bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Slope stability associated with expansion of MSW landfill in China
Authors: Chen Y.M.  , Zhan L.T.  , Lin W.A.
Published: February 2025

Expansion of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill is now under practice in many cities of China. The landfill expansion generally involves a significant increase in landfill slope height, which may trigger waste mass instability. Another potential failure associated with the landfill expansion in China is slippage alone the weak interface within the intermediate liner system, which is sandwiched between the existing and expanded waste masses. In this paper, an attempt has been made to to investigate the major factors influencing the slope stability of landfills, including shear strength of MSW, leachate level and interface shear strength within a composite liner. These issues are discussed based on experimental results and theoretical analysis for the Suzhou landfill, which is under design for vertical and lateral expansion.
Stability of slurry trenches near railway
Authors: Havinga H.R.  , van Tol A.F.  , Maijers A.H.  , de Bruijn K.  , de Jong E.
Published: February 2025

In Almelo, the Netherlands, a construction of concrete floors and diaphragm walls is built to bring the present railway below surface. During construction the trains use a temporary railway track that is close to the building activities. For the construction of diaphragm walls trenches are made in the underground near the temporary railway line. The stability of the trenches is secured by bentonite slurry. In this situation trains are passing at a distance of a few meters. The stability of the slurry trenches has been analyzed with the method described in DIN 4126. This code however does not specify how dynamic actions from passing trains are to be taken into account. Passing of trains causes excess pore pressures and accelerations in the underground. These pore pressures and accelerations have a negative influence on the stability of the trench. The influence has been calculated with Finite Element Method.
High response rate piezometer and its application at a high-speed railway site
Authors: Aw E.S.  , Germaine J.T.  , Whittle A.J.
Published: February 2025

This paper describes the development of a low cost, miniature, high-response piezometer and its application at a high-speed train site in the United States. The piezometer requires fast response measurement time (i.e. time taken for the piezometer to equilibrate with external applied pore pressure) in order to capture the transient pore pressure development in the subgrade caused by 150 mph Acela high-speed trains (an eight-carriage train takes less than 3 seconds to pass the piezometer). The fast response time of the piezometer is achieved by increasing the stiffness of the measuring system via minimizing the internal fluid chamber, using stiffer encasing, and ensuring good saturation of the measurement fluid (using vigorous fluid saturation techniques) In addition, the piezometer utilizes a slender needle-tip measurement shaft to minimize the effects of soil arching during train loading. A three-dimensional finite element is also performed to estimate and compare the theoretical and field-measured development of the wheel-induced pore pressures within the subgrade. The piezometer is able to capture the train-induced pore pressure signatures and, to a lesser extent, the wheel-induced pore pressures. The latter is a result of low in-situ soil permeability which reduces the overall system's response time.
Improvement of transition zones for an old embankment
Authors: Cuéllar V.  , Valerio J.  , Rivas J.A.  , Rodríguez M.
Published: February 2025

One increasingly important problem associated with conventional railway tracks is the deterioration of the track and increase of differential settlements due to the construction of new underpasses. Critical zones created around the those structures when pushing them against railway embankments impose serious limitation to the operational speed of the lines causing maintenance cost increments. In this paper, the works carried out to improve the transition zones in an old 8 m high embankment, where a concrete underpass was jacked several years ago, are described. In order to determine the variability of the materials involved and to define the behaviour of the embankment and its foundation, a borehole was drilled in the track and a sliding micrometer was installed inside. Besides, the current behaviour of the track under the daily traffic of trains was investigated before and after retrofitting the line.
Design of the retaining structure and piled raft foundation for a shopping centre
Authors: Ittershagen M.
Published: February 2025

This publication deals with the construction of a five-storey shopping centre in the city of Offenbach/Main, Germany. The building has two basement floors with a base area of about 7.200 m2. The subsoil consists of a sand and gravel layer with a thickness of 5-7 m, followed by a high plastic clay of tertiary age. The groundwater level is about 3-4 m below surface. Up to 12.6 m deep excavation pit was built using a wall of staggered bored piles supported by grouted anchors. To reduce the water pressure on the wall only the high permeable quaternary layers were sheeted by the secant pile wall. In the tertiary layer every second pile only was installed with the required length. The gap between the bore piles was closed using shotcrete. The load of the shopping centre is carried by a piled raft foundation consisting of 130 bored piles with a diameter of 1.2 m. Pile length varies between 20 m and 30 m. The load-settlement behavior of the foundation was calculated using a 3D finite element analysis. The calculated bearing behavior was controlled by an extensive measurement program. The 130 piles are also used to extract and store geothermal energy.
In situ determination of dynamic impedance functions of shallow foundations
Authors: Dunn P.W.  , Hiltunen D.R.  , Woods R.D.
Published: February 2025

