Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and has plagued humans for more than 200 years. The etiology and detailed pathogenesis of PD is unclear, but is currently believed to be the result of the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Studies have found that PD patients with the LRRK2:G2019S variation have the typical clinical manifestations of PD, which may be familial or sporadic, and have age-dependent pathogenic characteristics. Therefore, the LRRK2:G2019S variation may be an ideal model to study the interaction of multiple factors such as genetic, environmental and natural aging factors in PD in the future. This article reviewed the progress of LRRK2:G2019S studies in PD research in order to provide new research ideas and directions for the pathogenesis and treatment of PD. Clinically, PD can be divided into sporadic PD and familial PD. The etiology of sporadic PD is unclear. Familial PD may be caused by gene mutation. The age at onset, the rate of progression and the severity of PD vary, which may be the result of the interaction between genetic and environmental factors (Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s disease, and has plagued humans for more than 200 years. According to statistics, the prevalence of PD is approximately 0.3% in developed countries and is 1% in individuals over 60 years old. The main pathological changes in PD are the formation of Lewy corpuscles and a decrease in dopaminergic neurons (DANs) in the substantia nigra-striatum system, which leads to a decrease in dopamine (DA) content in the related nerve endings and an imbalance between DA and acetylcholine. It is generally believed that when DANs in the substantia nigra are reduced by more than 50% and DA content is reduced by more than 70%, PD patients will exhibit typical motor symptoms such as movement retardation, static tremor, myotonia and abnormal posture and gait . Of cour factors . Howeverleucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), α-synuclein (αSyn), SNCA, Parkin, PINK1, and GBA, the role of genetic factors in PD has attracted more attention , leucine-rich repeats (LRRs), the Ras of complex (Roc) GTPase domain, carboxy-terminal of Roc (COR), kinase domain, and the WD40 domain from the N-terminal to C-terminal . LRRK2 iLRRK2 gene, resulting in approximately 100 LRRK2 variants, many of which are related to PD, and the G2019S, R1441G, R1441C, R1441H, Y1699C, I2020T, and N1437H variants were confirmed to be pathogenic. Among these variants, for R1441G, R1441C, and R1441H the mutation is located within the Roc GTPase domain, while for Y1699C the mutation is within the COR domain, which also reduces the Roc GTPase activity. In addition, the newly discovered N1437H mutation within the Roc GTPase domain is also pathogenic. However, it is not clear which specific effects it has on GTPase activity. Finally, the remaining I2020T and G2019S mutations are located in the kinase domain, which increases the kinase activity of LRRK2. Recently, new mutations such as G2385R, A1441G and R1628P have also attracted considerable attention.Relevant studies  have fou2. This variation originated from a G > A substitution at position 6055 of exon 41 of LRRK2 gene that results in the change of a glycine to serine at codon 2019 of LRRK2. It was previously believed that the LRRK2:G2019S variation mainly occurred in Caucasians and no correlation was found between G2019S and PD in Asians until one such case was reported in Japan  in familial PD, but is also a common mutation (approximately 1%) in sporadic PD. Furthermore, it is markedly increased in specific populations and is up to 40% in North Africans and 30% in Ashkenazi Jews . It is tin Japan . Fundamein Japan  revealedSimilar to many other LRRK2-associated PD patients, PD patients with G2019S mutations have a heterogeneous pathology. However, the pathology has been reported in patients with a G2019S mutation, and it not only conforms to the typical α-synuclein Lewy-body type of PD, but also include diffuse Lewy-body disease, nigral degeneration without distinctive histopathology and, rarely, even aggregates of the microtubule-associated protein tau, suggestive of progressive supranuclear palsy or frontotemporal dementia. To date, it is still not fully understood how LRRK2 may affect the biology/pathobiology of α-Syn. One possibility is that the effect of LRRK2 on α-Syn may take place via the modulation of other key proteins, such as Rab GTPases or other kinases, which affect pathways involved in the degradation of α-Syn, and the propagation of pathology as well, resulting in PD-associated features, for example the appearance of typical α-synuclein Lewy-bodies . AccordiStudies have found  that theThe information mentioned above is in accordance with the current hypothesis that PD is caused by the interaction of genetic factors, environmental factors and natural aging factors. Therefore, this will promote the future study of PD if a PD model with the LRRK2:G2019S variation can be established.The development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and related techniques has provided new ideas for resolving the above issues . iPSCs aWith maturation of the iPSCs technology, the establishment of an iPSCs cell model from a LRRK2:G2019S PD patient was reported in 2011 , and relThe onset of PD caused by the LRRK2:G2019S variation is the outcome of interactions between multiple genes and molecular mechanisms. On the one hand, this involves the intersection of familial and sporadic PD, and on the other hand the embodiment of PD gene-environment-aging factor interactions. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the study of LRRK2:G2019S variation. It has been suggested that individuals with a family history of PD caused by LRRK2:G2019S variation should be screened. Early dopamine transporter imaging with single photon emission computed tomography (DAT-SPECT) evaluation  or measuLRRK2 gene also promotes PD (In addition, research on the genetic correction of LRRK2: G2019S has also been carried out . At presmotes PD .CR, YD, and SW found references and drafted the manuscript. YD and SW readed literature. LG and CZ summarized information. YJ helped to draft the manuscript. FW, SY, and PY designed literature retrieval strategy. CR, FW, SW, and SY modified and revised the manuscript. YD and PY drew figure. CR obtained fundings. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


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This paper aims to investigate the effect of the polypropylene fibre (PP) and basalt fibre (BF), singly or in hybridization, on the workability, mechanical, chloride resistance and pore structure characteristics of concrete. Sixteen mixtures consisting of PP and BF, both at volume content of 0.0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%, were fabricated, and the slump, compressive, splitting tensile, flexural and charge passed were tested. The results show the hybridization of the PP and BF can improve three types of strength of concrete in comparison to their single fibre. Nevertheless, the hybridization is not always conducive, and the synergy of fibres is proposed and divided into positive and negative effects. The combination of the PP and BF both at content of 0.1% achieves the best mechanical performance, and is recommended for practical usage. Incorporating fibres reduces the chloride resistance of concrete, and the hybridization is helpless to this phenomenon; even the reduction is intensified at a highly hybrid fibre volume. However, increasing the curing age can mitigate this adverse effect caused by fibres. Furthermore, the microstructures were explored to elucidate the macro-properties of concrete in terms of interface and pore structure. Concrete is the most commonly used material in the civil engineering construction due to its high compressive strength, easy production and low-cost characteristics. Simultaneously, concrete is also considered a brittle material, which is limited in poor tensile strength and low ductility ,2,3. EffAmong the various types of fibres, the hybridization of steel fibre and polypropylene fibre (PP) has been studied by many researchers ,18,19,20Basalt fibre (BF), a kind of inorganic fibre obtained from basalt rocks, exhibits good physical and chemical properties. BF has higher tensile strength than PP, better chemical durability and thermostability than steel fibre . These fHowever, the research on the properties of PBFRC is limited ,28,29. FObviously, the published papers are far from sufficient and lack any in-depth analysis of the synergistic effect of PP and BF. Besides the mechanical performance, the permeability is also considered to be the most important feature for the long-term performance of concrete and needs accurate determination ,31. HoweFrom the above, studying the properties of PBFRC is of significant importance to extend the knowledge of the increasing use of FRC, and help engineers design and utilize it practically. The objective of this paper is to study the workability, compressive, splitting tensile, flexural, chloride resistance, interface and pore structure of concrete reinforced with polypropylene and basalt fibres. Sixteen mixtures consisting of PP and BF both at volume content of 0.0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% were fabricated and cured for 28 and 56 days. Slump, compressive, splitting tensile, flexural, rapid chloride permeability (RCP), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mercury intrusion porosimeter (MIP) tests were applied and analysed in detail. Finally, the optimum PP and BF volume content was obtained and provided as a reference for design.Ordinary Portland cement (P·O 42.5) produced by the YaTai company of Harbin in China was used in this paper. Continuously graded gravel with size of 5–20 mm was used as coarse aggregate; river sand with fineness modulus of 2.7 was used as fine aggregate. A polycarboxylate super-plasticizer (SP) was also applied to meet the need for fluidity. The details of the sixteen mixtures are presented in A diagram of the test program is shown in After curing, the specimens were removed from the curing room and the mechanical properties were tested in a time period of approx. 