Search Results (232)

In the context of climate change and increased frequency of droughts, summer supplementation of grazing cattle may improve productivity and resilience of pastoral systems. However, the provision of supplements may increase the risk of heat stress in cattle. This study aimed to evaluate the productive and physiological response of grazing steers supplemented during summer. Three independent studies were conducted over three summers (2020–2023). In each experiment, steers grazing native grasslands with access to shade were allotted to one of two treatments: control (CONT) and supplementation (SUPPL), in a completely randomized block design. SUPPL steers were group-fed in the morning three days per week with an energy–protein ration at a level of 1.98% body weight (BW) on days of feeding. Pasture attributes, animal performance, respiration rate (RR), and body temperature (BT) were analyzed using a mixed model. According to the temperature–humidity index, cattle were exposed to heat stress 32% of the time. Summer supplementation increased average daily gain and final body weight of steers. Although supplementation temporarily increased BT (morning) and RR (afternoon), daily average RR and BT were similar for both treatments. These findings show that summer supplementation improves animal performance of grazing steers without increased risk of severe heat stress. These results are aligned with the concept of sustainable livestock intensification, which aims to enhance animal source foods to feed a growing population without causing collateral animal welfare issues. Full article

This study assessed the impact of the dietary inclusion of Prosopis laevigata pods (PLPs) on growth performance, carcass traits, and the metabolomic profiles of liver and meat in finishing lambs. A total of 28 crossbred lambs (38 ± 5 kg body weight) were allocated to one of two treatments: a control diet (0 g PLP/kg dry matter, n = 14; CONT) and a diet supplemented with 300 g PLP/kg dry matter (DM) (n = 14; PS). Growth performance was monitored over 25 days. Animals were assigned to a randomized design, and data were analyzed using the General Linear Model (GLM) procedure. Compared with the control diet, PLP inclusion (300 g/kg DM) reduced total body weight gain (p = 0.04) and worsened feed conversion efficiency. Lambs on the control diet also displayed a significantly greater (p = 0.02) rump perimeter. In contrast, lambs fed the 300 g PLP/kg DM diet showed a marked increase (p < 0.05) in the longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscle area. Principal component analysis revealed a distinct separation between treatment groups based on the identified metabolites. Liver metabolomic data accounted for 30.6% of the total variability, while meat samples accounted for 45.7%. A total of 21 and 23 metabolites exhibited positive correlations in liver and meat, respectively. Notably, PLP supplementation influenced several metabolic pathways (p < 0.05), including the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, fatty acid biosynthesis, and sulfur metabolism in both liver and meat. Additionally, phenylalanine metabolism was specifically affected (p < 0.05) in the liver, while steroid biosynthesis was altered (p < 0.05) in meat. Overall, the inclusion of PLPs in the diet of finishing lambs resulted in notable changes to the liver and meat metabolomes, particularly in pathways associated with fatty acid biosynthesis. Although PLP supplementation reduced overall growth performance, it did not negatively impact carcass quality traits; hence, we recommend the inclusion of 300 g PLP/kg DM in finishing lamb diets. Full article

Background: Following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), ACLR patients often experience quadriceps dysfunction, potentially linked to increased corticospinal excitability. However, the role of motor cortex neuroadaptations in persistent quadriceps strength deficits remains unclear. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate neural behavior during a force reproduction task using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in ACLR participants compared to healthy controls (CONT). Methods: Electrocortical activation of 16 ACLR (10F and 6M, 20.0 ± 1.2 years, 171.9 ± 7.2 cm, 75.8 ± 17.1 kg) and 16 CONT (10F and 6M, 20.6 ± 1.4 yrs, 168.0 ± 9.9 cm, 66.3 ± 11.0 kg) was measured using a 64-channel EEG system during an isometric force reproduction task. Sixty TMS pulses (≥120% active motor threshold) were delivered to the primary motor cortex while participants maintained 10% of quadriceps maximal voluntary isometric contraction (QMVIC10%). Motor-evoked torque (METnorm, %), normalized to 100% TMS intensity, was measured to assess neuroadaptation in the corticospinal tract. EEG data was processed to compute N100 (80–200 ms) and P200 (160–300 ms) TMS-evoked event-related potentials (TEPs, µV) at three regions of interest (ROI): the motor (ROI1), parietal (ROI2), and frontal (ROI3) cortices. MET and TEP comparisons were conducted using independent and unpaired two-sample permutation-based t-tests, respectively. Results: The ACLR group exhibited a significantly greater MET than CONT. Although exploratory, differences were found in P200 TEP at ROI1 with lower power in ACLR than CONT. Conclusions: Lower TEP amplitude at ROI1 implies neural inhibition in the motor cortex, while heightened MET in ACLR suggests greater corticospinal excitability. Neural adaptations in the corticospinal tract in ACLR patients may contribute to excessive quadriceps activation in response to unanticipated stimuli, potentially increasing the risk of re-injury. Full article

