The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) is a destructive migratory pest, posing great threat to over 60 countries globally. In the backdrop of climate change, the habitat suitability of desert locusts is poised to undergo alterations. Hence, investigating the shifting dynamics of desert locust habitats holds profound significance in ensuring global agricultural resilience and food security. In this study, we combined the maximum entropy modelling and geographic information system technology to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the impact of climate change on the distribution patterns and habitat adaptability of desert locusts. The results indicate that the suitable areas for desert locusts (0.2976 × 108 km2) are concentrated in northern Africa and southwestern Asia, accounting for 19.97% of the total global land area. Key environmental variables affecting the desert locust distribution include temperature annual range, mean temperature of the coldest quarter, average temperature of February, and precipitation of the driest month. Under the SSP1–2.6 and SSP5–8.5 climate scenarios, potential suitable areas for desert locusts are estimated to increase from 2030 (2021–2040) to 2090 (2081–2100). By 2090, highly suitable areas for SSP1–2.6 and SSP5–8.5 are projected to be 0.0606 × 108 and 0.0891 × 108 km2, respectively, reflecting an expansion of 1.84 and 2.77% compared to existing ones. These research findings provide a theoretical basis for adopting prevention and control strategies for desert locusts.

A high-energy pulsed vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) solid-state laser at 177 nm with high peak power by the sixth harmonic of a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) amplifier in a KBe2BO3F2 prism-coupled device was demonstrated. The ultraviolet (UV) pump laser is a 352 ps pulsed, spatial top-hat super-Gaussian beam at 355 nm. A high energy of a 7.12 mJ VUV laser at 177 nm is obtained with a pulse width of 255 ps, indicating a peak power of 28 MW, and the conversion efficiency is 9.42% from 355 to 177 nm. The measured results fitted well with the theoretical prediction. It is the highest pulse energy and highest peak power ever reported in the VUV range for any solid-state lasers. The high-energy, high-peak-power, and high-spatial-uniformity VUV laser is of great interest for ultra-fine machining and particle-size measurements using UV in-line Fraunhofer holography diagnostics.

EXOSC10 is an exosome-associated ribonuclease that degrades and processes a wide range of transcripts in the nucleus. The initial segment (IS) of the epididymis is crucial for sperm transport and maturation in mice by affecting the absorption and secretion that is required for male fertility. However, the role of EXOSC10 ribonuclease-mediated RNA metabolism within the IS in the regulation of gene expression and sperm maturation remains unknown. Herein, we established an Exosc10 conditional knockout (Exosc10 cKO) mouse model by crossing Exosc10F/F mice with Lcn9-Cre mice which expressed recombinase in the principal cells of IS as early as post-natal day 17. Morphological and histological analyses revealed that Exosc10 cKO males had normal spermatogenesis and development of IS. Moreover, the sperm concentration, morphology, motility, and frequency of acrosome reactions in the cauda epididymides of Exosc10 cKO mice were comparable with those of control mice. Thus, Exosc10 cKO males had normal fertility. Collectively, our genetic mouse model and findings demonstrate that loss of EXOSC10 in the IS of epididymis is dispensable for sperm maturation and male fertility.

This study aims to evaluate the impact of low-carbohydrate diet, balanced dietary guidance and pharmacotherapy on weight loss among individuals with overweight or obesity over a period of 3 months. The study involves 339 individuals with overweight or obesity and received weight loss treatment at the Department of Clinical Nutrition at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023. The primary outcome is the percentage weight loss. Among the studied patients, the majority chose low-carbohydrate diet as their primary treatment (168 (49·56 %)), followed by balanced dietary guidance (139 (41·00 %)) and pharmacotherapy (32 (9·44 %)). The total percentage weight loss for patients who were followed up for 1 month, 2 months and 3 months was 4·98 (3·04, 6·29) %, 7·93 (5·42, 7·93) % and 10·71 (7·74, 13·83) %, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified low-carbohydrate diet as an independent factor associated with percentage weight loss of ≥ 3 % and ≥ 5 % at 1 month (OR = 0·461, P < 0·05; OR = 0·349, P < 0·001). The results showed that a low-carbohydrate diet was an effective weight loss strategy in the short term. However, its long-term effects were comparable to those observed with balanced dietary guidance and pharmacotherapy.