1 h. The YAD-3000 test apparatus produced by ChangChun Kexin company  was applied for compressive and splitting tensile test, the Instron 5500R electro-hydraulic universal test machine was used for flexural test. All the mechanical tests were executed according to Chinese code GB/T 50081 , and theIn order to evaluate the chloride resistance of concrete, the rapid chloride permeability (RCP) test was adopted and conducted in accordance with the procedures described in ASTM C1202 . After 2Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed to analyse the morphology of fibres in the concrete matrix by using Quanta 200 produced by FEI company . The samples were taken from broken specimens after mechanical tests and crushed into small pieces, followed by drying in a vacuum desiccator at 50 °C until a constant weight was reached. Finally, a thin gold layer was coated on the concrete pieces before testing was conducted.The mercury intrusion porosimeter (MIP) test was adopted to analyse the pore structure of concrete, using the AutoPore IV 9500 test machine manufactured by Micromeritics company . Significant characteristic parameters, such as the pore diameter, porosity and mode pore diameter, can be concluded from MIP results. The samples were taken randomly from the specimens and broken into pieces of approximately 3–5 mm, and the weight of the pieces was approximately 4.5 g. Before testing, the samples were placed into a vacuum desiccator and dried at 60 ± 1°C for 24 h. Excessive drying temperature will damage the original pore structure of concrete.The slump results for all mixtures are presented in The same slump reduction in concrete due to fibre addition has been reported by other researchers ,38,39. TThe incorporation of PP in concrete at volume fractions of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% reduces the slump value by 23.08, 34.62 and 50%, respectively. The presence of BF at volume fraction of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% causes slump reduction by 7.69, 19.23, and 38.46%, respectively. This indicates a more tangible slump reduction in concrete reinforced with PP compared to BF at the same volume fraction. This can be attributed to the higher surface and a larger size of PP than BF.The compressive strength of mixtures including different fibre volumes is shown in The results show that incorporating PP alone decreases the compressive strength of concrete and the addition of the BF alone at volume content of 0.1% slightly increases the compressive strength. Compared with the control mixture, the compressive strength of concrete reinforced with PP at volume fractions of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% reduces by 9.02, 14.54, and 18.56%, respectively. Banthia and Soleimani  reportedIn general, the addition of fibres introduces defects, including bubbles and loose matrix in the concrete. More specifically, the defects are the poor fibre-interfacial transition zone (fibre-ITZ) with high porosity. These lead to a decrease in the compactness of concrete, which has a negative effect on compressive strength, especially at a higher fibre content due to uneven dispersion. However, evenly distributed fibres will form a dimensional network structure that can not only transport or dissipate stress well, but also effectively overcome the relative slip between the particles, and connect the damaged parts into a whole. Moreover, the bridge-action of fibre delays the formation and propagation of microcracks in matrix during cement hardening. The network structure and the bridge-action both show positive effects on the compressive strength. Once the positive effect overshadows the negative effect, the compressive strength will increase. On the contrary, the strength will decrease. BF has a more tangible positive effect than PP in compressive strength. This can be attributed to the fact that BF has a smaller diameter and there are more fibres per unit concrete volume at the same fibre length and volume content; a larger distribution density of BF may lead to a more powerful network structure.It is worth mentioning that the maximum compressive strength is achieved in the hybrid mixture PP01BF01, which contains 0.1% PP and 0.1% BF. The compressive strength reaches 68.5 MPa which is 4.74% higher than that of no-fibre concrete, which seemingly does not comply the single fibre rules on compressive strength as analysed above. This phenomenon can be explained by the complementation of two type of fibres. The complementation of fibres can be reflected in size or elastic modulus. Under this proportion, the different sizes of two types of fibres may cause a relatively more complete network structure compared to one size. The PP with low elastic modulus and BF with high elastic modulus can enhance the bridge-action of fibres at different stage of cement hardening . In addiAs expected, incorporating fibre significantly improved the splitting tensile strength of concrete, and the augmented percentage of the splitting tensile strength of fibrous mixtures is in the range of 2.67–43.65% in comparison to that of no-fibre concrete. The results are consistent with those analysed previously by other researchers ,45,46,47Compared with the control mixture, the splitting tensile strength of concrete reinforced with the single PP increases by 18.71–35.19%, and the splitting tensile strength of concrete reinforced with the single BF increases by 14.7–19.6%. It is easily observed that the addition of the single PP has a more significant influence on splitting tensile strength in comparison to BF, which is opposite to that observed for compressive strength. The same result in high performance concrete was reported by Smarzewski [The greatest enhancement in splitting tensile strength belongs to the mixture PP01BF01 with a content of 0.1% PP and 0.1% BF. This illustrates that the hybridization of PP and BF at a certain proportion can improve the splitting tensile strength of concrete in comparison to the individual fibres. This is mostly due to the complementary crack-arresting behaviour of the two fibres at different damage stages of the splitting tensile test. The BF with small diameter can delay the initiation and propagation of microcracks in the early stage of damage, and the PP with large diameter can control the formation of the macrocracks in the later stage. The complementation between PP and BF effectively inhibits the propagation of cracks in the concrete matrix, significantly improving the splitting tensile strength. However, there is no tangible increase of splitting tensile strength in other hybrid mixtures, which suggests the positive effect of hybridisation only occurs at a specific hybrid fibre proportion.The maximum of flexural strength is similarly achieved in mixture PP01BF01. In this mixture, the compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strength improve by 4.74, 43.65 and 18.98% compared with those of concrete with no fibre, respectively. This indicates that the hybrid mixture containing 0.1% PP and 0.1% BF achieves the best mechanical performance.A decrease of flexural strength occurred in hybrid mixtures PP03BF02 and PP03BF03, and the strength decreases by 2.99% and 0.67% in comparison to control mixture, which does not comply with the literature. This phenomenon can be attributed to the fact that the two types of fibres are intertwined with each other, and cause serious defects which considerably decrease the compactness of concrete. This suggests that the hybridization of fibres at high volume can have adverse influence on the mechanical properties of concrete.c, sp and f represents the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength, respectively. For instance, As mentioned above, the hybridization of fibres at different fibre volume content has different influences on the mechanical properties of concrete. To further analyse this phenomenon, the synergy of PP and BF is proposed and divided into positive synergy effect and negative synergy effect. Hua and Zeng  reportedWhen The mixtures PP01BF01 and PP02BF01 both show positive synergistic effects on three types of strength, and PP01BF02 only shows a positive synergistic effect on splitting tensile strength and flexural strength. The positive synergy effect can be attributed to the complementation of PP and BF in terms of elastic modulus and elongation . AdditioThe mixtures PP01BF03, PP02BF03, PP03BF01, PP03BF02 and PP03BF03 all show negative synergistic effects on three types of strength. This indicates that the hybridization of PP and BF at total fibre volume above 0.3% exerts adverse effects on the mechanical properties. This phenomenon is mostly due to the intertwining and folding of the two types of fibres at higher volume, which considerably hinders the uniform dispersion of fibres in the concrete and causes serious defects. The serious defects overshadow the complementation of the two types of fibres; therefore, the hybridization shows a negative effect on three types of strength.Nevertheless, the mixture PP02BF02 at a total fibre volume of 0.4% shows a positive synergistic effect on splitting tensile strength. This may be attributed the fact that fibres play a more important role in tensile damage in comparison to compressive and flexural damage as mentioned earlier, and the defects due to high fibre volume do not overshadow the complementation of the two fibres in the tensile test. Similarly, the defects easily overshadow the complementation in the compressive test. Therefore, a negative synergistic effect on the compressive strength of mixture PP01BF02 was observed, whereas the synergistic effect on the splitting tensile strength and flexural strength is positive.In summary, the hybridization of PP and BF only in certain proportions can exert a positive synergistic effect. The data suggest that the total hybrid fibre volume content should be no more than 0.3%, and the volume content of BF should be no more than 0.1%. In this range, the hybrid fibres are more effective at improving the mechanical properties of concrete compared to the single fibres.The charge passed by all mixtures at 28 and 56 days is given in The addition of fibres increased the charge of mixtures, and the addition of the single PP always has a more obvious charge increase than the addition of BF. The charge of concrete is in the range of 1818–2638 Coulomb at 28 d and 1406–1816 Coulomb at 56 d and the minimum charge always belongs to the mixture without fibre. At the age of 28 days, the incorporation of the single PP at volume fractions of 0.1–0.3% increases the charge of concrete by 5.72–32.51%, and the incorporation of the single BF at volume fractions of 0.1–0.3% increases the charge of concrete by 2.04–27.12%. At the age of 56 days, the corresponding increase percentage is 0.92–14.15% and 5.9–17.43%, respectively.Susanto et al.  indicateIt is important to note that the hybridization of two types of fibres has no significant effect on the chloride resistance of concrete; even hybridization at a high fibre volume will intensify the charge increase of concrete. This also indicates that the hybridization of PP