Short Development Time Research Articles

Molecular characterization and functional analysis of cytochrome P450-mediated detoxification CYP302A1 gene involved in host plant adaptation in Spodoptera frugieprda.

The fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda is a destructive and polyphagous pest of many essential food crops including maize and rice. The FAW is hard to manage, control, or eradicate, due to its polyphagous nature and voracity of feeding. Here, we report the characterization and functional analysis of the detoxification gene CYP302A1 and how S. frugieprda larvae use a detoxification mechanism to adapt host plants. Results demonstrated that CYP302A1 expression levels were much higher in midgut tissue and the older S. frugiperda larvae. Our current studies revealed the enhanced P450 activity in the midguts of S. frugiperda larvae after exposure to rice plants as compared to corn plants and an artificial diet. Furthermore, higher mortality was observed in PBO treated larvae followed by the exposure of rice plants as compared to the corn plant. The dsRNA-fed larvae showed downregulation of CYP302A1 gene in the midgut. At the same time, higher mortality, reduced larval weight and shorter developmental time was observed in the dsRNA-fed larvae followed by the exposure of rice plant as compared to the corn plant and DEPC-water treated plants as a control. These results concluded that the inducible P450 enzyme system and related genes could provide herbivores with an ecological opportunity to adapt to diverse host plants by utilizing secondary compounds present in their host plants.

An Architectural Pattern for Dynamic Component Integration

The continuing increase of interest in Component-based Software Engineering (CBSE) signifies the emergence of a new development trend within the software industry. CBSE deals with the usage of reusable software components to provide complex integrated solutions at shorter development time and minimum cost. This engineering approach emphasizes the identification, selection, evaluation, procurement, integration, and evolution of reusable components for constructing complex and large-scale software solutions. Component-based development approach has a great potential for significantly reducing the cost and time to market of large-scale and complex software systems, improving system maintainability and flexibility. However the usage of components imposes some problems in the development process. Especially, the complexity of the integration process is increased due to the black box nature of the products. Integration is further influenced by problems due to architectural mismatches, component incompatibility etc. Apart from these general static integration problems, necessity for intelligent services and context aware computing paves way for the dynamic integration of components. Patterns have promising benefits in solving software design problems and their benefits have been realized in the design of component integration also. Patterns exist in different levels. Architectural patterns provide the overall structure of a system; design patterns deal with localized design choices; Idioms define patterns of usage within a particular language. Design patterns express proven techniques making it possible to reuse successful designs and provide a common vocabulary to share design descriptions. Architectural patterns cover a wider realm, specifying system-wide structural properties for an application, and impacting on subsystem architecture. This report presents the study of literature related to patterns and its application in the design of component-based systems. An Architectural pattern has been proposed in this report, for the design of a component-based system that dynamically integrates components. The dynamism is achieved using a service model.

Development of Quality Assurance Automatic Testing Script to Increase Testing Efficiency for Mobile Applications

Consumers increasingly use mobile applications because of the convenience and mobility of use. However, the short application development time and demands to maintain application quality and user satisfaction require a fast and thorough testing process. Many software testers currently test their software manually, causing problems, such as longer test times, inconsistent testing, and the need for human intervention to perform all tests. Therefore, a Quality Assurance Automatic Testing (QA AT) system was created based on mind map diagrams to overcome the earlier problems. QA AT is a script designed to verify the software requirements. The method to develop the QA AT script is as follow. Firstly, develop a Business Process diagram. Secondly, create the Mind Map diagram. Thirdly, build test cases scenarios based on the mind map diagram. Then translate the testing scenarios into testing scripts. Finally, the test scripts run on Katalon Studio platform. The QA AT system transforms the testing process into automated testing. The results show that automated testing can shorten test time by 86%,. Further, reducing human involvement, creating a consistent testing environment, and providing a detailed report.

