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Physalis floridana Rydb., a member of the Solanaceae family, is renowned for its diverse secondary metabolites, including physalins and withanolides. The 28-spotted ladybird beetle (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata) is a notorious pest severely damaging Solanaceous crops. This study demonstrates that P. floridana Rydb. significantly impacts on the development and reproductive suppression of H. vigintioctopunctata. A comparative transcriptome analysis was performed by feeding H. vigintioctopunctata larvae on P. floridana Rydb., Solanum nigrum L., Solanum tuberosum L., and Solanum lycopersicum L. The results reveal that larvae fed on P. floridana Rydb. exhibit numerous differentially expressed genes, which are notably enriched in pathways related to energy metabolism, immunity, and detoxification. These functions and pathways are less enriched in larvae fed by other hosts. Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) indicates that feeding on P. floridana Rydb. influences the expression of specific genes involved in the Toll and IMD signaling pathways, impacting the immune system of H. vigintioctopunctata larvae. This study provides transcriptomic insights into larval responses to different diets and suggests that the effect of P. floridana Rydb. on the immune system of H. vigintioctopunctata is a key defense mechanism against herbivores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Due to issues with pesticide residues and resistance caused by traditional pesticides, the use of modified atmosphere storage technology has become increasingly popular. However, research has shown that prolonged exposure to high concentrations of CO2 for pest control in this technology can lead to insect resistance to hypoxia. Therefore, it is necessary to find out the resistance mechanism. This study identifies TcCYP6K1 and TcCYP9F2 as key factors in the response to high CO2 in Tribolium castaneum, suggesting that these genes may affect the resistance to high CO2 by influencing in the synthesis or breakdown of the carbohydrate metabolism pathways. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the combined use of novel nucleic acid pesticides and modified atmosphere treatment. Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYP), crucial detoxification enzymes in insects, are involved in the metabolism of endogenous substances as well as the activation and degradation of exogenous compounds. In this study, T. castaneum was utilized to investigate the roles of TcCYP6K1 and TcCYP9F2 genes influencing in the trehalose metabolism pathway under high-CO2 stress. By predicting the functional sequences of TcCYP6K1 and TcCYP9F2 genes and analyzing their spatiotemporal expression patterns, it was discovered that both genes belong to the CYP3 group and exhibit high expression levels during the larval stage, decreasing during the pupal stage, while showing high expression in the fatty body, intestine, and malpighian tubules. Furthermore, following the knockdown of TcCYP6K1 and TcCYP9F2 genes in combination with treating larvae with 75% CO2, it was observed that larval mortality increased, and glycogen content significantly decreased, while trehalose content increased significantly. Additionally, membrane-bound trehalase enzyme activity declined, TPS gene expression was significantly upregulated, GS gene expression was significantly downregulated, and ATP content showed a marked decrease. In conclusion, CYP genes are critical responsive genes of T. castaneum to high CO2 levels, potentially impacting the insect's resistance to carbon dioxide through their involvement in the synthesis or breakdown of the carbohydrate metabolism pathway. These findings could serve as a theoretical basis for the utilization of novel pesticides in low-oxygen grain storage techniques and offer new insights for environmentally friendly pest control strategies in grain storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the issue of vortex current fields near the islands and reefs in China's straits, which pose significant challenges to engineering construction and navigation safety in the surrounding waters. To monitor these vortex fields, the study proposes an innovative method utilizing acoustic signals. The study utilizes the numerical simulation and phase feature extraction of acoustic signals in the vortex current field, based on ray acoustic theory and time-reversal mirror technology. The study successfully monitored the central position of the vortex core and characteristic radius of the vortex current field near Barley Straw Reef using HYCOM data for the first time. Furthermore, the performance of the method was analyzed under different acoustic phase perturbations and signal-to-noise ratios. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the acoustic method is effective in monitoring near-shore vortex fields, and the time-reversal mirror technique is useful in extracting phase difference information from acoustic signals generated by vortex currents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the recent developments in hydrochromic materials, visual detection of water level in plastic materials without sacrificing mechanical properties remains a meaningful yet challenging topic. Currently, to optimize the sensitivity, hydrochromic agents are usually incorporated into hygroscopic matrixes to form bulk solids, which have restricted compatibility for the direct application inside other polymer materials. In this study, this challenge is tackled by nanoscale incorporation of hydrochromic agent into a hygroscopic polymer by miniemulsion polymerization. The obtained hydrochromic nanocapsule has an average diameter ≈110 nm, shows reversible hydrochromic property after 10 cycles, and can offer the first directly eye‐readable signal about the real time in situ water level in plastic materials with a water level below 4 wt.%, while achieving a 214% enhancement of the toughness at the same time. Comprehensive researches by investigating the composition and viscoelastic transition of the nanocapsules has shed light on the mechanisms concerning hydrochromic sensitivity and toughening effect. This simple methodology not only offers a new route for the nanoscale incorporation and application of different hydrochromic materials, but also inspires the development of smart nanoparticles with other stimuli‐responsive functionalities. All these aspects should render this work interesting for both scientific researches and engineering practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]