperatures up to 100°C in conventional triaxial test condition. Results of modeling have been compared with some previous experimental data and validity of formulations is proved.
The influence of erosion processes on the stability of permanent flood protection systems
Authors: Boley C.  , Lenz S.
Published: February 2025

The erosion in layered soil, especially due to horizontal flow under consideration of the stress level has been researched by the Institute for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich for several years. Up to now, two model test stands have been developed. The first one simulates the conditions within dams and dykes where the seepage water can cause subsurface erosion failure. This kind of failure occurs for instance within layered soils as well as at the dam base. The second model test stand takes into account axis-symmetric conditions, which are important for soil improvement methods such as gravel columns. Tests for horizontal hydraulic conditions with parameters varying such as the material for cohesive soil, the grain size distribution of the filter material, the stress state and others, have been performed. To start the inner erosion, which in context of dam or dyke stability is also known as piping, the water flow velocity has to reach a critical value, so that first the process of suffusion will start, which finally turns into erosion. This whole process produces the collapse of the dam. A calculation method to determine the critical hydraulic gradient has been set up on the base of all tests performed at the geotechnical laboratory of the Institute for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. The applications of these new aspects on hydraulic contact erosion within flood protection engineering are highlighted.
Behavior of skirted strip footing under eccentric load
Authors: Saleh N.M.  , Elleboudy A.M.  , Elsaied A.E.
Published: February 2025

Construction of vertical skirt at the base of the footing, to confine the underlying soil and generate a soil resistance on skirt side that helps the footing to resist sliding, is one of the recognized bearing capacity improvement techniques. In this research, laboratory investigation combined with numerical analysis was performed to study the behavior of one sided skirted strip footing subjected to eccentric load. A range of load eccentricities and skirt lengths were investigated. Bearing capacity values for all cases were compared to come up with the favorable design conditions.
Hydraulic conductivity of a dense prehydrated GCL subjected to partial desiccation
Authors: Mazzieri F.  , Pasqualini E.  , Di Emidio G.  , Van Impe W.F.
Published: February 2025

A dense prehydrated GCL (DPH) was subjected to partial but increasingly severe drying cycles alternated with permeation with a calcium solution. The permeability remained low for desiccation water contents higher than the manufacturing (prehydration) water content. Increasingly long permeation was however necessary to recover low permeability. The permeability increased irreversibly for desiccation water content lower than that of prehydration. Test results indicate the permeability of DPH GCLs subjected to dry/wet cycles coupled with cation exchange strongly depends on the extent of desiccation.
Load Bearing Behaviour of Geotextile Containers Using Velcro Strips
Authors: Lüking J.  , Kempfert H.-G.
Published: February 2025

Geotextile containers are made of soil as a filling material and a casing of woven or non woven geotextile, which exercises the function of a packaging. The field of use is an alternative to the hard construction methods of concrete or stones in the coastal construction and hydraulic engineering. Advantages of the geotextile containers are the high cost efficiency and the protection of natural resources, because the filling material is available already on site, without a need for long routes of transport. Furthermore, they integrate better in the landscape and are easy to remove. Due to the extremely smooth surface of the geotextile packaging, the containers have only a low internal stability of the structure and the construction height is limited. With the help of velcro strips fastened on the surface of the geotextile containers, the friction between the layers of geotextile containers can be improved substantially. Due to the increase of the internal stability of the structure there are new applications possible, for example using the geotextile containers as a supporting structure for slope stability. The efficiencies of the velcro strips were examined using a shear box apparatus under different boundary conditions (arrangement of the velcro strips, pollutions of the surface, humidity, load steps). The tests show a clear increase of load bearing behaviour. The effectiveness of the faster depends mainly on the type of velcro strips and on the amount of soil particles present on the surface of the velcro strips. In order to estimate the increase in bond analytically, parameters (adhesion factors and wall friction angles) were derived from tests and the behaviour of a geotextile container construction as a supporting structure was investigated in general by experimental and numerical investigations. The use of geotextile containers can therefore lead to an economical and ecological construction method.
Application of the Apriori Algorithm for Adverse Drug Reaction Detection
Authors: Kuo M.H.  , Kushniruk A.W.  , Borycki E.M.  , Greig D.
Published: February 2025

The objective of this research is to assess the suitability of the Apriori association analysis algorithm for the detection of adverse drug reactions (ADR) in health care data. The Apriori algorithm is used to perform association analysis on the characteristics of patients, the drugs they are taking, their primary diagnosis, co-morbid conditions, and the ADRs or adverse events (AE) they experience. This analysis produces association rules that indicate what combinations of medications and patient characteristics lead to ADRs. A simple data set is used to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm.
Is There a Common Background to Support Better Healthcare in Central and South East Europe?
Authors: Stoicu-Tivadar Lacramioara  , Blobel Bernd  , Kern Josipa  , Masic Izet  , Mihalas Gheorghe  , Orel Andrej  , Surjan Gyorgy  , Urosevic Vesna
Published: February 2025

