Foundation System Research Articles

Transforming Small-Scale Farm Entrepreneurship Through Innovation: the Case of Cross Link

The study focuses on the critical role of innovation, education, and technology in fostering agricultural entrepreneurship among youth, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The research highlights the challenges and opportunities encountered in the intersection of traditional agricultural practices and modern technology. The purpose of the research is to bridge the gap in literature regarding young agricultural entrepreneurs in Ghana, providing a detailed case study that could serve as motivation for other aspiring small-scale farmers. The paper investigates the factors that contributed to the success of Cross Link Farms, including the educational background, networking, and mentorship received by the entrepreneur, as well as the practical application of innovative technologies such as smart incubators and hydroponic systems. This case-paper demonstrates the importance of entrepreneurial education that instilled a passion in a student to become the co-founder of a farm entrepreneurship startup. The paper applied a case study approach; data were collected through the usage of interview. The interview was recorded and transcribed. The data were analyzed interpretively. The main conclusions emphasize that innovation and technology, when coupled with a strong educational foundation and support system, are vital in transforming agriculture in Ghana and similar regions. Cross Link Farms serves as a model for how young entrepreneurs can leverage these elements to drive change, enhance food security, and contribute to rural development. The findings suggest that targeted policies and programs that foster entrepreneurial innovation in agriculture are essential for sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Based on the case-study findings, recommendations for future research include conducting empirical studies involving entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan countries to assess the role of curiosity, resilience and passion in their entrepreneurship journey.

DESIGNING EARTHQUAKE-RESISTANT FOUNDATIONS: A GEOTECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE ON SEISMIC LOAD DISTRIBUTION AND SOIL-STRUCTURE INTERACTION

The design of earthquake-resistant foundations is a critical aspect of geotechnical engineering, particularly in regions susceptible to seismic activity. This study explores the role of seismic load distribution and soil-structure interaction in the development of resilient foundation systems. By integrating advanced geotechnical analysis techniques, the research examines various soil types, foundation materials, and structural configurations to identify the optimal conditions for mitigating seismic impacts. Emphasis is placed on understanding the interaction between soil properties, foundation stiffness, and seismic forces, with the goal of improving the safety and durability of built environments. The findings contribute to better predictive models for designing foundations that can withstand seismic loads while ensuring long-term stability.

Revolutionizing Knowledge Synthesis: Introducing AI-Enhanced Collaborative Theory (AIECT)

In an era of unprecedented data development, standard literature review approaches can result in information overload and missed chances for theoretical innovation. This paper introduces AI-Enhanced Collaborative Theory (AIECT), a paradigm for dynamic collaboration between artificial intelligence (AI) systems and human researchers to improve knowledge synthesis and theoretical progress. AIECT focuses on the intersection of human intuition and AI capabilities, including essential components like dynamic co-creation, iterative feedback loops, contextual intelligence, and ethical frameworks. Empirical experiments show that AIECT can significantly increase the efficiency and depth of literature reviews and theory creation, showing its potential to revolutionize research processes and address information overload concerns. While limitations such as sample size and the need for additional validation are acknowledged, the findings indicate that AIECT represents a transformative approach to academic inquiry, encouraging innovative, ethical, and nuanced research techniques. By safely integrating AI, AIECT sets the way for advances in knowledge synthesis and provides a systematic foundation for future scholarly endeavors in various domains.

Practice-enhancing publications about the medication-use process in 2023.

In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. This article identifies, prioritizes, and summarizes published literature on the medication-use process (MUP) from calendar year 2023 that can impact health-system pharmacy daily practice. The MUP is the foundational system that provides the framework for safe medication utilization within the healthcare environment. The MUP is defined in this article as having the following components: prescribing/transcribing, dispensing, administration, and monitoring. Articles evaluating at least one step of the MUP were assessed for their usefulness toward practice improvement. A PubMed search was conducted in January 2024 for calendar year 2023 using targeted Medical Subject Headings keywords and the tables of contents of selected pharmacy journals were searched, providing a total of 5,314 articles. A thorough review identified 40 potentially practice-enhancing articles: 8 for prescribing/transcribing, 15 for dispensing, 6 for administration, and 11 for monitoring. The trends from the articles are briefly summarized, with a mention of the importance within health-system pharmacy. The articles are listed and summarized in tables for further review and evaluation. It is important to routinely review the published literature and to incorporate significant findings into daily practice. This article assists in identifying and summarizing the most impactful literature from 2023. Health-system pharmacists have an active role in improving the MUP in their institutions, and awareness of significant published studies can assist in changing practice at the institutional level.

