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Tractors are the most important agricultural power machinery. With the development of tractors toward large-scale and electrification, the design of modern tractor transmission systems increasingly relies on computer simulation technology. However, tractor transmission systems, especially power-shift transmissions and CVTs, are highly complex industrial products that involve specialized knowledge from multiple disciplines. Engineers and researchers find it difficult to choose the correct mathematical model and grasp the trend of technological development when applying simulation technology. To address this issue, we conducted a systematic review of the field and carried out the following work: First, the types and basic principles of tractor transmission systems were introduced; Second, the modeling methods and applications of computer simulation technology in the structural optimization, power-shift control, and energy saving of tractor transmission systems were reviewed; Finally, the method of obtaining simulation parameters through system identification was introduced. Although computer simulation technology has been applied in the development of all tractor transmission systems, there are still some issues that need attention, such as the lack of established shift quality evaluation indicators and driving cycles suitable for tractors, which are crucial for the reliability of simulation results but are rarely studied. These issues need to be addressed in future work.

The present study investigated the residue depletion and WTs of EF and its main metabolite, ciprofloxacin, in largemouth bass after ad libitum administration in commercial fish farming based on statistical approaches. Samples collected at pre-determined time points were assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography. If the concentrations of medicine were less than the quantitative limit, they were set to be half of the limit of quantitative. The terminal elimination of the target compound was assumed to fit a one-compartment model. The statistical methods of Bartlett’s test and Cochran’s test were used to inspect the homogeneity of the log-transformed data. The lack-of-fit test and F-test were used to check the linearity of the regression line. Outliers were assessed using standardized residuals. The final WT was estimated using the 95% percentile with a 95% confidence level. The WTs of EF were calculated to be 46, 29, 33, 46, and 20 days for the muscle + skin, plasma, gill, kidney, and liver, respectively. After the risk assessment, the values of the hazard quotient were calculated to be far less than 1, indicating that the risk of residual EF was particularly low in the edible tissues of largemouth bass after medicine depletion for various WTs.

The purpose of this study was to measure organ blood flow (OBF) in yellow catfish (YC, Pelteobagrus fulvidraco), largemouth bass (LB, Micropterus salmoides), and grass carp (GC, Ctenopharyngodon idella) using the method of fluorescent microspheres. Yellow–green microspheres were injected into the fish via cardiac catheterization using a syringe pump at a rate of 0.8 mL/min. Reference blood samples were collected from the dorsal aorta, and fish tissues were harvested after 5 min and processed for fluorescence spectrophotometric analysis. The results showed that the OBF of the heart increased significantly with the increase in temperature from 20 to 30 °C, while there was no significant difference in the OBF of other organs/tissues in YC. The OBFs of different species of LB and GC were also determined at 25 °C. In GC, the blood flow rates of the heart, spleen, kidney, liver, others, gills, swim bladder, intestines, muscles, and skin were 9.55, 1.00, 10.3, 6.92, 6.70, 6.04, 2.06, 2.81, 1.78, and 3.72 (mL/min/g), respectively. In LB, the blood flow rates of the same organs were 8.80, 2.33, 1.01, 0.71, 4.11, 2.72, 1.22, 0.54, 9.47, and 0.40 (mL/min/g), respectively. Compared to the OBFs of YC at 25 °C, the OBFs in GC were the highest, followed by LB. These results reflect that OBF in fish has significant species differences. These studies provide fundamental physiological data on OBFs in YC, GC, and LB, which has practical implications for improving the development of disciplines associated with fish physiology.

With the development of smart agriculture, autopilot technology is being used more and more widely in agriculture. Because most of the current global path planning only considers the shortest path, it is difficult to meet the articulated steering tractor operation needs in the orchard environment and address other issues, so this paper proposes a hybrid algorithm of an improved bidirectional search A* algorithm and improved differential evolution genetic algorithm(AGADE). First, the integrated priority function and search method of the traditional A* algorithm are improved by adding weight influence to the integrated priority, and the search method is changed to a bidirectional search. Second, the genetic algorithm fitness function and search strategy are improved; the fitness function is set as the path tree row center offset factor; the smoothing factor and safety coefficient are set; and the search strategy adopts differential evolution for cross mutation. Finally, the shortest path obtained by the improved bidirectional search A* algorithm is used as the initial population of an improved differential evolution genetic algorithm, optimized iteratively, and the optimal path is obtained by adding kinematic constraints through a cubic B-spline curve smoothing path. The convergence of the AGADE hybrid algorithm and GA algorithm on four different maps, path length, and trajectory curve are compared and analyzed through simulation tests. The convergence speed of the AGADE hybrid algorithm on four different complexity maps is improved by 92.8%, 64.5%, 50.0%, and 71.2% respectively. The path length is slightly increased compared with the GA algorithm, but the path trajectory curve is located in the center of the tree row, with fewer turns, and it meets the articulated steering tractor operation needs in the orchard environment, proving that the improved hybrid algorithm is effective.

Social equity/inequity and equal/unequal rights to the city extend beyond the distribution of urban parks and green spaces, necessitating research on equitable accessibility to encompass a broader range of public spaces. However, previous research has predominantly focused on green spaces, neglecting other types of public spaces. To address this gap, the present study takes the public space pattern of Nanjing Old City as the research object, employing the minimum distance method, the gravity potential method, and bivariate local Moran’s I to evaluate the matching relationship between the demand of socially vulnerable groups and the supply of public spaces, as well as its temporal–spatial evolution from 2010 to 2020. The results reveal spatial heterogeneity in the accessibility of public spaces for vulnerable groups at the block level, with 28.1% of the total number of blocks and 22.1% of the total area of blocks experiencing a supply–demand imbalance in 2010. From 2010 to 2020, under the rapid urban development, construction of public spaces, and the general decline in population density and proportion of vulnerable populations, the supply–demand imbalance has exacerbated the distribution of public spaces at both individual and aggregate levels. This imbalance is reflected in the deteriorated accessibility of public spaces for vulnerable groups. This study reveals the mismatches between development, population movement, and public space construction in the old city of Nanjing over the past decade, providing decision-making suggestions and foundations for the future optimization of public spaces, thereby offering an effective tool for assessing and improving the accessibility and equitable distribution of public spaces based on the needs of vulnerable groups.

