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Previous researches had emphasized tectonic impacts on the fluvial system at the tectonically active areas, while the effects of lithology and local base level change have received relatively rare attention. Here we investigated fluvial landforms at different spatial scales, focusing on knickpoints and channel network reorganization from an area affected by the Haiyuan Fault in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. The geomorphic indices, i.e., drainage pattern and χ anomalies, were calculated and investigated. The results show that two regional radial drainages formed around the Laohu and Hasi Mountains. Within the interior of the radial drainage, tributaries from the southeast side of the Laohu Mountain experienced near 180° direction change. We interpret this as the gradual drainage capture originating from the height difference (~190 m) of the local base level between the two catchments. Some tributaries from the Hasi Mountain show alternating gorges and broad valleys controlled by lithology. Besides, tectonic uplift and the lowering of base level (from the incision of the Yellow River) triggered an autogenic positive-feedback transition from parallel to dendritic drainage patterns. These observations suggest that base level change and lithology play a crucial role in landscape evolution, even in a tectonically active region.

Concern about the effect of tetracycline (TC) on the ecosystem has been increasing due to its endurance and low decomposition. Photocatalysts have attracted extensive interest as alternatives to other ordinary wastewater treatment methods. A nanosized mesoporous phosphated TiO2 (P-TiO2) photocatalyst was fabricated to degrade TC under Xe lamp irradiation. The TC degradation and COD removal rate reached 98.97% and 79.16% within 30 min. Photocatalysts were characterized by SEM, HRTEM, BET, DRS, XRD, XPS and FT-IR techniques. 31 experiments were designed to identify the best conditions for photocatalytic degradation of TC by response surface methodology (RSM) based on a central composite design (CCD). 6 key operating parameters were selected to study their interrelationships by CCD design. Based on the experimental data and ANOVA, the coefficient of determination (R2), the values of “Prob > F” and F-value were determined to be 0.9692, 0.002 and 7.87, respectively, which demonstrated that the model is significant. And the excellent correlation between the predicted and actual values also provided good confidence in the model. To achieve a higher removal rate of TC under appropriate and more economical experimental conditions, the optimum values of P-loading on TiO2, concentration of P-TiO2, irradiation time, photo intensity, pH and concentration of TC should be set to 17.45 wt%, 1.00 g L−1, 40.39 min, 5 A, 7, 29.93 mg L−1, respectively, in which the degradation of TC can reach 99.16%. Furthermore, the intermediates of TC verified by GC-MS analysis were mainly chains and rings. A possible pathway of photodegradation was also proposed.

Photocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion is a promising technology to address the greenhouse effect and energy shortage problems by utilizing the inexhausted solar energy. However, the over-reliance on metal-based photocatalysts hampers its long-term application. Here, a series of Earth-abundant natural biomass-derived heteroatom-doped carbonaceous photocatalysts prepared via a sulfuric-acid-assisted carbonization method are developed to convert the CO2 waste into the valuable carbon monoxide (CO) fuel. On account of visible-light-harvesting, large CO2 uptake, efficient charge separation and abundant defects, green catalysts such as the carbonized konjac biomass (CKB) exhibit a superior visible-light-driven CO formation of 115 μmol g−1 h−1 without using any co-catalyst or sacrificial reagent. The versatility of the synthetic approach developed is verified by preparing a series of carbonaceous photocatalysts derived from various Earth-abundant natural biomass precursors including crops, plants, and agricultural waste. The results show that they all perform appreciable photocatalytic CO2-to-CO conversion. This study provides a general method for designing cheap, high-performance, sustainable, and metal-free photocatalysts using natural biomass, which makes the large-scale practical use feasible and helps achieve a closed-loop carbon cycle.

The Yinwashan and Xinminpu faults are located in the Jiuxi Basin in the western end of the Hexi Corridor. The determination of their activity and slip rates is of great significance for understanding the eastward extension of the Altyn Tagh fault. Based on geological and geomorphologic field survey, trench excavation, optically stimulated luminescence dating, we define the fault geometry and kinematic properties of the two faults. Based on fault scarps measurement using differential GPS and 10Be surface exposure dating, we determined vertical slip rate of 0.09±0.01 mm/yr for the Yinwashan fault and 0.1±0.02 mm/yr for the Xinminpu fault. Using the dips observed in trenches and natural sections, we estimated horizontal shortening rates of 0.05±0.03 and 0.23±0.06 mm/yr, respectively. No significant strike slip motion is observed on these two faults, and we infer that this region was dominated by horizontal shortening in the Late Quaternary. Although the shortening rate is quite low on each individual fault, together with other faults in this area, these two faults have an essential role in transferring slip from the eastern end of the Altyn Tagh fault and in accommodating the northeastward growth of Tibetan Plateau.

Green leaf volatiles (GLVs) can induce defence priming, that is, can enable plants to respond faster or more strongly to future stress. The effects of priming by GLVs on defence against insect herbivores and pathogens have been investigated, but little is known about the potential of GLVs to prime crops against virus transmission by vector insects. Here, we tested the hypothesis that exposure to the GLV Z-3-hexenol (Z-3-HOL) can prime tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) for an enhanced defence against subsequent Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) transmission by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. Bioassays showed that Z-3-HOL priming reduced subsequent plant susceptibility to TYLCV transmission by whiteflies. Z-3-HOL treatment increased transcripts of jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthetic genes and increased whitefly-induced transcripts of salicylic acid (SA) biosynthetic genes in plants. Using chemical inducers, transgenics and mutants, we demonstrated that induction of JA reduced whitefly settling and successful whitefly inoculation, while induction of SA reduced TYLCV transmission by whiteflies. Defence gene transcripts and flavonoid levels were enhanced when whiteflies fed on Z-3-HOL-treated plants. Moreover, Z-3-HOL treatment reduced the negative impact of whitefly infestation on tomato growth. These findings suggest that Z-3-HOL priming may be a valuable tool for improving management of insect-transmitted plant viruses.

The gnat, Bradysia odoriphaga Yang et Zhang, is an important underground pest in Asia. B. odoriphaga differ in heat and cold tolerance and exhibit quite different developmental strategies. To understand the underlying mechanisms, we sequenced and compared the transcriptome of B. odoriphaga under 40 °C (a stressful high temperature), 25 °C, and 4 °C (a stressful low temperature) for 1 h. We found that metabolism- and ribosome-related genes were modulated. In high temperature (40 °C), heat shock protein (HSP) genes, detoxication genes, metabolism genes, protein turnover genes, and stress signal transduction genes were differentially expressed. In low temperature (4 °C), genes related with heat shock protein (HSP) and detoxication were differentially expressed. Our study increases our understanding of the complex molecular mechanisms involved in the responses of B. odoriphaga to acute temperature stress and provides a potential strategy for pest management.

