Overnutrition during before and pregnancy can cause maternal obesity and raise the risk of maternal metabolic diseases during pregnancy, and in offspring. Lentinus edodes may prevent or reduce obesity. This study aimed to to assess Lentinus edodes fermented products effects on insulin sensitivity, glucose and lipid metabolism in maternal and offspring, and explore its action mechanism. A model of overnutrition during pregnancy and lactation was developed using a 60 % kcal high-fat diet in C57BL6/J female mice. Fermented Lentinus edodes (FLE) was added to the diet at concentrations of 1 %, 3 %, and 5 %. The results demonstrated that FLE to the gestation diet significantly reduced serum insulin levels and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in pregnant mice. FLE can regulate maternal lipid metabolism and reduce fat deposition. Meanwhile, the hepatic phosphoinositide-3-kinase-protein kinase (PI3K/AKT) signaling pathway was significantly activated in the maternal mice. There is a significant negative correlation between maternal FLE supplementation doses and offspring body fat percentage and visceral fat content. Furthermore, FLE supplementation significantly increased offspring weaning litter weight, significantly reduced fasting glucose level, serum insulin level, HOMA-IR and serum glucose level, significantly activated liver PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in offspring, and upregulated the expression of liver lipolytic genes adipose triglyceride lipase, hormone-sensitive lipase and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 mRNA. Overall, FLE supplementation can regulate maternal lipid metabolism and reduce fat deposition during pregnancy and lactation, and it may improve insulin sensitivity in pregnant mothers and offspring at weaning through activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

A species of acanthocephalan collected from the hindgut of Larimichthys crocea was identified as Longicollum pagrosomi Yamaguti, 1935 based on morphological characteristics. The complete mitochondrial genome of this parasite was sequenced. The mitogenome exhibited a circular structure with a total length of 14 632 bp, containing 12 protein coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and 2 major non-coding regions. The most frequently used start codon was GTG, and the most abundant amino acid was valine. The phylogenetic analyses of the mitogenome using Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods showed that the genus Longicollum formed a sister clade to the genus Pomphorhynchus, supporting the monophyly of Pomphorhynchus. This study reported a new host for L. pagrosomi and revealed the first complete mitogenome sequence of the genus Longicollum.

We propose a two-sided market entry game and present experiments studying coordination behavior in the game. The two-sided market in the game is operated by an intermediary monopoly platform, serving two sides (i.e., customers and service providers) and featuring asymmetric agents, cross-side network effects, and endogenous market capacity. The game has multiple pure-strategy Nash equilibria if at least one side has a high willingness to enter the market and the other side’s willingness is not very low. We conduct a laboratory experiment involving three treatments corresponding to different combinations of willingness to enter the market among customers and service providers. The experimental results indicate that willingness to enter the market and cross-side network effects significantly influence coordination behavior in two-sided markets. When the multiple pure-strategy Nash equilibria are Pareto ranked on both sides, customers and service providers can coordinate their behavior to the payoff-dominant equilibrium via tacit coordination under strategic uncertainty. However, when the multiple pure-strategy Nash equilibria are Pareto ranked on one side but Pareto equivalent on the other side, coordination failure and disequilibrium occurred, and the equilibria cannot predict the aggregate behavior well. Our experimental results indicate that a thriving two-sided market should coordinate both sides on board.

Viscous fingering, a classic hydrodynamic instability, is governed by the the competition between destabilising viscosity ratios and stabilising surface tension or thermal diffusion. We show that the channel confinement can induce ‘diffusion’-like stabilising effects on viscous fingering even in the absence of interfacial tension and thermal diffusion, when a clear oil invades the mixture of the same oil and non-colloidal particles. The key lies in the generation of long-range dipolar disturbance flows by highly confined particles that form a monolayer inside a Hele-Shaw cell. We develop a coarse-grained model whose results correctly predict universal fingering dynamics that is independent of particle concentrations. This new mechanism offers insights into manipulating and harnessing collective motion in non-equilibrium systems.

