Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease, presenting as elevated and red cutaneous lesions, adversely impacting people’s quality of life. Given the link between diet and inflammation and the unclear role of diet quality in the onset of psoriasis (1), this study used the large-scale UK Biobank to explore the association between dietary patterns and psoriasis incidence.

The study included 121,584 UK Biobank participants who were initially free of psoriasis and followed for an average of 14 years. Participants in this analysis were free from chronic inflammatory infectious disease (HIV and chronic viral hepatitis) and had completed at least two 24-hour dietary recalls. Nine diet quality indices were computed, including the Low Carbohydrate Diet Score (LCDS), Alternative Mediterranean Diet (aMed) Score, Eatwell Score, Alternative Binary Eatwell Score, Alternative Graded Eatwell Score, Healthy Diet Index (HDI), Alternative Healthy Eating Index (aHEI), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Score (DASH), Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), and Plant-Based Diet Index (PDI) with the addition of alcohol-excluded scores (aMed-nonalc, aHEI-nonalc) to account for the known link between alcohol and psoriasis risk (2). The primary outcome of this study was the incidence of psoriasis, determined through self-reported diagnosis, primary care (GP), and hospital admission data.

Of the 121,584 participants, 1,087 developed psoriasis, yielding an incidence rate of 0.89%. Participants who developed psoriasis reported significantly lower DASH (24.85 ± 4.53 vs. 25.19 ± 4.55, P = 0.017) and PDI (54.28 ± 5.51 vs. 54.82 ± 5.52, P = 0.001) scores, as well as less negative (pro-inflammatory) DII scores (-0.47 ± 1.78 vs. -0.58 ± 1.76, P = 0.039), compared to participants who did not develop psoriasis. Each increment in aMed (HR: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92–0.99), aMed-nonalc (HR: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92–0.98), DASH (HR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.97–1.00), and PDI (HR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.97–0.99) score was associated with lower psoriasis risk, while a higher DII (HR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00–1.07) was linked to an increased risk of psoriasis onset. After adjusting for age, sex, Townsend deprivation index, socioeconomic status, physical activity, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and comorbidities, each 1-point increment in the PDI score was associated with a modest 2% reduction in psoriasis risk. This association persisted after further adjustment for BMI. However, no significant associations were found for other dietary scores, both before and after BMI adjustment.

In this large cohort, greater adherence to the PDI was associated with a modestly lower risk of psoriasis, suggesting the potential benefits of plant-based diets in reducing psoriasis risk. Future research should prioritize randomized controlled trials to confirm this relationship.

Cryphodera guangdongensis n. sp. was collected from the soil and roots of Schima superba in Guangdong province, China. The new species is characterised by having a nearly spherical female, with dimensions of length × width = 532.3 (423.8–675.3) × 295.6 (160.0–381.2) μm, stylet length of 35.7 (31.1–42.1) μm, protruding vulval lips, a vulval slit measuring 54.2 (47.4–58.9) μm, an area between the vulva and anus that is flat to concave, and a vulva–anus distance 49.3 (41.1–57.6) μm. The male features two lip annules, a stylet length of 31.7 (27.4–34.8) μm and basal knobs that are slightly projecting anteriorly, while lateral field is areolated with three incisures and spicules length of 27.1 (23.7–31.0) μm. The second stage juvenile is characterised by a body length of 506.1 (441.8–564.4) μm long, two to three lip annules, a stylet length 31.2 (29.7–33.2) μm which is well developed, basal knobs projecting anteriorly, a lateral field that is areolate with three incisures, and a narrow rounded tail measuring 63.2 (54.2–71.3) μm long, with a hyaline region of 35.6 (27.4–56.6) μm long that is longer than the stylet. Based on morphology and morphometrics, the new species is closely related to C. sinensis and C. japonicum within the genus Cryphodera. The phylogenetic trees constructed based on the ITS-rRNA, 28S-rRNA D2–D3 region, and the partial COI gene sequences indicate that the new species clusters with other Cryphodera species but maintains in a separated subgroup. A key to the species of the genus Cryphodera is also provided in this study.

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.

The hypersonic vehicle surfaces are subjected to intense thermal loads during atmospheric re-entry. Such conditions induce material ablation and structural deformation, potentially causing changes to aerodynamic configuration that critically endanger mission integrity. In this paper, a mathematical model of thermochemical non-equilibrium magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) at low magnetic Reynolds number is introduced to investigate the effects of MHD on the flow field. Variation of the magnetic pole angle (θ), the flow field profiles are quantitatively analysed, including gas component distributions and aerodynamic heating characteristics. Results indicate that the heat flux at the stagnation point initially decreases and then increases with θ increasing, reaching a minimum at θ = 60°. A portion of the heat flux from the blunt position is transferred to the shoulder (α between 30° and 60°). Notably, the shock standoff distance also shows a non-monotonic trend with θ increasing, peaking at θ = 30°, mirroring the effect of θ on the stagnation point heat flux. As θ increases, the component of the Lorentz force along the X-direction gradually increases, with its peak position corresponding to the shock standoff distance. The electrons and nitrogen atoms are primarily concentrated at the blunt nose, while nitric oxide and oxygen atoms are predominantly distributed along the vehicle wall. The dissociation region of the gas is influenced by the shock standoff distance, which increases as the shock standoff distance increases. At θ = 30°, the concentration of oxygen atoms, nitrogen atoms, nitric oxide molecules and electrons on the stagnation point line reaches its maximum. The present study provides a theoretical foundation for the application of MHD thermal protection methods on hypersonic vehicles.

