Search Results (884)

Objectives: To compare the adjunctive efficacy of a MicroRepair^® mouthwash containing an antibacterial complex (ABX), composed of cetylpyridinium chloride, magnolol, and honokiol, with 0.12% chlorhexidine (CHX) in the management of generalized plaque-induced gingivitis, assessing clinical periodontal parameters, salivary activated matrix metalloproteinase-8 (aMMP-8) levels, and patient-reported outcomes over 6 months. Methods: A randomized, controlled, parallel-group clinical trial included 40 systemically healthy adults with generalized gingivitis and was reported in accordance with CONSORT 2025 guidelines. Following professional oral hygiene according to the Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT) protocol, participants were randomly allocated to ABX or 0.12% CHX, used twice daily for 14 days. Clinical parameters, including Full-Mouth Bleeding Score (FMBS, primary outcome), Full-Mouth Plaque Score (FMPS), Probing Pocket Depth (PPD), Clinical Attachment Level (CAL), Gingival Recession (REC), and Modified Lobene Stain Index (MLSI), were recorded at baseline, 2 weeks, 1, 3, and 6 months. Salivary aMMP-8 levels were assessed at baseline and 2 weeks. Heavy smokers were excluded, and smoking status was evaluated as a potential covariate. Non-parametric tests were applied (p < 0.05). Results: Both groups showed significant reductions in FMBS and FMPS over time (p < 0.05), with no intergroup differences for the primary outcome at any follow-up at the patient level. Patient-level analyses did not reveal consistent differences across secondary parameters. At the tooth level, lower FMPS values were observed in the trial group at 2 weeks and 1 month (p < 0.05), with earlier PPD reduction. CAL, and REC remained stable. Salivary aMMP-8 levels decreased significantly in both groups without intergroup differences. Patient-reported outcomes were comparable. Smoking status was balanced between groups and was not significantly associated with treatment allocation or the main clinical outcomes. Conclusions: No significant differences were observed between ABX and CHX for the main clinical and molecular outcomes, supporting its potential use as an adjunct in gingivitis management. Full article

Citrus fruits are widely cultivated all over the world. Due to climatic conditions, citrus fruits are frequently exposed to periodic low temperatures, which poses a serious threat to their yield and quality. Cold not only restricts plant growth and deteriorates fruit quality but also leads to fruit abscission and tree mortality, posing severe constraints on large-scale citrus production. The TIFY family gene plays crucial roles in plant development and stress adaptation. However, the genome-wide identification and functional analysis of TIFY genes in cold stress adaptation of citrus plants remain largely unexplored. Here, we performed a systematic genome-wide analysis of the TIFY family in sweet orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) and identified 14 CsTIFY members. We conducted a comprehensive study on the protein characteristics, phylogenetic relationships, gene structure, chromosome distribution, promoter cis-acting elements, and subcellular localization of these genes. Phylogenetic analysis classified the CsTIFYs into ZML (ZML1–ZML4), JAZ (JAZ1–JAZ7), PPD (JAZ8, JAZ9), and TIFY (TIFY1) subfamilies, and they are distributed on seven chromosomes. Collinearity analysis revealed that segmental duplication is the primary driver for CsTIFY family expansion. Expression profiling under cold stress identified JAZ1, JAZ2, and JAZ3 as the most cold-inducible members. All three CsTIFY proteins are targeted to the nucleus, as confirmed by subcellular localization analysis. Overexpression of JAZ1, JAZ2, or JAZ3 in citrus calli significantly enhanced cold sensibility. Collectively, this study elucidates the gene function of CsTIFYs under cold stress and provides new insight for molecular breeding of cold-tolerant citrus varieties. Full article

