Alterations in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis function may underlie the relation between childhood maltreatment and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) behaviors. This study examined how co-occurring patterns of maltreatment types influenced adolescent NSSI behaviors and the mediating role of diurnal cortisol, using a longitudinal design. The sample included 295 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 10.79 years, SD = 0.84 years; 67.1% boys). The study employed latent profile analysis to identify childhood maltreatment patterns and conducted path analysis to examine the mediating mechanism. Four maltreatment patterns were identified: Low Maltreatment (67.8%), High Neglect (15.6%), Moderate Maltreatment (10.2%), and High Abuse with Moderate Neglect (6.4%). Furthermore, compared to the Low Maltreatment profile, adolescents in the High Neglect profile were at increased risk for later NSSI behaviors through higher waking cortisol levels, while those in the High Abuse with Moderate Neglect profile were at increased risk through a steeper diurnal slope. Disturbances in diurnal cortisol rhythm serve as a pathway through which childhood maltreatment “gets under the skin” to lead to adolescent NSSI behaviors. These findings offer promise for identifying maltreated youth at risk for NSSI behaviors and informing targeted prevention strategies.

Soybean aphids (Aphis glycines) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) pose a serious threat to global soybean production, necessitating sustainable control strategies. This study investigated silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) as an eco-friendly alternative, hypothesising they would suppress aphid populations while enhancing plant growth. Soybean plants were foliar-sprayed with SiNPs (0–1 mmol/L), and aphids were assessed across six assays: fecundity, survival, feeding preference, weight gain, olfactory response, and plant morphometrics. SiNPs significantly reduced aphid nymphal production and population growth at all concentrations but did not affect survival, weight gain, or host-seeking behaviour. Plant responses were mixed: leaf width increased at higher SiNPs doses, but plant height decreased, with no effects on leaf length, root/shoot biomass, or root length. These findings suggest that SiNPs could disrupt aphid reproduction without triggering behavioural avoidance. The absence of biomass reduction indicates potential for crop compatibility. This laboratory study reveals a novel, reproduction-targeted mode of action for SiNPs, highlighting its potential as a candidate for future development in sustainable IPM strategies. Further field-scale validation is required to confirm these effects under real-world conditions.

For a prime p, let $\mathcal {N}_p(G)$ denote the intersection of the normalisers of all non-p-nilpotent subgroups of a finite group G and set $\mathcal {N}_p(G)=G$ if G itself is p-nilpotent. We give some properties of $\mathcal {N}_p(G)$ and investigate the influence of $\mathcal {N}_p(G)$ on G.

The stability of underwater bubbles is important to many natural phenomena and industrial applications. Since stability analyses are complex and influenced by numerous factors, they are often performed on a case-specific basis, with most being qualitative. In this work, we propose a unified and quantitative criterion for evaluating bubble stability by analysing its free energy. This criterion is broadly applicable across various bubble sizes (from nanometres to macroscale) and contact conditions (suspended, attached and trapped bubbles) on surfaces with diverse chemical (hydrophilic and hydrophobic) and morphological (flat and structured solid surfaces) features. This criterion not only applies to the classical stable bubble mode, which depends on contact line pinning at the tips of surface structures, but also predicts a new mode where the synergy between the geometry and wettability of the sidewalls maintains the bubble’s stable state. The contact line can spontaneously adjust its position on the solid surface to maintain pressure balance, which enhances bubble adaptability to environmental changes. A geometric standard for solid surfaces supporting this new stable state is raised, following which we realise the optimisation of solid surface geometries to control the stability of gas bubbles. This work not only provides a universal framework for understanding underwater bubble stability, but also opens avenues for applications.

This paper examines China’s strategic response to the Japan–South Korea entente within the broader context of US-led trilateral security cooperation since the 2010s. Rather than employing conventional wedge strategies such as selective accommodation and coercion, China has pursued a ‘soft wedging’ approach, leveraging rhetoric to subtly reinforce pre-existing divisions without direct intervention. This strategy seeks to discourage South Korea from deepening its alignment with Japan and the United States while minimising the risk of alienating either Japan or South Korea. Drawing on official materials and expert interviews, this study analyses China’s rhetorical tactics in public statements and diplomatic engagements, along with the strategic calculus underpinning its preference for soft wedging. By providing an alternative to more resource-intensive and risk-prone measures, soft wedging broadens the existing theoretical framework of wedge strategies. The empirical analysis further deepens our understanding of multi-target wedging dynamics and China’s strategic objectives in Northeast Asia’s evolving security landscape.

