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Superparasitism is a widespread phenomenon. Having accepted superparasitism, mated female parasitoids must decide on the sex of each egg they subsequently lay into the same host. Theory predicts that this decision is either based on host quality, when more male eggs are laid in hosts that are already parasitized because they are perceived to be of poorer quality; or more eggs are laid of the sex that is most likely to be a strong larval competitor, i.e. generally females. Anastatus disparis is a facultative endoparasitic egg parasitoid. We used ‘artificial’ hosts to explore outcomes of decision making by A. disparis during superparasitism under a manipulated absence of larval competition. When only one egg was laid it was always female. As the number of eggs laid increased, so more of them were male. This supports the theory that oviposition decisions are based on host quality; more male eggs were laid in hosts that were already parasitized and thus of poorer quality. In a second experiment, eggs were exposed to parasitoids for different periods of time. Half the eggs were dissected to determine the number of parasitoid eggs that had been laid. The remaining eggs were incubated and the number and sex of offspring that ultimately emerged, following larval competition, were recorded. Under superparasitism conditions fierce larval competition ensued; only one offspring survived and they were predominantly female. In conclusion, oviposition decisions by female A. disparis accepting self-superparasitism were made based on host quality.

A classically versatile steroid intermediate, 9α-hydroxyandrost-4-ene-3,17-dione (9α-OH-AD), can be obtained by phytosterol (PS) bioconversion using Mycobacterium. In this study, a cyclodextrin-resting cell reaction system with a high concentration of PS (50 g L−1) was used to produce 9α-OH-AD. However, the inhibitory effect of metabolic intermediates is a key factor limiting production efficiency. After the separation and identification of a series of metabolic intermediates, it was found that 4-ene-3-keto steroids, which are the first metabolites of sterol side-chain degradation, accumulated at the beginning of the bioprocess and had a remarkable inhibitory effect on bioconversion. The bioconversion rate was greatly improved when 5 g L−1 of macroporous adsorbent resin D101 was added to the reaction system in the initial phase. A certain amount of resin acted as a reservoir to remove the inhibitory intermediate in situ and facilitated the bioconversion process, and the 9α-OH-AD space–time yield increased to 8.51 g L−1 d−1, which was 23.15% higher than that without resin addition (6.91 g L−1 d−1) after 72 h bioconversion. In summary, we identified an inhibitory intermediate that limits the bioconversion rate and provided a solution based on resin adsorption for improving 9α-OH-AD production efficiency in a commercial-scale process.

Patients with benign prostatic disease often experience detrusor morphological changes and dysfunction. In severe cases, it leads to bladder detrusor dysfunction, resulting in dysuria, frequent urination, urgent urination, incomplete urination, and other symptoms including renal function injury. An operation to restore normal urination function and to control postoperative complications, as far as possible, is the most common method for benign prostatic disease.To observe the effect of precise nursing service mode on postoperative urinary incontinence prevention in patients with prostate disease.In total, 130 patients diagnosed with benign prostatic disease, from January 2018 to June 2021, in our hospital, were selected and divided into observation and control groups according to their treatment options. Sixty-five cases in the control group were given routine nursing mode intervention and 65 cases in the observation group received precise nursing service mode intervention. The intervention with the observation group included psychological counseling about negative emotions, pelvic floor exercises, and post-hospital discharge care. The complications of the two groups were counted, and the general postoperative conditions of the two groups were recorded. The urinary flow dynamics indexes of the two groups were detected, and differences in clinical international prostate system score (IPSS) and urinary incontinence quality of life questionnaire (I-QOL) scores were evaluated.Postoperative exhaust time (18.65 ± 3.23 h and 24.63 ± 4.51 h), the time of indwelling catheter (4.85 ± 1.08 d and 5.63 ± 1.24 d), and hospitalization time (8.78 ± 2.03 d and 10.23 ± 2.28 d) in the observation group were lower than in the control group. The difference was statistically significant (The precise nursing service mode can reduce the incidence of postoperative urinary incontinence in patients with prostate disease, thus improving postoperative urodynamics and rehabilitation, and quality of life.