Insect response to cold stress is often associated with adaptive strategies and chemical variation. However, low-temperature domestication to promote the cold tolerance potential of Bactrocera dorsalis and transformation of main internal substances are not clear. Here, we use a series of low-temperature exposure experiments, supercooling point (SCP) measurement, physiological substances and cryoprotectants detection to reveal that pre-cooling with milder low temperatures (5 and 10°C) for several hours (rapid cold hardening) and days (cold acclimation) can dramatically improve the survival rate of adults and pupae under an extremely low temperature (−6.5°C). Besides, the effect of rapid cold hardening for adults could be maintained even 4 h later with 25°C exposures, and SCP was significantly declined after cold acclimation. Furthermore, content of water, fat, protein, glycogen, sorbitol, glycerol and trehalose in bodies were measured. Results showed that water content was reduced and increased content of proteins, glycogen, glycerol and trehalose after two cold domestications. Our findings suggest that rapid cold hardening and cold acclimation could enhance cold tolerance of B. dorsalis by increasing proteins, glycerol, trehalose and decreasing water content. Conclusively, identifying a physiological variation will be useful for predicting the occurrence and migration trend of B. dorsalis populations.

Pie charts are often used to communicate risk, such as the risk of driving. In the foreground-background salience effect (FBSE), foreground (probability of bad event) has greater salience than background (no bad event) in such a chart. Experiment 1 confirmed that the displays format of pie charts showed a typical FBSE. Experiment 2 showed that the FBSE resulted from a difference in cognitive efforts in processing the messages and that a foreground-emphasizing display was easier to process. Experiment 3 manipulated subjects’ information processing mindset and explored the interaction between displays format and information processing mindset. In the default mindset, careless subjects displayed a typical FBSE, while those who were instructed to be careful reported similar risk-avoidant behavior preference reading both charts. Suggestions for improving risk communication are discussed.

Acritarch biostratigraphic and δ13C chemostratigraphic data from the Krol A Formation in the Solan area (Lesser Himalaya, northern India) are integrated to aid inter-basinal correlation of early–middle Ediacaran strata. We identified a prominent negative δ13C excursion (likely equivalent to EN2 in the lower Doushantuo Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area of South China), over a dozen species of acanthomorphs (including two new species—Cavaspina tiwariae Xiao n. sp., Dictyotidium grazhdankinii Xiao n. sp.), and numerous other microfossils from an interval in the Krol A Formation. Most microfossil taxa from the Krol A and the underlying Infra-Krol formations are also present in the Doushantuo Formation. Infra-Krol acanthomorphs support a correlation with the earliest Doushantuo biozone: the Appendisphaera grandis-Weissiella grandistella-Tianzhushania spinosa Assemblage Zone. Krol A microfossils indicate a correlation with the second or (more likely, when δ13C data are considered) the third biozone in the lower Doushantuo Formation (i.e., the Tanarium tuberosum-Schizofusa zangwenlongii or Tanarium conoideum-Cavaspina basiconica Assemblage Zone). The association of acanthomorphs with EN2 in the Krol Formation fills a critical gap in South China where chert nodules, and thus acanthomorphs, are rare in the EN2 interval. Like many other Ediacaran acanthomorphs assemblages, Krol A and Doushantuo acanthomorphs are distributed in low paleolatitudes, and they may represent a distinct paleobiogeographic province in east Gondwana. The Indian data affirm the stratigraphic significance of acanthomorphs and δ13C, clarify key issues of lower Ediacaran bio- and chemostratigraphic correlation, and strengthen the basis for the study of Ediacaran eukaryote evolution and paleobiogeography.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/5289fdb2-0e49-4b3b-880f-f5b21acab371.

Frequent freezing injury greatly influences winter wheat production; thus, effective prevention and a command of agricultural production are vital. The freezing injury monitoring method integrated with ‘3S’ (geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning system (GPS) and remote sensing (RS)) technology has an unparalleled advantage. Using HuanJing (HJ)-1A/1B satellite images of a winter wheat field in Shanxi Province, China plus a field survey, crop types and winter wheat planting area were identified through repeated visual interpretations of image information and spatial analyses conducted in GIS. Six vegetation indices were extracted from processed HJ-1A/1B satellite images to determine whether the winter wheat suffered from freezing injury and its degree of severity and recovery, using change vector analysis (CVA), the freeze injury representative vegetation index and the combination of the two methods, respectively. Accuracy of the freezing damage classification results was verified by determining the impact of freezing damage on yield and quantitative analysis. The CVA and the change of normalized difference vegetation index (ΔNDVI) monitoring results were different so a comprehensive analysis of the combination of CVA and ΔNDVI was performed. The area with serious freezing injury covered 0.9% of the total study area, followed by the area of no freezing injury (3.5%), moderate freezing injury (10.2%) and light freezing injury (85.4%). Of the moderate and serious freezing injury areas, 0.2% did not recover; 1.2% of the no freezing injury and light freezing injury areas showed optimal recovery, 15.6% of the light freezing injury and moderate freezing injury areas showed poor recovery, and the remaining areas exhibited general recovery.