The workshop is proposed by the EFMI WG Health Informatics for Interregional Cooperation with the support of the Electronic Healthcare Records WG as a platform for finding common interests regarding improvement of healthcare services for the Central and East European geographical area. The goal is to assess conformance to international standards in healthcare and to find domains in which each country can provide best practices results of using ICT in support of healthcare.
Portable Devices, Sensors and Networks: Wireless Personalized eHealth Services
Authors: Pharow Peter  , Blobel Bernd  , Ruotsalainen Pekka  , Petersen Françoise  , Hovsto Asbjorn
Published: February 2025

The 21stcentury healthcare systems aim at involving citizen and health professionals alike entitling especially the citizens to take over a higher level of responsibility for their own health status. Applied technologies like, e.g., Internet, notebooks, and mobile phones enable patients to actively participate in treatment and rehabilitation. It's not any longer just health cards; it's an ongoing standardized personalization of health services including application of portable devices, sensors and actuators stipulating the personalized health approach while offering chances for practicing high quality wireless personalized shared care. The path from cards to personalized and portable devices tackles aspects like health advisors, RFDI technology, the EHR, chips, and smart objects. It is important to identify criteria and factors determining the application of such personalized devices in a wirelessly operated healthcare and welfare, the paradigm change from cards to secure wireless devices to mobile sensors, and the citizen's acceptance of underlying technologies. The presentations of the workshop jointly organized by EFMI WG “Personal Portable Devices (PPD)” and ISO/IEC JTC 1 “Study Group on Sensor Networks (SGSN)” therefore aim at introducing technical approaches and standardization activities as well as emerging implementations in the addressed domain.
Validation of Standardized and Structured EHR Data in the Dual Model Approach
Authors: Rinner Christoph  , Duftschmid Georg
Published: February 2025

We present a W3C XML Schema-based method to validate standardized EHR data against semantic constraints that build the knowledge layer within the dual model approach. The approach was tested with three EN/ISO13606 archetypes and an HL7 CDA implementation guide for diabetes therapies.
Optimization of the PubMed Automatic Term Mapping
Authors: Thirion Benoit  , Robu Ioana  , Darmoni Stéfan J.
Published: February 2025

PubMed, freely available on the internet, is the best known database for medical information. We propose a method of optimization of the PubMed Automatic Term Mapping (ATM) that includes MeSH terms. This method is evaluated using two queries constructed to emphasize the differences between the PubMed queries as they are at present and also between these queries and the optimized one. The proposed query is significantly more precise than the current PubMed query (54.5% vs. 27%). The optimized query proposed would be easy to implement into PubMed.
An Analysis of Personal Medical Information Disclosed in YouTube Videos Created by Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Fernandez-Luque Luis  , Elahi Najeed  , Grajales III Francisco J.
Published: February 2025

The Internet has become one of the main sources of health information. Today, content generation is no longer limited to the healthcare professionals of the late nineties; Web 2.0 services and platforms have empowered patients to create and interact with various forms of Patient-Generated Content (PGC); these include: videos, blogs, and social networking pages, among others. This investigation evaluated the characteristics of PGC found within YouTube video comments. We selected a random sample of 25 out of 769 Multiple Sclerosis patient-generated videos and analyzed their corresponding 557 comments for health information. 320 comments met the inclusion criteria and 70 contained personal health information (PHI). Comments with PHI were sub-characterized for the type of medical information (i.e., diagnosis, date of diagnosis, medication, among others). In this descriptive study, we present the strata within this content and postulate some of the corresponding patient risks and ethical challenges associated with PGC found in YouTube video comments.
eHealth Tools for Patients and Professionals in a Multicultural World
Authors: Klein Gunnar O.  , Kajbjer Karin
Published: February 2025

In many countries today, an important challenge for health care is the fact that the population is mixed as regards cultural background and not the least with regard to preferred language. In our country Sweden almost 20% of the population has some connection to another country and many patients seeking health care do not have sufficient mastering of the dominant Swedish language to get optimal care. We propose in this study a set of eHealth services that could be implemented within a country and in multinational co-operation to deal with some of these issues in an effective way which both empowers the citizens, improves patient safety and at the same time may offer cost savings for the publicly financed health care systems in the countries of the European Union. The basic idea is to use a set of people-people communication strategies using ICT tools combined with semantic tools for information sharing and conversion. This requires new and challenging organizational contexts.
Electronic Referrals in Healthcare: A Review
Authors: Heimly Vigdis
Published: February 2025

This paper gives an overview of projects completed on the topic of electronic referral in healthcare. The first referral projects were based on standardized EDI-communication. The same basis is still used in many projects, but these are slowly being replaced by web-based solutions with possibilities for decision support and booking. The time from initiation of the first services to high volume use seems to be very much related to how well the new solutions fit with the general practitioners and specialists work practices, and if there are obvious benefits for the communication partners. High volume national services seem to require both political support and pressure. Some of the projects have not paid enough attention to sociotechnical approaches.
Screen Complexity of Italian Institutional Cancer Web Sites
Authors: Calligaro Francesca  , Giorgi Ines  , Butera Raffaella  , Bellotti Bibiana  , Mazzoleni M. Cristina
Published: February 2025

The discordant results of a comparison between calculated and perceived screen complexity of 14 Italian Institutional Cancer Web Sites are described here.