Aphids are important agricultural pests causing major yield losses worldwide. Since aphids can rapidly develop resistance to chemical insecticides there is an urgent need to find alternative aphid pest management strategies. Despite the economic importance of bluegreen aphid (Acyrthosiphon kondoi), very few genetic resources are available to expand our current understanding and help find viable control solutions. An artificial diet is a desirable non-invasive tool to enable the functional characterisation of genes in bluegreen aphid and discover candidate target genes for future use in RNA interference (RNAi) mediated crop protection against aphids. To date no artificial diet has been developed for bluegreen aphid, so we set out to develop a suitable diet by testing and optimising existing diets. Here, we describe an artificial diet for rearing bluegreen aphid and also provide a proof of concept for the supplementation of the diet with RNAi molecules targeting the salivary gland transcript C002 and gap gene hunchback, resulting in bluegreen aphid mortality which has not yet been documented in this species. Managing this pest, for example via RNAi delivery through artificial feeding will be a major improvement to test bluegreen aphid candidate target genes for future pest control and gain significant insights into bluegreen aphid gene function.This study aims at assessing resource and habitat use, niche occupation and trophic interactions from a stable isotope perspective on fossil mammals from the Argentine Pampas during the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). We present stable isotope data of more than 400 samples belonging to 10 mammalian orders and spanning a temporal range from ~9.5 Ma to ~12 ky. Rodents, notoungulates and pilosians record an increase in the consumption of C4 plants, whereas litopterns and cingulates show δ13C values that remain mostly within a C3-dominated diet. Our stable isotope data indicates that the expansion of C4 vegetation opened up new niche opportunities, probably alleviating resource competition among endemic taxa. Gomphothere, equid and camelid δ13C records show a broad variability pointing to consumption of C3 and mixed C3-C4 vegetation. This flexible dietary behavior may have facilitated the successful settlement of immigrant groups in South America. In the case of carnivorous taxa, Late Miocene pre-GABI endemic sparassodonts consumed prey from C3 environments, whereas immigrant carnivorans preferred prey from mixed C3-C4 areas. Our research contributes to the study of the GABI from a different perspective as stable isotope records permit to characterize, from a (semi)quantitative standpoint, ecological traits within extinct fauna.Nutrient enrichment, particularly nitrogen, is an important determinant of plant community productivity, diversity and invasibility in a wetland ecosystem. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/sch-442416.html It may contribute to increasing colonization and dominance of invasive species, such as Phragmites australis, especially during wetland restoration. Providing native species a competitive advantage over invasive species, manipulating soil nutrients (nitrogen) may be an effective strategy to control the invasive species and that management tool is essential to restore the degraded ecosystems. Therefore, we examined competition between Phragmites australis and Melaleuca ericifolia in a greenhouse setting with activated carbon (AC) treatments, followed by cutting of Phragmites shoots in nutrient-rich soils. Additionally, we evaluated the effect of AC on plant-free microcosms in the laboratory, to differentiate direct effects of AC on soil microbial functions from indirect effects. Overall, the objective was to test whether lowering nitrogen might be an effectgenase activity (P ≤ 0.05) that may potentially explain changes in plant growth competition between Phragmites and Melaleuca. The overall effects on plant growth, however, may be partially microbially mediated, which was demonstrated through soil microbial functions. Results support the idea that reducing community vulnerability to invasion through nutrient (nitrogen) manipulations by AC with reducing biomass of invasive species may provide an effective strategy for invasive species management and ecosystem restoration.The growth trajectory of Chinese preschoolers still remains unclear. Our objective was to determine whether there was an association between adverse pregnancy outcomes and overweight offspring. We analyzed population-based retrospective cohort data from the Medical Birth Registry of Xiamen, which comprised 33,157 children examined from 1 to 6 years of age. Longitudinal analyses were used to evaluate the growth trajectories of offspring body mass index (BMI). Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the effects of two adverse pregnancy outcomes, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and being large-for-gestational age (LGA), on childhood overweight. Offspring of mothers with GDM and LGA has a higher annual BMI z-score from 1 to 6 years of age (all P  less then  0.05). But, a higher annual BMI z-score was only observed in children aged 1-5 years in models 1-3. Overall BMI z-score of offspring aged 1-6 who were born to mothers with GDM and LGA were also higher in models 1-3 (all P  less then  0.05). Additionally, offspring of mothers with GDM and LGA had a higher risk for overweight in model 1, from 1 to 6 years of age (odds ratio (OR), 1.814; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.657-1.985; P  less then  0.0001). However, this association was attenuated after adjusting for maternal pre-pregnancy BMI (OR, 1.270; 95% CI, 0.961-1.679; P = 0.0930). Offspring of mothers with GDM and LGA had a higher BMI z-score and increased risk for overweight. Indeed, intrauterine exposure to maternal GDM and LGA could bias offspring to overweight, whereas maternal pre-pregnancy BMI may play a key role in offspring overweight for children born to mothers with GDM and LGA.To advance microfluidic integration, we present the use of two-photon additive manufacturing to fold 2D channel layouts into compact free-form 3D fluidic circuits with nanometer precision. We demonstrate this technique by tailoring microfluidic nozzles and mixers for time-resolved structural biology at X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs). We achieve submicron jets with speeds exceeding 160 m s-1, which allows for the use of megahertz XFEL repetition rates. By integrating an additional orifice, we implement a low consumption flow-focusing nozzle, which is validated by solving a hemoglobin structure. Also, aberration-free in operando X-ray microtomography is introduced to study efficient equivolumetric millisecond mixing in channels with 3D features integrated into the nozzle. Such devices can be printed in minutes by locally adjusting print resolution during fabrication. This technology has the potential to permit ultracompact devices and performance improvements through 3D flow optimization in all fields of microfluidic engineering.