Social risk to infant: The role of kin for maternal visual monitoring in Tibetan macaques.

Maternal monitoring of conspecifics is a crucial anti-predator strategy that also protects infants against risks within the social group. This study examines how maternal characteristics, infant characteristics, mother-infant distance, and the social environment affect maternal monitoring behaviors in free-ranging Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana). We observed 12 females with infants and analyzed their visual monitoring patterns. Our findings indicate that maternal rank significantly influences the time allocated to maternal visual monitoring, higher-ranking mothers spending less time than lower-ranking mothers. Maternal experience also played a role in monitoring strategies. Differences in monitoring strategies were observed based on maternal experience: first-time mothers (primiparity) engaged in longer but less frequent monitoring sessions compared to experienced mothers (multiparity). The time and frequency of maternal monitoring decreased as infants aged, and mothers with male infants showed higher levels of monitoring than those with female infants. The distance between mother and infant also affected visual monitoring behavior, with mothers increasing their monitoring levels when infants were nearby (1-5 m), rather than within reach (0-1 m) or beyond nearby (>5 m). Additionally, the presence of kin and non-kin influenced monitoring: as the number of nearby kin increased, monitoring levels decreased, while the presence of more non-kin males led to an increase in monitoring time, and higher-ranking non-kin neighbors increased the frequency of monitoring. These results suggest that Tibetan macaque mothers can adapt their visual monitoring to the social risks faced by their infants, adjusting their strategies to their status and the needs of their offspring.

Temporal niche partitioning among sympatric wild and domestic ungulates between warm and cold seasons.

The coexistence of sympatric species with similar ecological niches has been a central issue in ecology. Clarifying the daily activity patterns of sympatric wild ungulates can help understand their temporal niche differentiation and the mechanisms of coexistence, providing information for their conservation. The Baotianman National Nature Reserve in northern China is rich in wild ungulates, but little is known about the daily activity patterns of wild ungulates in the area, making it difficult to develop effective conservation strategies. We studied five representative wild ungulates (i.e. forest musk deer, Chinese goral, Reeve's muntjac, Siberian roe deer, and wild boar) of the region using camera-trapping data, focusing on the seasonal daily activity patterns and effects of seasonal grazing of domestic sheep, to reveal their coexistence based on temporal ecological niche differentiation. Comparative analyses of the seasonal daily activity showed that forest musk deer exhibited a single-peak activity in the warm season. Other ungulates exhibited multipeak activity. All five ungulates differed significantly in daily activity patterns. Notably, wild boar and Reeve's muntjac showed high overlap coefficients between the cold and warm seasons. In both cold and warm seasons, the five wild ungulates and domestic sheep displayed low overlap in their daily activity rhythms potentially indicating temporal ecological niche differentiation. The results suggest that temporal isolation might be a strategy for wild ungulates to avoid domestic sheep and reduce interspecific competition, and that temporal ecological niche differentiation potentially promoted the coexistence among the studied sympatric ungulates. This understanding may provide new insights for the development of targeted conservation strategies.

Photonic Pigments of Polystyrene-block-Polyvinylpyrrolidone Bottlebrush Block Copolymers via Sustainable Organized Spontaneous Emulsification.

Prior studies on photonic pigments of amphiphilic bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCPs) through an organized spontaneous emulsification (OSE) mechanism have been limited to using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the hydrophilic side chains and toluene as the organic phase. Herein, a family of polystyrene-block-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PS-b-PVP) BBCPs are synthesized with PVP as the hydrophilic block. Biocompatible and sustainable anisole is employed for dissolving the obtained BBCPs followed by emulsification of the solutions in water. Subsequent evaporation of oil-in-water emulsion droplets triggers the OSE mechanism, producing thermodynamically stable water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) multiple emulsions with uniform and closely packed internal droplet arrays through the assembly of the BBCPs at the w/o interface. Upon solidification, the homogeneous porous structures are formed within the photonic microparticles that exhibit visible structural colors. The pore diameter is widely tunable (150∼314 nm) by changing the degree of polymerization of BBCP (69∼110), resulting in tunable colors across the whole visible spectrum. This work demonstrates useful knowledge that OSE can be generally used in the fabrication of ordered porous materials with tunable internal functional groups, not only for photonic applications, but also offers a potential platform for catalysis, sensing, separation, encapsulation, etc.

Host-Guest Interaction Mediated Interfacial Co-Assembly of Cyclodextrin and Bottlebrush Surfactants for Precisely Tunable Photonic Supraballs.

