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Aim: The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci MED is a globally invasive species that causes serious economic damage to agroecosystems. Despite the significant threat it poses to agricultural and economic crops worldwide, the global perspective of the invasion patterns and genetic mechanisms contributing to the success of this notorious pest is still poorly understood. The objective of this research was to enhance genome and population genetic analyses to better understand the intricate invasion patterns of B. tabaci MED. Location: Samples were collected in native (Spain, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, and Israel) and invaded regions (China, South Korea and North America). Methods: We first assembled a chromosome‐scale reference genome of B. tabaci MED and then employed the restriction site‐associated 2b‐RAD method to genotype over 20,000 high‐quality single‐nucleotide polymorphisms from 29 geographical populations. Results: A reference genome of B. tabaci MED, with a size of 637.47 Mb, was available. The majority of the assembled sequences (99%) were anchored onto 10 linkage groups, with an N50 size of 58.76 Mb, representing a significant improvement over previous whitefly genome assemblies. We identified rapidly expanded gene families and positively selected genes, probably contributing to successful invasion and rapid adaptation to the new environment. Population genomics analysis showed that three highly differentiated genetic groups were formed, and complex and extensive gene flow occurred across the Mediterranean populations. The genetic admixture patterns in East Asia populations were distinct from those in North America, indicating that they had different source populations. Conclusions: The high‐quality, chromosome‐scale genome of B. tabaci MED offered opportunities for more comprehensive genome‐wide studies and provided solid foundation to the complex introduction events and the differential invasiveness of B. tabaci MED worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To delay evolution of pest resistance to transgenic crops producing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), the "pyramid" strategy uses plants that produce two or more toxins that kill the same pest. We conducted laboratory diet experiments with the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, to evaluate cross-resistance and interactions between two toxins in pyramided Bt cotton (Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab). Selection with Cry1Ac for 125 generations produced 1000-fold resistance to Cry1Ac and 6.8-fold cross-resistance to Cry2Ab. Selection with Cry2Ab for 29 generations caused 5.6-fold resistance to Cry2Ab and 61-fold cross-resistance to Cry1Ac. Without exposure to Bt toxins, resistance to both toxins decreased. For each of the four resistant strains examined, 67 to 100% of the combinations of Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab tested yielded higher than expected mortality, reflecting synergism between these two toxins. Results showing minor cross-resistance to Cry2Ab caused by selection with Cry1Ac and synergism between these two toxins against resistant insects suggest that plants producing both toxins could prolong the efficacy of Bt cotton against this pest in China. Including toxins against which no cross-resistance occurs and integrating Bt cotton with other control tactics could also increase the sustainability of management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous findings have shown a strong relationship between sports and interpersonal cooperative behavior. Physical activity is the basic form of sport. In this study, we investigated the effect of physical activity on interpersonal cooperative behavior and its inter‐brain correlates. Eighty college students were recruited and randomly divided into the experimental or control group (20 dyads per each). The experimental group performed a 30‐min of moderate intensity single‐person cycling exercise, while the control group performed a 30‐min single‐person sitting. Interpersonal cooperative behavior was measured by a Prisoner's Dilemma task before and after the intervention, while neural activities in the frontal cortex in each dyad were measured by the near‐infrared spectroscopy‐based hyperscanning approach. The results showed that the average cooperation rate and cooperation efficiency of the experimental dyads were significantly higher after the exercise intervention compared to that before intervention, but not in control group. Meanwhile, the interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in the left frontal cortex was significantly increased after intervention only in experimental dyads. Moreover, the INS increased in left frontal cortex was positively correlated with the cooperation improvement. Taken together, these results indicate that one single‐person bicycling can improve interpersonal cooperation behavior, which may be associated with enhanced interpersonal neural synchronization in the left frontal cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flavone is widely found in plants and plays an important role in plant defense against pests. Many pests, such as Helicoverpa armigera, use flavone as a cue to upregulate counter-defense genes for detoxification of flavone. Yet the spectrum of the flavone-inducible genes and their linked cis-regulatory elements remains unclear. In this study, 48 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found by RNA-seq. These DEGs were mainly concentrated in the retinol metabolism and drug metabolism-cytochrome P450 pathways. Further in silico analysis of the promoter regions of 24 upregulated genes predicted two motifs through MEME and five previously characterized cis-elements including CRE, TRE, EcRE, XRE-AhR and ARE. Functional analysis of the two predicted motifs and two different versions of ARE (named ARE1 and ARE2) in the promoter region of the flavone-inducible carboxylesterase gene CCE001j verified that the two motifs and ARE2 are not responsible for flavone induction of H. armigera counter-defense genes, whereas ARE1 is a new xenobiotic response element to flavone (XRE-Fla) and plays a decisive role in flavone induction of CCE001j. This study is of great significance for further understanding the antagonistic interaction between plants and herbivorous insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) non-thermal plasma was used for gasification of rice hull. And the gasification efficiency, gas production performance and gasification productions of rice hull were studied in the different atmosphere of the DBD gasification. The effect of the potassium metal on DBD gasification of rice hull was investigated and the catalytic mechanism of potassium was studied by density functional theory calculation. It was found that the gasification efficiency of rice hull by DBD in CO 2 atmosphere is up to 87.14%, which is higher than that in the N 2 atmosphere. The implantation of the potassium metal can also improve the DBD gasification efficiency, and promote the generation of H 2 and CH 4. The rice hull loaded with 3% potassium had the best gasification in the CO 2 atmosphere. Almost no tar was found during the DBD gasification of rice hull. N 2 adsorption and desorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) were used to investigate the properties of the carbon materials, which was generated from the rice hull gasification. The carbon material which was produced by DBD gasification in CO 2 atmosphere had large specific surface area and abundant functional groups. It can be used as catalyst carrier and other fields. • DBD plasma technology was used to treat rice hull for preparing syngas. • DBD gasification of biomass could inhibit the formation of tar. • The addition of potassium can enhance the efficiency of rice hull DBD gasification. • The effect of potassium during DBD gasification of rice hull was studied by DFT. • The gasification carbon has abundant pore structure and functional groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The actual coking engineering challenge is changed into a numerical simulation calculation problem due to the difficulty in monitoring the parameters of the heat recovery coke furnace. The release law of coal volatiles is calculated using the chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model in this study. To explore the distribution properties of the temperature field and flow field in the furnace as well as the burning condition of the surface of the coal cake, the user-defined function (UDF) is coupled with the porous medium model, and the transient condition simulation is carried out. The accuracy of the model is verified by comparing the temperature values at different times with the actual parameters. According to the calculations, the fuel burns more fully when the equivalency ratio is close to 1, and that the flame propagation speed increases with combustion temperature. When the bulk density is 1100 kg/m3 and the air input velocity is 13.3 m/s, the reaction lasts