Sex allocation in haplodiploid arthropods has implications for fitness and has received much attention with regard to parasitoid wasps. In addition to environmental variables, maternal characteristics (such as age) are important factors that shape sex allocation. Despite this, maternal characteristics have received less research attention. Older females may experience an increase, a decrease, or no change in the sex ratio [male/(female + male)] of their offspring compared with younger females. Using mated Anastatus disparis (Ruschka) (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae), a quasi-gregarious parasitoid, we determined experimentally the sex of offspring in relation to the age of their mother. As most studies predicted, the result showed that, as maternal A. disparis grew older, the sex ratio of offspring increased. However, most females continued to produce offspring of both sexes until their death. Sperm depletion was a likely reason for the increase in numbers of male offspring in response to maternal age. However, both fecundity and the number of male offspring declined overall in the whole colony, suggesting that the increase in sex ratio amongst offspring was mainly due to decreased fecundity in older maternal A. disparis. Overall, both sperm depletion and decreased fecundity played a role in determining the sex ratio of progeny from older mothers.

In China Aromia bungii (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is an economically important wood-boring pest of Prunus trees, particularly peach, and it has recently entered Japan and several other countries as an invasive species. Larvae of A. bungii are attacked by parasitoid species in the genus Sclerodermus (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae), which have potential to be released as biological control agents. In this study we evaluated the olfactory responses and parasitism rates of three Sclerodermus species against A. bungii when reared on the substitute host, Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). In Y-tube olfactometer studies, the odor of frass from the larvae of A. bungii was highly attractive to S. guani adults, but not to S. sichuanensis or S. pupariae adults. When reared on A. bungii larvae (rather than T. molitor) for one generation, S. sichuanensis adults were also attracted to the odor of frass from A. bungii larvae. This indicates that learning plays an important and positive role in successful host location by S. sichuanensis. For S. pupariae, it is possible that more extensive learning experience is required to adapt to A. bungii larvae. When we studied mortality of immature A. bungii larvae in infested peach tree logs under semi-field conditions, we found that mortality rates were similar for the three species of Sclerodermus: S. guani 54.81 ± 8.07%, S. sichuanensis 42.59 ± 9.01% and S. pupariae 40 ± 6.76%, respectively. However, there was a significant difference in mortality between S. guani and the control. Parasitism rates caused by S. sichuanensis (35.56 ± 9.48%) were similar to S. guani (42.96 ± 14.20%) and S. pupariae (34.44 ± 10.10%). From these results we suggest that S. guani would be the best candidate for biological control of the immature stages of A. bungii, and that more field trials should be done in the future.

A classically versatile steroid intermediate, 9α-hydroxyandrost-4-ene-3,17-dione (9α-OH-AD), can be obtained by phytosterol (PS) bioconversion using

In the present work, we tried to identify the mechanism why by which the steroid alcohols accumulated when hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) was present to enhance the sterol conversion rate. Compared with the bioconversion system without HP-β-CD, the reaction rate was greatly improved in presence of HP-β-CD, but the steroid alcohols largely accumulated concurrently. In a reaction system with an enhanced reaction rate, the higher intracellular NADH/NAD

We present a quantitative analysis of small RNA dynamics during the transition from hPSCs to the three germ layer lineages to identify spatiotemporal-specific small RNAs that may be involved in hPSC differentiation. To determine the degree of spatiotemporal specificity, we utilized two algorithms, namely normalized maximum timepoint specificity index (NMTSI) and across-tissue specificity index (ASI). NMTSI could identify spatiotemporal-specific small RNAs that go up or down at just one timepoint in a specific lineage. ASI could identify spatiotemporal-specific small RNAs that maintain high expression from intermediate timepoints to the terminal timepoint in a specific lineage. Beyond analyzing single small RNAs, we also quantified the spatiotemporal-specificity of microRNA families and observed their differential expression patterns in certain lineages. To clarify the regulatory effects of group miRNAs on cellular events during lineage differentiation, we performed a gene ontology (GO) analysis on the downstream targets of synergistically up-and downregulated microRNAs. To provide an integrated interface for researchers to access and browse our analysis results, we designed a web-based tool at https://keyminer.pythonanywhere.com/km/.

A new species, Homalota nanjingensis Cao, Ji & Liu, sp. nov. from Jiangsu province of China, is described and illustrated. Photographs of the body and mouthparts, line drawings of the aedeagus and spermatheca are provided.