Spherical robots face significant challenges in motion control on non-horizontal terrains, such as slopes, due to their unique spherical structure. This paper systematically investigates the motion stability of spherical robots on inclined surfaces through modeling, control algorithm design, and experimental validation. Precise Equilibrium Modeling: Using the virtual displacement method, the precise equilibrium equation for spherical robots on slopes is derived, addressing the issue of insufficient accuracy in describing the actual center of gravity in existing studies. Control Algorithm Design: For known slope conditions, a Backstepping Control (BSC) algorithm is designed, demonstrating excellent tracking performance. For unknown slope conditions, an Adaptive Backstepping Control (ABSC) algorithm is proposed, which significantly reduces tracking errors and enhances system robustness through parameter adaptation. Simulation and Physical Validation: Simulations confirm the effectiveness of the algorithms: BSC achieves high-precision control under known slopes, while ABSC exhibits strong adaptability under unknown slopes. Physical experiments validate the stability of the algorithms in a $5^\circ$ slope environment, demonstrating reliable performance across different control angles.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) shows spatiotemporal heterogeneity in China. A spatiotemporal filtering model was constructed and applied to HFMD data to explore the underlying spatiotemporal structure of the disease and determine the impact of different spatiotemporal weight matrices on the results. HFMD cases and covariate data in East China were collected between 2009 and 2015. The different spatiotemporal weight matrices formed by Rook, K-nearest neighbour (KNN; K = 1), distance, and second-order spatial weight matrices (SO-SWM) with first-order temporal weight matrices in contemporaneous and lagged forms were decomposed, and spatiotemporal filtering model was constructed by selecting eigenvectors according to MC and the AIC. We used MI, standard deviation of the regression coefficients, and five indices (AIC, BIC, DIC, R2, and MSE) to compare the spatiotemporal filtering model with a Bayesian spatiotemporal model. The eigenvectors effectively removed spatial correlation in the model residuals (Moran’s I < 0.2, p > 0.05). The Bayesian spatiotemporal model’s Rook weight matrix outperformed others. The spatiotemporal filtering model with SO-SWM was superior, as shown by lower AIC (92,029.60), BIC (92,681.20), and MSE (418,022.7) values, and higher R2 (0.56) value. All spatiotemporal contemporaneous structures outperformed the lagged structures. Additionally, eigenvector maps from the Rook and SO-SWM closely resembled incidence patterns of HFMD.

Simultaneous interpreting (SI) is an intensive multitasking activity that requires coordination of a variety of linguistic and cognitive control mechanisms. Research has shown that interpreters perform better in tasks that require domain-general executive functions (EF), but the question remains whether such cognitive alternation is a result of interpreting experience or it reflects a selection bias that only cognitively capable people are recruited and trained to be interpreters. We examined the cognitive changes experienced by beginner-level students engaged in an intensive, two-week interpreting training programme. Our findings show that: (a) only cognitive flexibility was enhanced by training, together with improvement in SI performance; (b) the three EF subcomponents in their pre-existing forms negatively correlated with training gains; and (c) only pre-existing cognitive flexibility was positively associated with improvement in SI performance. Findings were discussed regarding the relationship between cognitive abilities and the early-stage acquisition of interpreting.

Upper extremity rehabilitation robots have become crucial in stroke rehabilitation due to their high durability, repeatability, and task-specific capabilities. A significant challenge in assessing the comfort performance of these robots is accurately calculating the human-robot interaction forces. In this study, a four-degree-of-freedom (4-DOF) upper extremity rehabilitation robot mechanism, kinematically compatible with the human upper limb, is proposed. Based on this mechanism, an algorithm for estimating human-robot interaction forces is developed using Newton-Euler dynamics. A prototype of the proposed robot is constructed, and a series of comparative experiments are carried out to validate the feasibility of the proposed force estimation approach. The results indicate that the proposed method reliably predicts interaction forces with minimal deviation from experimental data, demonstrating its potential for application in upper limb rehabilitation robots. This work provides a foundation for future studies focused on comfort evaluation and optimization of rehabilitation robots, with significant practical implications for improving patient rehabilitation outcomes.

The past few years have witnessed an emergent growth of both academic and practical works on English medium instruction (EMI) teachers' professional development. This paper presents a critical analysis of 30 empirical studies on EMI teacher development in a wide range of higher educational settings from 2018 to 2022. Through a systematic process of paper selection and review, we have identified three general routes to EMI teacher development, namely: (1) formal training activities; (2) opportunities for teacher collaboration; and (3) self-initiated practices. For each route, we presented a critical appraisal of their design and implementation, as well as reported gains and challenges. Meanwhile, we also conducted a critical analysis of the methodological issues pertaining to the selected papers. Overall, we argue that EMI teacher development in higher education is largely construed as a hybrid, contested, and transformative enterprise featured by EMI teachers' constant boundary-crossing at different levels to seek professional growth in linguistic, pedagogical, cultural, and psychological domains. During this process, EMI teachers may encounter conflicted dispositions, power asymmetries, and individual contradictions. Such a process thus requires EMI teachers to rethink, reexamine, and reflect critically on their accustomed preconceptions and practices, in order to facilitate transformation and achieve sustainability in the long run. The review also presents implications for EMI teachers, teacher educators, policymakers, and researchers on effectively facilitating EMI teacher development in higher education.

