Jiangsu Ocean University

Abstract Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) is an obligate intracellular microsporidium that parasitizes shrimp, causing problems such as growth retardation and immune dysfunction in its hosts. Although EHP infection has been confirmed in various penaeid shrimp, the host range of EHP across crustacean families and the mechanism underlying its potential cross-family infection remain unclear, especially regarding non-penaeid species. To explore the infection status of EHP from different crustacean families, we selected five different families, i.e., Penaeidae ( Penaeus vannamei ), Atyidae ( Neocaridina denticulata ), Palaemonidae ( Palaemon carinicauda ), Cambaridae ( Procambarus clarkii ) and Lysiosquillidae ( Oratosquilla oratoria ). Using artificial infection, in combination with molecular detection and pathological analysis, we systematically evaluated the infection characteristics of EHP in the different families. The results showed that individuals from the five families were all positive for EHP after three days of infection (dpi). qPCR, which was used to detect the change trend of EHP load (ranging from 10 1 to 10 4 copies EHPptp2/ng gDNA) in the five species, also showed a similar pattern: first increasing at 1-3 dpi, then decreasing at 5-7 dpi, and then increasing again at 10 dpi. Although the EHP loads in the different species varied, they showed consistent pathological characteristics: the longer the infection duration, the greater the degree of tissue cell damage. By 10 dpi, which corresponds to the late infection stage, proliferating spores in the hepatopancreas were detected — importantly, all species showed a significant increase in spore load at this time point. Meanwhile, the hepatopancreatic acinar structures of each family gradually disintegrated, accompanied by basement membrane rupture, epithelial cell vacuolization, and spore aggregation, ultimately leading to organ failure. Our results also confirmed that Oratosquilla oratoria and Neocaridina denticulata can host EHP, revealing for the first time the cross-family infection of EHP in crustaceans.

In this study, phosphorus tailings sand (PTS) was ground into fine powder and incorporated with slag and fly ash to formulate a cementitious material composed solely of solid wastes. The current research aimed to promote the high-value utilization of local solid waste resources in Lianyungang and to explore their potential application in soil stabilization and ground improvement. Through optimization of component dosage and the proportions of alkaline activators, the effects on workability, mechanical properties, drying shrinkage, wet–dry cycles, microstructural evolution, and heavy-metal leaching behavior were comprehensively examined. The findings revealed that at the optimal ratio of PTS–slag powder–fly ash = 5:2.5:2.5, the developed cementitious material demonstrated a 28-day compressive strength of 33.8 MPa, along with 4.5 MPa flexural strength, and 168 mm flow spread. Moreover, the 28-day drying shrinkage reached a minimal value of 0.038%, with reduced mass loss of 6.7% after wet–dry cycling. Furthermore, under non-freezing conditions, the leaching content of Zn, Mn, Pb, and Cu from the PTS-based multi-solid-waste cementitious system remained below the permissible limits for non-hazardous discharge established by Chinese environmental regulations. These findings provide an innovative pathway for the resource-efficient application of phosphorus tailings sand and several solid wastes while offering technical guidance for silt stabilization and ecological restoration efforts in the Lianyungang region, highlighting promising engineering application prospects.

In this study, we prepared edible films using chitosan/gelatin/phlorotannins (CGPs) embedded with probiotics and evaluated their preservation effects on strawberries. Edible films encapsulating Limosilactobacillus fermentum FUA033 (CGPFUA033) were prepared using the casting method. The intermolecular interactions, crystal structure, thermal stability, and morphology of the films, both prior to and following the incorporation of L. fermentum FUA033, were characterized using FT-IR, XRD, TG, and SEM analyses. The preservation efficacy of the edible films, with and without encapsulated L. fermentum FUA033, was assessed by monitoring the physical, chemical, and microbial properties, as well as the visual quality, of strawberries during a eight-day storage period. The results showed that encapsulation of L. fermentum FUA033 enhanced intermolecular interactions and thermal stability within the film matrix but did not significantly affect the crystalline structure of the edible film. At 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 days, the CGPFUA033 treatment had preservation effects: the weight loss was 30.70 ± 1.53%, the total soluble solid content was 8.83 ± 0.28%, the decay index was 45.33 ± 1.53%, the malondialdehyde content was 7.44 ± 0.13 μmol/g, firmness was 21.49 ± 0.83 N, and the ascorbic acid content was 43.51 ± 0.79 mg/100 g. The shelf life of strawberries was extended by six days in the CGPFUA033 treatment group. Therefore, the chitosan/gelatin/phlorotannin edible film embedded with L. fermentum FUA033 has high preservation effects on strawberries, highlighting that L. fermentum FUA033 can be used as a probiotic for enhancing food preservation.

The medicinally and ornamentally valuable genus Thunbergia faces taxonomic uncertainty, while certain Acanthaceae species are threatened by habitat loss, underscoring the need for chloroplast genome studies to support conservation efforts. The chloroplast genome of Thunbergia grandiflora was sequenced and assembled. Additionally, 28 Acanthaceae species with significant medicinal value were selected for comparative genomic analysis. Based on the chloroplast genome data of Acanthaceae species, this study conducted phylogenetic and comparative evolutionary analyses. The results preliminarily support a systematic framework that divides Acanthaceae into eight tribes within five subfamilies. Concurrently, the study revealed significant inverted repeat (IR) region structural variations. A clear correspondence was observed between the contraction of IR length and the topological structure of the phylogenetic tree. In particular, species within the genus Strobilanthes exhibited significant contraction in their IR regions, which corresponded consistently with their tendency to cluster into an independent clade in the phylogenetic tree. This suggests that structural variation in the IR regions may be closely associated with the evolutionary divergence of this group. SSR analysis revealed a prevalent mononucleotide A/T repeat dominant pattern across Acanthaceae species. Furthermore, selection pressure analysis detected positive selection acting on multiple key genes, including rbcL, rps3, rps12, cemA, and ycf4, suggesting that these genes may play important roles in the adaptive evolution of Acanthaceae. This study reveals that the chloroplast genomes of Acanthaceae exhibit distinctive characteristics in phylogenetic architecture, dynamic variations in IR regions, and adaptive evolution of key genes, providing important molecular insights for understanding the mechanisms underlying species diversity and for the conservation of medicinal resources within this family.

Evaluating node importance in integrated complex networks holds significant practical value. Existing methods and metrics predominantly focus on single-layer complex networks, exhibiting limited applicability to integrated directed weighted networks and often failing to comprehensively and objectively reflect the true structure of such integrated networks. To address this, this paper proposes a node importance evaluation method for integrated directed weighted networks based on PageRank. This method defines node attribute metrics for integrated directed weighted networks and integrates them with the PageRank algorithm to construct a novel node importance evaluation metric, IDWCN. This metric simultaneously characterizes the local connectivity, global linkage relationships, and node hierarchy attributes within the integrated network, thereby enhancing the accuracy of node importance evaluation. Simulation analysis on an improved integrated directed weighted kite network model demonstrates that the proposed method effectively captures the importance of nodes in integrated directed weighted networks. Furthermore, experiments conducted on a real-world integrated social network dataset confirm that this method accurately identifies critical nodes within the network, validating its applicability and effectiveness in complex network analysis.