Earthquake Induced Liquefaction Analysis and Ground Improvement as a Remedial Measure: A Review

Liquefaction is the phenomenon in which partially or fully saturated, loose sandy soils behave like a liquid due to loss of strength and rigidity owing to sudden increase in the pore water pressure as a result of dynamic loading such as earthquake. Liquefaction induced by dynamic loading as a result of earthquake is the most destructive feature of earthquake that may results in settlements and collapse of structures. The severity of this phenomenon can be predetermined by the geological and hydro-geological setup of the soil in the study area. The aim of this study is to present a review of various aspects of earthquake induced liquefaction analysis, case evidences from field studies and some of the liquefaction hazards from past earthquakes. Remedial measures using ground improvement techniques to prevent liquefaction hazard is also studied in this paper. Further, investigating the performance of remedial methods against liquefaction is also presented in this paper.

Investigation of the fake reject cases with unqualified operational dimension based on the error compensation and tolerance compression

A fake reject (FR) with unqualified operational dimension often occurs during part machining when the operational data do not coincide with the design ones. This may lead to unnecessary waste. A novel judgment and remedial measures for FR are investigated in this paper to enhance products' qualification rate. Firstly, the reasons for the FR occurrence are discussed based on the fact that the operational dimension tolerance calculated using the worst-case method of the process dimension chain calculation is too tight. Secondly, a novel judgment method of FR is proposed by calculating a new dimension chain. The operational dimension is treated as the concluding link. The actual deviations of the dimensions generated before the operational dimension generation are used to replace their upper and lower deviations. Finally, based on the error compensation relationship among the component links in the process dimension chain, a novel remedial measure of FR by compressing dimension tolerance in subsequent processing is proposed. The calculation flow of the dimension tolerance after tolerance compression is worked out. This study's results of this study are considered for instrumental in judging and processing FR in part machining.

Numerical Investigation of Slope Stabilization Using Recycled Plastic Pins in Yazoo Clay

Geographically, at the center of Mississippi is a concentration of High Plastic Yazoo Clay Soil (HPYCS). Shallow landslides frequently occur in embankments constructed with HPYCS caused by rainfall-induced saturation of the embankment slope. The traditional methods are becoming expensive to repair the shallow slope failure. The use of Recycled Plastic Pins (RPPs) to stabilize shallow slope failures offers a significant cost and construction benefit and can be a useful remedial measure for these types of failures. The current study investigates the effectiveness of RPP in slopes constructed with HPYCS, using the Finite Element Method (FEM). The FEM analysis was conducted with the PLAXIS 2D software package. Three uniform and varied RPP spacings were investigated to reinforce 2–4H:1V slopes. Reinforced slope stability analyses were performed to investigate the applicability of RPP in HPYCS. The FEM analysis results indicated that RPP provides shear resistance for the sloping embankment constructed of HPYCS. Uniform spacing of RPP provides sufficient resistance that increases the Factor of Safety (FS) to 1.68 in 2H:1V slopes with deformation of RPP less than 15 mm. The uniform spacing and varied spacing combination of RPP increase the FS to 2.0 with the deformation of RPP less 7 mm.

The Effectiveness of Using MySMS in Reducing No-show Rate in Dietetic Clinic, Hospital Sultan Ismail, Johor Bahru

No-show or non-attendance at outpatient appointments are one of the most challenging operational issues in health care clinics, including dietetics outpatient clinics. No-show has a negative impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of delivery of outpatient care in a hospital setting. This can negatively affect the patient’s short term and long-term well-being to due missed opportunity to address the patient’s nutrition issue in a timely manner. This study aims to investigate the reasons for no-show and thus to reduce the no-show rate in diet clinic to less than 25%. The initial phase of the study was conducted from June to September 2017 at Hospital Sultan Ismail’s diet clinic. No-show cases were identified using system data. No-show patients or guardian of no-show patients were contacted to record the reason for missing the appointments. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the results. Strategy for change was planned and implemented to target the major reason for no-show. The pre-remedial phase result shows a no-show rate of 40.7%. 102 patients were contacted (34%, n=102) to identify their reason of non-attendance to diet clinic. Paediatric patients aged >1 to 12 years contributed the highest percentage of no-show (37.3%, n=38). The major reasons identified for no-show are forgetting and remembered wrong appointment date (35.3%, n=36), followed by ill or admitted to ward (13.7%, n=14) and others (12.7%, n=13) such as personal issues and school examination. Remedial measure using Short Message Service (MySMS) resulted in a reduction of no-show rate to 22.2% which achieved our standard of less than 25% (p<0.05). Automated reminder using Short Message Service (MySMS) is found to be effective in reducing no-show rate. Periodic audit is needed to ensure continuous effectiveness of remedial measure. Further studies need to be conducted in weighing the cost effectiveness of this method for long term run.