Measurements of Gas Pressure into the MV Arc Plasma Environment

Current interrupters equipped with arc quenching system based on combination of forced air flow and gassing material were the object of the research described in this paper. Arc quenching gas pressure inside the extinguishing chamber in direct vicinity of plasma arc was recorded by means of developed measurement system resistant for heavy duty conditions existent inside the chamber during breaking. Gas pressure was estimated for several values of load current at 12/24 kV source voltage

Introductory background for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of pure silk fabric

The main goal of this study is to provide an introductory background to development of the Life Cycle Assessment studies of pure silk fabric. There are not studies available on the life cycle of pure silk fabric. In this sense, was developed a scenario model for LCA application, following the methodology established by the Standard BNR ISO 14040:2009, which establishes principles and framework for an LCA study. It was considered one of the first steps in ISO, being the definition of the purpose and scope. The limits considered for the system had as a starting point the wiring step within the company, and as a final limit the stage of the finishing of the fabric, where you get the finished product. The information used in this study was collected directly from the company entitled 'Fio de Seda', a Brazilian industry. In order to construct the scenario proposed, was used the software Umberto® 5.6 v. Acad and through it, it was possible to generate the scenario model for the production of the silk fabric. Based on this scenario, the accomplishment of the later stages is possible, as outlined in ISO 14040, thus obtaining the inventory of the LCA for the pure silk fabric, as well as its life cycle inventory assessment

Does vimentin help to delineate the so-called 'basal type breast cancer'?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vimentin is one of the cytoplasmic intermediate filament proteins which are the major component of the cytoskeleton. In our study we checked the usefulness of vimentin expression in identifying cases of breast cancer with poorer prognosis, by adding vimentin to the immunopanel consisting of basal type cytokeratins, estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>179 tissue specimens of invasive operable ductal breast cancer were assessed by the use of immunohistochemistry. The median follow-up period for censored cases was 90 months.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>38 cases (21.2%) were identified as being vimentin-positive. Vimentin-positive tumours affected younger women (p = 0.024), usually lacked estrogen and progesterone receptor (p < 0.001), more often expressed basal cytokeratins (<0.001), and were high-grade cancers (p < 0.001). Survival analysis showed that vimentin did not help to delineate basal type phenotype in a triple negative (ER, PgR, HER2-negative) group. For patients with 'vimentin or CK5/6, 14, 17-positive' tumours, 5-year estimated survival rate was 78.6%, whereas for patients with 'vimentin, or CK5/6, 14, 17-negative' tumours it was 58.3% (log-rank p = 0.227).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We were not able to better delineate an immunohistochemical definition of basal type of breast cancer by adding vimentin to the immunopanel consisted of ER, PgR, HER2, CK5/6, 14 and 17 markers, when overall survival was a primary end-point.</p