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Coastal wetlands are hotspots for nitrogen (N) cycling, and crab burrowing is known to transform N in intertidal marsh soils. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study conducted field experiments and used indoor control test devices to investigate the seasonal response of nitrogen to crab disturbance at the sediment–water interface in coastal tidal flat wetlands. The results showed that crab disturbance exhibited significant seasonality with large seasonal differences in cave density and depth. Due to crab disturbance, nitrogen fluxes at the sediment–water interface were much greater in the box with crabs than in the box without crabs. In summer, NH4+-N showed a positive flux from the sediment to the overlying water, but NO2−-N and NO3−-N showed positive fluxes from the sediment to the overlying water only in early stages. In winter, NH4+-N showed a positive flux from the sediment to the overlying water, but NO2−-N and NO3−-N both exhibited positive and negative fluxes. These results indicated that the presence of crab burrows can cause the aerobic layer to move downward by approximately 8–15 cm in summer and directly promote nitrification at the sediment surface.

Purpose: Different arch structures may cause different foot function injuries. In the past, the arch structure and flexibility of the foot were often defined by the height of the arch, and there was no three-dimensional (3D) structure classification method. In order to form a more complete 3D description, we propose a new classification system of arch volume flexibility (AVF), and then use this new classification system to investigate the relationship between the AVF and arch index (AI), and the arch height flexibility (AHF) and AI, respectively. Methods: It is proposed to recruit 180 young male adults for the test. We obtained arch volume and AI through 3D scanning and obtained the navicular height through manual measurement. Based on these data, we calculated the AHF and the AVF. Using the quintile method, these arches are divided into very stiff, stiff, neutral, flexible, and very flexible. According to AI value, all arches were divided into cavus, rectus, and planus. The distribution of AVF was compared using χ2 goodness of fit test. The spearman correlation test was used to compare the AHF and AVF. A p

ABSTRACTCritical-size defects (CSDs) are challenging oral clinical issues that need to be solved. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) and gene therapy offer a new target to solve these issues. Consequently, ADSCs attract more and more attention because of advantages such as easy obtainability and no ethical concerns. TNF receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) is a significant binding protein both of tumour necrosis factor superfamily and of the toll/interleukin-1 receptor superfamily. Evidence is accumulating that TRAF6 inhibited osteoclast formation and promoted the proliferation of multiple myeloma cell lines and bone resorption. Here, we reported that overexpression of TRAF6 enhanced the proliferation, migration and osteogenesis of ADSCs through Raf-Erk-Merk-Hif1a pathway. Cell sheet of ADSCs combined with TRAF6 accelerated the healing of CSDs. In a word, TRAF6 enhanced osteogenesis, migration and proliferation through Raf-Erk-Merk-Hif1a pathway.

Estimating population density is a fundamental study in ecology and crop pest management. The density estimation of small-scale animals, such as insects, is a challenging task due to the large quantity and low visibility. An herbivorous insect is the big enemy of crops, which often causes serious losses. Feeding of insects results in changes in physiology-related chemical compositions of crops, but it is unknown whether these changes can be used to estimate the population density of pests. The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, is a serious insect pest hiding under rice canopy to suck the sap of rice stems. BPH density is a crucial indicator for determining whether the control using pesticides will be carried out or not. Estimating BPH density is still dependent on manmade survey and light-trap methods, which are time-consuming and low-efficient. Here, we developed a new method based on the physiological traits of rice leaves. The feeding of BPHs significantly decreased the contents of chlorophyll (the SPAD readings), water, silicon, and soluble sugar in rice leaves. Four ratio physiological indices based on these four physiological traits of the BPH-damaged rice leaves to those of healthy leaves were established, and they were significantly correlated with BPH density in rice plants. A rice growth stage-independent linear model based on the four ratio physiological indices and adding the other two variables, BPH damage duration and population increase rate, was developed. This model exhibited a reasonable accuracy for estimating BPH density. This new method will promote the development of density estimation of pest populations toward nonprofessionalization and automation.