Delphastus Casey (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Serangiini) comprises small predatory ladybird beetles that feed on immature whiteflies. Several Delphastus species are utilized as biological control agents. However, Delphastus pallidus (LeConte) has been understudied for the past several decades. Recent landscape surveys in South Florida revealed a marked increase in D. pallidus populations associated with multiple whitefly species. We evaluated whitefly species preferences of D. pallidus using choice and no-choice assays conducted in incubators and insectaries. Seven whitefly species were confirmed as prey and ranked in order of preference: Bemisia tabaci Gennadius > Aleurothrixus trachoides (=Aleurotrachelus trachoides) (Back) > Singhiella simplex (Singh) > Paraleyrodes bondari Peracchi > Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin > Asiothrixus antidesmae (Takahashi) > Aleurodicus dugesii Cockerell. Findings indicate that D. pallidus feeds on a taxonomically and morphologically diverse set of whiteflies, including both waxy and non-waxy species, which likely facilitates establishment and dispersal in ornamental and agricultural landscapes. This study is the first to document D. pallidus as a potentially native U.S. predatory beetle that attacks at least seven whitefly species. Knowledge of its prey preferences will inform mass-rearing strategies and potential deployment for whitefly biocontrol. Full article

The western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) remains one of the most damaging pests of maize across Europe, including Romania. Reliable integrated pest management relies on monitoring systems capable of capturing adult flight activity under field conditions. This study presents a comparative field evaluation of three monitoring approaches: Virgiwit yellow sticky panels (YSP), pheromone-based CSALOMON^® KLP+ traps, and the automated iScout^® digital monitoring system. Monitoring was conducted at weekly intervals over an eight-week period (20 July–15 September 2025) in four maize fields in western Romania. Capture data were analyzed descriptively to assess relative trap performance and to explore associations with selected meteorological variables. KLP+ traps consistently recorded the highest numbers of adults, while YSP traps reproduced the main seasonal flight patterns. The iScout^® system captured fewer individuals but provided continuous temporal information on adult activity. Correlation analyses indicated generally weak and inconsistent relationships between trap captures and short-term weather variables, reflecting the limitations imposed by weekly manual sampling and site-specific variability. Overall, the results highlight the complementary strengths and limitations of manual and automated monitoring tools and support their exploratory use for characterizing seasonal flight activity and temporal population patterns of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera under field conditions. Further multi-year and device-specific validation is required before automated systems can be fully integrated into operational pest management frameworks. Full article

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation and destruction of cartilage, as well as by extra-articular manifestations. Rheumatoid nephropathy is a common complication of RA and its principal target is the renal corpuscle. Vitamin D and its analogs exert immunomodulatory actions throughout the body due to the widespread of their receptors. Our study aimed to compare the effects of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) and alfacalcidol on renal corpuscle changes in pristane-induced RA model following a 28-day treatment, using geometric morphometrics. Forty female Wistar rats (190–210 g; 12–13 weeks old) were randomly assigned to four groups: the control (Cont) group (n = 10) received saline i.c., the PIA group (n = 10) was administered pristane i.c., PIA-ALF group (n = 10) was administered pristane i.c. and alfacalcidol orally, and the PIA-CH group (n = 10) was injected i.c. with pristane and received cholecalciferol orally. Pristane administration was used for RA induction. At the end of the experiment, the left kidneys were removed and processed by standard histological procedures for geometric morphometric analysis. Geometric morphometric analysis demonstrated that, compared with the control group, the architecture of the renal corpuscles was altered in the PIA (p < 0.0001) and PIA-CH (p = 0.0065) groups. In contrast, no statistically significant differences were observed in the PIA-ALF group (p = 0.3011). Geometric morphometric analysis demonstrated that alfacalcidol, but not cholecalciferol, exertedaprotective effect on the renal corpuscle architecture in pristane-induced rheumatoid arthritis in rats. Full article