for 15 hours and the emission of volatiles is very minimal, resulting in a poor combustion reaction. The coal cake surface's major temperature range is 1200 K to 1400 K after 30 hours of reaction time, which is beneficial to accelerate the maturation of coke. The coal cake surface's temperature distribution at 45 and 60 hours is lower than that of the coke. Additionally, an increase in air and flame propagation velocity can strengthen furnace disturbance, enhance the temperature and velocity distribution uniformity, hasten coke ripening, and enhance coke quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a globally distributed lepidopteran crop pest that has developed resistance to most insecticides. The G-quadruplex (G4) is a secondary structure in the genome enriched in the promoters for regulating gene expression. However, little is known about G4 in S. frugiperda , especially whether G4 is involved in insecticide resistance and pest control. In this study, 387,875 G4 motifs in the whole genome of S. frugiperda were identified by bioinformatics prediction. We found that 66.90 % of theseG4 structures were located in genic regions and highly enriched in the upstream regions of start codons. Functional and pathway analyses showed that the genes with G4 enriched in promoter regions participate in several metabolic processes. Further analyses showed that G4 structures occurred more frequently in the promoters of P450 and CarE gene families. It was also investigated that G4 ligand N -methyl mesoporphyrin IX (NMM) decreased P450 protein activity in larval midgut tissue. Cytotoxicity and bioassay results revealed that NMM and pesticides had synergistic effects on toxicity. In conclusion, our findings suggest that G4 motif could be a new potential target for pest control. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insects utilize xenobiotic compounds to up‐ and downregulate cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) involved in detoxification of toxic xenobiotics including phytochemicals and pesticides. G‐quadruplexes (G4)‐forming DNA motifs are enriched in the promoter regions of transcription factors and function as cis‐acting elements to regulate these genes. Whether and how P450s gain and keep G4 DNA motifs to regulate their expression still remain unexplored. Here, we show that CYP321A1, a xenobiotic‐metabolizing P450 from Helicoverpa zea, a polyphagous insect of economic importance, has acquired and preserved a G4 DNA motif by selectively retaining a transposon known as HzIS1‐3 that carries this G4 DNA motif in its promoter region. The HzIS1‐3 G4 DNA motif acts as a silencer to suppress the constitutive and induced expression of CYP321A1 by plant allelochemicals flavone and xanthotoxin through folding into an intramolecular parallel or hybrid‐1 conformation in the absence or presence of K+. The G4 ligand N‐methylmesoporphyrin IX (NMM) strengthens the silencing effect of HzIS1‐3 G4 DNA motif by switching its structure from hybrid‐1 to hybrid‐2. The enrichment of transposons in P450s and other environment‐adaptation genes implies that selective retention of G4 DNA motif‐carrying transposons may be the main evolutionary route for these genes to obtain G4 DNA motifs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies by questionnaires have demonstrated that lottery gamblers who have not meet the criteria of pathological gambler show greater gambling acceptability. However, few empirical evidence of whether such nonpathological lottery gamblers (NPLGs) display the same impairments of decision making with pathological gamblers has been found so far. In present study, NPLGs and matched controls (MCs) were asked to perform the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and inter-temporal choice task (ICT). We found that compared to MCs, NPLGs displayed much lower IGT scores, net gains and proportions of advantageous decks in the IGT task and much higher percentages of trials during which smaller-but-sooner rewards were chosen in the ICT. These findings indicate that NPLGs display much more risky and impulsive decision makings, just like pathological gamblers in the previous studies. Next, the Go/NoGo task was employed to explore the role of response inhibition in the impairment of decision making in NPLGs. We found that NPLGs did show much higher commission errors compared to MCs. Moreover, IGT scores, net gain and proportions of advantageous decks were significantly negatively correlated with commission errors, which indicates that poor response inhibition might be involved in the impairments of decision making in NPLGs. To our knowledge, we provided the first empirical evidence of impairment of decision making and its cognitive mechanisms in NPLGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The application of DLTP has shown enhancements in electrochemical performance. • The O 2 and CO 2 DLTP notably enhances the specific capacitance of the CBS material. • DLTP modification increases the specific capacitance of ACBS from 198 F/g to 237 F/g. • Functional group modifications in materials occur upon the ionization of O 2. Biochar is commonly utilized as an electrode material in supercapacitors. However, the conventional carbonization process often results in macromolecular compounds, which obstruct the porous structure of carbon materials, thereby reducing their capacitance. Dielectric barrier discharge low-temperature plasma (DLTP) is a technology that transforms gases into highly excited states, utilizing high-energy particles for enhanced energy applications. This study investigated the effects of DLTP on the electrochemical performance of bamboo charcoal (BC), utilizing bamboo shavings (BS) as the carbon source. The results indicated that the specific capacitance of BC varied under different atmospheric conditions, input voltages, and treatment durations, thereby achieving a maximum increase of 144 F/g. Furthermore, when combined with KOH activation, DLTP modification further enhanced the specific capacitance of BC to 237 F/g. The DLTP treatment enhanced the specific surface area and the types of functional groups in BC, thereby leading to a significant enhancement of its electrochemical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xenobiotic response element (XRE) to flavone was the cis - regulatory elements that mediates the induction of the allelochemical-metabolizing CYP321A1 gene from Helicoverpa zea. However, it was unknown whether the XRE-Fla element existed in other species. Recently we have identified and cloned the CYP321A1 gene with promoter region in a related species, Helicoverpa armigera. Sequence similarity of two orthologous CYP321A1 genes was 97.27%, but the promoter sequence similarity was only 56.32%. Sequence alignment showed the XRE-Fla like element owns three mutations in H. armigera compared with H. zea. Progressive 5′ deletions and internal mutation indicated that H. armigera XRE-Fla was the essential element of CYP321A1 gene in response to flavone. XRE-Fla mutations and EMSA analysis confirmed that the H. armigera XRE-Fla element binding factor was stronger than H. zea. The findings indicate the XRE element mutations mainly contribute to the differences between the flavone-induced expressions of two CYP321A1 genes, which improve the flexibility and adaptability for allelochemical response of H. armigera. [Display omitted] • XRE-Fla was the essential element of CYP321A1 gene in response to flavone in Helicoverpa armigera. • The XRE-Fla like element owns three mutations in Helicoverpa armigera compared with Helicoverpa zea. • The XRE-Fla of Helicoverpa armigera was stronger in binding affinity with the factors compared with Helicoverpa zea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolution of pest resistance reduces the benefits of widely cultivated genetically engineered crops that produce insecticidal proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Better understanding of the genetic basis of pest resistance to Bt crops is needed to monitor, manage, and counter resistance. Previous work shows that in several lepidopterans, resistance to Bt toxin Cry2Ab is associated with mutations in the gene encoding the ATP-binding cassette protein ABCA2. The results here show that mutations introduced by CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing in the Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm or bollworm) gene encoding ABCA2 (HzABCA2) can cause resistance to Cry2Ab. Disruptive mutations in HzABCA2 facilitated the creation of two Cry2Ab-resistant strains. A multiple concentration bioassay with one of these strains revealed it had > 200-fold resistance to Cry2Ab relative to its parental susceptible strain. All Cry2Ab-resistant individuals tested had disruptive mutations in HzABCA2. We identified five disruptive mutations in HzABCA2 gDNA. The most common mutation was a 4-bp deletion in the expected Cas9 guide RNA target site. The results here indicate that HzABCA2 is a leading candidate for monitoring Cry2Ab resistance in field populations of H. zea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Next, the gene number in each of the 32 chromosomes was then extracted using the genome annotation file, and PAS in different gene positions were also examined. We compared the CS position with the gene location on the chromosome, and the gene containing two or more cleavage sites means the gene was potentially regulated by alternative polyadenylation. (A) The gene number, PAS site number, and ratio of PAS site to the gene on a particular chromosome. We selected four genes (gene number: LOC118274515, LOC118275636, LOC118264954, LOC118275420) to explore the regulation of variable tailing on genes. [Extracted from the article]