The Dayin’gezhuang gold deposit is located in the central part of the Zhaoping Fault metallogenic belt in the Jiaodong gold province —the world ’s third-largest gold metallogenic area. It is a typical successful case of prospecting at a depth of 500‒2000 m in recent years, with cumulative proven gold resources exceeding 180 t. The main orebodies (No. 1 and No. 2 orebody) generally have a pitch direction of NNE and a plunge direction of NEE. As the ore-controlling fault, the Zhaoping Fault is a shovel-shaped stepped fault, with its dip angle presenting stepped high-to-low transitions at the elevation of −2000‒0 m. The gold mineralization enrichment area is mainly distributed in the step parts where the fault plane changes from steeply to gently, forming a stepped metallogenic pattern from shallow to deep. It can be concluded from previous studies that the gold mineralization of the Dayin’gezhuang gold deposit occurred at about 120 Ma. The ore-forming fluids were H2O-CO2-NaCl-type hydrothermal solutions with a medium-low temperature and medium-low salinity. The H-O isotopic characteristics indicate that the fluids in the early ore-forming stage were possibly magmatic water or mantle water and that meteoric water gradually entered the ore-forming fluids in the late ore-forming stage. The S and Pb isotopes indicate that the ore-forming materials mainly originate from the lower crust and contain a small quantity of mantle-derived components. The comprehensive analysis shows that the Dayin ’gezhuang gold deposit was formed by thermal uplifting-extensional tectonism. The strong crust-mantle interactions, large-scale magmatism, and the material exchange arising from the transformation from adakitic granites to arc granites and from the ancient lower crust to the juvenile lower crust during the Early Cretaceous provided abundant fluids and material sources for mineralization. Moreover, the detachment faults formed by the rapid magmatic uplift and the extensional tectonism created favorable temperature and pressure conditions and space for fluid accumulation and gold precipitation and mineralization.©2022 China Geology Editorial Office.

ABSTRACT Amino acids play a crucial role in the growth and development of insects. Aphids cannot ingest enough amino acids in plant phloem to meet their requirements, and therefore, they are mainly dependent on the obligate symbiont Buchnera aphidicola to synthesize essential amino acids. Besides Buchnera, aphids may harbor another facultative symbiont, Arsenophonus, which alters the requirement of the cotton-melon aphid Aphis gossypii for amino acid. However, it is unclear how Arsenophonus regulates the requirement. Here, we found that Arsenophonus ameliorated growth performance of A. gossypii on an amino acid-deficient diet. A deficiency in lysine (Lys) or methionine (Met) led to changes in the abundance of Arsenophonus. Arsenophonus suppressed the abundance of Buchnera when aphids were fed a normal amino acid diet, but this suppression was eliminated or reversed when aphids were on a Lys- or Met-deficient diet. The relative abundance of Arsenophonus was positively correlated with that of Buchnera, but neither of them was correlated with the body weight of aphids. The relative expression levels of Lys and Met synthase genes of Buchnera were affected by the interaction between Arsenophonus infections and Buchnera abundance, especially in aphids reared on a Lys- or Met-deficient diet. Arsenophonus coexisted with Buchnera in bacteriocytes, which strengthens the interaction. IMPORTANCE The obligate symbiont Buchnera can synthesize amino acids for aphids. In this study, we found that a facultative symbiont, Arsenophonus, can help improve aphids’ growth performance under amino acid deficiency stress by changing the relative abundance of Buchnera and the expression levels of amino acid synthase genes. This study highlights the interaction between Arsenophonus and Buchnera to ameliorate aphid growth under amino acid stress.

Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) is an amino acid derivative, previously described in the skeletal muscle of vertebrates, that serves as an important regulator of cellular bioenergetics and has been widely used as a feed additive. Nevertheless, the effect of GAA on adipose tissue growth remains unclear. Here, we hypothesized that dietary GAA negatively affected adipose tissue development in lambs. Lambs were individually fed diets with (0.09%) or without GAA for 70 d ad libitum, and the subcutaneous adipose tissues were sampled for analysis. The results showed that dietary GAA supplementation decreased the girth rib (GR) value (p < 0.01) of lamb carcasses. Both real-time PCR and Western blot analysis suggested that dietary GAA inhibited the expression of adipogenic markers, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ, p < 0.05), CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α (C/EBPα, p < 0.01) and sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein 1c (SREBP1C, p < 0.01) in subcutaneous adipose tissue. In vitro, GAA inhibited sheep stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cell proliferation, which was associated with downregulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA, p < 0.05), cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK 4, p < 0.05) and cyclin D1 (p < 0.01). GAA suppressed adipogenesis of SVF cells. Furthermore, miRNA sequencing revealed that GAA affected the miRNA expression profile, and real-time PCR analysis confirmed that miR-133a expression in both subcutaneous adipose tissue and SVF cell was downregulated by GAA. Meanwhile, miR-133a promoted adipogenic differentiation of SVF cells by targeting Sirt1. miR-133a mimics alleviated the inhibitory effect of GAA on SVF cells’ adipogenic differentiation. In summary, GAA attenuated adipogenesis of sheep SVF cells, which might occur through miR-133a-modulated Sirt1 expression.

Three-phase separator is an important device used in the development of offshore oil and gas fields to separate the oil, gas and water, for which proper pressure setting value is very critical. Herein, three-phase separators of A and B offshore platforms were taken as the object of research, and a dynamic simulation model of process was established based on the field operation conditions with K-Spice software. Specifically, the internal pressure change of the separators was simulated under two conditions, i.e. the gas outlet pipeline blocked and the control valve on the gas outlet pipeline of the separators stuck, and comparison was also made with the pressure setting value recommended by the domestic and foreign industry specifications. The results indicate that: For the setting value of high-high pressure for shutdown is low, the sticking of control valve at the gas outlet of separator may result in the shutdown of oil fields, and under the condition that the gas outlet is blocked, the problem concerning the non-independence of primary protection measure(close the shutoff valve)and the secondary protection measure(open the safety valve for pressure relief) may occur. Therefore, a new method of pressure setting was proposed, that is, to determine the minimum setting value of high-high pressure for shutdown according to the fluctuation value of internal pressure of the separator with the control valve on the gas outlet pipeline stuck, and to determine the minimum value of the setting pressure of the safety valve according to the pressure change of separator with the gas outlet blocked. The new method for pressure setting of three-phase separators can avoid the problem of "production shutdown" caused by the sticking of control valve of the separator and ensure the independence of the primary and secondary protection measures of separators.

The Jiaodong Peninsula in Shandong Province, China is the world’s third-largest gold metallogenic area, with cumulative proven gold resources exceeding 5000 t. Over the past few years, breakthroughs have been made in deep prospecting at a depth of 500–2000 m, particularly in the Sanshandao area where a huge deep gold orebody was identified. Based on previous studies and the latest prospecting progress achieved by the project team of this study, the following results are summarized. (1) 3D geological modeling results based on deep drilling core data reveal that the Sanshandao gold orefield, which was previously considered to consist of several independent deposits, is a supergiant deposit with gold resources of more than 1200 t (including 470 t under the sea area). The length of the major orebody is nearly 8 km, with a greatest depth of 2312 m below sea level and a maximum length of more than 3 km along their dip direction. (2) Thick gold orebodies in the Sanshandao gold deposit mainly occur in the specific sections of the ore-controlling fault where the fault plane changes from steeply to gently inclined, forming a stepped metallogenic model from shallow to deep level. The reason for this strong structural control on mineralization forms is that when ore-forming fluids migrated along faults, the pressure of fluids greatly fluctuated in fault sections where the fault dip angle changed. Since the solubility of gold in the ore-forming fluid is sensitive to fluid pressure, these sections along the fault plane serve as the target areas for deep prospecting. (3) Thermal uplifting-extensional structures provide thermodynamic conditions, migration pathways, and deposition spaces for gold mineralization. Meanwhile, the changes in mantle properties induced the transformation of the geochemical properties of the lower crust and magmatic rocks. This further led to the reactivation of ore-forming elements, which provided rich materials for gold mineralization. (4) It can be concluded from previous research results that the gold mineralization in the Jiaodong gold deposits occurred at about 120 Ma, which was superimposed by nonferrous metals mineralization at 118–111 Ma. The fluids were dominated by primary mantle water or magmatic water. Metamorphic water occurred in the early stage of the gold mineralization, while the fluid composition was dominated by meteoric water in the late stage. The S, Pb, and Sr isotopic compositions of the ores are similar to those of ore-hosting rocks, indicating that the ore-forming materials mainly derive from crustal materials, with the minor addition of mantle-derived materials. The gold deposits in the Jiaodong Peninsula were formed in an extensional tectonic environment during the transformation of the physical and chemical properties of the lithospheric mantle, which is different from typical orogenic gold deposits. Thus, it is proposed that they are named “Jiaodong-type” gold deposits.©2021 China Geology Editorial Office.

