Field measurements and back-analysis of marine clay geotechnical characteristics under reclamation fills

Due to the scarcity of land at coastal regions around the world, land reclamation is commonly carried out for the future expansion of various infrastructure facilities. Marine clay is present at the coastal regions of Southeast Asia. Land reclamation on this highly compressible soil foundation often requires the use of soil improvement works to eliminate significant future settlements from occurring. The combination of prefabricated vertical drains with preloading is one of the most widely used ground improvement methods in land reclamation projects. The best means available for field measurement and back-analysis of the marine clay geotechnical characteristics under reclamation fills is by carrying out extensive field instrumentation and in-situ tests. In-situ testing of marine clay was carried out at a test site. In-situ penetration testing was used to analyse the degree of consolidation, the improved shear strengths, overconsolidation ratio and the effective stress of marine clay prior to reclamation as well as after surcharge loading. In-situ dissipation testing was used to determine the coefficient of consolidation due to horizontal flow and horizontal hydraulic conductivity of the marine clay prior to reclamation as well as after surcharge loading. The in-situ penetration and dissipation tests were carried out by means of the field vane shear, piezocone, dilatometer, self-boring pressuremeter and BAT permeameter. Field instrumentation methods, assessment and hack-analysis of marine clay behaviour under reclamation fills forms the crux of this research.The factors that affect the field instrumentation assessment of marine clays treated with prefabricated vertical drains, forms an integral part of this research study. Settlement gauges and piezometers were used to monitor the performance of the vertical drains and to assess the degree of consolidation of the improved soil at two case study sites. The field settlement data were back-analysed by the Asaoka and Hyperbolic methods to predict the ultimate settlement of the reclaimed land under the surcharge fill. Back-analysis of the field settlement and piezometer monitoring data also enabled the coefficient of consolidation due to horizontal flow to be closely estimated. Finite element modeling of marine clay and prefabricated vertical drains was carried out and compared with the field surface settlement results at the two case study sites

Relationship of Psychological Well-Being With Perceived Stress, Coping Styles, and Social Support Amongst University Undergraduates

The psychological well-being of undergraduates in Malaysia in relation to their perceived stress, coping styles, and social support has not been thoroughly investigated. The aims of the study are (a) to explore the level of psychological well-being, perceived stress, coping styles, and social support; (b) to get an accurate description of the demographic variables; (c) to explore the relationships between psychological well-being, perceived stress, coping styles, and social support; (d) to explore the relationships between psychological well-being, perceived stress, coping styles, and social support after controlling for the possible intervening (demographic) variables; and (e) to explore the differences in psychological well-being, perceived stress, coping styles, and social support with reference to gender, status of learner, and religiosity each in its turn. A random stratified cluster sample of 422 from the faculty of Educational Studies was taken, as a representative of undergraduates in that particular faculty in Universiti Putra Malaysia. The sample came from each of the six programmes in the faculty - the Physical Education programme, the Agricultural Sciences programme, Teaching English As A Second Language programme, Guidance And Counseling programme, the Home Sciences programme, and Teaching Malay As A First Language programme

The Impact of Organizational Environmental Support on Organizational Sustainable Performance: The Mediating Role of Employee Green Behaviour in selected Commercial banks in Batticaloa Region of Sri Lanka

Sustainability is a major global concern and there has been increased pressure on organizations from the stakeholders to broaden the focus of business performance beyond financial performance. Companies should have a balance among financial, social and environmental performance in order to be competitive and survive in the long term. Committed employees are the key asset of every organization and organizations can engage employees in improving their sustainable performance. This paper aims to provide empirical evidence of the associations between organizational environmental support and organizational sustainable performance with the mediating role of employee green behaviour within the selected commercial banks in the Batticaloa Region of Sri Lanka. Data collection was made from 173 employees who are working in commercial banks in the Batticaloa Region of Sri Lanka. Univariate, bivariate, and multi-step mediation analyses have been used to analyze the data. The results indicate that there is a significant positive association between organizational environmental support, employee green behaviour and organizational sustainable performance. It is also concluded that employee green behaviour significantly mediates the relationship between organizational environmental support and organizational sustainable performance. The research concerns the understanding of various environmental support initiatives and sustainable performance from the viewpoint of employees in the banking sector at imparting employee green behaviour as one of the important factors to meet challenges relevant to environmental sustainability in the dynamic banking sector. This study contributes to the field by bringing together the concepts of employee green behaviour with organizational environmental support and organizational sustainable performance in the context of the Sri Lankan banking sector and suggests the banks provide resources and a supportive environment for the employees to implement eco-initiatives. Keywords: Employee Green Behaviour, Organizational Environmental Support, Organizational Sustainable Performanc

The Effect of Environment Knowledge and Pro-Environment Psychological Climate on Environmental Citizenship Behaviour: The Mediating Role of Environmental Commitment