Behavioral decision theory argues that humans can adjust their third‐party responses (e.g., punishment and compensation) to injustice by integrating unfair experiences. Typically, the mood plays an important role in such a decision‐making process. However, the underlying neurocognitive bases remain largely unclear. We first employ a modified third‐party justice game in which an allocator split an amount of money between oneself and a receiver. The participants can reapportion the money as observers by choosing from the following three costly options: compensate the receiver, accept the current allocation, or punish the allocator. Then, a second‐party pseudo interaction is conducted where participants receive more (i.e., advantageous unfair experience) or less (i.e., disadvantageous unfair experience) than others. Finally, participants perform the third‐party justice game again after unfair experiences. Here, we use functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure participants' brain activities during third‐party responses to injustice. We find participants compensate more to the receiver after advantageous unfair experience, which involved enhanced positive emotion, weakened sense of unfairness, and is linked with increased activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC). In contrast, participants punish more on the allocator after disadvantageous unfair experience, which might primarily stem from their negative emotional responses, strong sense of unfairness, and is associated with significantly decreased activity in the rDLPFC. Our results suggest that third‐party compensation and punishment involved differential psychological and neural bases. Our findings highlight the crucial roles of second‐party unfair experiences and the corresponding mood responses in third‐party responses to unfairness, and unravel the intermediate neural architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptual alignment is a prerequisite for mutual understanding. However, little is known about the neurophysiological brain‐to‐brain underpinning during conceptual alignment for mutual understanding. Here, we recorded multi‐channel electroencephalogram (EEG) simultaneously from two participants in Experiment 1 and adopted the dual‐tACS techniques in Experiment 2 to investigate the underlying brain‐to‐brain EEG coupling during conceptual alignment and the possible enhancement effect. Our results showed that 1) higher phase‐locking value (PLV), a sensitive measure for quantifying neural coupling strength between EEG signals, at the gamma frequency band (28–40 Hz), was observed in the left temporoparietal site (left TP) area between successful versus unsuccessful conceptual alignment. The left TP gamma coupling strength correlated with the accuracy of conceptual alignment and differentiated whether subjects belonged to the SUCCESS or FAILURE groups in our study. 2) In‐phase gamma‐band transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) over the left TP area increased the accuracy of subjects in the SUCCESS group but not the FAILURE group. 3) The effect of perspective‐taking on the accuracy was mediated by the gamma coupling strength within the left TP area. Our results support the role of gamma‐band coupling between brains for interpersonal conceptual alignment. We provide dynamic interpersonal neurophysiological insights into the formation of successful communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regulatory RNA molecules that bind to target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and affect the stability or translational efficiency of the bound mRNAs. Single or dual‐luciferase reporter systems have been successfully used to identify miRNA target genes in mammalian cells. These reporter systems, however, are not sensitive enough to verify miRNA–target gene relationships in insect cell lines because the promoters of the target luciferase (usually Renilla) used in these reporter systems are too weak to drive sufficient expression of the target luciferase in insect cells. In this study, we replaced the SV40 promoter in the psiCHECK‐2 reporter vector, which is widely used with mammalian cell lines, with the HSV‐TK or AC5.1 promoter to yield two new dual‐luciferase reporter vectors, designated psiCHECK‐2‐TK and psiCHECK‐2‐AC5.1, respectively. Only psiCHECK‐2 and psiCHECK‐2‐AC5.1 had suitable target (Renilla)/reference (firefly) luciferase activity ratios in mammalian (HeLa and HEK293) and insect (Sf9, S2, Helicoverpa zea fat body and ovary) cell lines, while psiCHECK‐2‐TK had suitable Renilla/firefly luciferase activity ratios regardless of the cell line. Moreover, psiCHECK‐2‐TK successfully detected the interaction between Helicoverpa armigera miRNA9a and its target, the 3′‐untranslated region of heat shock protein 90, in both mammalian and H. zea cell lines, but psiCHECK‐2 failed to do so in H. zea cell lines. Furthermore, psiCHECK‐2‐TK with the target sequence, HzMasc (H. zea Masculinizer), accurately differentiated between H. zea cell lines with or without the negative regulation factor (miRNA or piRNA) of HzMasc. These data demonstrate that psiCHECK‐2‐TK can be used to functionally characterize small RNA target genes in both mammalian and insect cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The decomposition efficiency is CO 2 > N 2 > Ar, with a maximum efficiency of 82.45 %. • Increased voltage was beneficial for achieving the highest product concentration. • Ea CSC900 and Ea CSC1000 of decomposition correspond 23.789 and 33.792 kJ/mol, respectively. • CSC decomposition with 30% O 2 /Ar followed the chemical reaction model. • CSC decomposition in CO 2 plasma fitted shrinking core model. DBD low-temperature plasma (DLTP) is recognized as one of the most efficient technologies for treating cotton stalks. This study investigates the impact of various conditions on the gas production characteristics of cotton stalks (CS) and delves into the DLTP decomposition kinetics of CS and CSC in oxygen-enriched (30 % O 2 /Ar) and CO 2 atmospheres. The decomposition rates of CS followed the order CO 2 > N 2 > Ar. The decomposition behavior of CSC in oxygen-enriched DLTP (30 % O 2 /Ar) aligned well with the chemical reaction model. The activation energies for CSC decomposition at 900 °C and 1000 °C were determined to be 23.8 kJ/mol and 33.8 kJ/mol, respectively. Moreover, the reaction rate decreased at higher carbonization temperatures, which proved to be detrimental to the decomposition of CSC. The DLTP decomposition of CSC in CO 2 exhibited consistency with the fitting results of the unreacted shrinking core model, revealing an observed activation energy of 19.4 kJ/mol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiencing positive emotions together facilitates interpersonal understanding and promotes subsequent social interaction among individuals. However, the neural underpinnings of such emotional-social effect remain to be discovered. The current study employed the functional near-infrared spectroscopy–based hyperscanning to investigate the abovementioned relationship. After participants in dyad watched movie clips with happily or neutral emotion, they were asked to perform the interpersonal cooperative task, with their neural activation of prefrontal cortex being recorded simultaneously via functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Results suggested that compared with the neutral movie watching together, a higher interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in left inferior frontal gyrus during participant dyads watching happiness movie together was observed. Subsequently, dyads in happiness showed more effective coordination interaction during the interpersonal cooperation task compared to those in the neutral condition, and such facilitated effect was associated with increased cooperation-related INS at left middle frontal cortex. A mediation analysis showed that the coordination interaction fully mediated the relationship between the emotion-induced INS during the happiness movie-viewing and the cooperation-related INS in interpersonal cooperation. Taken together, our findings suggest that the faciliatory effect experiencing happiness together has on interpersonal cooperation can be reliably reflected by the INS magnitude at the brain level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crops genetically engineered to produce insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have many benefits and are important globally for managing