and BF may have limited influence on the pore structure of concrete.Furthermore, the addition of fibres increases the charge of concrete by 2.04–45.05% in comparison to the mixture without fibre at 28 days, and the corresponding increase is in the range of 0.92–29.16% at 56 days. This indicates the efficiency of fibres in increasing the charge of concrete is decreased at a later age. In other words, the increase of the curing age mitigates the adverse effect of fibres on chloride resistance. The reasons can be summarized as follows: first, the hydration reaction of cement can reduce calcium hydroxide (CH) with preferential orientation around the fibres, which improves the loose matrix around the fibres; second, the formation of large amounts of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gels can improve the fibre-ITZ, and significantly enhance the fibre bonding performance. These all mitigate the defects caused by fibres.Some representative images of composites with different fibres are shown in In Compared with In To analyse the influence of PP and BF on the pore structure, singly or in hybridization, the mixtures Ctrl, PP02BF00, PP00BF02, PP01BF01 and PP03BF03, cured for 28 days, were chosen as samples. The cumulative pore volume and porosity of theses samples are shown in The hybridization of PP and BF in improving the pore structure of concrete was not observed, which indicates that the mechanical strength enhancement of the hybrid mixtures is mainly due to the complementation of PP and BF in terms of diameter, elastic modulus and elongation. The increase in charge of hybrid mixture also indicates that the hybridization of fibres has no significant influence on the pore structure of concrete.The variations in the pore size distribution of the samples are presented in Furthermore, peak 2 is moving to the left of the pore diameter axis upon hybridization of two types of fibres, as shown in The hybridization of PP and BF has no significant influence on the workability of concrete compared to the single fibres at the same content.The combination of PP and BF can improve the compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strength of concrete in comparison to the individual fibres. However, the hybridization is not always conductive, and it has positive and negative synergistic effects at different volume proportions. It is suggested that the total hybrid fibre volume content should be no more than 0.3%, and the volume content of the single BF should be no more than 0.1%. In this paper, the optimum combination is 0.1% PP and 0.1% BF by volume of concrete, and the compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strength were improved by 4.74, 43.65 and 18.98% compared with those of no-fibre concrete, respectively.Incorporating fibres reduced the chloride resistance of concrete, and a more obvious reduction was observed when adding PP in comparison to adding BF. The hybridization of the two fibres does not enhance this phenomenon; however, the reduction was intensified at high hybrid fibre volume. Increasing the curing age can mitigate the adverse effect on the chloride resistance of concrete caused by fibres.The addition of PP and BF, singly or in hybridization, increases the cumulative pore volume and porosity of concrete. The fibres transform the original pore structure and changes small-size pores into large-size pores. Moreover, the hybridization of fibres can improve the pore size distribution in the concrete compared with the single fibres at the same volume.The workability, mechanical performance, chloride resistance, interface and pore structure of concrete containing the PP or BF and their hybridization were investigated. Based on the test results, the following conclusions can be drawn:The findings of this paper expand the knowledge of FRC and provide a reference for the application of concrete reinforced with polypropylene and basalt fibres in civil engineering. However, further research is needed to explore the influence of hybridization of polypropylene and basalt fibres on other properties of concrete, particularly on durability and dynamic performances.


Concrete consumption greatly exceeds the use of any other material in engineering. This is due to its good properties as a construction material and the availability of its components. Nevertheless, the present worldwide construction increases and the high-energy consumption for cement production means a high environmental impact. On the other hand, one of the main problems in the iron and steel industry is waste generation and byproducts that must be properly processed or reused to promote environmental sustainability. One of these byproducts is steel slag. The cement substitution with slag strategy achieves two goals: raw materials consumption reduction and waste management. In the present work, four different concrete mixtures are evaluated. The 25% cement substitution is carried out with different types of slag. Tests were made to evaluate the advantages and drawbacks of each mixture. Depending on the origin, characteristics, and treatment of the slag, the concrete properties changed. Certain mixtures provided proper concrete properties. Stainless steel slag produced a fluent mortar that reduced water consumption with a slight mechanical strength loss. Mixtures with ground granulated blast furnace slag properties are better than the reference concrete (without slag). Nowadays, the increasing growth of waste generated as a result of industrial activity is unavoidable, and dealing with this complex problem has become a difficult issue in part because of increasingly strict environmental regulations and policies. The analysis of industrial and construction waste and its transformation into raw materials in order to be introduced again into the production chain is part of the circular economy, a trend in economics initiated by Kenneth Boulding in 1965 [According to the World Steel Association, 1600 millions of metric tons of steel were produced in the world in 2016, and around 162 million were produced in the European Union alone. Steel slag is a byproduct of steelmaking, produced during the separation of the molten steel from impurities in steelmaking furnaces. Making efforts to valorize this type of industrial waste can help achieve a more sustainable environment. Moreover, storing slags in landfills has negative effects on the environment, due to not only the extension of land occupied by this kind of waste, but also the leaching problems that it generates. According to the Nippon Slag Association, the pH of steel slag increases when reacting with water, which results in a highly alkaline fluid containing heavy metals that is harmful to the environment. This requires important and costly safety measures in landfills in order to verify the integrity of surrounding land and aquifers [The properties of the slag produced by steelmaking depend on many factors, mainly the manufacturing process. According to Setie et al. , four tyElectric arc furnace slag is generated when iron scrap is melted and refined during the process of steelmaking. In a previous paper, Black Spanish EAF was characterized and was found to be composed of minerals such as anhydrous calcium silicates and silicoaluminates, magnetite and magnesioferrite, and manganese oxides . Many rRegarding the specific case of steel slag waste valorization, in the European Union, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBF) has been used as an addition to the mix of cement manufactured in plant ,11,12,13Ladle furnace slag is produced during the secondary refining of steel through the addition of lime (CaO) and dolomitic limestone (CaO·MgO) in the electric arc furnace. The resulting byproduct, ladle furnace slag, has been used as a sand and cement substitute in masonry mortars, showing improvements in workability and mechanical strength in the medium term . HoweverDuring the manufacturing process of steel, 110–130 kg per metric ton of EAF and 20–30 kg per metric ton of LFS are generated .In this paper, the suitability of three types of slag  produced in still mills from different locations in Spain will be put to the test as cement substitutes in concrete mixtures.A comparative analysis of different concrete mixtures will be carried out, substituting the cement with the aforementioned slags. The results of this paper are part of a wider program intended to elaborate a standard to guide the use of steel slag as a cement substitute in concrete mixtures in infrastructure building based on its chemical composition and mechanical behavior.This investigation is an extension of the patent “Method for producing cinder concrete” , in whic3. Specific surface area: >2800 cm2/gr.Cement: Portland Cement CEM I 52.5 R with the composition given in Sand: crushed limestone sand was used. Size ratio: fine aggregate 0/2, medium aggregate (sand) 0/4, and gravel 4/16.Water: domestic tap water.Additive: Superplasticizer. Concrete additive: UNE EN 934-2.Four different concrete mixes have been designed by substituting 25% of the weight of the cement with slag obtained from four different ladle furnaces in Spain. Because this investigation is part of a project studying the use of concrete with landfill slag substitution in precast voussoir manufacturing, the concrete dosage has been designed in order to meet certain consistency requirements (dry). The percent of the cement/slag substitution (25%) is based on the results of the patent “Method for producing cinder concrete” in order to make a performance comparison between the four types of slags. The chemical composition is shown in 3. Specific surface area: 4620 cm2/gr.Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) with mechanical processing (M2): Initial aggregates are sand-like type 0/3 with a high humidity content (around 8–10%). They are dried and ground in origin. This is made by means of vertical roller mills specific to this material, which dries during grinding. This results in a maximum grain size of 0.063 mm; thus, it doesn’t require sieving. Density: 2.91 g/cmUnprocessed ladle furnace slag (LFS). Two different materials (with different compositions) were tested, coming from two different steel mills . The only process they were subjected to was sieving in the lab with a 0.063 mm sieve. The fraction obtained through sieving was 23% and 15%, respectively.Unprocessed electric furnace slag from stainless steelmaking (M5), except sieving in the lab with a 0.063 mm sieve. The fraction obtained through sieving is 82%.The different slag used for the test were the following:The chemical composition of the slags used in the concrete mixtures  is shown in Mix 1 (M1): Ordinary concrete without slag.Mix 2 (M2): Concrete with a 25% cement replaced with processed slag.Mix 3 (M3): Concrete with a 25% cement replaced with unprocessed slag.Mix 4 (M4): Concrete with a 25% cement replaced with unprocessed slag.Mix 5 (M5): Concrete with a 25% cement replaced with stainless steel slag.The different concrete mixtures were named as follow:The different mixes described in the previous section were subject to different standard tests. The goal of these tests was to evaluate how the cement–slag substitution may affect the main properties of consistency and workability (slump test) and mechanical capabilities (compressive strength). Additionally, as one of the main uses of this kind of concrete is in the marine environment, the depth of penetration of water became a key characteristic to study.Concrete was made with the mixture proportions shown in The concrete mixture proportion was made according to the norm EN 12390-2  for testThe compressive strength test specimen was a cube with a 10 cm size. Four concrete mixtures were made for each mix type. From each mixture, ten specimens were made; two were tested at 7, 28, and 90 days, leaving the others as reserve. The depth of penetration of water test was made with a cylindrical specimen with a 15 cm diameter and 30 cm height. Two different specimens were tested for every mix obtaining the average mean value.The consistency of fresh concrete was determined by the slump test according to the norm EN 12350-2 . A truncThis test evaluated the workability of the concrete. It was intended to evaluate how the cement–slag substitution altered the consistency, leading indirectly to change the water cement ratio or suggesting different uses.Compressive strength tests were performed according to norms EN 12390-3 . The tesThese tests provided the results shown in This test was made according to norm EN 12390-8 , depth oThe test was performed with a 28-days cured specimen. As a first step, the specimen was placed in a drying oven for 24–48 h to be completely dried.Then, the specimen was placed in the apparatus and a water pressure of (500 ± 50) kPa was applied for (72 ± 2) h. The appearance of the surfaces was controlled during the test in order to detect any water leakage.At the end of the test, the specimen was taken from the system and any excess of water was removed and wiped. Then, the specimen was broken in two halves perpendicularly to the face where the water pressure was applied. The water penetration front could be clearly seen and marked on the specimen , shows the lower strength loss, and in the case of M2, where there is a strength gain, the SiO2 percentage is higher ) by reacting with portlandite . This is the case of the M2 slag, which presents the highest SiO2 content, obtaining a superior compressive strength performance [2. Thus, for the extreme cases (the highest and lowest SiO2 content) we can observe a direct effect of the pozzolanic capacity of the slag used in compressive strength performance. However, M4 slag and M5 slag, despite presenting similar SiO2 content (21–23%) to the cement, showed uneven results .According to Canovas et al. , pozzolaformance . The slaDepth of penetration of water under pressure test results are shown in Excepting M4, all of the mixtures are in accordance with the norm EN 12390-8 . The maxOn the other extreme, we find the results obtained for the M5 mixture. In this case, penetration is below the average of the other samples. It is provoked by a reduction in the number and size of the cavities due to the good fluency and workability of this concrete.The average values and the standard deviation of the experimental results are shown in Average values are considered in the range from 0.5 to 2 cm. Three mixtures are present within this range while M5 is below and M4 is very above.(1)Regarding concrete consistency, stainless-steel slag furnaces (M5) provided excellent workability properties with a higher fluency, keeping a 0.5 water–cement ratio. On the other extreme, the M4 mixture provided a consistency that was extremely dry with cavities that undermined its properties. The other mixtures provided dry consistencies similar to that obtained with the reference mix (formulated with a low water–cement ratio).(2)2, showed a compressive strength gain of 8% relative to concrete with no slag substitution. On the other hand, the slag with the lowest content of SiO2 performed the worst in the compressive strength tests, obtaining a strength loss of 32%. Thus, as has been pointed out by other authors [2 affects directly the resultant compressive strength of the concrete.The ground granulated blast furnace slag (M2), with the highest content of SiO authors ,45, the (3)Excepting the M4 mixture, the water penetration tests provided similar results for the different mixtures. In some cases, penetration was lower (M2 and M5) than the reference, and the reduction observed with M5 due to its exceptional fluency and workability was remarkable. M4 is the great exception and presents an extremely high maximum water penetration. This can be explained due to a possible lack of cohesion between particles during the curing process, because the consistency was too dry.According to the results described, we can outline the following conclusions:Summarizing, we can conclude that stainless-steel slag (M5) provides a good concrete formula, with excellent workability and a low water consumption. The negative point is a reduction in compressive strength. Regarding the type of slag, no correlation with compressive strength or workability has been found. It has been found that the results of the slag treated in a similar way to the cement (M2) are better than those obtained with the reference concrete (without slag), especially regarding the compressive strength, with the consequent savings in cement consumption.2 content), no strong correlation has been found to explain the resultant concrete properties. Ladle furnace slags (M3 and M4) showed dissimilar results for compressive strength and workability; thus, specific analysis must be carried out in order to assess the suitability of this type of steel waste to be valorized.As a final conclusion, we can say that cement substitution with slag can be considered a good strategy to reduce cement consumption while alleviating the waste management problem. Promising results have been obtained for certain mixtures, where the properties of the resultant concrete are even improved compared with the reference mix. This conclusion has been proven with 25% of cement substitution. Except for the pozzolanic capacity of the slag (SiO


The untreated coir fibre was added in foamed concrete in percentages of 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.6% by mix volume fraction. The database can aid in prediction of elevated temperature strengths of fibre reinforced foamed concrete which can be exploited to assist manufacturers to develop their products without having to perform numerous large-scale elevated temperature tests in the future.Quantifying the elevated temperature strengths of cement-based material is crucial to the design of building structural systems for fire resistance purpose. This paper collates a database of elevated temperature axial compressive and flexural strengths of coir fibre reinforced foamed concrete exposed to heating temperatures of 105 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C and 800 °C. There were four densities of foamed concrete of 700, 1100, 1500 and 1900 kg/m In 3 density foamed concrete respectively. Next, 3 density foamed concrete correspondingly as a function of temperature whereas 3 density foamed concrete respectively as a function of temperature. In 3 density foamed concrete respectively.This dataset described herein were acquired from the experimental studies conducted to determine the elevated temperature compressive strength and flexural strength of coir fibre reinforced foamed concrete exposed to heating temperatures of 105 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C and 800 °C. 2coir fibre as follows: 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.6% by mix volume. Next, four different densities of 700, 1100, 1500 and 1900 kg/m3 were prepared. Small variations in the densities will only produce small values in the properties; thus these four densities were opted in this study to have comparable results for a better understanding of the properties when exposed to elevated temperatures. The 700 kg/m3 density can be considered for non-structural application, 1100 and 1500 kg/m3 densities for semi-structural application and 1900 kg/m3 density for structural purpose.The research program started with mix design process and formulation of foamed concrete with the addition of coir fibre (by volume fraction). Moreover, it should be noted that the foamed concrete mix proportions (sand: cement: water) was fixed at the ratio of 1:1.5:0.45. Meanwhile, several mixtures were also prepared with different percentages of The next step involved the production of the foamed concrete specimens in substantial quantities which was put through curing process, followed by the exposure to oven drying with the aim of achieving the target densities. Following this process, the specimens underwent moisture curing for specific days . Elevated temperature test was conducted at day-28.Electric furnace was used for heating the LFC specimens to the various steady-state temperatures. Heating temperatures were set at 105 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C and 800 °C. The electric furnace temperature exposure profiles were produced by a programmable microprocessor temperature controller attached to the furnace power supply and monitored by a Type K thermocouple located in the furnace chamber. The high temperature furnace  had a maThe elevated temperature compressive strength test was conducted using universal testing machine with the capacity of 3000KN. In the context of the present study, the test was performed in accordance with BS EN 12390-3:2009 For elevated temperature flexural strength test, rectangular beam of 100mmx100 mm × 500 mm was employed, while the two points loading arrangement was utilized according to the method BS 1521:1997 Loading was applied after removing the test specimens from the electric furnace. Each specimen was wrapped with insulation sheets immediately after being removed from the electric furnace to minimize heat loss from the specimen to atmosphere. For each set, three replicate tests were carried out to check consistency of results. During the loading process, the temperature of each sample was measured and it was found that the temperature was stable throughout the testing period.


