This study examined how linguistic complexity features contribute to second language (L2) processing effort by analyzing the Dutch English-L2 learners’ eye movements from GECO and MECO, two eye-tracking corpora. Processing effort was operationalized as reading rate, mean fixation duration, regression rate, skipping rate, and mean saccade amplitude. In Study 1, the lexical, syntactic, and discoursal indices in 272 snippets of a novel in GECO were regressed against these eye-movement measures. The results showed that the one-component partial least square regression (PLS-R) models could explain 11%–37% of the variance in these eye-movement measures and outperformed eight readability formulas (six traditional and two recent cognitively inspired formulas based on the readers’ perception on text difficulty) in predicting L2 processing effort. In Study 2, the eye-tracking data from MECO were used to evaluate whether the findings from Study 1 could be applied more broadly. The results revealed that although the predictability of these PLS-R components decreased, they still performed better than the readability formulas. These findings suggest that the linguistic indices identified can be used to predict L2 text processing effort and provide useful implications for developing systems to assess text difficulty for L2 learners.

A 198.8 m deep borehole was drilled through ice to subglacial bedrock in the northwestern marginal part of Princess Elizabeth Land, ~12 km south of Zhongshan Station, in January–February 2019. Three years later, in February 2022, the borehole temperature profile was measured, and the geothermal heat flow (GHF) was estimated using a 1-D time-dependent energy-balance equation. For a depth corresponding to the base of the ice sheet, the GHF was calculated as 72.6 ± 2.3 mW m−2 and temperature −4.53 ± 0.27°C. The regional averages estimated for this area based, generally, on tectonic setting vary from 55 to 66 mW m−2. A higher GHF is interpreted to originate mostly from the occurrence of metamorphic complexes intruded by heat-producing elements in the subglacial bedrock below the drill site.

Contestation over the structure and location of final sovereign authority—the right to make and enforce binding rules—occupies a central role in political development. Historically, war often settled these debates and institutionalized the victor’s vision of sovereignty. Yet sovereign authority requires more than institutions; it ultimately rests on the recognition of the governed. How does war shape imagined sovereignty? We explore the effect of warfare in the United States, where the debate over two competing visions of sovereignty erupted into the American Civil War. We exploit the grammatical shift in the “United States” from a plural to a singular noun as a measure of imagined sovereignty, drawing upon two large textual corpuses: newspapers (1800–99) and congressional speeches (1851–99). We demonstrate that war shapes imagined sovereignty, but for the North only. Our results further suggest that Northern Republicans played an important role as ideational entrepreneurs in bringing about this shift.

While a number of high-level figures around the world have been prosecuted and even jailed for corruption in recent years, we know little about how such anticorruption efforts shape public opinion and patterns of political engagement. To address this question, we examine evidence from Argentina and Costa Rica involving the unprecedented sentencing of two former Presidents on corruption charges. Exploiting the coincidence in timing between these cases and fieldwork on nationally representative surveys, we find that citizens interviewed in the aftermath of these events expressed lower trust in institutions and were less willing to vote or join in collective demonstrations. Overall, these findings suggest that high-profile efforts to punish corrupt actors may have similar effects as political scandals in shaping citizens’ relationship to the political system.

High-performance mullite-based composite ceramics were prepared successfully using natural kaolin and alumina as raw materials and ZrO2 as an additive. The influence of sintering temperature and ZrO2 content on the sintering behaviour and mechanical properties of zirconia-toughened mullite ceramics was studied systematically. With increasing sintering temperature from 1450°C to 1560°C, the primary phases of as-sintered composite ceramics were mullite and corundum with a small amount of ZrO2, and the bulk density of the composite ceramics increased from 2.29 to 2.72 g cm–3. Furthermore, the ZrO2 phase transition promoted transgranular fracture, and ZrO2 grains were pinned at the grain boundaries, thereby enhancing the mechanical strength of the composite ceramics. Moreover, the AZS12 sample, with 12 wt.% ZrO2 and sintered at 1560°C, had the greatest flexural strength and fracture toughness of 91.6 MPa and 2.47 MPa m–1/2, respectively. Adding ZrO2 to the composite ceramics increased their flexural strength by ~37.6%.

