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Observations have shown that seeds collected by harvester ants are less likely to mold. Based on evolutionary analysis and other research, it was hypothesized that harvester ants could apply actinomycetes to protect seeds, similar to the protection of mutualistic fungi by leafcutter ants. Two actinomycetes were successfully isolated from the harvester ant Messor orientalis. The taxonomic status of the actinomycetes was determined by 16S rRNA sequence analysis and biochemical experimental observations. Their inhibitory effects on plant pathogens were measured. One of the bacteria was identified as Brachybacterium phenoliresistens and denoted as B. phenoliresistens MO. The other belonged to the genus Microbacterium. It was named Microbacterium sp. Growth rate determination and coculture experiments were performed to explore the inhibitory effect of actinomycetes on indicator plant pathogens. The inhibition rates of the actinomycetes toward Peronophythora litchii and Rhizoctonia solani were 100% in media containing 30% or more fermentation broth, and they also showed an inhibitory effect on Colletotrichum siamense. The coculture experiment supported this result by showing that the growth of P. litchii and R. solani was inhibited in the presence of actinomycetes. Therefore, the results of this study show the agricultural application potential of these bacteria and may provide a reference for research on the symbiosis of harvester ants with actinomycetes.

Background: Duloxetine has been reported to significantly relieve the pain of persistent idiopathic dentoalveolar pain (PIDP); however, the number of studies available is scarce and no study has identified the predictors of response of duloxetine for the treatment of PIDP. Objective: To report the efficacy, safety, and identification of positive predictors of duloxetine for PIDP patients through a retrospective multicenter observational study. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical database of PIDP patients who were prescribed duloxetine at 3 hospitals between January 2018 and November 2021. Demographic and pain-related baseline data, efficacy of patients after 3 months of medication by visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain and adverse events were extracted and analyzed. The predictors of pain-relieving effect of duloxetine were identified by logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 135 patients were included in this study. Side effects occurred immediately after taking duloxetine in 24 (17.8%) patients, and the treatment with duloxetine was discontinued on 13 of them because they could not tolerate the side effects. Other 11 (8.1%) patients gradually tolerated the side effects within 2 weeks. Ninety-four out of 122 (77.0%) patients obtained pain relief with VAS significantly decreased (p < 0.01) and the other 28 (23.0%) patients stopped taking the drug because of weak efficacy. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that short disease duration (OR = 1.017, 95% CI = 1.004-1.030, P = 0.012) was an independent predictor of the positive response of duloxetine. Conclusion: This study confirmed that duloxetine can significantly improve chronic pain of PIDP patients, and the safety was tolerable. Patients with shorter disease duration had more benefit from duloxetine. Limitations: This is a retrospective observational study. Long-term efficacy and safety of duloxetine in the treatment of PIDP patients were not evaluated. Keywords: persistent idiopathic dentoalveolar pain, efficacy, safety, predictor of response, duloxetine

Lymantria dispar (Linnaeus, 1758), which is commonly known as spongy moth, with two subspecies, is found in Asia: Lymantria dispar asiatica and Lymantria dispar japonica, collectively referred to as the Asian spongy moth (ASM). The subspecies Lymantria dispar dispar occurs in Europe and is commonly known as the European spongy moth (ESM). The ASM is on the quarantine list of many countries because it induces greater economic losses than the ESM. Accurate identification is essential to prevent the invasion of ASM into new areas. Although several techniques for identifying ASMs have been developed, the recent discovery of complex patterns of genetic variation among ASMs in China as well as new subspecies in some areas has necessitated the development of new, improved identification techniques, as previously developed techniques are unable to accurately identify ASMs from all regions in China. Here, we demonstrate the efficacy of an improved technique for the identification of the ASM using ASM-specific primers, which were designed based on cytochrome oxidase I sequences from samples obtained from all sites where ASMs have been documented to occur in China. We show that these primers are effective for identifying a single ASM at all life stages and from all ASM populations in China, and the minimum detectable concentration of genomic DNA was 30 pg. The inclusion of other Lymantria samples in our analysis confirmed the high specificity of the primers. Our improved technique allows the spread of ASMs to be monitored in real time and will help mitigate the spread of ASMs to other areas.