Sentences written in Chinese are composed of continuous sequences of characters, without spaces or other visual cues to mark word boundaries. While skilled L1 readers can efficiently segment this naturally unspaced text into words, little is known about the word segmentation capabilities of L2 readers, including whether they employ the same strategies to process temporary segmental ambiguities. Accordingly, we report two eye movement experiments that investigated the processing of sentences containing temporarily ambiguous “incremental” three-character words (e.g., “体育馆,” meaning “stadium”) whose first two characters could also form a word (“体育,” meaning “sport”), comparing the performance of 48 skilled L1 Chinese readers and 48 high-proficiency L2 Chinese readers in each experiment. Our findings reveal that both groups can process this ambiguity efficiently, employing similar word segmentations strategies. We discuss our findings in relation to models of eye movement control and word recognition in Chinese reading.

Previous research has mainly explored the relationship between bilingual language control and domain-general cognitive control through behavioral correlations, often revealing epiphenomenal links rather than causality. This study utilizes transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the causal roles of the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and left middle temporal gyrus (LMTG) in 33 unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals. Continuous theta burst stimulation was applied in separate sessions to decrease cortical excitability, with vertex stimulation as a control. LIFG stimulation significantly increased switching costs in nonverbal switching tasks, highlighting its role in domain-general cognitive control. LMTG stimulation did not affect switching or mixing costs in language or nonverbal switching tasks, suggesting no causal involvement, but it reduced reaction times (RTs) during language switching tasks, underscoring its specialization in language processing. These findings highlight distinctions between the neural mechanisms of bilingual language control and domain-general cognitive control, particularly in the LIFG.

Computer vision-based precision weed control has proven effective in reducing herbicide usage, lowering weed management costs, and enhancing sustainability in modern agriculture. However, developing deep learning models remains challenging due to the effort required for weed dataset annotation and the difficulty of identifying weeds at different stages and densities in complex field conditions. To address these challenges, this study introduces an indirect weed detection method that combines deep learning and image processing techniques. The proposed approach first employs an object detection network to identify and label crops within the images. Subsequently, image processing techniques are applied to segment the remaining green pixels, thereby enabling indirect detection of weeds. Furthermore, a novel detection network–CD-YOLOv10n (You Only Look Once version 10 nano)–was developed based on the YOLOv10 framework to optimize computational efficiency. By redesigning the backbone (C2f-DBB) and integrating an optimized upsampling module (DySample), the network achieved higher detection accuracy while maintaining a lightweight structure. Specifically, the model achieved a mean average precision (mAP50) of 98.1%, which is a 1.4% percentage-point increase compared with the YOLOv10n baseline, a relevant improvement given the already strong baseline performance. At the same time, compared to YOLOv10n, its GFLOPs were reduced by 22.62%, and the number of parameters decreased by 15.87%. These innovations make CD-YOLOv10n highly suitable for deployment on resource-constrained platforms.

Characteristics of the turbulent/non-turbulent interface (TNTI) and entrainment in separated and reattaching flows induced by an oscillating fence are investigated using time-resolved particle image velocimetry. Disturbed flows are classified into subcritical, transitional, critical and supercritical cases based on the ratio of the oscillation frequency to the natural vortex shedding frequency. In the recirculation zone, distinct vortices across different cases lead to significant variations in TNTI characteristics. In the subcritical case, the TNTI evolution resembles that in the stationary fence case but with intensified height fluctuations due to the undulation of separated shear layer. For other cases, the mean TNTI height increases with the oscillation frequency, while height fluctuation diminishes. The TNTI thickness varies with nearby vortices, scaling with the Taylor microscale. After the reattachment, TNTI height distributions converge into two groups: subcritical and transitional cases exhibit larger fluctuations and positively skewed probability density functions (PDFs), while critical and supercritical cases show smaller fluctuations and basically symmetric PDFs. The TNTI thickness becomes consistent across various cases, matching the adjacent small-scale vortex size. Besides, the nibbling mechanism of entrainment aligns well with the flow development. The minimum mean entrainment velocity coincides with the strongest prograde vortex while the maximum occurs at $x\approx 1.2x_{{r}}$ (where $x$ denotes the streamwise coordinate and $x_{{r}}$ is the mean reattachment position) in all cases. Engulfment is enhanced near the reattachment location by oscillations in the transitional and critical cases, but is suppressed in the supercritical cases due to the weakness of vortex structures at higher oscillation frequencies.