Textile membrane systems are increasingly used in sports halls because of their low structural weight, rapid assembly, and ability to span large areas. Their operational performance, however, is strongly affected by local climate conditions, envelope configuration and the limited thermal inertia of membrane materials. This study presents a comparative EnergyPlus-based assessment of textile membrane sports halls in six representative climate contexts: Helsinki, Berlin, Niš, Barcelona, Dawadmi and Bangkok. A conventional masonry hall was used as the reference case and compared with a single-layer PVC-coated polyester membrane system and double-layer membrane systems with air gaps of 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 m, including mechanically ventilated air-cavity variants. The assessment combines four performance indicators: annual operational energy demand, carbon emissions, indicative global cost and thermal comfort expressed through Fanger’s Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) index. The results show that the dominant energy demand is climate-dependent, with heating prevailing in cold climates and cooling becoming decisive in hot-arid and hot-humid climates. Double-layer cases usually show lower operational energy demand and lower associated carbon dioxide emissions than the single-layer membrane case. This improvement, however, is not uniform; it depends on the climatic setting and on the width of the air gap. The comfort results lead to a similar but more limited conclusion. Although PPD is reduced in the double-layer configurations, the values remain above conventional comfort acceptance levels in all tested cases. The double-layer membrane should therefore be understood as a measure that reduces thermal dissatisfaction, not as a complete comfort solution. The economic assessment indicates that membrane systems have substantially lower initial capital costs than masonry construction, while their long-term performance depends on operational energy costs, membrane replacement assumptions and the selected analysis horizon. The study provides a climate-specific comparative framework for early-stage envelope selection in textile membrane sports halls, emphasizing that energy demand, carbon emissions, cost and thermal comfort should be considered together rather than as separate outputs. Full article

This study investigated rubber additives and relevant transformation products (RARTPs) in surface waters of Kaifeng, a city linking the Yellow River and Huaihe River basins. Seven of fifteen target analytes were detected in >10% of samples. The hydrolysis product 4-hydroxydiphenylamine (4OH) showed the highest detection frequency (70%), followed by 1,2-Dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline (TMQ, 57%) and N-(1,3-Dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD, 27%). TMQ had the highest average concentration (6.16 ± 4.17 ng·L⁻¹). Urban rivers (14.20 ± 4.72 ng·L⁻¹) were contamination hotspots, driven by management practices (e.g., dredging of urban lakes). Although detected at lower levels (0.09 ± 0.21 ng·L⁻¹), 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-Q) was associated with elevated risk (risk quotient, RQ ≥ 1) at 19% of sites. The chronic daily intake assessment showed that drinking water ingestion contributed 66.7% of total exposure in daily use, whereas dermal absorption dominated during swimming. Children, especially girls, were the most vulnerable subgroup. Although estimated chronic daily intakes (CDIs) from surface water accounted for only a negligible proportion of the daily urinary excretion of p-phenylenediamine antioxidants (PPDs) reported in a Chinese population, the ecological risk of 6PPD-Q warrants continued attention. These findings highlight the need for improved management of water bodies receiving urban runoff and aquaculture inputs, and further health risk assessment of RARTPs. Full article

Pedestrian safety at signalized intersections is a key component of sustainable urban mobility, as safer walking environments support active transportation, reduce crash risk, and improve the inclusiveness of urban transport systems. This study presents a structured review of pedestrian–vehicle conflicts based on a systematic PRISMA-guided literature search, synthesizing 60 studies with emphasis on operational conditions, behavioral factors, infrastructural characteristics, and surrogate safety measures. The review examines the application of surrogate safety measures (SSMs), including Time-to-Collision (TTC), Post-Encroachment Time (PET), Pedestrian Path Deviation (PPD), and Deceleration-to-Safety Time (DST). The findings reveal significant variability in threshold definitions and methodological approaches, which limits the comparability and transferability of results across different traffic contexts. Building on this synthesis, the paper proposes an integrated conceptual framework linking behavioral, operational, and infrastructural determinants to conflict occurrence and severity. The analysis shows that existing studies often treat these factors in isolation, reducing the generalizability of current models. Overall, this review identifies key methodological inconsistencies in surrogate safety indicators and emphasizes the need for standardized yet context-sensitive thresholds and locally validated conflict models to improve the comparability and transferability of pedestrian–vehicle conflict assessments. Full article

This paper investigates the tracking control problem for a class of networked nonlinear systems in a non-ideal communication environment, where both internal communication constraints (delays and packet dropouts) and external random deception attacks are taken into account. From a symmetry perspective, the backward and forward channels constitute a paired sensing–actuation structure, and channel-dependent imperfections may destroy their functional coordination. To compensate for the resulting sensing–actuation mismatch, a data-driven sliding-mode predictive tracking control scheme is developed without relying on an explicit system model. First, an equivalent dynamic linearization is adopted to represent the input–output behavior using a data-dependent incremental model. Then, using delayed measurements together with historical input–output data, an online estimator is constructed to update the pseudo partial derivative (PPD). Based on the estimated PPD, a multi-step predictor is further designed to generate the predicted outputs, and a data-driven sliding-mode predictive tracking controller is proposed by imposing a discrete reaching law on the predicted outputs. Rigorous analysis is provided to ensure the stability of the closed-loop system and to guarantee that the tracking error remains bounded, together with an explicit bound that reveals the influence of the delay horizon, estimation mismatch, and attack amplitudes. Finally, numerical simulations under square-wave and sinusoidal references validate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach. Full article

