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Aging is an inevitable and complex natural phenomenon due to the increase in age. Cellular senescence means a non-proliferative but viable cellular physiological state. It is the basis of aging, and it exists in the body at any time point. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an interstitial fibrous lung disease with unknown etiology, characterized by irreversible destruction of lung structure and function. Aging is one of the most critical risk factors for IPF, and extensive epidemiological data confirms IPF as an aging-related disease. Senescent fibroblasts in IPF show abnormal activation, telomere shortening, metabolic reprogramming, mitochondrial dysfunction, apoptosis resistance, autophagy deficiency, and senescence-associated secretory phenotypes (SASP). These characteristics of senescent fibroblasts establish a close link between cellular senescence and IPF. The treatment of senescence-related molecules and pathways is continually emerging, and using senolytics eliminating senescent fibroblasts is also actively tried as a new therapy for IPF. In this review, we discuss the roles of aging and cellular senescence in IPF. In particular, we summarize the signaling pathways through which senescent fibroblasts influence the occurrence and development of IPF. On this basis, we further talk about the current treatment ideas, hoping this paper can be used as a helpful reference for future researches.

As a key 6G candidate technology, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) integrates into sensor-communication systems, supporting positioning and sensing as environmental sensor nodes or anchors. To address efficient RIS deployment under constraints and mitigate wireless communication blind spots, this paper proposes a hybrid optimization algorithm. It decomposes the NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem into two stages: (1) a greedy strategy ensures coverage completeness by allocating one locally optimal RIS to each independent shadow area; (2) a Branch-and-Bound (BnB) algorithm optimizes global deployment to maximize overall signal gain in shadow areas. This decoupling reduces computational complexity for large-scale problems. Simulation results show the algorithm’s superiority: the greedy phase guarantees fair coverage, and the BnB-based global optimization achieves up to 56.85% higher average Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) gain in shadow areas than random deployment, improving both shadow-area user communication quality and overall network performance.

Objective. Observe the protective effect of chlorogenic acid on dextran sulfate-induced ulcerative colitis in mice and explore the regulation of MAPK/ERK/JNK signaling pathway. Methods. Seventy C57BL/6 mice (half males and half females) were randomly divided into 7 groups, 10 in each group: control group (CON group), UC model group (UC group), and sulfasalazine-positive control group (SASP group), chlorogenic acid low dose group (CGA-L group), chlorogenic acid medium dose group (CGA-M group), chlorogenic acid high dose group (CGA-H group), and ERK inhibitor + chlorogenic acid group (E+CGA group). The effects of chlorogenic acid on UC were evaluated by colon mucosa damage index (CMDI), HE staining, immunohistochemistry, ELISA, and Western blot. The relationship between chlorogenic acid and MAPK/ERK/JNK signaling pathway was explored by adding ERK inhibitor. Results. The UC models were established successfully by drinking DSS water. Chlorogenic acid reduces DSS-induced colonic mucosal damage, inhibits DSS-induced inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis in colon, and reduces ERK1/2, p -ERK, p38, p-p38, JNK, and p-JNK protein expression. ERK inhibitor U0126 reversed the protective effect of chlorogenic acid on colon tissue. Conclusion. Chlorogenic acid can alleviate DSS-induced ulcerative colitis in mice, which can significantly reduce tissue inflammation and apoptosis, and its mechanism is related to the MAPK/ERK/JNK signaling pathway.

As one of the most common oral diseases in kids, early childhood caries affects the health of children throughout the world. Clinical investigations show the copresence of Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans in ECC lesions, and mechanistic studies reveal co-existence of C. albicans and S. mutans affects both of their cariogenicity. Clearly a comprehensive understanding of the interkingdom interaction between these two microorganisms has important implications for ECC treatment and prevention. To this end, this review summarizes advances in our understanding of the virulence of both C. albicans and S. mutans . More importantly, the synergistic and antagonistic interactions between these two microbes are discussed.