Pleurotus citrinopileatus Singer (PCS) has attracted increasing attention as a raw material for medicine and food. Its quality is greatly affected by the accumulation of metabolites, which varies with the applied drying methods. In this study, we utilize an approach based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/Q Exactive mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QE-MS) to reveal the metabolic profiles of PCS from three different drying methods (natural air-drying, NAD; hot-air-drying, HAD; vacuum freeze-drying, VFD). The results showed that lipids, amino acids and their derivatives were all important secondary metabolites produced during NAD, HAD and VFD treatments, with the key differential metabolites of PCS during drying including fifteen lipids and seven amino acids. Meanwhile, VFD was the best way for long-term preservation of dried PCS. Hot-drying methods, especially HAD, can improve the medicinal component of PCS. Furthermore, KEGG enrichment analysis highlighted 16 pathways and indicated that amino acid metabolism might be the key metabolite pathway for the PCS drying process. Our study elucidates the relationship between drying methods and metabolites or metabolic pathways of PCS to determine the mechanisms affecting the quality of PCS, and finally provides reference values for further development and application in functional food and medications.

The three distinct medicinal parts of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels (Ang) roots are the head, body, and tail (ARH, ARB, and ART, respectively). How endophytic fungi shape the differences in metabolic components among these parts remains unclear. We quantified the distribution of active components and endophytic fungi along the ARH, ARB, and ART and their relationships. Based on the metabolic components and their abundances detected via non-target metabolism, the different medicinal parts were distinguishable. The largest number of dominant metabolic components was present in ART. The difference between ART and ARH was the greatest, and ARB was in a transitional state. The dominant active molecules in ART highlight their effects in haemodynamics improvement, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and hormone regulation, while ARH and ARB indicated more haemostasis, blood enrichment, neuromodulation, neuroprotection and tranquilisation, hepatoprotection, and antitumour activities than that of ART. The ARHs, ARBs, and ARTs can also be distinguished from each other based on the endophytic fungi at the microbiome level. The most dominant endophytic fungi were distributed in ART; the differences between ART and ARH were the largest, and ARB was in a transition state, which is consistent with the metabolite distributions. Structural equation modelling showed that the endophytic fungi were highly indicative of the metabolic components. Correlation analysis further identified the endophytic fungi significantly positively correlated with important active components, including Condenascus tortuosus, Sodiomyces alcalophilus, and Pleotrichocladium opacum. The bidirectional multivariate interactions between endophytic fungi and the metabolic components shape their spatial variations along the longitudinal direction in the Ang root.

Climate change and human activities lead to freshwater shortage, soil salinization, and food security crises in arable land. To explore the natural and irrigation factors on soil water and salt movement, this study quantitatively analyzed the dynamic characteristics of soil water and salt movement under precipitation, groundwater irrigation, and brackish water irrigation conditions for the next 30 years using Hydrus-1D model-based parameters obtained from the winter wheat–summer maize rotation experiments in the Yellow River Irrigation District. The results showed that precipitation was the key factor of climate change affecting soil water and salt migration, especially in the 0–20 cm soil layer. Under both SSP585 and SSP245 climate scenarios, rainfall in normal and wet years promoted salt leaching up to 1 m below the surface soil. But in dry years, salt washing treatment was required for the tillage layer to prevent salt accumulation. The higher the groundwater level was, the higher the soil water and salt content was in the 0–100 cm soil layer. In this soil layer, a 2 m groundwater level contributed 30% to wheat water needs, while a 3 m groundwater level contributed 18%, and no significant contribution was observed for a 4 m groundwater level. The salinity of the soil profile showed an overall increasing trend with irrigation using 1–3 g/L brackish water for 30 years. However, the salinity in the 0–100 cm soil layer was below the salt tolerance threshold of winter wheat and summer maize with salts accumulated in the 1–2 m soil layer. Considering the salinization of the root zone and crop water needs, it is recommended that the safe groundwater level for brackish water irrigation should be 3 m in the study region. This study provides scientific reference for groundwater–farmland ecosystems to utilize brackish water and treat saline–alkali lands.

Honey bees are typical model organisms for the study of caste differentiation, and the juvenile hormone (JH) is a crucial link in the regulatory network of caste differentiation in honey bees. To investigate the mechanism of JH-mediated caste differentiation, we analyzed the effect of the JH response gene AmKr-h1 on this process. We observed that AmKr-h1 expression levels were significantly higher in queen larvae than in worker larvae at the 48 h, 84 h, and 120 h larval stages, and were regulated by JH. Inhibiting AmKr-h1 expression in honey bee larvae using RNAi could lead to the development of larvae toward workers. We also analyzed the transcriptome changes in honey bee larvae after AmKr-h1 RNAi and identified 191 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 682 differentially expressed alternative splicing events (DEASEs); of these, many were related to honey bee caste differentiation. Our results indicate that AmKr-h1 regulates caste differentiation in honey bees by acting as a JH-responsive gene.

