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The correlations between mechanical behaviour, tensile strength, and rock parameters of metasedimentary rock samples in Karak, Pahang’s New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) were statistically evaluated from the rock mechanic laboratory works at the selected sections around 2,000 m of the tunnel (named as NATM-1). According to a statistical analysis, lithotypes, geological structures, and region geology have a significant impact on the mechanical behaviour of the metasedimentary rock. In the Brazilian test, the fracture behaviour of the disc specimens was highly related to the reliability and precision of the experimental data by validations of methods. In this work, the impact of different loading methods and rock lithotypes on the failure mechanism of Brazilian discs was examined utilising five different metasedimentary rock types and three different loading methods. During the loading operation, the strain and displacement fields of the specimens were recorded and evaluated using a computerised strain gauge system. The rock types, according to experimental data, have a significant impact on the peak load and deformation properties of Brazilian discs. With the method below, tensile strength point of a disc specimen is clearly regulated by the material stiffness and tensile–compression ratio. Seismic occurrences have had a substantial impact on changing the rock and exerting forces that may affect its mechanical characteristics as well as its vulnerability to weathering effects or discontinuities. As a result, the goal of this study is to look into the connection between rock mechanics and metasedimentary rock stress analysis in NATM-1, Karak, Pahang.

A scheduling method for determining the critical path in linear projects is presented, that takes into account maximum time and distance constraints in addition to the commonly used minimum time and distance constraints. The maximum constraints, though often present in the specifications of a project, are not considered during the planning procedure, since no method existed to enable scheduling with them. The proposed method builds on the concept of the maximum constraints and expands on the necessary background for their implementation into the schedule. The introduced critical path algorithm allows for grouping linear activities into four categories regarding their critical status and their ability to influence project duration. The method is applied to a low‐pressure pipeline construction project and the results are presented.

Because of the properties of loess, the occurrence of collapse following deformation of a large settlement is a common problem during the excavation of tunnels on loess ground. Hence, risk management for safer loess tunnel construction is of great significance. The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of factors on collapse risk of loess tunnels and establish a risk assessment model using rough set theory and extension theory.

The surrounding rock level, groundwater conditions, burial depth, excavation method and support close time were selected as the factors and settlement deformation was the verification index for risk assessment. First, using rough set theory, the influence of risk factors on the collapse risk of loess tunnels was calculated by researching engineering data of excavated sections. Then, a collapse risk assessment model was developed based on extension theory. As the final step, the model was applied to practical engineering in the Loess Plateau of China.

The weights of surrounding rock level, groundwater conditions, burial depth, excavation method and support close time obtained using rough set theory were respectively 10.811 per cent, 18.919 per cent, 24.324 per cent, 40.541 per cent and 5.406 per cent. The assessment results obtained using the model were in good agreement with field observations.

This study highlights key points in collapse risk management of loess tunnels, which could be very useful for future construction methods. The model, using easily obtained parameters, helps in predicting the collapse risk level of loess tunnels excavated under different geological conditions and by different construction organizations and provides a reference for future studies.

At any one time, 76 million people have an alcohol use disorder. Detoxification is a common intervention for alcohol dependence. There is a need regularly to assess and evaluate detoxification practice. The aim and objective of this paper is to describe the findings of audits which assessed the quality and safety of the detoxification experience and to implement changes to improve practice.

All community detoxifications in March 2009 and 2010 were included for the successive audits. Notes were inspected retrospectively three months post completion of detoxification using the audit standard.

A total of 50 and 59 people were eligible in respective audits. At 3 months post‐detoxification 23 per cent of patients had dropped out of treatment compared to 15 per cent in the re‐audit. In 2009, 31 per cent of patients remained completely abstinent and 10 per cent were drinking within safe limits but in 2010 figures improved to 36 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively. Disulfiram was continued by 66 per cent of abstinent patients in the initial audit and 89 per cent in the reaudit. Improved follow‐up protocol, regular advice and monitoring of disulfiram resulted in better abstinence and reduced drop out rates over successive years. Social and Behavioral Network Therapy and disulfiram taken under medical supervision after detoxification play a pivotal role in relapse prevention.

The study considers the importance of the post‐detoxification period, in terms of maintaining a patient's abstinence from alcohol.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a biographical sketch of Pauline Arnold focusing on her pioneering contributions to the field of market research.

