Fully Softened and Residual Shear Strengths of Midra Shale

This paper presents a comparison of the fully softened shear strengths measured using the triaxial and torsional ring shear devices for a shale that possesses noticeably high plasticity and induration. The residual shear strength measured using the torsional ring shear device was also introduced for a supplementary comparison. It was shown that the mode of shear (e.g., the triaxial mode or the torsional ring mode) slightly affects the measured fully softened shear strength of Midra shale. The fully softened strength failure envelopes associated with the two shearing modes exhibit a moderate degree of nonlinearity that is in turn higher than that of the residual shear strength envelope. The measured classification indices of Midra shale are significantly sensitive to the sample preparation procedure. As a result, care should be taken when predicting the fully softened and residual shear strengths of Midra shale using relationships that correlate shear strength to such indices

Large-Scale Land Reclamation and Soil Improvement for a City Expansion

This paper describes the geotechnical experience gained over the last 25 years at a 21-square kilometers waterfront development along the east coast of Doha city, Qatar. The development process involved filling a shallow bay using approximately 53 million cubic meters of calcareous sand with gravel and limestone fragments, making it one of the largest land reclamation projects in the world. The 2 to 3-meter-high filling was placed on natural seabed deposits that typically consist of a 1.0 m to 1.25 m top layer of soft plastic silt followed by an approximately 3.5 meters of loose to medium sand and an extended layer of weathered limestone. The subsurface layers that posed engineering problems such as excessive settlement to constructions in the filled area were primarily the soft plastic silt and loose sand. Field and laboratory tests conducted before and after filling showed a significant soil improvement due to fill loading and the consequent soil aging. This is attributed to primary and secondary consolidation of plastic silt and secondary compression of sand. Settlement analysis considering this improvement has led to the use of shallow foundations for low-rise and relatively high-rise structures changing the general practice of overusing the costly and time-consuming deep foundations and soil replacement

International Conference on Civil Infrastructure and Construction (CIC 2020)

This is the proceedings of the CIC 2020 Conference, which was held under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani in Doha, Qatar from 2 to 5 February 2020. The goal of the conference was to provide a platform to discuss next-generation infrastructure and its construction among key players such as researchers, industry professionals and leaders, local government agencies, clients, construction contractors and policymakers. The conference gathered industry and academia to disseminate their research and field experiences in multiple areas of civil engineering. It was also a unique opportunity for companies and organizations to show the most recent advances in the field of civil infrastructure and construction. The conference covered a wide range of timely topics that address the needs of the construction industry all over the world and particularly in Qatar. All papers were peer reviewed by experts in their field and edited for publication. The conference accepted a total number of 127 papers submitted by authors from five different continents under the following four themes: Theme 1: Construction Management and Process Theme 2: Materials and Transportation Engineering Theme 3: Geotechnical, Environmental, and Geo-environmental Engineering Theme 4: Sustainability, Renovation, and Monitoring of Civil InfrastructureThe list of the Sponsors are listed at page 1

Predicted and Back-calculated Coefficients of Permeability of Randomly Fractured Rock Mass: A Case Study

This paper presents the discrepancy between the coefficients of permeability measured for randomly fractured limestone using field falling-head tests and that back-calculated for the same rock mass based on the actual discharge yielded from a dewatering system designed for a typical construction site in Doha, Qatar. The study results showed that the back-calculated coefficient of permeability is outside the range of the values measured from the falling-head tests and almost seven times higher in magnitude than the fallinghead tests average. The need of having a reliable correlation that can be used to predict the actual permeability of randomly fractured rock in terms of its rock quality indices and the results of the commonly conducted field falling-head test is highlighted.The funding provided by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), Qatar, under Project No: NPRP12S-0314-190366, for this research work is deeply appreciated

Strengthening of Edge and Corner Columns using Concrete Jackets

Strengthening of columns using concrete jackets depends on friction at the interface between them. So strengthening of edge and corner columns in only one story needs a large cross section area due to the shortage of friction length which leads to architectural issues. This research aims to study strengthening the edge and corner columns using a concrete Jacket in more than one story which increases the friction area between the Jacket and the original column. As a result, the load transferred from original column to the jacket will be increased. Thirteen models were done using ANSYS program to study the effect of various factors on the Jacket capacity such as the number of strengthened floors, the Jacket type (two sides or three sides), and whether there were shear connectors or not. The results showed that in the case of the edge and corner columns, it is preferable to strengthen the column by making a concrete Jacket on at least two or three floors to increase the surface area, which leads to increase the friction and thus increases the capacity of the strengthened column by an acceptable percentage. The results of ANSYS models were compared with the Indian code IS 15988 (2013) and the results were shown differently because the code equations depend on the presence of a full bond between the concrete column and the Jacket, which does not occur, but rather the load is transferred by friction between the Jacket and the original column. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091716 Full Text: PD

Small Businesses and Their Impact on Texas

Report documenting the findings of a study on the impacts of small businesses in the Texas economy, broken down by various factors