To assess feasibility of administration, and inter-rater reliability, a convenience sample of 14 community dwelling adults, self-reporting as healthy, were assessed by two trained raters. We found the Big-Store MET to be feasible to deliver  and inter-rater reliability to be very high (ICCs = 0.92–0.99) with the exception of frequency of strategy use. This study introduces the Big-Store MET to the literature, establishes its preliminary validity and reliability thus laying the foundation for a standardized, community-based version of the MET.The Multiple Errands Test (MET) is an ecologically valid assessment that characterizes how executive dysfunction manifests in everyday activities. Due to the naturalistic nature of this assessment, clinicians and researchers have had to develop site-specific versions resulting in numerous published versions and making it difficult to establish standard psychometric properties. The aim of this study was to develop a standardized, community version of the MET designed to be used in large department stores meeting set criteria that would not require site specific modifications. This paper reports on the development, content validity, feasibility, and inter-rater reliability of a Big-Store MET, and the performance of healthy participants on this test. Items were selected to match previously published versions in relation to quantity and complexity. Content validity was established by having experts ( The Multiple Errands Test (MET) was originally developed by n = 9) and three adults who had sustained traumatic brain injuries resulting in substantial damage to the frontal lobes . This original version of the Big-Store MET includes a set of tasks and rules that could be utilized in one brand of department store commonly found in multiple countries around the world. The aim of the current study was (1) to establish the content validity of the Big-Store MET for use in multiple department stores; (2) to assess the feasibility of testing in a store environment; (3) to determine the inter-rater reliability and internal consistency; and (4) to provide a preliminary characterization of the performance of healthy control participants.n = 14) to assess feasibility , determine inter-rater reliability and characterize performance. The study received approval from both Baycrest and University of Toronto Research Ethics Boards and all participants provided informed, written consent.This study had two phases. In phase 1, scientists and clinicians with expertise on the MET were invited to provide feedback on the preliminary version of the Big-Store MET to establish the content validity. In phase 2, the Big-Store MET was trialed with community dwelling adults with no reported history of neurological disease or mental illness  with similar requirements to existing versions such as purchasing items, meeting the examiner at a certain location and time, and writing down specific information . The firn = 7) identified as individuals who had previously been involved with the publication of research related to the MET or clinicians who had substantial experience utilizing the MET in their clinical practice.Based on the resources and services available at these stores, the authors  discussed each item and rule on the preliminary Big-Store MET in relation to whether it was feasible across many sites see . ThroughIdentified experts were sent a list of five questions asking them to comment on whether the proposed version of the Big-Store MET was similar to other versions of the MET they were familiar with, whether the cognitive demands for the suggested tasks on the Big-Store MET were are similar to other MET versions, whether they would suggest any changes in the instructions, items and/or rules, and whether they foresaw any challenges with administering the proposed Big-Store MET. All responses were collected and discussed with the research team following which the Big-Store MET was finalized.n = 14) were recruited via word-of-mouth, recruitment flyers posted at community locations, and from the research volunteer database at Baycrest Health Sciences. The inclusion criteria were: age 18–85, able to communicate in English, self-identify as neurologically health , and able to ambulate without a mobility aid. The age range was wide as executive dysfunction occurs in multiple populations of various ages. Participants were informed at recruitment that they would receive a $10 gift card for study participation.For the second phase of the study, participants  and excellent concurrent validity with the Mini Mental State Exam (r = 0.87) , a 10-min cognitive screening test, was administered to all participants to provide a characterization of their cognitive status . The MoC = 0.87) . Scores  = 0.87) .I’ll leave that up to you” or “Do your best.”The Big-Store MET was designed to be conducted in large department stores common to many countries world-wide. Administration of the Big-Store MET followed the same procedure as described in the literature for other versions of the MET. Briefly, raters ensured that the department store had all the required items before participants started the assessment and filled in the task sheet as necessary  that has locations world-wide was selected as the study site. Following completion of phase 1, the finalized Big-Store MET was piloted with two healthy participants to practice the administration and scoring procedures with two trained raters. Two authors  served as the raters. They were trained with administration and scoring using a hospital-based version of the MET prior to scoring the Big-Store MET. Following telephone screening and determination of eligibility, participants met the raters at the department store. Testing was completed in one session of approximately 1 h for each participant including obtaining written consent, administration of the MoCA and Big-Store MET and a final debriefing session.Descriptive analyses were conducted for all measures including participant demographics, participant performance, partial task failures, inefficiencies, rule breaks, social rule breaks, and strategies demonstrated by the participants during the Big-Store MET. To determine inter-rater reliability, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated using the participants’ variance divided by the sum of the participant, rate and error variance. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals were also calculated for each ICC. Calculated ICCs used a two-way random effects, absolute agreement model with two raters . Internareturn something to customer service. In addition, experts noted that mailing items is much less commonly done than when the MET was originally devised in 1991. For similar reasons, the task of buying a stamp was changed to buying a toothbrush. Returning something to customer service was evaluated through a task analysis as being similar in complexity (number of steps and cognitive demands) to the mailing task. Second, experts suggested using a newspaper as the source of a headline rather than a magazine. However, as magazines are more commonly available in department stores, the task of obtaining a headline from a specified magazine was retained. Third, experts suggested including an interruption task as was first reported by Four of the seven experts responded to our request for comments on the revised Big-Store MET. All agreed that 8 of the 12 tasks and nine of the nine rules were relevant and appropriate. A summary of the feedback received and revisions made follows. First, in recognition that many department stores do not contain postal counters and/or mailboxes, a suggestion was made to change the mailing task used in many versions of the MET (mailing something to a specified address) to a task requiring the examinee to This revised version of the Big-Store MET was then piloted with two participants with no self-reported history of neurological conditions. Ten minutes after the beginning of the test was identified as appropriate for the meeting task as pilot participants took longer than 10 min to complete the Big-Store MET. The final revised version of the Big-Store MET see  was usedCriteria for stores in which the Big-Store MET can be administered are thus: (1) sell cards and ideally have a value card rack as well as regular card racks; (2) sell magazines ; (3) have at least two specialty services within the store with specified hours of operation ; (4) have a return policy that allows for immediate returns after purchase; (5) have baskets and/or trolleys available for customer use. The store used in this study had more than 12 departments  spread over two floors; however, having more than one floor is not a requirement for the Big-Store MET.other ethnicity category, one participant identified as Filipino, one identified as Vietnamese, and one as Chinese. Medical conditions disclosed by three of the participants were asthma, Crohn’s disease and idiopathic anaphylaxis. One participant scored below normal on the MoCA (25/30). This person was not excluded as s/he met the inclusion criteria, that is, they did not identify any current or past neurological or mental health condition and the test environment  may have negatively affected test performance. Seven participants indicated they had previously visited the department store being used as the test location.Fourteen participants were recruited for this study. Their demographic information is shown in Performance on the Big-Store MET is shown in A list of the observed partial task failures, inefficiencies, and rule breaks demonstrated by the participants on the Big-Store MET is shown in The strategies observed as being used by participants are shown in Inter-rater reliability was evaluated for eight Big-Store MET sub-scores see . Inter-rInternal consistency was assessed for the total error score . No tasks were omitted by participants and no participant made errors on tasks 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, or 11  were done so only after