Bemisia tabaci is one of the most important agricultural pests worldwide, and the combined application of multiple natural enemies such as predators and parasitoids can potentially control B. tabaci. The study examined whether the predator Orius similis and the parasitoid Encarsia formosa can synergistically control B. tabaci (crop: kidney bean). The greenhouse cage method was used to release O. similis and E. formosa alone or in combination in different ratios. The combined release of O. similis and E. formosa synergistically decreased the B. tabaci population when compared with O. similis or E. formosa alone. Additionally, O. similis + E. formosa decreased the number of E. formosa black pupae and adults in each crop stage. However, the niche overlap index of E. formosa with B. tabaci nymphs in the O. similis + E. formosa group was higher than in the E. formosa group. Grey correlation analysis revealed that the correlation degree between natural enemies and B. tabaci was the highest when the O. similis and E. formosa release ratio was 1:3. These findings indicate that the combined release of O. similis and E. formosa synergistically controlled B. tabaci with the release ratio 1:3 being optimal for field application.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious animal disease caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). It is listed by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) as an animal disease subject to statutory reporting. ASFV, a large, enveloped double-stranded DNA virus with high genomic complexity, exhibits a case fatality rate of up to 100%, posing a significant threat to the global pig industry and food safety. To date, the absence of a safe commercial ASFV vaccine primarily stems from challenges in identifying immunogenic viral antigens, insufficient characterization of ASFV pathogenesis, and limited understanding of the virus’s immune evasion mechanisms. Here, we review the pathogenic characteristics (morphological structure, clinical symptoms, and epidemiological characteristics), molecular biological characteristics, and infection mechanism of ASFV, as well as the immune response mechanism, vaccine research, and the latest information on ASFV in other areas. This review will be in favour of understanding the current state of knowledge of ASF and developing effective vaccines to control this disease.

Women entrepreneurs face distinct gender-specific challenges, including restricted access to venture capital, work–life conflicts driven by stereotypes, and competing demands from their roles as business owners, caregivers, and community leaders. These pressures often foster polychronicity – a temporal orientation favoring simultaneous task management. Grounded in role accumulation theory, we conduct a two-stage survey of 129 Chinese women entrepreneurs to investigate the relationship between polychronicity and resilience. We further examine three moderators – frequent interruptions, entrepreneurial experience, and emotional intelligence – that amplify polychronicity’ s resilience-building effects. This study highlights the positive association between polychronicity and women entrepreneurs’ resilience, offering new insights into temporal dynamics in entrepreneurship. It also provides women entrepreneurs with practical strategies to help them navigate multiple role challenges and thrive amid adversity by leveraging their preference for multitasking.

Robotic manufacturing systems offer significant advantages, including increased flexibility and reduced costs. However, challenges in trajectory planning, error compensation, and system integration hinder their broader application in additive manufacturing. To address these issues, this paper proposes a generalized non-parametric trajectory planning method tailored for robotic additive manufacturing. The proposed trajectory planner incorporates chord error and speed continuity constraints and integrates the look-ahead planning with real-time interpolation in a parallel structure to ensure smooth transitions in the robot’s trajectory. Additionally, a real-time path tracking control method is introduced, combining RBF neural network-based dynamic feedforward control with visual servoing-based feedback control. This control strategy significantly improves the robot’s tracking accuracy, particularly for complex additive manufacturing paths that involve multiple short connected line segments and frequent speed variations. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is validated through experiments on a robotic additive manufacturing platform. The experimental results (line segment, circular arc segment, and continuous path tracking) show that the robot’s tracking error remains within $\pm$0.15 mm and $\pm 0.05^{\circ }$.

This study reports potassium (K) isotope compositions of diamondiferous kimberlites. Altered kimberlite samples exhibit δ41K values ranging from −1.293 ± 0.052 (2SD) to −0.114 ± 0.029 ‰, showing covariations with chemical indicators of alteration. This is consistent with the geochemical dynamics of K isotopes in hydrothermal fluid-related processes. In contrast, pristine kimberlite samples display restricted K isotope compositions, with δ41K values between −0.494 ± 0.057 and −0.270 ± 0.048 ‰. Notably, the δ41K values of these pristine kimberlite samples correlate well with K2O and Rb contents, suggesting that approximately ∼0.2 ‰ of K isotope fractionation is induced by phlogopite crystallization, as indicated by quantitative modelling. The estimated δ41K values of −0.458 ‰ for the primary kimberlite melt and of −0.414 ‰ for the kimberlite source imply a potential link to the bulk silicate Earth. These new measurements, along with literature data from various rocks, indicate that the K isotope composition in the deep mantle (>150 km) is more homogenous than in shallow regions, likely reflecting the efficiency of convection flow and K behaviour during subduction. In addition, the K isotope data reveal temporal variations in mantle-derived magmas from the Palaeozoic to the Cenozoic, highlighting the geological history and lithospheric destruction of the North China Craton. This study underscores the significance of K isotopes in enhancing our understanding of mantle dynamics, crustal recycling and the geochemical evolution of the Earth’s interior.

