Pathological response in a triple-negative breast cancer cohort treated with neoadjuvant carboplatin and docetaxel according to Lehmann's refined classification

Purpose: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) requires the identification of reliable predictors of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). For this purpose, we aimed to evaluate the performance of the TNBCtype-4 classifier in a cohort of patients with TNBC treated with neoadjuvant carboplatin and docetaxel (TCb). Methods: Patients with TNBC were accrued in a nonrandomized trial of neoadjuvant carboplatin AUC 6 and docetaxel 75 mg/m2 for six cycles. Response was evaluated in terms of pathologic complete response (pCR, ypT0/is ypN0) and residual cancer burden by Symmans and colleagues. Lehmann's subtyping was performed using the TNBCtype online tool from RNAseq data, and germline sequencing of a panel of seven DNA damage repair genes was conducted. Results: Ninety-four out of the 121 patients enrolled in the trial had RNAseq available. The overall pCR rate was 44.7%. Lehmann subtype distribution was 34.0% BL1, 20.2% BL2, 23.4% M, 14.9% LAR, and 7.4% were classified as ERþ. Response to NACT with TCb was significantly associated with Lehmann subtype (P ¼ 0.027), even in multivariate analysis including tumor size and nodal involvement, with BL1 patients achieving the highest pCR rate (65.6%), followed by BL2 (47.4%), M (36.4%), and LAR (21.4%). BL1 was associated with a significant younger age at diagnosis and higher ki67 values. Among our 10 germline mutation carriers, 30% were BL1, 40% were BL2, and 30% were M. Conclusions: TNBCtype-4 is associated with significantly different pCR rates for the different subtypes, with BL1 and LAR displaying the best and worse responses to NACT, respectively

Properties of precast hollow concrete blocks using recycled concrete aggregates

The reuse of concrete as aggregate in new concrete mixes helps to reduce the expenses related to management of construction and demolition (C&D) waste, and to helps the environment by reducing the development rate of new quarries. This study has investigated the potentiality of using coarse recycled concrete aggregate in the manufacture of precast hollow concrete blocks. Four series of mixtures have been prepared by using coarse recycled concrete aggregates in replacement percentages of coarse natural aggregates (20%, 50%, 70%, 100%), and an ordinary mix made by natural aggregate as control. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of coarse recycled concrete aggregates on compressive strength, density and absorption of precast hollow concrete blocks. The results show that the performance of concrete blocks realized with coarse recycled concrete aggregates are comparable to those obtained with concrete blocks using exclusively natural aggregates. Furthermore there is no additional cost to the routine precast hollow concrete blocks productio

Assessment of properties of recycled concrete by means of a highly fractioned factorial design of experiment

The study presented in this paper has been carried out using a highly fractional factorial experimental design. This design allows the analysis of a greater number of factors and levels with a reduced number of mixes. In the state of art of recycled concrete the studies have been carried out varying the level of one factor while the rest remained fixed. However an excessive number of factors or levels are not considered. This highly simplified test program was designed in order to make the number of tests viable whilst guaranteeing the reliability of the conclusions. The concrete has been produced by substituting the natural coarse aggregates for recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste, which is mainly composed of concrete. In this research some factors that have not been analyzed in previous studies, such as the granular structure of the concrete or the replacement criteria, have been studied. The properties of recycled concrete analyzed were: density, absorption, compressive strength, elastic modulus and penetration of water under pressure. The concrete was made with dry recycled aggregate. The percentage of replacement of the recycled aggregate did not affect the compressive strength since the water/cement rate remained constant. However the elastic modulus is affected by the percentage of replacement when it exceeds 50%. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.López-Gayarre, F.; Lopez-Colina, C.; Serrano-Lopez, M.; García Taengua, EJ.; Lopez Martinez, A. (2011). Assessment of properties of recycled concrete by means of a highly fractioned factorial design of experiment. Construction and Building Materials. 25(10):3802-3809. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.04.039S38023809251

Use of mining waste to produce ultra-high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete

This research work analyses the influence of the use of by-products from a fluorite mine to replace the fine fraction of natural aggregates, on the properties of Ultra-High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC). Replacing natural aggregates for different kinds of wastes is becoming common in concrete manufacturing and there are a number of studies into the use of waste from the construction sector in UHPFRC. However, there is very little work concerning the use of waste from the mining industry. Furthermore, most of the existing studies focus on granite wastes. So, using mining sand waste is an innovative alternative to replace natural aggregates in the manufacture of UHPFRC. The substitutions in this study are of 50%, 70% and 100% by volume of 0-0.5 mm natural silica sand. The results obtained show that the variations in the properties of consistency, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity and tensile strength, among others, are acceptable for substitutions of up to 70%. Therefore, fluorite mining sand waste is proved to be a viable alternative in the manufacturing of UHPFRC