Development of the CYCLOPS CubeSat payload

The number of CubeSat satellites launched has been increasing over the past decades. These satellites have a number of advantages: short development time, low cost, possibility of modifications for certain scientific tasks and testing of technical solutions and new developments. This article describes payloads of a small spacecraft: CubeSat 3U CYCLOPS designed by D.F.Ustinov Baltic State Technical University "Voenmeh within grant under Space-Pi program. The purpose of the study: is to create, test and study the performance of payload modules of the vehicle, built using commercially available components, under space flight conditions. The text describes the structure of interaction between the payload and the OrbCraft-Pro 3U platform from Sputnix LLC. The process of development of payload control board is considered. The control system software for mechatronic and multi axis actuator modules with logging and error correction is described. Ln addition to the above-mentioned modules, the payload control system was also developed to carry out a series of experiments in die presence of a small spacecraft in orbit. The paper explains how the spacecraft communicates with the ground via special software Houston control application and Houston Telnet. The results describe tests performed on the mechanical components of the spacecraft. Examples of telemetry packets received from on-board the spacecraft are given. The article also reflects further plans for the project and the prospects of using the developed hardware for implementation in large-scale space systems and complexes. Also as part of the project students were able to gain engineering experience in the development of devices designed to work in space conditions.

Inadequacy and Improvement of Legal Protection of Sensitive Personal Information

In the era of rapid development of big data, the problem of personal information leakage is widely concerned by the society. Among them, sensitive personal information related to the human dignity of natural persons or basic rights such as personal and property is more important. China introduced the Personal Information Protection Law in 2021 to improve the legal system of personal information protection in China, but due to the short development time of the relevant system for the protection of sensitive personal information, resulting in the legal protection of sensitive personal information faces serious challenges in practice, so it is especially important to improve the legal protection of sensitive personal information in China. Based on this, this paper firstly explains the concept and characteristics of sensitive personal information, then analyzes the shortcomings of the legal protection of sensitive personal information, and finally puts forward suggestions for improvement from different perspectives, including improving the principle of “informed consent", strengthening the supervision of industry self-regulation and improving the principle of imputation.

Pengembangan Billing Online Sistem dengan Menggunakan Metode Rapid Application Development

Billing management system and services at PT. Media Prima Jaringan is still not properly and efficiently recorded. Data management and recording still uses manual processes and paper media so that errors can occur in calculating Customer Service bills. So that customer complaints often occur due to inappropriate bill values, late payments until service termination occurs. In addition to complaints, company customers will also experience losses from dissatisfied customers who switch to other providers because they stop subscribing to the service. With the development of an online billing system, it is hoped that it will make it easier for companies to manage invoices and customer data and avoid billing errors. In developing a system, systematic steps are needed to produce a good and quality information system that can be used by users. The fundamental stages in the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) are the planning stage, the analysis stage, the design stage, the implementation stage, the testing stage and the maintenance stage. One of the SDLC development models is Rapid Application Development (RAD) which prioritizes a relatively short development time of around 60-90 days. In addition to using the RAD model for system development, the author also uses the Unified Modeling Language (UML) as a tool in the design stage. The programming language used to build this information system uses PHP (Hypertext Pre-processor) by implementing the Laravel framework and MySQL as the database. The implementation of the RAD method for the development of an online billing system takes 45 days of development. The intensity of the discussions that were carried out during development helped the programmer team complete the program design more quickly. The increase in company revenue increases after the system is running and customer complaints are also reduced.

Development of Human Resource Management in Off-Campus Educational Institutions in the Context of COVID-19：Take an off-campus educational institution in Beijing as an example

In recent years, due to the increasing demand for education by parents and students, a large number of off-campus education and training institutions have been created, and a large number of people have also been attracted to join the industry. The rapid development of this industry has created tens of millions of employment opportunities, but due to the short development time of the industry, there is a lack of a reasonable personnel management system. In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, many industries have been hit. In the off-campus education and training industry, due to improper personnel management and communication, a large number of personnel were lost. This article will take an off-campus educational institution in Beijing as an example to study the company's human resource management methods and policies in the "post-epidemic era", and find out the problems and solve them. The study found that such enterprises currently do not pay enough attention to grass-roots employees, lack of respect, inadequate communication, perfunctory manpower adjustment policies, and inadequate incentives for personnel, and put forward corresponding solutions according to each type of problem.