Maternal obesity predisposes offspring to obesity and metabolic disorders through incompletely understood mechanisms. Here the authors report that Dio3os is an imprinted long-coding RNA that modulates brown adipose tissue development and obesity resistance in the offspring.

Global warming is posing a threat to animals. As a large group of widely distributed poikilothermal animals, insects are liable to heat stress. How insects deal with heat stress is worth highlighting. Acclimation may improve the heat tolerance of insects, but the underlying mechanism remains vague. In this study, the high temperature of 39 °C was used to select the third instar larvae of the rice leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, an important insect pest of rice, for successive generations to establish the heat-acclimated strain (HA39). The molecular mechanism of heat acclimation was explored using this strain. The HA39 larvae showed stronger tolerance to 43 °C than the unacclimated strain (HA27) persistently reared at 27 °C. The HA39 larvae upregulated a glucose dehydrogenase gene, CmGMC10, to decrease the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and increase the survival rate under heat stress. The HA39 larvae maintained a higher activity of antioxidases than the HA27 when confronted with an exogenous oxidant. Heat acclimation decreased the H2O2 level in larvae under heat stress which was associated with the upregulation of CmGMC10. The rice leaf folder larvae may acclimate to global warming via upregulating CmGMC10 to increase the activity of antioxidases and alleviate the oxidative damage of heat stress.

Abstract Background The rice leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis Güenée is a serious insect pest of rice in Asia. This pest occurs in summer, and it is sensitive to high temperature. However, the larvae exhibit heat acclimation/adaptation. To understand the underlying mechanisms, we established a heat-acclimated strain via multigenerational selection at 39 °C. After heat shock at 41 °C for 1 h, the transcriptomes of the heat-acclimated (S-39) and unacclimated (S-27) larvae were sequenced, using the unacclimated larvae without exposure to 41 °C as the control. Results Five generations of selection at 39 °C led larvae to acclimate to this heat stress. Exposure to 41 °C induced 1160 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the heat-acclimated and unacclimated larvae. Both the heat-acclimated and unacclimated larvae responded to heat stress via upregulating genes related to sensory organ development and structural constituent of eye lens, whereas the unacclimated larvae also upregulated genes related to structural constituent of cuticle. Compared to unacclimated larvae, heat-acclimated larvae downregulated oxidoreductase activity-related genes when encountering heat shock. Both the acclimated and unacclimated larvae adjusted the longevity regulating, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, antigen processing and presentation, MAPK and estrogen signaling pathway to responsed to heat stress. Additionally, the unacclimated larvae also adjusted the spliceosome pathway, whereas the heat-acclimated larvae adjusted the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids pathway when encountering heat stress. Although the heat-acclimated and unacclimated larvae upregulated expression of heat shock protein genes under heat stress including HSP70, HSP27 and CRYAB, their biosynthesis, metabolism and detoxification-related genes expressed differentially. Conclusions The rice leaf folder larvae could acclimate to a high temperature via multigenerational heat selection. The heat-acclimated larvae induced more DEGs to response to heat shock than the unacclimated larvae. The changes in transcript level of genes were related to heat acclimation of larvae, especially these genes in sensory organ development, structural constituent of eye lens, and oxidoreductase activity. The DEGs between heat-acclimated and unacclimated larvae after heat shock were enriched in the biosynthesis and metabolism pathways. These results are helpful to understand the molecular mechanism underlying heat acclimation of insects.