Periodontitis is the sixth most prevalent chronic disease globally and places significant burdens on societies and economies worldwide. Behavioral modification, risk factor control, coupled with cause-related therapy have been the “gold standard” treatment for managing periodontitis. Given that host inflammatory and immunological responses play critical roles in the pathogenesis of periodontitis and impact treatment responses, several adjunctive strategies aimed at modulating host responses and improving the results of periodontal therapy and maintenance have been proposed. Of the many pharmacological host modulators, we focused on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), due to their long history and extensive use in relieving inflammation and pain and reducing platelet aggregation. NSAIDs have been routinely indicated for treating rheumatic fever and osteoarthritis and utilized for the prevention of cardiovascular events. Although several efforts have been made to incorporate NSAIDs into the treatment of periodontitis, their effects on periodontal health remain poorly characterized, and concerns over the risk–benefit ratio were also raised. Moreover, there is emerging evidence highlighting the potential of NSAIDs, especially aspirin, for use in periodontal regeneration. This review summarizes and discusses the use of NSAIDs in various aspects of periodontal therapy and regeneration, demonstrating that the benefits of NSAIDs as adjuncts to conventional periodontal therapy remain controversial. More recent evidence suggests a promising role for NSAIDs in periodontal tissue engineering and regeneration.

Background The widely adopted bulk RNA-seq measures the gene expression average of cells, masking cell type heterogeneity, which confounds downstream analyses. Therefore, identifying the cellular composition and cell type-specific gene expression profiles (GEPs) facilitates the study of the underlying mechanisms of various biological processes. Although single-cell RNA-seq focuses on cell type heterogeneity in gene expression, it requires specialized and expensive resources and currently is not practical for a large number of samples or a routine clinical setting. Recently, computational deconvolution methodologies have been developed, while many of them only estimate cell type composition or cell type-specific GEPs by requiring the other as input. The development of more accurate deconvolution methods to infer cell type abundance and cell type-specific GEPs is still essential. Results We propose a new deconvolution algorithm, DSSC, which infers cell type-specific gene expression and cell type proportions of heterogeneous samples simultaneously by leveraging gene-gene and sample-sample similarities in bulk expression and single-cell RNA-seq data. Through comparisons with the other existing methods, we demonstrate that DSSC is effective in inferring both cell type proportions and cell type-specific GEPs across simulated pseudo-bulk data (including intra-dataset and inter-dataset simulations) and experimental bulk data (including mixture data and real experimental data). DSSC shows robustness to the change of marker gene number and sample size and also has cost and time efficiencies. Conclusions DSSC provides a practical and promising alternative to the experimental techniques to characterize cellular composition and heterogeneity in the gene expression of heterogeneous samples.

Combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system is an effective solution to solve energy and environmental problems. However, due to the demand-side load uncertainty, load-prediction error, environmental change, and demand charge, the energy dispatch optimization of the CCHP system is definitely a tough challenge. In view of this, this paper proposes a dispatch method based on the deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithm, DoubleDQN, to generate an optimal dispatch strategy for the CCHP system in the summer. By integrating DRL, this method does not require any prediction information, and can adapt to the load uncertainty. The simulation result shows that compared with strategies based on benchmark policies and DQN, the proposed dispatch strategy not only well preserves the thermal comfort, but also reduces the total intra-month cost by 0.13~31.32%, of which the demand charge is reduced by 2.19~46.57%. In addition, this method is proven to have the potential to be applied in the real world by testing under extended scenarios.