As a key object on the ocean, regulating civilian and military ship targets more effectively is a very important part of maintaining maritime security. One of the ways to obtain high-resolution images of ship targets is the inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging technique. However, in the actual ISAR imaging process, ship targets in a formation often lead to complicated motion conditions. Due to the close distance between the ship targets, the rough imaging results of the targets cannot be completely separated in the image domain, and the small differences in motion parameters lead to overlapping phenomena in the Doppler history. Therefore, for situations in which ship formation targets with little difference in motion parameters are included in the same radar beam, this paper proposes a multi-domain joint ISAR separation imaging method for multi-ship targets. First, the method performs echo separation using the Hough transform (HT) with the minimum entropy autofocus method in the image domain. Secondly, the time–frequency curve is extracted in the time–frequency domain using the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) for time–frequency analysis, which solves the problem of the ship formation targets being aliased on both echo and Doppler history after range compression and achieves the purpose of separating the echo signals of the sub-ship targets with high accuracy. Eventually, better-focused images of each target are obtained via further motion compensation and precise imaging. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified using a simulation and measured data.

Nanoscale metal–organic frameworks (nMOFs) have gained increasingly more attention as attractive support materials in the immobilization and delivery of proteins for disease theranostics in recent years owing to their various advantages, such as large specific surface areas, well-ordered pore structures, aperture channel distributions, and ease of functionalization. Here, we present an overview of recent progress in nMOF–protein composites for disease theranostics. First, advantages and construction strategies of nMOF–protein composites as drug carriers are introduced. Then, therapeutic modalities and theranostic nanosystems based on nMOF–protein composites are reviewed. Next, we pay specific attention to their biosafety, biodistribution, and excretion in vivo. Finally, the challenges and limitations of nMOF–protein composites for biomedical applications are discussed, along with future perspectives in the field.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the residue depletion of EF and CF in yellow catfish to estimate its WTs in plasma and tissues after multiple oral doses for 3 days at 20 mg/kg at 15, 20, and 25 °C. Samples were collected at pre-designed time points after oral doses. A validated method was performed to quantify EF and CF in plasma and tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography. Statistical differences were conducted using one-way ANOVA analysis. According to the maximum residue limit of China and Europe considering 95% percentile with 95% confidence, the WTs were estimated to be 44, 72, 66, 99, and 95 days at 15 °C; 32, 66, 65, 86, and 73 days at 20 °C; and 32, 61, 64, 55, and 59 days at 25 °C in the plasma, muscle and skin, gill, liver, and kidney, respectively. We found that increased temperature shortened the WTs in plasma and tissues. Therefore, this study can help the risk assessment of EF in aquatic products for human health at different temperatures to avoid residue violation.

IL-10 and IL-6 play important roles in protecting against inflammation and clearing pathogens from the body. In this study, homologous compounds of IL-10 and IL-6 were identified in channel catfish, and their immune responses were analyzed. The CDS sequences of IL-10 and IL-6 were 549 bp and 642 bp, respectively, and showed the highest homology with Ameiurus melas. In addition, the expression of the IL-10 and IL-6 genes was ubiquitous in 10 tissues examined. IL-10 is highly expressed in the liver and slightly expressed in the gill. The high expression of the IL-6 gene was observed in the spleen, heart, and gonad, with the lowest levels in the liver. LPS, Poly(I:C), PHA, and PMA showed a highly significant increase in IL-10 and IL-6 expression 48 h after CCK stimulation (p < 0.01). Otherwise, Yersinia ruckeri, Streptococcus iniae, channel catfish virus, and deltamethrin induced IL-10 and IL-6 expression, varying in intensity between different organs. Our results suggest that IL-10 and IL-6 are involved in the immune response of the host against the pathogen.

The inspiration for the footed robot was originally derived from biology, and it was an imitation of biological form and movement. In this paper, a bionic-robot dog is designed to reveal the motion characteristics of a quadruped robot mechanism through modeling, model kinematic analysis, and other methods. First, the structural characteristics and movement characteristics of the developed bionic-dog model are studied. The first step is to study the physiological structure of the dog, analyze the function of the dog’s limbs, and then use a high-speed camera to capture the motion of the marked bionic-robot dog and shoot motion video of the bionic-robot dog in different motion states. The effective data of the marked points in the video are extracted using PHOTRON 1.0 software, and the extracted data are analyzed and processed in the software MATLAB R2020a, and finally the structural characteristics and motion laws of the bionic-robot dog are obtained. Then, a bionic-robot-dog experimental platform is built to conduct experiments with three planned gaits (dynamic gait, static gait, and gait transition). The experiments showed that the three gaits were consistent with the planned movements and the bionic-robot dog could perform stable fast-gait walking, slow-gait walking, and quickly complete gait transitions. All three gaits were simulated in ADAMS 2019 software, and the simulation results showed that all three gaits caused the bionic dog robot to move smoothly.

The objective of this study was to investigate the PPBRs of EF and CF in the plasma of yellow catfish, grass carp, and largemouth bass at different temperatures with different concentrations. A fast and simple ultrafiltration method was used to determine the PPBRs of EF and CF. Results showed that PPBRs of EF decreased from 37.71% to 9.66%, from 46.10% to 13.52%, and from 43.90% to 4.36% in the plasma of yellow catfish with the increase of concentration from 15 to 25 °C. The same trends of PPBRs of EF were presented in the plasma of grass carp and largemouth bass. In comparison to the data at the same concentration of EF at disparate temperatures, the PPBRs of EF at a concentration of 1 µg/mL increased from 37.71% to 46.10% and then decreased to 43.90% in the plasma of yellow catfish with elevated temperature from 15 to 25 °C. There is no obvious regularity with the rise of temperature, and the same phenomenon also were found in other concentrations and species. Meanwhile, the PPBRs of CF also decreased in the three species with the rise in concentration. Under the consistent concentration, the temperature-dependent regularities were not found in the PPBRs of CF. Overall, the increased concentration reduced the PPBRs of EF and CF in the plasma of three fish species, and the alteration in temperature only has a certain effect on the PPBRs of EF and CF.