an activity analysis to ensure comparable complexity and with the principles in mind of maximizing the representativeness of the test to actions undertaken in everyday life and minimizing the need for clinicians and researchers to make site-specific versions. While only a small sample of experts reviewed the preliminary version, two of the authors  have worked extensively with the MET, including publishing a series of papers on the measure  between task failures on a hospital MET and the inhibition factor on the Dysexecutive Questionnaire. Similarly, r = −0.65). In the current study’s sample, all participants completed the interruption task, and were able to carry on with the rest of the assessment without difficulty. This suggests, as expected with control participants, that they may not have had cognitive flexibility difficulties. However, laboratory testing might determine more precisely whether cognitive flexibility was unimpaired.The two tasks that differ substantially from the original MET are the rest MET  to replarest MET . During rest MET . This hyrest MET . Knight return task (return an item to customer service) suggested that the complexity of this task was similar to that of mailing something in relation to the planning and number of steps involved and reliance on semantic memory. This task, like the mailing task, involves some financial management and social interaction, both activities highly valued by clinicians using the MET (return task may be that the discussion with a store employee regarding a return is more complex than a discussion to buy a stamp. We hypothesize that this task also requires cognitive flexibility related to shifting attention from one aspect of the task to another.Our analysis of the  the MET . One difThe Big-Store MET was easily administered. As expected, all participants in this sample completed the test and no participants encountered difficulties with the store employees at any point including when they tried to return an item.post hoc analysis of internal consistency omitting this rule from the analysis and found that the alpha increased to 0.71, an acceptable level (To our knowledge, internal consistency has not been calculated for previous shopping mall versions of the MET. The internal consistency found for the Big-Store MET was somewhat lower than those previously reported (le level . It willfrequency of strategies used. This is in-line with other studies on inter-rater reliability of other versions of the MET that have reported ICCs ranging from 0.71 to 1.00 (frequency of strategies used was very low is not surprising as it is extremely difficult to accurately observe all strategies used. No other studies on the MET have published reliability data on this score. We suggest that frequency of strategy use should be used only to provide qualitative input regarding someone’s performance on the task.We found the inter-rater reliability on the Big-Store MET to be very high with the exception of that calculated for  to 1.00 . The finExamination of the performance of this sample of participants on the Big-Store MET may be informative for clinicians and researchers considering using the test. Similar to post hoc analyses of these relationships. However, associations were not significant. Our observations during testing suggest that the variability in time to completion was largely dependent on the day of the week and time of testing. Weekends and evenings appeared to have more shoppers in the department store and resulted in longer wait lines for both the checkout and customer service. Participants with the longest completion time appearted to be those whose testing occurred during these busy time periods.A final note about the performance of the sample in this study is in relation to completion time which varied widely. We wondered whether this variability related to error scores and/or store familiarity and undertook a This study introduces the Big-Store MET and provides preliminary data on performance on this assessment in a small sample of controls who self-identified as neurologically healthy. It is possible, that one or more of our control participants was not aware of, or did not disclose health information that may have influenced their performance. A more comprehensive screening process and baseline testing in future research will help ensure that people with pathology are not included among control participants. This limitation and the small sample size mean that inferences about how other healthy control samples will perform must be made cautiously. As inter-rater reliability was calculated on this sample, it is possible that it will be somewhat lower with a more diverse sample that includes people with neurological pathology. The naturalistic nature of the Big-Store MET means that it provides the “quantifiable analog of the open-ended multiple subgoal situations where … frontal patients would theoretically have problems” , p. 728.This study is the first to report a standard, community-based version of the MET, the Big-Store MET. The study establishes preliminary content validity and inter-rater reliability and shows that the test is feasible to administer. The development of the Big-Store MET provides a foundation for future psychometric work and introduces a version of the MET to the clinical and research community that we believe will be an asset in identifying everyday life difficulties related to executive dysfunction.The raw data supporting the conclusions of this manuscript will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation, to any qualified researcher.The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Baycrest Research Ethics Board, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, and the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board, Toronto. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.DD and EN conceived the study and methods. DJ conceived the idea of the Big-Store MET and developed a preliminary version. DD and SR oversaw the data acquisition and analyses. KA and JC carried out the study, conducted the analyses, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors approved the final version for submission and are accountable for all aspects of the work.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


In this study, we examined the influence of moisture content on the electromagnetic response of concrete. A novel homemade electromagnetic monitoring apparatus was developed and used to evaluate the Hall effect voltage at both ends of concrete based on our previous study of the Hall effect. We used four different concrete mix water/binder ratios: 0.30, 0.28, 0.26, and 0.24, and three conditions  were examined in this experiment. The results show that the moisture content inside concrete influences the relative permeability of concrete. The variation in the Hall effect voltage is more influenced by carbonation than changes in relative humidity; water absorption increases the Hall effect voltage the least amongst the other examined factors. According to the experiment, a calibration system was established, and the relevant correction factors are provided. Reinforced concrete is widely used in the construction of most facilities due to its low cost and the availability of its constituent materials ,2,3. Rei2 uptake potential due to concrete carbonation. Based on previous research, the influence of carbonation on the accuracy of the monitoring signals of electromagnetic monitoring apparatus is still unknown, so requires further research.Although many researchers have focused on corrosion monitoring apparatuses, numerical research discovered the significant influence of moisture content on the permittivity of concrete, which describes the reflection state when an electromagnetic wave is transmitted to a concrete surface. Despite these novel monitoring and detecting apparatuses, the relative permeability of dry concrete is assumed to be one, as it is a weakly magnetic medium; however, dry concrete rarely occurs in practice due to the existence of pore solutions inside the concrete ,20,21. WThe purpose of this investigation was to determine the influence of the concrete micro-environment and its water/binder (w/b) ratio on its electromagnetic response. Therefore, the relative permeability of concrete with four different w/b ratios  and effects of relative humidity, carbonation exposure, and water absorption were investigated. A novel homemade electromagnetic monitoring apparatus (EMMA) reported by Li and Jin  was usedThe transmission speed of an electromagnetic wave is defined in Equation (1). Equation (1) shows that two key parameters, deration ,31.