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Muscle injury is defined as an overuse injury or traumatic distraction of a muscle, which is latent in any sport event, from amateur to large events. Based on previous numbers of muscle injuries and time spent to the athletes' recovery, the use of dietary functional factors intervention strategies is essential to enhance the recovery process and health. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that biologically active peptides played an important role in sports nutrition and muscle injure recovery. Food-derived bioactive peptides were physiologically active peptides mostly derived from proteins following hydrolysis, which could be resorbed in intact form to reduce muscle damage following exercise and induce beneficial adaptions within the connective tissue. However, the complexity of the histoarchitectural considerations for skeletal muscle injuries and the repair mechanism of damaged skeletal muscle were not well known. In the following overview, the potential mechanisms and possible limitations regarding the damaged skeletal muscle metabolism were summarized, which aimed to present an overview of the nutritional strategies and recommendations after a muscular sports injury, emphasizing the use of main bioactive peptides. In addition, this review will provide implications for the studies of dietary bioactive peptides in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation of functional hydrogels with robust load‐bearing capacity adaptable to complex tissue regeneration remains challenging. Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural biomaterial with excellent mechanical strength and cell adhesion capacity, possessing tremendous potential to solve the aforementioned dilemma. The excellent biodegradability and biocompatibility and the molecular structure with multiple modifiable moieties provide opportunities for the injectability and multifunctionality of hydrogels. Furthermore, the incorporation of other polymers or active ingredients can improve the basic properties, confer biological activities and pharmacological effects, and provide the prerequisites for hydrogels to fulfill specific requirements. Therefore, SF‐based hydrogels are widely applied in tissue repair and regeneration, especially in bone, skin, nerve, liver, myocardium, and cornea, which have effectively addressed the challenges of scaffolds' lack of cell adhesion sites, excessive degradation, as well as the lack of efficient, long‐lasting antimicrobial properties. This review outlines the properties of SF, discusses the types of materials commonly used in the preparation of hydrogels and their characteristics, and describes the current construction methods of SF hydrogels. Simultaneously, recent advancements in applying SF‐based multifunctional hydrogels within biological tissues are explored, with a focus on their role in tissue repair, highlighting the repair mechanism of SF based on bone and skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the widespread application and deep penetration of digital technology, its empowering role in multiple fields is becoming increasingly evident. Especially in the southwestern border areas of China, digital empowerment has brought new opportunities and momentum to promote homecoming entrepreneurship. This study focuses on exploring how digital empowerment can repair homecoming entrepreneurship in the region, and deeply analyzes the repair mechanism through structural equation modeling combined with empirical data. Research has found that digital empowerment has had a positive effect on repairing the flow and accessibility of entrepreneurial information in the assistance of government agencies and affiliated enterprises in the region. Meanwhile, when digital empowerment is combined with regional affiliated enterprises and investment institutions, it has a significant positive impact on repairing and promoting the implementation and operation of entrepreneurial projects. In addition, government agencies and non-governmental organizations in the region have effectively supplemented and repaired the knowledge structure and abilities of entrepreneurs with the support of digital empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The skin barrier is essential for maintaining the body's internal homeostasis, protecting against harmful external substances, and regulating water and electrolyte balance. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers notable advantages in restoring skin barrier function due to its diverse components, targets, and pathways. Recent studies have demonstrated that active ingredients in TCM can safely and effectively repair damaged skin barriers, reinstating their proper functions. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms underlying skin barrier damage and explores how the bioactive constituents of TCM contribute to skin barrier repair, thereby offering a theoretical framework to inform clinical practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lumbosacral plexus injury is a highly distressing clinical issue with profound implications for patients' quality of life. Since the publication of the first relevant study in 1953, there has been very limited progress in basic research and clinical treatment in this field, and the developmental trajectory and research priorities in this field have not been systematically summarized using scientific methods, leaving the future direction of this research to be explored. Methods: Utilizing publications from the Web of Science (WoS) database, our research employed bibliometric methodology to analyze the fundamental components of publications, synthesize research trends, and forecast future directions. Results: A total of 150 publications were included in our study, and the impressive advancement of research heat in this field can be attributed to the continuous increase in the number of papers, ranging from 14 papers in 2000 to 34 papers in 2023 over 5 years. Regarding the country, a central position in both quantity (H-index=125) and quality of publications (65 publications) is occupied by the United States, and close collaborations with other countries are observed. In terms of publication institutions, the highest number of publications (nine publications) is held by the Second Military Medical University. The journal with the most publications (five publications) is the Journal of Trauma-Injury Infection and Critical Care. A pivotal role has been played by basic medical research in the development of this field. Concerning hotspots, the focus of the research core can be divided into three clusters (etiology, diagnosis and treatment; molecular, cells and mechanisms; physiology, and pathology). Conclusion: This marks the inaugural bibliometric analysis of lumbosacral plexus injuries, offering a comprehensive overview of current publications. Our findings illuminate future research directions, international collaborations, and interdisciplinary relationships. Future research will emphasize clinical treatment and mechanism research, with a focus on sacral nerve stimulation and nerve transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible electronic devices with mechanical properties like the soft tissues of human organs have great potential for the next generation of wearable and implantable electronic devices. Self-healing hydrogel composites typically have high tensile strength, high electrical conductivity and damage repair properties and have wide applications in flexible electronics, such as human-computer interaction, health detection and soft robots. Various self-healing hydrogel composites have been developed to produce new stretchable conductive materials with satisfactory mechanical and self-healing properties. This paper presents the fabrication of self-healing hydrogel composites and their application in flexible electronic devices. Firstly, the repair mechanism of physically cross-linked and chemically cross-linked self-healing hydrogel composites is presented. Secondly, self-healing double network hydrogels, self-healing nanocomposite hydrogels and double crosslinked self-healing hydrogel composites and their applications in flexible sensors, energy harvesting devices, energy storage devices and optical devices are presented and discussed. Finally, the challenges and prospects of self-healing hydrogel composites in flexible electronic devices in the future are presented.