Two square and embedded shallow foundations have been dynamically loaded at the National Geotechnical Experiment Site (NGES) on the campus of Texas A&M University (TAMU) via four dynamic loading devices implemented in several configurations. The dynamic load and vibration responses of the foundations were measured via appropriate electronic instrumentation. Utilizing appropriate equations of motion and system parameters, and the measured load and vibration responses, dynamic impedance functions were backcalculated for the vertical, horizontal sliding, and rocking modes of vibration.
Fine-grained soil improvement by electrokinetic injection
Authors: Noorzad Ali  , Falamaki Amin  , Shariatmadari Nader
Published: February 2025

The objective of this paper is to investigate the improvement of fine-grained soils by electrokinetic injection of silicate grouts. The sodium silicate solution with 5, 10 and 20% concentrations are injected from the anode compartment by electrical gradient equal to 1 V/cm across silty specimens for a week while 10% acid phosphoric solution is used as the catholyte to control pH. It is shown that silicate precipitate into the soil pores and increases the cementation of the soil. For all silicate concentrations, the injection of Na-silicate solution increases the strength adjacent to the anode significantly (between 400 to 700%) and more concentration generated more strength. Furthermore, decreasing the silicate concentration increases the penetration length of the grout. Injection of Na- silicate solution from anode chamber also decreases the electroosmosis flow significantly, i.e., the soil is treated with relatively low volume change by this technology.
Small-strain stiffness of Auckland residual clay
Authors: Pender M.J.  , Kikkawa N.  , Orense R.P.  , Ibrahim A.
Published: February 2025

This paper presents the laboratory test results on the complete stress-strain curve for specimens of Auckland residual clay for axial strains ranging from less than 0.001% up to 1.0% using very sensitive LVDTs attached directly to the specimen. Three LVDTs were positioned around the periphery of the specimen to measure axial strains over a gauge length of 100mm. The axial load applied to the specimen was measured with a load transducer inside the triaxial cell. Use of a 16 bit A/D converter ensured accurate measurements of axial strains (resolution better than 1 micron over a gauge length of 100 mm) and load readings (resolution of 0.4N). The problem associated with the rotation of the end cap in conventional testing was resolved by fixing the cap against rotation, thus ensuring the same axial compression across the specimen. Moreover, to ensure excellent specimen end preparation, a thin layer of plaster was applied and the trimming mould was used to ensure the ends were parallel whilst the plaster sets. Using these measures, we were able to get very good quality axial strain data from less than 0.001%. Moreover, we applied the hyperbolic curve to the relationship between deviator stress and axial strain in order to estimate the small-strain stiffness of the soil.
Elastic modulus of granular soil-geogrid composite from cyclic plate load tests
Authors: Atalar C.  , Shin E.C.  , Das B.M.
Published: February 2025

The elastic settlement of foundations and other structures, bases and subbase layers of paved and unpaved highways, and runways of airports is an important consideration in the design and construction process. Laboratory and field studies have shown that geogrid can be used as a reinforcing material in granular soil to increase the stiffness of the soil-geogrid composite system and thereby reduce elastic settlement. This implies that the modulus of elasticity of the soil-geogrid system is increased due to reinforcement. In order to evaluate the modulus of elasticity of the granular soil-geogrid composite in the field, cyclic plate load tests were conducted at a site at the Incheon International Airport (Korea) during its construction phase. The test results and the method for obtaining the modulus of elasticity are presented in this paper.
Etude des paramètres d'application de la consolidation dynamique et de ses techniques dérivées
Authors: Varaksin S.  , Racinais J.
Published: February 2025

Une série de réalisations récentes pour des chantiers d'infrastructures a requis l'optimisation des paramètres d'exécution de la consolidation dynamique et substitution dynamique dans des sols particuliers. Une des réalisations a permis d'optimiser les limites d'application de ces deux techniques en fonction de la teneur en fine et de découvrir le comportement réel de ces terrains suite à la combinaison d'une surcharge minimale associée à des impacts de haute énergie. L'application pour un grand chantier naval a permis de définir la profondeur d'influence non seulement en fonction de l'énergie unitaire mais aussi de son intensité totale.
Cohesive Soil Resistance and Hydraulic Heave at Excavations
Authors: Wudtke R.-B.  , Witt K.J.
Published: February 2025

The valid design approach of hydraulic heave doesn't consider cohesive soil resistances. The basis for a correct implementation of available soil resistances is a realistic description of the load capacity and the deformation behaviour. The limit state of hydraulic heave at the bottom of an excavation in cohesive soil can be described as a shear failure or as a combination of the development of initial cracks leading to a shear or uplift failure. A liquefaction or erosion of the soil continuum, as dominant in non cohesive soil, cannot appear. Already a small cohesion requires extremely high hydraulic gradients to mobilize single particles or aggregates. In cohesive soil the limit state is not gained loosing the effective stress. Further resisting forces are activated. The failure types describing the limit state fundamentally depend on the stress state, the soil type, the stratification and the thickness of the soil layer, the water content of the soil and finally on the hydraulic impact. A consideration of the different influences and constrains leads to a detailed comparison of possible approaches to analyse the limit state adequately.
Approche technique et contractuelle pour l'optimisation des injections d'un parking souterrain
Authors: Farhat H.
Published: February 2025