Substantial changes resulting from the interaction of environmental and dietary factors contribute to an increased risk of obesity, while their specific associations with obesity remain unclear. We identified inflammation-related dietary patterns (DP) and explored their associations with obesity among urbanised Tibetan adults under significant environmental and dietary changes. Totally, 1826 subjects from the suburbs of Golmud City were enrolled in an open cohort study, of which 514 were followed up. Height, weight and waist circumference were used to define overweight and obesity. DP were derived using reduced rank regression with forty-one food groups as predictors and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and prognostic nutritional index as inflammatory response variables. Altitude was classified as high or ultra-high. Two DP were extracted. DP-1 was characterised by having high consumptions of sugar-sweetened beverages, savoury snacks, and poultry and a low intake of tsamba. DP-2 had high intakes of poultry, pork, animal offal, and fruits and a low intake of butter tea. Participants in the highest tertiles (T3) of DP had increased risks of overweight and obesity (DP-1: OR = 1·37, 95 % CI 1·07, 1·77; DP-2: OR = 1·48, 95 % CI 1·18, 1·85) than those in the lowest tertiles (T1). Participants in T3 of DP-2 had an increased risk of central obesity (OR = 2·25, 95 % CI 1·49, 3·39) than those in T1. The positive association of DP-1 with overweight and obesity was only significant at high altitudes, while no similar effect was observed for DP-2. Inflammation-related DP were associated with increased risks of overweight and/or obesity.

We report a high-power ultra-narrow fiber-coupled diode laser using a Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF) as an external cavity element. An external cavity suitable for both the fiber-coupled package and FADOF configuration has been proposed. Using a 87Rb-based FADOF as the frequency-selective element, we realized a 103 W continuous laser output with a uniform circular beam. The center wavelength was precisely locked at the D2 line of the Rb resonance, and the bandwidth was narrowed from 1.8 nm (free-running, full width at half maximum (FWHM)) to 0.013 nm (6.9 GHz, FWHM). The side mode suppression ratio reached 31 dB. Such diode lasers with precise wavelength and high spectral brightness have critical applications in many fields, such as high-energy gas laser pumping, spin-exchange optical pumping, Raman spectroscopy and nonlinear optics.

This paper presents a numerical study on the flow around two tandem circular cylinders beneath a free surface at a Reynolds number of $180$. The free-surface effects on the wake dynamics and hydrodynamic forces are investigated through a parametric study, covering a parameter space of gap ratios from $0.20$ to $2.00$, spacing ratios from $1.50$ to $4.00$ and Froude numbers from $0.2$ to $0.8$. A jet-like flow accompanied by a shear layer of positive vorticity separating from the free surface is formed in the wake at small gap ratios, which significantly alters the wake pattern through its dynamic behaviours. At shallow submergence depths, the three-dimensional wake transitions from mode B to mode A as the distance between the cylinders increases. As submergence depth increases, the wavy deformation of the primary vortex cores disappears in the wake, and the flow transitions to a two-dimensional state. Higher Froude numbers can extend the effect of the free surface to deeper submergence depths. The critical spacing ratio tends to be larger at higher Froude numbers. Furthermore, the free-surface deformation is examined. The free-surface profile typically comprises a hydraulic jump immediately ahead of the upstream cylinder, trapped waves in the vicinity of the two tandem cylinders and well-defined travelling waves on the downstream side. The frequencies of the waves cluster around the vortex shedding frequency, indicating a close association between the generation of waves and the vortex shedding process.

Natural infection by Trichinella sp. has been reported in humans and more than 150 species of animals, especially carnivorous and omnivorous mammals. Although the presence of Trichinella sp. infection in wild boars (Sus scrofa) has been documented worldwide, limited information is known about Trichinella circulation in farmed wild boars in China. This study intends to investigate the prevalence of Trichinella sp. in farmed wild boars in China. Seven hundred and sixty-one (761) muscle samples from farmed wild boars were collected in Jilin Province of China from 2017 to 2020. The diaphragm muscles were examined by artificial digestion method. The overall prevalence of Trichinella in farmed wild boars was 0.53% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.51–0.55]. The average parasite loading was 0.076 ± 0.025 larvae per gram (lpg), and the highest burden was 0.21 lpg in a wild boar from Fusong city. Trichinella spiralis was the only species identified by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. The 5S rDNA inter-genic spacer region of Trichinella was amplified and sequenced. The results showed that the obtained sequence (GenBank accession number: OQ725583) shared 100% identity with the T. spiralis HLJ isolate (GenBank accession number: MH289505). Since the consumption of farmed wild boars is expected to increase in the future, these findings highlight the significance of developing exclusive guidelines for the processing of slaughtered farmed wild boar meat in China.