Shanxi aged vinegar (SAV), Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar (ZAV), Sichuan bran vinegar (SBV), and Fujian monascus vinegar (FMV) are the representative Chinese traditional vinegars. However, the basic differential compositions between the four vinegars are unknown. In this study, compositions of commercial vinegar were investigated to evaluate the influence of diverse technologies on their distinct flavor. Unlike amino acids and organic acids which were mostly shared, only five volatiles were detected in all vinegars, whereas a dozen volatiles were common to each type of vinegar. The four vinegars could only be classified well with all compositions, and difference analysis suggested the most significant difference between FMV and SBV. However, SAV, ZAV, and SBV possessed similar volatile characteristics due to their common heating treatments. Further, the correlation of identification markers with vinegars stressed the contributions of the smoking process, raw materials, and Monascus inoculum to SAV, SBV, and FMV clustering, respectively. Therefore, regardless of the technology modification, this basic process supported the uniqueness of the vinegars. This study contributes to improving the standards of defining the characteristics of types of vinegar.

It is essential to understand the mechanism of action of ultrasound synergistic free radical oxidation to promote covalent reactions between proteins and polyphenols. (−)-epigallo-catechin 3-gallate (EGCG) with rich bioactivity could be used to increase the functional properties of cereal protein—gliadin (GL). This study systematically explored the role of ultrasound treatment (US) on the binding mechanisms of GL and EGCG. Electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) confirmed the greater molecular mass of the covalent complexes in the ultrasound environment. Quantitative analysis by the phenol content revealed that the ultrasound environment increased the EGCG content in the covalent complex by 15.08 mg/g of protein. The changes in the spatial structure of the proteins were indicated by Fourier infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopy. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) found that US disrupted the aggregation of GL and the clustered structure of the covalent complexes. The results demonstrated that the water solubility of ultrasonic conjugates was significantly increased by 8.8–64.19%, the digestion rate was more efficient, and the radical scavenging capacity was twice that of GL. This research contributes to the theoretical basis for broadening the application of polyphenols in modifying protein.

With the progress and development of AI technology and industrial automation technology, AI robot dogs are widely used in engineering practice to replace human beings in high-precision and tedious industrial operations. Bionic robots easily produce control errors due to the influence of spatial disturbance factors in the process of pose determination. It is necessary to calibrate robots accurately to improve the positioning control accuracy of bionic robots. Therefore, a robust control algorithm for bionic robots based on binocular vision navigation is proposed. An optical CCD binocular vision dynamic tracking system is used to measure the end position and pose parameters of a bionic robot, and the kinematics model of the controlled object is established. Taking the degree of freedom parameter of the robot’s rotating joint as the control constraint parameter, a hierarchical subdimensional space motion planning model of the robot is established. The binocular vision tracking method is used to realize the adaptive correction of the position and posture of the bionic robot and achieve robust control. The simulation results show that the fitting error of the robot’s end position and pose parameters is low, and the dynamic tracking performance is good when the method is used for the position positioning of control of the bionic robot.

The continuous performance optimization of tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (Alq3) materials is of great significance during the commercialization process of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In incorporating Ag nanostructures into Alq3, the photophysical properties are greatly improved by the plasmon–exciton coupling effect. Localized surface plasmons (LSPs) in Ag nanoparticles (NPs) efficiently increased the absorption ability. The coexistence of LSPs and propagating surface plasmons (PSPs) in Ag nanowires (NWs) leads to a PL enhancement of 5.3-fold and a full-width at half maximum (FWHM) narrowed by 10 nm. Temperature-dependent PL measurements exhibit that the plasmonic density of states (DOS) increases with decreasing temperature below 40 °C, and the thermal exchange can be accelerated by the introduction of Ag nanostructures. Effective suppression of the thermal accumulation effect is further proved by excitation intensity (EI)-dependent PL measurements. We also found that Ag nanostructures could mainly change the y coordinates in International Commission on Illumination (CIE), leading to a higher brightness. The 5372 K color temperature of an Ag NWs-embedded composite is suitable for daylight-type fluorescent OLEDs. The results would pave an effective way for further optimizing the optical performance of light-emitting materials in OLEDs.

Antibiotics were the main fishery drugs for treating Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) infection, which would generate selective pressure and result in the appearance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The bacterial quorum sensing (QS) system provides a new alternative strategy against A. hydrophila infection. QS inhibitors can reduce bacterial virulence behaviors by disrupting QS, which has no effect on bacterial growth. Therefore, we studied the effect of cinnamaldehyde from a natural plant extract on the QS of A. hydrophila aiming to reduce its pathogenicity. The efficacy of cinnamaldehyde against A. hydrophila was evaluated from various aspects, including the effects on aerolysin, lipase, protease, swarming motility, biofilm formation, acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), and QS-related genes. Moreover, the therapeutic effect of cinnamaldehyde in vitro and in vivo was studied. The results showed that cinnamaldehyde could decrease the virulence phenotypes of A. hydrophila regulated by QS. Moreover, the transcriptions of related genes (aerA, ahyR, and ahyI) were downregulated following the addition of cinnamaldehyde. The in vitro and in vivo therapeutic assays show that cinnamaldehyde could reduce the aerolysin-mediated A549 cell injury and increase the survival rate of crucian carp infected with A. hydrophila. These results indicate that cinnamaldehyde would be a candidate QS inhibitor against A. hydrophila infection.

Salt stress is a constraint factor in agricultural production and restricts crops yield and quality. In this study, a salt-tolerant strain of Trichoderma longibrachiatum HL167 was obtained from 64 isolates showing significant salt tolerance and antagonistic activity to Fusarium oxysporum. T. longibrachiatum HL167 inhibited F. oxysporum at a rate of 68.08% in 200 mM NaCl, penetrated F. oxysporum under 200 mM NaCl, and eventually induced F. oxysporum hyphae breaking, according to electron microscope observations. In the pot experiment, pretreatment of cowpea seedlings with T. longibrachiatum HL167 reduced the accumulation level of ROS in tissues and the damage caused by salt stress. Furthermore, in the field experiment, it was discovered that treating cowpea with T. longibrachiatum HL167 before root inoculation with F. oxysporum can successfully prevent and control the development of cowpea Fusarium wilt, with the best control effect reaching 61.54%. Moreover, the application of HL 167 also improved the K+/Na+ ratio of cowpea, alleviated the ion toxicity of salt stress on cowpea, and HL167 was found to effectively colonize the cowpea roots. T. longibrachiatum HL167, which normally survives in saline–alkali environments and has the functions of disease prevention and plant growth promotion capabilities, has important research implications for improving the saline–alkali soil environment and for the sustainable development of green agriculture.