Red blood cells play an essential role in the immune system. Moreover, red blood cell count (RBC) is an important clinical indicator of various diseases, including anemia, type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. Thus, it is necessary to reveal the genetic mechanism of RBC for animal disease resistance breeding. However, quite a few studies had focused on porcine RBC, especially at different stages. Thus, studies on porcine RBC at different stages are needed for disease resistant breeding. In this study, the porcine RBC of 20-, 33-, and 80-day old were measured, and genetic parameter estimation and genome-wide association study (GWAS) were both performed. As a result, the heritability was about 0.6 at the early stages, much higher than that at 80 days. Nine novel genome wide significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), located at Sus scrofa chromosome (SSC)3, 4, 8, 9, 10 and 15, respectively, were identified. Further, TGFβ2, TMCC2 and PPP1R15B genes were identified as important candidate genes of porcine red blood cell count. So different SNPs and candidate genes were found significantly associated with porcine RBC at different stages, suggesting that different genes might play key roles on porcine RBC at different stages. Overall, new evidences were offered in this study for the genetic bases of animal RBC, and that the SNPs and candidate genes would be useful for disease resistant breeding of pig.

Abstract Polyphagous cotton-melon aphid populations usually comprise cotton- and cucurbit-specialized biotypes. Host-specialized aphids are prone to food shortages. Cucumber, the favourite food of cucurbit-specialized aphids, is usually absent during autumn and winter in Nanjing, China. Therefore, suboptimal host plants act as refuges and govern the population dynamics of this aphid. The species, growth stages and leaf ages of host plants that cotton- and cucurbit-specialized aphids potentially could use were explored in this study. Cotton-specialized aphids were found to use wild chrysanthemum, potato, zucchini, pumpkin and flowering cucumber besides cotton, whilst cucurbit-specialized aphids were able to utilize potato, zucchini, pumpkin and mature cotton besides cucumber. The population dynamics and genotype frequencies of aphids on hibiscus, cotton, zucchini, cucumber and pumpkin showed that cotton-melon aphids on cucumber could transfer onto mature cotton. Aphids on zucchini shared microsatellite genotypes with aphids on cotton and cucumber. The predominant genotype of aphids on cotton was found on hibiscus, but the predominant genotype on cucumber was not found on hibiscus. Host-specialized aphids clearly have refuges during food shortages. Hibiscus is an overwintering host for cotton-specialized aphids but not for cucurbit-aphids. Removing refuges or managing aphids on refuges could potentially be an effective method to control cotton-melon aphids.

