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Eocanthecona furcellata (Wolff) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is a key natural predator of agricultural and forestry pests. In nature, temperature affects the growth, development and predation ability of predators. Therefore, this study assessed the growth, development, and reproduction of E. furcellata at 20, 23, 26, 29, and 32°C. Age-stage, two-sex life table analysis showed that the development duration of each stage decreased with increasing temperature. At 20°C, individuals reached adulthood but females did not oviposit. At 29°C, intrinsic and finite rates of increase and fecundity were higher, with values of 0.12, 1.13 and 41.59, respectively. Moreover, the mean generation time was relatively short at 29.98 d. Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a highly destructive invasive pest that causes severe economic losses to crops. Therefore, this study evaluated the potential of E. furcellata to control S. frugiperda by predation functional response and interference effects. The functional response of adults to fourth-instar larvae of S. frugiperda followed the Holling II equation across all tested temperatures. Predation ability ( a/T h ) and maximum daily predation ( 1/T h ) were the highest at 32°C (female: a/T h = 52.7149, 1/T h = 51.8135; male: a/T h = 46.2538, 1/T h = 44.8430), but adult search efficiency was negatively correlated with prey density. At constant prey density, search efficiency increased with temperature. Intraspecific competition and mutual interference were also observed among adults. Across temperatures and prey ratios, adults consistently exhibited strong predation preference for fourth-instar larvae of S. frugiperda . These results provide a theoretical basis for the practical use of E. furcellata in pest management.

Blockchain has great potential for facilitating the development of the construction industry but has not been widely used to this end. The objective of this study was to identify the factors affecting the adoption of blockchain in the construction industry from the technical, organizational, and environmental dimensions with the help of theories related to technology adoption. Empirical results showed that relative advantage, compatibility, competitive pressure, technological maturity, organizational readiness, and policy have an impact on intention to adopt blockchain in the construction industry through perceived usefulness or perceived ease of use. Competitive pressure has the greatest impact on the internal variables of the technology acceptance model (TAM) (0.696). Perceived cost of adoption does not have a significant effect on blockchain adoption behavior. However, in contrast to previous research, organizational readiness has a negative effect (−0.03) on perceived usefulness. The research results provide inspiration for further research on the impact mechanisms of blockchain adoption in the construction industry, as well as guidance for governments to formulate blockchain adoption policies and guidance for the widespread application of blockchain in construction.

With the increasing global population and escalating ecological and farmland degradation, challenges to the environment and livelihoods have become prominent. Coordinating urban development, food security, and ecological conservation is crucial for fostering sustainable development. This study focuses on assessing the \"Ecology-Agriculture-Urban\" (E-A-U) space in Yulin City, China, as a representative case. Following the framework proposed by Chinese named \"environmental capacity and national space development suitability evaluation\" (hereinafter referred to as \"Double Evaluation\"), we developed a Self-Attention Residual Neural Network (SARes-NET) model to assess the E-U-A space. Spatially, the northwest region is dominated by agriculture, while the southeast is characterized by urban and ecological areas, aligning with regional development patterns. Comparative validations with five other models, including Logistic Regression (LR), Naive Bayes (NB), Gradient Boosting Decision Trees (GBDT), Random Forest (RF) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), reveal that the SARes-NET model exhibits superior simulation performance, highlighting it’s ability to capture intricate non-linear relationships and reduce human errors in data processing. This study establishes deep learning-guided E-A-U spatial evaluation as an innovative approach for national spatial planning, holding broader implications for national-level territorial assessments.