Investigations of host-guest interactions at water-oil (w/o) interfaces are limited in single emulsion systems producing simple self-assembled objects with limited uses. Here, within hierarchically ordered water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) multiple emulsion droplets, interfacial self-assembly of (polynorbornene-graft-polystyrene)-block-(polynorbornene-graft-polyethylene glycol) (PNPS-b-PNPEG) bottlebrush block copolymers can be precisely controlled through host-guest interactions. α-Cyclodextrin (α-CD) in the aqueous phase can thread onto PEG side chains of the bottlebrush surfactants adsorbed at the w/o interface, leading to dehydration and collapsed chain conformation of the PEG block. Consequently, spherical curvature of the w/o internal droplets increases with the increased asymmetry of the bottlebrush molecules, producing photonic supraballs with precisely tailored structural parameters as well as photonic bandgaps. This work provides a simple but highly effective strategy for precise manipulation of complex emulsion systems applicable in a variety of applications, such as photonic pigments, cosmetic products, pesticides, artificial cells, etc.

MSWIFA and cement cooperate in the disposal of soft soil - experimental study on silty sand and silty clay.

Municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWIFA) can be reused as a positive additive to strengthen soft soil. In this study, MSWIFA was initially used as a supplementary solidification material in combination with ordinary Portland cement to prepare fly ash cement-stabilized soil (FACS) with silty sand and silty clay, respectively. The ratio of MWSIFA to total mass was 5%, 10%, and 15%, and the cement content was set as 10% and 15%. The mechanical properties of FACS were evaluated by unconfined compressive strength test. The heavy metal-leaching test was conducted to estimate the environmental risk of FACS. The scanning electron microscope was used to test the micro-structure of FACS. The X-ray diffraction was performed to analyze material composition of FACS. The result indicates that the collaborative solidification of soft soil with MSWIFA and cement is feasible. Regarding the silty clay, the FA had positive effects on the silty clay in the service age (between 50 and 100% with 15% MSWIFA), as the MSWIFA reformulated the initial silty clay structure, resulting in interconnection and pore fill between particles. It can be founded that C-S-H and ettringite are the main products of MSWIFA and cement hydration, which are formed by the hydration of C3S and C2S. Regarding the silty sand, the MSWIFA decreased the peak strength (between 35 and 48% with 15% MSWIFA) but increased the ductility of the stabilized cement. Under the same mix proportions, the leaching toxicities of Zn and Pb in FACS of silty clay were obviously lower than were those of silty sand. Generally, the leaching concentrations of tested metals under all the mix proportions were well below the limit value set by GB 18598-2019 for hazardous waste landfill. Thus, the reuse of MSWIFA in cement-stabilized soil would be one of the effective methods in soft soil treatment and solid waste reduction.

Space-qualifying silicon photonic modulators and circuits.

Reducing the form factor while retaining the radiation hardness and performance matrix is the goal of avionics. While a compromise between a transistor's size and its radiation hardness has reached consensus in microelectronics, the size-performance balance for their optical counterparts has not been quested but eventually will limit the spaceborne photonic instruments' capacity to weight ratio. Here, we performed space experiments of photonic integrated circuits (PICs), revealing the critical roles of energetic charged particles. The year-long cosmic radiation exposure does not change carrier mobility but reduces free carrier lifetime, resulting in unchanged electro-optic modulation efficiency and well-expanded optoelectronic bandwidth. The diversity and statistics of the tested PIC modulator indicate the minimal requirement of shielding for PIC transmitters with small footprint modulators and complexed routing waveguides toward lightweight space terminals for terabits communications and intersatellite ranging.

Behavioral adaptation in an adoptive free-ranging female Tibetan macaque.

Adoption is an important form of allomaternal care in nonhuman primates, with implications for reproductive output and infant survival. Here, we report a kidnapping that became an adoption of a 3-week-old infant by a mother with her own infant in Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana). The adoptive mother nursed her "new" infant (allonursing), the first observation of this behavior in the species. The case provided a natural experiment for comparing how a female copes with a heavier burden of care for both her biological infant and another female's infant, compared to mothers caring for only one infant. Our results showed that the adoptive female spent more time foraging and resting, and less time in group social activity compared to females with a single infant. The adoptive female showed more instances of social bridging. Although the duration of post-bridging grooming received from group members decreased, the frequency of such grooming increased. We discuss this adoption with reference to possible factors involved in the evolution of adoption and allonursing behavior in Tibetan macaques.

Sustainable DNA Data Storage on Cellulose Paper.

