The interaction of helminth infections with type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been a major area of research in the past few years. This paper, therefore, focuses on the systematic review of the effects of helminthic infections on metabolism and immune regulation related to T2D, with mechanisms through which both direct and indirect effects are mediated. Specifically, the possible therapeutic role of helminths in T2D management, probably mediated through the modulation of host metabolic pathways and immune responses, is of special interest. This paper discusses the current possibilities for translating helminth therapy from basic laboratory research to clinical application, as well as existing and future challenges. Although preliminary studies suggest the potential for helminth therapy for T2D patients, their safety and efficacy still need to be confirmed by larger-scale clinical studies.

A novel entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) species, Steinernema tarimense n. sp., was isolated from soil samples collected in a Populus euphratica forest located in Yuli County within the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, China. Integrated morphological and molecular analyses consistently place S. tarimense n. sp. within the ‘kushidai-clade’. The infective juvenile (IJ) of new species is characterized by a body length of 674–1010 μm, excretory pore located 53–80 μm from anterior end, nerve ring positioned 85–131 μm from anterior end, pharynx base situated 111–162 μm from anterior end, a tail length of 41–56 μm, and the ratios D% = 42.0–66.6, E% = 116.2–184.4, and H% = 25.5–45.1. The first-generation male of the new species is characterized by a curved spicule length of 61–89 μm, gubernaculum length of 41–58 μm, and ratios D% = 36.8–66.2, SW% = 117.0–206.1, and GS% = 54.8–82.0. Additionally, the tail of first-generation female is conoid with a minute mucron. Phylogenetic analyses of ITS, 28S, and mt12S sequences demonstrated that the three isolates of S. tarimense n. sp. are conspecific and form a sister clade to members of the ‘kushidai-clade’ including S. akhursti, S. anantnagense, S. kushidai, and S. populi. Notably, the IJs of the new species exhibited faster development at 25°C compared to other Steinernema species. This represents the first described of an indigenous EPN species from Xinjiang, suggesting its potential as a novel biocontrol agent against local pests.

This study explored mental workload recognition methods for carrier-based aircraft pilots utilising multiple sensor physiological signal fusion and portable devices. A simulation carrier-based aircraft flight experiment was designed, and subjective mental workload scores and electroencephalogram (EEG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals from six pilot cadets were collected using NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and portable devices. The subjective scores of the pilots in three flight phases were used to label the data into three mental workload levels. Features from the physiological signals were extracted, and the interrelations between mental workload and physiological indicators were evaluated. Machine learning and deep learning algorithms were used to classify the pilots’ mental workload. The performances of the single-modal method and multimodal fusion methods were investigated. The results showed that the multimodal fusion methods outperformed the single-modal methods, achieving higher accuracy, precision, recall and F1 score. Among all the classifiers, the random forest classifier with feature-level fusion obtained the best results, with an accuracy of 97.69%, precision of 98.08%, recall of 96.98% and F1 score of 97.44%. The findings of this study demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method, offering insights into mental workload management and the enhancement of flight safety for carrier-based aircraft pilots.

Interlaminar delamination damage is a common and typical defect in the context of structural damage in carbon fiber-reinforced resin matrix composites. The technology to identify such damage is crucial for improving the safety and reliability of structures. In this paper, we fabricated carbon fiber-reinforced composite laminates with different degrees of delamination damage, conducted static load experiments on them and used femtosecond fiber Bragg grating sensors (fsFBG) to determine their structural state to investigate the effects of delamination damage on their performance. We constructed a model to identify damage based on the deep residual shrinkage network, and used experimental data to enable it to identify varying degrees of delamination damage to carbon fiber-reinforced composites with an accuracy of 97.98%.

During the investigation of parasitic pathogens of Mytilus coruscus, infection of a Perkinsus-like protozoan parasite was detected by alternative Ray's Fluid Thioglycolate Medium (ARFTM). The diameter of hypnospores or prezoosporangia was 8–27 (15.6 ± 4.0, n = 111) μm. The prevalence of the Perkinsus-like species in M. coruscus was 25 and 12.5% using ARFTM and PCR, respectively. The ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 fragments amplified by PCR assay had 100% homology to that of P. beihaiensis, suggesting that the protozoan parasite was P. beihaisensis and M. coruscus was its new host in East China Sea (ECS). Histological analysis showed the presence of trophozoites of P. beihaiensis in gill, mantle and visceral mass, and the schizonts only found in visceral mass. Perkinsus beihaiensis infection led to inflammatory reaction of hemocyte and the destruction of digestive tubules in visceral mass, which had negative effect on health of the farmed M. coruscus and it deserves more attention.