Comparative Analysis of Foundation Systems in Expansive Soil: A Three-Dimensional Model Approach to Moisture Diffusion and Volume Changes

AbstractThis study compares the performance of various foundation systems in expansive soils, such as mats, granular anchor piles, and concrete piles. Expansive soils experience volumetric changes due to moisture fluctuations, which can lead to structural damage. Abaqus software, in conjunction with the SCV approach, is used to analyze soil-foundation interactions. A custom subroutine enhances simulation accuracy by incorporating empirical data on unsaturated clay behavior, matric suction, and variations in effective stress. The method’s accuracy is validated by comparing simulation results to field and laboratory experiments. The findings indicate that increasing the applied load on mats decreases overall heave but increases the differential heave. Additionally, higher soil permeability dereases the differential heave of mats. Granular anchor piles outperform concrete piles by more than 50% in highly expansive soils, suggesting a preference for these foundations. This study provides insights into the behavior of expansive soils, which will assist engineers in designing resilient foundation systems for structures.

Numerical investigation of pile foundation systems employing an enhanced embedded finite element

The design of large-scale pile foundation systems is routinely assisted by finite element simulations. To a large extent, both the modeling and the computational effort of such analyses are governed by the adopted pile modeling technique. The traditional approach to this problem fully resolves the pile and soil domain employing solid elements, resulting in considerable meshing constraints and high simulation runtimes that may be regarded as unbearable for many practical purposes. As an attractive alternative to circumvent these obstacles, embedded FE models have become increasingly popular in solving this modeling task, mainly due to their flexible meshing procedure and significantly enhanced runtime efficiency. In a preceding contribution, the authors have proposed an extended formulation that provides a rigorous framework to capture soil-structure interaction effects at the physical soil-pile contacts. As a key feature, the implemented combined soil-pile coupling scheme explicitly accounts for endpoint interaction. However, validation studies have been constrained to single pile analyses to date. The present work expands this validation scope to large-scale boundary value problems involving multiple piles and investigates the model performance based on three different case studies. The results are compared to both, measurements and numerical benchmark solutions and provide exclusive insight into the numerical fidelity of the developed embedded FE model, with a view to increasing its potential for take-up in engineering practice.

Numerical Analysis of Load-sharing Behavior of Combined Pile Raft Foundation System

This study investigates the application of combined pile raft foundations in the soft soil of Kathmandu Valley, taking into account varying pile spacing and length. Both embedded beams and volume piles were used in numerical analysis to assess the load-sharing behavior of the raft and pile under different conditions. The settlement results from the volume pile, and embedded beam element was comparable, with less than a 6.21% difference, indicating that both methods are equally suitable for evaluation. The embedded beam element was selected for further analysis. The analysis suggests that pile load sharing is primarily influenced by spacing, while an increase in pile stiffness due to increased pile length has a minor effect. The load-sharing factor follows a log-linear relationship when the spacing exceeds 3D. Regarding the normalized vertical settlement of the pile, the power rule governs the load-sharing factor. This power function related to normalized settlement is highly beneficial for designing the CPRF and choosing the appropriate pile spacing and length. Finally, the capacity utilization curve suggests that a spacing greater than three times the diameter results in higher pile capacity utilization. Conversely, a decrease in spacing significantly reduces the mobilized strength of the piles.

Role of Geogrids and Geofoams as Interlayers in Pavement Foundation System: A Review

Role of Geogrids and Geofoams as Interlayers in Pavement Foundation System: A Review