Flapping-wing robots, inspired by natural flyers, have gained significant attention for surveillance and environmental monitoring applications. This study presents the design and analysis of a bat-inspired flapping-wing robot with foldable wings, aiming to enhance flight efficiency and maneuverability. The robot features silicone-based, stretchable membrane wings, with a wingspan of 1.4 m and a total mass of 620 g. A one-degree-of-freedom (DOF) revolute-spherical-spherical-revolute mechanism is used to reproduce the flapping motion, while a one-DOF Watt six-bar linkage mechanism enables dynamic wing folding, allowing adaptive wing shape modulation during flight. Explicit solutions for joint angle of the wing were expressed through analytical method. Flight tests were conducted to validate the effectiveness of the flapping-folding mechanism. Results show that the robot successfully replicates bat wing kinematics, with folding during the upstroke and unfolding during the downstroke. This research offers insights into bio-inspired wing designs for next-generation flapping-wing robots.

Saccharum barberi is regarded as a sugarcane germ plasm resource of potential value. Tissue culture serves multiple purposes in breeding-related research for sugarcane. The response to tissue culture varies considerably among sugarcane genotypes; however, the influence of genetic differences on the tissue culture performance of S. barberi had not been previously investigated. This study evaluated the genotypic variation in tissue culture response among six accessions of S. barberi. Seven parameters were assessed to determine the tissue culture performance: callus induction frequency (CIF), embryogenic callus ratio, embryogenic callus induction frequency, callus regeneration frequency, callus regeneration coefficient, overall regeneration frequency (ORF) and overall regeneration coefficient (ORC). Significant variations (P < 0.05) were observed among the S. barberi genotypes for all parameters. The broad-sense heritability ranged from 80.77% to 93.10%, indicating that genetic differences were the primary source of genotypic variation. ORF exhibited the highest diversity among the parameters, with a genotypic coefficient of variation up to 70.06%. Pansahi was identified as the most amenable genotype to tissue culture, demonstrating superior performance in both callus induction and plant regeneration. CIFs at different induction periods were strongly positively correlated with both ORF and ORC, particularly during the first week, suggesting that CIF may serve as a promising early predictor of overall regeneration competence. This study is the first to report the effect of genotypic variation on callus induction and plant regeneration of S. barberi, and the findings will be valuable for future research involving tissue culture in this species.

Shock interactions on a V-shaped blunt leading edge (VBLE) that are commonly encountered at the cowl lip of an inward-turning inlet are investigated at freestream Mach numbers ($ M_\infty$) 3–6. The swept blunt leading edges of the VBLE generate a pair of detached shocks with varying shapes due to the changes in $ M_\infty$ and $L/r$ (i.e. the ratio of the leading-edge length $L$ to the leading-edge blunt radius $r$), which causes intriguing shock interactions at the crotch of the VBLE. Three subtypes of regular reflection (RR) and a Mach reflection (MR) are produced successively with increasing $ M_\infty$ for a given $L/r$, which appear in the opposite order to those with increasing $L/r$ for a given $ M_\infty$. These shock interactions identified in numerical simulations are verified in supersonic and hypersonic wind tunnel experiments. It is demonstrated that the relative position of the shocks is crucial in determining the transitions of shock interactions by varying either $L/r$ or $ M_\infty$. Transition criteria between subtypes of RR and from RR to MR are theoretically established in the parameter space $(M_\infty,L/r)$ by analysing the shock structures, showing good agreement with the numerical and experimental results. Interactions between either immature or fully developed detached shocks are embedded in these criteria. Specifically, the transition criteria asymptotically approach the corresponding critical $ M_\infty$ when $L/r$ is sufficiently large. These transition criteria provide guidelines for improving the design of the cowl lip of an inward-turning inlet in supersonic and hypersonic regimes.

The high comorbidity of major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorders (ANX), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) complicates the study of their structural neural correlates, particularly in white matter (WM) alterations. Using fractional anisotropy (FA), this meta-analysis aimed to identify both unique and shared WM characteristics for these disorders by comparing them with healthy controls (HC). The aggregated sample size across studies includes 3,661 individuals diagnosed with MDD, ANX, or PTSD and 3,140 HC participants. The whole-brain analysis revealed significant FA reductions in the corpus callosum (CC) across MDD, ANX, and PTSD, suggesting a common neurostructural alteration underlying these disorders. Further pairwise comparisons highlighted disorder-specific differences: MDD patients showed reduced FA in the middle cerebellar peduncles and bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus II relative to ANX patients and decreased FA in the CC extending to the left anterior thalamic projections (ATPs) when compared with PTSD. In contrast, PTSD patients exhibited reduced FA in the right ATPs compared to HC. No significant FA differences were observed between ANX and PTSD or between ANX and HC. These findings provide evidence for both shared and unique WM alterations in MDD, ANX, and PTSD, reflecting the neural underpinnings of the clinical characteristics that distinguish these disorders.