Dans le cadre de la construction d'un parking souterrain de quatre niveaux sur la commune de la Valette du Var (France), s'est posé, au stade de la conception, le problème de la maîtrise des eaux d'infiltration en fond de fouille. Une approche technique et contractuelle appropriée a été adoptée afin de réaliser les traitements de la façon la plus efficace possible en limitant les injections au strict nécessaire. Cette approche peut être assimilée à la méthode observationnelle. Les aspects techniques et contractuels ont été pris en compte au stade des études de projet, du Dossier de Consultation des Entreprises et pendant l'exécution des travaux. Il s'agit essentiellement des points suivants: (i) montage adéquat du dossier de marché par la mise en place de plusieurs tranches conditionnelles dont le déclenchement a été décidé à la suite des résultats des travaux d'injection et des essais de pompage; (ii) mise en œuvre d'un phasage et d'une procédure d'injection permettant, grâce au suivi quotidien, une adaptation du maillage et des zones à traiter. Les traitements par injection ont montré leur efficacité puisque les débits d'exhaure mesurés en fin de travaux de génie civil étaient inférieurs à 10m3/h, ce qui était de l'ordre du cinquième du débit calculé dans les études d'avant projet.
How to initiate communities in developing countries into self road maintenance
Authors: Kimura M.  , Fukubayashi Y.
Published: February 2025

Conditions of rural roads in developing countries are generally poor, severely limiting people's access to local markets and basic social services (e.g. education and health care). Government services and resources cannot adequately cover the rural areas, therefore it is important for the rural people to put their own efforts to maintain parts of their roads as they wait for government support. To make the peoples' effort efficient and to promote their own road maintenance, a simple new design and construction method for all-weather rural roads using Do-nou has been developed and its effectiveness tested in a previous study. Do-nou is a Japanese term for soil bag and a traditional geotextile. In this paper, technical transfer approaches for the expansion, extension and rootage of Do-nou technology among the rural communities in developing countries has been established; four approaches in four countries have been proposed.
Loss assessment of Sylhet city from an event similar to 1918 Srimangal earthquake
Authors: Ansary M.A.  , Islam M.R.  , Sarker J.K.  , Safiullah A.M.M.
Published: February 2025

A comprehensive earthquake loss assessment for the Sylhet city of Bangladesh using Geographic Information Technology was performed considering the 1918 Srimangal Earthquake as a scenario event. Site amplification, liquefaction, and landslide microzonation maps for the city were developed for this purpose. For microzonation purpose 167 boreholes with SPT data were used. For the assessment of potential losses, a building inventory was carried out for the Sylhet city. 3040 buildings (12% of the total) were surveyed within the study area. On the other hand for the loss assessment of water and gas pipelines, the water and gas delivery network of the city were digitized and put within a GIS platform. Site amplification, liquefaction and landslide microzonation maps were overlaid and combined with the structural inventory maps, and water and gas supply system maps to produce maps of regional damage distributions. The methods to combine the different hazards are based on weighted average approach. For human casualty estimation a morbidity model was used. Finally economic loss was estimated using the damages expected to be suffered due to the scenario event. The expected damage for buildings is 59%, maximum fatalities 7.0% and maximum injuries 8.3% at night. In case of lifeline, affected length for water pipe line is 118.53 km and total number of damage points is 204 and affected length of gas supply system is 436 km and total number of damage points is 981.
Checking the saturation on sandy tropical soil samples in laboratory using the seismic waves
Authors: Chembeze Saturnino D.L.
Published: February 2025

The classic triaxial compression test is very useful in Soil Mechanics for assessing the parameters of rigidity and strength of the soil under laboratory conditions. Generally, this test consists on applying to the cylindrical sample of soil and all around uniform pressure σ3to confine the sample, which is the same as σ2and an increasing axial pressure σ1to failure, after saturation and consolidation.
Investigation of the behaviour of nailed sand trenches before failure by geotechnical centrifuge
Authors: Askarinejad Amin  , Shahnazari Habib  , Salehzadeh Hosseyn
Published: February 2025

The main purpose of this paper is the study of the pre-failure behaviour of loose vertical sand slopes stabilized by nailing system. In this research a series of centrifuge tests have been done and the behaviour of nailed vertical sand slopes has been traced in flight either by instrumentation or by image processing techniques.
Compressibility of contaminated sand with petroleum oil
Authors: Ahmed A.A.  , Abdelrahman M.T.  , Iskander G.M.  , Hassan E.M.
Published: February 2025