Understanding the repair mechanisms of defects is essential for gaining insight into improving the quality and enhancing the performance of materials. While new structures and elemental segregation always exist around defects, the influence of the surroundings on the repair mechanism has rarely been investigated on the atomic scale. Here, by tracking the morphological and microstructural evolution of Al2Cu nanopores with and without Cu-rich phases in the vicinity under electron beam irradiation, our in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study revealed a surrounding-dependent repair behavior. In contrast to the Al2Cu nanopores without Cu-rich neighborhoods, which display an isotropically shrinking from all directions, the Al2Cu nanopores with Al4Cu9 nearby exhibit an anomalous two-step repair mechanism. First, new Al4Cu9 structures nucleated from the Cu-rich region and evolved to fill the nanopores. Second, Al4Cu9 reacted with Al atoms and gradually transformed into Al2Cu. High-resolution TEM (HRTEM) images and strain maps demonstrate that the repair is imperfect as the eventual repaired region contains both Al4Cu9 and Al2Cu. This is caused by the simultaneous sputtering and depositing effects of electron beams (E-Beam). Our findings provide critical insights into the modulatory function of surroundings on the nanopore repair mechanism.

The skin barrier is essential for maintaining the body’s internal homeostasis, protecting against harmful external substances, and regulating water and electrolyte balance. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers notable advantages in restoring skin barrier function due to its diverse components, targets, and pathways. Recent studies have demonstrated that active ingredients in TCM can safely and effectively repair damaged skin barriers, reinstating their proper functions. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms underlying skin barrier damage and explores how the bioactive constituents of TCM contribute to skin barrier repair, thereby offering a theoretical framework to inform clinical practices.

The repair mechanism for corneal epithelial cell injuries encompasses migration, proliferation, and differentiation of corneal epithelial cells, and extracellular matrix remodeling of the stromal structural integrity. Furthermore, it involves the consequential impact of corneal limbal stem cells (LSCs). In recent years, as our comprehension of the mediating mechanisms underlying corneal epithelial injury repair has advanced, it has become increasingly apparent that growth factors play a pivotal role in this intricate process. These growth factors actively contribute to the restoration of corneal epithelial injuries by orchestrating responses and facilitating specific interactions at targeted sites. This article systematically summarizes the role of growth factors in corneal epithelial cell injury repair by searching relevant literature in recent years, and explores the limitations of current literature search, providing a certain scientific basis for subsequent basic research and clinical applications.

BACKGROUND: Ischemic heart disease is one type of disease that seriously threatens human life and health. Mesenchymal stem cells derived exosomes have shown obvious therapeutic effects and application prospects in ischemic heart disease, and make important research progress. OBJECTIVE: To review the therapeutic effect of mesenchymal stem cells derived exosomes for ischemic heart disease, repair mechanisms, optimized plan and improved transplantation strategy. METHODS: The relevant articles published from January 1973 to March 2022 were searched in PubMed by the first author in February 2021. The English key words were “mesenchymal stem cell, exosome, ischemic heart disease”. Finally, 88 articles were included and analyzed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Exosomes secreted by stem cells are one of the most important components of stem cell excretion to play functional regulation which have shown obvious therapeutic effects and application prospects in ischemic heart disease. (2) Mesenchymal stem cells derived exosomes can promote the angiogenesis and protect ischemia-injured myocardial tissue, inhibit cardiac fibrosis and improve immune regulation, finally promote myocardial repair and the improvement of cardiac function. (3) The production or functional properties of mesenchymal stem cells derived exosomes can be optimized by genetic engineering modification, miRNA modification, pretreated of drugs or physical intervention, and improve exosome production, so as to improve their therapeutic effect on ischemic heart disease. (4) Using biomaterials to carry exosomes, two-step delivery method, exosome spray technology or cell membrane modified exosomes and other exosome transplantation optimization strategies can effectively improve the retention rate of mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes in injured myocardial tissue, thereby enhancing their therapeutic effect on ischemic heart disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) has a promising therapeutic efficiency for varieties of disorders caused by ischemia or reperfusion impairment. It has been shown that BMSCs can mitigate intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injuries, but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. This study aimed at investigating the efficacy of BMSCs on the immune function of intestinal mucosal microenvironment after I/R injuries. Methods: Twenty adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a treatment or a control group. All the rats underwent superior mesenteric artery clamping and unclamping. In the treatment group, BMSCs were implanted into the intestine of ten rats by direct submucosal injection whereas the other ten rats in the control group were injected with the same volume of saline. On the fourth and seventh day after BMSCs transplantation, intestinal samples were examined for the CD4 (CD4-positive T-lymphocytes)/CD8 (CD8-positive T-lymphocytes) ratio of the bowel mucosa via flow cytometry, and for the level of Interleukin-2 (IL-2), Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) via ELISA. Paneth cell counts and Secretory Immunoglobulin A (SIgA) level were examined via immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. Real time PCR (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and trypsinogen (Serine 2) (PRSS2) genes. White blood cell (WBC) count was measured by manual counting under the microscope. Results: The CD4/CD8 ratio in the treatment group was significantly lower compared with that in the control group. The concentration of IL-2 and IL-6 was lower in the treatment group compared with the control group, while the level of IL-4 is the reverse between the two groups. The number of Paneth cells in intestinal mucosa increased significantly, while the level of SIgA in intestinal mucosa decreased significantly, after BMSCs transplantation. The gene expression levels of TNF-α and PRSS2 in intestinal mucosa of treatment group were significantly lower than those of control group. The WBC count in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group. Conclusion: We identified immune-relevant molecular changes that may explain the mechanism of BMSCs transplantation efficacy in alleviating rat intestinal immune-barrier after I/R.