Background A polyphagous insect herbivore has a wide range of host plants. However, it has been found that many polyphagous herbivores commonly exhibit a strong preference for a subset of species in their broad host range, and various host biotypes exist in herbivore populations. Nutrition and secondary metabolites in plants affect herbivore preference and performance, but it is still not clear which factors determine the host range and host preference of polyphagous herbivores. Method Cotton-melon aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover, collected from cotton and cucumber crops, were used in this study. The genetic backgrounds of these aphids were detected using microsatellite PCR and six genotypes were evaluated. Performance of these six aphid genotypes on excised leaves and plants of cotton and cucumber seedlings were examined through a reciprocal transplant experiment. In order to detect whether the feeding experience on artificial diet would alter aphid host range, the six genotypes of aphids fed on artificial diet for seven days were transferred onto cotton and cucumber leaves, and then their population growth on these two host plants was surveyed. Results Aphids from cotton and cucumber plants could not colonize the excised leaves and intact plants of cucumber and cotton seedlings, respectively. All six genotypes of aphids collected from cotton and cucumber plants could survive and produce offspring on artificial diet, which lacked plant secondary metabolites. The feeding experience on the artificial diet did not alter the ability of all six genotypes to use their native host plants. However, after feeding on this artificial diet for seven days, two aphid genotypes from cotton and one from cucumber acquired the ability to use both of the excised leaves from cucumber and cotton plants. The two aphid genotypes from cotton conditioned by the feeding experience on artificial diet and then reared on excised cucumber leaves for >12 generations still maintained the ability to use intact cotton plants but did not establish a population on cucumber plants. However, one cucumber genotype conditioned by artificial diet and then reared on excised cotton leaves could use both the intact cotton and cucumber plants, showing that the expansion of host range was mediated by feeding experience. Conclusion Feeding experience on artificial diet induced the expansion of host range of the cucurbit-specialized A. gossypii, and this expansion was genotype-specific. We speculated that feeding on a constant set of host plants in the life cycle of aphids may contribute to the formation of host specialization.

In order to improve the properties of silica sol shell for investment casting process, various contents of cattail fibers were added into the slurry to prepare a fiber-reinforced shell in the present study. The bending strength of fiber-reinforced shell was investigated and the fracture surfaces of shell specimens were observed using SEM. It is found that the bending strength increases with the increase of fiber content, and the bending strength of a green shell with 1.0 wt.% fiber addition increases by 44% compared to the fiber-free shell. The failure of specimens of the fiber-reinforced green shell results from fiber rupture and debonding between the interface of fibers and adhesive under the bending load. The micro-crack propagation in the matrix is inhibited by the micro-holes for ablation of fibers in specimens of the fiber-reinforced shell during the stage of being fired. As a result, the bending strength of specimens of the fired shell had no significant drop. Particularly, the bending strength of specimens of the fired shell reinforced with 0.6wt.% fiber reached the maximum value of 4.6 MPa.

AIM: To assess possible benefits of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) injection as pretreatment for macular laser photocoagulation (MLP) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME). METHODS: Published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) concerning MLP with or without IVTA pretreatment for DME were retrieved from databases CNKI, Medline, EMbase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. A Meta-analysis on eligible studies was conducted using RevMan 5.0 software. Two investigators independently assessed the quality of the trials and extracted data. Main outcome measures included the change in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), difference in central macular thickness (CMT) and adverse events reporting in particular elevated intraocular pressure within the follow-up period. The results were pooled using weight mean difference (WMD) or odds risk (OR) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). A fixed- or random-effect model was employed depending on the heterogeneity of the inclusion trials. RESULTS: Finally, five independent RCTs were identified and used for comparing MLP with IVTA pretreatment (131 eyes) with MLP alone (133 eyes, control group). The overall study quality was relatively higher according to the modified Jadad scale. The Meta-analysis showed that MLP with IVTA pretreatment significantly reduced CMT at one, three and six months (P=0.002, 0.0003 and 0.04, respectively), compared with MLP alone. The IVTA pretreatment group showed statistically significant improvements in BCVA at the one-month follow up as compared with the control group (P=0.03). At three- and six-month follow up, there was a beneficial trend towards improving visual acuity in the IVTA pretreatment group without statistical significance between groups (P=0.06 and 0.20, respectively). The incidence of elevation of intraocular pressure was significantly higher in the IVTA pretreatment group than in the control group (P