Evaluating the feasibility of inverted T foundation on expansive soils

This paper presents a comprehensive design study conducted in Saudi Arabia, focusing on the performance evaluation of an inverted T foundation system in a building constructed on expansive soils. The study aimed to investigate the causes of damage and evaluate the performance of a proposed inverted T foundation. A single story market building in a semi-arid region with expansive soil was constructed utilizing a 40 cm-thick mat foundation as a precautionary measure against soil swelling. However, the building experienced instability and damage shortly after completion. This study explored the replacement of the existing mat foundation with an inverted T foundation. The research involved assessing the ability of the inverted T foundation to withstand swelling pressures and its impact on the structural members of the building. Design guidelines and tools were developed to support the design and analysis of the inverted T foundation. Economic feasibility was also evaluated. The study compared the effects of swelling pressure on two types of foundations: a mat foundation and a rigid strip foundation. The results showed that the inverted T foundation demonstrated less upward movement and was found more effective in mitigating the detrimental effects of soil expansion compared to the mat foundation. Design guidelines and tools, including schedules, and charts were developed to support the design and analysis of the inverted T foundation. The findings have significant implications for the design and construction of buildings on expansive soils, offering insights into the effectiveness of the inverted T foundation as an alternative solution. The research contributes to the knowledge of foundation design on expansive soils in general and provides practical guidance for engineers and practitioners in similar geological contexts.

Numerical investigation of punch-through mitigation in stiff-over-soft clays using skirted spudcan

Punch-through failure, a critical issue in offshore engineering, occurs when a foundation penetrates through strong-over-weak soil layers. This paper presents a study on the effectiveness of skirt addition to spudcans in addressing punch-through failure through numerical simulations using the axisymmetric Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM). The validity of the PFEM is verified by simulating a spudcan penetration centrifuge test. Subsequently, PFEM simulations are conducted to analyse the penetration behaviour of both generic and skirted spudcans in stiff-over-soft clays. Results from the simulations reveal the bearing responses of spudcans as they penetrate into clays, elucidate associated failure mechanisms, and underscore the significant of considering the spudcan-driving process in estimating punch-through failure mitigation. Findings indicate that, the skirt effectively mitigates punch-through failure by increasing plug height in the lower soft layer, thus reducing the rate of bearing capacity reduction. Furthermore, critical factors such as skirt length, upper layer thickness, lower layer strength gradient, and the strength ratio between lower and upper layers are assessed through comprehensive parametric studies to evaluate the efficacy of skirted spudcans in mitigating punch-through failure, with eventual goal to provide essential guidance for practical design considerations in offshore foundation systems.

Experimental investigation on the mechanism of local scour around a cylindrical coastal pile foundation considering sloping bed conditions

Sea-crossing bridges are often subjected to local scour, significantly impacting the bearing capacity of the foundation system and potentially leading to bridge failures. This study presents experimental investigations of local scour around a cylindrical pile under different sediment slope conditions in unidirectional currents. Unlike previous studies that focused on horizontal sediment beds, this research explores the influence of inclined sediment beds, which reflect coastal and offshore topographies, which have some angles of inclination. Utilizing flume tests, the research investigates the evolution of scour depth, scour range, and the morphology of the sediment bed across various angles of inclination. The study also evaluates the effectiveness of a scour countermeasure involving rip-rap material around the pile on sloping beds. Specifically, a steeper inclination angle induces a faster flow velocity, resulting in increased scour depth at the upstream side of the pile and a reduced scour range at the downstream side due to backfilling. The countermeasure scenario reveals a significant reduction in both scour depth and range. This research provides analysis of the effects of inclined sediment beds, which reflect coastal topographies than horizontal ones, thereby providing insights for the design and protection of bridge foundations in diverse coastal conditions.

Enhancing Onshore Wind Tower Foundations: A Comprehensive Automated Design Approach

The realm of green energy is in constant flux, drawing considerable attention from stakeholders dedicated to minimizing environmental impact, reducing costs, and developing structures that align with stringent standards. This study introduces an innovative approach aimed at improving onshore wind tower foundation systems, emphasizing both engineering and financial feasibility. The approach involves a comprehensive analysis of design load cases, particularly emphasizing resistance against overturn, while ensuring compliance with Eurocode guidelines. The foundation system is conceptualized as a beam slab with voids filled by soil material. High reduction in concrete quantity is achieved by reaching 30%, while the steel reduction reaches 90%. It is worth mentioning that the total cost is reduced by up to 70%. Furthermore, as a future trend, this study aims to integrate the new foundation system with steel 3D printing technology in the manufacturing process of the wind tower’s structural elements. This integration is expected to enhance the precision and customization of the superstructure-foundation system, thereby improving overall performance and efficiency. The optimized design not only significantly reduces construction costs but also streamlines installation, saving time. Simultaneously, this study enhances the structural behavior of the wind tower foundation by focusing on elements crucial to its efficiency.

