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Simple Summary: In China, the large eggs of the Chinese oak silkworm (COS), Antheraea pernyi, have been extensively utilized as beneficial factitious hosts for the mass rearing of parasitoid wasps and in the biological control of agricultural and forestry pests. Furthermore, the eri silkworm (ES), Samia cynthia ricini, has a widely distributed large egg that has the potential for use in the mass rearing of Trichogramma parasitoids. This study investigates the role of T. chilonis as a dominant Trichogramma species in lepidopteran pest control for agricultural and forestry production. It offers a comparative analysis of T. chilonis parasitism and suitability with respect to the large eggs from two factitious hosts, the ES and COS. The results reveal the feasibility of mass producing T. chilonis using ES eggs and provide insights into this species' parasitism of both COS and ES eggs. These findings are crucial for developing a cost-effective strategy for large-scale Trichogramma rearing using ES eggs, contributing to efficient biological pest control in agricultural and forestry contexts. Trichogramma, an effective biological control agent, demonstrates promise in environmentally sustainable pest management through its parasitic action toward insect eggs. This study evaluates the parasitism fitness and ability of T. chilonis with regard to two factitious host eggs, aiming to develop a cost-effective biological control program. While T. chilonis demonstrated the ability to parasitize both host eggs, the results indicate a preference for ES eggs over COS eggs. The parasitism and emergence rates of T. chilonis regarding ES eggs (parasitism: 89.3%; emergence: 82.6%) surpassed those for COS eggs (parasitism: 74.7%; emergence: 68.8%), with a notable increase in the number of emergence holes observed in the ES eggs compared to the COS eggs. Moreover, the developmental time of T. chilonis for ES eggs (10.8 days) was shorter than that for COS eggs (12.5 days), resulting in a lower number of dead wasps produced. Notably, no significant difference was observed in the female ratios between the two species. A comprehensive analysis was conducted, comparing the size and shell thickness of the two factitious hosts. The ES eggs exhibited smaller dimensions (length: 1721.5 μm; width: 1178.9 μm) in comparison to the COS eggs (length: 2908.8 μm; width: 2574.4 μm), with the ES eggshells being thinner (33.8 μm) compared to the COS eggshells (47.3 μm). The different host species had an effect on the body length of the reared parasitoids, with T. chilonis reared on COS hosts exhibiting a larger body length (female: 626.9 µm; male: 556.7 µm) than those reared on ES hosts (female: 578.8 µm; male: 438.4 µm). Conclusively, the results indicate that ES eggs present a viable alternative to COS eggs for the mass production of Trichogramma species in biological control programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To better compare the progression of dark circles and the aging process in Chinese skin. A total of 100 589 Chinese males and 1 838 997 Chinese females aged 18 to 85, without facial skin conditions, and who had access to a smartphone with a high‐resolution camera all took selfies. Method: Using a smartphone application with a built‐in artificial intelligence algorithm, facial skin diagnostic evaluated the selfies and score the severity of the dark circles with four other facial indicators (including skin type, Pores, Acne vulgaris, and Blackheads). Basic information was collected with online questionnaire, including their age, gender, skin sensitivity, and dietary habits. Results: In users between the age of 18 and 59, the prevalence of comprehensive, pigmented, and structural type of dark circles all rose with age. However, between the age of 60 and 85, the intensity of all types of dark circles diminished. Besides, vascular dark circles progressively worsen from the age of 18 to their peak at 39, and then gradually decline with age. Females typically have more pronounced black circles under their eyes than males in China. Bad eating habits, urbanization, regular cosmetics use, and sensitive skin positively correlate with severe dark circles. Vascular, comprehensive dark circles were worse in spring. Both pigmented and structural dark circles were worse in the summer. The results indicated that the intensity of dark circles was influenced by oily skin, wide pores, severe blackheads, and severe acne. Conclusions: Chinese men and women differed noticeably in the prevalence of each face aging indicator and the appearance of aging dark circles. Selfies could be automatically graded and examined by artificial intelligence, which is a quick and private method for quantifying signs of facial aging and identifying major problems for different populations. Artificial intelligence would assist in the development of individualized preventive and therapeutic interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japanese giant silkworm Caligula japonica Moore is an emerging defoliator pest of forest and fruit trees, causing severe economic losses in East Asia. To identify biological control agents for this pest, we comparatively evaluated six indigenous eupelmid egg parasitoids (Anastatus fulloi, A. gansuensis, A. japonicus, A. meilingensis, Mesocomys albitarsis and M. trabalae) from China, in terms of their performances (number of parasitized eggs, developmental time, offspring emergence and sex ratio) on C. japonica eggs of four different ages (0, 10, 20 and 30-d old). Results showed that all six parasitoids readily parasitized C. japonica eggs of all tested ages, but A. japonicus was the most efficient species based on the number of parasitized eggs, followed by M. albitarsis and M. trabalae, and the other three parasitoid species. All four Anastatus species parasitized more old than young eggs, while M. albitarsis did not show a strong host age preference and M. trabalae parasitized the oldest less than young eggs. For all host ages, developmental time was longest in A. gansuensis and shortest in M. albitarsis, offspring emergence was high (> 90%), and progeny was strongly female biased (> 70%) among all parasitoids except for A. gansuensis which produced all female progeny. Portions of A. japonicus offspring (< 13.1%) entered diapause as pre-pupae. Accordingly, A. japonicus, M. albitarsis and M. trabalae were identified as the most suitable agents against C. japonica. This information may also help improve rearing and field-release protocols, in terms of host age-related effects on these parasitoids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To further clarify the acne profile of Chinese adult women, we included 1,156,703 adult women. An artificial intelligence algorithm was used to analyze images taken by high-resolution mobile phones to further explore acne levels in Chinese adult women., Method: In this study, we assessed the severity of acne by evaluating patients' selfies through a smartphone application. Furthermore, we gathered basic user information through a questionnaire, including details such as age, gender, skin sensitivity, and dietary habits., Results: This study showed a gradual decrease in acne severity from the age of 25 years. A trough was reached between the ages of 40 and 44, followed by a gradual increase in acne severity. In terms of skin problems and acne severity, we have found that oily skin, hypersensitive skin, frequent makeup application and unhealthy dietary habits can affect the severity of acne. For environment and acne severity, we observed that developed city levels, cold seasons and high altitude and strong radiation affect acne severity in adult women. For the results of the AI analyses, the severity of blackheads, pores, dark circles and skin roughness were positively associated with acne severity in adult women., Conclusions: AI analysis of high-res phone images in Chinese adult women reveals acne severity trends. Severity decreases after 25, hits a low at 40-44, then gradually rises. Skin type, sensitivity, makeup, diet, urbanization, seasons, altitude, and radiation impact acne. Blackheads, pores, dark circles, and skin roughness are linked to acne severity. These findings inform personalized skincare and public health strategies for adult women., (© 2024 The Authors. Skin Research and Technology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)