Plants have evolved induced defense mechanisms against insect herbivore attacks. The application of plant elicitors can enhance the biological control of crop pests by inducing plant defense responses, and (Z)-3-hexenol (z3HOL) is recognized as a herbivore-induced plant volatile that plays an important role in the chemical communication between plants and pests. We investigated whether z3HOL can activate the defense mechanism of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) against the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, one of the major insect pests of cultivated tomato. Exposure to z3HOL vapors in the glass jars decreased weight gain and oviposition in B. tabaci and negatively influenced the feeding behavior of B. tabaci by shortening the total feeding period and phloem ingestion and increasing the frequency of stylet puncture. Furthermore, exposure to z3HOL induced jasmonic acid- and salicylic acid-mediated defense responses and enhanced B. tabaci-induced volatile emissions in tomato. The elevated release of tomato volatiles increased the attraction of the parasitoid Encarsia formosa and improved its parasitism on B. tabaci. Our results indicate that z3HOL can serve as an elicitor that triggers direct and indirect defense responses against B. tabaci by modulating signaling pathways in tomato. These findings will not only help us to gain a better understanding of how z3HOL influences the crop community, but also provide new insights into the potential application of z3HOL in integrated pest management systems.

Population structure is a key determinant in fostering cooperation among naturally self-interested individuals in microbial populations, social insect groups, and human societies. Traditional research has focused on static structures, and yet most real interactions are finite in duration and changing in time, forming a temporal network. This raises the question of whether cooperation can emerge and persist despite an intrinsically fragmented population structure. Here we develop a framework to study the evolution of cooperation on temporal networks. Surprisingly, we find that network temporality actually enhances the evolution of cooperation relative to comparable static networks, despite the fact that bursty interaction patterns generally impede cooperation. We resolve this tension by proposing a measure to quantify the amount of temporality in a network, revealing an intermediate level that maximally boosts cooperation. Our results open a new avenue for investigating the evolution of cooperation and other emergent behaviours in more realistic structured populations., Population structure enables emergence of cooperation among individuals, but the impact of the dynamic nature of real interaction networks is not understood. Here, the authors study the evolution of cooperation on temporal networks and find that temporality enhances the evolution of cooperation.

Named Entity Recognition (NER) systems have been largely advanced by deep neural networks in the recent decade. However, the state-of-the-arts on NER have been less applied to Chinese historical texts due to the lack of standard corpora in Chinese historical domains and the difficulty of accessing a quality ancient corpus. This paper addresses the respective issues and proposes an efficient automatic processing solution for tackling NER of ancient Chinese data, including the implementation of data-driven tagging and an innovative end-to-end network namely “MoGCN” (Mixture of Gated Convolutional Neural Network). A corpus consisting of three genres of Chinese historical classics is generated by our tagging approach, which is experimented for uncovering the generalization ability of proposed model. The empirical analysis demonstrates that our proposed model achieves the best results with above 1.5% F1-score improvement over other sophisticated models in this dataset, where the experimental performance shows positive dependence on the quality of corpus. Furthermore, our model can perform much better on shorter entities especially for 2-charater ones, while many long-range entities can be only identified by our model based on our auxiliary attribute analysis. This work serves as a preliminary exploitation of NER for historical data, providing unique insights and reference values for similar tasks. Future work should be focused on more exploration about NER optimization on massive Chinese traditional texts with linguistic features and learning strategies.

Significance Evolving populations are constantly subjected to changing environmental conditions. The environment can determine how the expression of traits affects the individuals possessing them. Just as important, however, is the fact that the expression of traits can also alter the environment. We model this phenomenon by introducing game transitions into classical models of evolutionary dynamics. Interacting individuals receive payoffs from the games that they play, and these games can change based on past actions. We find that game transitions can significantly reduce the critical benefit-to-cost threshold for cooperation to evolve in social dilemmas. This result improves our understanding of when cooperators can thrive in nature, even when classical results predict a high critical threshold., The environment has a strong influence on a population’s evolutionary dynamics. Driven by both intrinsic and external factors, the environment is subject to continual change in nature. To capture an ever-changing environment, we consider a model of evolutionary dynamics with game transitions, where individuals’ behaviors together with the games that they play in one time step influence the games to be played in the next time step. Within this model, we study the evolution of cooperation in structured populations and find a simple rule: Weak selection favors cooperation over defection if the ratio of the benefit provided by an altruistic behavior, b, to the corresponding cost, c, exceeds k−k′, where k is the average number of neighbors of an individual and k′ captures the effects of the game transitions. Even if cooperation cannot be favored in each individual game, allowing for a transition to a relatively valuable game after mutual cooperation and to a less valuable game after defection can result in a favorable outcome for cooperation. In particular, small variations in different games being played can promote cooperation markedly. Our results suggest that simple game transitions can serve as a mechanism for supporting prosocial behaviors in highly connected populations.

Elemental Ag0 is well known for its remarkable catalytic and antibacterial properties, thus the regeneration of valuable Ag0 metal from Ag+ wastewater is of great significance. In this study, a novel polyethylenimine (PEI) modified potassium tungsten oxide (N-K2W4O13) adsorbent was prepared for Ag+ removal and reduction to Ag0 using glutaraldehyde as crosslinking agent. XPS and FT-IR spectra verified PEI successfully anchored on the surface O and W atoms of K2W4O13 through aldehyde bridges. The content of PEI in N-K2W4O13 was calculated as 8.74wt% by TG curve. A heterogeneous PEI coating was observed in the SEM and TEM images. The N-K2W4O13 exhibited larger Ag+ uptake (48.25mg/g) than the raw K2W4O13 (42.50mg/g) though required a longer equilibrium time. This was due to the combined results of strong chelation and weak electrostatic repulsion that meanwhile occurring on the positive-charged surface of N-K2W4O13. The maximum Ag+ uptake on N-K2W4O13 was 72.5mg/g, which was larger than many of the reported adsorbents. Furthermore, the prepared N-K2W4O13 displayed good anti-interference toward background ions (Na+, K+) and hold a stable Ag+ removal (>95%) after five runs of recycling tests. The mechanism studies elucidated that NH/N groups from the PEI modified N-K2W4O13 mainly accounted for the Ag+ adsorption and Ag0 recovery in the adsorption-reduction process. Ion-exchange between Ag+ and K+ from the N-K2W4O13 lattice also occurred. This work provided a facile method to synthesize a promising adsorbent for Ag+ wastewater remediation and valuable Ag0 recovery.