AIM: To further evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) versus macular photocoagulation (MPC) in treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) by Meta-analysis.METHODS: Pertinent publications were identified through systemic searches of PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register up to 30 November, 2013. Changes in central macular thickness (CMT) in μm and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in logMAR equivalents were extracted at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24mo after initial treatment, and a Meta-analysis was carried out to compare results between groups receiving IVB and MPC.RESULTS:Five randomized controlled trial (RCTs) and one high-quality comparative study were identified and included. Our Meta-analysis revealed that both IVB and MPC resulted in the improvements of CMT and BCVA in eyes with DME at 1mo after initial treatment, with IVB being significantly superior to MPC (P=0.01 and 0.02, respectively). The improvements of both measure outcomes at 3, 6, 12 and 24mo after treatment did not vary significantly between the IVB groups and MPC groups (CMT at 3mo, P=0.85; at 6mo, P=0.29; at 12mo, P=0.56; at 24mo, P=0.71; BCVA at 3mo, P=0.31; at 6mo, P= 0.30; at 12mo, P=0.23; at 24mo, P=0.52). However, the number of observed adverse events was low in all studies.CONCLUSION: Current evidence shows IVB treatment trends to be more effective in improvements of macular edema and vision in eyes with DME at an earlier follow up (1mo) compared with MPC. At other time, both interventions have comparable efficacy without statistical significances.

Migration is a costly strategy in terms of reproduction output. Competition for limited internal resources leads to physiological management of migration-reproduction trade-offs in energy allocation. Migratory insects must choose to determine to allocate energy into reproduction or migration when confronted insufficient energy supply. Although nutrient shortage is known to stimulate insect migration to escape deteriorating habitat, little is known about when and how migratory insects make decisions when confronted by a nutritional shortage. Here Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), a migratory rice pest in eastern Asia, was used to study the effects of starvation on reproductive traits, behavioral traits and energy allocation. The result showed that one or two days’ starvation before preoviposition did not significantly reduce the fertility (total egg per female laid) and flight capability (flight duration and distance) of both sexes C. medinalis. The preoviposition period was extended significantly only if moths were starved starting on the first day after emergence. Also, take-off percentage of moths starved since their first day increased significantly, and continued to increase even if supplemental nutrients were supplied as honey solution in later days. Moths starved on the first day appeared to allocate or transfer triglycerides into the thorax to maintain the migration process: the quantity of thoracic triglycerides did not differ with age, but abdominal triglycerides decreased with age if starvation continued. These results indicate that the first day post-emergence is a critical period for C. medinalis to decide to migrate or not in response to lack of food. This furthers our understanding of the population dynamics of migratory insects under natural conditions.

Remote sensing end-products related to vegetation have potential applications in monitoring the health of crops. The sensitivity of a spectral index to crop stress determines its application prospect. Our aim in this study was to explore the sensitivity of a ratio vegetation index (RVI) to identify the damage caused by brown planthoppers (BPHs) on rice plants, and to evaluate the potential application of hyperspectral end-products to monitor population size of BPH. Different numbers of the second-instar nymphs were released onto potted rice at the tillering stage. The plants were exposed to BPH for two, four, six, and eight days, and reflectance from the damaged rice was measured using a hyperspectral spectroradiometer. Measurements were done again two, four, and six days after exposure (recover days), and then the spectral index RVI746/670 was compared among rice plants infested with different numbers of BPH. The relationships between RVI746/670, the number of BPH and exposure day were simulated by linear and curve models. BPH damage resulted in a decreased spectral index RVI746/670 of rice plants. RVI746/670 well indicated the damage of rice plants caused by six–eight BPH nymphs per plant in six–eight days, but the index could not identify the damage of these nymphs in two days. The RVI746/670 showed a two–four-day delay to indicate a slight BPH damage. The spectral index RVI746/670 could indicate the physiologic compensation of plants for the feeding of BPH and the post-effect of BPH damage on rice. The RVI746/670 of rice showed a quadratic curve relation with the number of BPH nymphs and a quadratic or linear relation with the exposure day. The recover day had no significant effects on RVI746/670. The RVI746/670 (Y) could be simulated by a quadratic surface model based on the number of BPH (N) and exposure day (T): Y = 3.09427 + 0.59111T + 0.44296N − 0.03683T2 − 0.03035N2 − 0.08188NT (R2 = 0.5228, p < 0.01). In summary, the spectral index RVI746/670 of rice is sensitive to damage caused by BPH.