(1)v−12 F/m; −7 H/m; and f is the frequency of electromagnetic wave.As a non-magnetic material, the relative permeability of concrete has always been assumed to be one. However, the relative permittivity can be expressed in the form of relative complex permittivity, which is shown in Equation (4). The relative complex permittivity is a dimensionless complex number. The real part represents the storage coefficient of the media on the electromagnetic wave, which further influences the propagation speed of the electromagnetic wave in the media. The imaginary part represents the loss capacity of the media to the electromagnetic wave . Penetrahe media . For con3), J is current density (A/m2), E is the intensity of the electromagnetic wave (V/m), D is the electric displacement (C/m2), B is magnetic induction intensity or magnetic flux density (T), H is the magnetic field intensity (A/m), −12 F/m and the permeability in vacuum is 4π × 10−7 H/m.The transmission of electromagnetic waves inside concrete obeys the Maxwell equations, which is shown in Equations (6)–(9). Equations (10) and (11) present the definitions of permeability and permittivity, respectively, which are common constitutive forms ,26,27. Cx-axis) was applied on one side of specimen. The color cloud map shows the distribution of the magnetic flux density in the concrete cross-section, which indicates the magnetic response reduction inside concrete  was established with ordinary type meshing a and a cconcrete b. The reI passes through the conductor perpendicular to the external magnetic field B, the carrier deflects and an additional electric field is generated perpendicular to the direction of the current and the magnetic field, thus generating an electric potential difference at both ends of the conductor, as shown in HE. The Hall effect sensor is a kind of reliable sensor based on the Hall effect that can reflect the variation in magnetic field using linear Hall effect voltage, as shown in The Hall effect is a kind of electromagnetic effect that was discovered by E.H. Hall when studying the conductive mechanism of metal in 1879. When current By using Hall effect sensors and generating a stable magnetic field, concrete with different relative permeabilities will have various magnetic intensities, which can be acquired by EMMA and presented in the form of Hall effect signals. A–1391-type Hall effect sensors were used on this EMMA version, whose sensitivity approaches 1.25 mV/G, as is shown in i; meanwhile, j represents the jth data recorded by the i sensor. n represents the collection times.Different Hall effect sensors have unique average signal profiles. Hence, the standard deviation of every single Hall element was obtained when the current supply density was 1 A with continuous data collection. P.I.42.5 Portland cement, in accordance with Chinese standard GB175-2007  from Shanshui Co., Ltd. , was used in this study. Class I fly ash (per Chinese standard GB1596–2005) from Huadian Corporation, and S95 GGBS (Chinese standard GB/T18046-2008) from Zhongkuang Corporation were employed to replace Portland cement. The chemical composition and physical characteristics of cement, fly ash, and GGBS are shown in Four groups of 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm specimens for a total of 76 cubes were fabricated. After casting, these molds were rotated slowly until pastes were totally hardened. All the specimens were placed in the mold, then removed after 48 h, and then cured at 20 ± 3 °C and 95% relative humidity for 28 days. To monitor the relative humidity inside the concrete specimens, a temperature and relative humidity sensor produced by Sanzhi Electronic Technology Co., Ltd.  was used . Four reTemperature directly affects the relative humidity (RH) inside concrete ,35,36,372 concentration. Three specimens were removed from the tank and placed into the monitoring probe to evaluate Hall signals after 3 days, 7 days, 14 days, 28 days, and 56 days of carbonation. Then, the specimens were split and sprayed with phenolphthalein solution to measure average carbonation depth. The relationship between Hall voltage and carbonation depth was established.As for Group B, concrete specimens were exposed to a carbonation tank with 75% RH and a 20% COAll the specimens of Group C after curing were placed in a drying oven at 60 °C until the specimens reached a constant weight . After, all the specimens of Group C were covered with tinfoil paper so that the seawater could only migrate inside the concrete from one direction. All specimens were placed on the bottom of a tank filled with sea water in an experimental room at constant RH (50% ± 10%) and temperature (20 ± 0.5 °C), then the seawater adsorption experiment was conducted. The mass variation of the concrete specimens was evaluated after 0.5 h, 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, and 24 h; Hall signals were simultaneously monitored. Different from internal relative humidity inside the concrete, the moisture absorption experiment was conducted allowing seawater to migrate from one end of the concrete specimen to the other and average weight was measured. As previously, the relationship between Hall voltage and the amount of water absorption was established.Four concrete specimens were embedded with temperature and RH sensors to monitor relative humidity, and then Hall effect voltage signals were detected using EMMA. 3 fills the pores and reduces the relative permeability during carbonation process, which contributes to the positive tendency of the Hall effect voltage as carbonation depth increases.With increasing carbonation exposure time, the un-discolored area increases gradually, which indicates the increasing average carbonation depth a,b. Figuthe w/b ratio decreased; in other words, the variation in the Hall signals decreased with increasing w/b ratio. Hence, Hall signals received from concrete specimens after carbonation exposure need to be calibrated. In terms of other influential factors, L55 had the lowest Hall signal variation due to having the lowest w/b ratio.After Group C specimens were all placed in the tank with seawater in the bottom, they were removed to evaluate the amount of absorbed water at 0.5 h, 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, and 24 h a. FigureAccording to the experimental data, a calibration system was established. Here, a w/b ratio of 0.3 (standard compressive strength of 40 MPa after curing for 28 days) was regarded as one. The RH curve increased initially and then decreased after climbing to the maximum point. Considering this, the linear function was used to create the curve, and the scope of fitting linear formula was calculated and considered as a correction factor. t (g/m2), A is the water absorption coefficient (g/m2h0.5), and t is absorption time (h). Calibrating Hall signals for the water absorption experiment was relatively complicated, as the water absorption coefficient needs to be calculated first. The water absorption coefficient is defined in Equation (13):In this calibration procedure, only linear fitting formulas were considered when establishing this system. The calibration procedure is only valid for this kind of homemade apparatus. Notably, only moisture content inside the concrete was considered as the influencing factor in this study. However, temperature, electromagnetic wave frequency, and aggregate type can also impact the electromagnetic response, which will require investigation in the future.The moisture content inside the concrete influences the electromagnetic response of concrete, which includes variation in relative humidity, carbonation exposure, and water absorption. Relative humidity influences the electromagnetic response the most and the water absorption amount has the least impact.The reduction coefficient is significantly influenced by the relative permittivity of the media, which contributes to various electromagnetic reduction levels inside the concrete. Concrete with a higher moisture content has a higher electromagnetic reduction coefficient.A calibration system was established to provide a signal amendment procedure for the electromagnetic monitoring apparatus in a specific area to improve the accuracy of monitoring signals. All the values of the correction factors were given.In this study, a homemade apparatus was used to evaluate the electromagnetic response of concrete specimens with different moisture contents and affected by carbonation. Our main conclusions are as follows:


The as-prepared lanthanide complexes have been characterized by FT-IR, UV–Vis, and elemental analysis. All these complexes showed the characteristic near-infrared (NIR) luminescence originated from the corresponding lanthanide ions under excitation. Compared with the unmodified counterparts LnQ3 (HQ = 8-hydroxyquinoline), the Ln(Q-POSS)3 complexes showed obviously increased emission intensity, which was ascribed mainly to the steric-hindrance effects of the POSS moiety in the ligands. It is believed that the POSS group could suppress undesired excimer formation and intermolecular aggregation, thus decreasing the concentration quenching effect of the corresponding lanthanide complexes.A polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) modified 8-hydroxyquinoline derivative (denoted as Q-POSS) was synthesized and used as a ligand to coordinate with lanthanide ions to obtain a series of lanthanide complexes Ln(Q-POSS) In 3+ ions ,10.1.5)n , it is comprised of an inner inorganic core and external substituent groups, and the sizes of the building blocks range from 1 to 3 nm, which can be considered as a class of sphere-like nanomaterials [Among the hybrid material families, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), a class of inorganic/organic hybrids at the molecular level, has gained many interests in the materials field due to its well-defined 3D structures, good biocompatibility , and gooaterials . When POaterials ,15. POSSaterials ,17.3 complexes show obviously enhanced emission intensity when they are compared with their counterparts LnQ3, which is discussed in the steric hindrance effects of the POSS and the change of the energy level of the modified ligand.Here, we designed a novel ligand using POSS to modify the 8-hydroxyquinoline core to prepare the hybrid lanthanide complexes. Detailed NIR luminescent properties of these hybrid materials were investigated. It has been found that the Ln(Q-POSS)3  is depicted in 1HNMR, MS, elemental analysis and FT-IR methods. The 1HNMR and MS spectra  spectra  proved t3, Nd(Q-POSS)3, Er(Q-POSS)3, and Q-POSS are shown in −1 for Yb(Q-POSS)3, Nd(Q-POSS)3, Er(Q-POSS)3, and Q-POSS, respectively, represents the vibrations of the siloxane Si-O-Si groups and is a general feature of POSS derivatives [−1 were clearly observed, which represent the vibrations of −CH3 and −CH2. In Yb(Q-POSS)3, Nd(Q-POSS)3, and Er(Q-POSS)3, the peak for −OH group at 3326 cm−1 disappeared completely, and the stretching vibration peak of C=N bond shifted from 1615 to 1595 cm−1, indicating that the nitrogen and oxygen atom in quinoline moiety participates in coordination with Ln ions [The FT-IR spectra of Yb(Q-POSS)ivatives . The cha Ln ions .3, Nd(Q-POSS)3, and Yb(Q-POSS)3 dissolved in dichloromethane (1 × 10−5 M), respectively. The absorption peaks for Q-POSS appeared at 246 and 334 nm, respectively, which can be attributed to the π–π* transitions of quinoline moiety. For Er(Q-POSS)3, Nd(Q-POSS)3, and Yb(Q-POSS)3 complexes, they show a strong absorption band at about 241 nm and two weak absorption bands at around 330 and 409 nm, in which the absorption bands at 241 nm and 330 nm can be ascribed to the spin-allowed π–π* transitions of the ligands, and the band at 409 nm can be assigned to both spin–orbit coupling enhanced (π–π*) and spin-forbidden LMCT transitions [3, NdQ3, and YbQ3 in dichloromethane solutions (1 × 10−5 M) at room temperature are shown in 3. The absorption peaks for the unmodified ligand 8-hydroxyquinoline (HQ) appeared at 241 and 317 nm, respectively. Besides the π–π* transitions of the ligands, occurring at 242 and 317 nm, respectively, the LnQ3 complexes show weak bands at about 385 nm, which are also the spin–orbit coupling enhanced (π–π*) and spin-forbidden LMCT transitions, as mentioned in the cases of Ln(Q-POSS)3.nsitions . The UV–3  complexes in the solid state were investigated. 