DNA is a promising material for high density and long-term archival data storage. In addition to algorithms for encoding digital information into DNA sequences, the DNA writing (chemical synthesis) and reading (DNA sequencing), the preservation of DNA mixtures with high sequence diversity is another critical issue for sustainable, long-term, and large-scale DNA data storage. Here, this work demonstrates a method for low-cost, convenient and sustainable DNA data storage on cellulose paper. A DNA pool comprising thousands of sequences, in which archival data are encoded, is conveniently stored on a cellulose paper with a calculated density as high as 15 TB per mm3 through electrostatic adsorption. This work demonstrates that these digitally encoded DNA pools can be stable for years on the cellulose paper after drying even when directly exposed to air. Furthermore, the reversible electrostatic adsorption enables repeated loading/retrieval of DNA on/off cellulose paper. Therefore, this sustainable DNA preservation on cellulose paper through the convenient electrostatic adsorption exhibits a great advantage in terms of storage capacity and cost that is crucial for practical systems to achieve large-scale and long-time data storage.

Integrated transcriptome and miRNA sequencing analyses reveal that hypoxia stress induces immune and metabolic disorders in gill of genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT, Oreochromis niloticus).

The survival and growth of fish are significantly impacted by a hypoxic environment (low dissolved oxygen). In this study, we compared tissue structure, physiological changes, and mRNA/miRNA transcriptome, in gills of genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT, Oreochromis niloticus) between the hypoxic group (DO: 0.55 mg/L, HG) and the control group (DO: 5 mg/L, CG). The results showed that the gill filaments in the hypoxic group showed curling, engorgement, and apoptotic cells increased, and that exposure for 96 h resulted in a reduction in the antioxidant capacity. We constructed and sequenced miRNA and mRNA libraries from gill tissues of GIFT at 96 h of hypoxia stress. Between the HG and CG, a total of 14 differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs and 1557 DE genes were obtained. GO and KEGG enrichment showed that DE genes were mainly enriched in immune and metabolic pathways such as natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity, steroid biosynthesis, primary immunodeficiency, and synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies. Based on the results of mRNA sequencing and screening for miRNA-mRNA pairs, we selected and verified six DE miRNAs and their probable target genes. The sequencing results were consistent with the qRT-PCR validation results. The result showed that under hypoxia stress, the innate immune response was up-regulated, and the adaptive immune response was down-regulated in the gill of GIFT. The synthesis of cholesterol in gill cells is reduced, which is conducive to the absorption of solvent oxygen. These findings offer fresh information about the processes of fish adaptation to hypoxic stress.

Self-Assembly and In Situ Quaternization of Triblock Bottlebrush Block Copolymers via Organized Spontaneous Emulsification for Effective Loading of DNA.

Microspheres bearing large pores are useful in the capture and separation of biomolecules. However, pore size is typically poorly controlled, leading to disordered porous structures with limited performances. Herein, ordered porous spheres with a layer of cations on the internal surface of the nanopores are facilely fabricated in a single step for effective loading of DNA bearing negative charges. Triblock bottlebrush copolymers (BBCPs), (polynorbornene-g-polystyrene)-b-(polynorbornene-g-polyethylene oxide)-b-(polynorbornene-g-bromoethane) (PNPS-b-PNPEO-b-PNBr), are designed and synthesized for fabrication of the positively charged porous spheres through self-assembly and in situ quaternization during an organized spontaneous emulsification (OSE) process. Pore diameter as well as charge density increase with the increase of PNBr content, resulting in a significant increase of loading density from 4.79 to 22.5 ng µg-1 within the spheres. This work provides a general strategy for efficient loading and encapsulation of DNA, which may be extended to a variety of different areas for different real applications.

Current distribution of two species of Chinese macaques (Macaca arctoides and Macaca thibetana) and the possible influence of climate change on future distribution.

Predicting the spatial distribution of species and suitable areas under global climate change could provide a reference for species conservation and long-term management strategies. Macaca thibetana and Macaca arctoides are two endangered species of Chinese macaques. However, limited information is available on their distribution, and their habitat needs lack proper assessment due to complicated taxonomy and less research attention. In recent years, scholars widely used the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model to predict the impact of global climate and certain environmental factors on species distribution. Therefore, we used the MaxEnt model to predict the spatiotemporal distribution of both macaque species under six climate change scenarios using occurrence and high-resolution ecological data. We identified climatic factors, elevation, and land cover that shape their distribution range and determined shifts in their habitat range. The results demonstrated that temperature range, annual precipitation, forest land cover, and temperature seasonality, including the precipitation of the driest month are the main factors affecting their distribution. Currently, M. thibetana is mainly concentrated in central, eastern, southern, and southwestern China, and M. arctoides is mainly concentrated in three provinces (Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong) in southern China. The MaxEnt model predicted that the suitable habitat for both species will increase with increased greenhouse emission scenarios. We also found that with the further increase in greenhouse emissions M. thibetana is expected to migrate to western China, and M. arctoides is expected to migrate to western or eastern China. This reinterpretation of the distribution of M. thibetana and M. arctoides in China, and predicted potential suitable habitat and possible migration direction, may provide new insights into the future conservation and management of these two species.