Leakage of oil into the soil may occur due to several reasons. This leakage will result in the formation of soil layer mixed with oil. The mechanical soil properties may be influenced by the leaked oil. To investigate the compressibility parameters for oil contaminated sandy soil, an extensive testing program was carried out in the Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory at Ain Shams University in Egypt. The oil by-products used in the testing program were kerosene, solar, and used oil. Sand samples with different relative densities were mixed with the oil by-products, using 2 % to 15 % oil contents. Consolidation tests were carried out on the prepared oil contaminated sand samples. The results obtained from the testing program are Analyzed and discussed. The effects of oil viscosity, together with its percentage on the sloughing and the modulus of deformation are studied and presented. Finally, the general conclusions of the research are pointed out.
Modeling of vibration isolation using geofoam barriers in centrifuge
Authors: Caicedo B.  , Murillo C.  , Thorel L.
Published: February 2025

Vibrations produced by traffic, industrial activity, blasting, piling, constructions operations, and natural phenomena like earthquakes can potentially damage the buildings, disturb the people and affect sensitive equipment and technical process. Of particular interest are the traffic vibrations produced by heavy vehicles or trains, these are high frequency transient vibrations that produces highly perceptible vibration of some structural elements located close to roads. The installation of a barrier in the soil is one of the suitable methods to reduce the ground vibrations since the barrier disturbs the natural spreading of the waves and screens the buildings in a certain region behind the barrier.
Coupled hydraulic and mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils: theory and validation
Authors: Liu C.  , Muraleetharan K.K.
Published: February 2025

Unsaturated soils are three-phase porous media consisting of a solid skeleton, pore water, and pore air. It is well known that the behavior of unsaturated soils is influenced heavily by matric suction. Soil water characteristic curves (SWCCs) are necessary to describe the hydraulic behavior (flow of water and air) in an unsaturated soil. SWCCs describe the relationship between the matric suction and the water content in unsaturated soils. SWCCs show hysteretic behavior depending on wetting/drying history of a soil. Recently geotechnical engineers have begun to realize that SWCCs also depend on the stress-strain history (mechanical behavior) of a soil. The hydraulic behavior of unsaturated soils, on the other hand, influences the mechanical behavior through matric suction. In order to predict the behavior of unsaturated soils, a comprehensive constitutive model for unsaturated soils is developed. The hysteresis in SWCCs is modeled using concepts that parallel the elastoplastic theory used to model stress-strain behavior of soils. Matric suction is used as the stress variable and volumetric water content is used as the strain variable in modeling the SWCCs. The model also captures the influence of stress-strain history on the SWCCs and the influence of SWCCs on the stress-strain behavior of soils through the use of an intergranular stress tensor and coupled elastoplastic hardening laws. The constitutive model is calibrated and validated using complex triaxial tests on Toyoura sand under both monotonic and cyclic loadings.
Strength properties of sandy soil-cement admixtures
Authors: da Fonseca António Viana  , Cruz Rodrigo Caberlon  , Consoli Nilo Cesar
Published: February 2025

Soil stabilization with cement is a good solution for the construction of subgrades for roadway and railway lines, especially in “noble” foundations layers, under the platforms, and mostly in transition zones between embankments and rigid structures, where the mechanical properties of supporting soils are very much demand full. These solutions are especially attractive in line works where other ground improvement techniques are extensive and, therefore, very expensive. On the other hand, the economic and environmental costs of such works should be optimized with good balances between excavation and embankment volumes. For this purpose, the improvement of locally available soils can bring great advantages, avoiding a great amount in borrowing appropriate material, as well as the need of disposing huge volumes in deposits. This paper focus on the characteristics of two soils, Osorio sand and Botucatu residual sandstone (BRS), which can be converted to well accept materials to that purpose, if stabilized with cement. The study of soil stabilization with cement relies on the quantification of the influence percentage of cement and porosity that is adopted in the admixing process for different state and stress conditions. This influence will be evaluated from the analysis of unconfined compression strength (UCS) test results. This experimental framework will enable a good definition of mechanical parameters used in design of foundations and subgrades of railways platforms and for their execution quality control.
Prise en compte de la non saturation dans l'interprétation de l'essai oedométrique
Authors: Boutonnier Luc
Published: February 2025

L'interprétation de l'essai oedométrique dans la norme NF P 94-512-5 se base sur la théorie de Terzaghi (Terzaghi, 1943). Le sol est supposé saturé et le fluide interstitiel incompressible. Ces deux hypothèses ne sont jamais rigoureusement vérifiées ce qui conduit, par exemple, à une partie de déformation « instantanée»lors de l'application de la charge (Robinson, 1999). Ce phénomène est à relier au coefficient B mesuré dans les sols supports des remblais sur sols fins quasi-saturés (Tavenas et Leroueil, 1980; Boutonnier et Guerpillon, 2005). Dans cette communication, une nouvelle théorie de la consolidation pour les sols fins proches de la saturation (Boutonnier, 2007) est utilisée pour interpréter l'essai oedométrique sur les paliers de chargement et de déchargement. Un exemple concluant est donné avec la réinterprétation d'essais oedométriques réalisés dans le cadre de la Ligne à Grande Vitesse Rhin Rhône. L'application à la modélisation des déformations instantanées et différées dans le cas de la réalisation d'un déblai est présentée dans la dernière partie de la communication.
Prediction of the onset of strain localization in non-coaxial plasticity
Authors: Huang M.S.  , Lu X.L.  , Qian J.G.  , Wang W.D.
Published: February 2025

