This analysis assessed the partial net returns of a triazole, at-plant fungicide (i.e., Xyway LFR@FMC) including no fungicide (control) and 1.11 L ha-1 rate under three water scenarios in west Tennessee. In 2022, all water regimes and fungicide treatments had positive average partial net returns compared to rainfed (RF) with no fungicide treatment. However, in 2023 due to beneficial rainfall and low disease pressure during the growing season, low yield differences between treatments resulted in negative partial net returns for all treatments compared to RF with no fungicide treatment. The annualized capital recovery cost of the irrigation equipment was one of the reasons for the negative partial net returns across treatments and particularly water regimes for 2023. An additional factor that influenced the partial net returns analysis was the decline in corn prices between the 2022/23 and the 2023/24 marketing year. Although the Xyway LFR@FMC fungicide application can be profitable for corn production, different environmental factors will determine yield and net return differences each year. Clearly, the investment in irrigation systems has a multiyear return on investment and the application of fungicide is completed before weather and disease pressure is known. As such, long-term weather variability will play an important role in the net returns of Xyway LFR@FMC fungicide application.

Magnetoelectric nanoparticles (MENPs), combining a magnetostrictive core with a piezoelectric shell, offer a promising route for remote-controlled biomedical applications by converting external magnetic fields into electric cues. However, the clinical translation of these materials remains limited due to the toxicity of high-performance piezoelectric materials, which typically contain lead. Previously, we developed lead-free MENPs comprising manganese ferrite oxide (MFO) core nanoparticles (NPs) coated with a Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.1Ti0.9O3 (BCZT) piezoelectric shell (MFO@BCZT). While these nanotransducers exhibit robust magnetic responsiveness and piezoelectric performance comparable to lead-based ceramics, their role in producing in situ electrical cues to accelerate bone repair remains unexplored. Given the established role of electrical stimulation in bone remodeling, this study explores the potential of MFO@BCZT MENPs to promote the osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) after internalization, assembly into magnetized 3D spheroids, and subsequent embedding in gelatin methacryloyl hydrogels, to better recapitulate physiologically relevant microenvironments. Differentiation was assessed under static and cyclic magnetic field (CMF) conditions and compared to spheroids containing bare MFO NPs and spheroids without NPs. Results revealed that MFO and MFO@BCZT NPs were cytocompatible; however, MFO@BCZT MENPs significantly enhanced osteogenic marker expression and mineral deposition compared to both controls, with CMF further amplifying these effects. Under CMF stimulation, MFO@BCZT MENPs produced a mineralized matrix with a calcium-to-phosphorus molar ratio of 1.67, aligning precisely with native bone apatite. Overall, by restoring the bioelectric properties of bone at the target region, this study positions MFO@BCZT MENPs as a compelling platform for future smart bone therapies.

This study investigated the potential of utilising cool season grasses naturally associated with Epichloë endophytic fungi for the management of plant-parasitic stubby root nematodes (Trichodorus spp. and Paratrichodorus spp.). Stubby root nematodes are economically important in East England where they cause docking disorder in sugar beet which causes up to 50% root yield reduction. The lack of chemical nematicides for the management of stubby root nematodes due to environmental concerns warrants the development of more eco-friendly measures. Epichloë fungal endophytes are known to confer protection from herbivory to their cool-season grass hosts, via the production of alkaloidal compounds. Several Epichloë species are known to produce loline alkaloids, a group of compounds known for their insecticidal and insect-deterrent properties. Lolines have also been reported to inhibit nematode mobility, egg hatching and mortality. In this study, Festulolium loliaceum and its associated endophyte Epichloë uncinata, known for its production of loline alkaloids, were investigated for their efficacy in suppressing stubby root nematodes. In a field experiment in Docking, Norfolk, England, endophyte-infected grasses significantly reduced the reproduction of stubby root nematodes by seven times compared to endophyte-free grass associations. Laboratory experiments using extracts from shoots and roots of F. loliaceum plants showed that both endophyte-infected and endophyte-free plants could immobilize nematodes. Age, source of extract and extract concentration had a significant effect on the nematocidal activity. Extracts from younger grasses were more potent compared to older grasses, where shoot extracts from 8-week-old endophyte-infected grass plants had six times lower LD50 values compared to 20-week-old grass plants. A contrasting effect was found for grass root extracts where roots from older plants were more potent than extracts from roots from younger plants, and had lower potency compared to shoot extracts. Further laboratory experiments showed that artificial wounding of endophyte-infected F. loliaceum plants elevated the loline alkaloids in the regrowth tissue within the first 11 days. Nematicidal activity of extracts from this regrowth tissue was significantly greater as compared to extracts from unwounded grass tissue. Overall, the results from this study suggest that endophyte-infected grasses could serve as a potential cultural management strategy for stubby root nematodes in a sugar beet crop rotation system. It is also evident that stubby root nematodes are sensitive to loline alkaloids produced from the grass-endophyte symbiosis used in this study, and this system could be optimised in the future to support nematode suppression under field conditions.

