Since December 2019, the COVID-19 epidemic has been spreading all over the world. This epidemic has brought a risk of death in the daily activity (physical and social) participation that influences travellers’ physical, social, and mental health. To analyze the impact of the COVID-19-induced daily activities on health parameters of higher education institutes, 150 students of the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Perak, Malaysia, were surveyed through an online web survey using random sampling techniques. The data were analyzed through RStudio and SPSS using multilevel linear regression analysis and Hierarchical Structural Equation Modeling. The estimated results indicate that restricting individuals from doing out-of-home activities negatively influences physical and social health. A unit increase in the in-home maintenance activities during the COVID-19 pandemic introduced a daily increase of 0.5% in physical health. Moreover, a unit increase in the in-home activities at leisure time represents a 1% positive improvement in social health. Thus, physical activity has proven to be beneficial in improving physical and social health with severe COVID-19. In contrast, the coefficient of determination (R²) for all endogenous variables ranges from 0.148 to 0.227, which is incredibly acceptable in psychological research. For a healthier society with a better quality of life, this study adopted multidisciplinary approaches that are needed to be designed.

Peat is formed by the degradation of plants and animals in the lack of oxygen and is widely known for its very weak geotechnical characteristics. This is the reason to be considered as an unsuitable foundation soil for construction activities. Several attempts have been made to characterize and stabilize peat soil to make construction viable. This study encapsulates an extensive literature review of the available published data for Atterberg limits, consolidation, and stabilization of peat soil using traditional additives, especially cement and lime. Moreover, peat formation and distribution around the world are also discussed. The analysis of the gathered data shows that peat soils having a high amount of fibers may suffer a large amount of secondary consolidation when the load is applied. Besides, the compressibility factors vary for Malaysian peat due to different water and organic contents. The improvement of peat soil is challenging and expensive, requiring an extra amount of stabilizer for the initiation of the stabilization process. However, the optimum and threshold stabilizer’s dosage for peat is also a challenging task to predict due to several factors affecting the stabilization process. Lastly, the study concludes with recommendations on the implication of the fall cone and thread rolling tests for the determination of Atterberg limits of fibrous peat, effective consolidometer for peat, and utilization of traditional additives for peat soil stabilization.

Global climate change has increased severe torrential hazards, particularly debris flows in mountainous regions. After floods and earthquakes, debris flows are the most devastating natural hazard in the world. The effects of debris flow on human life and built environments necessitate reconsidering current infrastructure planning, engineering, and risk management practices. Hence, the vulnerability of elements at risk is critical for effective risk reduction systems. Therefore, this article reviews the existing physical vulnerability approach of infrastructure, particularly building toward debris flow hazards in the last 20 years. Furthermore, uncertainties associated with the vulnerability assessment and their quantification techniques have also been discussed in detail. It was found that matrices, curves, and indicators have been extensively used for vulnerability assessment approaches in the last two decades. However, if aleatory and epistemic uncertainties are not quantified or conserved in the vulnerability assessment process, it makes the system inefficient and unreliable. Moreover, data requirements, strengths, and weaknesses of approaches presented herein are highlighted with case studies. Finally, a thorough discussion on future needs in the field of risk assessment methodologies is highlighted by considering uncertainties into account.

Nowadays, the debris flow model has become an essential part of risk analysis and impact engineering. Coupled with field observations and historical records, these models have proven powerful tools to understand the behaviour of debris flow in complex terrain. However, their application poses several new challenges to scholars and engineers. A detailed understanding of the debris flow phenomena requires a sound knowledge of the shallow water equation and rheological model used to simulate the debris flow hazard. In this study, important rheological models used to analyse the debris flow process and their limitations have been highlighted. Furthermore, the suitability of the Voellmy-Salm rheological model has been studied for 2D pyroclastic flow taking different combinations of the coefficient of friction namely coulomb friction coefficient \i,and turbulent coefficient of friction £ using IMEX SFLOW 2D dynamic continuum model. It was found that velocity and runout distances are significantly influenced by the variation of the coefficient of the turbulent friction © at a large scale. It is then concluded that the identification of a suitable rheological model is necessary to simulate the precise behaviour of complex and heterogeneous debris flow