Managing workplace AI risks and the future of work.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-the field of computer science that designs machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence-has seen rapid advances in the development of foundation systems such as large language models. In the workplace, the adoption of AI technologies can result in a broad range of hazards and risks to workers, as illustrated by the recent growth in industrial robotics and algorithmic management. Sources of risk from deployment of AI technologies across society and in the workplace have led to numerous government and private sector guidelines that propose principles governing the design and use of trustworthy and ethical AI. As AI capabilities become integrated in devices, machines, and systems across industry sectors, employers, workers, and occupational safety and health practitioners will be challenged to manage AI risks to worker health, safety, and well-being. Five risk management options are presented as ways to assure that only trustworthy and ethical AI enables workplace devices, machinery, and processes. AI technologies will play a significant role in the future of work. The occupational safety and health practice and research communities need to ensure that the promise of these new AI technologies results in benefit, not harm, to workers.

Using an anti-racist research framework to design studies of oral human papillomavirus and oropharyngeal cancer in San Francisco: rationale and protocol for the Health Equity and Oral Health in People living with HIV (HEOHP) qualitative study

IntroductionThe goal of our research programme is to develop culturally appropriate patient-specific interventions for primary and secondary prevention of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) among people living with HIV...

이자겸의 집권 배경과 인종초 이자겸 권력의 공식화

This article aimed at analyzing complex factors that made Yi Ja-gyeom in power and furthermore tried to find out how Goryeo reflected his unique authority in his position and officialized special power that originated from his authority. Yi Ja-gyeom was the first bureaucrat that was from non-royal family but alive as a grandfather of present king. In the same time, he was a meritorious retainer who enthroned his grandson King Injong by gathering support among aristocratic network members. His exceptional identities were formed by comprehensive combination of marriage rules of the Goryeo royal family, political situation after King Sukjong's accession, marriage strategies of the royal family in mid-Goryeo period, and biological coincidence. Hierarchy between King Injong and Yi Ja-gyeom differentiated according to the public and private spheres. Serious debate on legislative ways to accept their conflicting conditions was proceeded in the early period of King Injong’s reign and as a result the concept of ‘feudal lords with different family names (異姓諸王)’, which had already existed in chinese investiture system, was created in the Goryeo dynasty. Yi Ja-gyeom got the title as Joseongukgong (朝鮮國公), new rank higher than duke (公; gong) of the royal family. This concept and systematic foundation like arrangement of feudal administration office (開府) for it were used continuously until the period of Choi dictatorship. Yi Ja-gyeom went to the stage of referencing regent (知軍國事) as using the public foundation permitted to Joseongukgong. Unlike the case of Joseongukgong, this position of regent able to substitute for the monarchy could never be allowed in the Goryeo dynasty, and that’s why Yi Ja-gyeom failed in the end.

Liquefaction-Induced Failure of Demirköprü Bridge Pile Foundation and Retaining System Following the February 6 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake Sequence

ABSTRACT February 6, 2023, Kahramanmaraş-Türkiye earthquakes caused widely scattered damage in southeastern Türkiye. In this manuscript, liquefaction-induced failure of the Demirköprü bridge is discussed. The soil liquefaction triggering assessments and laboratory test results on surface ejecta suggested that the silty sand layer liquefied during the Pazarcık event. Back analyses of rotational failure surfaces revealed that the undrained residual strength and excess pore water pressure ratio values of the liquefied soil layer vary in the range of 17–30 kPa and 0.84 to 0.91, respectively. Comparisons revealed that the liquefaction induced instability would have been consistently predicted by available predictive models.

Assessment of the performance of spread footings and mat foundations on expansive soils

This paper presents two real case buildings that are redesigned considering the heave of the ground formation. The buildings are evaluated for upward swelling pressure, taking into account dead load, live load, and expansive soil load combinations. The criterion used to evaluate the safety of buildings constructed on expansive soils is first presented. Then, two scenarios regarding soil wetting are examined. In the first scenario, water only reaches the perimeter of the building, causing soil expansion at the outer boundaries. In this case, swelling pressure is only applied to the outer parts of the buildings. In the second scenario, heave occurs beneath the interior part of the building due to leakage from the domestic supply network. The structural integrity of the two buildings is evaluated by observing angular distortion at varying levels of swelling pressure. This assessment aims to determine to what extent the use of traditional foundation systems (spread footing and mat foundation) is feasible to support buildings on expansive soils considering different levels of swelling pressure. The study focuses on performing a detailed structural analysis of the building using the ETABS. The findings of this study have important implications for the design and construction practices in semi-arid regions.