Curvularia trifolii is an important pathogenic fungus that causes leaf spot disease in strawberry and other crops. Increased resistance in pathogenic fungi against chemical fungicides necessitates the search for biological alternatives to control plant fungal diseases. The present study aimed to perform transcriptome and metabolome analysis of C. trifolii fungi. We evaluated the potential of an alkaloid, namely alpha (α)-solanine, to inhibit the growth of Curvularia under in vitro conditions. Furthermore, transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of treated C. trifolii was performed to identify the differential genes and metabolites. Results revealed that treatment with α-solanine resulted in the poor growth and development of fungal spores. The transcriptome analysis revealed that 1413 genes were differentially expressed (DEGs), among which 340 unigenes were up-regulated, 100 unigenes were down-regulated, and the rest were unaffected in treated samples. Gene ontology analysis revealed that the majority of the genes were related to oxidative stress in the fungus. Additionally, using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we identified 455 metabolites, among which the majority of metabolites were related to lipid biosynthesis. The high number of genes related to lipid biosynthesis and reactive oxygen species revealed that α-solanine causes oxidative stress in Curvularia, leading to growth inhibition, and can be potentially used as an alternative to chemical fungicides.

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is one of the important crops in Canada and has the potential to expand its production further north into the Canadian Prairies. Such expansion, however, requires the search for adapted soybean germplasm useful for the development of productive cultivars with earlier maturity and increased protein concentration. We initiated several research activities to characterize 848 accessions of the soybean collection conserved at Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC) for maturity, oil and protein concentration, and genetic distinctness. The characterization revealed a wide range of variations present in each assessed trait among the PGRC soybean accessions. The trait variabilities allowed for the identification of four core subsets of 35 PGRC soybean accessions, each specifically targeted for early maturity for growing in Saskatoon and Ottawa, and for high oil and protein concentration. The two early maturity core subsets for Saskatoon and Ottawa displayed days to maturity ranging from 103 to 126 days and 94 to 102 days, respectively. The two core subsets for high oil and protein concentration showed the highest oil and protein concentration from 25.0 to 22.7% and from 52.8 to 46.7%, respectively. However, these core subsets did not differ significantly in genetic distinctness (as measured with 19,898 SNP markers across 20 soybean chromosomes) from the whole PGRC soybean collection. These findings are useful, particularly for the management and utilization of the conserved soybean germplasm.

After the command and control information of the command and control cabin is displayed in the form of mixed reality, the large amount of real-time information and static information contained in it will form a dynamic situation that changes all the time. This brings a great burden to the system operator’s cognition, decision-making and operation. In order to solve this problem, this paper studies the three-dimensional spatial layout of holographic command cabin information display in a mixed reality environment. A total of 15 people participated in the experiment, of which 10 were the subjects of the experiment and 5 were the staff of the auxiliary experiment. Ten subjects used the HoloLens 2 generation to conduct visual characteristics and cognitive load experiments and collected and analyzed the subjects’ task completion time, error rate, eye movement and EEG and subjective evaluation data. Through the analysis of experimental data, the laws of visual and cognitive features of three-dimensional space in a mixed reality environment can be obtained. This paper systematically explores the effects of three key attributes: depth distance, information layer number and target relative position depth distance of information distribution in a 3D space, on visual search performance and on cognitive load. The experimental results showed that the optimal depth distance range for information display in the mixed reality environment is: the best depth distance for operation interactions (0.6 m~1.0 m), the best depth distance for accurate identification (2.4 m~2.8 m) and the overall situational awareness best-in-class depth distance (3.4 m~3.6 m). Under a certain angle of view, the number of information layers in the space is as small as possible, and the number of information layers should not exceed five at most. The relative position depth distance between the information layers in space ranges from 0.2 m to 0.35 m. Based on this theory, information layout in a 3D space can achieve a faster and more accurate visual search in a mixed reality environment and effectively reduce the cognitive load.

According to the characteristics of rail defects, a rail microcrack detection method based on magnetoacoustic coupling effect is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the basic principle of a rail microcrack detection method based on magnetoacoustic coupling effect is described, and then the model is analyzed theoretically. Through simulation calculation, the current density distribution and Lorentz force distribution generated by electromagnetic excitation, the motion characteristics of particles under Lorentz force and the sound field distribution characteristics of magnetoacoustic signals generated by Lorentz force are obtained. Finally, an experimental platform was set up and the steel ring model was preliminarily tested. The magnetic and acoustic signals of the two steel ring boundaries excited by an electromagnetic field were collected. These signals correspond to the position distribution of the steel ring. The state change of rail microstructure will cause a change in the conductivity characteristics of rail materials, and will affect the characteristics and distribution of sound pressure in the detection. Therefore, the detection method based on the magnetoacoustic coupling effect can detect the surface microcracks of high-speed rail. This method has great feasibility and development potential in the field of rail flaw detection.

