Time Matters: Knee Cartilage Defect Expansion and High-Grade Lesion Formation while Awaiting Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation

Objective The objective of this study was to assess potential risk factors, including time delay until implantation, for knee cartilage defect expansion or new high-grade defect formation between biopsy and Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI) or Matrix Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (MACI). Study design Consecutive knee ACI and MACI cases by a single surgeon ( n = 111) were reviewed. The relationship between time between biopsy and staged implantation and (1) progression in primary cartilage defect size and (2) development of a new high-grade (Outerbridge grade ≥3) cartilage defect were determined with adjustment for demographics, body mass index, smoking status, coronal alignment, initial cartilage status, and prior surgery. Results Average size of the primary defect at time of biopsy was 4.50 cm2. Mean time to chondrocyte implantation was 155 days. Defect expansion increased 0.11 cm2 (standard error = 0.03) per month delay to implantation ( P = 0.001). Independent predictors of defect expansion were male sex, smaller initial defect size, and delay to implantation (adjusted mean = 0.15 cm2 expansion per month). A total of 16.2% of patients ( n = 18/111) developed a new high-grade defect. Independent predictors of a new secondary defect were Outerbridge grade 2 changes (vs. 0-1) on the surface opposing the index defect and delayed implantation (per month increase, adjusted odds ratio = 1.21, 95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.44; P = 0.036). Conclusions Patients undergoing 2-stage cell-based cartilage restoration with either ACI or MACI demonstrated long delays between stages of surgery, placing them at risk for expanding defects and development of new high-grade cartilage defects. Patients who were male, had smaller initial defect size, and longer time between surgeries were at greater risk for defect expansion. Level of Evidence III, retrospective comparative study.

Self-template synthesis of defect-rich NiO nanotubes as efficient electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation reaction

Gram-grade defect-rich NiO nanotubes were synthesized by a facile self-template method, which exhibited an outstanding electrocatalytic activity (85.9 A g−1) and stability for the methanol oxidation reaction.

Tensile Strain Limits of Buried Defects in Pipeline Girth Welds

Buried defects, such as lack-of-sidewall fusion defects, are some of the most commonly occurring defects in mechanized girth welds. Although some of the existing ECA (Engineering Critical Assessment) procedures permit the assessment of the significance of buried defects, their application is limited to the nominally elastic applied stress range. The assessment of buried defects is more complex than that of surface-breaking defects. There is much more experimental data on the behavior of surface-breaking defects than buried defects. One simplistic approach is to treat buried defects as surface-breaking defects under a generally accepted assumption that buried defects are less detrimental than surface-breaking defects of the same size. This paper focuses on the behavior of girth welds containing buried defects subjected to high longitudinal strains. The high longitudinal strains in onshore pipelines may be caused by soil movement such as seismic activity, slope instability, frost heave, mine subsidence, etc. For offshore pipelines, the highest longitudinal strains typically occur during pipe laying operations. The paper describes a strain design methodology based on a crack driving force method that has been previously applied to obtain tensile strain limits of surface-breaking defects. The focus of this paper is the application of the crack driving force methodology to examine the factors affecting the strain limits of girth welds containing buried defects. By using crack driving force relations in conjunction with a constraint-sensitive fracture mechanics approach, tensile strain limits are derived as a function of material grade, defect size, toughness, and pipe wall thickness. The paper concludes with the comparison of strain limits between buried and surface-breaking defects.

Peripheral Blood Lymphocyte Response to Exogenous Interleukin 2 by PHA-Prestimulated and Non-PHA-Prestimulated Cells in Patients with Cancer

The study aims were 1) to assess the response of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of cancer patients to exogenous Interleukin 2 (IL 2) either by PHA-prestimulated or non PHA-prestimulated PBL, and 2) to carry out preliminary experiments for a direct quantitative evaluation of endogenous IL 2 production by PBL cultures of cancer patients in order to define the actual role of IL 2 in the disease. Analysis of PBL subsets was also carried out with monoclonal antibodies in a selected group of patients. A total of 134 patients entered the study. Cancer sites were: larynx 32, breast 36, lung (NSC) 24, colorectal 17 and gynecologic 25. In the former 3 cancer sites staging showed localized or only locally advanced disease, and in the last 2 sites disseminated disease. Our results provided evidence that cancer patients exhibit a T-cell functional immunodepression, which progresses during tumor growth, so that the localized disease shows a low-grade defect, and advanced disease a high-grade defect. Our data also clearly suggested that the factor involved with a primary role in this functional immune impairment is the IL 2 deficiency. A perspective may be drawn on the therapeutic administration in vivo of IL 2 and IL 2-activated lymphokine-activated killer cells in controlled clinical trials of selected groups of cancer patients.