In this paper, we design and fabricate dual-tunable waveguides in a two-dimensional periodic plate with threaded holes. Dual tunability is realized by using rods held with nuts as well as assembly prestress of the nuts. A straight waveguide, a bent waveguide, and a wave splitter are designed by changing the distribution of rods and nuts in different circuits. The experimental and numerical results show that the frequencies of guided waves can be tuned by the assembly prestress. By increasing the amount of prestress, the frequency range of the passing band can be shifted upward. Confinements, guiding, and splitting of Lamb waves are clearly observed in both experimental measurements and numerical simulations. This work is essential for the practical design of reconfigurable phononic devices.

Rodents and shrews are major reservoirs of various pathogens that are related to zoonotic infectious diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate co-infections of zoonotic pathogens in rodents and shrews trapped in four provinces of China. We sampled different rodent and shrew communities within and around human settlements in four provinces of China and characterised several important zoonotic viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens by PCR methods and phylogenetic analysis. A total of 864 rodents and shrews belonging to 24 and 13 species from RODENTIA and EULIPOTYPHLA orders were captured, respectively. For viral pathogens, two species of hantavirus (Hantaan orthohantavirus and Caobang orthohantavirus) were identified in 3.47% of rodents and shrews. The overall prevalence of Bartonella spp., Anaplasmataceae, Babesia spp., Leptospira spp., Spotted fever group Rickettsiae, Borrelia spp., and Coxiella burnetii were 31.25%, 8.91%, 4.17%, 3.94%, 3.59%, 3.47%, and 0.58%, respectively. Furthermore, the highest co-infection status of three pathogens was observed among Bartonella spp., Leptospira spp., and Anaplasmataceae with a co-infection rate of 0.46%. Our results suggested that species distribution and co-infections of zoonotic pathogens were prevalent in rodents and shrews, highlighting the necessity of active surveillance for zoonotic pathogens in wild mammals in wider regions.

Purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus L.) is a globally distributed noxious weed that poses a significant challenge for control due to its fast and efficient propagation through the tuber, which is the primary reproductive organ. Gibberellic acid (GA3) has proven to be crucial for tuberization in tuberous plants. Therefore, understanding the relationship between GA3 and tuber development and propagation of C. rotundus will provide valuable information for controlling this weed. This study shows that the GA3 content decreases with tuber development, which corresponds to lower expression of bioactive GA3 synthesis genes (CrGA20ox, two CrGA3ox genes) and two upregulated GA3 catabolism genes (CrGA2ox genes), indicating that GA3 is involved in tuber development. Simultaneously, the expression of two CrDELLA genes and CrGID1 declines with tuber growth and decreased GA3, and yeast two-hybrid assays confirm that the GA3 signaling is DELLA-dependent. Furthermore, exogenous application of GA3 markedly reduces the number and the width of tubers and represses the growth of the tuber chain, further confirming the negative impact that GA3 has on tuber development and propagation. Taken together, these results demonstrate that GA3 is involved in tuber development and regulated by the DELLA-dependent pathway in C. rotundus and plays a negative role in tuber development and propagation.

To be successfully used in daily life situations, exoskeletons should be effective across multimodal scenarios, including walking on various terrains, and transitions between locomotion modes such as walking-to-stop. Correct continuous gait phase estimation is essential for high-level walking assistance control. Despite the impressive advances in gait phase estimation for a variety of locomotion modes, transition gait phase estimation is rarely researched, leading to the jittering of exoskeletons during walking-to-stop transitions. We propose an optimized phase oscillator (PO-opt) that estimates the gait phase correctly during transition gaits in multimodal locomotion, which is beneficial to eliminating the jittering. In the phase plane, a lateral axis extreme difference (LAED) is adopted to classify transition gaits. The threshold of LAED for transition gaits in multimodal locomotion was preliminarily determined by simulation, which was then applied and validated in experiments. Simulation results indicated that a threshold of 15.0 was suitable for transition gaits classification during treadmill walking, free walking, and ramp ascent/descent, while results of the experiment showed that a threshold between 6.5 and 10.5 was applicable for treadmill walking, free walking, and stair ascent/descent. In particular, the jittering elimination rates for 3, 4, and 5 km/h treadmill walking were improved from 29%, 21%, and 4% (PO model) to 100%, respectively, when the threshold of LAED was set at 15.0 in PO-opt model. The results indicated a significant increase in the rate of jittering elimination when the PO-opt model was applied. The model holds great promise in real-world applications for prostheses and other types of exoskeletons.