3, the excitation band is superimposed with the characteristic absorption transition 4I9/2→2G7/2 (585 nm) of the Nd3+ ion as well. After excitation, all the Ln(Q-POSS)3  complexes show the characteristic transitions of the corresponding Ln3+ ion. The emission spectrum of Nd(Q-POSS)3 consists of three narrow bands from the f–f transitions of the Nd3+ ion in the range of 800–1700 nm, with the main band occurring at 1068 nm (4F3/2→4I11/2), and two other bands at 904 nm (4F3/2→4I9/2) and 1333 nm (4F3/2→4I13/2), respectively. The Yb(Q-POSS)3 complex emits in the range of 910–1100 nm, with a sharp band at around 980 nm assigned to the 2F5/2→2F7/2 transition of the Yb3+ ion and a broader vibronic component at a longer wavelength. The emission spectrum of Er(Q-POSS)3 is comprised of two bands from the Er3+ ion, which are assigned to the 4I11/2→4I15/2 (980 nm) and 4I13/2→4I15/2 (1536 nm) transitions, respectively.The Luminescent properties of the Ln(Q-POSS)3 complexes, the complexes LnQ3 without POSS modification were also prepared to be used as the counterparts of the Ln(Q-POSS)3 complexes. We have measured the excitation spectra (3/LnQ3 couples in the solid state under the same condition. The comparison results of the emission spectra of Ln(Q-POSS)3/LnQ3  are displayed in 3 with unmodified ligand, the corresponding Ln(Q-POSS)3  complexes show obviously enhanced luminescence intensity.To further investigate the luminescent properties of the Ln(Q-POSS) spectra  and emis3+, Yb3+, and Er3+ have been intensely studied in the past decades on account of their attractive features, such as large stock shift, emission line spectrum, ideal excitation and emission wavelengths, long fluorescence lifetime, and small external influence [3+ ion has been widely used in the IR laser operating at eye-safe wavelengths and in the fabrication of optical amplifiers [3+ ion also occurs at the second window of the optical amplifier. Therefore, it is significant for improving NIR luminescence of Ln complexes [Ln complexes with emissions in the NIR region such as Ndnfluence ,22,23. Tplifiers . The 133omplexes .3/NdQ3, Yb(Q-POSS)3/YbQ3, and Er(Q-POSS)3/ErQ3 exhibit similar band location in their excitation spectra 3/LnQ3 could still be observed; for example, the shapes of the peaks of the Nd3+ ion at 1068 nm (4F3/2→4I11/2), which may be because that the tiny difference of the coordination environments differs from the Ln3+ ion when it is coordinated with the ligands of Q-POSS and Q. What should be noted is that the excitation and emission intensity of the Ln(Q-POSS)3 are higher than that of the LnQ3, which reveals that the introduction of the POSS moiety into the ligand could provide better luminescent properties for the resulted complexes. It is believed that the enhancement of the luminescence intensity is related to the steric-hindrance effects of the POSS moiety in the ligands. The large volume of the POSS group in the Ln(Q-POSS)3 will decrease the concentration quenching effect of the corresponding Ln complexes, and suppress undesired excimer formation and intermolecular aggregation [In this study, POSS modified ligand Q-POSS and unmodified ligand HQ were used to synthesize a series of Ln complexes. Nd(Q-POSS) spectra , which aregation .3+ ion, and, accordingly, the overall photoluminescence performance. In order to investigate the energy transfer from the Q-POSS ligands to the lanthanide ions, Gd complex Gd(Q-POSS)3 was prepared and used to study the triplet energy level of the ligand since Gd has no energy levels below 312 nm (32000 cm−1) and it cannot accept energy from the ligands. The phosphorescence spectrum of the Gd(Q-POSS)3 complex , indicating a possible more efficient energy transfer between the ligand and the lanthanide ions, thus a better performance in the characteristic emission of lanthanide ions. However, the difference between the energy levels of the Q-POSS and HQ is not that large, which could also be verified from the small differences of the absorption peaks originated from the ligands of the Q-POSS and HQ ; thus, such small change of electronic energy level can’t be the main cause of the enhanced emission intensity of the Ln(Q-POSS)3. We believe that the luminescence optimization in the Ln(Q-POSS)3 comes mainly from the POSS moiety itself.Another possible factor for the emission intensity enhancement is the change of energy levels of the ligands, which will affect the energy transfer efficiency from the ligand to the center Ln complex  at 77 K 830 cm−1 . In othe3  have been prepared. The optical properties of the as-prepared complexes have been investigated. After ligand-mediated excitation, all of the Ln(Q-POSS)3  complexes exhibited the characteristic NIR luminescence of the corresponding lanthanide ions. Compared with the complexes LnQ3 with unmodified ligand, the corresponding Ln(Q-POSS)3  have showed enhanced luminescence performances, which is mainly ascribed to the steric-hindrance effects of the POSS on the complexes. It is believed that the POSS modification will benefit for the preparation of the potential excellent lanthanide-based luminescent materials.In summary, a novel ligand based on 8-hydroxyquinoline derivative modified by POSS has been synthesized, and a series of molecular hybrid NIR luminescent complexes Ln(Q-POSS)Aminopropylisobutyl POSS ; 5-formyl-8-hydroxyquinoline ; toluene; methanol; erbium(III) chloride hexahydrate; ytterbium(III) chloride and neodymium(III) chloride ; 8-hydroxyquinoline ; All the chemicals were analytical grade reagent.−1 region on an American BIO-RAD Company model FTS135 infrared spectrophotometer  with the KBr pellet technique. 1HNMR spectra were obtained on the Avance III 400MHz. UV–Vis absorption was recorded on a Shimadzu UV-2550 spectrometer . The low temperature phosphorescence spectra of the Gd(Q-POSS)3 complexes were measured on a Hitachi F-4500 spectrophotometer at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K). Elemental analysis was carried out on a Vario MICRO cube Elemental Analyzer. MALDI-TOF mass spectrum was obtained from Bruker microTOF Electro-spray Mass Spectrometry.Excitation and emission spectra were measured with an Edinburgh FLSP 920 fluorescence spectrophotometer. FT-IR spectra were measured within a 4000–400 cm1HNMR : 9.78 , 8.83 , 8.60, 7.70 , 7.56 , 7.19 , 3.65 , 1.87 , 0.98 , 0.74 , 0.62 . MS—calculated for C41H76N2O13Si8, 1029.73; found, 1029.54. Elemental analysis—calculated: C, 47.8%; H, 7.44%; N, 2.72%. Found: C, 48.1%; H, 7.56%; N, 2.29%.The 5-formyl-8-hydroxyquinoline and aminopropylisobutyl POSS were dissolved in a suitable round bottom flask of toluene with a molar ratio of 1:2, and then refluxed for 12 h under stirring in a nitrogen atmosphere at 90 °C. After that, the solvent was distilled off under reduced pressure, yielding the aminopropylisobutyl POSS modified 8-hydroxyquinoline: yellow solid (Q-POSS) in 53.1% yield (0.95 g). 3+/Q-POSS was 1:3. The mixture was heated under reflux at 90 °C for 12 h and then cooled to room temperature. The toluene was evaporated in vacuo, and then those complexes were washed with cold methanol for 3 times and dried at 100 °C under vacuum for 12 h. Nd(Q-POSS)3 in 58.6% yield (0.12 g), Yb(Q-POSS)3 in 53.7% yield (0.11 g), and Er(Q-POSS)3 in 60.7% yield (0.13 g). Elemental analysis for Yb(Q-POSS)3, calculated: C, 45.3%; H, 6.95%; N, 2.95%. Found: C, 46.4%; H, 6.35%; N, 2.57%; Er(Q-POSS)3, calculated: C, 47.8%; H, 7.35%; N, 2.72%. Found: C, 47.0%; H, 7.21%; N, 2.42%; Nd(Q-POSS)3, calculated: C, 48.2%; H, 7.42%; N, 2.74%. Found: C, 47.5%; H, 7.36%; N, 2.53%.The lanthanide trichloride methanol solution was added dropwise to a Q-POSS toluene solution. The molar ratio of Ln3+/Q was 1:3. Upon addition of the chloride to the quinoline solution, the solution became an orange color. The mixture was heated under reflux at 55 °C for 10 h and then cooled to room temperature. After an appropriate amount of water was added, plenty of precipitates appeared and were collected by filtration and washed with cold methanol. Then these complexes were dried at 80 °C under vacuum for 12 h. NdQ3 in 31.2% yield (0.18 g), ErQ3 in 36.3% yield (0.22g), YbQ3 in 53.3% yield (0.32g). Elemental analysis for YbQ3, calculated: C, 53.56%; H, 3.00%; N, 6.94%. Found: C, 51.3%; H, 2.93%; N, 6.29%; ErQ3, calculated: C, 54.1%; H, 3.03%; N, 7.01%. Found: C, 53.3%; H, 3.03%; N, 6.07%; NdQ3, calculated: C, 56.2%; H, 3.15%; N, 7.29%. Found: C, 53.5%; H, 3.34%; N, 7.12%.The synthesis procedure was according to the procedure described in the literature . The lan3 was added to Q-POSS toluene solution with a molar ratio of 1:3 (GdCl3: Q-POSS), and then the mixture was kept stirring at 90 °C for 12 h in a nitrogen atmosphere. The precipitates were collected by filtration, washed with anhydrous ethanol, and dried at room temperature under vacuum overnight. Gd(Q-POSS)3 in 40.3% yield (0.25 g).The synthesis procedure was according to the procedure described in the literature . The pow