We present the ContEvol (continuous evolution) formalism, a family of implicit numerical methods which only need to solve linear equations and are almost symplectic. Combining values and derivatives of functions, ContEvol outputs allow users to recover full history and render full distributions. Using the classic harmonic oscillator as a prototype case, we show that ContEvol methods lead to lower-order errors than two commonly used Runge–Kutta methods. Applying first-order ContEvol to simple celestial mechanics problems, we demonstrate that deviation from equation(s) of motion of ContEvol tracks is still 𝒪(h⁵) (h is the step length) by our definition. Numerical experiments with an eccentric elliptical orbit indicate that first-order ContEvol is a viable alternative to classic Runge–Kutta or the symplectic leapfrog integrator. Solving the stationary Schrödinger equation in quantum mechanics, we manifest ability of ContEvol to handle boundary value or eigenvalue problems. Important directions for future work, including mathematical foundations, higher dimensions, and technical improvements, are discussed at the end of this article. Full article

This study investigated the effects of lightweight wearable resistance on the kinetics and kinematics of squat jumps (SJ) and countermovement jumps (CMJ) with 2%, 4%, and 6% body mass (BM). Twenty male athletes (age: 18.05 ± 0.6 years; weight: 76.4 ± 7.6 kg; height: 182.4 ± 5 cm) were assessed on a force plate. Key variables included jump height (JH), concentric (ConT) and eccentric (EccT) phase durations, concentric impulse (CI), mean force (CMF), mean velocity (CMV), mean power (CMP), and relative metrics. Elastic utilization ratios (EUR) were calculated to quantify stretch-shortening cycle enhancement. Load led to decrements in both jumps but with varying sensitivity. With 2% BM the CMJ significantly reduced JH (−8.6%), EccT (−7%), CMV (−4.1%), rCI (−4.1%), rPP (−4.4%), and velocity at PP (−4.8%), whereas variables in the SJ were non-significant until 4–6% BM. EURs observed the greatest differences with 2% BM with JH, CMV, rCMP, and VPP all significantly decreasing (p < 0.05). The varying sensitivity to load across variables observed in the two jumps supports the hypothesis that SJ and CMJ offer distinct diagnostic insights due to varying MTU contraction dynamics and neural factors. This has implications for WR use in training. Further, absolute metrics showed limited load sensitivity. However, when accounting for body mass, relative metrics revealed substantial declines. This indicates absolute values can misrepresent the effects of WR loading. Full article