Drillholes on shells provide a useful way to investigate prey and predator relationships. The current study documents predator–prey interactions exemplified by a faunal assemblage of the fossil gastropod Turritella cingulifera from the Pleistocene Szekou Formation in Hengchun Peninsula, Taiwan. All recognisable skeletal and shell fragments that are larger than 3 mm in size were collected and recorded. Processed bulk sediments (5.24 kg) contained 1462 molluscan shells, including 824 specimens of T. cingulifera, and 27 non-molluscan invertebrates. In the current study, approximately 41.6% (609/1462) of molluscs are drilled with at least one hole. Drilling intensities (DIs) regardless of shell completeness in all gastropods, bivalves and the turritelline gastropod T. cingulifera are 0.546, 0.060 and 0.413, respectively. DI on turritellids is significantly lower than that on other gastropods (χ2= 21.039, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the percentage of drillholes that occur in multiply drilled specimens is 34.7% (95/275) for turritelline gastropods based on complete to nearly complete specimens (n = 588). Our study shows no significant preference of drillhole position either on the suture or on the whorl (χ2= 0.055, P = 0.814). Most drillholes are located in whorls two to four proximal to the aperture. Drillhole diameters of the shells with one drillhole and ones with multiple drillholes are 1.0 and 0.5 mm on average, and the results of Mann–Whitney tests indicate that they are significantly different (P < 0.001). The first turritelline gastropod shell with an incomplete drillhole from Taiwan is documented here. The dominant drilling predators were naticids based on the drillhole morphology and the presence of naticids in the same assemblage. No apparent prey size selectivity is observed, so a ‘size refugium’ does not exist for the turritellids in the current study.

Folate, also known as vitamin B9, is a water-soluble vitamin. Previous studies on dietary folate intake in severe headache patients were equivocal. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study to elucidate the relationship between folate intake and severe headache. This cross-sectional study used data from participants over 20 years old who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2004. The diagnosis of severe headache was made through participants’ self-report in the NHANES questionnaire section. We performed multivariate logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression to explore the relationship between folate intake and severe headache. A total of 9859 participants took part in the study, 1965 of whom were severe headache patients and the rest were non-severe headache. We found that dietary folate intake was significantly and inversely associated with severe headache. Compared with participants with lower folate intake Q1 (≤ 229·97 ug/d), the adjusted OR values for dietary folate intake and severe headache in Q2 (229·98–337 ug/d), Q3 (337·01–485 ug/d) and Q4 (≥ 485·01 ug/d) were 0·81 (95 % CI: 0·67, 0·98, P = 0·03), 0·93 (95 % CI: 0·77, 1·12, P = 0·41) and 0·63 (95 % CI: 0·49, 0·80, P < 0·001), respectively. For women aged 20–50 years, there was a non-linear association between folate intake and severe headache in the RCS. Women aged 20–50 years should have higher awareness of dietary folate and increase their dietary intake of folate, which may aid in preventing severe headache.

The application scopes of two different reductive perturbation methods to derive the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation and coupled KdV (CKdV) equation in two-temperature-ion dusty plasma are given by using the particle-in-cell (PIC) numerical method in the present paper. It suggests that the reductive perturbation method (RPM) is valid if the amplitude of the CKdV solitary wave is small enough. However, for the KdV solitary wave, RPM is valid not only if the amplitude of the KdV solitary wave is small enough, but also if the nonlinear coefficient of the KdV equation is not tending to zero.

