Respec (United States)

Abstract Background: Despite progress in service coverage, many women in Tanzania still face barriers to using healthcare. This study aimed to assess the factors associated with barriers to healthcare utilization among women aged 15-49 years in Tanzania. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey. The study included 15,254 women aged 15–49 years. Regional variations in the proportion of respondents with healthcare access were visualized using a spatial map. A multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was conducted. The results were presented as adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All data cleaning and analyses were done using STATA 14 software. Results: In Tanzania, 49.8% [47.9, 51.6] of women reported barriers to healthcare utilization. Women with four or more children had higher odds of facing barriers [aOR = 1.278; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.55] compared to those with no children. Lower odds were observed among women with secondary [aOR = 0.790; 95% CI: 0.67, 0.93] and higher education [aOR = 0.409; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.68], married women [aOR = 0.833; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.99], and those covered by health insurance [aOR = 0.547; 95% CI: 0.43, 0.70]. Women who read newspapers or magazines [aOR = 0.791; 95% CI: 0.71, 0.88] and used the internet [aOR = 0.744; 95% CI: 0.61, 0.91] were also less likely to report barriers to healthcare services utilization, whereas listening to radio was associated with increased odds [aOR = 1.158; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.30]. Socioeconomic inequalities were evident, as women in the poorer [aOR = 0.733; 95% CI: 0.62, 0.87], middle [aOR = 0.513; 95% CI: 0.42, 0.62], richer [aOR = 0.363; 95% CI: 0.29, 0.45], and richest [aOR = 0.238; 95% CI: 0.18, 0.31] quintiles were less likely to experience barriers to healthcare services utilization compared to the poorest. Regional disparities were marked, with women in Northern [aOR = 2.554; 95% CI: 1.88, 3.46], Central [aOR = 2.643; 95% CI: 1.97, 3.55], Lake [aOR = 2.212; 95% CI: 1.73, 2.83], Eastern [aOR = 1.502; 95% CI: 1.10, 2.05], and Zanzibar [aOR = 1.738; 95% CI: 1.32, 2.29] zones having significantly higher odds of reporting barriers to healthcare services utilization compared to those in the Western zone. Conclusion: A substantial proportion of women in Tanzania experience barriers to healthcare utilization. Higher parity, lower educational attainment, lack of health insurance, limited exposure to media, lower wealth index, marital status, and geographical region were factors identified to be associated with problems in accessing healthcare in Tanzania. Policymakers should prioritize reducing regional disparities, improving geographic and financial access, expanding health insurance, strengthening community-based services, and promoting health education and digital literacy to advance equity in healthcare utilization.

ABSTRACT: A catastrophic pillar system failure occurred on the upper level of an underground stone mine (Mine A) in the eastern United States, leading to the collapse of the overburden with surface disturbance. RESPEC was engaged to perform a detailed post-failure analysis. To accurately represent the geomechanical behavior of the overburden, RESPEC developed an innovative calibration methodology to determine mine-scale material properties using FLAC3D. This approach involved iterative adjustments and validation against observed failure mechanisms, ensuring that the numerical model closely replicated field conditions and failure patterns of the overburden. By refining the material properties and calibration process, the model provided enhanced insights into the complex interactions governing overburden stability and collapse in room-and-pillar stone mining environments. This paper discusses the calibration process comprehensively, highlighting the key steps, challenges, and lessons learned during the analysis. The proposed methodology offers a reliable framework for improving predictive accuracy in numerical simulations and can be applied to similar underground mining scenarios for risk mitigation and design optimization.

ABSTRACT: For over 20 years RESPEC has been providing geomechanical services in the stone mining industry. Our experience has shown that the conventional view of stone mine rock mechanics as “simple” or “straight forward” is inaccurate. The geomechanical methods used to assess, monitor, and forecast ground behavior in stone mines are based on a limited amount of stone-specific research and rock mechanics principles developed for other types of hard-rock mines (e.g., deep metals operations). Furthermore, few new stone mines are being developed in the United States, so new production capacity is continually being developed in mines that are several decades to over 100 years old. The recent surge in major collapses at stone mines has underscored the need for the rock mechanics community to re-assess our conventional wisdom with respect to stone mining and re-energize the research community around stone-specific ground control phenomena. During the talk we will share some of our experience in numerical modeling, monitoring, and laboratory testing for stone mine geomechanical analysis. Our goal is to foster a deep discussion about the state of the art in stone rock mechanics and how miners, consultants, and researchers can collaborate to improve it.