Purpose of research. Investigation of the functional relationship between integral heat flux and both thermal and magnetic Rayleigh numbers in combined (gravitational and thermomagnetic) convection of ferrofluid within a closed hydrodynamic loop, with assessment of the thermomagnetic convection mechanisms contribution. Methods: Experimental data were obtained from a vertical hydrodynamic loop filled with a magnetite-kerosene-oleic acid ferrofluid, subjected to localized heating and magnetic fields up to 29 kA/m. Four ferrofluid samples with identical particle size distributions but varying magnetic phase concentrations were investigated. The dimensionless integral heat flux, expressed as the Nusselt number (Nu), was determined from steady-state temperature profiles along the circuit. Both gravitational (RaT) and magnetic (Ram) Rayleigh numbers were calculated using the channel diameter and temperature difference across the heated section. The ferrofluid's pyromagnetic coefficient was evaluated via a bidisperse model. Results: The experimental results demonstrate that the integral heat flux data, including the zero-field case, follow a universal scaling relation Nu = f(Rae). Conclusion: To characterize the experimental results, we employed dimensionless parameters—the Nusselt number (Nu) and the effective Rayleigh number (Rae)—which incorporate the system geometry, the ferrofluid's thermophysical and magnetic properties, and the applied magnetic field conditions. Our analysis demonstrates that a universal scaling relation Nu = f(Rae) can be established by defining the effective Rayleigh number as a linear combination of the thermal (RaT) and magnetic (Ram) Rayleigh numbers: Rae = RaT + ζ⋅Ram. This unified representation successfully describes convective heat transfer across all tested conditions, including ferrofluids of varying concentrations subjected to magnetic fields up to 29 kA/m. The empirical coefficient ζ was determined to be 0.29 in our experimental configuration, though we note this parameter may generally depend on system geometry.

The objective of this prospective, randomised, blinded, observational clinical study was to investigate the effect of subcutaneously administered buprenorphine on postoperative pain in female feral cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy as part of a trap-neuter-return programme. The aim was to determine whether buprenorphine can prevent pain scores from exceeding established intervention thresholds postoperatively - a problem identified in a previous study using the same anaesthetic protocol. A total of 115 cats were anaesthetised with an intramuscular protocol comprising medetomidine, ketamine and butorphanol, in combination with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (meloxicam). Prior to anaesthesia induction, cats were randomly assigned to either receive 0.02 mg/kg buprenorphine (BUP group) or an equal volume of saline (NaCl 0.9%) (control group) subcutaneously at the end of surgery. Pain was assessed at 3, 6 and 24 hours postoperatively using the validated feline Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale. Subcutaneous administration of buprenorphine at the end of surgery did not significantly reduce postoperative pain scores or prevent values from exceeding the clinical intervention threshold compared to saline. Although numerical differences were observed at specific time points, pain trajectories over time were similar between groups. Notably, overall and independently of the group 34.5% of cats exceeded the intervention threshold at 3 hours and 38.8% at 6 hours postoperatively, underscoring the need for improved analgesic strategies during the early postoperative period in trap-neuter-return settings. These findings suggest that a single subcutaneous dose of buprenorphine may not consistently enhance analgesia over standard multimodal protocols under field conditions.