This paper concentrates on the estimation of system states and the reconstruction of disturbances in a class of nonlinear systems considering stateless situation. The disturbances are coupled with time-varying parameters. The sliding mode observer approach is utilized to solve these two issues. Firstly, a descriptor model is presented by transforming the coupled disturbances into the decoupled form. Secondly, the sliding mode observer is designed to estimate the decoupled disturbances and system states of nonlinear systems. The coupled disturbance can be reconstructed hereafter. The detailed methods of designing the observer, together with the sufficient condition to guarantee the existence of the observer are also given. Finally, a simulation and a robot manipulator experiment are provided to examine the validity of the proposed design approach.

The co-contamination of arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) in paddy soils threatens rice safety, yet synergistic mitigation strategies using silicon (Si) and ferrous sulfate (FeSO4) remain underexplored. This study integrated hydroponic and soil pot experiments to evaluate Si-FeSO4 interactions on As/Cd accumulation and rice growth. Hydroponic trials employed 21-day-old rice seedlings exposed to 0.5 mg As(III)/Cd(II) L−1 with/without 70 mg Si L−1 and 30–70 mg Fe L−1, followed by sequential harvesting at 14 and 21 days. Soil experiments utilized co-contaminated paddy soil (50 mg As kg−1 and 1.2 mg Cd kg−1) amended with Si (80 or 400 mg kg−1) and Fe (100 or 1000 mg kg−1), with pore water dynamics monitored over 120 days. Hydroponic results demonstrated that 70 mg Si L−1 combined with 30 or 70 mg Fe L−1 enhanced shoot biomass by 12–79% under As stress, while simultaneously reducing shoot As concentrations by 76–87% and Cd concentrations by 14–33%. Iron plaque induced by FeSO4 exhibited contrasting adsorption behaviors: hydroponic roots immobilized both As and Cd (p < 0.01), whereas roots in soil primarily retained Cd (p < 0.05). In soil experiments, the optimal treatment of 100 mg Fe kg−1 and 400 mg Si kg−1 (Fe1 + Si2) increased grain biomass by 54%, while reducing As and Cd concentrations by 37% and 42%, respectively. However, a higher Fe dosage (Fe2: 1000 mg kg−1 Fe) paradoxically increased grain Cd concentrations. Mechanistically, Si amendment elevated soil pH (Δ + 0.72), facilitating Cd immobilization, while FeSO4 lowered pH (Δ−0.07–0.53), increasing Cd mobility. A strong correlation between soluble Cd and plant uptake was observed (p < 0.01), while changes in As accumulation were unrelated to aqueous behavior. The optimized Si/Fe molar ratio of 7.95:1 effectively mitigated As and Cd co-accumulation, offering a dual-functional strategy for safe rice cultivation in contaminated soils.

This paper develops a cascaded sliding mode observer method to reconstruct actuator faults for a class of descriptor linear systems. Based on a new canonical form, a novel design method is presented to discuss the existence conditions of the sliding mode observer. Furthermore, the proposed method is extended to general descriptor linear systems with actuator faults. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed technique is illustrated by a simulation example.

EtherCAT is one of the preferred real-time Ethernet technologies. However, EtherCAT is not applicable in high-end control fields due to real-time constraints. Clock synchronization and cycle time are the most representative limitations. In this paper, a novel Heterogeneous Parallel System Architecture (HPSA) with features of parallel computation and hard real-time is presented. An HPSA-based EtherCAT hard real-time master is developed to significantly improve clock synchronization and shorten cycle time. Traditional EtherCAT masters feature serial processing and run on a PC. This HPSA-based master consists of two parts: EtherCAT master stack (EMS) and EtherCAT operating system (EOS). EMS implements the parallel operation of EtherCAT to realize the shorter cycle time, and EOS brings a hard real-time environment to the HPSA-based master to improve clock synchronization. Furthermore, this HPSA-based master operates on a heterogeneous System-on-a-chip (SoC). EMS and EOS form a heterogeneous architecture inside this SoC to achieve low-latency process scheduling. Experimental results show that in our HPSA-based EtherCAT hard real-time master, the cycle time reaches the sub-50 μs range, and the synchronization error reduces to several nanoseconds. Thus, this HPSA-based master has great application value in high-performance control systems.

