Based on detailed field data from recent geohazards surveys in the Loess Plateau region of western China, this study analyzes the key factors that control loess landslides. The evolution phase of river valleys, the geological structure of slopes and the geometry of slopes are all found to play a role in determining the occurrence, distribution and other characteristics of loess landslides. Groundwater and vegetation also contribute to their formation. A combination of human engineering activities and precipitation events are the principal triggering factors for the instability of loess slopes.

Two new channel assignment strategies are proposed. They are the Locally Optimized Dynamic Assignment (MDA) strategy and the Borrowing with Directional Channel Locking (BDCL) strategy. Their performance is compared with the Fixed Assignment (FA) strategy(current1y used on certain systems) and the Borrowing with Channel Ordering (BCO) strategy(the strategy that gives the lowest blocking probability in previous research). Computer simulations on a 49 cell network for both uniform and non-uniform traffic showed that the average call blocking probability of the BDCL strategy is always the lowest. The LODA performance is comparable with BCO under non-uniform traffic condition but is inferior under uniform traffic condition.

TIA is prevalent and an estimated 23.9 million people in China may have experienced a TIA. Public knowledge on TIA is very limited. TIA appears to be largely undiagnosed and untreated in China. There is an urgent need to develop strategies to improve the identification and appropriate management of TIA.