Coherent beam combining (CBC) of laser arrays is increasingly attracting attention for generating free-space structured light, unlocking greater potential in aspects such as power scaling, editing flexibility and high-quality light field creation. However, achieving stable phase locking in a CBC system with massive laser channels still remains a great challenge, especially in the presence of heavy phase noise. Here, we propose an efficient phase-locking method for a laser array with more than 1000 channels by leveraging a deep convolutional neural network for the first time. The key insight is that, by elegantly designing the generation strategy of training samples, the learning burden can be dramatically relieved from the structured data, which enables accurate prediction of the phase distribution. We demonstrate our method in a simulated tiled aperture CBC system with dynamic phase noise and extend it to simultaneously generate orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams with a substantial number of OAM modes.

This paper introduces a novel ray-tracing methodology for various gradient-index materials, particularly plasmas. The proposed approach utilizes adaptive-step Runge–Kutta integration to compute ray trajectories while incorporating an innovative rasterization step for ray energy deposition. By removing the requirement for rays to terminate at cell interfaces – a limitation inherent in earlier cell-confined approaches – the numerical formulation of ray motion becomes independent of specific domain geometries. This facilitates a unified and concise tracing method compatible with all commonly used curvilinear coordinate systems in laser–plasma simulations, which were previously unsupported or prohibitively complex under cell-confined frameworks. Numerical experiments demonstrate the algorithm’s stability and versatility in capturing diverse ray physics across reduced-dimensional planar, cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems. We anticipate that the rasterization-based approach will pave the way for the development of a generalized ray-tracing toolkit applicable to a broad range of fluid simulations and synthetic optical diagnostics.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a highly destructive polyvorous pest with a wide host range and the ability to feed continuously with seasonal changes. This destructive pest significantly damages crops and can also utilize non-agricultural plants, such as weeds, as alternative hosts. However, the adaptation mechanisms of S. frugiperda when switching between crop and non-crop hosts remain poorly understood, posing challenges for effective monitoring and integrated pest management strategies. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the adaptability of S. frugiperda to different host plants. Results showed that corn (Zea mays L.) was more suitable for the growth and development of S. frugiperda than wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and goosegrass (Eleusine indica). Transcriptome analysis identified 699 genes differentially expressed when fed on corn, wheat, and goosegrass. The analysis indicated that the detoxification metabolic pathway may be related to host adaptability. We identified only one SfGSTs2 gene within the GST family and investigated its functional role across different developmental stages and tissues by analysing its spatial and temporal expression patterns. The SfGSTs2 gene expression in the midgut of larvae significantly decreased following RNA interference. Further, the dsRNA-fed larvae exhibited a decreased detoxification ability, higher mortality, and reduced larval weight. The findings highlight the crucial role of SfGSTs2 in host plant adaptation. Evaluating the feeding preferences of S. frugiperda is significant for controlling important agricultural pests.

With the widespread use of high-fat diets (HFD) in aquaculture, the adverse effects of HFD on farmed fish are becoming increasingly apparent. Creatine has shown potential as a green feed additive in farmed fish; however, the potential of dietary creatine to attenuate adverse effects caused by high-fat diets remains poorly understood. To address such gaps, this study was conducted to investigate the mitigating effect of dietary creatine on HFD-induced disturbance on growth performance, hepatic lipid metabolism, intestinal health and muscle quality of juvenile largemouth bass. Three diets were formulated: a control diet (10·20 % lipid), a high-fat diet (HFD, 18·31 % lipid) and HFD with 2 % creatine (HFD + creatine). Juvenile largemouth bass (3·73 (sem 0·01) g) were randomly assigned to three diets for 10 weeks. The key findings were as follows: (1) the expression of muscle growth-related genes and proteins was stimulated by dietary creatine, which contributes to ameliorate the adverse effects of HFD on growth performance; (2) dietary creatine alleviates HFD-induced adverse effects on intestinal health by improving intestinal health, which also enhances feed utilisation efficiency; (3) dietary creatine causes excessive lipid deposition, mainly via lipolysis and β-oxidation. Notably, this study also reveals a previously undisclosed effect of creatine supplementation on improving muscle quality. Together, for the first time from a comprehensive multiorgan or tissue perspective, our study provides a feasible approach for developing appropriate nutritional strategies to alleviate the adverse effects of HFD on farmed fish, based on creatine supplementation.

We perform direct numerical simulations of centrifugal convection with an oscillating rotational velocity of small amplitude to study the effects of oscillatory boundary motion. The oscillation period is the main control parameter, with its range corresponding to a Womersley number in the range $1\lt Wo\lt 300$. Oscillating boundaries generate a circumferential shear flow, which significantly inhibits heat transfer, with maximum suppression $87\,\%$ observed in the present parameter space. Through analysis of the background flow, we find that as the oscillation period increases, the increasing penetration depth of the oscillation and weakening local shear strength result in non-monotonic changes in heat transfer. Under high-frequency oscillation, the characteristic length scale of the viscous layer induced by the oscillation is smaller than the convective length scale, and shear manifests primarily as a continuous suppression of the boundary layer. In contrast, under low-frequency oscillation, the shear flow covers the entire region but with weak strength. The suppression effect of such shear flow exhibits periodicity, leading to alternating phases of convection inhibition and convection generation. The present findings explore the physical mechanisms behind the suppression of convective heat transfer by oscillation, and offer a new strategy for controlling convection systems, with potential implications for both fundamental research and industrial applications.