Two new eurypterids, a pterygotid Erettopterus qujingensis n. sp., and a slimoniid, Slimonia sp., are described from the upper Silurian (Pridolian) Yulongsi Formation of Yunnan Province, China. Erettopterus qujingensis n. sp. is characterized by several inversely curved ramus denticles and a metastoma with a deep notch in the center. The discovery not only extends the geographic extent of the genus Erettopterus and Slimonia from Euramerica to southwest China, but also gives insight into the similarity of ecosystem structures across the Silurian world.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/939e82cd-58fc-415b-9209-514aecef2267

Many waterflooding oil fields, injecting water into an oil-bearing reservoir for pressure maintenance, are in their middle to late stages of development. To explore the geological conditions and improve oilfield recovery of the most important well group of the Hu 136 block, located on the border areas of three provinces (Henan, Shandong, and Hebei), Zhongyuan Oilfield, Sinopec, central China, a 14C cross-well tracer monitoring technology was developed and applied in monitoring the development status and recognize the heterogeneity of oil reservoirs. The tracer response in the production well was tracked, and the water drive speed, swept volume of the injection fluid were obtained. Finally, the reservoir heterogeneity characteristics, such as the dilution coefficient, porosity, permeability, and average pore-throat radius, were fitted according to the mathematical model of the heterogeneous multi-layer inter-well theory. The 14C-AMS technique developed in this work is expected to be a potential analytical method for evaluating underground reservoir characteristics and providing crucial scientific guidance for the mid to late oil field recovery process.

The goal for many PhD students in archaeology is tenure-track employment. Students primarily receive their training by tenure-track or tenured professors, and they are often tacitly expected—or explicitly encouraged—to follow in the footsteps of their advisor. However, the career trajectories that current and recent PhD students follow may hold little resemblance to the ones experienced by their advisors. To understand these different paths and to provide information for current PhD students considering pursuing a career in academia, we surveyed 438 archaeologists holding tenured or tenure-track positions in the United States. The survey, recorded in 2019, posed a variety of questions regarding the personal experiences of individual professors. The results are binned by the decade in which the respondent graduated. Evident patterns are discussed in terms of change over time. The resulting portraits of academic pathways through the past five decades indicate that although broad commonalities exist in the qualifications of early career academics, there is no singular pathway to obtaining tenure-track employment. We highlight the commonalities revealed in our survey to provide a set of general qualifications that might provide a baseline set of skills and experiences for an archaeologist seeking a tenure-track job in the United States.

The extinct family Hylicellidae, as the ancestral group of modern cicadomorphans, had a wide distribution and a very high species-level biodiversity from the Triassic to Early Cretaceous. We herein report 11 new hylicellid specimens from the Jurassic Daohugou beds of Inner Mongolia, NE China, and execute geometric morphometric analysis (GMA) to elucidate their systematic position. Our GMA and subsequent morphometric statistics indicate that 10 of our new specimens can be compared to the holotype of Cycloscytina gobiensis, and one is new to science. Cycloscytina incompleta new species is erected based on this specimen, with the following discriminatory tegminal traits: C3 almost as long as and slightly narrower than C2, and the forking position of stem M distinctly migrates towards wing apex and much apicad of the stem CuA bifurcating. Additionally, Cycloscytina plachutai is herein transferred to the procercopid genus Procercopina, resulting in P. plachutai new combination. To date, just a few body structures of Hylicellidae have been revealed, and the new whole-bodied hylicellids reported herein provide some novel insights on the evolution of basal Clypeata. This study also emphasizes the use of morphometric analysis in the systematics of wing-bearing insects such as hylicellids.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/84a67eba-9b7c-4e27-a436-764802c4cdfb.

The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), a destructive pest that originated in South and North America, spread to China in early 2019. Controlling this invasive pest requires an understanding of its population structure and migration patterns, yet the invasion genetics of Chinese S. frugiperda is not clear. Here, using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, triose phosphate isomerase (Tpi) gene and eight microsatellite loci, we investigated genetic structure and genetic diversity of 16 S. frugiperda populations in China. The Tpi locus identified most S. frugiperda populations as the corn-strains, and a few were heterozygous strains. The microsatellite loci revealed that the genetic diversity of this pest in China was lower than that in South America. Furthermore, we found moderate differentiation among the populations, distinct genetic structures between adjacent populations and abundant genetic resources in the S. frugiperda populations from China sampled across 2 years. The survival rate of S. frugiperda was significantly higher when it was fed on corn leaves than on rice leaves, and the larval stage mortality rate was the highest under both treatments. Our results showed that S. frugiperda probably invaded China via multiple independent introductions and careful pesticide control, continuous monitoring and further studies will be needed to minimize its potential future outbreak.

