The main objective of this paper is to compare safety factors obtained from Morgenstern-Price, Janbu and Spencer methods with the factors calculated from the modified variational approach (Leshchinsky and Huang, 1992a). Such comparison is essential since there is no mathematical proof that the variational analysis indeed yields a minimum and thus, physically produce significant results. The safety factors compared well, indicating the variational analysis is on a par with acceptable existing rigorous methods. Availability of a user-friendly computer code may make the variational analysis useful to practicing engineers. However, its greatest potential at the moment is in 3-D applications; i.., unlike other methods, its extension to 3-D is straightforward.

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The small strain stiffness and anisotropic nature of two sands with different geological origin have been determined via laboratory seismic tests performed in a triaxial cell. Dry triaxial reconstituted specimens of Ticino river silica sand (TS) and of Kenya carbonatic sand (KS) were subjected to isotropic and anisotropic states of effective stress ; then both shear and constrained compression waves were propagated in vertical, horizontal and oblique directions by means of five couples of piezoelectric transducers especially arranged in the specimens. The propagated compression and shear waves allow the assessment of the constrained and shear moduli respectively, at very small strains where, as a first approximation many soils can be assumed, from an engineering point of view, to behave as an elastic cross-anisotropic medium with a vertical axis of symmetry. This paper, after a brief description of the novel measuring technique adopted and of the tested materials, summarises the test results and their interpretation in order to separate the effects of the fabric anisotropy from those produced by the state of effective stresses on soil stiffness. The stiffness and anisotropic response of the two tested sands are compared. Finally the results enable us to establish five independent constants of the cross-anisotropic elasticity model, which appears to be appropriate to reproduce the behaviour at small strain of the two sands.

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A procedure for limit equilibrium slope analysis based on a realistic consideration of the mobilized interslice shear forces is presented in this paper. This new approach ensures that solutions are kinematically admissible and the possibility of convergence problems, often associated with numerical solutions, is minimized. The proposed approach recognizes the importance of slip surface geometry in estimating interslice shear forces whether vertical or non-vertical slices are used in a limit equilibrium analysis. Illustrative examples are presented and the results shown to be reasonable. The calculated factors of safety based on the new method compare very well with values based on recognized methods of analysis. Yet the method is more direct and enables a proper visualization of the transfer of mobilized normal and shear forces through a sloping soil mass above a potential slip surface. The method also gives consistent results with non-vertical slices even if the shape of non-vertical slices is varied.

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The advantages and disadvantages of using a back analysis of slope failures to evaluate soil shear strength are discussed. A methodology is presented herein that allows the implied level of reliability associated with soil shear strength parameters back calculated from slope failures to be estimated. A reliability approach is also used to estimate the probability of failure for a given limit equilibrium slope stability method, design factor of safety, and combination of back calculated Mohr-Coulomb shear strength parameters, c' and φ'. The methodology is illustrated using 39 landslides in the Orinda Formation in the San Francisco Bay area. The impact of additional case histories in the same geologic setting, i.., a larger data set, on the required design factor of safety for a given probability of failure is also investigated.

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This paper outlines a mathematical description of the stress dilatancy behaviour of granular materials which accounts for stress level and void ratio dependencies. The consideration of these aspects has important implications in the modelling of granular material behaviour. In fact, granular material mechanical response is largely dominated by the evolution of dilatancy, fabric and void ratio histories. The starting point in this study is the well established Rowe's theory which is revisited and ultimately modified by introducing a factor linked to governing state parameters in order to describe the complete behaviour of granular materials during deformation. Numerical simulations of triaxial tests on granular materials at different void ratios and stress levels are herein presented to illustrate the model.

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One method currently being considered for the disposal of high level radio-active waste is burial in the seabed. When a hot object is buried in soil, the temperature of the soil adjacent to the object is raised and there is transient heat flow away from the object. The rise in the temperature of the soil causes excess pore pressures to be generated and transient pore water diffusion also takes place. A finite element formulation of the coupled heat flow and consolidation problem is presented. The computer implementation of this formulation is found to compare favourably with analytical solutions based on the same physical principles.

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The present paper aims at developing a simplified model for a stress-strain relationship at small strains up to an initial yielding of homogeneous saturated frozen sand. The modelling of elastic moduli for an ice-sand mixture as a composite geomaterial is first introduced based on previous studies, where a saturated frozen sand is treated as the icesand mixture. The applicability of modelling the elastic moduli under constant temperature is then discussed from the theoretical and experimental points of view. In addition, the hyperbolic stress-strain modelling of saturated frozen sand at small strain is presented. The effect of the volume fraction of sand, stiffness of sand inclusion and temperature changes on the elastic moduli and the stress-strain behaviour up to about 1-% axial strain, which is defined as an upper yield stress, are investigated through the model, whose applicability is verified in comparison with the experimental data.