E-MARKETING AS AN APPROACH TO DEVELOPING MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN SPORT CLUBS

إستهدفت الدراسة التعرف على مدى توجه الأندية الرياضية بالتسويق وذلك من خلال التعرف على (اتجاهات الإدارة العليا بالأندية الرياضية نحو المخاطرة ، مدى اعتماد الأندية الرياضية على الإستخبارات التسويقية ، اتجاهات الأندية نحو عملية نشر وتبادل المعلومات) ، مدى اهتمام الأندية بتنمية قدرات العاملين ، مدى اهتمام الأندية الرياضية بتطبيق التسويق الإلكتروني ، الوضع الحالي لنظم المعلومات التسويقية ، وإستخدم المنهج الوصفي بالأسلوب المسحي لملاءمته لطبيعة الدراسة ، وأُختيرت العينة بالطريقة العشوائية من بين العاملين في أندية (الأهلي الرياضي بدبي – الجزيرة الرياضي بأبوظبي – الشارقة الرياضي بالشارقة – الشعب الرياضي بالشارقة) وكان عددهم (249) فرداً ، في حين بلغ حجم عينة الدراسة الإستطلاعية لحساب المعاملات العلمية لمتغيرات البحث (30) فرداً من خارج عينة الدراسة ، وإستخدم الإستبيان كأداة لجمع البيانات ، وكانت أهم النتائج أن غالبية الأندية التي تطبق التسويق الرياضي تعاني من قصر النظر التسويقي ، ورغم أنه في أغلب تلك الأندية قد تمتد وظيفة التسويق بالنادي لتشمل قطاع إلا أن النادي في مجمله ليس لديها توجه تسويقي ، وإن وجد فهو ليس قوي بدرجة تؤدي إلى تغيير جذري في طريقة أداء الأعمال بالنادي ، هناك لقاءات بين العاملون في إدارة التسويق مع العاملون في الإدارت الأخرى داخل النادي لما فيه تطوير لعملية التسويق ، استراتيجيات وخطط الأندية الرياضية لا تعتمد على نتائج بحوث التسويق ، تطبيق التسويق الألكتروني بالأندية الرياضية يحقق أهداف النادي في ظل التطور التكنولوجي في مجال الإتصالات وتكنولوجيا المعلومات.The study aimed to identify the orientation of sports clubs marketing through recognition (trends in senior management clubs sports towards risk, the extent of adoption of sports clubs on intelligence, marketing trends clubs towards the process of dissemination and exchange of information), the attention span of clubs to the development of the capacities of personnel, the attention span of clubs Sports applying e-marketing , the current status of marketing information systems, and use descriptive approach style survey of its relevance to the nature of the study, and was selected the sample randomly from among workers in the clubs (Al-Ahli Sports in Dubai - Al Jazeera Sports, Abu Dhabi - Sharjah Sports Sharjah - Elshaab Sports Sharjah) and the number was (249 ) individuals, while the sample size of the survey to calculate the transaction scientific variables Search (30) individuals from outside the study sample, and use the survey as a tool to collect data, and the most important results that the majority of the clubs that applied sports marketing suffer from myopia catalog, although in most those clubs may extend the marketing function club to include the sector, but the club as a whole does not have directed marketing, and found it is not a strong degree lead to a radical change in the way the performance of the business club, there are meetings between workers in marketing management with workers administrations other within the club to the development of the marketing process, strategies and plans of sports clubs do not rely on the results of marketing research, the application of e-marketing sports clubs achieve the objectives of the club in light of technological development in the field of telecommunications and information technology

Rabies Virus Populations in Humans and Mice Show Minor Inter-Host Variability within Various Central Nervous System Regions and Peripheral Tissues

Rabies virus (RABV) has a broad host range and infects multiple cell types throughout the infection cycle. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and minor variant analysis are powerful tools for studying virus populations within specific hosts and tissues, leading to novel insights into the mechanisms of host-switching and key factors for infecting specific cell types. In this study we investigated RABV populations and minor variants in both original (non-passaged) samples and in vitro-passaged isolates of various CNS regions (hippocampus, medulla oblongata and spinal cord) of a fatal human rabies case, and of multiple CNS and non-CNS tissues of experimentally infected mice. No differences in virus populations were detected between the human CNS regions, and only one non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was detected in the fifth in vitro passage of virus isolated from the spinal cord. However, the appearance of this SNP shows the importance of sequencing newly passaged virus stocks before further use. Similarly, we did not detect apparent differences in virus populations isolated from different CNS and non-CNS tissues of experimentally infected mice. Sequencing of viruses obtained from pharyngeal swab and salivary gland proved difficult, and we propose methods for improving sampling

Breast cancer management pathways during the COVID-19 pandemic: outcomes from the UK ‘Alert Level 4’ phase of the B-MaP-C study

Abstract: Background: The B-MaP-C study aimed to determine alterations to breast cancer (BC) management during the peak transmission period of the UK COVID-19 pandemic and the potential impact of these treatment decisions. Methods: This was a national cohort study of patients with early BC undergoing multidisciplinary team (MDT)-guided treatment recommendations during the pandemic, designated ‘standard’ or ‘COVID-altered’, in the preoperative, operative and post-operative setting. Findings: Of 3776 patients (from 64 UK units) in the study, 2246 (59%) had ‘COVID-altered’ management. ‘Bridging’ endocrine therapy was used (n = 951) where theatre capacity was reduced. There was increasing access to COVID-19 low-risk theatres during the study period (59%). In line with national guidance, immediate breast reconstruction was avoided (n = 299). Where adjuvant chemotherapy was omitted (n = 81), the median benefit was only 3% (IQR 2–9%) using ‘NHS Predict’. There was the rapid adoption of new evidence-based hypofractionated radiotherapy (n = 781, from 46 units). Only 14 patients (1%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during their treatment journey. Conclusions: The majority of ‘COVID-altered’ management decisions were largely in line with pre-COVID evidence-based guidelines, implying that breast cancer survival outcomes are unlikely to be negatively impacted by the pandemic. However, in this study, the potential impact of delays to BC presentation or diagnosis remains unknown