Pressure fluctuations play an essential role in the transport of turbulent kinetic energy and vibrational loading. This study focuses on examining the effect of wall cooling on pressure fluctuations in compressible turbulent boundary layers by high-fidelity direct numerical simulations. Pressure fluctuations result from the vorticity mode and the acoustic mode that are both closely dependent on compressibility. To demonstrate the effects of wall cooling at various compressibility intensities, three free-stream Mach numbers are investigated, i.e. $M_\infty =0.5$, 2.0 and 8.0, with real gas effects being absent for $M_\infty =8.0$ due to a low enthalpy inflow. Overall, opposite effects of wall cooling on pressure fluctuations are found between the subsonic/supersonic cases and the hypersonic case. Specifically, the pressure fluctuations normalized by wall shear stress $p^\prime _{rms}/\tau _w$ are suppressed in the subsonic and supersonic cases, while enhanced in the hypersonic case near the wall. Importantly, travelling-wave-like alternating positive and negative structures (APNS), which greatly contribute to pressure fluctuations, are identified within the viscous sublayer and buffer layer in the hypersonic cases. Furthermore, generating mechanisms of pressure fluctuations are explored by extending the decomposition based on the fluctuating pressure equation to compressible turbulent boundary layers. Pressure fluctuations are decomposed into five components, in which rapid pressure, slow pressure and compressible pressure are dominant. The suppression of pressure fluctuations in the subsonic and supersonic cases is due to both rapid pressure and slow pressure being suppressed by wall cooling. In contrast, wall cooling strengthens compressible pressure for all Mach numbers, especially in the hypersonic case, resulting in increased wall pressure fluctuations. Compressible pressure plays a leading role in the hypersonic case, mainly due to the APNS. Essentially, the main effects of wall cooling can be interpreted by the suppression of the vorticity mode and the enhancement of the acoustic mode.

Understanding predator–prey interactions is essential for successful pest management by using predators, especially for the suppression of novel invasive pest. The green lacewing Chrysopa formosa is a promising polyphagous predator that is widely used in the biocontrol of various pests in China, but information on the control efficiency of this predator against the seriously invasive pest Spodoptera frugiperda and native Spodoptera litura is limited. Here we evaluated the predation efficiency of C. formosa adults on eggs and first- to third-instar larvae of S. frugiperda and S. litura through functional response experiments and determined the consumption capacity and prey preference of this chrysopid. Adults of C. formosa had a high consumption of eggs and earlier instar larvae of both prey species, and displayed a type II functional response on all prey stages. Attack rates of the chrysopid on different prey stages were statistically similar, but the handling time increased notably as the prey developed. The highest predation efficiency and shortest-handling time were observed for C. formosa feeding on Spodoptera eggs, followed by the first-instar larvae. C. formosa exhibited a significant preference for S. litura over S. frugiperda in a two-prey system. In addition, we summarized the functional response and predation efficiency of several chrysopids against noctuid pests and made a comparison with the results obtained from C. formosa. These results indicate that C. formosa has potential as an agent for biological control of noctuid pests, particularly for the newly invasive pest S. frugiperda in China.