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.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) formations for bearing-only passive detection are increasingly important in modern military confrontations, and the array of the formation is one of the decisive factors affecting the detection accuracy of the system. How to plan the optimal geometric array in bearing-only detection is a complex nondeterministic polynomial problem, and this paper proposed the distributed stochastic subgradient projection algorithm (DSSPA) with layered constraints to solve this challenge. Firstly, based on the constraints of safe flight altitude and fixed baseline, the UAV formation is layered, and the system model for bearing-only cooperative localisation is constructed and analysed. Then, the calculation formula for geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) in the observation plane is provided, this nonlinear objective function is appropriately simplified to obtain its quadratic form, ensuring that it can be adapted and used efficiently in the system model. Finally, the proposed distributed stochastic subgradient projection algorithm (DSSPA) combines the idea of stochastic gradient descent with the projection method. By performing a projection operation on each feasible solution, it ensures that the updated parameters can satisfy the constraints while efficiently solving the convex optimisation problem of array planning. In addition to theoretical proof, this paper also conducts three simulation experiments of different scales, validating the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method for bearing-only detection array planning in UAV formations. This research provides essential guidance and technical reference for the deployment of UAV formations and path planning of detection platforms.

This paper proposes a cooperative midcourse guidance law with target changing and topology switching for multiple interceptors intercepting targets in the case of target loss and communication topology switching. Firstly, a three-dimensional guidance model is established and a cooperative trajectory shaping guidance law is given. Secondly, the average position consistency protocol of virtual interception points is designed for communication topology switching, and the convergence of the average position of virtual interception points under communication topology switching is proved by Lyapunov stability theory. Then, in the case of the target changing, the target handover law and the handover phase guidance law are designed to ensure the acceleration smoothing, at last, the whole cooperative midcourse guidance law is given based on the combination of the above guidance laws. Finally, numerical simulation results show the effectiveness and the superiority of the proposed cooperative midcourse guidance law.

Soluble Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (sICAM-1) has emerged as an inflammatory biomarker of many essential functions. We investigated the level of sICAM-1 influenced by Clonorchis sinensis (C. sinensis) co-infection in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients to explore the degree of liver tissue inflammation and liver function damage after co-infection. The study included data from patients with C. sinensis mono-infection (n=27), hepatitis B virus (HBV) mono-infection (n=32), C. sinensis and HBV co-infection (n=24), post-hepatitis B liver cirrhosis (n=18), post-hepatitis B liver cirrhosis co-infected with C. sinensis (n=16), and healthy controls (n=39). The level of sICAM-1 was measured with specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Compared to the healthy control group, all the experimental groups had significantly higher serum sICAM-1 levels. The levels of sICAM-1 in co-infected groups were significantly higher compared to the mono-infection groups and were positively correlated with the levels of glutamate aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Our research findings confirmed that co-infection could exacerbate liver tissue inflammation and liver function damage in patients, could raise the sICAM-1 level, and may lead to the chronicity of HBV infection. These results provide clues for pathological mechanism study and formulating treatment plans.

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.

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.

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.

Planting patterns have significant effects on rice growth. Nonetheless, little is known about differences in annual crop yield and resource utilization among mechanized rice planting patterns in a rice–wheat cropping system. Field experiments were conducted from 2014 to 2017 using three treatments: pot seedling transplanting for rice and row sowing for wheat (PST-RS), carpet seedling transplanting for rice and row sowing for wheat (CST-RS) and row sowing for both crops (RS-RS). The results showed that, compared with RS-RS, PST-RS and CST-RS prolonged annual crop growth duration by 25–26 and 13–15 days, increased effective accumulated temperature by 399 and 212°C days and increased cumulative solar radiation by 454 and 228 MJ/m2 because of the earlier sowing of rice by 28 and 16 days in PST-RS and CST-RS, respectively. Compared with RS-RS, the annual crop yield of PST-RS and CST-RS increased by 3.1–3.8 and 2.0–2.6 t/ha, respectively, because of the increase in the number of spikelets/kernels per hectare, aboveground biomass, mean leaf area index and grain–leaf ratio. In addition, temperature production efficiency, solar radiation production efficiency and solar radiation use efficiency were higher in PST-RS, followed by CST-RS and RS-RS. These results suggest that mechanized rice planting patterns such as PST-RS increase annual crop production in rice–wheat cropping systems by increasing yield and solar energy utilization.

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.