The proton–boron ${}^{11}{\text{B}}\left( {p,\alpha } \right)2\alpha $ reaction (p-11B) is an interesting alternative to the D-T reaction ${\text{D}}\left( {{\text{T}},{\text{n}}} \right)\alpha $ for fusion energy, since the primary reaction channel is aneutronic and all reaction partners are stable isotopes. We measured the α production yield using protons in the 120–260 keV energy range impinging onto a hydrogen–boron-mixed target, and for the first time present experimental evidence of an increase of α-particle yield relative to a pure boron target. The measured enhancement factor is approximately 30%. The experiment results indicate a higher reactivity, and that may lower the condition for p-11B fusion ignition.

Accurately converting satellite instantaneous evapotranspiration (λETi) over time to daily evapotranspiration (λETd) is crucial for estimating regional evapotranspiration from remote sensing satellites, which plays an important role in effective water resource management. In this study, four upscaling methods based on the principle of energy balance, including the evaporative fraction method (Eva-f method), revised evaporative fraction method (R-Eva-f method), crop coefficient method (Kc-ET0 method) and direct canopy resistance method (Direct-rc method), were validated based on the measured data of the Bowen ratio energy balance system (BREB) in maize fields in northwestern (NW) and northeastern (NE) China (semi-arid and semi-humid continental climate regions) from 2021 to 2023. Results indicated that Eva-f and R-Eva-f methods were superior to Kc-ET0 and Direct-rc methods in both climatic regions and performed better between 10:00 and 11:00, with mean absolute errors (MAE) and coefficient of efficiency (ɛ) reaching <10 W/m2 and > 0.91, respectively. Comprehensive evaluation of the optimal upscaling time using global performance indicators (GPI) showed that the Eva-f method had the highest GPI of 0.59 at 12:00 for the NW, while the R-Eva-f method had the highest GPI of 1.18 at 11:00 for the NE. As a result, the Eva-f approach is recommended as the best way for upscaling evapotranspiration in NW, with 12:00 being the ideal upscaling time. The R-Eva-f method is the optimum upscaling method for the Northeast area, with an ideal upscaling time of 11:00. The comprehensive results of this study could be useful for converting λETi to λETd.

Slender Russian thistle (Salsola collina Pall.) is a troublesome weed distributed mainly in the cropping regions of northern China that produces heteromorphic seeds in the same plant. However, limited information is available on the germination ecology of heteromorphic seeds in S. collina. Thus, the present study was conducted to verify the effect of alternating temperature conditions, light conditions, winged perianth, salt concentrations, water stress, and burial depths on the seed germination or seedling emergence of S. collina. The results showed that S. collina produced two different types of fruits/seeds that significantly differed in seed size, seed color, external structure, and germination/dormancy behavior. The type A seeds (green seeds) were nondormant, and the germination percentage was >96% at all alternating day/night temperatures and light conditions; whereas type B seeds (yellow seeds) exhibited dormancy characteristics and poor germination (≤1%). Moreover, the winged perianth did not inhibit the germination of S. collina green seeds. The germination of green seeds declined rapidly when NaCl concentration exceeded 100 mM, and only 2.22% germination was observed at 600 mM NaCl. About 62.00% of green seeds germinated at −0.6 MPa, and 8.00% germination was obtained at −1.2 MPa. The seedling emergence declined with an increase of burial depth, and decreased sharply when the burial depth exceeded 1.0 cm. Only 8.33% seedling emergence occurred at a burial depth of 4.0 cm. The results gathered from present study will help to illustrate the ecological adaptation strategy of S. collina and indicate that shallow tillage can effectively minimize the seedling emergence of S. collina.

Escherichia albertii is an emerging foodborne enteropathogen associated with infectious diarrhoea in humans. In February 2023, an outbreak of acute gastroenteric cases was reported in a junior high school located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. Twenty-two investigated patients presented diarrhoea (22/22, 100%), abdominal pain (21/22, 95.5%), nausea (6/22, 27.3%), and vomiting (3/22, 13.6%). E. albertii strains were successfully isolated from anal swabs collected from six patients. Each isolate was classified as sequence type ST2686, harboured eae-β gene, and carried both cdtB-I and cdtB-II subtypes, being serotyped as EAOg32:EAHg4 serotype. A comprehensive whole-genome phylogenetic analysis revealed that the six isolates formed a distinct cluster, separate from other strains. These isolates exhibited minimal genetic variation, differing from one another by 0 to 1 single nucleotide polymorphism, suggesting a common origin from a single clone. To the best of our knowledge, this represented the first reported outbreak of gastroenteritis attributed to E. albertii outside of Japan on a global scale.