1. Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, American Univ. of Sharjah, Sharjah 26666, United Arab Emirates.
2. Professor, Laboratoire Quartz, Supméca, 3, rue Fernand Hainaut, St Ouen Cedex 93407, France; Université Paris 8, IUT de Tremblay, Tremblay-en-France 93290, France.
3. Boyd Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (corresponding author).