This paper first uses a low-speed stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) system to measure the convergent statistical quantities of the flow field and then simultaneously measure the time-resolved flow field and the wall mass transfer rate by a high-speed SPIV system and an electrochemical system, respectively. We measure the flow field and wall mass transfer rate under upstream pipe Reynolds numbers between 25 000 and 55 000 at three specific locations behind the orifice plate. Moreover, we apply proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), stochastic estimation and spectral analysis to study the properties of the flow field and the wall mass transfer rate. More importantly, we investigate the large-scale coherent structures’ effects on the wall mass transfer rate. The collapse of the wall mass transfer rates’ spectra by the corresponding time scales at the three specific positions of orifice flow suggest that the physics of low-frequency wall mass transfer rates are probably the same, although the flow fields away from the wall are quite different. Furthermore, the spectra of the velocity reconstructed by the most energetic eigenmodes agree well with the wall mass transfer rate in the low-frequency region, suggesting that the first several energetic eigenmodes capture the flow dynamics relevant to the low-frequency variation of the wall mass transfer. Stochastic estimation results of the velocity field associated with large wall mass transfer rate at all three specific locations further reveal that the most energetic coherent structures are correlated with the wall mass transfer rate.

This study assessed the molecular mechanism of EPA or DHA protection against intestinal porcine epithelial cell line 1 (IPEC-1) cell damage induced by deoxynivalenol (DON). The cells were divided into six groups, including the CON group, the EPA group, the DHA group, the DON group, the EPA + DON group and the DHA + DON group. RNA sequencing was used to investigate the potential mechanism, and qRT-PCR was employed to verify the expression of selected genes. Changes in ultrastructure were used to estimate pathological changes and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) injury in IPEC-1 cells. Transferrin receptor 1 (TFR1) was tested by ELISA. Fe2+ and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were estimated by spectrophotometry, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assayed by fluorospectrophotometry. RNA sequencing analysis showed that EPA and DHA had a significant effect on the expression of genes involved in ER stress and iron balance during DON-induced cell injury. The results showed that DON increased ER damage, the content of MDA and ROS, the ratio of X-box binding protein 1s (XBP-1s)/X-box binding protein 1u (XBP-1u), the concentration of Fe2+ and the activity of TFR1. However, the results also showed that EPA and DHA decreased the ratio of XBP-1s/XBP-1u to relieve DON-induced ER damage of IPEC-1 cells. Moreover, EPA and DHA (especially DHA) reversed the factors related to iron balance. It can be concluded that EPA and DHA reversed IPEC-1 cell damage induced by DON. DHA has the potential to protect IPEC-1 cells from DON-induced iron imbalance by inhibiting ER stress.

The present study evaluated effects of dietary supplementation with tryptophan (Trp) on muscle growth, protein synthesis and antioxidant capacity in hybrid catfish Pelteobagrus vachelli♀ × Leiocassis longirostris♂. Fish were fed six different diets containing 2·6 (control), 3·1, 3·7, 4·2, 4·7 and 5·6 g Trp/kg diet for 56 d, respectively. Results showed that dietary Trp significantly (1) improved muscle protein content, fibre density and frequency of fibre diameter; (2) up-regulated the mRNA levels of PCNA, myf5, MyoD1, MyoG, MRF4, IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF-IR, PIK3Ca, TOR, 4EBP1 and S6K1; (3) increased phosphorylation levels of AKT, TOR and S6K1; (4) decreased contents of MDA and PC, and increased activities of CAT, GST, GR, ASA and AHR; (5) up-regulated mRNA levels of CuZnSOD, CAT, GST, GPx, GCLC and Nrf2, and decreased Keap1 mRNA level; (6) increased nuclear Nrf2 protein level and the intranuclear antioxidant response element-binding ability, and reduced Keap1 protein level. These results indicated that dietary Trp improved muscle growth, protein synthesis as well as antioxidant capacity, which might be partly related to myogenic regulatory factors, IGF/PIK3Ca/AKT/TOR and Keap1/Nrf2 signalling pathways. Finally, based on the quadratic regression analysis of muscle protein and MDA contents, the optimal Trp requirements of hybrid catfish (21·82–39·64 g) were estimated to be 3·94 and 3·93 g Trp/kg diet (9·57 and 9·54 g/kg of dietary protein), respectively.

We investigated the effects of botulinum toxin on gait in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with foot dystonia. Six patients underwent onabotulinum toxin A injection and were assessed by Burke–Fahn–Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS), visual analog scale (VAS) of pain, Timed Up and Go (TUG), Berg Balance Test (BBT), and 3D gait analysis at baseline, 1 month, and 3 months. BFMDRS (p = 0.002), VAS (p = 0.024), TUG (p = 0.028), and BBT (p = 0.034) were improved. Foot pressures at Toe 1 (p = 0.028) and Midfoot (p = 0.018) were reduced, indicating botulinum toxin’s effects in alleviating the dystonia severity and pain and improving foot pressures during walking in PD.