Galls function as provide shelter for gall inducers, guarding them against their natural enemies. Previous research has illuminated the interactions between galls, gall inducers, and their corresponding parasitoids within various caltrop plants. However, less is known about these relationships within Nitraria sibirica, particularly regarding the efficacy of parasitism. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the morphometric relationships among the swollen galls, gall inducers, and their parasitoids. Two species of gall inducers and three species of parasitoids were obtained from the swollen galls of N. sibirica. The correlations of the parasitization indexes, the lifespan of gall inhabitants, and temperature and the morphometric relationships between the galls and their inhabitants were analyzed. The dominant gall inducer identified was Contarinia sp. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). Furthermore, it was observed that three solitary parasitoids attacked Contarinia sp. in the swollen galls, with only Eupelmus gelechiphagus acting as an idiobiont ectoparasitoid. The dominant parasitoids were Platygaster sp. and Cheiloneurus elegans at sites 1 and 2, respectively, with Platygaster sp. displaying greater abundance than C. elegans in the swollen galls. The lifespan of the gall inhabitants shortened gradually as the temperature increased. Moreover, the optimal number of gall chambers ranged from two to four per swollen gall with maximized fitness, which can be considered the optimal population density for the gall inducer Contarinia sp. Morphometric analysis exhibited a strong linear correlation between gall size and chamber number or the number of gall inhabitants, as well as a weak correlation between gall size and body size of the primary inhabitants of swollen galls. Our results highlight the importance of the biological investigation of parasitoids and gall inducers living in closed galls with multiple chambers and may pave the way for potential application in biological control.

A new approach to target development for laboratory astrophysics experiments at high-power laser facilities is presented. With the dawn of high-power lasers, laboratory astrophysics has emerged as a field, bringing insight into physical processes in astrophysical objects, such as the formation of stars. An important factor for success in these experiments is targetry. To date, targets have mainly relied on expensive and challenging microfabrication methods. The design presented incorporates replaceable machined parts that assemble into a structure that defines the experimental geometry. This can make targets cheaper and faster to manufacture, while maintaining robustness and reproducibility. The platform is intended for experiments on plasma flows, but it is flexible and may be adapted to the constraints of other experimental setups. Examples of targets used in experimental campaigns are shown, including a design for insertion in a high magnetic field coil. Experimental results are included, demonstrating the performance of the targets.

A 30-d feeding trial was conducted to investigate effects of dietary eucommia ulmoides leaf extract (ELE) on growth performance, activities of digestive enzymes, antioxidant capacity, immunity, expression of inflammatory factors and feeding-related genes of large yellow croaker larvae. Five micro-diets were formulated with supplementation of 0 g kg−1 (the control), 5 g kg−1 (0·5 %), 10 g kg−1 (1·0 %) and 20 g kg−1 (2·0 %) of ELE, respectively. Results showed that the best growth performance was found in larvae fed the diet with 1·0 % ELE. Furthermore, ELE supplementation significantly increased the npy expression at 1·0 % dosage, while increased ghrelin in larvae at 0·5 % dosages. The activity of leucine aminopeptidase in larvae fed the diet with 1·0 % ELE was significantly higher than the control, while alkaline phosphatase was significantly upregulated in larvae fed the diet with 2·0 % ELE. A clear increase in total antioxidant capacity in larvae fed the diet with 1·0 % ELE was observed, whereas catalase activity was significantly higher in 1·0 % and 2·0 % ELE supplementation compared with the control. Larvae fed the diet with 1·0 % ELE had a significantly higher activities of lysozyme, total nitric oxide synthase and nitric oxide content than the control. Moreover, transcriptional levels of cox-2, il-1β and il-6 were remarkably downregulated by the supplementation of 0·5–1·0 % ELE. This study demonstrated that the supplementation of 1·0 % ELE in diet could increase the growth performance of large yellow croaker larvae probably by promoting expression of feeding-related genes, enhancing antioxidant capacity and immunity and inhibiting expression of inflammatory factors.

Natural enemies that impact pest populations must be understood in order to build integrated pest control strategies and to understand the most important aspects affecting pest dynamics. Haloxylon ammodendron (C. A. Mey.) Bunge is an important perennial plant species extensively used in sand stabilization and wind prevention in arid areas. This study aimed to determine the main defoliators that damage H. ammodendron and the parasitoid complex associated with them. Twelve species of defoliators were found in Northern Xinjiang, and Teia dubia (Tauscher) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), Scrobipalpa sp. (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), and Eucharia festiva Hüfnagel (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) were the dominant pests. T. dubia is the predominant defoliator with three generations a year. Northwest China, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean region are potentially suitable habitats for T. dubia in the world, while Xinjiang is the primary distribution area in China. Parasitoids belonging to seven species and four families were reared from the larvae of T. dubia, they were all endoparasitoids and koinobiont. Cotesia sp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is the dominant parasitoid and prefer to parasitic in the 3rd–5th instar larvae. The present study provides the basis for understanding the species composition and natural enemies of lepidopteran defoliators. It will be an effective tool for the integrated pest management programs of H. ammodendron forest.