With a large population and rapid urbanization, there are still many challenges to optimize the ecological-agricultural-urban space. Here, taking Yulin City, situated on the Loess Plateau of China as a case in point, we explored the spatial suitability evaluation of ecological-agricultural-urban space. Building upon the Chinese government’s concept of “resource and environmental carrying capacity and territorial development suitability evaluation” (hereinafter referred to as “double evaluation”), this study applies machine learning to the planning of ecological-agricultural-urban space. It explores an intelligent evaluation method for land space patterns using multi-source data. Based on the random forest (RF) algorithm and geographic information system (GIS), resulting in evaluated spatial patterns for ecological-agricultural-urban in the Yulin area. The results showed the constructed random forest models achieved an accuracy of 93% for ecology, 90% for agriculture, and 92% for urban space in Yulin City on the test dataset. By means of suitability analysis, the results indicated that the extremely important ecological space were predominantly located in the southwestern and eastern regions of the study area, while suitable space for agricultural production were primarily scattered throughout the southeast. In contrast, suitable space for urban construction were concentrated mainly in the central part of the study area. The use of machine learning has proven to be effective in addressing multicollinearity among spatial evaluation factors across three different areas. By eliminating human subjectivity in weight assignment during evaluation, it introduces fresh perspectives for land space planning and status assessment. These findings may offer support for the scientific delineation of ecological-agricultural-urban space (three districts and three lines) in China.

Background Citrus canker is a significant bacterial disease caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri ( Xcc ) that severely impedes the healthy development of the citrus industry. Especially when citrus fruit is infected by Xcc , it will reduce or even lost its commercial value. However, due to the prolonged fruiting cycle and intricate structure, much less research progress had been made in canker disease on fruit than on leaf. In fact, limited understanding has been achieved on canker development and the response to Xcc infection in fruit. Results Herein, the progression of canker disease on sweet orange fruit was tracked in the field. Results indicated that typical lesions initially appear on the sepal, style residue, nectary disk, epicarp, and peduncle of young fruits after petal fall. The susceptibility of fruits to Xcc infection diminished as the fruit developed, with no new lesions forming at the ripening stage. The establishment of an efficient method for inoculating Xcc on fruit as well as the artificial inoculation throughout the fruit's developmental cycle clarified this infection pattern. Additionally, microscopic observations during the infection process revealed that Xcc invasion caused structural changes on the surface and cross-section of the fruit. Conclusions An efficient system for inoculation on citrus fruit with Xcc was established, by which it can serve for the evaluation of citrus germplasm for canker disease resistance and systematic research on the interactions between Xcc and citrus fruits.

Waste separation at source has been proved to be an effective way to reduce the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) which has become a major challenge to China’s ecological environment. However, waste source separation requires effort from each individual citizen. As the important drivers of change and potential influencers of the future world, younger Chinese’s waste separation behaviour is crucial to the long-term successful implementation of China’s MSW separation policy. To explore the waste separation behaviour of younger Chinese and identify the factors that may influence their behaviour so as to better encourage younger generation of Chinese to practice waste sorting in their daily lives, a questionnaire survey of 579 primary and middle school (PMS) students aged between 6 and18 years old (y/o) was carried out in Yingtan City, Jiangxi Province, China. Binary logistic regression was adopted to explore the factors that might influence the respondents’ waste separation behaviour. The results indicate that more than half PMS students in Yingtan have participated in waste separation, and junior year students perform better in waste separation practice than their seniors. Students are found to have basic knowledge of MSW classification, but they are more familiar with recyclable waste and hazardous waste than non-recyclable waste. The analysis also highlights positive relationships between PMS students’ attitude to waste separation, their willingness to do it, their environmental education and their waste separation behaviour. The level of convenience of waste sorting facilities and influences from friends and families are also positively related to the students’ waste separation practice, but families have the strongest influence. The perception of a mandatory waste separation policy would demotivate students in terms of waste separation practice, while giving rewards is considered to be the most effective approach to encouraging waste separation. Finally, management strategies for improving PMS students’ waste separation behaviour are discussed and several recommendations for improvement are made.