Aircraft ground taxiing contributes significantly to carbon emissions and engine wear. The electric towing tractor (ETT) addresses these issues by towing the aircraft to the runway end, thereby minimising ground taxiing. As the complexity of ETT towing operations increases, both the towing distance and time increase significantly, and the original method for estimating the number of ETTs is no longer applicable. Due to the substantial acquisition cost of ETT and the need to reduce waste while ensuring operational efficiency, this paper introduces for the first time an ETT quantity estimation model that combines simulation and vehicle scheduling models. The simulation model simulates the impact of ETT on apron operations, taxiing on taxiways and takeoffs and landings on runways. Key timing points for ETT usage by each aircraft are identified through simulation, forming the basis for determining the minimum number of vehicles required for airport operations using a hard-time window vehicle scheduling model. To ensure the validity of the model, simulation model verification is conducted. Furthermore, the study explores the influence of vehicle speed and airport scale on the required number of ETTs. The results demonstrate the effective representation of real-airport operations by the simulation model. ETT speed, airport runway and taxiway configurations, takeoff and landing frequencies and imbalances during peak periods all impact the required quantity of ETTs. A comprehensive approach considering these factors is necessary to determine the optimal number of ETTs.

We present direct numerical simulation (DNS) and modelling of incompressible, turbulent, generalized Couette–Poiseuille flow. A particular example is specified by spherical coordinates $(Re,\theta,\phi )$, where $Re = 6000$ is a global Reynolds number, $\phi$ denotes the angle between the moving plate, velocity-difference vector and the volume-flow vector and $\tan \theta$ specifies the ratio of the mean volume-flow speed to the plate speed. The limits $\phi \to 0^\circ$ and $\phi \to 90^\circ$ give alignment and orthogonality, respectively, while $\theta \to 0^\circ,\ \theta \to 90^\circ$ correspond respectively to pure Couette flow in the $x$ direction and pure Poiseuille flow at angle $\phi$ to the $x$ axis. Competition between the Couette-flow shear and the forced volume flow produces a mean-velocity profile with directional twist between the confining walls. Resultant mean-speed profiles relative to each wall generally show a log-like region. An empirical flow model is constructed based on component log and log-wake velocity profiles relative to the two walls. This gives predictions of four independent components of shear stress and also mean-velocity profiles as functions of $(Re,\theta,\phi )$. The model captures DNS results including the mean-flow twist. Premultiplied energy spectra are obtained for symmetric flows with $\phi =90^\circ$. With increasing $\theta$, the energy peak gradually moves in the direction of increasing $k_x$ and decreasing $k_z$. Rotation of the energy spectrum produced by the faster moving velocity near the wall is also observed. Rapid weakening of a spike maxima in the Couette-type flow regime indicates attenuation of large-scale roll structures, which is also shown in the $Q$-criterion visualization of a three-dimensional time-averaged flow.

This paper proposes a fixed-time anti-saturation (FT-AS) control scheme with a simple control loop for the 6-Degree-of-Freedom tracking (6-DOF) control problem of spacecraft with parameter uncertainties, external disturbances and input saturation. Considering the external disturbance and parameter uncertainties, the dynamical model of the tracking error is established. The traditional methods of handling input saturation usually add anti-saturation subsystems in the control system to suppress the impact of input overshoot. However, this paper directly inputs the input overshoot into the tracking error model, thus constructing a modified lumped disturbance term that includes the influence of input overshoot. Then, a novel fixed-time disturbance observer (FT-DO) is designed to estimate and compensate for this modified lumped disturbance. Therefore, there is no need to add the anti-saturation structures in the control loop, significantly reducing the complexity of the system. Finally, an observer-based fixed-time non-singular terminal sliding mode (FT-NTSM) controller is designed to guarantee the fixed-time stability of the whole system. In this way, the convergence time of the proposed scheme does not depend on the system’s initial conditions. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed method keeps the control input within the limit while achieving high-precision tracking control of attitude and position.

