Influenced by human activities, microplastics (MPs) are widely distributed in terrestrial ecosystems. However, their ecotoxicity remains unclear. Therefore, we assessed the ecotoxicity of polyamide microplastics (PA-MPs) by investigating their toxic effects on the model insect, the silkworms Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae). In this study, fifth-instar silkworm larvae were fed mulberry leaves treated with PA-MPs for 120 hours, but no changes in mortality rates were observed. However, the body weight, pupal weight, cocoon weight, egg laying amount, and cocoon shell weight in F0 generation silkworms were significantly reduced. This indicates that PA-MPs have sublethal effects on silkworms. To further investigate the effects of PA-MPs on the offspring of silkworms, we applied the age-stage, two-sex life table analysis. We found that in the PA-MPs treatment group, the duration of the larval and pupal stages of F1 generation silkworms was significantly prolonged, while the lifespan of the adults and total longevity were shortened. Meanwhile, the life history parameters (sxj, exj, lx, fxj, lxmx, and vxj values) and population parameters (R0, λ, r, and T) of F1 generation silkworms in the PA-MPs treatment group were also lower than control. This indicates that PA-MPs have transgenerational effects, affecting the growth, development, and reproduction of F1 generation silkworms. Our research findings demonstrate the sublethal and transgenerational effects of PA-MPs on silkworms, providing evidence for their ecotoxicity.

We investigate when a group of the form $G\times \mathbb {Z}^m\ (m\geq 1)$ has the finitely generated fixed subgroup property of automorphisms ($\mathrm {FGFP_a}$), by using the BNS-invariant, and provide some partial answers and nontrivial examples.

Binary nanodroplet collisions have received increasing attention, whilst the identification of collision outcomes and the viscous dissipation mechanism have remained poorly understood. Using molecular dynamics simulations, this study investigates binary nanodroplet collisions over wide ranges of Weber number (We), Ohnesorge number (Oh) and off-centre distances. Coalescence, stretching separation and shattering are identified; however, bouncing, reflexive separation and rotational separation reported for millimetre-sized collisions are not observed, which is attributed to the enhanced viscous effect caused by the ‘natural’ high-viscosity characteristics of nanodroplets. Intriguingly, as an intermediate outcome, holes form in retracting films at relatively high We, arising from the vibration and thermal fluctuation of the films. Due to the combined effects of inertial, capillary and viscous forces, binary nanodroplet collisions fall into the cross-over regime, so estimating viscous dissipation becomes extremely important for distinguishing outcome boundaries. Based on the criterion that stretching separation is triggered only when the residual off-centre kinetic energy exceeds the surface energy required for separation, the boundary equation between coalescence and stretching separation is established. Here, viscous dissipation is calculated by the extracted flow feature from simulations, showing that the ratio of viscous dissipation to the initial kinetic energy depends only on Oh, not on We. Because of complex viscous dissipation mechanisms, the same boundary equation in the cross-over regime has also not been satisfactorily revealed for macroscale collisions. Therefore, the proposed equation is tested for wide data sources from both macroscale and nanoscale collisions, and satisfying agreement is achieved, demonstrating the universality of the equation.

One of the most common harmful mites in edible fungi is Histiostoma feroniarum Dufour (Acaridida: Histiostomatidae), a fungivorous astigmatid mite that feeds on hyphae and fruiting bodies, thereby transmitting pathogens. This study examined the effects of seven constant temperatures and 10 types of mushrooms on the growth and development of H. feroniarum, as well as its host preference. Developmental time for the total immature stages was significantly affected by the type of mushroom species, ranging from 4.3 ± 0.4 days (reared on Pleurotus eryngii var. tuoliensis Mou at 28°C) to 17.1 ± 2.3 days (reared on Auricularia polytricha Sacc. at 19°C). The temperature was a major factor in the formation of facultative heteromorphic deutonymphs (hypopi). The mite entered the hypopus stage when the temperature dropped to 16°C or rose above 31°C. The growth and development of this mite were significantly influenced by the type of species and variety of mushrooms. Moreover, the fungivorous astigmatid mite preferred to feed on the ‘Wuxiang No. 1’ strain of Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler and the ‘Gaowenxiu’ strain of P. pulmonarius (Fr.) Quél., with a shorter development period compared with that of feeding on other strains. These results therefore quantify the effect of host type and temperature on fungivorous astigmatid mite growth and development rates, and provide a reference for applying mushroom cultivar resistance to biological pest control.

