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Banana is a key staple crop in the world, but its yield is very desperately affected by the leaf diseases like Sigatoka, Fusarium Wilt, and Cordana, which bring serious losses of yield and economy. The manual disease detection methods deployed in the past are time and labor-intensive and cannot be effective in the field, so powerful automated solutions are sought. In this paper, we have presented a hybrid deep learning architecture which combines MobileNetV2 and ResNet101 with attention, dilated convolutions, multi-scale feature pooling and PCA-based feature fusion to classify banana leaf disease accurately and efficiently. The Banana and Banana Leaf, Banana Disease Recognition, and Banana LSD three benchmark datasets have been trained and evaluated following an innovative preprocessing pipeline that consists of illumination correction, background suppression, denoising, and hi-tech data augmentation. The experimental findings have shown that the presented hybrid model is always better than ten state-of-the-art deep learning models, such as VGG16, ResNet50, DenseNet121, EfficientNet-B0, and Vision Transformer (ViT). It has reached an optimal accuracy of 98.28, precision of 98.18, recall of 98.77 and F1-score of 98.43, with only 12.7 M trainable parameters and convergence rate of only 15 epochs, which makes the model both high-accuracy and computationally efficient.

Tobacco is rich in natural bioactive compounds, yet the antifungal potential of its essential oil remains largely unexplored. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that tobacco essential oil exhibits significant antifungal activity against the opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus . At high concentrations, the oil effectively inhibits hyphal growth and suppresses conidial production. Chemical profiling identified nootkatone as the principal active compound. Nootkatone exerts a concentration-dependent dual antifungal effect, simultaneously inhibiting hyphal elongation and spore formation. Mechanistic analyses revealed that the calcium signaling pathway, particularly the crzA and cchA genes, plays a central regulatory role in mediating fungal resistance to nootkatone. Deletion of either gene ( ΔcrzA or ΔcchA ) led to significantly increased sensitivity to nootkatone, highlighting their role in nootkatone stress response. Furthermore, under nootkatone stress, CrzA was found to regulate the expression of multiple efflux pump genes ( abcC , abcE , atrA , mdr1 , and atrB ), uncovering a previously unrecognized link between calcium signaling and nootkatone efflux. In addition to targeting cellular signaling, nootkatone also disrupted fungal cell wall integrity and triggered the release of host immune mediators, suggesting a synergistic antifungal mechanism that combines structural disruption with immune activation. In the Galleria mellonella infection model, nootkatone significantly enhanced host survival and reduced fungal burden. Notably, treatment of ΔcrzA -infected larvae resulted in a 70% survival rate, markedly higher than that observed in wild-type (WT) infections. Moreover, nootkatone retained strong inhibitory activity against itraconazole-resistant isolates, underscoring its potential as a novel, broad-spectrum antifungal agent. Key points • Nootkatone inhibits fungal growth—suppresses Aspergillus fumigatus hyphae and spores via dual concentration-dependent action • Targets calcium signaling—key genes (crzA/cchA) regulate resistance; deletion enhances susceptibility and links to efflux pump activation. • Dual antifungal mechanisms and drug resistance overcoming—disrupts cell wall integrity, activates host immunity, and is effective against azole-resistant strains, boosting survival in infection models.

Hybrid sterility is a major form of postzygotic reproductive isolation that restricts gene flow between populations. Cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) consists of two subspecies, indica and japonica; inter-subspecific hybrids are usually sterile. We show that a killer-protector system at the S5 locus encoded by three tightly linked genes [Open Reading Frame 3 (ORF3) to ORF5] regulates fertility in indica-japonica hybrids. During female sporogenesis, the action of ORF5+ (killer) and ORF4+ (partner) causes endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. ORF3+ (protector) prevents ER stress and produces normal gametes, but ORF3− cannot prevent ER stress, resulting in premature programmed cell death and leads to embryo-sac abortion. Preferential transmission of ORF3+ gametes results in segregation distortion in the progeny. These results add to our understanding of differences between indica and japonica rice and may aid in rice genetic improvement.