A 3D non-coaxial elasto-plasticity model with a novel yield function is proposed and employed to study the onset of strain localization in plane strain and true triaxial tests. Bifurcation analysis under plane strain conditions shows that the proposed model is capable of giving an accurate prediction of the onset of shear band and producing a right trend of the band angle varying with the initial confining stress. Simulations of true triaxial tests show a good prediction of the influence of the intermediate stress ratio to the pre-bifurcation stress-strain relationships and the onsets of shear bands. Comparison with the predictions by the coaxial model indicates the introduction of the non-coaxial flow rule is critical to the prediction of strain localization.
Partitioning tracer test for monitoring petroleum contamination in subsurface; 3-dimensional sand box experiment
Authors: Rhee S.  , Park J.
Published: February 2025

Petroleum can be retained for a long time in subsurface environments and their presence causes a threat to groundwater and soil quality because of their slow dissolution into groundwater. One important problem of conventional monitoring methods is that they usually underestimate the petroleum contamination because of local distribution of petroleum in subsurface. The partitioning tracer test has been studied to overcome this weakness of conventional monitoring method. In this study, a partitioning tracer test was conducted in a three-dimensional sand box before and after containing a petroleum spill to test its validity in real groundwater flow. Methanol was used as nonpartitioning tracer and 4-methyl-2-pentanol, 2-ethyl-1-butanol, and hexanol were used as partitioning tracer. Tracer breakthrough curves were obtained at extraction well and they were used to estimate the petroleum contamination by first moment method. Our results showed that petroleum contamination can be detected in three-dimensional groundwater flow by partitioning tracer test and the amount of contamination also can be estimated quantitatively. A three-dimensional experiment confirmed that estimating the petroleum contamination from analyzing the separation between methanol and 2-ethyl-1-butanol reached comparatively to the real value.
Comportement mécanique de sols grossiers à matrice
Authors: Seif El Dine B.  , Canou J.  , Dupla J.-C.  , Kazan Y.
Published: February 2025

On présente dans cette communication les résultats d'un programme d'essais triaxiaux sur éprouvettes de 300 mm de diamètre, destiné à étudier le comportement mécanique d'un sol grossier à matrice de référence, composé d'une matrice sableuse et d'inclusions anguleuses, en termes des caractéristiques de rupture du matériau. On met en évidence l'influence de la fraction volumique des inclusions, de leur taille et de leur distribution granulométrique sur les comportements observés et sur les caractéristiques de rupture du matériau, quantifiées par l'angle de frottement interne.
State dependent characteristics of Bagmati sand
Authors: Jha Sanjay K.
Published: February 2025

Sand subjected to shear, under drained conditions, shows unique behavior depending upon its density and applied confining pressure. Loose sand contracts accompanied by strain hardening and dense sand dilates accompanied by strain softening. Strength, dilatancy and plastic shear work characteristics of sand is dependent on both the relative density and confining pressure. Here an attempt has been made to investigate pressure and density dependent characteristics of Bagmati sand using drained triaxial compression tests. Evolution of mobilized angle of internal friction, dilatancy characteristics, peak friction angle, critical state friction angle and maximum dilation angle of Bagmati sand are obtained and analyzed. It has been reported that excess friction angle varies linearly with maximum dilation angle with a slope ranging from 0.28 to 0.4. In case of Bagmati sand, the slope is found to be 0.34 and is in well agreement with available empirical relationships.
Dilatancy and shear strength behavior of sand at low confining pressures
Authors: Chakraborty T.  , Salgado R.
Published: February 2025

Sand dilates with shearing at a rate that increases with increasing relative density (DR) and decreases with increasing effective confining stress (σ′c
Model tests and PIV analysis on failure behaviour of embankment due to injected water
Authors: Nakata Y.  , Murata H.  , Orense R.
Published: February 2025

A series of small-scale model tests was conducted in order to investigate the collapse mechanism of an embankment slope as a result of water injection. Particle image velocimetry was employed to measure the local velocities within soil masses. Analysis of results showed two patterns of failure in model tests, i.e. a sudden slip failure pattern and a gradual planar slide. This showed that monitoring the displacement and pore water pressure at the toe of the embankment is effective in predicting slope failure due to injected water.
Swelling of a gypsiferous claystone and its modelling
Authors: Ramon A.  , Olivella S.  , Alonso E.E.
Published: February 2025