Weed management continues to be a significant challenge in modern agriculture, primarily due to the aggressive growth patterns of weeds and their direct competition with crops for essential resources such as light, water, and nutrients. Although recent developments in precision agriculture have led to the emergence of automated weed detection systems aimed at reducing operational costs and decreasing reliance on chemical herbicides, achieving accurate crop–weed segmentation remains a persistent difficulty. This is largely attributed to high visual similarity between crops and weeds, coupled with variations in illumination and field conditions. To address these challenges, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have been increasingly adopted for their capability to perform end-to-end, pixel-level classification, particularly when leveraging multi-spectral imagery. In this context, PSPEdgeWeedNet is proposed, a novel edge-aware deep learning architecture tailored for precise semantic segmentation of crops and weeds within peanut cultivation fields. Distinct from the conventional Pyramid Scene Parsing Network (PSPNet) and its boundary-aware variant developed as a baseline in this research, PSPEdgeWeedNet introduces a dedicated edge detection branch. This branch is specifically engineered to enhance boundary localization and improve delineation between adjacent vegetation classes. In post-processing, Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) are used to slightly enhance the segmentation results around object boundaries. Additionally, all models were trained on a curated peanut field dataset using class-weighted loss functions to effectively address inherent class imbalance. Comprehensive experimental evaluations reveal that PSPEdgeWeedNet significantly outperforms existing state-of-the-art architectures including PSPNet, SegNet, UNet, DeepLabv3, Swin-Unet, and light weight transformer model based on ViT across multiple performance metrics such as Intersection over Union (IoU), precision, recall, and F1-score. These results highlight the critical role of incorporating edge-aware mechanisms within semantic segmentation frameworks, thereby enhancing the robustness and accuracy of automated weed detection systems in complex, real-world agricultural environments.

Background Working mules are essential for human livelihoods, yet scientific evidence on their physiological limits during load-carrying tasks remains scarce. Objectives To evaluate the physiological responses of mules to increasing loads during short-distance work. Study design A crossover design. For this, 12 Chilean Army mules of three sizes (small, medium, large) were subjected to a 2-km walk carrying loads of 0, 80, 105, and 130 kg, equivalent to 20–42% of live body weight, under ambient temperatures of 32–39 °C. Blood and physiological parameters were measured before, immediately after, 10 min, and 2 h after work, with additional blood samples for biochemical parameters collected up to 105 h after exercise. Linear mixed models were applied to evaluate the effects of load, time, and body size. Results The size of the mule did not have an effect on their physiological response to work. On the other hand, increasing load significantly elevated cortisol, lactate, and rectal temperature, indicating activation of both the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and anaerobic metabolism. Enzymatic activities of γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and alkaline phosphatase (SAP/ALP) also increased with heavier loads, suggesting greater muscular effort and mild tissue stress. Conversely, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity decreased as load increased, implying increased oxidative demand. Total protein and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios rose with higher loads, reflecting systemic stress response and hemoconcentration. Heart rate and respiratory rate were not significantly affected, suggesting adequate cardiovascular adaptation. Most parameters returned to baseline within 2 h post-exercise, demonstrating effective short-term recovery. Conclusion These findings confirm that short-distance work carrying heavy loads, in particular over 105 kg, does activate a physiological stress response in mules, though within adaptive limits. Loads of 105–130 kg triggered greater metabolic and enzymatic adjustments, indicating that while trained mules can cope with high loads over short distances, care should be taken when asking mules to work for longer distances or heavier loads since it can negatively affect their welfare. Establishing evidence-based workload thresholds is essential for balancing performance efficiency and welfare in working mules. Future studies should evaluate long-term work under field conditions, incorporating other welfare indicators such as behavior for a more comprehensive welfare assessment.

Efficacy of fluralaner against natural infestations of Haemaphysalis longicornis and Rhipicephalus sanguineus in dogs under field conditions in China.

Sulfur nanoparticles boost watermelon growth and fruit quality by modulating sulfur transport and nutrient homeostasis.

Lime requirement determination for acidic soils based on the measurement of soil mobilized aluminum with a portable colorimeter under field conditions

Identification and characterization of the pathogens associated with tea red rust in India and their biocontrol under field conditions

High-throughput photosynthetic phenotyping using hyperspectral reflectance in paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) under field conditions

Assessment of Fusarium Head Blight on wheat using near infrared hyperspectral imaging under field conditions

Selection of the best sorbent material to capture ammonia emissions using passive flux samplers.

Partially water-level-fluctuating strategy enhances rural greywater treatment in vertical flow constructed wetlands.

Harnessing SynComs for rhizosphere engineering to alleviate salt stress in Vigna radiata: From lab experiments to the field.

The multipurpose stick: A complete and low-cost technique for remote sample collection in pinnipeds.

Comparison of Lycium barbarum and Chenopodium glaucum litter decomposition reveals differential impacts on fusarium abundance and microbial community structure under field conditions

Fitness cost and molecular regulation analysis of thifluzamide resistance in Rhizoctonia solani AG-5 inciting maize banded leaf and sheath blight in Shanxi Province of China.

Pilot scale treatment of PFAS-contaminated groundwater in a subsurface flow constructed wetland-evaluating multiple plant species.