IntroductionPeripheral nerve defect is a difficult disease to treat in clinical practice. End-to-side anastomosis is a useful method to treat it. At present, the end-to-side anastomosis method does not involve the proximal nerve, which results in a waste of proximal donor nerves, and even the formation of traumatic neuromas at the proximal end. The patients suffer from traumatic neuralgia and the curative effect is unsatisfactory.MethodsIn this study, an improved end-to-side anastomosis technique was proposed in this study: both the proximal and distal ends of the damaged common peroneal nerve were sutured to an adjacent normal tibial nerve. Moreover, the possible role and mechanism of the proposed technique were explained at the physiological and anatomical levels. In this study, a 10 mm common peroneal nerve defect was made in SD rats, and the rats were randomly divided into three groups. In Group I, the distal end of the common peroneal nerve was attached end-to-side to the fenestrated tibial nerve adventitia, and the proximal end was ligated and fixed in the nearby muscle. In Group II, the tibial nerve adventitia was fenestrated and the epineurial end-to-end anastomosis surgery was performed to suture the proximal and distal ends of the common peroneal nerve. Rats in Group III were taken as control and received sham operation. Twelve weeks after the operation, the recovery of the repaired nerve and distal effector functions were examined by the sciatic functional index, electrophysiology, osmic acid staining, the muscle wet weight ratio, and the muscle fiber cross-sectional area.ResultsIt was found that these results in Group II were similar to those in Group III, but better than those in Group I. Through retrograde tracing of neurons and Electrophysiological examination in Group II, the study also found that the proximal common peroneal nerve also could establish a connection with tibialis anterior, even gastrocnemius.DiscussionTherefore, it is inferred that fostering both the proximal and distal ends of defective peripheral nerves on normal peripheral nerves using the end-to-side anastomosis technique is a more effective approach to repairing injured nerves.

Ultraviolet (UV)-C light for disinfection has experienced a surge in popularity since the outbreak of COVID-19. Currently, many different UV-C systems, with varied properties that impact disinfection performance, are available on the market. Therefore this review aims to bundle the available information on UV-C disinfection to obtain an overview of its advantages, disadvantages, and performance-influencing parameters. A literature search was performed using the snowball search method in Google Scholar and PubMed with the following keywords: UV-C disinfection, UV-C dose, UV-C light source, UV-C repair mechanism, UV-C photoreactivation, and UV-C disinfection standards. The main parameters of UV-C disinfection are wavelength, dose, relative humidity, and temperature. There is no consensus about their optimal values, but, in general, light at a high dose and a spectrum of wavelengths containing 260 nm is preferred in an environment at room temperature with low relative humidity. This light can be generated by mercury-vapour, light-emitting diode (LED), pulsed-xenon, or excimer lamps. Multiple factors are detrimental to disinfection performance such as shadowing, a rough surface topography, a high level of contamination, repair mechanisms, and the lack of standardization. Also, there are health and safety risks associated with the UV-C technology when used in the proximity of people. UV-C disinfection systems have promising features and the potential to improve in the future. However, clarifications surrounding the different parameters influencing the technologies' effectiveness in hospital environment are needed. Therefore UV-C disinfection should currently be considered for low-level rather than high-level disinfection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schwann cells (SCs) have a strong plasticity. After peripheral nerve injury, Schwann cells dedifferentiate into repair phenotype and dominate the repair process. C-Jun N-terminal kinase, mitogen activated protein kinase(MAPK) and other signaling pathways and transcriptional regulators are involved in regulating Schwann cell-mediated repair process. This review discusses the main signaling pathways and transcriptional regulators of Schwann cell promoting peripheral nerve regeneration.

In order to solve the problems of superficial ecological deterioration and decline of water resources in the ecologically fragile mining area caused by the downward cracks in seam mining, the unconfined compressive strength test and direct shear test were used to determine the changes of physico-mechanical properties of the reinforced sample with microbial solution of different concentrations, and reveal its mechanism. The results show that with the increase of the concentration of the microbial bacteria liquid, the unconfined compressive strength and shear strength of the sample are gradually increased, and the ability of the bacteria liquid to repair the fractured soil becomes enhanced, which can improve the physico-mechanical properties of the soil to a certain extent.