Lab studies have suggested that exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) could disturb glucose homeostasis, but epidemiologic studies are limited and show inconsistent results for pregnant women. For this, 535 pregnant women were selected from a pregnant women cohort established in Tangshan City in North China between 2013 and 2014. Serum concentrations of BPA were measured in the early term of pregnancy, and fasting glucose and insulin levels were repeatedly measured in each of three terms of pregnancy (early, middle, and late). Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were examined by Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) in the middle and late terms of pregnancy. BPA was detected in 97.5% of pregnant women with a median of 6.50 ng/ml. Natural log-transformed BPA (Ln BPA) was positively associated with fasting glucose level (β (95% CI): 0.038 (0.015~0.061)), fasting insulin level (0.195 (0.069~0.321)), and homeostasis model insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) (0.226 (0.087~0.364)) in the middle term of pregnancy by multiple linear regression model after adjusting for potential confounders. After serum BPA levels were divided into three groups (low, middle, and high), BPA showed a positive dose-response relationship with blood glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR in the middle term of pregnancy. Increased BPA concentration tended to increase the RR of GDM although not statistically significant (risk ratio: 2.51 (95% CI: 0.68~9.30) for high vs low tertile of BPA concentrations). These findings suggested that exposure to BPA might affect glucose homeostasis and the middle term of pregnancy was a potentially sensitive period.

Monopile foundation is an important foundation form for offshore wind turbines, and the stability of the seabed around it is affected by the combined effects of wave and pile vibration. Based on the Biot consolidation theory and elastoplastic constitutive model, a multi-physical field coupling model of wave–vibration–seabed–monopile is constructed, and the dynamic characteristics of seabed pore pressure around the monopile under the joint action of wave–vibration are systematically investigated, and the influences of waves, vibrations, and seabed parameters on the distribution of pore pressure amplitude are analysed in depth. The results show that the increase in wave incident energy will increase the seabed wave pressure, and the suction and pressure generated by pile vibration will change the soil force state; the coupling of waves and vibrations results in pile displacement difference, causing the seabed pore pressure dissipation depth dissimilarity, and the peak relative amplitude of pore pressure and the peak of vibration displacement are in a linear relationship; the wave parameters and seabed characteristics have a significant effect on the change in pore pressure amplitude distribution.

Hybrid sterility is a major form of postzygotic reproductive isolation. Although reproductive isolation has been a key issue in evolutionary biology for many decades in a wide range of organisms, only very recently a few genes for reproductive isolation were identified. The Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) is divided into two subspecies, indica and japonica. Hybrids between indica and japonica varieties are usually highly sterile. A special group of rice germplasm, referred to as wide-compatibility varieties, is able to produce highly fertile hybrids when crossed to both indica and japonica. In this study, we cloned S5, a major locus for indica-japonica hybrid sterility and wide compatibility, using a map-based cloning approach. We show that S5 encodes an aspartic protease conditioning embryo-sac fertility. The indica (S5-i) and japonica (S5-j) alleles differ by two nucleotides. The wide compatibility gene (S5-n) has a large deletion in the N terminus of the predicted S5 protein, causing subcellular mislocalization of the protein, and thus is presumably nonfunctional. This triallelic system has a profound implication in the evolution and artificial breeding of cultivated rice. Genetic differentiation between indica and japonica would have been enforced because of the reproductive barrier caused by S5-i and S5-j, and species coherence would have been maintained by gene flow enabled by the wide compatibility gene.

Aiming at the existing fertilizer distributor’s lack of stability of fertilizer discharge and uniformity of fertilizer discharge, which affects the precise application of fertilizer, a design and testing of a multi-row spiral quantitative fertilizer distributor was designed. The design principle and working principle of the fertilizer distributor are described, and the parameter ranges of centrifugal cone discs’ cone angle, cone disc inclination, cone disc rotation speed, etc., are determined. The Elementary Discrete Element Method (Referred to as EDEM in the following) simulation analysis software was adopted to carry out the simulation analysis of the fertilizer discharge process of the fertilizer discharger, to study the influence of each parameter on the fertilizer discharge performance and the optimal combination parameters of the fertilizer discharger. Taking the coefficient of variation for the consistency of fertilizer application amount among rows and the coefficient of variation for the consistency of fertilizer application amount within the same row as the evaluation indicators, and taking the cone angle of the centrifugal cone disk, the cone disk inclination angle, and the cone disk rotational speed as the test factors, multi-factor and multi-level experiments were carried out. The simulation test results show that the optimal parameter combination of the fertilizer discharger is the rotational speed of the centrifugal cone disk at 95 r/min, the cone angle of the cone disk at 16.7°, and the blade inclination angle of the cone disk at 2.7°. Using potassium sulphate compound fertilizer as the test material, the bench test on the fertilizer discharge performance and adaptability of the fertilizer distributor when the speed of centrifugal cone discs was 30~110 r/min was carried out to verify the fertilizer discharge performance of the fertilizer distributor. The results of the validation test showed that the coefficient of variation for the consistency of fertilizer application amount among rows of fertilizer distributor at different rotational speeds was lower than 4.25%, the coefficient of variation for the consistency of fertilizer application amount within the same row was lower than 3.21%, which meets the requirement of fertilizer discharge quality. The research provides technical support for enhancing the performance of fertilizer distributors and achieving precise fertilizer application, thereby playing an active role in improving fertilization efficiency and promoting sustainable agricultural development.