Transient numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the influence of large amplitude and fast impact backpressure on a shock train. The fundamental problem consists of a shock train within a constant-area channel with a Ma=1.61 inflow and a pulse backpressure applied to the outlet. The pressure disturbance in the isolator has an intense forcing-response lag. From the moment of the backpressure peak appearance, it takes 36 times the backpressure duration for the pressure disturbance to reach the upstream end. It moves upstream with time in the form of a normal shock wave. As time progresses, the normal shock degenerates into a $\lambda $ shock and a compression wave behind due to the action of viscous dissipation in the boundary layer. Eventually, a multi-stage shock train is formed. The maximum backpropagation distance is a quadratic function of both the pulse backpressure peak and duration, and the relationship between these variables was determined by fitting. When the integral value of backpressure to time is fixed, reducing the backpressure peak while increasing the duration will reduce the backpressure pulsation at the isolator outlet, which will be more conducive to shortening the maximum backpropagation distance than reducing the duration and increasing the backpressure peak. The values of backpressure peak and duration are obtained from the detonation combustion case, which ensures the authenticity of backpressure characteristics. The relevant research conclusions can provide a reference for the design of the isolator of pulse detonation ramjet.

Competition among the two-plasmon decay (TPD) of backscattered light of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), filamentation of the electron-plasma wave (EPW) and forward side SRS is investigated by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Our previous work [K. Q. Pan et al., Nucl. Fusion 58, 096035 (2018)] showed that in a plasma with the density near 1/10 of the critical density, the backscattered light would excite the TPD, which results in suppression of the backward SRS. However, this work further shows that when the laser intensity is so high ($>{10}^{16}$ W/cm2) that the backward SRS cannot be totally suppressed, filamentation of the EPW and forward side SRS will be excited. Then the TPD of the backscattered light only occurs in the early stage and is suppressed in the latter stage. Electron distribution functions further show that trapped-particle-modulation instability should be responsible for filamentation of the EPW. This research can promote the understanding of hot-electron generation and SRS saturation in inertial confinement fusion experiments.

The target backsheath field acceleration mechanism is one of the main mechanisms of laser-driven proton acceleration (LDPA) and strongly depends on the comprehensive performance of the ultrashort ultra-intense lasers used as the driving sources. The successful use of the SG-II Peta-watt (SG-II PW) laser facility for LDPA and its applications in radiographic diagnoses have been manifested by the good performance of the SG-II PW facility. Recently, the SG-II PW laser facility has undergone extensive maintenance and a comprehensive technical upgrade in terms of the seed source, laser contrast and terminal focus. LDPA experiments were performed using the maintained SG-II PW laser beam, and the highest cutoff energy of the proton beam was obviously increased. Accordingly, a double-film target structure was used, and the maximum cutoff energy of the proton beam was up to 70 MeV. These results demonstrate that the comprehensive performance of the SG-II PW laser facility was improved significantly.

As a typical plasma-based optical element that can sustain ultra-high light intensity, plasma density gratings driven by intense laser pulses have been extensively studied for wide applications. Here, we show that the plasma density grating driven by two intersecting driver laser pulses is not only nonuniform in space but also varies over time. Consequently, the probe laser pulse that passes through such a dynamic plasma density grating will be depolarized, that is, its polarization becomes spatially and temporally variable. More importantly, the laser depolarization may spontaneously take place for crossed laser beams if their polarization angles are arranged properly. The laser depolarization by a dynamic plasma density grating may find application in mitigating parametric instabilities in laser-driven inertial confinement fusion.

In the present study, we investigated the influence of different mid-stage N compensation timings on agronomic and physiological traits associated with grain yield and quality in field experiments. Two japonica rice cultivars with a good tasting quality (Nangeng 9108 and Nangeng 5055) were examined under eight N compensation timings (N1–N6: one-time N compensation at 7-2 weeks before heading; N7: split N compensation at 5 and 3 weeks before heading; N8: split N compensation at 4 and 2 weeks before heading) and a control with no N compensation. The highest yield was obtained with N7, followed by N3. The yield advantage is mainly attributable to the improved population structure (higher productive tiller rate with a stable number of effective panicles), higher total number of spikelets per unit area (large panicles with more grains per panicle), larger leaf area index in the late period and higher photosynthetic production capacity (more dry matter accumulation and transportation in the middle and late periods). Delaying N compensation timing improved the processing and nutritional quality of rice, but decreased the quality of appearance and cooking/eating traits. Our results suggest that, from the perspective of achieving relative coordination between high yield and high quality of japonica rice, the optimal N compensation should be divided equally at 5 and 3 weeks before heading. However, if simplifying the number of operations and the pursuit of eating quality were considered, one-time N compensation should be conducted at 5 weeks before heading.