The application of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) technology in the food industry has generated potential safety hazards due to sub-lethally injured (SI) pathogenic bacteria in food products. To address these problems, this study explored the repair mechanisms of HHP-induced SI Escherichia coli O157:H7. First, the repair state of SI E. coli O157:H7 (400 MPa for 5 min) was identified, which was cultured for 2 h (37 °C) in a tryptose soya broth culture medium. We found that the intracellular protein content, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content, and enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ATPase) increased, and the morphology was repaired. The transcriptome was analyzed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of SI repair. Using cluster analysis, we identified 437 genes enriched in profile 1 (first down-regulated and then tending to be stable) and 731 genes in profile 2 (up-regulated after an initial down-regulation). KEGG analysis revealed that genes involved in cell membrane biosynthesis, oxidative phosphorylation, ribosome, and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis pathways were enriched in profile 2, whereas cell-wall biosynthesis was enriched in profile 1. These findings provide insights into the repair process of SI E. coli O157:H7 induced by HHP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The skin of a fruit protects the vulnerable, nutrient-rich flesh and seed(s) within from the hostile environment. It is also responsible for the fruit's appearance. In many fruitcrop species, russeting compromises fruit appearance and thus commercial value. Here, we review the literature on fruit russeting, focusing on the factors and mechanisms that induce it and on the management and breeding strategies that may reduce it. Compared with a primary fruit skin, which is usually distinctively colored and shiny, a secondary fruit skin is reddish-brown, dull and slightly rough to the touch (i.e., russeted). This secondary skin (periderm) comprises phellem cells with suberized cell walls, a phellogen and a phelloderm. Russeted (secondary) fruit skins have similar mechanical properties to non-russeted (primary) ones but are more plastic. However, russeted fruit skins are more permeable to water vapor, so russeted fruits suffer higher postharvest water loss, reduced shine, increased shrivel and reduced packed weight (most fruit is sold per kg). Orchard factors that induce russeting include expansion-growth-induced strain, surface wetness, mechanical damage, freezing temperatures, some pests and diseases and some agrochemicals. All these probably act via an increased incidence of cuticular microcracking as a result of local concentrations of mechanical stress. Microcracking impairs the cuticle's barrier properties. Potential triggers of russeting (the development of a periderm), consequent on cuticular microcracking, include locally high concentrations of O2, lower concentrations of CO2 and more negative water potentials. Horticulturists sometimes spray gibberellins, cytokinins or boron to reduce russeting. Bagging fruit (to exclude surface moisture) is also reportedly effective. From a breeding perspective, genotypes having small and more uniform-sized epidermal cells are judged less likely to be susceptible to russeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Maxillary sinus membrane perforation (SMP) during lateral window sinus floor elevation (SFE) might be associated with postoperative complications (PC). Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of PC and clinical implant outcome for different forms of SMP with lateral window SFE. Material and Methods: The prevalence of PC such as maxillary sinusitis, graft necrosis and wound infection was retrospectively evaluated for 434 lateral window SFE (334 patients) with 331 SFE (241 patients) without and 103 SFE (93 patients) with SMP. SMP was additionally classified into four subgroups regarding to membrane perforation size (small‐moderate [<10 mm] vs. large [>10 mm]) and membrane biotype ([BT] thin vs. thick). Additionally, patient‐ and surgery‐related risk factors affecting PC and the 1‐year implant survival rate were evaluated for SFE without and with SMP and subgroups. Results: A significantly higher prevalence including significant odds ratios of PC such as maxillary sinusitis (10/103 [9.7%] vs. 4/331 [1.2%]; p < 0.021; OR: 8.85; p < 0.021) and graft necrosis (7/103[6.8%] vs. 1/103[0.3%]; p < 0.017; OR:7.43; p < 0.017) was found for SFE with than without SMP. The SMP subgroup with large size and thin BT involved significantly (p < 0.005) more PC (15/20[75%]) than all other SMP subgroups (5/20[25%]). For the risk factors evaluated the univariate analysis demonstrated differences of PC for the presence versus absence of SMP (p < 0.001) and for thin versus thick sinus mucosa (p < 0.038; p < 0.006) but not for sex, smoking, sinus septa and surgical stage. In the multivariate risk factors analysis, PC were significantly related to risk factors such as large size with thin BT (OR:18.049; p < 0.007). The 1‐year implant survival rate did not differ between SFE without (99.5%) and with SMP (99.1%), regardless of successfully repaired subtype of SMP. Conclusion: The synopsis of perforation size and membrane biotype is crucial in differentiating different forms of SMP assessing and anticipating different prevalences of PC in lateral window SFE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate prevalences, affecting risk factors and efforts for repair mechanism for different forms of sinus membrane perforations (SMP) during sinus floor elevation (SFE) using the lateral window technique (LWT). Material and methods: For 334/434 patients, SFE undergoing LWT prevalence of SMP was retrospectively evaluated including a subselection based on membrane perforation size (<10 mm: small–moderate/≥10 mm: large) and biotype (BT; thick BT/thin BT) into four subgroups (SMP1: thick BT/small–moderate; SMP2: thin BT/small–moderate; SMP3: thick BT/large; SMP4: thin BT/large). For the various subgroups, patient‐ and surgery‐related/anatomic risk factors affecting SMP were evaluated and the scope of sinus membrane repair (SSMR) mechanisms rated with 1 (easy) to 5 (complex) was compared. Results: For 103/434 SMP (27.6%) in 93/334 patients (30.8%) the prevalence of various forms of SMP differed significantly (p < 0.001) among the four subgroups. SMP4 with a prevalence of 45.6% (n = 47) was the most frequent type, while SMP3 had low prevalence with 4.85% (n = 5). Small/moderate SMPs with thick (SMP1: n = 26) or thin BT (SMP2: n = 23) were seen in 26.2% and 23.3%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed significant differences between subgroups with large perforations (SMP3/SMP4) and those with small/moderate perforations (SMP1/SMP2) regarding anatomic risk factors such as residual ridge height (p = 0.023) and history of previous oral surgical interventions (OSI; p = 0.026). Most evidently, multivariate analysis showed that induction of large SMP with thin biotype (SMP4) was significantly affected by the presence of sinus septa (p < 0.022, OR: 2.415), reduced residual ridge height (p < 0.001, OR: 1.842), and previous OSI (p < 0.001, OR: 4.545). SSMR differed significantly (p < 0.001) between SMP4 (4.62 ± 0.49) and the subgroups SMP1 (1.11 ± 0.32), SMP2 (1.08 ± 028), and SMP3 (2.2 ± 0.55). Conclusion: The most frequently found type of SMP had characteristics of thin biotype and large size associated with risk factors such as sinus septa, reduced residual ridge, and previous surgical interventions and required challenging repair mechanisms assessing clinical impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University-enterprise (U-E) innovation chain fractures hinder the commercialisation of knowledge. However, few contributions in the academic field have uncovered how certain mechanisms repair U-E innovation fractures and commercialise their research results. In order to bridge the research gap in the repair mechanism of U-E innovation chain fractures, a multiple-case study of U-E innovation fractures was conducted by proposing a 'behaviour-process-outcomes' repair model. The results are as follows: motivation coordination mechanism is the driving force that converges the goals of different organisations; organisation coordination mechanism is the platform that provides the basic support for the weak links and makes up for the defects of a single organisation; capability development and coordination is the element of U-E cooperation through a combination of basic and applied research capability, technological innovation capability and product commercialisation capability; policy coordination mechanism is the vehicle of U-E innovation chain that strengthens U-E cooperation with various preferential policies. The conclusion shows the 'coordinated innovation' repair model for U-E innovation chain fractures provides important insights for practitioners and policymakers involved in developing an innovation chain in U-E cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the important research results of self-healing technology of asphalt materials, analyzes the healing mechanism of self-healing technology, and emphatically introduces the research status, advantages and disadvantages of five advanced self-healing technologies: Electromagnetic induction heating (EIH) technology, Microwave induction heating (MIH) technology, Photorepair method, Microcapsule method, and Hollow fiber (HF) method. The results showed that the existing self-healing mechanism is mainly based on surface energy theory, molecular diffusion theory and capillary flow theory, which explains the self-healing phenomenon of asphalt from different scales. The existing self-healing technology has developed rapidly, and the indoor research proves that the potential of MIH technology is higher than that of EIH technology. The repair potential of HF method is higher than that of microcapsule technology, but its material synthesis is more complicated. Photorepair technology has the potential to cooperate with other technologies, and it needs to be reasonably matched and selected. At the same time, the progress of related self-healing construction machinery and technology may require the continuous efforts of researchers. In addition, the organic synergy between different self-healing technologies may be a feasible way for self-healing technology to move from experimental section to practical application. In the future, a set of self-healing system with strong repair effect, environmental friendliness and reasonable cost can be established from the organic synergy of various self-healing technologies, combined with life cycle cost and intelligent sensors. • The existing mechanism explains the self-healing of asphalt from different angles. • The uneven heating of the induction heating technology still exists. • Photorepair method has the potential to combine with other technologies. • Relevant standards of self-healing technology need to be established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background To report the clinical course and the multimodal retinal imaging of a spontaneous retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) tear in a type 2 choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to age-related macular degeneration treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment. Case presentation A 74 year-old man presented with visual acuity deterioration in the right eye. Multimodal retinal imaging showed a predominantly classic (type 2) CNV complicated by a spontaneous RPE tear. The patient received six intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF which resulted in improvement of the vision and stabilization of the neovascular lesion on optical coherence tomography (OCT). Longitudinal changes of the RPE-photoreceptors interface, including RPE splitting, are reported on OCT. Conclusion RPE tears may spontaneously occur in type 2 CNV. Anti-VEGF treatment should be aimed at promoting RPE repair and limiting the extent of the scarring. The mechanisms of RPE repair during treatment may be documented with OCT.