The subduction model of the Neo-Tethys during the Early Cretaceous has always been a controversial topic, and the scarcity of Early Cretaceous magmatic rocks in the southern part of the Gangdese batholith is the main cause of this debate. To address this issue, this article presents new zircon U–Pb chronology, zircon Hf isotope, whole-rock geochemistry and Sr–Nd isotope data for the Early Cretaceous quartz diorite dykes with adakite affinity in Liuqiong, Gongga. Zircon U–Pb dating of three samples yielded ages of c. 141–137 Ma, indicating that the Liuqiong quartz diorite was emplaced in the Early Cretaceous. The whole-rock geochemical analysis shows that the Liuqiong quartz diorite is enriched in large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and light rare-earth elements (LREEs) and is depleted in high-field-strength elements (HFSEs), which are related to slab subduction. Additionally, the Liuqiong quartz diorite has high SiO2, Al2O3 and Sr contents, high Sr/Y ratios and low heavy rare-earth element (HREE) and Y contents, which are compatible with typical adakite signatures. The initial 87Sr/86Sr values of the Liuqiong adakite range from 0.705617 to 0.705853, and the whole-rock ϵNd(t) values vary between +5.78 and +6.24. The zircon ϵHf(t) values vary from +11.5 to +16.4. Our results show that the Liuqiong adakite magma was derived from partial melting of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic plate (mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) + sediment + fluid), with some degree of subsequent peridotite interaction within the overlying mantle wedge. Combining regional data, we favour the interpretation that the Neo-Tethyan oceanic crust was subducted at a low angle beneath the Gangdese during the Early Cretaceous.

Developmental signals and environmental stresses regulate carbon distribution in the vegetative and reproductive organs of plants and affect seed yield. Cleistogenes songorica is a xerophytic grass with great potential application value in ecological restoration. However, how carbohydrate transport and distribution during grain filling affect the seed yield of C. songorica under water stress is not clear. The present study showed that the soluble sugar and starch contents of cleistogamous (CL) spikes and chasmogamous (CH) spikes were significantly higher at the milk stage, which was attributed to a significantly higher seed number and seed yield per spike under water stress conditions than under well-watered conditions (P < 0.01). RNA-seq data revealed a total of 54,525 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under water stress conditions, but only 3744 DEGs were shared among all comparison groups. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis showed that the transport and distribution of carbohydrates were regulated by ABA-responsive genes (CsABA8OX1_1, CsABA8OX1_2, CsABA8OX2_1, CsABA8OX2_2, CsNCED3, CsNCED1_1, CsNCED1_2 and CsNCED4_1) and sugar transport and starch synthesis genes (CsSUS1, CsSUS2, CsSUS3, CsAGP1, CsAGP4, CsAGP5, CsSSS1 and CsSBE5) under water stress conditions. These genes jointly regulated carbohydrate remobilization in sources (stems, leaves and sheaths) to promote grain filling and improve seed yield. The present study helped to clarify the phenotypic, metabolic and transcriptional response mechanisms of vegetative organs, such as stems and leaves, and reproductive organs, such as CL spikes and CH spikes, to promote carbohydrate redistribution under water stress, and it provides theoretical guidance for improving seed yields.

Very few studies have emphasized the effects of high-pressure sintering on snow density evolution, even though snow as a type of engineering material is widely used in construction engineering in cold regions for snow pavement, snow runway and polar infrastructure. This study presents new experimental results of snow densification under high pressures of up to 100 MPa for a temperature range from −3.5 to −17.3°C and uniaxial compression at the temperature of −10°C and constant strain rates from 5 × 10−4 to 10−1 s−1. Results reveal that density evolution of snow to ice under high-pressure sintering can be achieved in a wide temperature range within a duration as short as 5 min. The compressive strength of snow-sintered ice was ~1.2–2.2 times as large as that of water-frozen ice reported by previous work. The orthogonal experiment showed that pressure is a more significant factor affecting the final density in comparison with sintering temperature and time. The increased rates of ice fabrication, low limitations on temperature and reliable sintered snow strength indicate that snow-ice engineering, such as airport construction in Greenland and Antarctica, can be improved by high-pressure sintering of snow to overcome the harsh environment.