Monogeneans are a serious threat to the development of aquaculture due to the severe economic losses they cause. The prevention and treatment of this disease are increasingly difficult because of the environmental and health concerns caused by the use of chemical anthelmintics and the emergence of drug resistance. It is thus necessary to search for effective alternatives for the treatment of monogenean infections. In the current study, anthelmintic efficacy of 16 selected essential oils (EOs) was investigated using the goldfish (Carassius auratus)–Gyrodactylus kobayashii model. The screening experiment indicated that palmarosa oil and curcuma oil had satisfactory anthelmintic activity against G. kobayashii with EC100 values of 10 and 12 mg/L after 24-h exposure, respectively. The in vivo and in vitro assays indicated anthelmintic efficacy of palmarosa oil against G. kobayashii was in a time and dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, curcuma oil showed an anesthetic effect on G. kobayashii, and its anthelmintic activity was dose-dependent rather than time-dependent in the concentration range tested in this study. Additionally, the 24-h LC50 (50% lethal concentration) against goldfish of these two EOs was 8.19-fold and 5.54-fold higher than their corresponding EC50 (50% effective concentration) against G. kobayashii, respectively. Moreover, exposure to these two EOs at 100% effective concentration against G. kobayashii had no serious physiological and histopathological influence on goldfish. These results demonstrated a high safety for goldfish of these two EOs. Overall, palmarosa oil and curcuma oil could be potential candidates for the treatment of G. kobayashii infections in aquaculture.

This study investigated elimination of the herbicide pendimethalin using an integrated rice and Procambarus clarkii breeding model of indoor and outdoor (pond culture) exposure tests. The pendimethalin levels in 484 samples from the primary rice and P. clarkii integrated breeding areas in Hubei province were monitored, and dietary risk assessments of pendimethalin were calculated. Pendimethalin was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, and detection levels were linear in the range of 1.0 to 10.0 μg/L, and peak areas were positively correlated with concentration, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9996. Recoveries ranged from 86.9 to 103.5%, and the limit of quantitation was 2.5 × 10−4 μg/L in water, and 1 × 10−2 μg/kg in tissues, sediments, and waterweeds. The dissipation rate of pendimethalin in tissues and water followed first-order kinetics, with half-lives of 0.51–5.64 d. In 484 samples taken from aquaculture farms, pendimethalin was detected in 8.67% of the samples at levels in the range of 1.95 to 8.26 μg/kg in Hubei province from 2018 to 2020. The maximum residue limit of pendimethalin in P. clarkii has not been established in China, but our dietary risk assessments indicated that consumption of P. clarkii from integrated rice farms was acceptable.

In this study, the plasma pharmacokinetics and tissue disposition of sulfadiazine (SDZ) and its main metabolite, N4-acetyl sulfadiazine (ACT-SDZ), were compared between 18 and 24 °C following a single oral administration of SDZ at 50 mg/kg in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). The plasma and tissues were sampled from 0.167 h up to 96 h and analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography with an ultraviolet detector. The pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated using a one-compartmental approach. Results showed that pharmacokinetics of SDZ and ACT-SDZ in plasma and tissues were notably influenced by the increase of temperature. The increased temperature shortened the absorption half-life (K01_HL) of SDZ and ACT-SDZ in gill, kidney, and plasma, but increased in liver and muscle + skin. The elimination half-life (K10_HF) and the area under concentration-time curve (AUC0–∞) of SDZ and ACT-SDZ all presented a declined trend. The apparent volume of distribution (V_F) of SDZ in plasma was increased from 0.93 to 1.64 L/kg, and the apparent systemic total body clearance (Cl_F) was also increased from 0.01 to 0.05 L/h/kg. Overall, the rise of temperature decreased K10_HF, AUC0–∞ of SDZ, and ACT-SDZ in plasma and tissues, but increased V_F and Cl_F in the plasma for SDZ.

The metasurface spiral focusing (MSF) generator has gained attention in high-speed optical communications due to its spatial orthogonality. However, previous MSF generators only can generate a single orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode for one polarized light. Here, a MSF generator with tunable OAM is proposed and it has the ability to transform linearly polarized light (LPL), circularly polarized light or Gaussian beams into vortex beams which can carry tunable OAM at near-infrared wavelength by controlling the phase transition of vanadium dioxide (VO2). Utilizing this MSF generator, the beams can be focused on several wavelength-sized rings with efficiency as high as 76%, 32% when VO2 are in the insulating phase and in the metallic phase, respectively. Moreover, we reveal the relationship between the reflective focal length and transmissive focal length, and the latter is 2.3 times of the former. We further demonstrate the impact of Gaussian beams with different waist sizes on MSF generators: the increase in waist size produces the enhancement in spiral focusing efficiency and the decrease in size of focal ring. The MSF generator we proposed will be applicable to a variety of integrated compact optical systems, such as optical communication systems and optical trapping systems.

Multifunctional metasurfaces play an important role in the development of integrated optical paths. However, some of the realizations of current multifunctional metasurface devices depend on polarization selectivity, and others change the polarization state of the outgoing light. Here, based on vanadium dioxide (VO2) phase change material, a strategy to design a meta-duplex-lens (MDL) is proposed and numerical simulation calculations demonstrate that at low temperature (about 300 K), VO2 behaves as a dielectric so that the MDL can act as a transmission lens (transmission efficiency of 87.6%). Conversely, when VO2 enters the metallic state (about 355 K), the MDL has the ability to reflect and polymerize electromagnetic waves and works as a reflection lens (reflection efficiency of 85.1%). The dielectric waveguide and gap-surface plasmon (GSP) theories are used in transmission and reflection directions, respectively. In order to satisfy the coverage of the phase gradient in the range of 2π in both cases, we set the antenna as a nanopillar with a high aspect ratio. It is notable that, via symmetrical antennas acting in concert with VO2 phase change material, the polarization states of both the incident light and the outgoing light are not changed. This reversible tuning will play a significant role in the fields of imaging, optical storage devices, communication, sensors, etc.