The application of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) technology in the food industry has generated potential safety hazards due to sub-lethally injured (SI) pathogenic bacteria in food products. To address these problems, this study explored the repair mechanisms of HHP-induced SI Escherichia coli O157:H7. First, the repair state of SI E. coli O157:H7 (400 MPa for 5 min) was identified, which was cultured for 2 h (37 °C) in a tryptose soya broth culture medium. We found that the intracellular protein content, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content, and enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ATPase) increased, and the morphology was repaired. The transcriptome was analyzed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of SI repair. Using cluster analysis, we identified 437 genes enriched in profile 1 (first down-regulated and then tending to be stable) and 731 genes in profile 2 (up-regulated after an initial down-regulation). KEGG analysis revealed that genes involved in cell membrane biosynthesis, oxidative phosphorylation, ribosome, and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis pathways were enriched in profile 2, whereas cell-wall biosynthesis was enriched in profile 1. These findings provide insights into the repair process of SI E. coli O157:H7 induced by HHP.

The skin of a fruit protects the vulnerable, nutrient-rich flesh and seed(s) within from the hostile environment. It is also responsible for the fruit’s appearance. In many fruitcrop species, russeting compromises fruit appearance and thus commercial value. Here, we review the literature on fruit russeting, focusing on the factors and mechanisms that induce it and on the management and breeding strategies that may reduce it. Compared with a primary fruit skin, which is usually distinctively colored and shiny, a secondary fruit skin is reddish-brown, dull and slightly rough to the touch (i.e., russeted). This secondary skin (periderm) comprises phellem cells with suberized cell walls, a phellogen and a phelloderm. Russeted (secondary) fruit skins have similar mechanical properties to non-russeted (primary) ones but are more plastic. However, russeted fruit skins are more permeable to water vapor, so russeted fruits suffer higher postharvest water loss, reduced shine, increased shrivel and reduced packed weight (most fruit is sold per kg). Orchard factors that induce russeting include expansion-growth-induced strain, surface wetness, mechanical damage, freezing temperatures, some pests and diseases and some agrochemicals. All these probably act via an increased incidence of cuticular microcracking as a result of local concentrations of mechanical stress. Microcracking impairs the cuticle’s barrier properties. Potential triggers of russeting (the development of a periderm), consequent on cuticular microcracking, include locally high concentrations of O2, lower concentrations of CO2 and more negative water potentials. Horticulturists sometimes spray gibberellins, cytokinins or boron to reduce russeting. Bagging fruit (to exclude surface moisture) is also reportedly effective. From a breeding perspective, genotypes having small and more uniform-sized epidermal cells are judged less likely to be susceptible to russeting.