We report on the design and first results from experiments looking at the formation of radiative shocks on the Shenguang-II (SG-II) laser at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics in China. Laser-heating of a two-layer CH/CH–Br foil drives a $\sim 40$ km/s shock inside a gas cell filled with argon at an initial pressure of 1 bar. The use of gas-cell targets with large (several millimetres) lateral and axial extent allows the shock to propagate freely without any wall interactions, and permits a large field of view to image single and colliding counter-propagating shocks with time-resolved, point-projection X-ray backlighting ($\sim 20$ μm source size, 4.3 keV photon energy). Single shocks were imaged up to 100 ns after the onset of the laser drive, allowing to probe the growth of spatial nonuniformities in the shock apex. These results are compared with experiments looking at counter-propagating shocks, showing a symmetric drive that leads to a collision and stagnation from $\sim 40$ ns onward. We present a preliminary comparison with numerical simulations with the radiation hydrodynamics code ARWEN, which provides expected plasma parameters for the design of future experiments in this facility.

The time dispersion effect affects the accuracy of solar time difference of arrival (TDOA) navigation. In this celestial autonomous navigation, Mars's moons are reflecting celestial bodies, and their shape affects the TDOA dispersion model. In the modelling process of traditional methods, the moons of Mars (Phobos and Deimos) are regarded as points, which causes the model to be inaccurate. In order to solve these problems, we simplified the Mars's moons into ellipsoids or solid diamonds, and then established a TDOA model with the nonspherical Mars's moons as reflecting celestial bodies through differential geometry and geometric optics. Finally, we analysed the time dispersion caused by the Mars's moons in theory. Theoretical analysis and experiments show that the point model error is 5·66 km, and the 3D model error is within 70 m. Thus, the 3D TDOA model established in this paper is meaningful. In addition, the Sun–Mars-moons–spacecraft angle, solar flare, three-axis length, and attitude of the Mars's moons have a great effect on the dispersion profile, while the Mars's moons-to-spacecraft distance has a small effect.

Suprathermal electrons produced by laser–plasma interactions at 0.53-μm laser wavelength have been investigated using 19 electron spectrometers. The targets were 2- and 10-μm-thick Al foils, while the laser average intensities were 2 × 1013 and 7 × 1014 W/cm2. A double temperature distribution was observed in the electron energy spectrum: the lower electron temperature was below 25 keV, whereas the higher was ~50 keV. The angular distribution of the total suprathermal electron energy approximately obeyed the Gaussian distribution, peaking along the k vector of the incident laser beam for perpendicular incidence. Furthermore, the conversion rate of laser energy into escaped suprathermal electron energy over the π sr solid angle was ~10−4 at $\sim \!\!10^{14} \; {\rm W}/{\rm c}{\rm m}^{\rm 2}$, increasing almost linearly with the laser intensity.

To eliminate the impact of the Doppler effects caused by the motion of the Mars explorer, a novel X-ray pulsar navigation method based on a closed-loop filter is proposed. In the pulsar signal observation period, the Doppler velocity predicted by the orbit dynamic model and the prior information is utilised to compensate the X-ray photon time-of-arrival (TOA). However, because of the error in prior information, there is a bias caused by the Doppler compensation in the pulse time-of-arrival. The pulse TOA bias and the Mars explorer's state estimation error are correlated, which results in the decline of the Kalman filter performance. To deal with this problem, we build the TOA measurement model with respect to the state estimation error, and utilise the closed-loop extended Kalman filter (EKF) as the navigation filter, where the predicted state error is adopted as the state estimation. The simulation results demonstrate the feasibility, real-timeliness and effectiveness of the proposed navigation method. The navigation method based on the closed-loop EKF using the measurement model with the Doppler effects is more accurate than the traditional one.

Black Diamond (BD) is gaining popularity as a low k dielectric for copper/low k integration. However, because of lower hardness and more hydrophobic in nature of BD film surface comparing with those of the conventional oxide, some specific defects appear during CMP process of Cu/BD patterned wafers. In this study, the patterned wafer inspection systems, AIT II, and SEM review station are used to review and to classify such defects generated from CMP process. Using conventional Cu/Oxide CMP process, the percentage of these specific defects from Cu/BD CMP is typically more than 60 of total defect count. By modifying the composition of slurry with new additives and optimization of polishing and cleaning parameters, the total defect count can be reduced by 80%, in which the amount of specific defects is less than 5% of total defect count.