Athetis lepigone Möschler (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) is a common maize pest in Europe and Asia. However, there is no long-term effective management strategy is available yet to suppress its population. Adults rely heavily on olfactory cues to locate their optimal host plants and oviposition sites. Pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) are believed to be responsible for recognizing and transporting different odorant molecules to interact with receptor membrane proteins. In this study, the ligand-binding specificities of two AlepPBPs (AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3) for sex pheromone components and host plant (maize) volatiles were measured by fluorescence ligand-binding assay. The results demonstrated that AlepPBP2 had a high affinity with two pheromones [(Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.11 ± 0.1 μM, (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.32 ± 0.15 μM] and ten plant volatiles, including (-)-limonene, α-pinene, myrcene, linalool, benzaldehyde, nonanal, 2-hexanone, 3-hexanone, 2-heptanone and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one. In contrast, we found that none of these chemicals could bind to AlepPBP3. Our results clearly show no significant differences in the functional characterization of the binding properties between AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3 to sex pheromones and host plant volatiles. Furthermore, molecular docking was employed for further detail on some crucial amino acid residues involved in the ligand-binding of AlepPBP2. These findings will provide valuable information about the potential protein binding sites necessary for protein-ligand interactions which appear as attractive targets for the development of novel technologies and management strategies for insect pests.

Prolonged parturition duration has been widely demonstrated to be a risk factor for incidence of stillbirth. This study evaluated the supply of dietary fibre on the parturition duration, gut microbiota and metabolome using sows as a model. A total of 40 Yorkshire sows were randomly given diet containing normal level of dietary fibre (NDF, 17·5 % dietary fibre) or high level of dietary fibre (HDF, 33·5 % dietary fibre). Faecal microbiota profiled with 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, SCFA and metabolome in the faeces and plasma around parturition were compared between the dietary groups. Correlation analysis was conducted to further explore the potential associations between specific bacterial taxa and metabolites. Results showed that HDF diet significantly improved the parturition process as presented by the shorter parturition duration. HDF diet increased the abundance of the phyla Bacteroidetes and Synergistetes and multiple genera. Except for butyrate, SCFA levels in the faeces and plasma of sows at parturition were elevated in HDF group. The abundances of fifteen and twelve metabolites in the faeces and plasma, respectively, markedly differ between HDF and NDF sows. These metabolites are involved in energy metabolism and bacterial metabolism. Correlation analysis also showed associations between specific bacteria taxa and metabolites. Collectively, our study indicates that the improvement of parturition duration by high fibre intake in late gestation is associated with gut microbiota, production of SCFA and other metabolites, potentially serving for energy metabolism.

Although multiple global navigation satellite systems (multi-GNSS) with more visible satellites have a high success rate, they make positioning time-consuming. Partial ambiguity resolution (PAR) can improve the efficiency of multi-GNSS; however, at present PAR cannot simultaneously achieve fast and high-precision positioning with a high success rate. Therefore, PAR based on ambiguity dilution of precision- and convex-hull-based satellite selection is proposed. The experimental results of the proposed PAR, its corresponding satellite selection algorithm, the classical PAR, and the low-cutoff-elevation-angle-based multi-GNSS show that the proposed PAR outperforms the classical PAR, i.e., it achieves fast and high-precision positioning with a success rate of 100⋅0%. Furthermore, in terms of R-ratio-test-based ambiguity validation, it improves the reliability of carrier-phase-based integrity monitoring of multi-GNSS and the corresponding satellite selection algorithms. In addition, its positioning accuracy is close to that of multi-GNSS and higher than that of the classical PAR, with maximum differences of 0⋅3 and 2⋅4 cm, respectively. The proposed single (dual) frequency-based PAR improves single/dual-frequency multi-GNSS efficiency by more than 54⋅9%/80⋅4% (42⋅0%/75⋅8%) when 14⋅4 (13⋅2) out of 24⋅4 satellites are selected.