Discovery of pulsars is one of the main goals for large radio telescopes. The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), that incorporates an L-band 19-beam receiver with a system temperature of about 20~K, is the most sensitive radio telescope utilized for discovering pulsars. We designed the {\it snapshot} observation mode for a FAST key science project, the Galactic Plane Pulsar Snapshot (GPPS) survey, in which every four nearby pointings can observe {\it a cover} of a sky patch of 0.1575 square degrees through beam-switching of the L-band 19-beam receiver. The integration time for each pointing is 300 seconds so that the GPPS observations for a cover can be made in 21 minutes. The goal of the GPPS survey is to discover pulsars within the Galactic latitude of $\pm10^{\circ}$ from the Galactic plane, and the highest priority is given to the inner Galaxy within $\pm5^{\circ}$. Up to now, the GPPS survey has discovered 201 pulsars, including currently the faintest pulsars which cannot be detected by other telescopes, pulsars with extremely high dispersion measures (DMs) which challenge the currently widely used models for the Galactic electron density distribution, pulsars coincident with supernova remnants, 40 millisecond pulsars, 16 binary pulsars, some nulling and mode-changing pulsars and rotating radio transients (RRATs). The follow-up observations for confirmation of new pulsars have polarization-signals recorded for polarization profiles of the pulsars. Re-detection of previously known pulsars in the survey data also leads to significant improvements in parameters for 64 pulsars. The GPPS survey discoveries are published and will be updated at http://zmtt.bao.ac.cn/GPPS/ ., 38 pages, 22 figures. See http://www.raa-journal.org/docs/Supp/2021Newsonline.pdf for News and Views

Flow control is one of the most important valve functions which can be realized using the signal obtained by flow meters. However, flow meters are not suitable for being installed on fast response systems or in compact space due to slow response and large volume. This paper proposes a computational flow feedback control method using a flow inferential measurement method and a proportional integral controller. The flow inferential measurement method uses an AdaBoost neural network to learn flow change regulation affected by spool displacement, pressure differential, and temperature with high accuracy and low overfitting. The flow calculation model is analyzed by global sensitivity analysis to find the effect proportion of each factor, and piecewise wavelet filter is used to reduce the noise effect of the key signal in the calculation. The AdaBoost neural network is found to be capable of recognizing the characteristic shapes of the flow function with an accuracy of ±2%. The controller receives the accurately calculated flow and adjusts the spool displacement to control the flow. The performance of the flow control method is evaluated in the experiments. The control error is controlled within ±3% and the effectiveness of the method is validated.

The glycation of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) myosin (Ms) with konjac oligo-glucomannan (KOG) of different deacetylation degrees (DDs) was investigated, in an attempt to detect the structural changes of myosin. As DD increased in KOG, glycation changed the composition of amino acids in myosin, and the surface hydrophobicity (H0) of glycoconjugates decreased. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy exhibited the significant changes of the primary and secondary structure. The increase of denaturation temperature from DSC spectra and the changes of intrinsic fluorescence emission spectra revealed that the changes in the folded state of myosin occurred, indicating that the thermal stability or the tertiary/quaternary structural stability of myosin can be improved by the glycation with KOG of different DDs. The results from scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) demonstrated that when deacetylated KOGs (DKOGs) were used as sugar donor, the glycoconjugates were larger and the surface structure is more dispersed than myosin alone. It can be suggested that myosin holds a more flexible conformation after glycation with DKOGs, which is more suitable for its various excellent functional properties.

Selenium has received increasing attention as a potential alternative to sulfur cathode for rechargeable lithium batteries because of its high electronic conductivity and better electrochemical performance. However, the shuttle effect of polyselenides in lithium-selenium batteries, similar to that of polysulfides in lithium-sulfur batteries, is still one of the main drawbacks. Here, we designed and synthesized a new pomegranate-like porous carbon/Se (PPC/Se) cathode that could effectively improve the shuttle effect of polyselenides. The pomegranate-like carbon nanoparticles used as the host materials for Se were prepared via carbonization of well-assembled ketjen black nanosubunits. The batteries assembled with such new-synthesized PPC/Se cathodes exhibit relatively high specific capacity of 380 mA h g−1 at 1 C and high Coulombic efficiency of ∼ 98% due to the restrained dissolution of polyselenides.

The eastern Qilian Shan is a tectonically-active region consisting of a series of faults with bounded intermountain basins and is located within the transition zone between the mainland Tibetan Plateau and the Alax Block. Active deformation affecting the topography in this region can be quantified based on geomorphic indices. Therefore, we applied the geomorphic indices (hypsometry and stream-power incision model) to evaluate the tectonic deformation pattern of the eastern Qilian Shan. Hypsometric curves and S-A plots of the selected seven rivers were determined. HI values of every single sub-basins were also calculated. The results show that the local topographic evolution of the eastern Qilian Shan is in pre-steady state and will soon reach its equilibrium state. According to the analysis of regional climate condition (e.g., rainfall and glaciers distribution) and fault characteristics, it is suggested that abundant glacial snowmelt water sustains fluvial incision, and tectonic deformation from sustained northeastward expansion of the Tibetan Plateau is the main reason for the landscape growth. Combining the research of the deep electric structure beneath the Gulang Boundary Zone, we claimed that the eastern Qilian Shan (even the northeastern Tibet) has been growing and expanding northeastward since the middle Miocene, and its leading edge now is the Hexibao-Sidaoshan Fault. On the premise of synthetically considering the western and middle parts of the Qilian Shan, it is suggested that the Hexibao-Sidaoshan Fault area will rise into a mountain in 1–2 Ma.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) belong to a family of regulatory RNAs of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). They play essential roles in plant various developmental processes and stress responses. However, lncRNA functions in cotton are rarely known under attack of cotton aphids (Aphis gossypii Glover). Herein, we performed whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing for cotton four-leaf-stage leaves (Gossypium hirsutum, ZM-03199) damaged by cotton aphids at different time stages (6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h) and without cotton aphid damage (0 h). We identified 8414 lncRNAs in 6 RNA-Seq data, including 6516 intergenic lncRNAs (77%), 759 anti-sense lncRNAs (7%), 334 intronic lncRNAs (4%) and 805 (10%) sense lncRNAs. Furthermore, 1331 lncRNAs showed differential expressions, and the gene ontology (Go) and KEGG analysis discovered that many target protein-coding genes of lncRNAs were enriched in stress-related categories. In addition, a total of 55 lncRNAs among 8414 lncRNAs were predicted as target mimics of cotton 285 miRNAs. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) confirmed that all selected lncRNAs were relative to aphid damage. These results laid a solid foundation for the study of cotton lncRNA functions under the damage of cotton aphids.

Microbialites, often considered as a signal of extreme marine environment, are common in the Lower Triassic strata of South China where they flourished in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction. Early Triassic microbialite facies are known to vary palaeogeographically, perhaps due to differing climates, ocean chemistry, and water depths. This paper provides the first record of a brief, but spectacular development of microbialites in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction at Panjiazhuang section, Changxing Region of Zhejiang Province (eastern South China). Here, the Upper Permian Changxing Formation comprises typical shallow platform facies rich in calcareous algae and foraminifera, the development of which was terminated by the major end-Permian regression. A 3.4-m-thick microbialite began to form at the onset of the transgression in the earliest Triassic. The microbialite at Panjiazhuang section is composed of thrombolite that contains abundant calcified cyanobacteria, small gastropods, microconchid tubes and ostracods, representing a low-diversity shallow marine community in the aftermath of the end-Permian crisis. The microbialites are succeeded by thin-bedded micrites bearing thin-shelled bivalves, which record a rapid sea-level rise in the Early Triassic. Abundant populations of small pyrite framboids are observed in the upper part of the microbialites and the overlying thin-bedded micrites, suggesting that dysoxic water conditions developed at that time. The appearance of microbialites near the Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB) at Panjiazhuang section was the result of peculiar marine conditions following the end-Permian regression, whilst their disappearance was due to the increasing water depth and the development of dysoxia.