Background/Objectives: Transcutaneous spinal stimulation (TSS) is a noninvasive stimulation approach for spasticity reduction in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). We enrolled 17 individuals with SCI who experience lower extremity hyperreflexia for this randomized crossover study to compare single-session effects of 3 TSS conditions: single-site continuous (SS-CONT), single-site burst (SS-BURST), and dual-site continuous (DS-CONT). Methods: Each TSS condition was delivered for 30 min with participants in supine via a cathode over the thoracic spine (T11–T12) and an anode over the abdomen. A second cathode was placed over the lumbar spine (L1/2 or L2/3) for DS-CONT. SS-CONT and DS-CONT stimulation was delivered as continuous 50 Hz stimulation with a 1 ms pulse width. SS-BURST stimulation was delivered as 4 bursts/second of 50 Hz stimulation with a 1 ms pulse width. Pendulum test first swing excursion (FSE) and ankle clonus drop test first drop excursion (FDE) were measured at baseline and immediately post-intervention to assess quadriceps and soleus spasticity, respectively. FSE and FDE of the first trial (FSE_T1 and FDE_T1) and the average of 3 trials (FSE_avg and FDE_avg) were included in analyses. Subgroup analyses were performed based on baseline level of spasticity (high vs. low). Results: Between-condition analyses showed no significant differences; however, SS-CONT (FSE_T1 d = 0.30, FSE_avg d = 0.27) and DS-CONT (FSE_T1 d = 0.33, FSE_avg d = 0.12) stimulation demonstrated the largest effect sizes for FSE measures, and SS-CONT (FDE_T1 d = 0.32, FDE_avg d = 0.31) stimulation demonstrated the largest effect size for FDE measures. Significant fair correlations between baseline FSE measures and change in FSE were identified when all conditions were combined. A significant fair correlation between baseline FDE_T1 and change in FDE_T1 was identified when data were collapsed across conditions. In subgroup analyses, only participants with high baseline quadriceps spasticity showed a significant decrease in quadriceps spasticity with DS-CONT (∆FSE_T1 = 14.8 ± 13.0°), SS-BURST (∆FSE_T1 = 4.1 ± 4.5°), and with all conditions combined (∆FSE_T1 = 11.3 ± 16.5°, ∆FSE_avg = 7.2 ± 13.1°). For participants with low baseline soleus spasticity, DS-CONT stimulation significantly increased soleus spasticity (∆FDE_T1 = −12.2 ± 9.3°, ∆FDE_avg = −8.5 ± 8.4°). Conclusions: When data were collapsed across conditions, TSS did not result in a significant reduction in quadriceps or soleus spasticity. Continuous stimulation at both single- and dual-sites was associated with the largest effect on quadriceps spasticity when all participants were combined. Lastly, TSS reduced spasticity in a severity-dependent manner. Full article

Jump height provides limited insight into movement strategies and muscle-tendon unit (MTU) contraction dynamics of the squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), and drop jump (DJ). This study investigated whether concentric phase variables differ significantly across these jumps. Twenty-three male athletes (age: 18.1 ± 0.7 years) from various sports performed the SJ, CMJ and DJ on a force plate. Variables included jump height (JH), concentric duration (ConT), concentric mean force (CMF), relative concentric mean force (rCMF), and concentric force index (CFI). Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in all variables across jump types. The CMJ led to the greatest JH (37.8 ± 4.1 cm) compared to SJ (34.6 ± 4.4 cm) and DJ (31.9 ± 5.0 cm). Conversely, the DJ produced the greatest rCMF (30.1 ± 2.7 N/kg) within the shortest ConT (125 ± 15 ms), compared to the SJ (16.2 ± 0.8 N/kg in 409 ± 48 ms) and CMJ (19.8 ± 1.0 N/kg in 273 ± 24 ms). Minimal shared variance and varied individual athlete rankings across jumps suggest that each jump elucidates different facets of MTU function. As a novel variable, the CFI showed poor correlation with JH (r = −0.103 to 0.002), suggesting it may provide insights beyond jump height alone. These findings support our hypothesis that SJ, CMJ, and DJ offer distinct diagnostic insights into varying MTU contraction dynamics and the physical components underpinning jump performance, indicating that longitudinal monitoring of the CFI and underlying components (rCMF/ConT) across these jumps could enhance athletic profiling. Full article

Ruminant in vitro methodologies use washing with neutral detergent solution (NDS) after incubation to mimic ruminant digestion, which is physiologically different compared to that of horses. Our objectives were to determine if washing feed samples with NDS before in vitro fermentation (PRE) would suppress fiber digestion versus a post-incubation wash (POST), and to compare in vitro digestibility of forage-based feed mixtures with added soluble carbohydrates (CARB), soluble protein (PROT), or soluble carbohydrates and soluble protein (C + P) to only-forage samples (CONT). Dried, ground feed mixtures sealed in ANKOM filter bags were placed in Daisy^II incubators for 48 h in a split–split-plot batch culture design. Digestibility was determined as in vitro neutral detergent fiber digestibility (IVNDFD), in vitro acid detergent fiber digestibility (IVADFD), in vitro hemicellulose digestibility (IVHD), and in vitro true digestibility (IVTD). The PRE treatment decreased IVHD for CARB versus POST (p = 0.007). Pooling all mixtures, PRE decreased IVTD (p = 0.001), IVADFD (p = 0.036), and IVHD (p = 0.001) and tended to decrease IVNDFD (p = 0.072). The CARB mixture increased IVTD versus all other mixtures (p < 0.001). Pre-washing with NDS suppressed in vitro fermentation by removing soluble carbohydrates. Without removal of soluble carbohydrates to mimic in vivo digestion, fiber digestibility is likely overestimated. Full article