In the context of sustainable development, air pollution poses challenges to the adjustment of the industrial structure in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. In order to explore the relationship between air pollution and urban industrial development, this paper uses a simultaneous equation model to empirically analyze the relationship between PM2.5 concentration and industrial development based on panel data from 2000 to 2017 on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The empirical results show that there is a two-way causal relationship between industrial development and air pollution. Secondary industry upgrades to tertiary industry, which will help improve the air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. At the same time, air pollution has a significant adverse effect on the development of secondary industry and tertiary industry. An average increase of 1% in PM2.5 concentration will cause the proportion of secondary industry to increase by about 0.08% to 0.28%, and the proportion of tertiary industry to decrease by about 0.13% to 0.31%. Based on the results of the empirical model, this paper puts forward policy recommendations for environmental governance in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, aiming to achieving healthy development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Aeromonas hydrophila is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for a number of diseases in freshwater farming. Moreover, the bacterium has been identified as a zoonotic pathogen that threatens human health. Antibiotics are widely used for treatments of infectious diseases in aquaculture. However, the abuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of antimicrobial resistant strains. Thus, novel strategies are required against resistant A. hydrophila strains. The quorum sensing (QS) system, involved in virulence factor production and biofilm formation, is a promising target in identifying novel drugs against A. hydrophila infections. In this study, we found that thymol, at sub-inhibitory concentrations, could significantly reduce the production of aerolysin and biofilm formation by inhibiting the transcription of genes aerA, ahyI, and ahyR. These results indicate that thymol inhibits the quorum sensing system. The protective effects of thymol against A. hydrophila mediated cell injury were determined by live/dead assay and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay. Moreover, the in vivo study showed that thymol could significantly decrease the mortality of channel catfish infected with A. hydrophila. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that thymol could be chosen as a phytotherapeutic candidate for inhibiting quorum sensing system-mediated aerolysin production and biofilm formation in A. hydrophila.

Pipeline leakage of crude oil, refined oil or other petroleum derivatives can cause serious damage to the environment, soil, and more importantly, pose a serious threat to personal safety. The losses can be minimized to a degree by active control. Therefore, timely and effective control measures should be taken to minimize the leak volume whenever a pipeline leaks. However, the complexity of pipeline hydraulic systems makes it difficult to optimize control schemes for pipeline hydraulic devices under leak conditions, and existing studies rarely consider complex transient processes. This paper aims to establish a mixed integer linear programming model considering transient processes, hydraulic constraints, equipment constraints and flow constraints, and develop a detailed control scheme of the devices by the branch and bound algorithm. Moreover, it is the objective of the model to figure out the most optimal control plan to minimize the leakage. Experiments on a real-world liquid pipeline have proved the practicability and high reliability of the model.

Cortisol is commonly used as a significant biomarker of psychological or physical stress. With the accelerated pace of life, non-invasive cortisol detection at the point of care (POC) is in high demand for personal health monitoring. In this paper, an ultrasensitive immunosensor using gold nanoparticles/molybdenum disulfide/gold nanoparticles (AuNPs/MoS2/AuNPs) as transducer was explored for non-invasive salivary cortisol monitoring at POC with the miniaturized differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) system based on a smartphone. Covalent binding of cortisol antibody (CORT-Ab) onto the AuNPs/MoS2/AuNPs transducer was achieved through the self-assembled monolayer of specially designed polyethylene glycol (PEG, SH-PEG-COOH). Non-specific binding was avoided by passivating the surface with ethanolamine. The miniaturized portable DPV system was utilized for human salivary cortisol detection. A series current response of different cortisol concentrations decreased and exhibited a linear range of 0.5−200 nM, the detection limit of 0.11 nM, and high sensitivity of 30 μA M−1 with a regression coefficient of 0.9947. Cortisol was also distinguished successfully from the other substances in saliva. The recovery ratio of spiked human salivary cortisol and the variation of salivary cortisol level during one day indicated the practicability of the immunosensor based on the portable system. The results demonstrated the excellent performance of the smartphone-based immunosensor system and its great potential application for non-invasive human salivary cortisol detection at POC.

The subsea tree is one of the critical pieces of equipment in the subsea production system, and its installation is related to the safe production of offshore oil and gas. Due to the differences in the form of the structures, the speed of entering the water, the marine environment, and other factors, the process of the structure entering the water is exceedingly complicated. During the engineering installation, the most dangerous phase involves the structure passing through the splash zone. Based on the theory of the movement of the subsea tree passing through the splash zone, Lingshui 17-2 subsea tree installation was analyzed with the marine engineering software OrcaFlex, and a sensitivity analysis of the lowering of the subsea tree was performed. During the splash zone phase, the wave height had the highest impact on the subsea tree, affecting the horizontal offset and cable load, which may lead to the oil tree capsizing and cable breakage. Furthermore, the velocity only affected the horizontal offset, and the overall effect was not noticeable. The operational safety window for the subsea tree installation was established according to the operational safety standards. Therefore, the recommended lowering speed was 0.50 m/s, while the flow velocity should not exceed 1.50 m/s, and the wave height should not be higher than 4.5 m.

As a taste bionic system, electronic tongues can be used to derive taste information for different types of food. On this basis, we have carried forward the work by making it, in addition to the ability of accurately distinguish samples, be more expressive by speaking evaluative language like human beings. Thus, this paper demonstrates the correlation between the qualitative digital output of the taste bionic system and the fuzzy evaluation language that conform to the human perception mode. First, through principal component analysis (PCA), backward cloud generator and forward cloud generator, two-dimensional cloud droplet groups of different flavor information were established by using liquor taste data collected by electronic tongue. Second, the frequency and order of the evaluation words for different flavor of liquor were obtained by counting and analyzing the data appeared in the artificial sensory evaluation experiment. According to the frequency and order of words, the cloud droplet range corresponding to each word was calculated in the cloud drop group. Finally, the fuzzy evaluations that originated from the eight groups of liquor data with different flavor were compared with the artificial sense, and the results indicated that the model developed in this work is capable of outputting fuzzy evaluation that is consistent with human perception rather than digital output. To sum up, this method enabled the electronic tongue system to generate an output, which conforms to human’s descriptive language, making food detection technology a step closer to human perception.