Inkjet printing, originally invented for text and pattern printing, is now central to many industrial applications, such as printed electronics, flexible electronics, 3-D printing of mechanical and even biological devices. However, constrained by the droplets’ ejection mechanism, the accuracy of traditional inkjet printing is limited by the size of its orifice, and it is difficult to achieve a volume of droplets at the femtolitre scale, which hinders its further application in the above fields. To this end, we propose the confined interface vibration inkjet printing (CIVIJP) technique, which is capable of printing patterns in a liquid environment with droplet size much smaller than the orifice from which they are dispensed. Here, further systematic study of the mechanism of printing in a liquid environment was carried out with the assistance of a high-speed imaging technique. It is found for the first time that a single pulse stimulation applied on the piezo-ceramic of the inkjet nozzle can trigger damping oscillations of the oil/water interface confined by the orifice, which can last more than 500 $\mathrm {\mu }$s. By adjusting the intensity of single pulse stimulation, the size and quantity of the dispensed droplets can be controlled in a wide range, which is obviously different from traditional droplet ejection in a gaseous environment. This work reveals the underlying physics between the pulse stimulation and the interface behaviours, as well as the physics between the interface behaviours and the size and number of dispensed droplets, enriching the fundamental theory of the inkjet printing in liquid phase.

Bathymetric simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) methods yield accurate navigation results for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and can construct consistent seabed terrain maps. Multiple independently working vehicles can complete tasks like surveying and mapping efficiently, which means cooperative bathymetric SLAM using multiple AUVs is suitable for large-scale seabed mapping. However, the transmission of bathymetric measurements collected using a multi-beam echo sounder over a low bandwidth, noisy, and unreliable acoustic channel is difficult, making cooperative bathymetric SLAM very challenging. This paper develops a graph-based cooperative bathymetric SLAM system that can compress many bathymetric measurements into small-scale acoustic packets and yield accurate navigation results with a 10% loss of acoustic packets caused by unreliable acoustic communication. According to the simulation conducted using the field data, the new algorithm is shown to be robust and capable of providing accurate location and mapping results over a low bandwidth, noisy, and unreliable acoustic channel.

Let $\pi $ be an automorphic irreducible cuspidal representation of $\mathrm{GL}_{m}$ over $\mathbb {Q}$ . Denoted by $\lambda _{\pi }(n)$ the nth coefficient in the Dirichlet series expansion of $L(s,\pi )$ associated with $\pi $ . Let $\pi _{1}$ be an automorphic irreducible cuspidal representation of $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb {Z})$ . Denoted by $\lambda _{\pi _{1}\times \pi _{1}}(n)$ the nth coefficient in the Dirichlet series expansion of $L(s,\pi _{1}\times \pi _{1})$ associated with $\pi _{1}\times \pi _{1}$ . In this paper, we study the cancellations of $\lambda _{\pi }(n)$ and $\lambda _{\pi _{1}\times \pi _{1}}(n)$ over Beatty sequences.

This study proposed a novel ensemble analysis strategy to improve hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) prediction by integrating environmental data. The approach began by establishing a vector autoregressive model (VAR). Then, a dynamic Bayesian networks (DBN) model was used for variable selection of environmental factors. Finally, a VAR model with constraints (CVAR) was established for predicting the incidence of HFMD in Chengdu city from 2011 to 2017. DBN showed that temperature was related to HFMD at lags 1 and 2. Humidity, wind speed, sunshine, PM10, SO2 and NO2 were related to HFMD at lag 2. Compared with the autoregressive integrated moving average model with external variables (ARIMAX), the CVAR model had a higher coefficient of determination (R2, average difference: + 2.11%; t = 6.2051, P = 0.0003 < 0.05), a lower root mean-squared error (−24.88%; t = −5.2898, P = 0.0007 < 0.05) and a lower mean absolute percentage error (−16.69%; t = −4.3647, P = 0.0024 < 0.05). The accuracy of predicting the time-series shape was 88.16% for the CVAR model and 86.41% for ARIMAX. The CVAR model performed better in terms of variable selection, model interpretation and prediction. Therefore, it could be used by health authorities to identify potential HFMD outbreaks and develop disease control measures.