Trematodes of the genus Ogmocotyle are intestinal flukes that can infect a variety of definitive hosts, resulting in significant economic losses worldwide. However, there are few studies on molecular data of these trematodes. In this study, the mitochondrial (mt) genome of Ogmocotyle ailuri isolated from red panda (Ailurus fulgens) was determined and compared with those from Pronocephalata to investigate the mt genome content, genetic distance, gene rearrangements and phylogeny. The complete mt genome of O. ailuri is a typical closed circular molecule of 14 642 base pairs, comprising 12 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and 2 non-coding regions. All genes are transcribed in the same direction. In addition, 23 intergenic spacers and 2 locations with gene overlaps were determined. Sequence identities and sliding window analysis indicated that cox1 is the most conserved gene among 12 PCGs in O. ailuri mt genome. The sequenced mt genomes of the 48 Plagiorchiida trematodes showed 5 types of gene arrangement based on all mt genome genes, with the gene arrangement of O. ailuri being type I. Phylogenetic analysis using concatenated amino acid sequences of 12 PCGs revealed that O. ailuri was closer to Ogmocotyle sikae than to Notocotylus intestinalis. These data enhance the Ogmocotyle mt genome database and provide molecular resources for further studies of Pronocephalata taxonomy, population genetics and systematics.

In this paper, we apply standard zooarchaeological methods and novel osteological approaches to analyse faunal remains from five Middle–Late Holocene sites in the southern Tibetan Plateau (STP). Framed by direct radiocarbon dates on taxonomically classified bioarchaeological remains and compared with published palaeoclimate data, our findings revealed a three-stage process of agro-pastoral development in the STP ca. 5.5 to 1.0 ka. In the first phase, habitation was restricted to the lower southeastern part of the plateau and human subsistence essentially based on foraging and low-level pig–millet farming. With the onset of colder and drier climatic conditions ca. 3.8 ka, the study area witnessed a growing human presence at higher elevations in its central and western parts, together with a shift towards bovid husbandry and barley cultivation, that is, agricultural practices that originated in west Asia; these were likely introduced to the STP following the eastern margin of the TP and/or arrived by sub-Himalayan transfer. Climate and ecological degradation might have contributed to the decline of local game in favour of cold-and-dry-tolerant pastoral livestock and crops. Our work shows that Middle–Late Holocene climate change, ecological change, human subsistence shifts, and prehistoric cultural transmissions are intimately connected.

Childhood maltreatment has been suggested to have an adverse impact on neurodevelopment, including microstructural brain abnormalities. Existing neuroimaging findings remain inconsistent and heterogeneous. We aim to explore the most prominent and robust cortical thickness (CTh) and gray matter volume (GMV) alterations associated with childhood maltreatment. A systematic search on relevant studies was conducted through September 2022. The whole-brain coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) on CTh and GMV studies were conducted using the seed-based d mapping (SDM) software. Meta-regression analysis was subsequently applied to investigate potential associations between clinical variables and structural changes. A total of 45 studies were eligible for inclusion, including 11 datasets on CTh and 39 datasets on GMV, consisting of 2550 participants exposed to childhood maltreatment and 3739 unexposed comparison subjects. Individuals with childhood maltreatment exhibited overlapped deficits in the median cingulate/paracingulate gyri simultaneously revealed by both CTh and GM studies. Regional cortical thinning in the right anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri and the left middle frontal gyrus, as well as GMV reductions in the left supplementary motor area (SMA) was also identified. No greater regions were found for either CTh or GMV. In addition, several neural morphology changes were associated with the average age of the maltreated individuals. The median cingulate/paracingulate gyri morphology might serve as the most robust neuroimaging feature of childhood maltreatment. The effects of early-life trauma on the human brain predominantly involved in cognitive functions, socio-affective functioning and stress regulation. This current meta-analysis enhanced the understanding of neuropathological changes induced by childhood maltreatment.