insect pests. However, the evolution of pest resistance to Bt crops reduces their benefits. Understanding the genetic basis of such resistance is needed to better monitor, manage, and counter pest resistance to Bt crops. Previous work shows that resistance to Bt toxin Cry2Ab is associated with mutations in the gene encoding the ATP-binding cassette protein ABCA2 in lab- and field-selected populations of the pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), one of the world’s most destructive pests of cotton. Here we used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to test the hypothesis that mutations in the pink bollworm gene encoding ABCA2 (PgABCA2) can cause resistance to Cry2Ab. Consistent with this hypothesis, introduction of disruptive mutations in PgABCA2 in a susceptible strain of pink bollworm increased the frequency of resistance to Cry2Ab and facilitated creation of a Cry2Ab-resistant strain. All Cry2Ab-resistant individuals tested in this study had disruptive mutations in PgABCA2. Overall, we found 17 different disruptive mutations in PgABCA2 gDNA and 26 in PgABCA2 cDNA, including novel mutations corresponding precisely to single-guide (sgRNA) sites used for CRISPR/Cas9. Together with previous results, these findings provide the first case of practical resistance to Cry2Ab where evidence identifies a specific gene in which disruptive mutations can cause resistance and are associated with resistance in field-selected populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The methods for electrochemical detection of CTCs in recent five years were summarized, and the advantages and disadvantages of each method were carefully compared. • The latest electrode construction strategies such as rolling circle amplification reaction, DNA walker and microfluidic technology and their advantages were introduced emphatically. • The main reasons why the existing biosensors have not been widely used clinically and the next research points were clearly put forward in the 'conclusion and perspective' part. In recent years, a lot of new detection techniques for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been developed. Among them, electrochemical sensing technology has gradually developed because of its advantages of good selectivity, high sensitivity, low cost and rapid detection. Especially in the latest decade, the field of electrochemical biosensing has witnessed great progress, thanks to the merging of biosensing research area with nanotechnology, immunotechnology, nucleic acid technology, and microfluidic technology. In this review, the recent progress for the detection of CTCs according to the principle of detection was summarized and how they can contribute to the enhanced performance of such biosensors was explained. The latest electrode construction strategies such as rolling circle amplification reaction, DNA walker and microfluidic technology and their advantages were also introduced emphatically. Moreover, the main reasons why the existing biosensors have not been widely used clinically and the next research points were clearly put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Awareness of death has been shown to influence human cognition and behavior. Yet, how mortality threat (MT) impacts our daily social behavior remains elusive. To address this issue, we developed a dyadic experimental model and recruited 86 adults (43 dyads) to complete two computer-based tasks (i.e. competitive and cooperative button-pressing). We manipulated dyads' awareness of death [MT vs neutral control (NC)] and simultaneously measured their neurophysiological activity using electroencephalography during the task. Several fundamental observations were made. First, the MT group showed significantly attenuated competition and slightly promoted cooperation. Second, compared to NC, MT significantly decreased gamma-band inter-brain synchronization (IBS) in the competitive context, which was associated with increased subjective fear of death within dyads. Notably, those effects were context-specific: we did not observe comparable results in the cooperative context. Finally, a machine-learning approach was successfully used to discriminate between the MT and NC groups based on accumulated IBS. Together, these findings indicate that MT to some extent mitigates interpersonal competition, and such mitigation might be associated with changes in gamma-band IBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical insecticides have been heavily employed as the most effective measure for control of agricultural and medical pests, but evolution of resistance by pests threatens the sustainability of this approach. Resistance-conferring mutations sometimes impose fitness costs, which may drive subsequent evolution of compensatory modifier mutations alleviating the costs of resistance. However, how modifier mutations evolve and function to overcome the fitness cost of resistance still remains unknown. Here we show that overexpression of P450s not only confers imidacloprid resistance in the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, the most voracious pest of rice, but also leads to elevated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) through metabolism of imidacloprid and host plant compounds. The inevitable production of ROS incurs a fitness cost to the pest, which drives the increase or fixation of the compensatory modifier allele T65549 within the promoter region of N. lugens peroxiredoxin (NlPrx) in the pest populations. T65549 allele in turn upregulates the expression of NlPrx and thus increases resistant individuals' ability to clear the cost-incurring ROS of any source. The frequent involvement of P450s in insecticide resistance and their capacity to produce ROS while metabolizing their substrates suggest that peroxiredoxin or other ROS-scavenging genes may be among the common modifier genes for alleviating the fitness cost of insecticide resistance. This study shows that peroxiredoxin is a modifier gene whose cis-upregulation in the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) increases the ability of resistant populations to clear the fitness cost-incurring reactive oxygen species that inevitably result from P450-meditated metabolism of imidacloprid insecticide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the gender differences in deception and their neural basis in the perspective of two‐person neuroscience. Both male and female dyads were asked to perform a face‐to‐face spontaneous sender–receiver deception task, while their neural activities in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and right temporal parietal junction (rTPJ) were recorded simultaneously using functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)‐based hyperscanning. Male and female dyads displayed similar deception rate, successful deception rate, and eye contact in deception trials. Moreover, eye contact in deception trials was positively correlated with the success rate of deception in both genders. The fNIRS data showed that the interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in PFC was significantly enhanced only in female dyads when performed the deception task, while INS in rTPJ was increased only in male dyads. Such INS was correlated with the success rate of deception in both dyads. Granger causality analysis showed that no significant directionality between time series of PFC (or rTPJ) in each dyad, which could indicate that sender and receiver played equally important role during deception task. Finally, enhanced INS in PFC in female dyads mediated the contribution of eye contact to the success rate of deception. All findings in this study suggest that differential patterns of INS are recruited when male and female dyads perform the face‐to‐face deception task. To our knowledge, this is the first interbrain evidence for gender difference of successful deception, which could make us a deeper understanding of spontaneous face‐to‐face deception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The porous NiCo 2 O 4 nanobelt arrays on nickel foam has been fabricated through a chemical co-precipitation route. Due to this porous NiCo 2 O 4 nanobelt nanostructure, this electro/ion efficiency transfer between electrode and electrolyte during the electrochemical reaction process. The electrochemical detection of glucose is investigated by cyclic voltammetry and single-potential amperometry measurement in a three-electrode system. The porous NiCo 2 O 4 nanobelt arrays on nickel foam sensor exhibits high sensitivity (5000 μA mM−1 cm−2) in a wide range (0.9–67.2 μM) and 727 μA mM−1 cm−2 in the linear range (0.067–1.373 mM). This porous NiCo 2 O 4 nanobelt sensor exhibits a low limit of detection of 0.9 μM and a fast sensing performance of 4 s. The excellent electrochemical performances originate from the improved electronic conductivity as well as rich redox reaction sites of the sensor material surface. Our results indicate that the porous NiCo 2 O 4 nanobelt arrays on nickel foam is a great potential sensor for non-enzyme glucose detection. Image 1 • Porous NiCo 2 O 4 nanobelts