Excavations in anhydritic-gypsiferous claystones may experience severe swelling phenomena. The intensity of the expansive behaviour observed in these materials is higher than the expansion developed in other expansive sulphate-free rocks and soils. Tunnel functionality and stability is impaired in most cases. Field observations in Lilla tunnel as well as laboratory tests results have demonstrated that the swelling process is associated with gypsum crystal growth in discontinuities. Crystal growth is a consequence of groundwater supersaturation in sulphate content. The purpose of the work described in the paper is to develop a calculation model, suitable for predicting expansions at the excavation design stage.
Laboratory creep and relaxation after partial unloading
Authors: Imre E.  , Móczár B.  , Farkas J.
Published: February 2025

The “secondary processes” such as creep and relaxation (being related to constant stress or constant displacement boundary conditions) are generally observed after monotonously increasing loading. The processes are described by some empirical laws which are frequently linear with log time. The processes are hardly known for non-monotonous previous loading. In a starting research both experimental (triaxial and oedometric tests on peat) and theoretical works are made in the topic. The first results of the experimental study are presented in this paper. These indicate that (i) the creep stops after partial unloading, (ii) there is an experimental evidence for the restart of creep after partial unloading, the creep continues after a definite time interval of pause.
Behavior of geogrids under pullout tests in fine and coarse soils
Authors: Sayao Alberto S.F.J.  , Nunes Anna Laura L.S.  , Becker Leonardo D.B.  , Sieira Ana Cristina C.F.
Published: February 2025

This paper presents an analysis of the behavior of geogrids when subjected to pullout tests in the field and in the laboratory. Different types of soils were considered, ranging from silty clay to coarse sand. The field work was associated to a 1700m long, 5m high soil wall reinforced with geogrids. The wall constitutes the upper part of a dike constructed for containing bauxite residues and was constructed using a residual silty-clay. A 2.6m high experimental fill was also constructed for performing 16 large-scale pullout tests. Horizontal loads and displacements were monitored during these pullout tests. In the laboratory, a large dimension pullout apparatus was used for testing the polypropylene and polyester geogrids, which exhibited distinct physical and mechanical stiffness and strength characteristics. The geogrids were instrumented with horizontal displacement gages (tell-tails) and strain gauges, placed on different positions along the grid's length. Silty-clay and sand were used in the experimental program. Conventional laboratory tests were conducted for defining the strength and deformability parameters of both the soil and the geogrid.
Evaluation of shear wave velocity distribution map using SPT-uphole tomography method
Authors: Bang E.S.  , Kim J.H.  , Choo Y.W.  , Kim D.S.
Published: February 2025

The standard penetration test (SPT) is common in geotechnical site investigations and is a useful and economical tool for uphole seismic tests. Here, the SPT-uphole method was applied to the creation of a subsurface shear wave velocity (VS) distribution map. Field testing with several surface geophones in line from a drilling point, combined with data interpretation using tomography inversion, resulted in a triangular-shaped subsurface VSdistribution map. The particle motions due to the SPT source were examined using a numerical study, from which the procedure was derived. Magnitude summation of the vertical and horizontal components was proposed to more accurate and conveniently calculate the travel times of shear wave component in the recorded signals. Field application tests were performed at two sites to establishment the method and to verify its feasibility. The SPT-uphole tomography method provides a reliable two-dimensional VSdistribution map that compares with the results of SPT and a resistivity survey.
CPOE, Alerts and Workflow: Taking Stock of Ten Years Research at Erasmus MC
Authors: Aarts Jos  , Van Der Sijs Heleen
Published: February 2025

Ten years ago research of the impact of health information technology (HIT) on medical work practices started at Erasmus MC. The research is characterized by practice driven field research. From the beginning computerized physician order entry systems (CPOE) were a major topic. Research questions were how implementation of CPOE could be understood, how physicians were responding to reminders and alerts and how CPOE impacted professional workflow and collaboration. Studies of CPOE implementation aimed to understand why the adoption rate is so low and riddled with difficulties. Studies of reminders and alerts addressed the problem of alert fatigue. Finally, studies of workflow explored how CPOE influenced clinical workflow and how simplistic and linear models underlying CPOE may lead to poor designed systems and even compromise patient safety. Findings include the need for a shared understanding of medical challenges when implementing CPOE, conceptual models to understand alert fatigue and medical workflow and the impossibility of agreeing which alerts to suppress hospital-wide. The underlying research principle is the sociotechnical approach, which stipulates that technology, people and organizations should be studied from a single theoretical framework. This paper summarizes the results of ten years of research.
Evaluation of an Information System Model for Primary Health Care
Authors: Sivic Suad  , Gojkovic Ljubisa  , Huseinagic Senad
Published: February 2025