A secreted ferritin in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci enables insect feeding and suppresses plant immune responses by disruption of H2O2 accumulation and JA signaling., The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is an important pest of worldwide agriculture. Previous work has shown that B. tabaci actively suppresses host plant defenses, but our knowledge of the specific mechanisms involved remains limited. Here we describe a B. tabaci salivary protein, the ferritin BtFer1, and its role in facilitating exploitation of host plants. We show that BtFer1 exhibits Fe2+ binding ability and ferroxidase activity, and that secretion of BtFer1 during B. tabaci feeding suppresses H2O2-generated oxidative signals in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Silencing BtFer1 enhanced the induction of the jasmonic acid (JA)-mediated defense signaling pathway in response to whitefly feeding, and led to increased callose deposition and the production of proteinase inhibitors that prevent whiteflies from continuously ingesting and digesting phloem sap. Consistent with these effects, silencing BtFer1 reduced whitefly survival on tomato but not on artificial diet. Using a JA-deficient spr2 mutant plant further showed that suppression of JA defenses by BtFer1 is sufficient to increase B. tabaci survival. Taken together, these results demonstrate that BtFer1 acts as an effector protein that mediates whitefly–tomato interactions. These findings represent an important step forward in understanding the molecular mechanisms by which whiteflies and other insect herbivores suppress host plant defenses.

A conceptually new class of DNA logic gates for Hg2+ and Pb2+ ion simultaneous detection has been constructed based on the activity of DNAzyme dependent on metal ions. For sensitive and specific detection of Hg2+ and Pb2+ ions, we demonstrate a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active platform by employing the oligonucleotide-functionalized and gold coated polystyrene microspheres (PSMPs). In this work, Hg2+ and Pb2+ were used as the input, and the SERS signals were the output. Hg2+ ions were captured by a mismatched T-Hg-T bridge. Pb2+ ions were bound to 8–17DNAzyme to break the cleavage substrate. The limit of detection (LOD) of Hg2+ is 0.1 nmol L−1 and Pb2+ is 1.0 nmol L−1, which is far below the limit of 10.0 ppb (31 nmol L−1) and 10.0 ppm (3.02 × 104 nmol L−1) for drinking water stipulated by the World Health Organization. Additionally, this system has the potential to be ideal candidates for intelligent DNA calculator design applications. Furthermore, the designed strategy could be extended to other multiplex metal ions that can be combined with DNA molecules, and can be applied to many other fields such as environmental detection, toxin detection and liquid analysis.

A nonintegrable Korteweg–de Vries equation with variable coefficients is investigated in this paper. Due to the existence of variable coefficients, the equation becomes nonintegrable, which leads to the invalidity of the traditional analytical methods to obtain soliton solutions. In order to overcome this difficulty, the variational approach is employed in this paper. The variational principle corresponding to this nonintegrable equation is established. Based on that, the first- and second-order nonautonomous soliton solutions are derived. We note that the obtained solutions can be degenerated to the integrable cases. Properties of the nonautonomous solitons and influence of the variable coefficients are discussed.

Bradysia odoriphaga Yang et Zhang is a serious belowground pest of Chinese chives (Allium tuberosum). Our previous studies have indicated that B. odoriphaga females prefer to oviposit near the roots of Chinese chives rather than the roots of other plants, and that the performance (longevity and fecundity) of B. odoriphaga offspring was better on Chinese chives than on Lettuce (var. ramosa Hort.), Onion (Allium cepa) and Potato (Solanum tuberosum) but little is known about how the volatiles released by Chinese chives affect the host-finding and oviposition behaviors of B. odoriphaga. Here, we used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and determined that Chinese chives releases the following volatiles: methyl allyl disulfide, β-myrcene, cis-ocimene, diallyl disulfide, nonane, n-dodecane, n-tetradecane, and n-hexadecane; quantities released were highest for methyl allyl disulfide and diallyl disulfide. In addition to eliciting strong responses in females in electroantennography assays, the latter two sulfur compounds and their mixtures attracted females in Y-tube olfactometer assays. The addition of methyl allyl disulfide, diallyl disulfide, or a mixture of the two compounds at a 1:5 ratio to chive plants increased oviposition when compared to control plants. These results indicate that methyl allyl disulfide and diallyl disulfide, either alone or in combination, influence the host-seeking behavior of B. odoriphaga.

Heavy metals often coexist in contaminated wastewater systems and their competitive behavior could affect the adsorption capacity of biochar. Till now, the competitive adsorption of heavy metals by biochar derived from anaerobically digested sludge has never been reported. In this work, biochar from anaerobically digested sludge was synthesized and characterized to explore the competitive behavior of widely co-existed Pb(II) and Cd(II). The mutual effects and inner mechanisms of their adsorption on studied biochar were systematically investigated via single-metal and binary-metals systems. In single-metal system, the biochar exhibited much higher adsorption capacity for Pb(II) compared to that for Cd(II). The maximum adsorption capacities of Pb(II) and Cd(II) based on single-component adsorption isotherm were 0.75 and 0.55 mmoL/g, respectively, which were much higher than those reported biochars from different materials. In binary-metals system, the Cd(II) adsorption on biochar was severely inhibited, while the uptake of Pb(II) was not affected significantly. The results of binary-components adsorption isotherm clearly demonstrated the competitive adsorption between two metals occurred as well as the preference of biochar for Pb(II) compared to Cd(II). FTIR and metal characteristics analysis results revealed that Pb(II) had exactly the same adsorption sites with Cd(II), but Pb(II) has a greater affinity than Cd(II), thereby exhibiting a competitive advantage in the coexisting system.

The retention of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics in sewage sludge during wastewater treatment raises concerns. However, the effects of PVC microplastics on methane production from anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) have never been documented. In this work, the effects of PVC microplastics (1 mm, 10-60 particles/g TS) on anaerobic methane production from WAS were investigated. The presence of 10 particles/g TS of PVC microplastics significantly ( P = 0.041) increased methane production by 5.9 ± 0.1%, but higher levels of PVC microplastics (i.e., 20, 40, and 60 particles/g TS) inhibited methane production to 90.6 ± 0.3%, 80.5 ± 0.1%, and 75.8 ± 0.2% of the control, respectively. Model-based analysis indicated that PVC microplastics at >20 particles/g TS decreased both methane potential (B0) and hydrolysis coefficient (k) of WAS. The mechanistic studies showed that bisphenol A (BPA) leaching from PVC microplastics was the primary reason for the decreased methane production, causing significant ( P = 0.037, 0.01, 0.004) inhibitory effects on the hydrolysis-acidification process. The long-term effects of PVC microplastics revealed that the microbial community was shifted in the direction against hydrolysis-acidification and methanation. In conclusion, PVC microplastic caused negative effects on WAS anaerobic digestion through leaching the toxic BPA.