Engineering design optimization problems present significant challenges due to the complexity of objective functions, which often involve both continuous and discrete design variables, along with multiple constraints. GWO and PSO are well-known heuristic algorithms with efficient search ability and reasonable execution time. They are often used to solve complex optimization problems, but there are still problems such as premature convergence and limited global search efficiency. To overcome these limitations and enhance solution quality, this study proposes a novel Hybrid Grey Wolf-Particle Swarm Optimization (HGWPSO) algorithm. HGWPSO integrates the exploration ability of GWO with the rapid convergence and exploitation efficiency of PSO. The algorithm’s performance is first validated using CEC_2022 benchmark functions and then applied to eight complex engineering design problems, including pressure vessel design, compression spring design, three-bar truss design, gear train design, cantilever beam design, welded beam design, transmission line parameter estimation, and reactive power planning problem. The improvement in the average best optimal value varies across different cases, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method. In Case 1, the improvement is 71.61%, while in Cases 2 and 4 obtained a 99% improvement. Case 3 shows an enhancement of 53.46%, and Case 5 reaches 71.92%, whereas Case 6 also obtained 99%. In Case 7, the improvement depends on the bundle configuration, with two-bundle conductors showing a 76.91% increase, three-bundle conductors achieving 43.94%, and four-bundle conductors reaching 46.57%. Finally, in Case 8, the improvement is 1.02%. The obtained results demonstrate that HGWPSO achieves better performance than other methods in terms of convergence rate, cost function minimization, and constraint handling. This study highlights the effectiveness of HGWPSO as a powerful tool for solving complex engineering design problems.

An effective orthodontic treatment should not only aim for satisfactory occlusal outcomes but also consider its impact on facial esthetics. The study aims to evaluate and compare the perception of profile esthetics of skeletal Class II patients treated with two orthodontic modalities: (1) Two-phase approach involving functional appliances followed by fixed appliances with premolar extractions, or (2) One-phase approach using fixed appliances with premolar extractions. Additionally, the study aims to evaluate the correlation between the perceived esthetics and the corresponding cephalometric measurements. The study included 40 skeletal Class II adolescents who underwent either two-phase (n = 20, mean age = 12.38 ± 1.18) or one-phase (n = 20, mean age = 12.53 ± 0.79) orthodontic treatments. Eighty profile silhouettes (pre- and post-treatment) were assessed by 64 raters, including 23 orthodontists, 21 general dental practitioners, and 20 laypersons. The raters used a visual analog scale (VAS) to access profiles, upper and lower lips, and chin esthetics. At pre-treatment, all three groups of raters gave significantly lower scores to the profile silhouettes of the two-phase group compared to the one-phase group ( P  < 0.01); however, after treatment, they rated the two-phase group significantly higher ( P  ≤ 0.001). The two-phase group exhibited greater improvements in profile and upper and lower lip esthetics as perceived by all raters ( P  ≤ 0.001). Furthermore, cephalometric results revealed greater reductions in SNA, ANB, Wits appraisal, and G’-Sn-Pog’ in the two-phase group compared to the one-phase group ( P  < 0.05). Five cephalometric parameters (SNB, SNPog, overjet, overbite, and UL-SnPog’) demonstrated significant correlations with VAS scores given by orthodontists ( P  < 0.05). In conclusion, the two-phase group showed greater subjective and objective improvements in facial esthetics than the one-phase group. Additionally, the anteroposterior mandibular position and upper lip protrusion may be the primary cephalometric parameters correlated with subjective facial profile perceptions.

A calculation method for the friction coefficient and meshing efficiency of plastic line gear (LG) pair under dry friction conditions was studied theoretically and experimentally, taking a polyoxymethylene parallel line gear pair (POM PLGP) as an example. Firstly, the geometric and mechanical models of PLGP were built by considering the effects of misalignment and loaded deformation under the actual operating condition. Then, the friction coefficient of POM specimens was obtained via the ball-on-disk experiment, of which the value varies between 0.35 and 0.45 under the experimental conditions. The calculation formula for the friction coefficient of POM LG pair was obtained by fitting the friction coefficient of the POM specimens, and the meshing efficiency of POM LG pair was calculated based on the calculation formula for friction coefficient and the meshing efficiency calculation approach. Finally, the meshing efficiency of POM PLGP specimens was measured using a homemade gear meshing efficiency test rig. The experimental results validated the feasibility of the proposed calculation method for the friction coefficient and meshing efficiency of the plastic LG pair. This study provides a method for the calculation of the friction coefficient and meshing efficiency of plastic gear pairs under dry friction conditions. It also provides the basis for the wear calculation of plastic LG pair under dry friction conditions.