Archival source material included the Pauline Arnold Collection at the University of Minnesota and the Lucy Sallick Papers including correspondence, unpublished documents, and the transcript of a 1995 oral history interview with Matilda White Riley, who was Pauline Arnold's stepdaughter. Primary historical source material includes the scholarship, both published and unpublished, of the subject. An important primary, published source for this study is the periodical, Market Research, to which Arnold contributed under the auspices of the Market Research Corporation of America from 1934 through to 1938.

Pauline Arnold's contributions to the field of market research are documented.

Pauline Arnold has been cited as having made important but neglected contributions to market research, including her advocating an understanding of customers' motives, needs, and wants. However, there is no published account of Arnold's life and work.

Contains a report on three‐dimensional finite element (FE) analyses of deformations and stresses resulting from the excavation of shallow underground railway tunnels. Multisurface elasto‐viscoplastic material models are employed for consideration of the mechanical behaviour of the soil and the shotcrete shell supporting the excavation. Both are formulated within the framework of closest point projection algorithms. For soil a cap model is used, consisting of a curved failure surface, a tension cut‐off and an elliptical cap. The latter allows consideration of the evolution of plastic strains even for the limiting case of a purely volumetric stress state. The movement of the cap is governed by a hardening law, describing the relation between the hydrostatic pressure and void ratio. The shotcrete model is a rotating crack model, taking ageing of the maturing concrete into account. It consists of a strain‐hardening Drucker‐Prager cone and three Rankine (crack) surfaces. Demonstrates the usefulness of the cap model to predict the mechanical behaviour of the soil by means of tests on remoulded, saturated clay. The model parameters of the clayey silt of Vienna, where the analysed tunnel is located, are fit to standard test results. The parameters of the shotcrete model are fit to test results published in the literature. Compares the analysis of a single‐track tunnel with the results of field measurements from sliding micrometers. Furthermore, the stresses in the shotcrete lining are examined. In view of the inhomogeneity of the material and of unavoidable deficiencies of the measurements it is fair to say that the mechanical effects resulting from the excavation of tunnels are modelled reasonably well.

This paper aims to examine selected similar Greek highway projects to create artificial neural network-based models to predict their actual construction duration based on data available at the bidding stage.

Relevant literature review is presented that highlights similar research approaches. Thirty-seven highway projects, constructed in Greece, with similar type of available data, were examined. Considering each project’s characteristics and the actual construction duration, correlation analysis is implemented, with the aid of SPSS. Correlation analysis identified the most significant project variables toward predicting actual duration. Furthermore, the WEKA application, through its attribute selection function, highlighted the most important subset of variables. The selected variables through correlation analysis and/or WEKA and appropriate combinations of these are used as input neurons for a neural network. Fast Artificial Neural Network (FANN) Tool is used to construct neural network models in an effort to predict projects’ actual duration.

Variables that significantly correlate with actual time at completion include initial cost, initial duration, length, lanes, technical projects, bridges, tunnels, geotechnical projects, embankment, landfill, land requirement (expropriation) and tender offer. Neural networks’ models succeeded in predicting actual completion time with significant accuracy. The optimum neural network model produced a mean squared error with a value of 6.96E-06 and was based on initial cost, initial duration, length, lanes, technical projects, tender offer, embankment, existence of bridges, geotechnical projects and landfills.

The sample size is limited to 37 projects. These are extensive highway projects with similar work packages, constructed in Greece.

The proposed models could early in the planning stage predict the actual project duration.

The originality of the current study focuses both on the methodology applied (combination of Correlation Analysis, WEKA, FannTool) and on the resulting models and their potential application for future projects.

The North of England characteristically has higher levels of alcohol‐related harm and higher levels of mental illness compared with the South. The purpose of this paper is to present observations on the use of services by people who have both alcohol and mental health problems to explore the equality and economic impact of services.

Inpatient hospital datasets as well as other NHS service datasets were examined to gather intelligence on alcohol and co‐occurring mental and behavioural disorders.

The study finds that there are high levels of dual diagnosis (DD) of alcohol and mental health in the North West with significantly higher rates in the more socially deprived areas and gap in access to services.

These health inequalities in relation to DD can only be demonstrated robustly for hospital inpatient admissions because other datasets currently provide intelligence only at larger geographies – such as Primary Care Trust – or by service provider.

Population surveys are useful to generate estimates of the prevalence of mental health issues in alcohol users which then reveal that there are greater inequalities in access to services in more deprived populations. Such valuable intelligence should be generated at the local level so that the most appropriate and the most cost effective services can be commissioned for the local population.

This is the first time that the economic cost of DD in the various services has been estimated.