The repair mechanism for corneal epithelial cell injuries encompasses migration, proliferation, and differentiation of corneal epithelial cells, and extracellular matrix remodeling of the stromal structural integrity. Furthermore, it involves the consequential impact of corneal limbal stem cells (LSCs). In recent years, as our comprehension of the mediating mechanisms underlying corneal epithelial injury repair has advanced, it has become increasingly apparent that growth factors play a pivotal role in this intricate process. These growth factors actively contribute to the restoration of corneal epithelial injuries by orchestrating responses and facilitating specific interactions at targeted sites. This article systematically summarizes the role of growth factors in corneal epithelial cell injury repair by searching relevant literature in recent years, and explores the limitations of current literature search, providing a certain scientific basis for subsequent basic research and clinical applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Gong, Ding, Hao, Li, Deng and Zhang.)

BackgroundHydrogels, a type of three-dimensional (3-D) crosslinked network of polymers containing a high water concentration, have been receiving increasing attention in recent years. Self-healing hydrogels, which can return to their original structure and function after physical damage, are especially attractive. Some self-healable hydrogels have several kinds of properties such as injectability, adhesiveness, and conductivity, which enable them to be used in the manufacturing of drug/cell delivery vehicles, glues, electronic devices, and so on.Main BodyThis review will focus on the synthesis and applications of self-healing hydrogels. Their repair mechanisms and potential applications in pharmaceutical, biomedical, and other areas will be introduced.ConclusionSelf-healing hydrogels are used in various fields because of their ability to recover. The prospect of self-healing hydrogels is promising, and they may be further developed for various applications.

Graphene has excellent theoretical properties and a wide range of applications in metal-based composites. However, because of defects on the graphene surface, the actual performance of the material is far below theoretical expectations. In addition, graphene containing defects could easily react with a matrix alloy, such as Al, to generate brittle and hydrolyzed phases that could further reduce the performance of the resulting composite. Therefore, defect repair is an important area of graphene research. The repair methods reported in the present paper include chemical vapor deposition, doping, liquid-phase repair, external energy graphitization, and alloying. Detailed analyses and comparisons of these methods are carried out, and the characterization methods of graphene are introduced. The mechanism, research value, and future out-look of graphene repair are also discussed at length. Graphene defect repair mainly relies on the spontaneous movement of C atoms or heteroatoms to the pore defects under the condition of applied energy. The repair degree and mechanism of graphene repair are also different according to different preparations. The current research on graphene defect repair is still in its infancy, and it is believed that the problem of defect evolution will be explained in more depth in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optical properties of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) with varying degrees of artificial scratches have been studied with the aim of reproducing the change of visibility of an aircraft's PMMA optical windows after being damaged in their service environment. A novel maintenance method that can perfectly restore the optical property of PMMA has been identified and employed in the repair of the scratches that are formed on the surface of PMMA. This convenient and low-cost method entails polishing PMMA with different types of sandpaper to remove the scratches, and then spin-coating the repair solution in order to restore the optical properties of PMMA. The effect of this repair mechanism and parameters of the repair process were studied. The results indicated that the optical performance of PMMA is closely related to the mesh size of sandpaper, and improper parameter selection destroys the general effect of the repair. When the number of sandpaper mesh is low, the size of the abrasive particle is relatively larger, which can cause deeper friction marks on the surface of PMMA optical windows. Surface treatment using 5000 mesh sandpaper lowers surface roughness (Ra=0.566 nm), and optical transmittance in visible range can be restored to more than 88%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein folding optimization is a very important and tough problem in computational biology. For solving this problem, a population-based metaheuristic algorithm named chemical reaction optimization (CRO) with HP cubic lattice model has been proposed in this paper. The proposed algorithm is combined with evolution and H&P compliance mechanisms which are responsible for increasing the performance of the algorithm. The evolution mechanism improves the performance of each individual solution. On the other hand, the H&P compliance mechanism tries to place the H monomer close to the center and place the P monomer as far as possible from the center of the related structure. The algorithm also applies four reactant operations of typical CRO algorithm decomposition, on-wall ineffective collision, synthesis and inter-molecular ineffective collision to solve the problem efficiently. The reactants or mechanisms may cause overlapping of the corresponding solutions. The algorithm also includes a repair mechanism which transforms invalid solutions into valid ones by removing overlapping in cubic lattice points. This algorithm has been tested over some sets of sequences and it shows very good performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Novel PSO based method for highly constrained University Course Scheduling. • Swap sequence, selective search and force mechanism introduced for velocity operation. • Proposed method outperformed prominent meta-heuristic methods for real-life scenario. Abstract The University Course Scheduling Problem (UCSP) is a highly constrained real-world combinatorial optimization task. Solving UCSP means creating an optimal course schedule by assigning courses to specific rooms, instructors, students, and timeslots by taking into account the given constraints. Several studies have reported different metaheuristic approaches for solving UCSP including Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Harmony Search (HS) algorithm. Various Swarm Intelligence (SI) optimization methods have also been investigated for UCSP in recent times and a few Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) based methods among them with different adaptations are shown to be effective. In this study, a novel PSO-based method is investigated for solving highly constrained UCSP in which basic PSO operations are transformed to tackle combinatorial optimization task of UCSP and a few new operations are introduced to PSO to solve UCSP efficiently. In the proposed method, swap sequence-based velocity computation and its application are developed to transform individual particles in order to improve them. Selective search and forceful swap operation with repair mechanism are the additional new operations in the proposed method for updating particles with calculated swap sequences as velocities. The proposed PSO with selective search (PSOSS) method has been tested on an instance of UCSP for the Computer Science and Engineering Department of Khulna University of Engineering & Technology which has many hard and soft constraints. Experimental results revealed the effectiveness and the superiority of the proposed method compared to other prominent metaheuristic methods (e.g., GA, HS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern times where heavy metal pollution in soil is becoming more and more serious, the new natural non-polluting remediation methods represented by clay mineral materials have attracted more and more attention in the industry.In this paper, the research progress on the types and basic characteristics of clay mineral materials, the effect and mechanism of remediation of heavy metal pollution in soil at home and abroad was comprehensively discussed. The deficiencies of relevant studies were also summarized, and the future research trend was predicted.