This study evaluated the effect of different medium-chain to long-chain fatty acid (MCFA:LCFA, M:L) ratios on growth performance, intestinal function, antioxidant capacity and gut microbiota in piglets. A total of 250 piglets were randomly assigned to five groups with five replicates, each containing ten pigs. The diets, containing varying amounts of MCFA-rich coconut oil and LCFA-rich soyabean oil, resulted in M:L ratios of 0, 2·1, 4·2, 8·8 and 33·8 %. Results showed that both final body weight and average daily weight gain increased as the M:L ratio increased (P < 0·05), while the 8·8 % M:L ratio diet exhibited the lowest feed:gain ratio (P < 0·05). As the M:L ratio increased, the contents of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were increased, and MDA was decreased in serum (P < 0·05). The 8·8 and 33·8 % M:L diets improved ileal and jejunal morphology (P < 0·05), as indicated by greater villus height and villus height:crypt depth ratios. Furthermore, increasing M:L ratios from 0 to 33·8 % increased expression of tight junction proteins occludin and ZO-1 in the jejunum (P < 0·05). The 33·8 % M:L ratio reduced microbial α-diversity (P < 0·05), while 8·8 % M:L diet significantly increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria (e.g. Lactobacilli, Prevotella) and decreased harmful bacteria (e.g. Escherichia-Shigella, Enterococcus) in the cecum (P < 0·05). In summary, our study found that 8·8 % of dietary M:L ratios significantly improved growth performance, likely through modulating intestinal function, antioxidant activity and gut microbial composition.

To investigate the stall mechanisms of a multi-stage axial compressor under different rotational speeds and identify the initial stall stages, this study focuses on a high-load nine-stage axial compressor, validated through experimental data. The results reveal that at 100% corrected rotational speed, flow instability is primarily triggered by corner separation in the front four stators (S1–S4). At 80% corrected rotational speed, the instability stems from the interaction between the first rotor (R1) tip leakage vortex and the main flow, coupled with the front four stators’ corner separation. Precise identification of initial stall locations in multi-stage axial compressors is imperative. The study first employs qualitative flow-field analysis to identify initial stall locations by comparing meridional mass flux variation contour maps and axial velocity iso-surfaces. The results show that the stall inception occurs at the S2 root under 100% corrected rotational speed, while at 80% corrected rotational speed, stall initiates simultaneously at both the S2 root and the R1 tip. Furthermore, an innovative three-dimensional flow blockage quantification method was established to systematically evaluate blockage severity within multi-stage blade passages. This approach utilises relative blockage variation metrics to quantitatively identify regions of rapid flow deterioration, achieving remarkable consistency with qualitative flow-field analysis. The qualitative and quantitative analysis results have been mutually corroborated. The proposed blockage quantification approach enables precise evaluation across stages without complex flow fields comparisons, allowing rapid identification of stall-initiating locations and supporting subsequent stability enhancement optimization.

To address the complexity and excessive reliance on expert experience in tuning fuzzy Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller parameters, this study proposes a variable-rate spraying control system that integrates an improved Beetle Antennae Search (IBAS) algorithm with fuzzy PID control. To evaluate the feasibility of the system, a mathematical transfer function of the variable-rate spraying system was constructed, and a flow control simulation platform was established for simulation analysis. To overcome the limitations of conventional BAS, which is prone to premature convergence and limited search precision, the IBAS algorithm was developed. The improvements include a hybrid disturbance strategy to enhance individual search capability and a simulated annealing mechanism to prevent the algorithm from being trapped in local optima. Using the IBAS algorithm, the proportional and quantization factors of the fuzzy PID controller were optimized offline to obtain the optimal parameters. The IBAS-fuzzy PID controller was then compared in simulation with conventional PID, fuzzy PID, and BAS-optimized fuzzy PID controllers. The simulation results demonstrated that the IBAS-fuzzy PID algorithm achieved higher flow control accuracy than existing methods. To further validate the effectiveness of the improved algorithm under practical conditions, field experiments were conducted. The results indicated that the IBAS-optimized fuzzy PID controller outperformed the three other control methods in terms of flow control accuracy. Overall, both simulation and field results confirm that the proposed IBAS algorithm for fuzzy PID parameter optimization significantly enhances response speed, control precision, and overshoot reduction, providing a novel approach and potential application for variable-rate spraying technology.

Let $\mathcal{G}$ be the class of all connected simple graphs. The Hoffman program of graphs with respect to a spectral invariant $\lambda(G)$ consists of determining all the limit points of the set $\{\lambda(G)\,\vert\, G\in\mathcal{G}\}$ and characterising all $G$’s such that $\lambda(G)$ does not exceed a fixed limit point. In this paper, we study the Hoffman program for Laplacian matching polynomials of graphs in regard to their largest Laplacian matching roots. Precisely, we determine all the limit points of the largest Laplacian matching roots of graphs less than $\tau = 2+\omega^{\frac{1}{2}}+\omega^{-\frac{1}{2}}(=4.38+)$, and then characterise the connected graphs with the largest Laplacian matching roots less than $2+\sqrt{5}$, where $\omega=\frac{1}{3}(\sqrt[3]{19+3\sqrt{33}}+\sqrt[3]{19-3\sqrt{33}}+1)$.