Accurate segmentation of colorectal polyps is crucial for the early screening and clinical diagnosis of colorectal cancer. However, the diverse morphology of polyps, significant variations in scale, and unstable quality of endoscopic imaging pose serious challenges for existing algorithms in achieving precise boundary segmentation. To address these issues, this study proposes a novel polyp segmentation algorithm, GDCA-Net, which is developed based on the You Only Look Once version 12 segmentation model (YOLOv12-seg). GDCA-Net introduces several architectural innovations. First, a Gather-and-Distribute (GD) mechanism is incorporated to optimize multi-scale feature fusion, while Alterable Kernel Convolution (AKConv) is integrated to enhance the modeling of complex geometric structures. Second, the Convolution and Attention Fusion Module (CAF) and Context-Mixing dynamic convolution (ContMix) modules are designed to strengthen long-range dependency modeling and multi-scale feature extraction for polyp boundary representation. Finally, a Wise Intersection over Union–based (Wise-IoU) loss function is introduced to accelerate model convergence and improve robustness to low-quality samples. Experiments conducted on the PolypDB, Kvasir-SEG, and CVC-ClinicDB datasets demonstrate the superior performance of GDCA-Net in polyp segmentation tasks. On the most challenging PolypDB dataset, GDCA-Net achieved a mean Average Precision at 50% IoU threshold (mAP50) of 85.9% and an F1-score (F1) of 85.5%, representing improvements of 2.2% and 0.7% over YOLOv12-seg, respectively. Moreover, on the Kvasir-SEG dataset, GDCA-Net achieved a leading F1 score of 94.9%. These results clearly demonstrate that GDCA-Net possesses strong performance and generalization capabilities in handling polyps of varying sizes, shapes, and imaging qualities. Full article

Corn rootworms of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera Le Conte, 1868; Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber, 1947, and Diabrotica barberi R.F. Smith & Lawrence, 1967 are important pests of corn crops that natively occur in America and have a potential risk of spreading into China through natural spreading or anthropogenic invasion. In this study, the potential geographic distribution and suitable area of these three Diabrotica species based on their global distribution samples and relevant bioclimatic variables were estimated, and an overlay analysis was further carried out in combination with the actual distribution of corn-growing regions, especially in China, in order to assess the potential invasion risks of these Diabrotica beetles, especially in the corn-planting regions of China. The results indicated that six bioclimatic variables (i.e., bio2 (mean diurnal range), bio4 (temperature seasonality), bio5 (max temperature of the warmest month), bio6 (min temperature of coldest month), bio13 (precipitation of wettest month), and bio14 (precipitation of driest month)) were selected for the analysis of the potential geographic distribution and suitable areas of these Diabrotica beetles. The suitable area ranges of D. undecimpunctata and D. virgifera virgifera are relatively large in China, i.e., 21.01–48.46° N and 74.01–131.26° E for D. undecimpunctata and 21.58–41.42° N and 78.71–124.43° E for D. virgifera virgifera, respectively, while D. barberi occupies only a small area in China, i.e., 34.21–46.81° N and 108.80–133.75° E. Based on the overlay analysis of the potential geographic distribution of these three Diabrotica species and the actual distribution of corn-growing regions in China, D. undecimpunctata and D. virgifera virgifera have the largest potential geographic distribution areas, totaling 2.618 × 10⁷ ha and 1.814 × 10⁷ ha in 22 and 20 provinces respectively, while D. barberi has the lowest potential geographic distribution area just in 8 provinces, totaling 44.37 × 10⁴ ha, indicating a low-suitability area. Moreover, under the four climate scenarios (i.e., SSP1_2.6, SSP2_4.5, SSP3_7.0, and SSP5_8.5) in the 2030s and 2050s, these Diabrotica beetles have the potential for sporadic increases or decreases surrounding the potential suitable areas under the current scenario. However, it is worth noting that the high-suitability areas of D. undecimpunctata and D. virgifera virgifera decreased, and their medium- and low-suitability areas increased accordingly. It is presumed that Diabrotica beetles, especially D. virgifera virgifera and D. undecimpunctata, have a high risk of potential invasion into China because there is a large potentially suitable area distribution for their possible occurrence in the maize-planting regions of China. Full article