is fabricated by a co-precipitation method. • It is used directly as sensor material for detection of glucose. • It exhibits the excellent sensitivity 5000 μA mM−1 cm−2 and fast response 4 s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolution of pest resistance threatens the benefits of crops genetically engineered to produce insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Field populations of the pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), a global pest of cotton, have evolved practical resistance to transgenic cotton producing Bt toxin Cry2Ab in India, but not in the United States. Previous results show that recessive mutations disrupting an autosomal ATP-binding cassette gene (PgABCA2) are associated with pink bollworm resistance to Cry2Ab in field-selected populations from India and in one lab-selected strain from the United States (Bt4-R2). Here we discovered that an independently derived, lab-selected Cry2Ab-resistant pink bollworm strain from the United States (BX-R) also harbors mutations that disrupt PgABCA2. Premature stop codons introduced by mis-splicing of PgABCA2 pre-mRNA were prevalent in field-selected larvae from India and in both lab-selected strains. The most common mutation in field-selected larvae from India was also detected in both lab-selected strains. Results from interstrain crosses indicate BX-R has at least one additional mechanism of resistance to Cry2Ab that does not involve PgABCA2 and is not completely recessive or autosomal. We conclude that recessive mutations disrupting PgABCA2 are the primary, but not the only, mechanism of resistance to Cry2Ab in pink bollworm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cry2Ab is one of the important alternative Bt proteins that can be used to manage insect pests resistant to Cry1A toxins and to expand the insecticidal spectrum of pyramided Bt crops. Previous studies have showed that vacuolar H+-ATPase subunits A and B (V-ATPase A and B) may be involved in Bt insecticidal activities. The present study investigated the role of V-ATPases subunit E in the toxicity of Cry2Ab in Helicoverpa amigera. RT-PCR analysis revealed that oral exposure of H. amigera larvae to Cry2Ab led to a significant reduction in the expression of H. armigera V-ATPase E (HaV-ATPase E). Ligand blot, homologous and heterologous competition experiments confirmed that HaV-ATPases E physically and specifically bound to activated Cry2Ab toxin. Heterologous expressing of HaV-ATPase E in Sf9 cells made the cell line more susceptible to Cry2Ab, whereas knockdown of the endogenous V-ATPase E in H. zea midgut cells decreased Cry2Ab's cytotoxicity against this cell line. Further in vivo bioassay showed that H. armigera larvae fed a diet overlaid with both Cry2Ab and E. coli -expressed HaV-ATPase E protein suffered significantly higher mortality than those fed Cry2Ab alone. These results support that V-ATPases E is a putative receptor of Cry2Ab and can be used to improve Cry2Ab toxicity and manage Cry2Ab resistance at least in H. armigera. [Display omitted] • Ligand blot and homologous competition verified special interaction between HaV-ATPase E and activated Cry2Ab. • The vitro gain and loss of function analyses showed V-ATPases E involved in the toxicity of Cry2Ab. • The mixture of HaV-ATPase E fragment protein and Cry2Ab protoxin enhance the larvae mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Teacher–student interaction allows students to combine prior knowledge with new information to develop new knowledge. It is widely understood that both communication mode and students' knowledge state contribute to the teaching effectiveness (i.e., higher students' scores), but the nature of the interplay of these factors and the underlying neural mechanism remain unknown. In the current study, we manipulated the communication modes (face-to-face [FTF] communication mode/computer-mediated communication [CMC] mode) and prior knowledge states (with vs. without) when teacher–student dyads participated in a teaching task. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, the brain activities of both the teacher and student in the dyads were recorded simultaneously. After teaching, perceived teacher–student interaction and teaching effectiveness were assessed. The behavioral results demonstrated that, during teaching with prior knowledge, FTF communication improved students' academic performance, as compared with CMC. Conversely, no such effect was found for teaching without prior knowledge. Accordingly, higher task-related interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) was found in the FTF teaching condition with prior knowledge. Such INS mediated the relationship between perceived interaction and students' test scores. Furthermore, the cumulative INS in the left PFC could predict the teaching effectiveness early in the teaching process (around 25–35 s into the teaching task) only in FTF teaching with prior knowledge. These findings provide insight into how the interplay between the communication mode and students' knowledge state affects teaching effectiveness. Moreover, our findings suggest that INS could be a possible neuromarker for dynamic evaluation of teacher–student interaction and teaching effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Much of human learning emerges as a result of interaction with others. Yet, this interpersonal process has been poorly characterized from a neurophysiological perspective. This study investigated (i) whether Interpersonal Brain Synchronization (IBS) can reliably mark social interactive learning, and specifically (ii) during what kind of interactive behavior. We recorded brain activity from learner-instructor dyads using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) during the acquisition of a music song. We made four fundamental observations. First, during the interactive learning task, brain activity recorded from the bilateral Inferior Frontal Cortex (IFC) synchronized across the learner and the instructor. Second, such IBS was observed in particular when the learner was observing the instructor's vocal behavior and when the learning experience entailed a turn-taking and more active mode of interaction. Third, this specific enhancement of IBS predicted learner's behavioral performance. Fourth, Granger causality analyses further disclosed that the signal recorded from the instructor's brain better predicted that recorded from the learner's brain than vice versa. Together, these results indicate that social interactive learning can be neurophysiologically characterized in terms of IBS. Furthermore, they suggest that the learner's involvement in the learning experience, alongside the instructor's modeling, are key factors driving the alignment of neural processes across learner and instructor. Such alignment impacts upon the real-time acquisition of new information and eventually upon the learning (behavioral) performance. Hence, besides providing a biological characterization of social interactive learning, our results hold relevance for clinical and pedagogical practices. Highlights • fNIRS hyperscanning is performed during social interactive learning. • Interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) of IFC increases during learning. • IBS is affected by the learners' involvement. • IBS correlates with learners' performance. • IBS may function as a neural alignment across learner and instructor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study highlights the potential advantages of group discussions. • This study shows group identification is a mediator. • This study proposes a multiparticipant theoretical model. Information exchange is a key factor in the attainment of collective outcomes and the navigation of social life. In the current study, we investigated whether and how information exchange enhanced collective performance by combining behavioral and neuroimaging approaches from the perspective of multiparticipant neuroscience. To evaluate collective performance, we measured the collaborative problem-solving abilities of triads working on a murder mystery case. We first found that verbal information exchange significantly enhanced collective performance compared to nonverbal exchange. Moreover, both group sharing and group discussion positively contributed to this effect, with group discussion being more essential. Importantly, group identification mediated the positive effect of verbal information exchange on collective performance. This mediation was supported by higher interactive frequency and enhanced within-group neural synchronization (GNS) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Taken together, we provided a multiparticipant theoretical model to explain how verbal information exchange enhanced collective performance. Our findings deepen the insight into the workings of group decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People engaged in interactive decision making rely on prior decision behaviors by other persons to make new choices and they exhibit inter-brain synchrony between each other. The functional meanings of such