Coral bleaching is caused by environmental stress and susceptibility to bleaching stress varies among types of coral. The physiological properties of the algal symbionts (Symbiodinium spp.), especially extent of damage to PSII and its repair capacity, contribute importantly to this variability in stress susceptibility. The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the growth rates and photosynthetic activities of six cultured strains of Symbiodinium spp. (clades A, B, C, D, and F) at elevated temperature (33 °C). We also observed the recovery of photodamaged-PSII in the presence or absence of a chloroplast protein synthesis inhibitor (lincomycin). The growth rates and photochemical efficiencies of PSII (Fv/Fm) decreased in parallel at high temperature in thermally sensitive strains, B-K100 (clade B followed by culture name) and A-Y106, but not in thermally tolerant strains, F-K102 and D-K111. In strains A-KB8 and C-Y103, growth declined markedly at high temperature, but Fv/Fm decreased only slightly. These strains may reallocate energy from growth to the repair of damaged photosynthetic machineries or protection pathways. Alternatively, since recoveries of photo-damaged PSII at 33 °C were modest in strains A-KB8 and C-Y103, thermal stressing of other metabolic pathways may have reduced growth rates in these two strains. This possibility should be explored in future research efforts.

Adaptive designs are increasingly developed and used to improve all phases of clinical trials and in biomedical studies in various ways to address different statistical issues. We first present an overview of adaptive designs and note their numerous advantages over traditional clinical trials. In particular, we provide a concrete demonstration that shows how recent adaptive design strategies can further improve an adaptive trial implemented 13 years ago. Despite their usefulness, adaptive designs are still not widely implemented in clinical trials. We offer a few possible reasons and propose some ways to use them more broadly in practice, which include greater availability of software tools and interactive websites to generate optimal adaptive trials freely and effectively, including the use of metaheuristics to facilitate the search for an efficient trial design. To this end, we present several web-based tools for finding various adaptive and nonadaptive optimal designs and discuss nature-inspired metaheuristics. Metaheuristics are assumptions-free general purpose optimization algorithms widely used in computer science and engineering to tackle all kinds of challenging optimization problems, and their use in designing clinical trials is just emerging. We describe a few recent such applications and some of their capabilities for designing various complex trials. Particle swarm optimization is an exemplary nature-inspired algorithm, and similar to others, it has a simple definition but many moving parts, making it hard to study its properties analytically. We investigated one of its hitherto unstudied issues on how to bring back out-of-range candidates during the search for the optimum of the search domain and show that different strategies can impact the success and time of the search. We conclude with a few caveats on the use of metaheuristics for a successful search., (©Hongjian Zhu, Weng Kee Wong. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 16.10.2023.)

With the recent developments in tissue engineering, scientists have attempted to establish seed cells from different sources, create cell sheets through various technologies, implant them on scaffolds with various spatial structures, or load scaffolds with cytokines. These research results are very optimistic, bringing hope to the treatment of patients with uterine infertility. In this article, we reviewed articles related to the treatment of uterine infertility from the aspects of experimental treatment strategy, seed cells, scaffold application, and repair criteria so as to provide a basis for future research.