Transparent Silver nanowire (AgNW) electrodes have been widely explored in many applications as a promising alternative to relatively expensive indium tin oxide (ITO). For these applications, high contact resistance at the junctions of AgNWs is a main problem to be solved. In this letter, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-self-assembled method has been demonstrated to improve the optoelectronic performance of AgNW films. The sheet resistance of this novel AgNW film is measured as low as 13.2 Ω/sq, and the transmittance is high to 86.1%. Self-assembled AuNPs can enrich the percolation paths between AgNWs with negligible loss of optical properties, thereby realizing the excellent optoelectronic performance of AgNW films. Moreover, no extra post-treatment procedures are needed for the fabrication process. All these advantages indicate this method has great potentials for achieving high performance transparent electrodes in emerging optoelectronic devices.

The subterranean insect Bradysia odoriphaga (Diptera: Sciaridae) is an important pest in China and is especially damaging to Chinese chive. This study determined the exposure temperatures and times required to kill various stages of B. odoriphaga in vitro, the optimal plastic film for soil solarization, and the effects of soil solarization on control of B. odoriphaga. In vitro mortality was 100% when adults, eggs, larvae, or pupae were exposed to a constant temperature of 40 °C for 1.3, 1.8, 2.8, or 3.7 h. Among four kinds of plastic film (white common plastic film, light blue anti-dropping film [LBADF], white anti-dropping film, and black-white film), soil temperature increased fastest and remained over 40 °C for the longest time with 0.12-mm-thick LBADF located 30 cm above the soil surface. Favorable soil solarization with 0.12-mm-thick LBADF located at 30 cm above the soil surface or on the soil surface just 1 d after treatment provided 100% control of B. odoriphaga. The growth of Chinese chive was slower in solarized plots than in control plots for about 10 days but subsequently was faster in the solarized plots. At 20 days after treatment, the differences in yields between solarized plots and control plots were not statistically significant. This is the first report that soil solarization can be used to control B. odoriphaga in Chinese chive fields. This approach needs to be investigated for management of other plant diseases and insect pests.

A planar piezoelectric actuator using bending-bending hybrid modes is proposed. The actuator is composed four uniform transducers that can bend in the horizontal and vertical directions dependently. The actuator can operate in two modes: dynamic mode and quasi-static mode. The dynamic mode uses the hybrid bending resonance modes to achieve a large travelling range with high speed; the quasi-static mode uses the quasi-static horizontal bending to achieve a micrometre travelling range with nanometer resolution. The operating principle is discussed and simulated by finite element method (FEM). Maximum linear and rotary speeds of 19.8 mm/s and 0.266 rad/s are obtained under a voltage of 400 Vp-p and frequency of 11.86 kHz in the dynamic mode. When operating in quasi-static mode, there is a linear relationship between the output displacement and voltage, linear and rotary displacement resolutions of 16 nm and 0.198 μrad are obtained. The actuator can accomplish large travelling range with nano-positioning ability.

Early exit mechanism aims to accelerate the inference speed of large-scale pre-trained language models. The essential idea is to exit early without passing through all the inference layers at the inference stage. To make accurate predictions for downstream tasks, the hierarchical linguistic information embedded in all layers should be jointly considered. However, much of the research up to now has been limited to use local representations of the exit layer. Such treatment inevitably loses information of the unused past layers as well as the high-level features embedded in future layers, leading to sub-optimal performance. To address this issue, we propose a novel Past-Future method to make comprehensive predictions from a global perspective. We first take into consideration all the linguistic information embedded in the past layers and then take a further step to engage the future information which is originally inaccessible for predictions. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method outperforms previous early exit methods by a large margin, yielding better and robust performance.

Side effects during neural network tuning are typically measured by overall accuracy changes. However, we find that even with similar overall accuracy, existing tuning methods result in non-negligible instance-wise side effects. Motivated by neuroscientific evidence and theoretical results, we demonstrate that side effects can be controlled by the number of changed parameters and thus, we propose to conduct neural network surgery by only modifying a limited number of parameters. Neural network surgery can be realized using diverse techniques and we investigate three lines of methods. Experimental results on representative tuning problems validate the effectiveness of the surgery approach. The dynamic selecting method achieves the best overall performance that not only satisfies the tuning goal but also induces fewer instance-wise side effects by changing only 10-5 of the parameters.

Previous numerical–analytical approaches have suggested that the main range divide prefers to migrate towards the high uplift flank in the asymmetric tectonic uplift pattern. However, natural examples recording these processes and further verifying the numerical simulations results, are still lacking. In this study, the landscape features, and the probable drainage evolution history of the Zhongtiao Shan, a roughly west-east trending, half-horst block on the southernmost tip of the Shanxi Graben System, were investigated through the geomorphic analyses (i.e., slope and steepness distributions, and the Gilbert and χ metrics). The topographic slope and steepness results indicate that the Zhongtiao Shan, controlled by the north Zhongtiao Shan normal fault, experiences asymmetric uplift and erosion patterns, with higher uplift and erosion on the north range. In addition, the Gilbert and χ metrics suggest that the western part of the main divide is currently stable, while the eastern divide is moving southward. According to the drainage divide stability criteria, we suggest that the uplift and erosion, on the fault side, balance each other well on the western part of the range, while on the eastern part, the uplift is outpaced by the erosion. In addition, a dynamic divide migration model in the asymmetric uplift condition is proposed, indicating that the interaction between uplift and erosion controls the migration and/or stability of the main divide. Deducing through this dynamic model, we suggested that the eastern segment of the north Zhongtiaoshan Fault must have experienced higher activities in the geological history, and the western fault may remain its activity along with the mountain relief generation. This gives a case that specific information on asymmetric neotectonic history and landscape evolution in an orogenic mountain can be uncovered by the proposed dynamic model.

The segmentation of sensor logs based on linear analysis is presented in this paper to know the movement of the vehicle on the weighing platforms, which is a new form of scale at first . A line segment is used to represent points where values are not much different. According to the slopes of the different line segments, the sensor logs are segmented. A maximum-likelihood procedure is also proposed to increase the accuracy of the sensor log segmentation. This algorithm is based on Kalman smoothing and single most likelihood replacement (SMLR). The performance of the algorithm is shown by the experiment that the vehicle weigh –in-motion system calculates the weight of the vehicle with a high accuracy of 99.66%. Moreover, the development board can display the result as soon as the weight is calculated.