Ecotourism Disturbance on an Endemic Endangered Primate in the Huangshan Man and the Biosphere Reserve of China: A Way to Move Forward.

The primary purpose of the Man and the Biosphere Program is the sustainable development of both the economy and nature conservation activities. Although the effectiveness of eco-tourism to reach this goal has been proposed, due to the lack of long-term monitoring data and a model species, there has been no obvious mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of this policy. This study explored the effectiveness of the sustainable development policy of HMBR based on 30 years data of monitoring the Tibetan macaque, local human population, visitors, and annual ecotourism income in Huangshan by estimating species habitat suitability and the impact of ecotourism. The results showed increases in the income for the local human population, the number of visitors, and annual eco-tourism. Simultaneously, the reserve's Tibetan macaque population size and suitable habitat areas increased. The macaques expanded their habitat to the low-altitude buffer zone (400-800 m), an area with lower eco-tourism disturbance. Scenic spots had a significant negative impact on habitat suitability (the substantially increased contributions of scenic spots from 0.71% to 32.88%). Our results and methods provide a suitable evaluation framework for monitoring the sustainable development and effectiveness of eco-tourism and wildlife conservation in Man and the Biosphere reserves.

Precise Tailoring of Polyester Bottlebrush Amphiphiles toward Eco-Friendly Photonic Pigments via Interfacial Self-Assembly.

Biodegradable photonic microspheres with structural colors are promising substitutes to polluting microbeads and toxic dyes. Here, amphiphilic polyester-block-poly(ethylene glycol) bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCPs) with polylactic acid or poly(ϵ-caprolactone) as the hydrophobic block are synthesized and used to fabricate eco-friendly photonic pigments. Molecular parameters of BBCPs, including rigidity and symmetry, are precisely tailored by variation of side chain lengths, which enables effective manipulation of interfacial tension (γ). Organized spontaneous emulsion mechanism is enabled only when γ falls in a suitable range (10.6-14.3 mN m-1 ), producing ordered water-in-oil-in-water multiple emulsions and ordered porous structures. Consequently, highly saturated and tunable structural colors are observed due to coherent light scattering from the porous structures. Such photonic materials are nontoxic as confirmed by careful safety tests using aquatic model organisms.

Interfacial Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Core-Shell Bottlebrush Block Copolymers Toward Responsive Photonic Balls Bearing Ionic Channels.

Photonic balls can be facilely obtained through interfacial self-assembly of amphiphilic bottlebrush block polymers (BBCPs) within a water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) multiple emulsion system, and polystyrene (PS) has been employed as the skeleton of the balls showing no responsive properties. Here, the design and synthesis of core-shell BBCPs are demonstrated with a poly(tert-butyl acrylate)-block-polystyrene (PtBA-b-PS) block copolymer as the hydrophobic side chains and poly(ethylene glycol) as the hydrophilic block. Interfacial self-assembly of the core-shell BBCPs within shrinking droplets produces porous microspheres with full-spectrum structural colors through an organized spontaneous emulsification process. The PtBA core wrapped by PS in the skeleton of the balls can be converted into polyacrylic acid (PAA) forming an ionic channel responsive to pH variations. Consequently, the hydrolyzed photonic balls show different colors under different pH conditions dependent on varying degrees of ionization and hydration of the PAA channel. Reflected colors can be verified using an optical spectrometer, providing an effective strategy for precise pH indication.

Effects of Mother's Dominance Hierarchy on the Development of Social Relationships among Immature Tibetan Macaques.

During a relatively long period of growth, immature individuals rely on their mothers to obtain nutrition, and a good environment for learning social skills needed to cope with complex environments in adulthood. In this study, we collected the behavioral data of Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) to investigate the effects of females' social rank on the development of social relationships among their immature offspring from November to June 2021. The results show that there was no difference in the rate/type of social play and grooming among infants. However, among juveniles and adolescents, the higher their mother's social rank, the higher the rate of social play they participated in, and the more aggressive play they engaged in. Immatures with high-ranking mothers initiated more social play among each other. A similar pattern of playmates was found among juveniles/adolescents with middle-ranking and low-ranking mothers. We also found that immatures preferred immatures with higher-ranking mothers as grooming mates and initiated more grooming with immatures with higher-ranking mothers than with those with lower-ranking mothers. Our study suggests that females' social ranks affect the development of social relationships among their immature offspring. In despotic nonhuman primates, this indicates that the mother's dominance hierarchy would directly or indirectly influence the processes of participating in social interactions and choosing partnerships among immature individuals with age (i.e., infancy, juvenile, and adolescent periods).