Association of Adiponectin Gene Polymorphisms With Type 2 Diabetes in an African American Population Enriched for Nephropathy Meredith A. Bostrom 1 , Barry I. Freedman 2 , Carl D. Langefeld 3 , Lingyi Liu 3 , Pamela J. Hicks 1 and Donald W. Bowden 1 2 4 1 Department of Biochemistry, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 3 Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 4 Center for Human Genomics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Corresponding author: Donald W. Bowden, dbowden{at}wfubmc.edu Abstract OBJECTIVE— Polymorphisms in the adiponectin gene ( ADIPOQ ) have been associated with type 2 diabetes and diabetic nephropathy in type 1 diabetes, in mostly European-derived populations. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS— A comprehensive association analysis of 24 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the adiponectin gene was performed for type 2 diabetes and diabetic nephropathy in African Americans. RESULTS— The minor allele (A) in a single SNP in intron 1 (rs182052) was associated with diabetic nephropathy ( P = 0.0015, odds ratio [OR] 1.37, CI 1.13–1.67, dominant model) in an African American sample of 851 case subjects with diabetic nephropathy and 871 nondiabetic control subjects in analyses incorporating adjustment for varying levels of racial admixture. This association remained significant after adjustment of the data for BMI, age, and sex ( P = 0.0013–0.0004). We further tested this SNP for association with longstanding type 2 diabetes without nephropathy ( n = 317), and evidence of association was also significant ( P = 0.0054, OR 1.46, CI 1.12–1.91, dominant model) when compared with the same set of 871 nondiabetic control subjects. Combining the type 2 diabetes and diabetic nephropathy samples into a single group of case subjects ( n = 1,168) resulted in the most significant evidence of association ( P = 0.0003, OR 1.40, CI 1.17–1.67, dominant model). Association tests between age at onset of type 2 diabetes and the rs182052 genotypes also revealed significant association between the presence of the minor allele (A/A or A/G) and earlier onset of type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS— The SNP rs182052 in intron 1 of the adiponectin gene is associated with type 2 diabetes in African Americans. Footnotes Published ahead of print at http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org on 3 December 2008. Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ for details. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. Accepted November 17, 2008. Received May 2, 2008. DIABETES

Oleogels, characterized by their semisolid matrix formed from liquid oil structured by gelators, are emerging as a pivotal innovation in food formulation, primarily due to their capacity to enhance the nutritional profile of products by incorporating healthier fats. This review explored the integration of oleogels into diverse food matrices, examining their impact on texture, mouthfeel, and overall sensory characteristics. Through an extensive analysis of current research, this paper illustrates the versatility of oleogels created with a variety of structuring agents across different food applications. It also addresses the challenges inherent in the use of oleogels, including the preservation of their stability and consistency through varying storage and processing conditions, navigating the regulatory landscape concerning oleogelator safety and acceptability, and confronting higher production costs. Overall, this comprehensive review highlights the potential of oleogels as a promising tool for achieving desirable textural and sensory attributes in food products while also identifying areas for future research and development. This review highlights the application of oleogels in food innovation, focusing on their ability to improve nutritional value and impact texture and sensory properties. It covers the oleogel application across various food products, their formulation challenges, and the need for further research to optimize their use and consumer acceptance.

Adipogenesis, the process of adipocyte differentiation, is a tightly regulated biological event essential for maintaining energy and adipose tissue homeostasis. Dysregulation of this process contributes to metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. Tyrosylprotein sulfotransferases (TPSTs) catalyze the post-translational sulfation of tyrosine residues in proteins by transferring a sulfate group from 3′-phosphoadenosine-5′-phosphosulfate (PAPS) to tyrosine residues, forming tyrosine O-sulfate ester groups. This modification plays a crucial role in various biological and physiological processes by influencing protein-protein interactions and signaling pathways. However, the role of TPSTs in adipocyte differentiation remains largely unexplored.In this thesis work, I investigated the function of TPSTs in adipogenesis and found that tyrosine sulfation levels increased during adipocyte differentiation, suggesting a regulatory role for TPSTs in adipogenesis. qPCR analysis revealed that TPST2 expression was upregulated during differentiation, whereas pharmacological inhibition of sulfation or TPST2 knockdown impaired the differentiation of the pre-adipocyte 3T3-L1 cells in vitro. Mechanistically, transcriptomic analysis via RNA sequencing identified a significant upregulation of the TGF-β signaling pathway upon TPST2 knockdown. Furthermore, inhibition of TGF-β/SMAD2 signaling rescued the differentiation defect caused by TPST2 knockdown. Notably, my results suggested TGF-β receptor 1 (TGFBR1) as a potential novel substrate of TPST2. Future studies will focus on elucidating how sulfation modulates TGFBR1 function and identifying additional TPST2 substrates in adipogenesis, which may have implications in adipose tissue development and obesity.