Today, at the era of information technologies Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have organized action for creation of standardized Computer-Based Information Systems (CBISs) in health. These CBISs would enable collection of defined and comparable data and therefore ensure adequate analysis, observation and decision making on a local community level as well on the general level of health information system. Thanks to enthusiasts, local CBISs are created in health care facilities. Those individual local CBISs have similar solutions based on the experience of previous good functioning. Therefore, we can expect that a standardized state CBIS will be formed with the minimal focused action of people in charge. The Zavidovici Medical Center has a CBIS which has been working long enough so that we can analyze the results of usage of such an information system. The system has a modular character, oriented on analysis and documentation of data, and on support for management and decision-making functions. Analyzing the results reached by implementation of such a CBIS, we can conclude that we have achieved better results in patient administration and work organization and that we have less patients in dispensary of primary health care by 20%, shorter time in treatment of patients by 7%, reduced consumption of essential medicines by 8%, costs of treatment in medical facilities are down by 5% and patients have more a positive view toward the services provided now than they had earlier. Moreover, substantial savings in radio and laboratory diagnostics procedures have been achieved by reducing time for doing lab reports, savings in materials and through minimizing human error.
Functional Requirements of Terminology Services for Coupling Interface Terminologies to Reference Terminologies
Authors: Daniel Christel  , Buemi Antoine  , Mazuel Laurent  , Ouagne David  , Charlet Jean
Published: February 2025

Desiderata for interface terminologies (IT), designed to support interactions between humans and structured medical information, differ from desiderata for reference terminologies (RT). Terminology experts have recommended that IT be mapped to RT. The interface terminology of the Georges Pompidou European Hospital (GPEH-IT) contains more than 5,000 concepts, sometimes linked to ICD-10 but not yet to the SNOMED 3.5 VF, now available in France. Our objective was to use a formal characterization framework to compare GPEH-IT to SNOMED 3.5 VF and to define the functionalities of terminology services for managing both IT and RT and the mapping between them. We discuss the role of IT and RT in representing the meaning of clinical data.
Methods for Testing SNOMED CT in a Defined Clinical Domain
Authors: Randorff Rasmussen Anne  , Markussen Dorte
Published: February 2025

This paper presents the results of a study in which SNOMED CT has been tested in clinical practice by combining quantitative and qualitative methods. An application has been developed for registration of vascular diseases and procedures using SNOMED CT concepts. We conclude that it requires clinical and technical insight to adapt the terminology to a defined clinical domain.
Primary Healthcare Research Network: The Belgian ResoPrim Recommendations
Authors: De Clercq Etienne  , Van Casteren Viviane  , Jonckheer Pascale  , Burggraeve Peter
Published: February 2025

Dedicated primary care research networks aim to gather and analyse data collected from general practioners' (GPs) electronic health records (EHRs). ResoPrim (2003–2008) was a Belgian multidisciplinary research project which was set up to provide recommendations for facilitating the organisation and management of these primary care research networks, assessing and improving opportunities for researchers working with available data from EHRs, and stimulating the involvement of GPs in such networks. This paper provides a short description of Resoprim's global methodology (which included 2 pilot phases involving 64 GPs and 6 different software systems), followed by the project's final recommendations.
Foundations of a Metadata Repository for Databases of Registers and Trials
Authors: Stausberg Jürgen  , Löbe Matthias  , Verplancke Philippe  , Drepper Johannes  , Herre Heinrich  , Löffler Markus
Published: February 2025

The planning of case report forms (CRFs) in clinical trials or databases in registers is mostly an informal process starting from scratch involving domain experts, biometricians, and documentation specialists. The Telematikplattform für Medizinische Forschungsnetze, an umbrella organization for medical research in Germany, aims at supporting and improving this process with a metadata repository, covering the variables and value lists used in databases of registers and trials. The use cases for the metadata repository range from a specification of case report forms to the harmonization of variable collections, variables, and value lists through a formal review. The warehouse used for the storage of the metadata should at least fulfill the definition of part 3 “Registry metamodel and basic attributes” of ISO/IEC 11179 Information technology – Metadata registries. An implementation of the metadata repository should offer an import and export of metadata in the Operational Data Model standard of the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium. It will facilitate the creation of CRFs and data models, improve the quality of CRFs and data models, support the harmonization of variables and value lists, and support the mapping of metadata and data.
Bridging the Gap between Patients' Expectations and General Practitioners' Knowledge through Disease Surveillance
Authors: Johansen Monika A.  , Johnsen Jan-Are K.  , Hartvigsen Gunnar  , Ellingsen Gunnar  , Bellika Johan G.
Published: February 2025

In this paper we have investigated “to what degree patients trust their regular doctor to be fully informed about the prevalence of infectious diseases in their neighbourhood”, and what general practitioners (GPs) actually know. A representative sample of one thousand Norwegians (potential patients) was interviewed by telephone, and 13 GPs were interviewed individually or in focus groups. Nearly half of the patients trusted their GP to be more or less “fully informed” about the prevalence of infectious diseases in their neighbourhoods, while the GPs in reality were not well informed. We conclude that new surveillance solutions are needed. One promising approach is electronic retrieval of symptom data directly from patients.
A Home-Care PDA-Based Program for the Management of COPD Patients
Authors: Teijeiro Tomás  , Tarascó Miguel  , Félix Paulo  , Presedo Jesús María
Published: February 2025

