Modeling the seasonal wildfire cycle and its possible effects on the distribution of focal species in Kermanshah Province, western Iran.

Predicting environmental disturbances and evaluating their potential impacts on the habitats of various plant and animal species is a suitable strategy for guiding conservation efforts. Wildfires are a type of disturbance that can affect many aspects of an ecosystem and its species. Therefore, through the integration of spatial models and species distribution models (SDMs), we can make informed predictions of the occurrence of such phenomena and their potential impacts.

Cartilage Repair: Promise of Adhesive Orthopedic Hydrogels.

Cartilage repair remains a major challenge in human orthopedic medicine, necessitating the application of innovative strategies to overcome existing technical and clinical limitations. Adhesive hydrogels have emerged as promising candidates for cartilage repair promotion and tissue engineering, offering key advantages such as enhanced tissue integration and therapeutic potential. This comprehensive review navigates the landscape of adhesive hydrogels in cartilage repair, discussing identified challenges, shortcomings of current treatment options, and unique advantages of adhesive hydrogel products and scaffolds.

Spatiotemporal analysis of seasonal trends in land surface temperature within the distribution range of Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) in Southern and Southeastern Iran.

Temperature fluctuations and related factors are among the main causes of climate change. Understanding the temporal and spatial variations in temperature can shed light on how species respond to climate change. Plants generally persist in suitable microclimates in response to environmental change; however, examining long-term temperature variations within a species' range can be challenging using field observations.

HSP70-A key regulator in chondrocyte homeostasis under naturally coupled hydrostatic pressure-thermal stimuli.

Objective: During physical activities, chondrocytes experience coupled stimulation of hydrostatic pressure (HP) and a transient increase in temperature (T), with the latter varying within a physiological range from 32.5 °C to 38.7 °C.

Unraveling cartilage degeneration through synergistic effects of hydrostatic pressure and biomimetic temperature increase.

Cartilage degeneration, typically viewed as an irreversible, vicious cycle, sees a significant reduction in two essential biophysical cues: the well-established hydrostatic pressure (HP) and the recently discovered transient temperature increase. Our study aimed to evaluate the combined influence of these cues on maintaining cartilage homeostasis. To achieve this, we developed a customized bioreactor, designed to mimic the specific hydrostatic pressure and transient thermal increase experienced during human knee physiological activities.

Low-oxygen tension augments chondrocyte sensitivity to biomimetic thermomechanical cues in cartilage-engineered constructs.

Chondrocytes respond to various biophysical cues, including oxygen tension, transient thermal signals, and mechanical stimuli. However, understanding how these factors interact to establish a unique regulatory microenvironment for chondrocyte function remains unclear. Herein, we explore these interactions using a joint-simulating bioreactor that independently controls the culture's oxygen concentration, evolution of temperature, and mechanical loading.

Wet adhesive hydrogels to correct malacic trachea (tracheomalacia) .

Tracheomalacia (TM) is a condition characterized by a weak tracheal cartilage and/or muscle, resulting in excessive collapse of the airway in the newborns. Current treatments including tracheal reconstruction, tracheoplasty, endo- and extra-luminal stents have limitations. To address these limitations, this work proposes a new strategy by wrapping an adhesive hydrogel patch around a malacic trachea.

Monitoring spatiotemporal impacts of changes in land surface temperature on near eastern fire salamander () in the Middle East.

Persistence and coexistence of many pond-breeding amphibians depend on seasonality. Temperature, as a seasonal climate component, affects numerous physical and biological processes of pond-breeding amphibians. Satellite-derived land surface temperature (LST) is the radiative skin temperature of the land surface, which has received less attention in spatiotemporal seasonal habitat monitoring.

A guide to preclinical evaluation of hydrogel-based devices for treatment of cartilage lesions.

The drive to develop cartilage implants for the treatment of major defects in the musculoskeletal system has resulted in a major research thrust towards developing biomaterial devices for cartilage repair. Investigational devices for the restoration of articular cartilage are considered as significant risk materials by regulatory bodies and therefore proof of efficacy and safety prior to clinical testing represents a critical phase of the multidisciplinary effort to bridge the gap between bench and bedside. To date, review articles have thoroughly covered different scientific facets of cartilage engineering paradigm, but surprisingly, little attention has been given to the preclinical considerations revolving around the validation of a biomaterial implant.

Mimicking Loading-Induced Cartilage Self-Heating Promotes Matrix Formation in Chondrocyte-Laden Constructs with Different Mechanical Properties.

Articular cartilage presents a mechanically sensitive tissue. Chondrocytes, the sole cell type residing in the tissue, perceive and react to physical cues as signals that significantly modulate their behavior. Hyaline cartilage is a connective tissue with high dissipative capabilities, able to increase its temperature during daily activities, thus providing a dynamic thermal milieu for the residing chondrocytes.

