• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.307-314
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• 2021

Activated hwangtoh (ACT) is a natural resource abundant in South Korea, approximately 15.0% of soil. It is an efficient mineral admixture that has activated pozzolanic properties through high-temperature heating and rapid cooling. The purpose of this study is to improve a curb mixture that can reduce NOx outside and investigate durability performance. To this end, mortar curb specimens were manufactured by replacing OPC with ACT. The ACT substitution ratios of 0.0, 10.0, and 25.0% were considered, and mechanical and durability tests on the curb specimens were conducted at 28 and 91 days of age. Steam curing was carried out for three days for the production of curbs, which was very effective to strength development at early ages. The reduction in strength at early ages could be compensated through this process, and no significant performance degradation was evaluated in the tests on chloride attack, carbonation, and freezing and thawing. The mortar curb with an ACT of 10.0~25.0% replacement ratio exhibited clear NOx reduction through photocatalytic (TiO2) treatment. This is due to the increase in physical absorption through surface absorption and the photocatalyst-containing TiO2 coating. In this study, the reasonable range of the ACT replacement ratio for NOx reduction was quantitatively evaluated through a comprehensive analysis of each test.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.285-298
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• 2021

This study focused on experimental evaluation of mechanical properties of pervious concrete mixtures with the aim of achieving higher values of strength while considering the associated costs. The effectiveness of key parameters, including cement content, water to cement ratio (W/C), aggregate to cement ratio (A/C), and sand replacement was statistically analyzed using paired-samples t-test, Taguchi method and one-way ANOVA. Taguchi analysis determined that in general, the role of W/C was more significant in increasing strength, both compressive and flexural, than cement content and A/C. It was found that increase in replacing percent of coarse aggregate with sand could undermine specimens to percolate water, though one-way ANOVA analysis determined statistically significant increases in values of strength of mixtures. Cost analysis revealed that higher strengths did not necessarily correspond to higher costs; in addition, increasing the cement content was not an appropriate scenario to optimize both strength and cost. In order to obtain the optimal values, response surface method (RSM) was carried out. RSM optimization helped to find out that W/C of 0.40, A/C of 4.0, cement content of about 330 kg/m3 and replacing about 12% of coarse aggregate with sand could result in the best values for strength and cost while maintaining adequate permeability.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.631-643
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• 2018

The focus of this paper is given to the investigation of mechanical properties of steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete after being exposed to fire. The research programme covered tests of two sets of beams: specimens subjected to fire and specimens not subjected to fire. The fire test was conducted in an environment mirroring one of possible real fire situations where concrete surface for an extended period of time is directly exposed to flames. Micro-cracking of concrete surface after tests was digitally catalogued. Compressive strength was tested on cube specimens. Flexural strength and equivalent flexural strength were tested according to RILEM specifications. Damages of specimens caused by spalling were assessed on a volumetric basis. A comparison of results of both sets of specimens was performed. Significant differences of all tested properties between two sets of specimens were noted and analysed. It was proved that the limit of proportionality method should not be used for testing fire damaged beams. Flexural characteristics of steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete were significantly influenced by fire. The influence of fire on properties of steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete was discussed.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.9-19
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• 2019

This paper describes an experimental investigation on hybrid fiber reinforced concrete (HYFRC) beams. And the main aim of this present paper is to examine the dynamic characteristics and damage evaluation of undamaged and damaged HYFRC beams under free-free constraints. In this experimental work, totally four RC beams were cast and analyzed in order to evaluate the dynamic behavior as well as static load behavior of HYFRCs. Hybrid fiber reinforced concrete beams have been cast by incorporating two different fibers such as steel and polypropylene (PP). Damage of HYFRC beams was obtained by cracking of concrete for one of the beams in each set under four-point bending tests with different percentage variation of damage levels as 50%, 70% and 90% of maximum ultimate load. And the main dynamic characteristics such as damping, fundamental natural frequencies, mode shapes and frequency response function at each and every damage level has been assessed by means of non-destructive technique (NDT) with hammer excitation. The fundamental natural frequency and damping values obtained through dynamic tests for HYFRC beams were compared with control (reference) RC beam at each level of damage which has been acquired through static tests. The static experimental test results emphasize that the HYFRC beam has attained higher ultimate load as compared with control reinforced concrete beam.

• Acute and Critical Care
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.197-205
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• 2018

Lung transplantation is widely accepted as the only viable treatment option for patients with end-stage lung disease. However, the imbalance between the number of suitable donor lungs available and the number of possible candidates often results in intensive care unit (ICU) admission for the latter. In the ICU setting, critical care is essential to keep these patients alive and to successfully bridge to lung transplantation. Proper management in the ICU is also one of the key factors supporting long-term success following transplantation. Critical care includes the provision of respiratory support such as mechanical ventilation (MV) and extracorporeal life support (ECLS). Accordingly, a working knowledge of the common critical care issues related to these unique patients and the early recognition and management of problems that arise before and after transplantation in the ICU setting are crucial for long-term success. In this review, we discuss the management and selection of candidates for lung transplantation as well as existing respiratory support strategies that involve MV and ECLS in the ICU setting.