To optimize the resistance performance of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) hull, many previous scholars mainly studied the geometric shape and materials of AUV, but lacked the research on the surface roughness effect on the hull resistance. In this paper, take the Myring-shaped AUV hull for example, the computational domain distribution, grid independence verification and turbulence model are analyzed and discussed in detail. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculation model is systematically established to predict the resistance performance of AUV hull. The simulation results are in good agreement with the theoretical data, which proves the reliability of the CFD model. Subsequently, the surface roughness effect on the hull drag is studied. First, taking the hull surface roughness height K s as 0.8 μm—100 μm, the friction resistance, pressure resistance and total resistance changes of the hull with the surface roughness height K s are studied when the advance speed is 1.5 m/s. It is found that the total resistance is the lowest when K s is 27.5 μm. Second, taking the surface roughness height as 0.8 μm, 12.5 μm, 50 μm, 75 μm and 100 μm, the change of the hull resistance with the advance speed is analyzed. It is found that the hull resistance increases with the increase of the speed. Third, when the speed is 1 m/s, 2 m/s and 2.5 m/s, respectively, the change of the hull resistance with the surface roughness height is analyzed. The results show that the corresponding optimal surface roughness heights are 39 μm, 21.5 μm and 17 μm, respectively. Finally, the surface roughness effect on the resistance performance of a torpedo-shaped hull is analyzed. It is found that its optimal surface roughness height is very close to that of the Myring-shaped hull.

To optimize the resistance performance of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) hull, many previous scholars mainly studied the geometric shape and materials of AUV, but lacked the research on the surface roughness effect on the hull resistance. In this paper, take the Myring-shaped AUV hull for example, the computational domain distribution, grid independence verification and turbulence model are analyzed and discussed in detail. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculation model is systematically established to predict the resistance performance of AUV hull. The simulation results are in good agreement with the theoretical data, which proves the reliability of the CFD model. Subsequently, the surface roughness effect on the hull drag is studied. First, taking the hull surface roughness height [K.sub.s] as 0.8 [micro]m–100 [micro]m, the friction resistance, pressure resistance and total resistance changes of the hull with the surface roughness height [K.sub.s] are studied when the advance speed is 1.5 m/s. It is found that the total resistance is the lowest when [K.sub.s] is 27.5 [micro]m. Second, taking the surface roughness height as 0.8 [micro]m, 12.5 [micro]m, 50 [micro]m, 75 [micro]m and 100 [micro]m, the change of the hull resistance with the advance speed is analyzed. It is found that the hull resistance increases with the increase of the speed. Third, when the speed is 1 m/s, 2 m/s and 2.5 m/s, respectively, the change of the hull resistance with the surface roughness height is analyzed. The results show that the corresponding optimal surface roughness heights are 39 [micro]m, 21.5 [micro]m and 17 [micro]m, respectively. Finally, the surface roughness effect on the resistance performance of a torpedo-shaped hull is analyzed. It is found that its optimal surface roughness height is very close to that of the Myring-shaped hull.

In this paper, a novel spherical contact vector thruster based on gear train, hydraulic cylinder and spherical motor is proposed. In the mechanism, the spherical motor forms a spherical contact with the fairwater. Firstly, according to the classical navigation mechanics theory, the space transformation analysis of the propeller shaft coordinate system is carried out, and the mathematical model of the vector thruster is established. The ranges of roll angle χ and swing angle δ of the propeller shaft are determined. Secondly, the roll and swing motions of the mechanism driven by gear transmission and hydraulic cylinder transmission are analyzed, and the kinematic relationship of the whole vector mechanism is systematically analyzed. The accuracy of the mathematical model is verified by the motion simulation using SolidWorks and MATLAB. Thirdly, the motion trajectory and motion time of the propeller shaft reaching the target position under the three motion modes are compared and analyzed. It is pointed out that the roll swing compound motion is more appropriate. Finally, the dynamic analysis of the vector thruster is carried out, and the change trends of the scaling factors of the vector thrust components with swing angle δ and roll angle χ are studied. Compared with the scaling factors of the vectored water jet propeller proposed in the literature, it is concluded that the spherical contact vector thruster can provide larger lateral force. Therefore, the spherical contact vector thruster has more superior maneuverability.