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This paper presents the results of 24 centrifuge model tests of nailed soil slopes and vertical walls, constructed out of dry Leighton buzzard sand. The walls were initially supported by fluid pressure from flexible rubber bags against the face, and excavation was modelled by gradually draining the fluid from the bags. The finished model walls were 200 mm high and were initially tested at 30 g acceleration to correspond to a prototype structure . m high. If failure was not obtained, the acceleration was increased progressively to a maximum of g. No surcharges were applied. The main parameters varied in the tests were the wall slope, nail length, nail surface roughness, nail inclination, facing stiffness and facing roughness. Observations were made of the mechanism of failure when it occurred, of soil pressures on the facing, and of pre-failure deformations. Failure was always by pull-out rather than breakage of the nails, and a series of pull-out tests of the model nails was conducted to aid interpretation of the results. Failure surfaces were seen to have the shape of logarithmic spirals, and limit equilibrium analyses based on these surfaces agreed well with experimental observations. Prior to failure, earth pressures on the facing compared reasonably well with those calculated by Coulomb's method, except at the base of the wall. One test set out to model a full-scale trial wall, and although the construction process could not be exactly modelled in the small-scale centrifuge tests, comparisons were sufficiently good to give confidence in the model test results.

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This paper deals with the overall stability of an embankment foundation failure that lies at km 40+700 of the new Irbid-Amman Highway in Jordan. Slope stability back analysis was carried out for the slope to assess the conditions at time of failure, and estimate most representative shear strength parameters of foundation materials. Slope stability analysis was also carried out for proposed remedies. Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis was carried out for the landslide site. Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) value of . g was estimated for design. This corresponds to a 90% probability of non-exceedence in a 50 year design life of the highway. Pseudo-static slope stability analysis was also carried out. The study concluded that the landslide movement occurred within the foundation colluvium material. It resulted primarily from the excessive load of the embankment and excess piezometric pressures generated within the slope. The most feasible remedial measure to stabilize the landslide area was removal of existing failed embankment down to the top of sandstone layer, and reconstruction (using imported free-drainage rockfill) of a split level embankment together with the construction of surface and subsurface drainage system. These measures were successfully implemented in the field.

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To remove some weak points of the limit equilibrium slope stability method, the authors have tried so far to develop a hybrid slope stability analysis method, in which stress and strain developed in a slope are determined by the finite element method, while the basic concept of the limit equilibrium method is adopted in the overall stability analysis. In this paper, first, the theory behind the hybrid slope stability analysis method is presented, together with the comparison of the proposed hybrid method and the conventional Bishop's method. Then, reinforcement mechanism and stability characteristics of the reinforced slope cutting are examined through numerical examples by the proposed method. Finally, practical application of the proposed method to an in-situ reinforcement slope stabilization project is presented. In consequence, the applicability and simplicity of the proposed method to the practical design works of reinforcement slope stabilization are demonstrated in success.

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A new analytical method is proposed for determining the inextensible grid reinforcement pullout resistance and pullout force/pullout displacement curve by using basic backfill soil and grid reinforcement properties. The pullout skin friction resistance/pullout displacement relationship is simulated by linear elastic-perfectly plastic model. A hyperbolic model has been proposed to represent the pullout bearing resistance/pullout displacement relationship in which the maximum bearing resistance of a single bearing member is determined using a new bearing capacity equation proposed in this paper. The influences of the grid bearing member spacing ratio, S/D, the bearing member deflection rigidity, and the pullout softening behavior on the mobilization of pullout bearing resistance are explicitly included in the proposed model. Good agreement has been obtained between calculated values and laboratory test results.

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　The stability of

-tetrahydrocannabinol acetate (-THC-OAc) in the presence of diluents or during vaping was investigated. Laboratory-made pure -THC-OAc and glycerol, propylene glycol (PG), or polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400) were dissolved in ethanol and subjected to the quantification method for -tetrahydrocannabinol (-THC) recommended by UNODC. The pure -THC-OAc diluted by glycerol, PG, or PEG400 was stored at 40°C for 27 days. A retail liquid product of -THC-OAc containing -THC as an impurity was stored at °C for 28 days in the presence of glycerol, PG, or PEG400. A cartridge containing the -THC-OAc liquid was installed in an -cigarette device, which was heated and vaporized using a syringe connected to the cartridge through a silicone tube. The -THC-OAc liquid was put into a test tube and heated at 200 or 400°C for  min. The relative concentrations of cannabinoids in the test solution before and after each operation were measured by liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection or by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. -THC was not detected in any cases of pure -THC-OAc, and it decreased or disappeared in all cases of -THC-OAc liquid. The present result showed that -THC-OAc does not decompose into -THC during each process.

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Walking rehabilitation machines have drawn great attentions with more and more people suffering from walking disabilities in an aging society. However, most of the developed walking rehabilitation machines aim at enhancing muscle strength, neglecting the recovery of the neural system. 58% of walking disabilities are caused by problems in the neural system. Therefore, we propose a rehabilitation system which includes both muscle strength enhancement by a walking rehabilitation machine and neurological rehabilitation by imaginary walking. In this paper we compared the activation in motor area of the brain during real walking and imaginary walking by means of fNIRS (functional Near-InfraRed Spectroscopy). Two subjects participated in the experiment. During imaginary walking, the subjects were instructed to imagine that they were walking with the same pace to a person in the video being shown to the subjects. As a result, the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in motor area during imaginary walking was higher than that during real walking in both of the subjects. This was because that it was not necessary to pay attention to the movements of the legs and feet during normal walking on the plain road without any obstacles, while movement planning was required when the subjects imagined their walking in the same way to another person. The experiment result indicated that it is possible to quicken walking rehabilitation by imaginary walking.

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