The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a polyphagous crop pest distributed worldwide and frequent exposure to many different defensive secondary metabolites in its host plants. To counteract these defensive plant secondary metabolites, B. tabaci elevate their production of detoxification enzymes, including cytochrome P450 monooxygenases. Besides their tolerance to phytotoxin, B. tabaci have quickly developed resistance to various insecticides in the field. However, the relationship between host plant secondary metabolites and insecticide resistance in B. tabaci is not fully understood. In this study, the influence of plant flavonoid ingestion on B. tabaci tolerance to thiamethoxam and flupyradifurone insecticides and its possible mechanism were examined. Eight plant flavonoids were screened to evaluate their effects on B. tabaci adult sensitivity to thiamethoxam and flupyradifurone. Of which rutin, quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin and catechin significantly reduced adult sensitivity to thiamethoxam and flupyradifurone. Application of cytochrome P450 inhibitor piperonyl butoxide significantly increased the mortality of B. tabaci adults treated with thiamethoxam and flupyradifurone. Moreover, flavonoid ingestion predominantly enhanced the activity of cytochrome P450 enzyme in B. tabaci adults. Meanwhile, the expression level of three cytochrome P450 genes, CYP6CM1, CYP6CX4 and CYP4C64 were induced by the flavonoids in B. tabaci adults. In conclusion, plant flavonoids enhanced the tolerance to thiamethoxam and flupyradifurone in B. tabaci and cytochrome P450s may contribute the flavonoid adaptation. The reduced sensitivity of thiamethoxam and flupyradifurone in flavonoid-fed B. tabaci adults suggested that previous exposure to the host plant-derived flavonoids is likely to compromise the efficacy of insecticides.

Due to the crucial role of knowledge in promoting public engagement with climate change, this study made an in-depths examination of the distribution of climate change knowledge among different demographic groups. Guided by information deficit model and cognitive miser model, two types of knowledge were investigated, including actual knowledge and illusory knowledge. Using a nationally representative survey in Singapore, this study found demographic effects in climate change knowledge distribution. Specifically, a series of independent sample t-test revealed that the males had more actual knowledge of climate change than the females. The middle aged and elderly adults had less actual knowledge but more illusory knowledge of climate change than the young adults. Compare to the more educated people, the less educated people had more illusory knowledge but less actual knowledge of climate change. People from low-income households reported lower levels of actual knowledge but higher levels of illusory knowledge than those from high-income households. Regarding these significant differences in climate change knowledge among different demographic groups, possible reasons for these variations and implications for designing public education programs are discussed.

Building fire is one of the major threats to human beings now. This paper presents a quantitative method based on social network analysis (SNA) for evaluating the cause and risk index of building fire. Firstly, available data from 67 case reports of major building fire accidents is extracted. In order to analyze the patterns and characteristics of major road building fire accidents, a relationship network map is constructed by using SNA. By establishing a building fire risk index system, this paper also lists common fire risks and causes. The result results can further deepen the understanding of the causes of construction fire accidents and the interaction between them. Through SNA, this paper finds the key causes of building fire accidents, and which combinations of causes are most likely to cause accidents. The establishment of risk indicator system can provide reference for fire prevention and early warning work.

This study extends the theory of planned behavior by taking communication factors into account to examine the determinants of pro-environmental behavioral intention in haze mitigation. Unlike other theory of planned behavior (TPB) extension studies, we shift the focus of inquiry from examining the mediating role of TPB variables to investigating the moderating role in promoting pro-environmental behavior. Using an online survey in China, the results indicated that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and attention to haze-related efficacy messages were positively associated with pro-environmental behavioral intention. Notably, attention to haze-related threat messages had no significant relationship with behavioral intention. Moreover, moderation analyses revealed that the interaction effects between attention to efficacy messages and attention to threat messages on behavioral intention vary among people with different attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Theoretically, this study contributes to the literature of the TPB by analyzing its moderating role in promoting behavior change. Findings from this study suggest the importance of disseminating distinctive media messages to audiences with different personality traits, which is beneficial for practitioners to tailor specific messages in environmental campaigns.

Conventional knowledge graph embedding (KGE) often suffers from limited knowledge representation, leading to performance degradation especially on the low-resource problem. To remedy this, we propose to enrich knowledge representation via pretrained language models by leveraging world knowledge from pretrained models. Specifically, we present a universal training framework named Pretrain-KGE consisting of three phases: semantic-based fine-tuning phase, knowledge extracting phase and KGE training phase. Extensive experiments show that our proposed Pretrain-KGE can improve results over KGE models, especially on solving the low-resource problem.

The Chinese citrus fruit fly, Bactrocera minax (Enderlein), is an economically important pest of citrus. The fly has an obligatory pupal diapause in soil from November to March. However, techniques for predicting or determining the emergence of the adult have, thus far, not been well documented. In this study, we investigated the effects of different pre-diapause temperatures (8, 12, 16, and 20°C) and pupal body weight (five groups according to pupal weight: G-58, 55.0–61.0 mg; G-68, 65–71 mg; G-78, 75–81 mg; G-88, 85–91 mg; G-95, 92–98 mg) on pupal period (the indicator of diapause intensity). The pupal period of B. minax larvae pupated at 8°C was 193.41 d, which was significantly shorter than that of larvae incubated at higher temperatures, suggesting that there was a lower diapause intensity for larvae pupated at lower pre-diapause temperatures. There were also significant differences in the pupal periods at different pupal body weights. The pupal period of G-58 was significantly shorter than that of the heavier groups (G-88 and G-95), and the pupal period increased with increasing pupal body weight in the five groups. Moreover, the pupal period of B. minax significantly and positively correlated to pupal body weight. These findings demonstrate that the pre-diapause temperature and pupal body weight are suitable indicators for predicting the pupal period of overwintering individuals, and the results of this study will contribute to the development of new and effective strategies for predicting the occurrence and population dynamics of B. minax adult.

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) films were electrodeposited by cyclic voltammetry on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in aqueous solution. Three kinds of supporting electrolytes were used, viz. graphene oxide (GO), phosphate buffered saline (PBS), and GO in PBS, respectively. The surface morphology of the modified electrodes was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical performance of the modified electrodes was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy by using the hexacyanoferrate redox system. The results demonstrate that the PEDOT-GO/GCE, which was electropolymerized in aqueous solutions containing EDOT and GO, shows the best electrochemical activities compared with other modified electrodes. The electrochemical behaviors of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA) were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The PEDOT-GO/GCE exhibits enhanced electrocatalytic activities towards these important biomolecules. Under physiological pH conditions and in the mixed system of AA, DA and UA, the modified GCE exhibits the following figures of merit: (a) a linear voltammetric response in the concentration ranges of 100-1000 μM for AA, 6.0-200 μM for DA, and 40-240 μM for UA; (b) well separated oxidation peaks near 31, 213 and 342 mV (vs. saturated Ag/AgCl) for AA, DA and UA, respectively; and (c) detection of limits (at S/N = 3) of 20, 2.0 and 10 μM. The results demonstrate that GO, based on its relatively large number of anionic sites, can be used as the sole weak electrolyte and charge balance dopant for the preparation of functionally doped conducting polymers by electrodeposition. Graphical abstractSchematic representation of a nanostructure composed of hybrid conducting polymer PEDOT-GO nanocomposites, and its application to simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid, dopamine and uric acid.