Fungi and bacteria associated with bark beetles can facilitate successful tree colonization, and, in some cases, these fungi act as pathogens of trees. The red turpentine beetle (RTB, Dendroctonus valens) is a bark beetle native to North America that colonizes stressed pines, rarely killing healthy trees. The fungal communities associated with RTB adults, larval galleries, and control tree phloem from red pine (Pinus resinosa) and white pine (P. strobus) forests in the Great Lakes region of the United States were characterized using both culture-independent and culture-dependent methods. Similarly, the bacterial communities associated with RTB adults in the same region were characterized using a culture-independent method. There were significant differences between the adult beetle fungal communities and the tree-based fungal communities. Culture-independent sequencing of RTB adults showed high abundances of the fungal order Filobasidiales (red pine: 28.71% relative abundance, white pine: 6.91% relative abundance), as well as the bacterial orders Enterobacterales (red pine: 53.72%, white pine: 22.15%) and Pseudomonadales (red pine: 15.86%, white pine: 12.91%). In contrast, we isolated high amounts of fungi in the orders Pleosporales (red pine: 21.79%, white pine: 15.90%) and Eurotiales (red pine: 15.38%, white pine: 16.51%) from the adult beetles by culturing. Culture-independent sequencing of beetle galleries yielded high abundances of fungi in the orders Helotiales (red pine: 22.23%, white pine: 23.21%), whereas culture-based isolation from the same galleries yielded high amounts of Eurotiales (red pine: 17.91%, white pine: 17.91%), Hypocreales (red pine: 16.42%, white pine: 16.42%), and Ophiostomatales (red pine: 23.39%, white pine: 23.39%). This contrasts with the culture-independent method, where, likely due to limitations in the sequencing method, the Ophiostomatales accounted for only around 2% of the fungi from RTB galleries in both pine species. We observed a high species-level diversity of Ophiostomatales associated with RTB, isolating 14 species from the Great Lakes region. Leptographium terebrantis, a species that has been described in association with RTB throughout the United States, was the most common species (e.g., >35% of the Ophiostomatales relative abundance in red pine environments and >14% of the Ophiostomatales relative abundance in the white pine environment). This study enhances our understanding of RTB-associated fungi and bacteria in the beetle’s native range at both the community and species levels. Full article

Pantoea ananatis was recently described as the causative agent of late-season decline, a new bacterial disease first observed affecting field corn plants, in the Texas Panhandle. The rapid spread of the disease throughout the region and the patchy distribution of symptomatic plants in affected fields, as well as routine observations of edge effects, in which plants with severe symptoms are observed on the edges of affected fields, led us to hypothesize that vectors might be involved in the dissemination of the disease pathogen. In this study, we investigated the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) and southern corn rootworm (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber) for any naturally occurring association with P. ananatis and potential to acquire and transmit the bacterial pathogen. Additionally, we investigated the transgenic corn encoding insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis proteins (Bt) pyramided with RNAi interference anti-rootworm technology for its potential to protect against any larval role in the transmission of the pathogen through their feeding activities on corn roots. We successfully recovered naturally occurring P. ananatis from samples of both rootworm species collected from corn plants in the field. Following acquisition assays, the acquired pathogen was successfully recovered from previously P. ananatis-free adult rootworms, their eggs, as well as first-instar larvae, suggesting an affinity of the bacteria to establish an endosymbiotic and transovarial association with both rootworm species. Additionally, the transgenic Bt corn with RNAi anti-rootworm technology was ineffective in preventing the transmission of the pathogen by the infected larvae. Findings from this study confirm a vector role in the transmission of the disease pathogen. Full article