• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.849-864
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• 2019

One way to achieve sustainable construction is to reduce concrete consumption by use of more sustainable and higher strength concrete. Modern building codes do not cover the use of ultra-high strength concrete (UHSC) in the design of composite structures. Against such background, this paper investigates experimentally the mechanical properties of steel fibre-reinforced UHSC and then the structural behaviors of UHSC encased steel (CES) members under both concentric and eccentric compressions as well as pure bending. The effects of steel-fibre dosage and spacing of stirrups were studied, and the applicability of Eurocode 4 design approach was checked. The test results revealed that the strength of steel stirrups could not be fully utilized to provide confinement to the UHSC. The bond strength between UHSC and steel section was improved by adding the steel fibres into the UHSC. Reducing the spacing of stirrups or increasing the dosage of steel fibres was beneficial to prevent premature spalling of the concrete cover thus mobilize the steel section strength to achieve higher compressive capacity. Closer spacing of stirrups and adding 0.5% steel fibres in UHSC enhanced the post-peak ductility of CES columns. It is concluded that the code-specified reduction factors applied to the concrete strength and moment resistance can account for the loss of load capacity due to the premature spalling of concrete cover and partial yielding of the encased steel section.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.549-554
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• 2010

Increased external rotation and decreased internal rotation have been noted to occur progressively in the throwing shoulders of baseball pitchers. The purpose of this study was to provide descriptive data for terminal range eccentric antagonist/concentric agonist shoulder muscle strength in collegiate baseball pitchers with humeral head retroversion diagnosed through MRI. The dominant and non-dominant shoulders of 9 asymptomatic baseball pitchers were tested through a range of 20 degrees of external rotation to 90 degrees of internal rotation using the Biodex system 3 isokinetic dynamometer at speeds of $90^{\circ}/s$ and $180^{\circ}/s$. Differences between the dominant and non-dominant shoulders were assessed using the paired samples t-test. Total range of motion, measured at $90^{\circ}$ of glenohumeral abduction, was $180.1^{\circ}$ for dominant shoulders and $183.7^{\circ}$ for non-dominant shoulders. Humeral head retroversion measured $47.6{\pm}6.1^{\circ}$ in dominant and $37.8{\pm}5.3^{\circ}$ in non-dominant extremities. The mean internal rotator concentric contraction (IR-Con) showed a significant difference compared to $31.5{\pm}5.1$ (Nm) in dominant and $38.7{\pm}5.2$ (Nm) in non-dominant shoulders at $180^{\circ}/s$ (p<0.05). The mean external rotator eccentric contraction (ER-Ecc) showed a significant difference compared to $20.3{\pm}4.7$ (Nm) in dominant and $25.1{\pm}3.7$ (Nm) in non-dominant shoulders at $90^{\circ}/s$ (p<0.05). There is a pattern of increased external rotation and decreased internal rotation in the dominant extremity that significantly correlates with an increase in humeral retroversion.