NIR Light-Mediated Photocuring of Adhesive Hydrogels for Noninvasive Tissue Repair Upconversion Optogenesis.

The surgical treatments of injured soft tissues lead to further injury due to the use of sutures or the surgical routes, which need to be large enough to insert biomaterials for repair. In contrast, the use of low viscosity photopolymerizable hydrogels that can be inserted with thin needles represents a less traumatic treatment and would therefore reduce the severity of iatrogenic injury. However, the delivery of light to solidify the inserted hydrogel precursor requires a direct access to it, which is mostly invasive.

Temperature evolution following joint loading promotes chondrogenesis by synergistic cues via calcium signaling.

During loading of viscoelastic tissues, part of the mechanical energy is transformed into heat that can locally increase the tissue temperature, a phenomenon known as self-heating. In the framework of mechanobiology, it has been accepted that cells react and adapt to mechanical stimuli. However, the cellular effect of temperature increase as a by-product of loading has been widely neglected.

Silk granular hydrogels self-reinforced with regenerated silk fibroin fibers.

Granular hydrogels with high stability, strength, and toughness are laborious to develop. Post-curing is often employed to bind microgels chemically and enhance mechanical properties. Here a unique strategy was investigated to maintain microgels together with a novel self-reinforced silk granular hydrogel composed of 10 wt% 20 kDa poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate microgels and regenerated silk fibroin fibers.

Thoughts on cartilage tissue engineering: A 21st century perspective.

In mature individuals, hyaline cartilage demonstrates a poor intrinsic capacity for repair, thus even minor defects could result in progressive degeneration, impeding quality of life. Although numerous attempts have been made over the past years for the advancement of effective treatments, significant challenges still remain regarding the translation of in vitro cartilage engineering strategies from bench to bedside. This paper reviews the latest concepts on engineering cartilage tissue in view of biomaterial scaffolds, tissue biofabrication, mechanobiology, as well as preclinical studies in different animal models.

An Intrinsically-Adhesive Family of Injectable and Photo-Curable Hydrogels with Functional Physicochemical Performance for Regenerative Medicine.

Attaching hydrogels to soft internal tissues is crucial for the development of various biomedical devices. Tough sticky hydrogel patches present high adhesion, yet with lack of injectability and the need for treatment of contacting surface. On the contrary, injectable and photo-curable hydrogels are highly attractive owing to their ease of use, flexibility of filling any shape, and their minimally invasive character, compared to their conventional preformed counterparts.

Accessing habitat suitability and connectivity for the westernmost population of Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus, Blanford, 1877) based on climate changes scenarios in Iran.

Climate change, as an emerging phenomenon, has led to changes in the distribution, movement, and even risk of extinction of various wildlife species and this has raised concerns among conservation biologists. Different species have two options in the face of climate change, either to adopt or follow their climatic niche to new places through the connectivity of habitats. The modeling of interpatch landscape communications can serve as an effective decision support tool for wildlife managers.

Hybrid granular hydrogels: combining composites and microgels for extended ranges of material properties.

Developing hydrogels with optimal properties for specific applications is challenging as most of these properties, such as toughness, stiffness, swelling or deformability, are interrelated. The improvement of one property usually comes at the cost of another. In order to decouple the interdependence between these properties and to extend the range of material properties for hydrogels, we propose a strategy that combines composite and microgel approaches.

Light-Activated, Bioadhesive, Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Brush Coatings.

Rapid adhesion between tissue and synthetic materials is relevant to accelerate wound healing and to facilitate the integration of implantable medical devices. Most frequently, tissue adhesives are applied as a gel or a liquid formulation. This manuscript presents an alternative approach to mediate adhesion between synthetic surfaces and tissue.

Control of Dissipation Sources: A Central Aspect for Enhancing the Mechanical and Mechanobiological Performances of Hydrogels.

Development of mechanically durable and biologically inductive hydrogels is a major challenge for load-bearing applications such as engineered cartilage. Dissipative capacity of articular cartilage is central to its functional behavior when submitted to loading. While fluid frictional drag is playing a significant role in this phenomenon, the flow-dependent source of dissipation is mostly overlooked in the design of hydrogel scaffolds.

Composite Double-Network Hydrogels To Improve Adhesion on Biological Surfaces.

Despite the development of hydrogels with high mechanical properties, insufficient adhesion between these materials and biological surfaces significantly limits their use in the biomedical field. By controlling toughening processes, we designed a composite double-network hydrogel with ∼90% water content, which creates a dissipative interface and robustly adheres to soft tissues such as cartilage and meniscus. A double-network matrix composed of covalently cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate and ionically cross-linked alginate was reinforced with nanofibrillated cellulose.