inter-brain synchrony, however, remains obscure. In the present study, dyads (15 pairs, all female) played the Prisoner’s Dilemma game while their brain activities were recorded simultaneously by electroencephalography (EEG)-based hyperscanning technique. We manipulated the context of the game with higher versus lower cooperation index (HCI vs. LCI) and to each participant, we depicted the interaction as involving either another human partner or a machine (H-H vs. H-M). The results showed a higher cooperation rate and larger theta/alpha-band inter-brain synchrony in condition H-H than in H-M. In the condition H-H, there were larger centrofrontal theta-band and centroparietal alpha-band inter-brain synchrony in tasks set for high cooperation (HCI vs. LCI). Enhanced inter-brain synchrony covaried with increased cooperative choices observed between LCI and HCI. Furthermore, a subjective measure of perceived cooperativeness mediated the relationship between game context and inter-brain synchrony. These findings provide evidence for a role of cooperation on inter-brain synchrony during interactive decision making, and suggest distinct underlying neural processes recruited by cooperation contexts to enable high-level social cognitive processing in decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Highly reactive and easily oxidized, oxygenated tars have the propensity to aromatize after oxidation. • Semi-coke catalysis can further degrade the oxidized tar. • K increases group activity by attaching to oxygen-containing active groups (C O, C O and OH). • Addition of K increases more toluene adsorption sites on char. The concept of using partial oxidation coupling with K semi-coke to decompose tar is presented in this research as a way to increase tar energy recovery. According to the results of the partial oxidation of cotton stalk tar, the oxidation accelerated tar cracking and increased CO production as H 2 was consumed. The CO content in the gas can reach a maximum of 38 % when the oxygen flow rate is 12.5 mL/min, and the mixture's calorific value can reach 12.5 MJ/Nm3. When tar components are oxidized, the oxygen-containing ones that have a higher activity are more quickly converted into aromatic compounds. Toluene was chosen as the representative compound of oxidized tar, and cotton stalk semi-catalytic coke's properties in the heterogeneous degradation of toluene with or without the presence of K were contrasted. The results reveal that K is easily combined with the oxygen-containing active groups (C O, C O, OH) of semi-coke to boost their activity, resulting in more basic adsorption sites on the semi-coke surface, which strengthens toluene adsorption and accelerates the cracking of the toluene benzene ring and the generation of aliphatic hydrocarbons. The specific surface area and pore development of the semi-coke with K addition were greater than the semi-coke without K addition, which improved the toluene's degradation and condensation reaction while also increasing the amount of carbon on the semi-surface coke's area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The trust behavior of athlete group was significantly higher than ordinary college group. • The INS in left dorsolateral prefrontal of athlete group was significantly increased than ordinary college group. • There was a significant positive correlation between INS in left dorsolateral prefrontal and trust behavior in the athlete group. • There were sex differences in the trust behavior of athletes, with male athletes having better trust behavior than female athletes. Previous research has suggested that long-term exercise training can influence trusting behaviors, but the supporting evidence is limited. Therefore, exploring inter-athlete trust behaviors and its neural mechanism could better answer the potential association between athletic training and trust behaviors. Accordingly, the present study used a trust game (TG) task to assess interpersonal trust behavior in the sex-specific athlete group and the ordinary college group; and a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning technology was used to capture the interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in brain regions of interest to the dyads. The results showed that the athlete group had significantly higher trust behaviors and significantly higher INS in the left frontal pole and left dorsolateral prefrontal than the college group; male athletes had significantly higher trust behaviors and significantly higher INS in the left dorsolateral prefrontal than female athletes. This study suggests that athletes have better trusting behaviors and that this advantage may be related to enhanced INS in the left dorsolateral prefrontal lobe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effect of incentives on strategy switching is different across individuals. • The link between single- and dual-brain approaches is uncovered. • A descriptive model of the adviser's strategy switching is proposed. Effective influence management during advice-giving requires individuals to express confidence in the advice properly and switch timely between the 'competitive' strategy and the 'defensive' strategy. However, how advisers switch between these two strategies, and whether and why there exist individual differences during this process remain elusive. We used an advice-giving game that manipulated incentive contexts (Incentivized/Non-Incentivized) to induce the adviser's confidence expression strategy switching and measured the brain activities of adviser and advisee concurrently using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Behaviorally, we observed individual differences in strategy switching. Some advisers applied the 'defensive' strategy when incentivized and the 'competitive' strategy when not incentivized, while others applied the 'competitive' strategy when incentivized and the 'defensive' strategy when not incentivized. This effect was mediated by the adviser's perceived stress in each condition and was reflected by the frequencies of advice-taking in the advisees. Neurally, brain activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) supported strategy switching, as well as interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) that supported influence management. This two-in-one process, i.e., confidence expression strategy switching and the corresponding influence management, was linked and modulated by the strength of DLPFC-TPJ functional connectivity in the adviser. We further developed a descriptive model that contributed to understanding the adviser's strategy switching during influence management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical high risk (CHR) of psychosis is characterized by cognitive impairment in social interaction. However, research investigating the neurobiological underpinnings of social interactions and interpersonal relationships in CHR participants is sparse. 21 CHR and 54 healthy controls (HCs) participated in the study. Dyads were formed between one CHR, one sex-matched HC, and two sex-matched HCs comprising 19 CHR-HC dyads and 19 HC-HC dyads. The concentration changes of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin were examined during a two-block button-press "cooperation" and "competition" task using functional near-infrared spectroscopy(fNIRS) hyperscanning technology. CHR diagnosis and psychopathological assessments were performed by Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS) and Scale of Prodromal S ymptoms (SOPS). Neural synchronizations were compared between CHR-HC dyads and HC-HC dyads. Correlation analyses were performed to identify the relationship between neural synchronization, clinical syndrome and cognition. During the cooperation, but not the competition task, the CHR-HC dyads showed reduced inter-brain neural synchronization (INS) in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) compared to the HC-HC dyads. INS also showed a positive correlation with the average cooperation rate. Moreover, the reduced INS in the CHR-HC group was significantly correlated with symptoms score of suspiciousness/persecutory ideas and movement disorders. The decreased INS in right IFG during cooperation could account for CHR's cognitive impairment of social interaction. Our findings provide evidence that inter-brain neural synchronization potentially represents a biomarker of social interaction deficits of CHR. • Social interaction deficits are prevalent and play an important role in the progression of psychosis. • Hyperscanning can simultaneously measure brain activation during the real-time social interaction. • Inter-neural Brain Synchronization can be used as an index of moment-to-moment interaction. • Clinical high risk of psychosis showed reduced inter-brain synchronization during social interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Low rank coals are generally featured with a high water content which exerts strong influences onto their utilization including pyrolysis, gasification, liquefaction and combustion. Understanding of fundamental aspects of coal moisture and its effects on physical and chemical characteristics of coal and coal–water interaction are very important in order to develop technologies to remove coal water effectively. This paper provides a comprehensive overview on the fundamental understanding of water in brown coal and lignite, including the physical and chemical structure of coal, the forms of water present in low rank coals, migration of water during drying, coal structure changes during moisture loss, moisture re-adsorption, and effects of water removal on subsequent applications including combustion, gasification and liquefaction. Applications of techniques such as NMR, DSC and FTIR in determination and quantification of types of water and coal structures are also summarized. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A Chinese lignite coal was dried in a fluidized-bed reactor in the presence of air and nitrogen to examine the effect of temperature, particle size, gas flow rate, and sample mass. The changes of chemical structure during drying were investigated using FTIR technique. The drying rate is shown to increase with increasing drying temperature and gas flow rate, and decreasing particle size. It has been found that the aliphatic hydrogen absorbance decreased with increasing drying temperature. These changes in aliphatic absorption were more significant after drying in air compared to in nitrogen. In air drying the absorption of oxygen-containing functional groups increased gradually with increasing temperature up to 200°C and declined thereafter due to the decomposition of these groups to release CO and CO2 or react with nearby hydroxyl groups to produce esters. Carbonyl groups decreased progressively with temperature in nitrogen while carboxylate and aromatic carbon absorption increased up to 250°C and decreased thereafter. During air drying, the aromatic carbon absorption remained relatively unchanged suggesting the reaction of aliphatic groups with oxygen may be a primary oxidation mechanism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although mate choice is crucial for adults, its neural basis remains elusive. In the current study, we combined the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based hyperscanning and speed-dating to investigate the inter-brain mechanism of mate choice. Each participant was paired with two opposite-sex partners (participants) in separate speed-dating sessions and was asked to decide whether to engage in a further relationship with the paired partner after each session. The physical attraction of the daters was rated by their partners at the beginning of the dating whereas the social attraction was rated after the dating. Interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) at the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during speed-dating rather than reading task predicts the outcome of mate choice. Moreover, social attraction rather than physical attraction affects INS during speed-dating. These findings demonstrate for the first time that INS predicts the outcome of mate choice of interacting daters in ecologically valid settings during their initial romantic encounter. • FNIRS-based hyperscanning is used to study the inter-brain mechanism of mate choice. • Interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) during speed-dating predicts mate choice. • Social attraction rather than physical attraction affects INS during speed-dating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although tend-and-befriend is believed to be the dominant stress response in women, little is known regarding the effects of acute psychosocial stress on different dynamic social interactions. To measure these effects, 80 female participants were recruited, paired into the dyads, and instructed to complete cooperative and competitive key-pressing tasks after experiencing acute stress or a control condition. Each dyad of participants should press the key synchronously when the signal was presented in the cooperative task and as fast as possible in the competitive task. During the tasks, brain activities of prefrontal and right temporo-parietal areas were recorded from each dyad using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The results showed that acute psychosocial stress evidently promoted competitive behavior, accompanied by increased interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Despite the lack of a significant difference in the overall cooperation rate, the response time difference between two stressed participants markedly declined over time with more widespread INS in the prefrontal cortex, suggesting that there ensued cooperative improvement among stressed women. These findings behaviorally and neurologically revealed context-dependent response patterns to psychosocial stress in women during dynamic social interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transgenic crops producing crystalline (Cry) proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have been used extensively to control some major crop pests. However, many populations of the noctuid moth Helicoverpa zea , one of the most important crop pests in the United States, have evolved practical resistance to several Cry proteins including Cry1Ac. Although mutations in single genes that confer resistance to Cry proteins have been identified in lab-selected and gene-edited strains of H. zea and other lepidopteran pests, the genetic basis of field-evolved resistance to Cry proteins in H. zea has remained elusive. We used a genomic approach to analyze the genetic basis of field-evolved resistance to Cry1Ac in 937 H. zea derived from 17 sites in seven states of the southern United States. We found evidence for extensive gene flow among all populations studied. Field-evolved resistance was not associated with mutations in 20 single candidate genes previously implicated in resistance or susceptibility to Cry proteins in H. zea or other lepidopterans. Instead, resistance in field samples was associated with increased copy number of a cluster of nine trypsin genes. However, trypsin gene amplification occurred in a susceptible sample and not in all resistant samples, implying that this amplification does not always confer resistance and mutations in other genes also contribute to field-evolved resistance to Cry1Ac in H. zea . The mismatch between lab-generated and field-evolved resistance in H. zea is unlike other cases of Bt resistance and reflects challenges for managing this pest., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:J.A.F. and B.E.T. are coauthors of patents on engineering Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins to counter resistance (US10704059) and potentiating Bt toxins (US20090175974A1), respectively. Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik (BASF), Corteva Agriscience, Cotton Incorporated, Syngenta, and the Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee (representing a consortium of agricultural biotechnology companies) did not provide funding to support this work but have funded other work by some of the authors.

Background: Multiple families of detoxification genes, including the increasingly recognized family of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, work together to influence the toxicity of synthetic insecticides and thus their resistance. Effective management of insecticide resistance requires identification of all toxicity-affecting members from each family of toxicity-related genes., Results: Here, we used emamectin benzoate (EB), ABC transporters and Spodoptera frugiperda as a working case to test whether the strategy of 'from the model insect Drosophila melanogaster to agricultural pests' can identify all or most ABC transporter members related to EB tolerance in S. frugiperda. After confirming the involvement of ABC transporters in the toxicity of EB against fruit fly with the ABC inhibitor verapamil, four ABC transporter genes (DmCG3327, DmCG11147, DmCG4822, and DmCG7627) were found to be involved in EB tolerance using RNA interference-based family-wide functional screening. A combination of phylogenic analysis and a reciprocal TBLASTN search identified five S. frugiperda ABC transporter members as homologs (SfABCC4, SfABCG1, and SfABCG23) or one-way best hits (SfABCG4 and SfABCG20) of the four fly ABC genes. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis found that all five S. frugiperda ABC transporter genes were inducible by EB, and expressed in all the developmental stages and larval tissues, but with significant quantitative differences among stages and tissues. A cytotoxicity assay of ABC-overexpressing Sf9 cell lines showed that all the five S. frugiperda ABC transporter genes made Sf9 cells tolerant to EB., Conclusions: This study not only identifies nine ABC transporter genes related to EB tolerance from D. melanogaster (four genes) and S. frugiperda (five genes), but also demonstrates the utility and effectiveness of the 'model to pests' strategy to identify most toxicity-affecting members from a given family of toxicity-related genes. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.)