Sustainability in tourism and hospitality: Artificial intelligence role in eco-friendly practices in Indian hotels

This study explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the growth and competitiveness of regional tourism and hospitality destinations. AI's application has both positive and negative effects on sustainable tourism. On the positive side, AI enhances accessibility to tourist sites, provides detailed information about attractions, simplifies understanding of costs and amenities, boosts local economies, and increases federal income. A notable downside is the replacement of human workers by machine learning technologies, which may necessitate remedial measures such as training. This review examines AI's foundational IT principles, current applications, and systems in the industry, focusing on the hotel sector. It concludes with an overview of AI’s challenges in this field, proposes a research agenda, and suggests future directions for AI development in tourism and hospitality.

Beyond "Taming Electric Scooters": Disentangling Understandings of Micromobility Naturalistic Riding

Electric(e)-scooters have emerged as a popular, ubiquitous, and first/last-mile micromobility transportation option within and across many cities worldwide. With the increasing situation-awareness and on-board computational capability, such intelligent micromobility has become a critical means of understanding the rider's interactions with other traffic constituents (called Rider-to-X Interactions, RXIs), such as pedestrians, cars, and other micromobility vehicles, as well as road environments, including curbs, road infrastructures, and traffic signs. How to interpret these complex, dynamic, and context-dependent RXIs, particularly for the rider-centric understandings across different data modalities --- such as visual, behavioral, and textual data --- is essential for enabling safer and more comfortable micromobility riding experience and the greater good of urban transportation networks. Under a naturalistic riding setting (i.e., without any unnatural constraint on rider's decision-making and maneuvering), we have designed, implemented, and evaluated a pilot Cross-modality E-scooter Naturalistic Riding Understanding System, namely CENRUS, from a human-centered AI perspective. We have conducted an extensive study with CENRUS in sensing, analyzing, and understanding the behavioral, visual, and textual annotation data of RXIs during naturalistic riding. We have also designed a novel, efficient, and usable disentanglement mechanism to conceptualize and understand the e-scooter naturalistic riding processes, and conducted extensive human-centered AI model studies. We have performed multiple downstream tasks enabled by the core model within CENRUS to derive the human-centered AI understandings and insights of complex RXIs, showcasing such downstream tasks as efficient information retrieval and scene understanding. CENRUS can serve as a foundational system for safe and easy-to-use micromobility rider assistance as well as accountable use of micromobility vehicles.

Evaluation of the seismic response of reinforced concrete buildings in the light of lessons learned from the February 6, 2023, Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye earthquake sequences

AbstractOn 6 February 2023, two significant seismic events occurred in the southeastern region of Türkiye. The seismic activity, which was perceptible in numerous countries beyond Türkiye, resulted in a considerable number of fatalities. A considerable number of individuals lost their lives and were rendered homeless as a result of the disaster. Two of the most significant factors contributing to the occurrence of these tragedies are the magnitude of the earthquake and structural deficiencies. The present study is concerned with a detailed analysis of these two factors. This study initially considers the seismicity of the region where the earthquakes that occurred on 6 February 2023 took place, as well as the seismic characteristics of these earthquakes. Subsequently, the findings of the field studies conducted in Hatay, Adıyaman, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya, the cities where the earthquakes caused the most destruction, are presented. The objective of the field study is to ascertain the collapse patterns, structural damages and the factors influencing these damages in reinforced concrete structures in the region. The primary causes of damage to structures can be attributed to several factors, including the presence of a strong beam-weak column mechanism, the soft story-weak story mechanism, the pounding effect, the short column damage, the long cantilever and overhangs, the short beam damage, the buckling damage, the torsion effect, the quality of the materials, the insufficient transverse reinforcement, the compressive failure due to over-reinforcement, the corrosion effect, the damage to reinforced concrete shear walls, the infill wall damage, and the damage caused by the soil and foundation system. These causes have been evaluated and recommendations have been formulated to prevent structural damage.