There is still controversy about optimal dietary iodine intake as the Universal Salt Iodization policy enforcement in China. A modified iodine balance study was thus conducted to explore the suitable iodine intake in Chinese adult males using the iodine overflow hypothesis. In this study, thirty-eight apparently healthy males (19·1 (sd 0·6) years) were recruited and provided with designed diets. After the 14-d iodine depletion, daily iodine intake gradually increased in the 30-d iodine supplementation, consisting of six stages and each of 5 d. All foods and excreta (urine, faeces) were collected to examine daily iodine intake, iodine excretion and the changes of iodine increment in relation to those values at stage 1. The dose–response associations of iodine intake increment with excretion increment were fitted by the mixed effects models, as well as with retention increment. Daily iodine intake and excretion were 16·3 and 54·3 μg/d at stage 1, and iodine intake increment increased from 11·2 μg/d at stage 2 to 118·0 μg/d at stage 6, while excretion increment elevated from 21·5 to 95·0 μg/d. A zero iodine balance was dynamically achieved as 48·0 μg/d of iodine intake. The estimated average requirement and recommended nutrient intake were severally 48·0 and 67·2 μg/d, which could be corresponded to a daily iodine intake of 0·74 and 1·04 μg/kg per d. The results of our study indicate that roughly half of current iodine intakes recommendation could be enough in Chinese adult males, which would be beneficial for the revision of dietary reference intakes.

Coastal eutrophication and hypoxia remain a persistent environmental crisis despite the great efforts to reduce nutrient loading and mitigate associated environmental damages. Symptoms of this crisis have appeared to spread rapidly, reaching developing countries in Asia with emergences in Southern America and Africa. The pace of changes and the underlying drivers remain not so clear. To address the gap, we review the up-to-date status and mechanisms of eutrophication and hypoxia in global coastal oceans, upon which we examine the trajectories of changes over the 40 years or longer in six model coastal systems with varying socio-economic development statuses and different levels and histories of eutrophication. Although these coastal systems share common features of eutrophication, site-specific characteristics are also substantial, depending on the regional environmental setting and level of social-economic development along with policy implementation and management. Nevertheless, ecosystem recovery generally needs greater reduction in pressures compared to that initiated degradation and becomes less feasible to achieve past norms with a longer time anthropogenic pressures on the ecosystems. While the qualitative causality between drivers and consequences is well established, quantitative attribution of these drivers to eutrophication and hypoxia remains difficult especially when we consider the social economic drivers because the changes in coastal ecosystems are subject to multiple influences and the cause–effect relationship is often non-linear. Such relationships are further complicated by climate changes that have been accelerating over the past few decades. The knowledge gaps that limit our quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the human-coastal ocean nexus are identified, which is essential for science-based policy making. Recognizing lessons from past management practices, we advocate for a better, more efficient indexing system of coastal eutrophication and an advanced regional earth system modeling framework with optimal modules of human dimensions to facilitate the development and evaluation of effective policy and restoration actions.

This paper extends the standard double-exponential jump-diffusion (DEJD) model to allow for successive jumps to bring about different effects on the asset price process. The double-exponentially distributed jump sizes are no longer assumed to have the same parameters; instead, we assume that these parameters may take a series of different values to reflect growing or diminishing effects from these jumps. The mathematical analysis of the stock price requires an introduction of a number of distributions that are extended from the hypoexponential (HE) distribution. Under such a generalized setting, the European option price is derived in closed-form which ensures its computational convenience. Through our numerical examples, we examine the effects on the return distributions from the growing and diminishing severity of the upcoming jumps expected in the near future, and investigate how the option prices and the shapes of the implied volatility smiles are influenced by the varying severity of jumps. These results demonstrate the benefits of the modeling flexibility provided by our extension.

Most prior research on the compromise effect has focused on single rather than multiple choices. This research investigates the potential effects of purchase quantity on the compromise effect. We propose that the share of the middle option in a trinary choice set decreases as the purchase quantity increases, because people tend to employ a balance heuristic to distribute their multiple choices among the available options to achieve a balanced state and to satisfy their variety-seeking tendency. Furthermore, we propose that the need for justification and an optimal stimulation level moderate the relationship between the number of purchase items and the compromise effect. These proposed hypotheses are supported by results from three experiments.