The extensive use of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) in pest management has driven the evolution of pest resistance to Bt toxins, particularly Cry1Ac. Effective management of Bt resistance necessitates a good understanding of which pest proteins interact with Bt toxins. In this study, we screened a Helicoverpa armigera larval midgut cDNA library and captured 208 potential Cry1Ac-interacting proteins. Among these, we further examined the interaction between Cry1Ac and a previously unknown Cry1Ac-interacting protein, HaDALP ( H. armigera death-associated LIM-only protein), as well as its role in toxicology. The results revealed that HaDALP specifically binds to both the Cry1Ac protoxin and activated toxin, significantly enhancing cell and larval tolerance to Cry1Ac. Additionally, HaDALP was overexpressed in a Cry1Ac-resistant H. armigera strain. These findings reveal a greater number of Cry1Ac-interacting proteins than previously known and demonstrate, for the first time, that HaDALP reduces Cry1Ac toxicity by sequestering both the protoxin and activated toxin.

NO reduction over highly dispersed zerovalent iron (Fe 0 ) supported on graphene (G), with and without the presence of CO in the reacting stream, was systematically studied using a fixed-bed reactor, and the reaction mechanism was examined with the aid of in situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The in situ FTIR results showed that NO adsorbed on the Fe 0 site is reduced to form active surface oxygen species (O*), which is then reduced by carbon in graphene to form CO 2 . The presence of CO in the reacting stream helps to reduce the oxidized Fe(O) sites to regenerate Fe 0 sites, making NO reduction easier. It was revealed that NO and CO 2 are easily adsorbed on the active surface oxygen species (O*) to form nitrate and carbonate, inhibiting their reduction by CO and deactivating the catalyst. The DFT calculations results suggest that the role of Fe is to reduce the energy barrier of the NO adsorption and decomposition, which controls the formation of active surface oxygen species and N 2 . The combined FTIR and DFT results offer new insights into the possible mechanism of catalytic NO reduction over graphene loaded with Fe, with and without CO.

Whether and how shared intentionality (SI) influences the establishment of a novel interpersonal communication system is poorly understood. To investigate this issue, we designed a coordinating symbolic communication game (CSCG) and applied behavioral, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based hyperscanning, and hyper-transcranial alternating current stimulation (hyper-tACS) methods. Here we show that SI is a strong contributor to communicative accuracy. Moreover, SI, communicative accuracy, and interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in the right superior temporal gyrus (rSTG) are higher when dyads successfully establish a novel communication system. Furthermore, the SI influences communicative accuracy by increasing INS. Additionally, using time series and long short-term memory neural network analyses, we find that the INS can predict communicative accuracy at the early formation stage of the communication system. Importantly, the INS partially mediates the relationship between the SI and the communicative accuracy only at the formation stage of the communication system. In contrast, when the communication system is established, SI and INS no longer contribute to communicative accuracy. Finally, the hyper-tACS experiment confirms that INS has a causal effect on communicative accuracy. These findings suggest a behavioral and neural mechanism, subserved by the SI and INS, that underlies the establishment of a novel interpersonal communication system., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

Recent studies suggest that corrupt collaboration (i.e. acquiring private benefits with joint immoral acts) represents a dilemma between the honesty and reciprocity norms. In this study, we asked pairs of participants (labeled as A and B) to individually toss a coin and report their outcomes; their collective benefit could be maximized by dishonestly reporting (a corrupt behavior). As expected, the likelihood of corrupt behavior was high; this probability was negatively correlated with player A's moral judgment ability but positively correlated with player B's empathic concern (EC). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy data revealed that the brain-to-brain synchronization in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was associated with fewer corrupt behaviors, and that it mediated the relationship between player A's moral judgment ability and corrupt collaboration. Meanwhile, the right temporal-parietal junction synchronization was associated with more corrupt behaviors, and that it mediated the relationship between player B's EC and corrupt collaboration. The roles of these 2 regions are interpreted according to the influence of the honesty and reciprocity norms on corrupt collaboration. In our opinion, these findings provide insight into the underlying mechanisms and modulating factors of corrupt collaboration., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permission@oup.com.)

Opportunities to persuade and be persuaded are ubiquitous. What interpersonal neural pathway in real-world settings determining successful information propagation in naturalistic two-person persuasion scenarios? Hereby, we extended prior research on a naturalistic dyadic persuasion paradigm (NDP) using dual-fNIRS protocol simultaneously measured the neural activity from persuader-receiver dyads while they engaged in a modified "Arctic Survival Task." Investigating whether neural coupling between persuaders and receivers underpinning of persuading and predict persuasion outcomes (i.e., receiver's compliance). Broadly, we indicated that the persuasive arguments increase neural coupling significantly compared to non-persuasive arguments in the left superior temporal gyrus-superior frontal gyrus and superior frontal gyrus-inferior frontal gyrus. G-causality indices further revealed the coupling directionality of information flows between the persuader and receiver. Critically, the neural coupling could be a better predictor of persuasion outcomes relative to traditional self-report measures. Eventually, temporal dynamics neural coupling incorporating video recording revealed neural coupling marked the micro-level processes in response to persuading messages and possibly reflecting the time that persuasion might occurs. The initial case of the arguments with targeted views is valuable as the first step in encouraging the receiver's compliance. Our investigation represented an innovative interpersonal approach toward comprehending the neuroscience and psychology underlying complex and true persuasion., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permission@oup.com.)

In this work, we study the effect of substituents in cobalt(II) and iron(II) phthalocyanines (CoPcR 4 and FePcR 4 with R = H, F, Cl, tBu) on the structural features of their films, and their chemi-resistive sensor response to a low concentration of nitric oxide. For the correct interpretation of diffractograms of phthalocyanine films, structures of CoPcCl 4 and FePcCl 4 single crystals were determined for the first time. Films were tested as active layers for the determination of low concentrations of NO (10-1000 ppb). It was found that the best sensor response to NO was observed for the films of chlorinated derivatives MPcCl 4 (M = Co, Fe), while the lowest response was in the case of MPc(tBu) 4 films. FePcCl 4 films exhibited the maximal response to NO, with a calculated limit of detection (LOD) of 3 ppb; the response and recovery times determined at 30 ppb of NO were 30 s and 80 s, respectively. The LOD of a CoPcCl 4 film was 7 ppb. However, iron phthalocyanine films had low stability and their sensitivity to NO decreased rapidly over time, while the response of cobalt phthalocyanine films remained stable for at least several months. In order to explain the obtained regularities, quantum chemical calculations of the binding parameters between NO and phthalocyanine molecules were carried out. It was shown that the binding of NO to the side atoms of phthalocyanines occurred through van der Waals forces, and the values of the binding energies were in direct correlation with the values of the sensor response to NO.