Aeolian dust deposits from continent and ocean have been extensively investigated to reflect past changes in source aridity and atmospheric circulations. Aeolian flux (AF) as a quantitative dust proxy has been widely used in both palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and numerical simulation. However, available AF data on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is too limited to assess the temporal–spatial variations at glacial–interglacial timescales, and therefore cannot be used as robust input parameters in palaeoclimate models. Here we investigate eight loess profiles along two N–S-aligned transects on the CLP to quantitatively estimate the AF variations over the last glacial–interglacial cycle. We first establish a refined chronological framework based on optically stimulated luminescence chronology and pedostratigraphic correlation. AF was then estimated by multiplying the sedimentation rate and bulk density. The results show that the AF increases from 2–18 g cm−2 ka−1 in the southeastern CLP to 14–105 g cm−2 ka−1 in the northwestern CLP. At glacial–interglacial scales, the AF varies from 2–20 g cm−2 ka−1 during the last interglacial to 8–105 g cm−2 ka−1 in the last glaciation. Due to more spatial coverage and better age constraints, our AF data can be used to refine other AF datasets and to improve the proxy–model comparison.

Prior data on long-term association between legume consumption and hypertension risk are sparse. We aimed to evaluate whether total legume and subtype intakes prospectively associate with hypertension incidence among 8758 participants (≥30 years) from the China Health and Nutrition Survey 2004–2011. Diet was assessed by interviews combining 3-d 24-h food recalls and household food inventory weighing at each survey round. Incident hypertension was identified by self-reports or blood pressure measurements. We applied multivariable Cox regressions to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with corresponding 95 % CI for hypertension across increasing categories of cumulatively averaged legume intakes. For 35 990 person-years (median 6·0 years apiece), we documented 944 hypertension cases. After covariate adjustment, higher total legume intakes were significantly associated with lower hypertension risks, with HR comparing extreme categories being 0·56 (95 % CI 0·43, 0·71; Ptrend < 0·001). Then we found that intakes of dried legumes (HR 0·53 (95 % CI 0·43, 0·65); Ptrend < 0·001) and fresh legumes (HR 0·67 (95 % CI 0·55, 0·81); Ptrend < 0·001) were both related to decreased hypertension hazards. However, further dried legume classification revealed that negative association with hypertension substantially held for soyabean (HR 0·51 (95 % CI 0·41, 0·62); Ptrend < 0·001) but not non-soyabean intakes. In stratified analyses, the association of interest remained similar within strata by sex, BMI, physical activity, smoking and drinking status; rather, significant heterogeneity showed across age strata (Pinteraction = 0·02). Total legume consumption among the over-65s was related to a more markedly reduced hypertension risk (HR 0·47 (95 % CI 0·30, 0·73); Ptrend < 0·001). Our findings suggest an inverse association of all kinds of legume (except non-soyabean) intakes with hypertension risks.

Although topographic mapping missions and geological surveys carried out by Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are becoming increasingly prevalent, the lack of precise navigation in these scenarios still limits their application. This paper deals with the problems of long-term underwater navigation for AUVs and provides new mapping techniques by developing a Bathymetric Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping (BSLAM) method based on graph SLAM technology. To considerably reduce the calculation cost, the trajectory of the AUV is divided into various submaps based on Differences of Normals (DoN). Loop closures between submaps are obtained by terrain matching; meanwhile, maximum likelihood terrain estimation is also introduced to build weak data association within the submap. Assisted by one weight voting method for loop closures, the global and local trajectory corrections work together to provide an accurate navigation solution for AUVs with weak data association and inaccurate loop closures. The viability, accuracy and real-time performance of the proposed algorithm are verified with data collected onboard, including an 8 km planned track recorded at a speed of 4 knots in Qingdao, China.