The morphology of the reproductive systems and the coupling mechanism between the male and the female genitalia during copulation in Dioryctria rubella Hampson are described. Differing from those in other genera of Phycitinae moths, the corpus bursae possesses a well-developed signum, and the seminal duct does not exhibit a bulla seminalis, instead arising from the ventral surface of the corpus bursae. The ultrastructural observation shows that the spines on the inner surface of the ductus bursae and the cervix bursa are complementary to that of cornuti on the outer surface of vesica in position and direction, which elucidates the matching mechanism between the ductus bursae and the vesica. The male possesses well-developed scale brushes, which consist of six pairs of overlapped structures. Finally, the morphological differences of scale brushes between D. rubella and other Dioryctria species and related genera, and their function during copulation are discussed.

Silicate strontium phosphor for white light LEDs was synthesized by high temperature solid-state method. The structure, surface, excitation and emission spectra of Sr3SiO5: Eu2+ phosphor which contain different mass fractions of BaF2 were measured. The results show that BaF2 quantity affects the structure, surface and spectra of Sr3SiO5: Eu2+ sample. The sample has the best properties when the BaF2 concentration comes to 2.0wt%. The structure of sample is tetragonal phase Sr3SiO5. The emission and excitation spectra peaks locate respectively at 575nm and 537nm. The samples can be excited by InGaN blue chip. The emission peaks appeared apparent red shift with the increase of BaF2 concentration. A white light emission spectrum with good color rendition was obtained by coupling the phosphor with blue chip.

A new robust structured light technique based on multi-valued pseudo-random color encoded pattern is discussed in this paper. After analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the existing pseudo-random coding patterns in computer vision, a new multi-valued pseudo-random color encoded pattern is designed on the basis of the combination of the feature points and the feature lines. Using this pattern, the feature points are easy to extract, and the problems of leaking points and pseudo-feature points are greatly reduced. Furthermore, it also reduced the difficulty and the complexity of the feature matching because of the feature lines.

A measuring method of large sized workpiece based on SIFT algorithm is proposed in this paper. After the different image matching algorithms are compared, SIFT algorithm, which has much more robust, is introduced in detail. Then measuring platform is built, and large sized workpiece is measured by SIFT image stitching and image processing. The experiment proves that SIFT algorithm is viable and advantageous in the measurement of large sized workpiece. At last, the precision and affecting factors are analyzed.

The dynamics of the confinement transition from L mode to H mode (LH) is investigated in detail theoretically via the extended three-wave coupling model describing the interaction of turbulence and zonal flow (ZF) for the first time. Thereinto, turbulence is divided into a positive-frequency (PF) wave and a negative-frequency (NF) one, and the gradient of pressure is added as the auxiliary energy for the system. The LH confinement transition is observed for a sufficiently high input energy. Moreover, it is found that the rotation direction of the limit cycle oscillation (LCO) of PF wave and pressure gradient is reversed during the transition. The mechanism is illustrated by exploring the wave phases. The results presented here provide a new insight into the analysis of the LH transition, which is helpful for the experiments on the fusion devices.

The rangelands of China are an important resource for livestock production, and play a strategic role in maintaining ecosystems and protecting the living environment of humans. Drought, overgrazing, infrastructure development, insufficient investment and poor management of rangelands have led to the invasion and spread of poisonous weeds in these rangelands in recent years. The rapid spread of poisonous weeds over the last few decades have caused a series of ecological problems, including a decrease in biological diversity and consequent desertification, and they are seriously affecting the ecological balance of rangelands, and the sustainable livestock production. Locoweeds, which belong to the genera Oxytropis and Astragalus, are an important species of poisonous legumes in the western rangelands of China, causing large economic losses. This review summarises the species and their ecological distribution, the toxic ingredients, the poisoning mechanism of locoweeds and damage control techniques for locoweeds. It attempts to highlight certain issues relating to research on locoweeds and how they are being tackled in order to understand the significance of locoweeds in preserving ecosystem diversity and the steps that require to be taken to control the spread of locoweeds in the western natural rangeland of China.

The title compound, [Na(4)(CH(2)O(6)S(2))(2)(H(2)O)(5)](n), was crystallized from an aqueous solution. The sodium ions are surrounded and bridged by O atoms from coordinated water mol-ecules and sulfonate ions in a three-dimensional neutral network. The crystal structure is also stabilized by an intricate system of hydrogen bonds.