Sparse aperture optical systems employ separated subapertures to achieve equivalent large aperture high resolution imaging, but they are also more susceptible to the combined effects of cophase errors and polarization aberrations, which lead to point spread function distortion and image quality degradation. To address this problem, this paper proposes a Polarization Phase Diversity (PPD) method for cophase errors and polarization aberrations in sparse aperture optical systems. Based on the Jones pupil theory, a unified imaging model incorporating both cophase errors and polarization aberrations is established. By combining focused and defocused images acquired under different analyzer directions, a polarization multichannel observation framework is constructed to jointly retrieve piston, tilt, diattenuation, and retardance parameters. Numerical simulations are mainly carried out on a Golay3 sparse aperture optical system, and additional Gaussian-noise and Golay6 simulations are performed to evaluate the robustness and extensibility of the proposed framework. The results show that, except for the phase-equivalent ambiguity of the piston term, the proposed method can accurately recover the cophase and polarization-aberration parameters under noise-free conditions. Compared with conventional methods considering only cophase errors, the proposed method achieves better image restoration performance in terms of image sharpness, detail recovery, PSNR, and SSIM. The noise experiments further demonstrate that the full-parameter restoration maintains clear advantages under noisy observations, and the Golay6 results indicate that the framework can be extended to sparse aperture configurations with more subapertures. The proposed method provides an effective approach for error sensing and image restoration in sparse aperture optical systems. Full article

Three kinds of nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) were successfully fabricated through a one-pot hydrothermal reaction at 180 °C for 12 h. L-lactic acid served as the carbon precursor, while three phenylenediamine isomers (o-phenylenediamine, m-phenylenediamine, p-phenylenediamine) were employed as nitrogen dopants, yielding samples denoted as OPD-LA, MPD-LA, and PPD-LA. All as-prepared N-CQDs presented uniformly dispersed spherical nanostructures, with average particle sizes of 8.2 nm (OPD-LA), 9.3 nm (MPD-LA), and 10.5 nm (PPD-LA). Abundant surface functional groups, including hydroxyl, carboxyl, amino, and amide moieties, endowed these N-CQDs with outstanding water solubility and tailorable fluorescence emission. The maximum emission wavelengths were centered at 550 nm, 505 nm, and 450 nm for OPD-LA, MPD-LA, and PPD-LA, respectively, exhibiting excitation-independent emission positions yet excitation-dependent intensity. MPD-LA delivered the highest fluorescence quantum yield of 9.59%, and the incorporation of lactic acid significantly elevated the quantum yield of all samples. The N-CQDs maintain high fluorescence intensity and favorable stability within the pH range of 4–11, possessing outstanding salt resistance and stable storage performance for six months. Their fluorescence was effectively quenched upon exposure to Fe³⁺, with a linear detection range of 10–100 μM and a low limit of detection (LOD) of 1.49 μM. These lactic acid-derived N-CQDs hold great promise as functional fluorescent probes for Fe³⁺ sensing applications. Full article

6PPD is a widely used tire antioxidant that readily transforms into its more toxic ozonation product, 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-Q). Both compounds are emerging environmental contaminants with potential neurotoxic risks, yet their molecular mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) remain unclear. This study integrated network toxicology, molecular docking, transcriptomic validation, and experimental models to investigate their neurotoxic effects. In silico analyses predicted significant neurotoxicity and blood–brain barrier permeability for both compounds. Target prediction and PPI network analysis identified 145/121 overlapping targets with AD/PD for 6PPD and 120/100 for 6PPD-Q. Functional enrichment analysis suggested that 6PPD-associated targets were mainly enriched in axon regeneration-, p75NTR-, and AGE-RAGE-related pathways, whereas 6PPD-Q-associated targets were enriched in MAPK cascade-, endosomal TLR signaling-, and amyloid-β formation-related pathways. Molecular docking suggested favorable binding affinities between these compounds and several core targets, including MAP2K1, EGFR, GSK3B, and CYCS. Transcriptomic validation in GEO datasets prioritized multiple hub genes. In vivo experiments showed activation of apoptosis-related signaling in the brain, while in vitro assays demonstrated ROS accumulation and neuroinflammatory activation (elevated TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IFN-γ). CYCS and MAP2K1 emerged as key convergent nodes. Our findings reveal distinct yet synergistic neurotoxic mechanisms of 6PPD and 6PPD-Q in AD and PD, highlighting tire-derived pollutants as potential environmental risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases. Full article

