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In order to clarify the migration route and the source of white-backed planthopper (WBPH) (Sogatella furcifera) between Myanmar and Yunnan Province, China, we collected six populations throughout Myanmar and five populations around the border areas in Yunnan Province, China. A total of 790 base pairs in the mtDNA COI genes from 416 individuals were obtained. A total of 43 haplotypes were identified, among which 37 were unique haplotypes, and the remaining 6 were shared among different populations. Two common shared haplotypes (H_1 and H_2) had a widespread distribution in all populations and accounted for 88.8% of the total haplotype frequency, suggesting a high-level gene flow among the Myanmar and Yunnan populations. Bayesian skyline plot (BSP) analysis results indicated that the effective population size of WBPH expanded between about 10,000 and 7000 years ago, and S. furcifera might follow the post-LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) expansion pattern. Based on the total migrant (Nem) value, it can be deduced that north and northeast Myanmar were the primary migration sources for WBPH populations in the southwest and south Yunnan regions. This study aims to contribute to the sustainable regional management of this important rice pest and provide new insights into the genetic diversity of WBPH in Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image-to-image steganography refers to the practice of hiding secret image within a cover image, serving as a crucial technique for secure communication and data protection. Existing image-to-image generative adversarial network-based steganographic methods for image hiding demonstrate a high embedding capacity. However, there is still significant room for improvement in terms of the quality of the stego images and the extracted secret images. In this study, we propose an architecture for inconspicuously hiding an image within the Y channel of another image, leveraging a U-Net network and a multi-scale fusion ExtractionBlock. The network is jointly trained using a loss function combining Perceptual Path Length (PPL) and Mean Square Error (MSE). The proposed network is trained and tested on two datasets, Labeled Faces in the Wild and Pascal visual object classes. Experimental results demonstrate that the model not only achieves high invisibility and significant hiding capacity (8 bits per pixel) without altering the color information of the cover image but also exhibits strong generalization ability. Additionally, we introduce the Modified Multi-Image Similarity Metric (MMISM), which integrates the Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Structural Similarity Index Metric (SSIM) values of images, to comprehensively evaluate the network's hiding and extraction capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Enhanced cardiac sympathetic afferent reflex (CSAR) promotes sympathetic hyperactivation in chronic heart failure (CHF). Salusin‐β is a torsin family 2 member A (TOR2A) gene product and a cardiovascular active peptide closely associated with cardiovascular diseases. We aimed to determine the roles of salusin‐β in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in modulating enhanced CSAR and sympathetic hyperactivation in rats with CHF induced by coronary artery ligation and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Methods: CSAR was evaluated based on the responses of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) to the epicardial administration of capsaicin in rats under anesthesia. Results: Salusin‐β protein expression was upregulated in the PVN of the CHF compared with sham‐operated rats. Salusin‐β microinjection into the PVN dose‐dependently increased MAP and RSNA and enhanced CSAR, while anti‐salusin‐β IgG exerted opposite effects. The effect of salusin‐β was inhibited by reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger or NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor but promoted by superoxide dismutase inhibitor. The effect of anti‐salusin‐β IgG was interdicted by nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor. Furthermore, chronic salusin‐β gene knockdown in PVN attenuated CSAR, reduced sympathetic output, improved myocardial remodeling and cardiac function, decreased NAD(P)H oxidase activity and ROS levels, and increased NO levels in the CHF rats. Conclusion: Increased salusin‐β activity in the PVN contributes to sympathetic hyperactivation and CSAR in CHF by inhibiting NO release and stimulating NAD(P)H oxidase‐ROS production. Reducing endogenous central salusin‐β expression might be a novel strategy for preventing and treating CHF in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta, or Phthorimaea absouta, is native to South America, but quickly spread to other regions of world, including Europe, Africa, and Asia, devastating to global tomato production. However, a lack of high-quality genome resources makes it difficult to understand its high invasiveness and ecological adaptation. Here, we sequenced the genome of the tomato pinworm using Nanopore platforms, yielding a genome assembly of 564.5 Mb with contig N50 of 3.33 Mb. BUSCO analysis demonstrated that this genome assembly has a high-level completeness of 98.0% gene coverage. In total, 310 Mb are repeating sequences accounting for 54.8% of genome assembly, and 21,979 protein-coding genes are annotated. Next, we used the Hi-C technique to anchor 295 contigs to 29 chromosomes, yielding a chromosome-level genome assembly with a scaffold N50 of 20.7 Mb. In sum, the high-quality genome assembly of the tomato pinworm is a useful gene resource that contributes to a better understanding of the biological characteristics of its invasiveness and will help in developing an efficient control policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]