This paper studied the use of eye movement data to form criteria for judging whether pilots perceive emergency information such as cockpit warnings. In the experiment, 12 subjects randomly encountered different warning information while flying a simulated helicopter, and their eye movement data were collected synchronously. Firstly, the importance of the eye movement features was calculated by ANOVA (analysis of variance). According to the sorting of the importance and the Euclidean distance of each eye movement feature, the warning information samples with different eye movement features were obtained. Secondly, the residual shrinkage network modules were added to CNN (convolutional neural network) to construct a DRSN (deep residual shrinkage networks) model. Finally, the processed warning information samples were used to train and test the DRSN model. In order to verify the superiority of this method, the DRSN model was compared with three machine learning models, namely SVM (support vector machine), RF (radom forest) and BPNN (backpropagation neural network). Among the four models, the DRSN model performed the best. When all eye movement features were selected, this model detected pilot perception of warning information with an average accuracy of 90.4%, of which the highest detection accuracy reached 96.4%. Experiments showed that the DRSN model had advantages in detecting pilot perception of warning information.

Water fountains (WFs) are thought to represent an early stage in the morphological evolution of circumstellar envelopes surrounding low- and intermediate-mass evolved stars. These objects are considered to transition from spherical to asymmetric shapes. Despite their potential importance in this transformation process of evolved stars, there are only a few known examples. To identify new WF candidates, we used databases of circumstellar OH (1612 MHz) and H2O (22.235 GHz) maser sources, and compared the velocity ranges of the two maser lines. Finally, 41 sources were found to have a velocity range for the H2O maser line that exceeded that of the OH maser line. Excluding known planetary nebulae and after reviewing the maser spectra in the original literature, we found for 11 sources the exceedance as significant, qualifying them as new WF candidates.

The great demographic pressure brings tremendous volume of beef demand. The key to solve this problem is the growth and development of Chinese cattle. In order to find molecular markers conducive to the growth and development of Chinese cattle, sequencing was used to determine the position of copy number variations (CNVs), bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the function of ZNF146 gene, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for CNV genotyping and one-way analysis of variance was used for association analysis. The results showed that there exists CNV in Chr 18: 47225201-47229600 (5.0.1 version) of ZNF146 gene through the early sequencing results in the laboratory and predicted ZNF146 gene was expressed in liver, skeletal muscle and breast cells, and was amplified or overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, which promoted the development of tumour through bioinformatics. Therefore, it is predicted that ZNF146 gene affects the proliferation of muscle cells, and then affects the growth and development of cattle. Furthermore, CNV genotyping of ZNF146 gene was three types (deletion type, normal type and duplication type) by Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR). The association analysis results showed that ZNF146-CNV was significantly correlated with rump length of Qinchuan cattle, hucklebone width of Jiaxian red cattle and heart girth of Yunling cattle. From the above results, ZNF146-CNV had a significant effect on growth traits, which provided an important candidate molecular marker for growth and development of Chinese cattle.

We report the experimental results of the commissioning phase in the 10 PW laser beamline of the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF). The peak power reaches 2.4 PW on target without the last amplifying during the experiment. The laser energy of 72 ± 9 J is directed to a focal spot of approximately 6 μm diameter (full width at half maximum) in 30 fs pulse duration, yielding a focused peak intensity around 2.0 × 1021 W/cm2. The first laser-proton acceleration experiment is performed using plain copper and plastic targets. High-energy proton beams with maximum cut-off energy up to 62.5 MeV are achieved using copper foils at the optimum target thickness of 4 μm via target normal sheath acceleration. For plastic targets of tens of nanometers thick, the proton cut-off energy is approximately 20 MeV, showing ring-like or filamented density distributions. These experimental results reflect the capabilities of the SULF-10 PW beamline, for example, both ultrahigh intensity and relatively good beam contrast. Further optimization for these key parameters is underway, where peak laser intensities of 1022–1023 W/cm2 are anticipated to support various experiments on extreme field physics.