In this paper, a mathematical model for describing the solid-fluid transformation of ice water is put forward based on the special geometry cases. The correctness of the obtained model is verified through comparison with numerical analysis and experiments. The good agreement indicates that the obtained model is available for the study of the solid-fluid transformation of ice water. The theory derived in this paper lays a foundation for the research of solid-fluid transformation phenomena of other materials and may have important applications in engineering areas such as rheology, creep, and instability of materials.

The ecdysteroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), a critical hormone in arthropods, plays an essential role in insect growth, molting and reproduction. A previous study showed that 20E is actually regulated by six P450 genes (five P450 genes belonging to the Halloween family and a CYP18A1 gene) in model insects. However, the role of the six P450 genes in Bemisia tabaci Q (also call Mediterranean, MED), an important pest of field crops, remains unclear. Here, six P450 genes were cloned by RT-PCR, and the phylogenetic tree indicated a close orthologous relationship of these P450 genes between MED and other insects. Spatiotemporal expression profiling revealed that five P450 genes (CYP18A1, CYP306A1, CYP307A2, CYP314A1 and CYP315A1) were expressed at significantly higher levels in the head than in the abdomen and thorax. Four P450 genes (CYP302A1, CYP307A2, CYP314A1 and CYP315A1) were expressed at the highest levels in males, and CYP18A1 was expressed at the highest levels in the 4th nymph stage. The molting process was delayed by approximately 1–3 days after knockdown of these genes at the 4th nymph stage, and the mean proportion of shriveled or dead insects reached 8.3% (CYP18A1), 20.8% (CYP302A1), 7.0% (CYP307A2), 31.8% (CYP306A1), 28.6% (CYP314A1) and 24.1% (CYP315A1). In addition, 20E rescued the negative effect of ds-CYP306A1, ds-CYP314A1 and ds-CYP315A1 on the eclosion rate. We concluded that these Halloween genes and CYP18A1 likely participate in the development of MED, and in particular, CYP306A1 could be used as a putative insecticide target for controlling this piercing-sucking insect.

Room-temperature Na-ion batteries have been widely used as promising energy storage systems for large-scale storage due to the nature abundance and low cost of Na. However, the search for an anode with appropriate Na storage and high structural stability still remains challenging. In this work, the carbon microsphere films-coated Ni foam is prepared by a simple chemical vapor deposition method and is used as a novel anode for the long-lifespan Na-ion batteries. These carbon microspheres possess special onion-like structures that enhance the Na-ions intercalation and exhibit excellent Na storage properties. In addition, directly coating the carbon microsphere films on Ni foam current collectors without binders and conductive additives results in an integrated electrode structure, which avoids the undesirable interfaces and reduces the packaging volume. Compared to the common used hard carbon anode with long discharge plateau and short lifespan, this integrated electrode exhibits a slope discharge profile with higher security and demonstrates a long lifespan of 700 cycles with a high capacity retention of 83%. Furthermore, the storage mechanism of sodium ion is also investigated in detail by ex situ Raman, X-ray diffraction and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques in this study.

Interactive identity and interactive diversity are generally regarded as two typical interaction patterns in living systems. The former describes that in each generation every individual behaves identically to all of its opponents, and the latter allows each individual to behave diversely to its distinct opponents. Most traditional research on the evolution of cooperation, however, has been confined to populations with a uniform interaction pattern. Here we study the cooperation conundrum in a diverse population comprising players with interactive identity and with interactive diversity. We find that in homogeneous networks a small fraction of players taking interactive diversity are enough to stabilize cooperation for a wide range of payoff values even in a noisy environment. When assigned to heterogeneous networks, players in high-degree nodes taking interactive diversity significantly strengthen systems' resilience against the shifty environment and enlarge the survival region of cooperation. However, they fail to establish a homogeneous strategy 'cloud' in the neighborhood and thus can not coordinate players in low-degree nodes to reach a socially optimal cooperation level. The most favorable outcome emerges when players in high-degree nodes take interactive identity and meanwhile others adopt interactive diversity. Our findings reveal the significance of the two typical interaction patterns and could be a good heuristic in coordinating them to achieve the social optimum in cooperation.

Leaf damage caused by herbivore feeding often triggers induced resistance in plants. However, some herbivores can take advantage of the resulting metabolic changes in host plants and may even manipulate plant resistance, leading to a phenomenon known as induced susceptibility. Previous work has shown that feeding by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci can reduce tomato Solanum lycopersicum resistance and that whiteflies tended to aggregate on infested plants. However, metabolomic changes in the plant and associated whitefly behavioural responses underlying this phenomenon remain poorly understood. We, therefore, investigated how B. tabaci infestation affects host physiology and the preference and performance of conspecific feeders. Bemisia tabaci adults exhibited consistent behavioural preferences for plants that experienced actual and simulated herbivory by conspecifics (consistent with observed effects on whitefly performance), but not for plants that were only mechanically wounded. Leaf volatiles and extracts of B. tabaci‐infested plants showed altered terpenoid and flavonoid profiles. Manipulative behavioural experiments indicated that suppression of the monoterpenes α‐phellandrene and α‐terpinene and of flavonoids by B. tabaci infestation influenced the foraging and oviposition preferences of conspecifics. These findings document key metabolic changes in plants exhibiting induced susceptibility and demonstrate their role in mediating herbivore foraging behaviour and aggregation on susceptible plants, thereby providing new insight into a relatively unexplored aspect of plant–herbivore interactions. A plain language summary is available for this article.

The scale insect Drosicha corpulenta is a serious pest of various garden trees. A comprehensive knowledge of the insect olfactory system is essential for the design and implementation of efficient semiochemical-based control strategies. Antennae are the primary olfactory organs in insect. To date, the antenna features of D. corpulenta have not been investigated in great detail. In this study, we used scanning electron microscopy to investigate the antennal morphology and sensilla distribution of both sexes of D. corpulenta in detail. The antenna of D. corpulenta exhibit obvious sexual dimorphism: antennae of the male are markedly longer than those of the female. Furthermore, each male flagellomere consists of three globular nodes, in female, however, the flagellomeres one to three are cylindrical, and the following flagellomeres exhibit an asymmetrical swelling at the distal parts except the last flagellomere which is dumbbell-shaped with distal narrowly. Seven types of sensilla were found on the antennae, including three types of sensilla trichodea (ST1, ST2, ST3), three types of sensilla chaetica (SC1, SC2, SC3), and sensilla basiconica (SB). Remarkable sex dimorphism in the sensilla composition of D. corpulenta was also observed. Major differences between the both sexes were found in the type, distribution, number and size of the identified sensilla. We also discuss on the possible functions of these sensilla based on their characteristics. The results of this study provide an important foundation for the studies that link morphological characteristics to insect behavior and should stimulate the development of efficient semiochemial-based control strategies against D. corpulenta.