This paper proposes a PDA-based system, SERVANDO, for the home-care management of patients with COPD. In addition to making the supervision of such patients easier, the system permits the collection and structuring of large quantities of information on the evolution of COPD, allowing the application of data-mining techniques, which could open up new lines of research on this disease.
Measuring Physical Activity with Sensors: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Dias André  , Fisterer Bernhard  , Lamla Gregor  , Kuhn Klaus  , Hartvigsen Gunnar  , Horsch Alexander
Published: February 2025

Long term wearing of motion and heart rate sensors are essential aspects for longitudinal studies on physical activity measurement studies. We conducted a qualitative study with seven subjects in a total of 13 test sessions to identify usability and handling problems associated with Stayhealth RT3, Actigraph GT1M and Polar RS800 sensors. We found that battery life limitation is the most recurrent technical problem and long term wear of heart rate sensors produces discomfort and skin irritation.
The Effect of Removing the Force Feedback during the Quiet Stance
Authors: Rasku Jyrki  , Juhola Martti  , Pyykkö Ilmari  , Toppila Esko  , Varpa Kirsi
Published: February 2025

The human postural control system is complex and it combines information from different sources. The most important information comes from vestibular, visual and proprioceptive senses. We studied the effects of removing the visual and proprioceptive information simultaneously. The force feedback from the ground was removed with vibrators attached on the musculus soleus of both calves. By using features of force platform signals, when the vibrators were on, the lengths of the swaying paths were four times the lengths when the vibrators were off. Our results show that it is possible to separate the effects of the visual and proprioceptive senses from that of vestibular sense, which is very useful for investigations of balance problems in otoneurology. This supports our future aim to classify between healthy subjects and different otoneurological patients with signal analysis and pattern recognition methods to be used for force platform signals.
Representing a Chemotherapy Guideline Using openEHR and Rules
Authors: Chen Rong  , Georgii-Hemming Patrik  , Åhlfeldt Hans
Published: February 2025

Computerized guidelines can provide decision support and facilitate the use of clinical guidelines. Several computerized guideline representation models (GRMs) exist but the poor interoperability between the guideline systems and the Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems limits their clinical usefulness. In this study we analyzed the clinical use of a published lymphoma chemotherapy guideline. We found that existing GRMs have limitations that can make it difficult to meet the clinical requirements. We hypothesized that guidelines could be represented as data and logic using openEHR archetypes, templates and rules. The design was tested by implementing the lymphoma guideline. We conclude that using the openEHR models and rules to represent chemotherapy guidelines is feasible and confers several advantages both from a clinical and from an informatics perspective.
Centralised versus Decentralised Management of Patients' Medical Records
Authors: Quantin Catherine  , Coatrieux Gouenou  , Fassa Maniane  , Breton Vincent  , Jaquet-Chiffelle David-Olivier
Published: February 2025

For more than 20 years, many countries have been trying to set up a standardised medical record at the regional or at the national level. Most of them have not reached this goal, essentially due to two main difficulties related to patient identification and medical records standardisation. Moreover, the issues raised by the centralisation of all gathered medical data have to be tackled particularly in terms of security and privacy. We discuss here the interest of a non-centralised management of medical records which would require a specific procedure that gives to the patient access to his/her distributed medical data, wherever he/she is located.
GeneMining: Identification, Visualization, and Interpretation of Brain Ageing Signatures
Authors: Salle Paola  , Bringay Sandra  , Teisseire Maguelonne  , Chakkour Feirouz  , Roche Mathieu  , Rassoul Ronza Abdel  , Verdier Jean-Michel  , Devau Gina
Published: February 2025

Transcriptomic technologies are promising tools for identifying new genes involved in cerebral ageing or in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. These technologies produce massive biological data, which so far are extremely difficult to exploit. In this context, we propose GeneMining, a multidisciplinary methodology, which aims at developing new strategies to analyse such data, and to design interactive tools to help biologists to identify, visualize and interpret brain ageing signatures. In order to address the specific problem of brain ageing signatures discovery, we combine and apply existing tools with emphasis to a new efficient data mining method based on sequential patterns.
Combination of Visual and Textual Similarity Retrieval from Medical Documents
Authors: Eggel Ivan  , Müller Henning
Published: February 2025

Medical visual information retrieval has been an active research area over the past ten years as an increasing amount of images are produced digitally and have become available in patient records, scientific literature, and other medical documents. Most visual retrieval systems concentrate on images only, but it has become apparent that the retrieval of similar images alone is of limited interest, and rather the retrieval of similar documents is an important domain. Most medical institutions as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) produce many complex documents. Searching them, including a visual search, can help finding important information and also facilitates the reuse of document content and images. The work described in this paper is based on a proposal of the WHO that produces large amounts of documents from studies but also for training. The majority of these documents are in complex formats such as PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. Goal is to create an information retrieval system that allows easy addition of documents and search by keywords and visual content. For text retrieval, Lucene is used and for image retrieval the GNU Image Finding Tool (GIFT). A Web 2.0 interface allows for an easy upload as well as simple searching.