Janus Photonic Microspheres with Bridged Lamellar Structures via Droplet-Confined Block Copolymer Co-Assembly.

Artificial self-assembly systems typically exhibit limited capability in creating nature-inspired complex materials with advanced functionalities. Here, an effective co-assembly strategy is demonstrated for the facile creation of complex photonic structures with intriguing light reflections. Two different lipophilic and amphiphilic bottlebrush block copolymers (BCPs) are placed within shrinking droplets to enable a cooperative working mechanism of microphase segregation and organized spontaneous emulsification, respectively. Layer assemblies of the lipophilic BCP and uniform water nanodroplets stabilized by the bottlebrush surfactant are both generated, and co-assembled into a bridged lamellar structure with the alternating arrangement of layers and closely packed nanodroplet arrays. Janus microspheres with diverse dual optical characteristics are successfully fabricated, and reflected wavelengths of light are highly tunable simply by changing the formulation or molecular weight of BCP.

Effects of different nitrification inhibitors on nitrification, maize yield, and nitrogen use efficiency in red soil.

We examined the effects of nitrification inhibitors (NIs) on soil nitrification, maize yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), aiming to screen out high efficiency stabilized ammonium chloride fertilizer in red soil. Nitrification inhibitors 2-chloro-6-trimethyl-pyridine (CP), 3, 4-dimethyl-pyrazolate phosphate (DMPP), and dicyandiamide (DCD) and their combinations were added into ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) to make six stabilized nitrogen fertilizers. With blank (CK) and NH4Cl (N) as the controls, we conducted a maize pot experiment with the same amount of nitrogen addition. The results showed that compared with the treatment of N, soil ammonium content in CP+DMPP and DMPP+DCD increased by 56%-62%, which was significantly higher than that in CP, DMPP, and DCD, while the apparent nitrification rate of red soil was significantly reduced by 33%-34%. All the six treatments with nitrification inhibitors and their combinations significantly improved biomass and nitrogen absorption efficiency of maize. Compared with the N treatment, the application of adding NIs alone was significantly higher than that of the treatments of NIs combinations, with an average of 1.3 times increase. DCD was the most efficient one in improving maize yield, nitrogen uptake, and nitrogen adsorption efficiency, which increased by 4.1, 6.3 and 4.4 times, respectively. Comprehensively, DCD performed the best in reducing cost and improving yield and nitrogen use efficiency in red soil.

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We carried out pot experiment to investigate nitrogen transformation characteristics, yield increasing effect, and apparent utilization rate of nitrogen fertilizer in loess soils by combining chemi-cal inhibitor and biostimulant humic acid to investigate the application effect and provide a theoretical basis for new type highly efficient and stable urea in loess soil. In this study, blank (CK) and urea (N) were set as controls, and humic acid alone (F), N-butyl thiophosphate-triamine (NBPT), 3,4-dimethyl-pyrazolate phosphate (DMPP), 2-chloro-6-trimethyl-pyridine (CP) and humic acid were respectively combined with three biochemical inhibitors to urea. The results showed that compared with N treatment, F, NBPT+F, DMPP+F, CP+F treatments significantly increased maize yield, chlorophyll content, leaf area index and nitrogen uptake, and had obvious effects on soil available nitrogen contents. The addition of humic acid increased chlorophyll content of maize leaves in all cases compared to the application of biochemical inhibitors alone. Compared with CP treatment, CP+F treatment could significantly increase nitrogen uptake, chlorophyll content, and nitrogen adsorption efficiency of maize. Addition of humic acid with NBPT increased nitrification inhibition rate by 10.7% compared with NBPT alone, but decreased yield, leaf area index, nitrogen uptake, nitrogen use efficiency. Compared with DMPP treatment, DMPP+F treatment significantly reduced maize yield, leaf area index, nitrogen uptake, nitrogen use efficiency and nitrification inhibition rate. Considering maize yield, plant N uptake, N fertilizer uptake rate and soil ammonium N and nitrate N contents, the addition of humic acid and CP is recommended for urea application in loess areas to enhance urea performance, yield, and fertilizer utilization.