The replacement of fishmeal with plant protein is a key strategy for sustainable aquaculture, but reduced feed intake and digestive efficiency remain major constraints. This study evaluated the effects of dietary dimethyl-β-propiothetin (DMPT) supplementation on feed intake, digestive function, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota in narrow-clawed crayfish (Pontastacus leptodactylus) fed an all-plant protein diet. Three isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets were formulated: a plant protein diet (PPD), an animal protein diet (APD), and a PPD supplemented with 0.5% DMPT. After a 4-week feeding trial, results showed that PPD significantly reduced feed intake and digestive enzyme activities compared to APD, whereas DMPT supplementation restored feed intake to a level comparable to APD, maintained growth-related parameters at intermediate levels, and significantly enhanced α-amylase (AMS), lipase (LPS), and trypsin (TPS) activities. Additionally, DMPT markedly improved hepatopancreatic antioxidant capacity, as indicated by increased total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels, without affecting muscle composition or intestinal morphology. Microbiota analysis revealed that DMPT altered community structure, increased Bacillota abundance, and promoted microbial network stability. Overall, DMPT supplementation effectively mitigates the limitations of plant protein diets and supports the replacement of animal protein in crayfish aquafeeds. Full article

Sentry box buildings present excessive energy consumption and poor thermal comfort due to the lightweight envelope. Therefore, a framework integrating passive design with multi-objective optimization and cascading active airflow mode optimization for sentry box buildings was developed in the study. First, a parametric model for the prototype of sentry box buildings in the cold zone of China was developed. The global sensitivity analysis based on the treed Gaussian process was employed to select key design variables. Furthermore, backpropagation neural network prediction models for the UDI, PPD, and EUI of sentry box buildings were developed based on the dataset, which was generated via Latin hypercube sampling and building performance simulation in Grasshopper. Subsequently, the NSGA-II algorithm was selected for multi-objective optimization, combined with entropy-weighted TOPSIS analysis, to determine the optimal values of the design variables for sentry box buildings. Finally, the optimal airflow mode and velocity of sentry box buildings for summer and winter were selected through cascaded CFD simulations. The results indicate that the window-to-wall ratio is the most influential design variable across the optimization objectives of sentry box buildings. The prediction models achieve high accuracy, with the lowest coefficient of determination R of 0.994 and the highest mean squared error of 0.001. The optimized design improved performance across all objectives compared to the prototype of sentry box buildings, with UDI increasing by 77.433%, and PPD and EUI decreasing by 18.282% and 28.668%, respectively. Interestingly, the sentry box buildings should adopt a horizontal attached airflow mode at 1.5 m/s in summer and a vertical attached airflow mode at 1.8 m/s in winter. In summary, a decision-support tool was introduced in the study for the early design stage to assist in selecting optimal design solutions for the sentry box buildings. Full article

Background/Objectives: In recent years, a wide range of adjunctive therapies have been employed in conjunction with non-surgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) to enhance treatment outcomes. Among them, melatonin, a hormone with well-documented antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties, has emerged as a potential adjunctive therapeutic agent. The purpose of the present systematic review was to investigate whether systemic melatonin supplementation, when combined with NSPT, provides any additional periodontal and systemic benefits in patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: Articles indexed in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library were systematically retrieved, with additional screening of gray literature, covering all records available up to February 2026. This systematic review included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of adjunctive systemic melatonin administration in conjunction with NSPT on clinical and biochemical periodontal parameters and systemic outcomes related to glycemic control, oxidative stress, and inflammation in patients with T2DM compared with NSPT alone or combined with placebo. Three RCTs were eligible for qualitative synthesis, and two placebo-controlled RCTs were included in the quantitative synthesis. Risk of bias and quality of evidence assessments were performed. Results: With a low level of certainty, systemic melatonin supplementation in conjunction with NSPT demonstrated significantly more pronounced improvements in periodontal and systemic outcomes than those observed following NSPT or NSPT combined with placebo. Meta-analysis demonstrated statistically significant improvements in PPD and CAL, as well as in HbA1c and serum hs-CRP, favoring adjunctive melatonin supplementation. Conclusions: Adjunctive systemic melatonin supplementation in combination with NSPT may have a beneficial impact in patients with T2DM. However, the limited number of available studies, relatively small sample sizes, risk of bias concerns, and low quality of evidence limit the confidence that can be placed in these findings. Future research should focus on conducting more well-designed, sufficiently powered, large-scale RCTs employing standardized treatment protocols and longer observation periods. Full article