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of environmental knowledge and proenvironmental psychological climate on environmental citizenship behaviour with the mediating effect of environmental commitment. The primary data were collected from 177 employees of five selected commercial banks in the Batticaloa Region of Sri Lanka through self-reported questionnaires and analyzed by using univariate, bivariate, and multi-step mediational analyses. The findings of this study highlighted that environmental knowledge, pro-environmental psychological climate, environmental citizenship behaviour, and environmental commitment are at high levels among the surveyed banks. In addition, the findings discovered that there are positive and significant relationships existing among environmental knowledge, pro-environmental psychological climate, environmentalcommitment, and environmental citizenship behaviour of employees. Moreover, the mediating analysis revealed that environmental commitment partially mediates the relationship between environmental knowledge and environmental citizenship behaviour as well as the pro-environmental psychological climate-environmental citizenship behaviour linkage. This study has significant implications for managers who want to promote environmental citizenship behaviours, as they can benefit from improving the environmental knowledge of employees and developing a pro-environmental psychological climate in theirorganizational context. Key Words: Environmental Commitment, Environmental Citizenship Behaviour, Environmental Knowledge, Pro-environmental Psychological Climat

Laboratory testing of soils, rocks and aggregates

Testing rocks and aggregates are rarely covered in soil testing books and there are no separate books on rock or aggregate testing. Laboratory Testing of Soils, Rocks and Aggregates includes laboratory testing methods for most tests for soils as well as rocks and aggregates, which are becoming increasingly common in professional practice and university teaching. Part A gives a general overview of laboratory measurements, equipment, units, safety and standards. Part B covers soil tests from grain size distribution to consolidation, triaxial and direct shear tests. Part C covers rock tests, which includes the indirect tensile strength test and point load test. Part D covers the common tests carried out routinely on aggregates, which includes the aggregate impact value test and Los Angeles abrasion test. Each test consists of the following descriptive parts: Objective, Standards, Introduction, Procedure, and Cost. References are made to ASTM International (ASTM), Australian (AS), British (BS) and International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM) standards and any differences are noted

Green Manufacturing Practices and Sustainable Performance of Organization in Selected Manufacturing Companies in Kegalle District of Sri Lanka

This study aims to examine the impact of green manufacturing practices on sustainable performance of organization. In order to achieve the study objective, primary data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey among 70 manufacturing companies which are operating in Kegalle district of Sri Lanka. This study has used the convenience sampling (availability sampling) method and the unit of analysis was individual firms. The simple regression analysis was used to test the research model. The findings of the study revealed that there is a moderate level of green manufacturing practices implemented in the selected manufacturing companies and sustainable performance of surveyed companies was recorded at in moderate level. And the findings of the study also suggested that green manufacturing practices have a significant and positive impact on sustainable performance of organization. This study suggested that manufacturing organizations need to focus more on the implementation of green manufacturing practices to ensure organizational sustainability.    Keywords: Green manufacturing, sustainable performance, Sri Lank

Contribution of Human Resource Management in Creating and Sustaining Ethical Climate in the Organisations

This paper reviews the existent literature on creating and sustaining ethical culture and climate through human resource management (HRM) by discussing major issue and objective of managing ethical culture and climate and examining the state of human resource management in the same context. This review indicates different forms of ethical issues that still widely exist in the organisations and also reveals limited literature that examines how ethical culture and climate can be managed in organizations through effective HRM. The findings of this review present the contribution of functional dimensions of HRM in creating and sustaining ethical culture and climate at all levels in the organisations. This review also discusses the implications for practice and further research in relation to creating HRM-based ethical climate in organizations. Key Words: Ethics, Ethical Culture, Ethical Climate, Human Resource Managemen

The Relationships among Environmental Training, Environmental Attitude of Employee, Environmental Behavior of Employee and Environmental Orientation of Organization: A Review of Literature

AbstractThis paper reviews the relationships among environmental training, environmental attitude of employee, environmental behavior of employee and environmental orientation of organization. In order to achieve the review objectives, a systematic review of literature was conducted by using an archival method. This review process has used more than 70 research papers which are relevant to reviewed concepts. Findings of the review suggest that there are positive relationships among the reviewed concepts. Further, the relationship between environmental training (independent variable-IV) and environmental orientation of organization (dependent variable-DV) is mediated by environmental attitude of employee (mediating variable-M1). Similarly, environmental behavior of employee (mediating variable-M2) mediates the relationship between environmental training and environmental orientation of organization. Moreover, the environmental attitude of employee (M1) and environmental behavior of employee (M2) sequentially mediate the relationship between the environmental training and environmental orientation of organization (IV M1 M2  DV). Finally, this review proposes a three path mediation model which is useful to test and understand the relationships among the reviewed concepts empirically in the future.Keywords: Environmental Attitude of Employee, Environmental Behavior of Employee, Environmental Orientation of Organization, Environmental Training