Active suspension systems have received increased importance for improving automotive safety and comfort. In active suspensions, actuators are placed between the car body and wheel-axle, and are able to both add and dissipate energy from the system, which enables the suspension to control the attitude of the vehicle, to reduce the effects of the vibrations, and then to increase ride comfort and vehicle road handling. However, the attained benefits are paralleled with the increasing possibility of component failures. In this study, a fault-tolerant control approach is proposed to deal with the problem of fault accommodation for unknown actuator failures of active suspension systems, where an adaptive robust controller is designed to adapt and compensate the parameter uncertainties, external disturbances and uncertain non-linearities generated by the system itself and actuator failures. Comparative simulation studies are then given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controllers.

Observations in the animal room have shown that the seeds stored by harvester ants, although in a damp environment, are less likely to mold. It was hypothesized that harvester ants may use actinomycetes to protect their seed stores, given that leafcutter ants use actinomycetes as producers of defensive substances. Two actinomycetes were isolated from the harvester ant Messor orientalis. The fermentation broth of the actinomycetes showed significant inhibitory effects on the three indicator fungi. Coculture experiments supported the observed inhibitory effects. The antifungal activities of actinomycetes in harvester ants were revealed. This research provides a significant theoretical reference for the abovementioned hypothesis and for the potential agricultural applications of these actinomycetes for multiple crops. Observations have shown that seeds collected by harvester ants are less likely to mold. Based on evolutionary analysis and other research, it was hypothesized that harvester ants could apply actinomycetes to protect seeds, similar to the protection of mutualistic fungi by leafcutter ants. Two actinomycetes were successfully isolated from the harvester ant Messor orientalis. The taxonomic status of the actinomycetes was determined by 16S rRNA sequence analysis and biochemical experimental observations. Their inhibitory effects on plant pathogens were measured. One of the bacteria was identified as Brachybacterium phenoliresistens and denoted as B. phenoliresistens MO. The other belonged to the genus Microbacterium. It was named Microbacterium sp. Growth rate determination and coculture experiments were performed to explore the inhibitory effect of actinomycetes on indicator plant pathogens. The inhibition rates of the actinomycetes toward Peronophythora litchii and Rhizoctonia solani were 100% in media containing 30% or more fermentation broth, and they also showed an inhibitory effect on Colletotrichum siamense. The coculture experiment supported this result by showing that the growth of P. litchii and R. solani was inhibited in the presence of actinomycetes. Therefore, the results of this study show the agricultural application potential of these bacteria and may provide a reference for research on the symbiosis of harvester ants with actinomycetes.

Tomb No. 2 of Tushan in Xuzhou is the tomb of King Chu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it was an important archaeological discovery in China. The unique placement and crafting techniques of a lacquer coffin that was unearthed from the burial corridor are of significant importance in the study of tombs. In order to characterise the sample’s microstructure, elemental composition, and structural composition, as well as to study the crafting techniques of the coffin in the corridor, a range of analytical techniques were employed, including ultra-depth microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with SEM-EDS, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, and XRD. The results indicate that the cross-sectional structure of the fragments comprises a pigment layer and a lacquer ash layer, with the latter being further divided into tile ash and bone ash layers. No lacquer film layer was observed. The primary colouring agent in the pigment layer was HgS, which contained a minor quantity of organic binder. The primary component of the tile ash layer was quartz, while the osseous ash layer comprised particles and collagen derived from mammalian bones. The lacquer crafting technique employed in the construction of the coffin was relatively simple and inconsistent with the assumption of it having a noble status. The findings of this research offer experimental data for the identification, preservation, and technical restoration of the corridor coffin in the future.