On September 11, 2023, Storm Daniel unleashed unprecedented rainfall over the Wadi Derna watershed, triggering one of the most devastating floods in modern history, striking Derna, a coastal city in Libya. This study reconstructs the disaster using an integrated modeling approach that combines satellite imagery, hydrologic, hydraulic, and geotechnical simulations, machine learning, eyewitness accounts, and digital elevation data to assess the impact of cascading dam failures. Our findings reveal that the region’s dams, even if structurally sound, would have provided minimal protection against the extreme runoff. However, their failure unleashed a destructive surge wave, amplifying the disaster’s magnitude and devastation. Here, we show that the collapse of aging flood control infrastructures, compounded by inadequate risk assessment and emergency preparedness, dramatically escalated the disaster’s impact. Our findings underscore the urgent need for systematic dam safety evaluations, enhanced flood forecasting, and adaptive risk management strategies that address climate extremes and infrastructure vulnerabilities.

tests were performed in a dead-end drift of the Altaussee mine, where temperature and relative humidity experience very small fluctuations. These tests, which were several months long, proved that the creep rate of a natural salt sample is much faster in the 0.2-1 MPa deviatoric stress range than the creep rate extrapolated from standard laboratory creep tests performed in the 5-20 MPa range. In addition, the quasi-steady strain rate is a linear function of stress, and it is faster when grain size is smaller. These findings were consistent with microphysical models of pressure solution creep (rather than dislocation creep, which is the governing creep mechanism at high stresses). A gap in experimental data remained in the 1-5 MPa range, calling for a follow-up experimental program. In 2016-2019, three multi-stage creep tests were performed on salt samples from Hauterives (France), Avery Island (Louisiana, USA), and Gorleben (Germany), which had been tested in the 0.2-1 MPa range during the 2014-2016 campaign. Loads of 1.5, 3, and 4.5 MPa were applied successively on each sample for 8 months. Steady state was not reached at the end of each 8-month stage. However, tests results suggest that, in the 0.2-3 MPa range, the relationship between the strain rate and the applied stress is linear, a characteristic feature of pressure solution. For these three samples, the relationship between strain rate and deviatoric stress departs from linearity when the deviator is larger than approximately 3-4.5 MPa, pointing to a transition to dislocation creep at higher deviatoric levels. • Very long duration uniaxial creep tests were performed under controlled conditions. • The transient phase under low and moderate stress levels is long. • Creep rate below 3 MPa is faster than extrapolated from high-stress creep tests. • The strain rate-stress dependency is different at low and high deviatoric stresses. • The transition between linear and non-linear dependency lies between 3-4.5 MPa.

ABSTRACT Salt-pillar equations were developed over 25 years ago to assist with mine design. Pillar design is important for salt mines because the pillar size influences convergence of underground drifts with equipment clearance and headroom constraints, subsidence at the surface, and functional life of ground support. Current methodologies for salt-pillar design include using numerical-modeling techniques and salt-pillar-design equations as a method for estimating stresses and deformation rates. In this paper, three-dimensional simulations of square and rectangular salt pillars were performed, and the results were compared to the estimates of stress conditions using the salt-pillar-design equations. The results were used to investigate if the same salt-pillar-design equations are still valid following advancements in numerical-modeling software and the constitutive behavior of salt. This paper (1) reviews the salt-pillar-design equations, (2) compares the estimated stress conditions using numerical-modeling methods with the salt-pillar-design equations, and (3) discusses applications for the use of salt-pillar-design equations to salt mine design. INTRODUCTION The room and pillar size play a crucial role in the viability of an underground mine. Even for extensive mineral resource mines such as salt, pillar design influences the roof-to-floor convergence rate, stability of the salt back and nonsalt units, and accessibility period of mine workings. Unlike hard rock or coal mines, time-dependent deformational behavior of salt increases the pillar design complexity in underground salt mines. With technological advancement and laboratory creep tests on salt specimens, site-specific creep laws can be determined, and sophisticated numerical models can be developed to predict the room-and-pillar response over a specified period. Van Sambeek (1996) presented that the simple pillar-design equations for salt pillars can reproduce the results of extensive numerical models, such as stress conditions in salt pillars. The premise of the Van Sambeek salt-pillar-design equations is that the average values of the vertical stress, the two horizontal stresses (as compared to their actual distributions), and the corresponding deviatoric of those average stresses are adequate to estimate the pillar's creep behavior and structural stability. Therefore, the salt-pillar-design equations relate the stress averages to the shape of the pillar in terms of its height-to-width (H:W) and height-to-length (H:L) ratios.

Investigate the sources of Springs 1 and 2, which supply Virginia City, and evaluate potential for alternative water supplies.

Tuesday, August 8, 2019 PRESENTER: Sam Voegeli, M.Sc., RESPEC HOST: John Jackson, Enbridge MODERATOR: Laurie Perry, PRCI CLICK BUY/DOWNLOAD TO ACCESS WEBINAR REGISTRATION LINK The PRCI Underground Storage Technical Committee invites you to join them as they present the results from a research project that evaluated the accuracy of downhole wireline temperature logging, and the related calculation methods, to estimate gas inventory in storage caverns. Expected Benefits/Learning Outcomes: � Gain an understanding of how inaccurate wireline temperature logging impacts the estimated gas inventory in storage caverns; � Find out what factors have the greatest influence on the accuracy of wireline temperature logging and � Learn how suitable wireline temperature logging is for estimating gas inventories. Who Should Attend? � Gas Storage Personnel � Field Engineers � Integrity Engineers New regulations enacted by the Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Administration (PHMSA) require gas cavern operators to calculate gas inventories to ensure continuance of cavern integrity; therefore, PRCI members initiated research to evaluate the accuracy of conventional inventory and calculation methods currently used. The study presents an initial computational fluid dynamic investigation into the appropriateness of wireline temperature logging for gas inventory calculations. Recommended pre-reading: Project final report: PR-317-1770-R01 Accuracy of Temperature Logging for Calculating Gas Inventory in Storage Caverns