• Acute and Critical Care
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.230-237
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• 2018

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) is closely associated with health outcomes, including mortality in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU). However, research regarding this issue is lacking, especially in countries where the National Health Insurance System is mainly responsible for health care. This study aimed to investigate how the SES of ICU patients in South Korea is associated with mortality. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of adult patients aged ${\geq}20$ years admitted to ICU. Associations between SES-related factors recorded at the time of ICU admission and 30-day and 1-year mortalities were analyzed using univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses. Results: A total of 6,008 patients were included. Of these, 394 (6.6%) died within 30 days of ICU admission, and 1,125 (18.7%) died within 1 year. Multivariable Cox regression analysis found no significant associations between 30-day mortality after ICU admission and SES factors (P>0.05). However, occupation was significantly associated with 1-year mortality after ICU admission. Conclusions: Our study shows that 30-day mortality after ICU admission is not associated with SES in the National Health Insurance coverage setting. However, occupation was associated with 1-year mortality after ICU admission.

• Acute and Critical Care
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.271-275
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• 2018

We experienced a case of severe intraoperative hyperkalemia during laparoscopic radical nephrectomy in a 60-year-old male patient with renal insufficiency, whose hypertension had been managed by preoperative angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) and adrenergic beta-antagonist. After renal vessel ligation, his intraoperative potassium concentration suddenly increased to 7.0 mEq/L, but his electrocardiography (ECG) did not show any significant change. While preoperative ARB therapy has been regarded as a contributing factor for further aggravation of underlying renal insufficiency, we assumed that nephrectomy itself and rhabdomyolysis caused by surgical trauma also aggravated the underlying renal dysfunction and resulted in sudden hyperkalemia. Hyperkalemia was managed successfully with calcium gluconate, insulin, furosemide and crystalloid loading during the intraoperative and immediate postoperative periods, and potassium concentration decreased to 5.0 mEq/L at 8 hours after the operation. The patient's hospital course was uncomplicated, but his renal function deteriorated further.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2019

This paper evaluates the workability and hardened properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) containing silica fume as the partial replacement of cement. SCC mixtures with 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10% silica fume were tested for fresh and hardened properties. Slump flow with $T_{500}$ time, L-box and V-funnel tests were performed for evaluating the workability properties of SCC mixtures. Compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of rupture were performed on hardened SCC mixtures. Experiments revealed that replacement of cement by silica fume equal to and more than 4% reduced the slump flow diameter and increased the $T_{500}$ and V-funnel time linearly. Compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of rupture increased with increasing the replacement level of cement by silica fume and were found to be maximum for SCC mixture with 10% silica fume. Further, residual hardened properties of SCC mixture yielding maximum strengths (i.e., SCC with 10% silica fume) were determined experimentally after heating the concrete samples up to 200, 400, 600 and $800^{\circ}C$. Reductions in hardened properties up to $200^{\circ}C$ were found to be very close to normal vibrated concrete (NVC). For 400 and $600^{\circ}C$ reductions in hardened properties of SCC were found to be more than NVC of the same strength. Explosive spalling occurred in concrete specimens before reaching $800^{\circ}C$.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.39-50
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• 2019

This study presents a comprehensive experimental investigation on mostly encountered types of Reinforced Concrete Haunched Beams (RCHBs) where three modes of RCHBs investigated; the diversity of studied beams makes it a pioneer in this topic. The experimental study consists of twenty RCHBs and four prismatic beams. Effects of important parameters including beam type, the inclination angle, flexure and compressive reinforcement, shear reinforcement on mechanical behavior and failure mode of each mode of RCHBs were examined in detail. Furthermore crack propagation at certain load levels were inspected and visualized for each RCHB mode. The results confirm that RCHBs have different behavior in shear as compared to the prismatic beams. At the same time, different mechanical behavior was observed between the modes of RCHBs. Therefore, RCHBs were classified into three modes according to the inclination shape and mode of failure (Modes A, B and C). However, it was observed that there is no significant difference between RCHBs and prismatic beams regarding flexural behavior. Moreover, a new and unified formula was proposed to predict the critical effective depth of all modes of RCHBs that is very useful to predict the critical section for failure.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2019

A comprehensive assessing approach for durability of reinforced concrete structures dealing with the corrosion process of rebar subjected to the attack of aggressive agent from environment was proposed in this paper. Corrosion of rebar was suggested in the form of combination of global corrosion and pitting. Firstly, for the purposed of considering the influence of rebar's radius, a type of Plane Corrosion Model (PCM) based on uniform corrosion of rebar was introduced. By means of FE simulation approach, global corrosion process of rebar regarding PCM and LCM (Linear Corrosion Model) was regressed and compared according to the data from Laboratoire $Mat{\acute{e}}riaux$ et $Durabilit{\acute{e}}$ des Constructions (LMDC). Secondly, pitting factor model of rebar in general descend law with corrosion degree was introduced in terms of existing experimental data. Finally, with the comprehensive numerical simulation, the durability of an existing arch bridge was studied in depth in deterministic way, including diffusion process and sectional strength of typical cross section of arch, crossbeam and deck slab. Evolution of structural capacity considering life-cycle rehabilitation strategy indicated the degradation law of durability of reinforced arch bridges.