Pneumatic muscle actuator (PMA) similar to biological muscle is a new type of pneumatic actuator. The flexible manipulator based on PMAs was constructed to simulate the actual movement of the human upper arm. Considering the model errors and external disturbances, the fuzzing sliding mode control based on the saturation function was proposed. Compared with other fuzzy control methods, fuzzy control and saturation function are used to adjust the robust terms to improve the tracking accuracy and reduce the high-frequency chattering.

Energy homeostasis is essential for organisms to maintain fluctuation in energy accumulation, mobilization. Lipids as the main energy reserve in insects, their metabolism is under the control of many physiological program. This study aimed to determine whether the adipokinetic hormone receptor (AKHR) was involved in the lipid mobilization in the Spodoptera litura. A full-length cDNA encoding AKHR was isolated from S. litura. The SlAKHR protein has a conserved seven-transmembrane domain which is the character of a putative G protein receptor. Expression profile investigation revealed that SlAKHR mRNA was highly expressed in immatural stage and abundant in fat body in newly emerged female adults. Knockdown of SlAKHR expression was achieved through RNAi by injecting double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) into the 6th instar larvae. The content of triacylgycerol (TAG) in the fat body increased significantly after the SlAKHR gene was knockdown. And decrease of TAG releasing to hemolymph with increase of free fatty acid (FFA) in hemolymph were observed when the SlAKHR gene was knowned-down. In addition, lipid droplets increased in fat body was also found. These results suggested that SlAKHR is critical for insects to regulate lipids metabolism.

Recently, the nature of viscoelastic drag-reducing turbulence (DRT), especially the maximum drag reduction (MDR) state, has become a focus of controversy. It has long been regarded as polymer-modulated inertial turbulence (IT), but is challenged by the newly proposed concept of elasto-inertial turbulence (EIT). This study is to repicture DRT in parallel plane channels by introducing dynamics of EIT through statistical, structural and budget analysis for a series of flow regimes from the onset of drag reduction to EIT. Some underlying mechanistic links between DRT and EIT are revealed. Energy conversion between velocity fluctuations and polymers as well as pressure redistribution effects are of particular concern, based on which a new energy self-sustaining process (SSP) of DRT is repictured. The numerical results indicate that at low Reynolds number ($Re$), weak IT flow is replaced by a laminar regime before the barrier of EIT dynamics is established with the increase of elasticity, whereas, at moderate $Re$, EIT-related SSP can get involved and survive from being relaminarized. This further explains the reason why relaminarization phenomenon is observed for low $Re$ while the flow directly enters MDR and EIT at moderate $Re$. Moreover, with the proposed energy picture, the newly discovered phenomenon that streamwise velocity fluctuations lag behind those in the wall-normal direction can be well explained. The repictured SSP certainly justifies the conjecture that IT nature is gradually replaced by that of EIT in DRT with the increase of elasticity.

Big data has been reported widely to facilitate epidemic prevention and control in health care during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, there is still a lack of practical experience in applying it to hospital prevention and control. This study is devoted to the practical experience of design and implementation as well as the preliminary results of an innovative big data-driven COVID-19 risk personnel screening management system in a hospital. Our screening system integrates data sources in four dimensions, which includes Health Quick Response (QR) code, abroad travelling history, transportation close contact personnel and key surveillance personnel. Its screening targets cover all patients, care partner and staff who come to the hospital. As of November 2021, nearly 690 000 people and 5.79 million person-time had used automated COVID-19 risk screening and monitoring. A total of 10 376 person-time (0.18%) with abnormal QR code were identified, 242 person-time with abroad travelling history were identified, 925 person-time were marked based on the data of key surveillance personnel, no transportation history personnel been reported and no COVID-19 nosocomial infection occurred in the hospital. Through the application of this system, the hospital's expenditure on manpower and material resources for epidemic prevention and control has also been significantly reduced. Collectively, this study has proved to be an effective and efficient model for the use of digital health technology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the data from multiple sources, this system has an irreplaceable role in identifying close contacts or suspicious person, and can significantly reduce the social burden caused by COVID-19, especially the human resources and economic costs of hospital prevention and control. It may provide guidance for clinical epidemic prevention and control in hospitals, as well as for future public health emergencies.