A performance-driven sustainable urban design is an important step in adapting to local climates and improving outdoor comfort level. This study proposed investigating an urban layout optimization method, validated in an urban area in Shenyang City, a cold region, that comprises nine urban blocks. This study selected an urban block type and street width as optimization input indices and defined the percentage of acceptable universal thermal comfort index (UTCI) range as the objective. The genetic algorithm is applied to optimize and generate an urban block to maximize the percentage of acceptable UTCI range at urban block level and street level. When the comfort level is set as −17−20 °C, optimization can achieve 87.7% of acceptable UTCI in the urban block level and 90.3% at urban street level. To attain an urban layout with higher than 85% acceptable UTCI range, results found, in a cold region, multistory blocks are more suitable than high-rise blocks and open spaces; it would be better to place multistory blocks with high building enclosures on the north side to block cold wind.

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a temperature phase change material that has metallic properties at high temperatures and insulation properties at room temperature. In this article, a novel device has been designed based on the dielectric metasurface consisting of VO2 and graphene array, which can achieve multiple functions by adjusting temperature and voltage. When the temperature is high (340 K), the device is in the absorption state and its absorptivity can be dynamically controlled by changing the temperature. On the other hand, the device is in the polarization state under room temperature, and the polarization of electromagnetic waves can be dynamically controlled by adjusting the voltage of graphene. This device can achieve a broadband absorber (the maximum absorptance reaches 99.415% at wavelengths ranging from 44 THz to 52 THz) and high polarization conversion efficiency (>99.89%) in the mid-infrared range, which has great advantages over other single-function devices. Our results demonstrate that this multifunctional device may have widespread applications in emitters, sensors, spatial light modulators, IR camouflages, and can be used in thermophotovoltaics and wireless communication.

This study presents a new analytical model on the dissipation process of the initial total energy of the hemi-cylindrical shell subjected to the explosive blast load. The analytical formulation has been established using the energy method. The analytical predictions have been validated and found to be in excellent agreement with numerical simulations calculated by explicit finite element method (via LS-DYNA). The variational parameters considered are the shell thickness, elastic modulus, densities of the shell, and the positions of the detonation. Considering varieties of the parameters, the analytical and numerical results demonstrate that the pattern of vibrating deformations can be classified into two types according to the detonation positions. If the detonation position was at the midpoint of the width, there was no main frequency, whilst if the detonation position was at the edge of the width, the shell vibrated with a main frequency. It was also found from both analytical and numerical models that the total initial energy is inversely proportional to the thickness of the shell ( T ), namely, the exact formula can be written as β = ρ a c / ρ s T . Surprisingly, this study is the first to highlight that the total energy decreases with time by the exponential function, and the exponential ratio ( β ) is inversely proportional to the thickness of the shell as well.

Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) is one of the most destructive diseases in the world caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (S. sclerotiorum), resulting in significant yield loss. Early and high-throughput detection would be critical to prevent SSR from spreading. This study aimed to propose a feasible method for SSR detection based on the hyperspectral imaging coupled with multivariate analysis. The performance of different detecting algorithms were compared by combining the extreme learning machine (ELM), K-nearest neighbor algorithm (KNN), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), naïve Bayes classifier (NB) and the support vector machine (SVM) with the random frog (RF), successive projection algorithm (SPA) and sequential forward selection (SFS). The similarity of selected optimal wavelengths by three different feature selection methods indicated a high correlation between selected wavelengths and SSR. Compared with KNN, LDA, NB, and SVM, three wavelengths (455, 671 and 747 nm) selected by SFS-CA combined with ELM could achieve relatively better results with the overall accuracy of 93.7% and the lowest false negative rate of 2.4%. These results demonstrated the potential of the presented method using hyperspectral reflectance imaging combined with multivariate analysis for SSR diagnosis.

In wireless sensor networks, nodes may adopt selfish behavior to save their energy resources, which causes energy imbalance among nodes, because of lacking a central controller with the function of making nodes cooperate. Noncooperative game is an effective tool for portraying this kind of selfish behavior. In this paper, we address the problems of transmission power minimization and energy balance using a topology control game. Firstly, we establish a topology control game model and prove that the topology game model is an ordinal potential game with Pareto optimality. Secondly, based on this model, we propose an Energy Balance Topology control Game algorithm (EBTG), in which, by taking the energy efficiency and energy balance of the nodes into account, we design an improved optimization-integrated utility function by introducing the Theil index. Finally, simulation results show that the EBTG algorithm can improve the energy balance and energy efficiency, and can prolong the network lifetime in comparison with other topology control algorithms based on game theory.

Three diterpenoid alkaloids, including an unreported compound, were isolated from the roots of Aconitum kusnezoffii Reichb. On the basis of spectral analysis, these three compounds were determined to be 1,15-dimethoxy-3-hydroxy-14-benzoyl-16-ketoneoline, benzoylaconine and aconitine.

This paper tackles the problem of sensing coverage for multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with an approach that takes into account the reciprocal between neighboring UAVs to reduce the oscillation of their trajectories. The proposed reciprocal decision approach, which is performed in three steps, is self-organized, distributed and autonomous. First, in contrast to the traditional method modeled and optimized in configuration space, the sensing coverage problem is directly presented as an optimal reciprocal coverage velocity (ORCV) in velocity space that is concise and effective. Second, the ORCV is determined by adjusting the action velocity out of weak coverage velocity relative to neighboring UAVs to demonstrate that the ORCV supports a collision-avoiding assembly. Third, a corresponding random probability method is proposed for determining the optimal velocity in the ORCV. The results from the simulation indicate that the proposed method has a high coverage rate, rapid convergence rate and low deadweight loss. In addition, for up to 103-size UAVs, the proposed method has excellent scalability and collision-avoiding ability.