As a burgeoning branch of quantum cryptography, quantum key agreement is a kind of key establishing processes where the security and fairness of the established common key should be guaranteed simultaneously. However, the difficulty on designing a qualified quantum key agreement protocol increases significantly with the increase of the number of the involved participants. Thus far, only few of the existing multiparty quantum key agreement (MQKA) protocols can really achieve security and fairness. Nevertheless, these qualified MQKA protocols are either too inefficient or too impractical. In this paper, an MQKA protocol is proposed with single photons in travelling mode. Since only one eavesdropping detection is needed in the proposed protocol, the qubit efficiency and measurement efficiency of it are higher than those of the existing ones in theory. Compared with the protocols which make use of the entangled states or multi-particle measurements, the proposed protocol is more feasible with the current technologies. Security and fairness analysis shows that the proposed protocol is not only immune to the attacks from external eavesdroppers, but also free from the attacks from internal betrayers.

A simple fiber sensor based on liquid infiltrated modal interferometer created in hollow core fiber is proposed and demonstrated for temperature and refractive index (RI) sensing with high sensitivities. The fiber sensor is constructed by splicing a section of hollow core fiber filled with high index liquids between single mode fibers. The infiltration of the liquids changes the transmission property of the hollow core fiber, and modal interference is introduced in such a section of fiber. Due to the high thermo-optic coefficient of the liquid, the sensor is highly sensitive to temperature change. The sensor exhibits different temperature sensitivities in different temperature ranges, and the highest sensitivity (−1.4 nm/°C) is obtained in the temperature range from 22 °C to 36 °C. The RI response of the sensor is also investigated, and the sensor exhibits a spectrum shift towards longer wavelength as the ambient liquid RI increases, and a highest sensitivity of 884 nm/RIU is achieved. The proposed sensor is simple and cost effective, and is promising to be developed for high accuracy temperature measurements in the fields of biomedical and chemical applications.

A novel 3-DOF piezoelectric manipulator was modeled, fabricated and tested in this work. The longitudinal deformation and the orthogonal bending deformations were used to achieve the motions along the Z, X and Y axes, respectively. A novel kinematic model was developed and verified by FEM simulation. A prototype was fabricated, the output displacement test, frequency response test, hysteresis and creep characters were investigated in sequence. The tested results stated that the maximum displacements of the manipulator were 13.4 μm, 13.3 μm and 3.1 μm in X, Y, Z direction, respectively. The resonant frequencies of the X, Y and Z axis were tested as 2.734 kHz, 2.758 kHz and 16.462 kHz, respectively. The hysteresis effect of the manipulator was just 1.53% under the voltage of 300 V and the frequency of 1 Hz. The tests of two-dimensional and three-dimensional circular trajectories were implemented to study the dynamic performances. The results showed that the maximum open-loop working frequency was up to 50 Hz with an error less than 5%. Prospectively, the manipulator could be applied to the precision positioning system with open-loop working and nano-positioning demands by virtue of its compact size, high resolution, high resonant frequency and low hysteresis effect.

The global concerns to the environmental pollution and health risks by microplastics (MPs) urgently require action to develop effective and sustainable processes to deal with this problem. Coagulation removal and photocatalytic degradation, considered as cost- and energy-effective techniques, have attracted growing attention to remove MPs from urban waters. However, its removal behavior and degradation mechanism have not been systematically summarized. Therefore, the recent progress on coagulation and photocatalysis for MPs removal was comprehensively reviewed in this study. Particularly, the effects of parameters (e.g., type and dosage of coagulant, environmental conditions, characteristics of MPs and catalyst type, etc) and removal mechanisms were commendably discussed. Moreover, the challenges of current techniques application process and the potential coping strategies were also put forward. This review will not only help to deeply understand the detailed processes and mechanisms for removing MPs by coagulation and photocatalysis but also provide constructive information and useful data for future researches relevant to the enhanced removal of MPs from urban waters.

The study on the mechanism driving the spatial patterns of biological diversity along elevational gradients is a main focus in ecology, biogeography, and conservation biology. Based on the intraspecific variability of tadpole communities in 18 mountainous streams, the present study quantified the spatial patterns of taxonomic and functional diversity, and the environmental factors underlying the process of spatial distribution and diversity. First, our results illustrated that both elevation and microhabitat features (e.g., water pH, dissolve oxygen, current velocity, chlorophyll a, and ammonium nitrogen) determined tadpole community compositions. Second, the richness of functional entities showed a hump-shape response to the change of elevation. However, no significant relationships were detected between other diversity indices at both taxonomic and functional levels and site elevation. Finally, microhabitat environmental variables were the primary drivers of the taxonomic variation and functional diversity in tadpole communities. However, the relative contribution to the variation of specific diversity indices differed among microhabitat environmental variables. Our results supported the claim that the assembly of montane communities is determined by both spatial processes and environmental filtering. Importantly, tadpole taxonomic and functional diversities were strongly determined by microhabitat features in mountainous streams, providing evidence that microhabitat should be a priority in this study of tadpole diversity conservation. This study suggests that tadpole diversity should be considered in the long-time monitoring of species conservation, as the tadpole is part of the life history in amphibians.

Cenozoic basins and ranges constitute the high topography of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau which is derived from the Indo-Asian collision. The geomorphological characteristics of the ranges provide direct insight into the uplift processes which are responsible for the patterns of the ranges and the growth of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. This study analyzed the geomorphological features of Qinghai Nanshan (one of the youngest ranges within the northeastern Tibetan Plateau), including elevation, slope distribution and the channel steepness index. Topographic analysis revealed that elevations and slopes in western and central portions of Qinghai Nanshan were higher than those in the eastern portion, whereas the channel steepness index revealed a step-growth mode from west to east. Considering the topographic features, the lateral gradient of precipitation (increasing from west to east) and the lithology distribution, it is concluded that the geomorphological features of Qinghai Nanshan are influenced mainly by tectonic activities and reflect the growth pattern and/or the tectonic setting of the range. Comparing with previous studies, it is shown that the formation mechanism of Qinghai Nanshan follows a middle-to-sides growth pattern. Furthermore, the degree of inclination of the erosion surface distributed on the northern flank of the range suggests that Qinghai Nanshan is controlled jointly by the listric Qinghai Nanshan thrust fault and the influences from the Elashan and Riyueshan dextral strike slip faults. In addition, the northeastern Tibetan Plateau exhibits an outside-in growth process, which might reflect the northeastward growth of the entire northeastern Tibetan Plateau.