Drawing from the theory of territorial behavior, this article predicts the explanatory role of silence behavior in the relationship between knowledge hiding and hider's innovative behavior in Chinese organizations, and the potential of Zhongyong thinking in mitigating the detrimental effect of knowledge hiding. Results derived from a time-lagged and multi-source survey support our hypotheses. Specifically, knowledge hiding is negatively associated with the innovative behavior of the hider. Silence behavior mediates the relationship between knowledge hiding and innovative behavior. Meanwhile, Zhongyong thinking moderates the positive relationship between knowledge hiding and silence behavior, as well as the indirect relationship between knowledge hiding and innovative behavior through silence behavior. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed based on these findings.

Strapdown inertial navigation systems are widely used in surface ships and warships. Although high-precision optical fibre inertial navigation systems are available, they have high cost and limited practicality. Therefore, they cannot replace the traditional platform inertial navigation systems in all ships. Hence, microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based inertial sensors are widely used for robust navigation. Accurate and timely identification of sensor faults while ensuring stable navigation is a challenging task. This paper proposes a robust fault detection (FD) approach for a low-cost system that loosely integrates a strapdown inertial navigation system and the global navigation satellite system, where the integrated navigation state estimation provides high-accuracy output. A cubature Hi/H∞-optimised FD filter was designed for a nonlinear discrete time-varying system considering sensitivity to faults and robustness to disturbances. Furthermore, a threshold for FD was derived considering a compromise between the false alarm rate and fault diagnosis accuracy. Finally, the proposed method was validated through simulations using multiple noise distribution sensor data generated by a ship-manoeuvring simulator.

Hibernation is a biological status during which hibernating animals acclimatize themselves to reduced energy consumption through extreme but governed decline in self-metabolism. The role of mitochondria (Mt) in metabolic suppression during hibernation has already been elaborated in different organs and species. Nonetheless, the concretely changing process of mitochondrial architecture and the mechanism underlying this transformation during hibernation remains unclear. Herein, the present study was aimed at clarifying the detailed alteration of mitochondrial morphology and its potential role in the Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) during different stages of hibernation. Compared with the nonhibernation period, the mitochondrial architecture was changing from round to crescent, and lipid droplet (LD)/Mt interaction was enhanced during hibernation, as observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Further ultrastructural analysis uncovered that mitochondrial fusion was promptly accelerated in the early stage of hibernation, followed by mitochondrial fission in the middle stage, and mitophagy was boosted in the late stage. Moreover, gene and protein expression related to mitochondrial fusion, fission, and mitophagy accorded closely with the mitochondrial ultrastructural changes in different stages of hibernation. Taken together, our results clarified that the transformation of mitochondrial architecture and mitochondrial dynamics are of vital importance in maintaining internal environment homeostasis of Pelodiscus sinensis.

Traditionally, the strata of the Luonie Valley, Dechang County, SW Sichuan, China, are considered to contain a suite of felsic volcanic rocks (the Huili Group) that erupted after c. 1050 Ma. However, we report here new age constraints, elemental and Lu–Hf isotope geochemistry for a different suite of older basaltic agglomerate lava, basaltic tuff lava and basalt from the same area, which we name the Luonie Formation. New dating results show that the basaltic volcanic suite of the upper part of the Luonie Formation formed at 1126.1 ± 9.9 Ma, significantly earlier than deposition of the Huili Group, but comparable in age to the 1142 ± 16 Ma Laowushan Formation in central Yunnan Province. Granite intrusion into the Luonie Formation dated 1050.7 ± 12.7 Ma provides crucial supporting evidence for this earlier depositional age. We also report a maximum sedimentary age of c. 1158 Ma for the underlying arkose, implying stratigraphic conformity with the basaltic volcanic rock suite.

The ϵHf(t) values of the basaltic volcanic rocks are mainly positive, indicating that the rocks are mainly derived from the depleted mantle and slightly stained by crustal materials. The characteristics of P*, Nb* and Zr* anomalies also support this view. The distribution patterns of trace and rare earth elements indicate that the basaltic volcanic rocks formed in an extensional setting. The Zr/4–Y–2Nb and Th–Nb/16–Zr/117 discrimination diagrams also provide evidence for this understanding. Lithofacies analysis shows that basaltic volcanic wrocks with the characteristics of both continental and marine facies should be formed in a littoral–neritic environment. We propose here that the evidence is consistent with a phase of continental extension that preceded the convergence of the SW Yangtze Block to form part of Rodinia.