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Key message: The main achievement of this study is an extension of the existing model of Shigo of the branch-stem junction of coniferous trees by introducing the concept of a sacrificial tissue. This tissue is acting as a predetermined breaking point between branch and stem, and limits fracture and damage to a small and isolated zone within the tree.Abstract: Shigo developed a macroscopic model of the fibre structure in the vicinity of a branch-stem junction of coniferous trees to explain special physiological functions of the junction. However, abrupt changes in the cell orientations at the vertex of the branch observed on fracture surfaces and micro-cuts of the branch-stem junction interphase demand an extension of the existing model. The recent introduction of the concept of a sacrificial tissue, formed in the upper region of the branch-stem interface, brings more insights into the hierarchical junction microstructure and its mechanical and biological functions. Beyond a critical load, the sacrificial tissue serves as a predetermined crack path of zig-zag morphology originating from the stepwise distribution of transversally loaded cells at the junction. The hierarchical branch-stem junction microstructure, however, secures the stem and branch physiological functions, even when the crack opening is formed along the channel of the sacrificial tissue. Moreover, after the removal of the load, complete closure of the crack can be observed, which is explained by the release of the elastic energy stored in cells of the bent branch with high microfibril angle. The self-repair mechanism of the living branch is based on covering the crack by cell division of a sound cambium in combination with resin deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portfolio optimization is the process of allocating capital among a universe of assets to achieve better risk–return trade-off. Due to the dynamic nature of financial markets, the portfolio needs to be rebalanced to retain the desired risk–return characteristics. The process of rebalancing requires buying or selling of assets that incur transaction costs. This study proposes a tri-objective portfolio optimization model with risk, return and transaction cost as the objectives. Various practical constraints like cardinality, self-financing, quantity, pre-assignment and cost related constraints are included in the proposed model. Three popular risk measures namely variance, Value-At-Risk (VaR) and Conditional Value-At-Risk (CVaR) are studied in the proposed work. The emphasis of the study is on handling equality constraints like self-financing constraint and the constraints arising from the inclusion of transaction cost models using multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs). A novel repair algorithm is proposed that can effectively handle equality constraints without any requirement of any constraint handling technique. The proposed repair algorithm is suitable for a larger class of separable transaction cost model. The theoretical proof is given to ensure the validity of our claim. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach three algorithms from different multi-objective evolutionary frameworks are adapted and compared. In empirical study, we discuss the performances of algorithms over both in-sample and out-sample data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deamination of adenine can occur spontaneously under physiological conditions to generate the highly mutagenic lesion, deoxyinosine (hypoxanthine deoxyribonucleotide, dI). In DNA, dI preferably pairs with cytosine rather than thymine and results in A:T to G:C transition mutations after DNA replication. The deamination of adenine is enhanced by ROS from exposure of DNA to ionizing radiation, UV light, nitrous acid, or heat. In Escherichia coli , dI repair is initiated by endonuclease V (endo V; nfi gene product) nicking but a complete repair mechanism has yet to be elucidated. Using in vitro minimum component reconstitution assays, we previously showed that endo V, DNA polymerase I (pol I), and E. coli DNA ligase were sufficient to repair this dI lesions efficiently and that the 3′-5′ exonuclease of pol I is essential. Here we employed a phagemid-based T-I substrate mimicking adenine deamination product to demonstrate pol I proofreading exonuclease is required by the endo V repair pathway both in vitro and in vivo. In vivo we found that the repair level of an nfi mutant (11%) was almost 8-fold lower than the wild type (87%). while the polA- D424A strain, a pol I mutant defective in 3′-5′ exonuclease, showed a high repair level similar to wild type (both more than 80%). Using additional C–C mismatch as strand discrimination marker we found that the high level of dI removal in polA- D424A was due to strand loss (more than 60%) associated with incomplete repair. Thus, pol I proofreading exonuclease is the major function responsible for dI lesion removal after endoV nicking both in vitro and in vivo. Finally, using MALDI-TOF to analyze single-nucleotide extension product we show that the pol I proofreading exonuclease excises only 2-nt 5′ upstream of endo V incision site further honing the role of pol I in the endoV dI dependent repair pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selection of promising assets and allocating capital among them is a crucial part of the financial decision-making process. Modern portfolio theory formulated it as a quadratic optimization problem of maximizing expected returns and minimizing the risk of the portfolio. This problem was modified to incorporate investor's preferences resulting in discrete non-linear search space which cannot be handled by traditional quadratic programming approaches. Relevant literature shows the success of evolutionary algorithms in modelling some of these preferences Multi-criteria algorithms for portfolio optimization under practical constraintsin a constrained optimization problem. This study proposes a candidate generation procedure and a repair mechanism for practical portfolio optimization model in multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) settings. Both these methods together can handle a larger class of constraints namely cardinality, pre-assignment, budget, quantity (floor and ceiling) and round-lot constraints. Proposed methods can easily be incorporated into existing evolutionary algorithms. To evaluate their effectiveness, four MOEAs namely Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II), Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2 (SPEA2), Global Weighting Achievement Scalarizing Function Genetic Algorithm (GWASFGA) and Pareto Envelope-based Selection Algorithm-II (PESA-II) have been adapted and their capability of approximating unconstrained efficient frontier are discussed. For empirical testing, seven datasets involving maximum up to 1290 assets are used. All the adapted algorithms are compared and evaluated on the basis of five well-known performance metrics for MOEAs. The potential of our adapted algorithms is presented in comparison with existing MOEAs for the identical problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone microdamage is generally defined as matrix failure detectable by light microscope. The accumulation and development of bone microdamage is associated with fatigue loading. Bone remodeling can be activated to target the repair of bone microdamage. But different types of bone microdamage have different effects on bone remodeling. There are five types of bone microdamage. Most research are focused on the linear microcrack and diffuse microdamage，and they have completely different morphological characters and repair mechanisms. This paper reviews the classification，measurement，development and repair mechanisms of bone microdamage，evaluate the role of neuropeptide on bone remodeling，with the aim of further exploring the possible repair mechanisms of bone microdamage and laying the foundation for the prevention of osteoporotic fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of analysis in this study is the identification and analysis of the normative framework of a future banking union in the Economic Monetary Union. In this sense of the word, the research emphasis is on the issues concerning the need for establishment of a banking union, the prerequisites that must be met in both the national and the EC law, the advantages and disadvantages of using this supranational coordination mechanism of economic policy and its functions in terms of financial and economic disorders. In next paragraph, attention is paid to the new tasks of the main EU institutions in the process of implementation of the banking union, primarily European Central Bank, European Commission and European Parliament, where a general conclusion notes a need for their active role in implementing the concept of a banking union would not thus preserve legal certainty and to ensure optimal consumer protection, property, rights of depositors and conservation of overall economic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The objective of this study is to report a case of complete recovery of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) layer after spontaneous large serous RPE tear and explore the possible RPE repair mechanism., Case Description: A 63-year-old male patient developed serous detachment of the RPE in the macula of his left eye. During the follow-up period, an oval-shaped RPE tear spontaneously occurred in the macular area, and fundus autofluorescence showed that the torn area was 6.59 mm 2 . Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) revealed that the subretinal fluid had been absorbed and that the continuity of the RPE layer was gradually restored from the periphery to the center over the course of 9 months. Moreover, visual acuity (VA) in the left eye was restored to 20/20, and there was no significant difference in macular function between the two eyes, as measured by multifocal electroretinography, at the last follow-up. In addition, the patient received no special treatment during the entire follow-up period., Conclusion: The integrity of the RPE layer can be restored completely after extensive RPE tear, and recovered RPE may allow the recovery of macular function.