The compliance with drug regimens and follow-up visits of 225 known cases of relapsed schizophrenia was assessed. About 27% of the patients met the criteria for good compliance. The compliance was found to be significantly related to the patients' view of usefulness of the medication, treatment duration of less than 5 years, dosage schedule of once or twice per day and the supervision of medication at home. Patients with poor compliance who were prescribed drug dosage of not more than twice per day throughout follow-up and underwent counseling to enhance treatment compliance had a significantly lower relapse rate than the controlled group at the end of 1 year of follow-up. The importance of family support and understanding patients' cultural background in ensuring good compliance was highlighted.
The subjective quality of life (QOL) of diabetic patients on oral hypoglycaemics was compared to schizophrenic patients who were well controlled with their antipsychotic medications. This comparison was made using the generic quality of life questionnaire produced by the World Health Organization QOL (WHOQOL) group, namely the WHOQOL-100. Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the psychological well-being and level of independence between the two groups. However, such measures revealed that the most impaired aspect of well-being in the schizophrenic group was the social relationship. Subjective QOL assessment is able to reveal deficits or handicaps that are obscure and probably difficult to appreciate on objective social and clinical evaluation. Such findings are valuable in planning the rehabilitative need of schizophrenic patients in the community.
Shear strength parameter is a crucial in designing the rock mass structures such slope and tunnel. Stability of rock mass structure is affected by apparent joint sets and discontinuities present in the rock mass especially when the joint interfaces degraded and physically altered due to weathering effect. The weathered condition imposed on joint surface importantly play the role to control the shear strength characteristic and sliding behaviour. A comprehensive study and focussing on effect of weathering grade to the rock joint surface particularly for granite type of rock was introduced. A set of granite samples were collected from a quarry then been classified into respective grade of weathering based on surface hardness by using Schmidt rebound hammer and rock material density by using PUNDIT test. The standard laboratory testing of direct shear test that accordance to ISRM suggested method were carried out on jointed block samples with different grades of weathering. Detail assessment on rock joint samples were evaluated to characterize the physical appearance of different weathered joint surface condition. The rock joint surface assessment made based on Joint Roughness Coefficient (JRC) then been correlate with thin section petrographical results for justification with respect to mineral composition contents. As the result, the shear strength of weathered rock joint significantly influenced by the weathering grade due to changes of microstructure behaviour of the granite. Moreover, the lower grade of the granite sample has low frictional resistance force to against the sliding, hence indirectly produced low shear strength of the rock joint.
In the past decade, porous asphalt pavements have gained popularity as a stormwater best management practice because this unique asphalt can reduce spray and splash in wet weather, consequently reducing hydroplaning and increasing visibility. However, despite porous asphalt benefits, there are still some weaknesses, such as short service life than dense-graded asphalt due to its lower durability and strength. Coal ash is one of the most abundant industrial wastes and may be harmful to living things and human life if disposed of wrongly. The combustion of coal in the furnace in the power plant produces coal ash, consisting of fly ash and bottom ash. Hence, in this research, utilizing fly ash (class F) and dry bottom ash as a replacement of mineral filler to reduce the drainage value and improve the strength of porous asphalt mix was investigated. Laboratory specimens were prepared using 50 blows of Marshall Hammer per side by the Marshall mix design method. The bituminous binder used was performance grade PG 76, which complies with AASHTO Standard M320-02. The percentage of binder content in the range of 4.0% - 6.0% in increments of 0.5% was used to determine the Design Binder Content (DBC). The mix with both ashes was found to be 5 per cent of DBC. The DBC value for both mixtures was then used to evaluate the mixtures’ performance, which went through a binder drainage test, and rutting test. The performance results were then compared with the control porous asphalt mix using mineral filler. The control mixture and both modified mixtures show drain down values of 0.3%, 0.262%, and 0.167%, respectively. The replacement of both materials into the control mixture indicates that fly ash and bottom ash could increase the binder’s heat resistance and efficiently retain the binder in the modified mixtures. Meanwhile, after the completion of 8000 cycles in the rutting test, it could be seen that the rut depth measured for the mix with mineral filler was 1.6mm, 1.93mm for the mix with fly ash, and 2.04mm for the mix with bottom ash. The bottom ash mix’s higher rut depth value is likely due to the bottom ash characteristic with higher unburned carbon content, thus decreasing the strength mix. It is concluded that an investigation between both ashes in porous asphalt has the potential for the road industry in the future, leading to sustainable highway development.
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