Capillary Regeneration in Scleroderma: Stem Cell Therapy Reverses Phenotype?

BACKGROUND. Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease with a characteristic vascular pathology. The vasculopathy associated with scleroderma is one of the major contributors to the clinical manifestations of the disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. We used immunohistochemical and mRNA in situ hybridization techniques to characterize this vasculopathy and showed with morphometry that scleroderma has true capillary rarefaction. We compared skin biopsies from 23 scleroderma patients and 24 normal controls and 7 scleroderma patients who had undergone high dose immunosuppressive therapy followed by autologous hematopoietic cell transplant. Along with the loss of capillaries there was a dramatic change in endothelial phenotype in the residual vessels. The molecules defining this phenotype are: vascular endothelial cadherin, a supposedly universal endothelial marker required for tube formation (lost in the scleroderma tissue), antiangiogenic interferon α (overexpressed in the scleroderma dermis) and RGS5, a signaling molecule whose expression coincides with the end of branching morphogenesis during development and tumor angiogenesis (also overexpressed in scleroderma skin. Following high dose immunosuppressive therapy, patients experienced clinical improvement and 5 of the 7 patients with scleroderma had increased capillary counts. It was also observed in the same 5 patients, that the interferon α and vascular endothelial cadherin had returned to normal as other clinical signs in the skin regressed, and in all 7 patients, RGS5 had returned to normal. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE. These data provide the first objective evidence for loss of vessels in scleroderma and show that this phenomenon is reversible. Coordinate changes in expression of three molecules already implicated in angiogenesis or anti-angiogenesis suggest that control of expression of these three molecules may be the underlying mechanism for at least the vascular component of this disease. Since rarefaction has been little studied, these data may have implications for other diseases characterized by loss of capillaries including hypertension, congestive heart failure and scar formation.Scleroderma Research Foundatio

Examination of remaining zinc coating on old corrugated steel culverts under railway

In this paper the authors present measurements of the zinc coating thickness performed on old corrugated steel culverts under railway in Sweden. The measurements were performed in the summer of 2015. The object of the study is to have an indication on how hot dip galvanized corrugated steel culverts withstand real conditions. This information forms an important basis for the decision on possible life time expectancies for those structures

Examination of remaining zinc coating on old corrugated steel culverts under railway

In this paper the authors present measurements of the zinc coating thickness performed on old corrugated steel culverts under railway in Sweden. The measurements were performed in the summer of 2015. The object of the study is to have an indication on how hot dip galvanized corrugated steel culverts withstand real conditions. This information forms an important basis for the decision on possible life time expectancies for those structures

Improved Temperature and Depth Control During FSW of Copper Canisters Using Feedforward Compensation

The welding procedure to seal copper canisters requires variable power input throughout the 45 minute long weld cycle to keep the probe temperature within the process window. By using a cascaded loop that determines the power input requirement, the controller will not be dependent on repeatability in the necessary power input between weld cycles, and the lag time in the probe temperature measurement will not be critical. Due to fast-changing thermal boundary conditions during the downward sequence, a feedforward to the power input was designed to further improve controller performance. In addition to the cascade controller adjusting the tool rotation rate, a depth controller is adjusting the axial force to control the shoulder depth. The purpose is to eliminate flash due to excessive shoulder depth and to control the position of the probe tip, which influeces the size and shape of the hook defect produced. Controlling depth is challenging for several reasons, including deflection in the welding machine and thermal expansion of the weld material, and also results in cross-coupling between axial force and spindle torque. The cross-coupling was handled by another feedforward compensator that adjusts the tool rotation rate based on the commanded axial force. The implemented controllers and feedforward compensators have been evaluated over several welds with good results, where the depth is kept within ±0.1mm when the tool reaches the joint line sequence and the probe temperature is held within ±5°C during full circumferential welds compared to a process window of ±60°C