Reagentless glucose biosensors with redox mediator—polymerized 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione (pPD)—were developed and electrochemically investigated. Three types of biosensors based on graphite rod (GR) electrodes modified by (i) 13 nm of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), (ii) electrochemically synthesized dendritic gold nanostructures (DAuNSs), and (iii) platinum nanostructures (PtNSs) were prepared. All electrodes were modified by glucose oxidase (GOx), and the pPD was polymerized for 2 h. Thus, GR/AuNPs/GOx/pPD, GR/DAuNSs/GOx/pPD, and GR/PtNSs/GOx/pPD electrodes were developed and electrochemically characterized. The electrode without noble metal nanostructures (GR/GOx/pPD) was used as the control. The biosensor based on the GR/DAuNSs/GOx/pPD electrode exhibited the best performance, with the sensitivity of 2.58 μA/(mM cm²), the linear range up to 93.7 mM, the limit of detection 0.182 mM, the reproducibility and repeatability of 4.99 and 4.80%, and the storage stability (50% of initial current responses (t_1/2)) for up to 19 days. The achieved high resistance to interfering materials enabled precise glucose detection in real samples, including human serum and beverages. The technological solutions presented in this paper are anticipated to provide opportunities and benefits of developing novel enzymatic reagentless glucose biosensors based on noble metal nanostructures for use in clinical assays and general diagnostics, including blood glucose monitoring in people with diabetes. Full article

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a common perinatal mental health disorder with important consequences for mothers and children. Early detection depends largely on primary and community healthcare professionals. This study assessed knowledge, recognition patterns, and screening practices related to PPD and examined factors associated with screening implementation. Methods: An exploratory cross-sectional online survey using convenience sampling was conducted between December 2025 and March 2026 among 154 healthcare professionals (74 community nurses and 80 physicians). Structured questionnaires assessed PPD knowledge, while physicians additionally reported screening and treatment practices. Group differences, correlations, and predictors of screening implementation were analyzed statistically. Results: Community nurses achieved higher overall knowledge scores than physicians (66.1% vs. 58.4%; p = 0.0038). Physicians more frequently distinguished baby blues from PPD (60.0% vs. 27.0%; p < 0.001). Awareness of validated screening tools among physicians was low, with only 10.0% recognizing the EPDS. Although physician knowledge correlated with screening frequency before correction for multiple testing (ρ = 0.27; p = 0.015), the association was not statistically significant after BH–FDR correction (q = 0.075). In multivariable logistic regression analysis, guideline awareness was not significantly associated with screening implementation (OR = 3.81; 95% CI 0.98–14.82; p = 0.053). Conclusions: Gaps remain in knowledge of PPD screening tools and treatment, particularly among physicians. The findings support the need for improved education, dissemination of clinical guidelines, and implementation support for standardized screening practices. However, given the exploratory convenience-sampling design and the lack of statistically significant adjusted associations, further longitudinal and implementation-focused studies are needed. Full article

Pour point depressants (PPDs) based on functionalized polyolefins were obtained and evaluated for their efficiency in pour point reducing of Kumkol waxy crude oil (Kazakhstan), which contains 15.2 wt.% paraffin and has a pour point of +17 °C. An ethylene–propylene copolymer (EPR-505A) was treated through grafting of maleic anhydride (MA-g-PO) and then converted into three different derivatives that had an identical polymer backbone: an ester-functionalized, an amide-functionalized, and a combined ester–amide additive. The obtained products were tested at 500 g/t through kinematic viscosity measurements, equilibrium and kinetic interfacial tension analysis, pour point determination, cooling curve analysis, and optical microscopy. The ester derivative reduced the pour point by 7 °C, the amide derivative did so by 5 °C, and the combined additive achieved a 10 °C pour point reduction and a more than twofold decrease in kinematic viscosity at 0 °C. Interfacial tension measurements and adsorption kinetics allowed us to assume that ester groups govern macromolecular solubility and diffusion mobility, while amide groups enhance adsorption affinity at paraffin crystal surfaces. Their combined action shifts crystallization from a collective to a dispersed regime. These findings establish structure–activity relationships between polar group architecture and PPD efficiency. Full article