The effect of vitamin D (VD) on the risk of preeclampsia (PE) is uncertain. Few of previous studies focused on the relationship between dietary VD intake and PE risk. Therefore, we conducted this 1:1 matched case–control study to explore the association of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk in Chinese pregnant women. A total of 440 pairs of participants were recruited during March 2016 to June 2019. Dietary information was obtained using a seventy-eight-item semi-quantitative FFQ. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 were measured by liquid chromatography–tandem MS. Multivariate conditional logistic regression was used to estimate OR and 95 % CI. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were plotted to evaluate the dose–response relationship of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk. Compared with the lowest quartile, the OR of the highest quartile were 0·45 (95 % CI 0·29, 0·71, Ptrend = 0·001) for VD dietary intake and 0·26 (95 % CI 0·11, 0·60, Ptrend = 0·003) for serum levels after adjusting for confounders. In addition, the RCS analysis suggested a reverse J-shaped relationship between dietary VD intake and PE risk (P-nonlinearity = 0·02). A similar association was also found between serum concentrations of total 25(OH)D and PE risk (P-nonlinearity = 0·02). In conclusion, this study provides evidence that higher dietary intake and serum levels of VD are associated with the lower risk of PE in Chinese pregnant women.

Spodoptera litura is an important pest that causes significant economic damage to numerous crops worldwide. Sex pheromones (SPs) mediate sexual communication in S. litura and show a characteristic degree of rhythmic activity, occurring mainly during the scotophase; however, the specific regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we employed a genome-wide analysis to identify eight candidate circadian clock genes in S. litura. Sequence characteristics and expression patterns were analyzed. Our results demonstrated that some circadian clock genes might regulate the biosynthesis and perception of SPs by regulating the rhythmic expression of SP biosynthesis-related genes and SP perception-related genes. Interestingly, all potential genes exhibited peak expression in the scotophase, consistent with the SP could mediate courtship and mating behavior in S. litura. Our findings are helpful in elucidating the molecular mechanism by which circadian clock genes regulate sexual communication in S. litura.

Flavonoids are a group of phenolic secondary metabolites in plants that have important physiological, ecological and economic value. In this study, using the desert plant Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch. as the sample material, the content and components of the total flavonoids in its seeds at seven different developmental stages were determined. In addition, the genes involved in flavonoid metabolism were identified by full-length transcriptome sequencing (third-generation sequencing technology based on PacBio RS II). Their expression levels were analysed by RNA-seq short reading sequencing, to reveal the patterns and regulation mechanisms of flavonoid accumulation during seed development. The key results were as follows: the content of total flavonoids in mature seeds was 15.05 mg g−1, including five subclasses: flavonols, chalcones, flavones, flavanones and proanthocyanidins, among which flavonols accounted for 45.78%. The period of rapid accumulation of flavonoids was 40–70 d following anthesis. The high expression of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL) and UDP-glucose:flavonoids 3-o-glucosyltransferase (UF3GT) promoted the accumulation of total flavonoids, while the high expression of flavonoids 3′-hydroxylase (F3′H) and flavonols synthase (FLS) made flavanols the main component. Transcription factors such as the MYB-bHLH-WDR (MBW) complex and Selenium-binding protein (SBP) directly regulated the structural genes of flavonoid metabolism, while C2H2-type zinc finger (C2H2), Zinc-finger transcription factor (GATA), Dehydration-responsive element binding (DREB), Global Transcription factor Group E protein (GTE), Trihelix DNA-binding factors (Trihelix) and Phytochrome-interacting factor (PIF) indirectly promoted the synthesis of flavonoids through hormones such as brassinoidsteroids (BRs) and abscisic acid (ABA). These results provided valuable resources for the application of related genes in genetics and breeding.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of immune-mediated disorders characterised by a chronic, relapsing-remitting inflammation predominantly affecting the gastrointestinal tract. IBD is incurable, affecting people in their most productive years. IBD is historically seen as a disease of Westernised nations although in recent times other countries have seen an exponential rise in cases. Although the exact pathogenesis remains unclear, evidence suggests that microbiota changes play a critical role in IBD pathogenesis. Over the past two decades, IBD has become one of the most studied human conditions linked to the gut microbiota. However, deciphering the intricate link between the gut microbiota and therapeutic efficacy remains elusive. This review will summarise the current evidence relating to the gut microbiota and its involvement in IBD pathogenesis as well as the impact of IBD treatments including pharmaceutical-, nutraceutical- and microbial-focused regimens on the gut microbiota.