Stored rice varietal resistance towards Sitophilus oryzae

Previous research has demonstrated that varieties of rice are differentially susceptible to stored rice pests, but modern varieties are lacking evaluation. Thirteen varieties of rice, Oryzae sativa (L.), were tested for their susceptibility to the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.). Sitophilus oryzae adults were placed into vials containing one of 13 USA commercial rice varieties. Adult damage, larval damage, days to eclosion, total progeny, and progeny mass were recorded over a period of six weeks. Subsequently, varietal mixes of the resistant and susceptible varieties were evaluated for associational resistance or susceptibility using the same methodology. Rice variety impacted adult damage, larval damage, progeny counts, progeny mass, and development time. The rice variety most susceptible to adult damage had 11-fold greater damage than the rice variety most resistant to adults. Similarly, the rice variety most susceptible to larval damage received 10-fold more damage than the most resistant. Progeny had the shortest development time and greatest adult mass feeding on high protein, low-glycemic rice variety, Frontière. Varietal mixes often resulted in associational susceptibility, where mixes of two rice varieties resulted in damage equal to or greater than that of the most susceptible variety in the mix. Blends created similar changes in the numbers of progeny, progeny mass, and development time. These results demonstrate the importance of stored rice varietal susceptibility, blend susceptibility, and their impact on stored rice pest management.

Review of High-Temperature Power Electronics Converters

Power electronics converters operating at elevated temperature usually have degraded performance, such as reduced efficiency, lower noise immunity, and decreased system reliability, compared to those operating at room temperature. Nevertheless, harsh-environment applications, such as deep earth drilling, automotive, avionics, and space exploration, have been utilizing converters in high-temperature environments and are continuously pushing the temperature limits higher and higher with the advances in device technologies and converter design methodologies. This article starts with a literature study to identify the temperature dependence and the temperature limits of individual components. Then, published works about high-temperature converters are examined. Their selection of components is compared. Experimental results are analyzed to reflect on the efficacy of different component selections. Finally, since the latest published high-temperature converter was developed more than five years ago, a 1-kV input, 520-V output, 1-kW, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$150$</tex-math></inline-formula> °C-ambient-temperature-rated dc–dc converter is designed with state-of-the-art devices. Based on the literature review, and the test of the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$150$</tex-math></inline-formula> °C prototype, the main challenges of designing high-temperature power electronics converters are identified and concluded to be time-consuming, difficult, and expensive characterization of components, lack of accurate and computationally efficient models of converters, and optimizing component selection within short development time.

Applications of Deep Learning for Drug Discovery Systems with BigData

The adoption of “artificial intelligence (AI) in drug discovery”, where AI is used in the process of pharmaceutical research and development, is progressing. By using the ability to process large amounts of data, which is a characteristic of AI, and achieving advanced data analysis and inference, there are benefits such as shortening development time, reducing costs, and reducing the workload of researchers. There are various problems in drug development, but the following two issues are particularly problematic: (1) the yearly increases in development time and cost of drugs and (2) the difficulty in finding highly accurate target genes. Therefore, screening and simulation using AI are expected. Researchers have high demands for data collection and the utilization of infrastructure for AI analysis. In the field of drug discovery, for example, interest in data use increases with the amount of chemical or biological data available. The application of AI in drug discovery is becoming more active due to improvement in computer processing power and the development and spread of machine-learning frameworks, including deep learning. To evaluate performance, various statistical indices have been introduced. However, the factors affected in performance have not been revealed completely. In this study, we summarized and reviewed the applications of deep learning for drug discovery with BigData.

A Novel 3D Culture Scaffold to Shorten Development Time for Multicellular Tumor Spheroids.

Multicellular tumor spheroids and tumoroids are considered ideal in vitro models that reflect the features of the tumor microenvironment. Biomimetic components resembling the extracellular matrix form scaffolds to provide structure to 3-dimensional (3D) culture systems, supporting the growth of both spheroids and tumoroids. Although Matrigel has long been used to support 3D culture systems, batch variations, component complexity, and the use of components derived from tumors are complicating factors. To address these issues, we developed the ACD 3D culture system to provide better control and consistency. We evaluated spheroid and tumoroid formation using the ACD 3D culture system, including the assessment of cell viability and cancer marker expression. Under ACD 3D culture conditions, spheroids derived from cancer cell lines exhibited cancer stem cell characteristics, including a sphere-forming size and the expression of stem cell marker genes. The ACD 3D culture system was also able to support patient-derived primary cells and organoid cell cultures, displaying adequate cell growth, appropriate morphology, and resistance to oxaliplatin treatment. These spheroids could also be used for drug screening purposes. In conclusion, the ACD 3D culture system represents an efficient tool for basic cancer research and therapeutic development.

Innovative feedstocks for optimal mass production of the edible long-horned grasshopper, Ruspolia differens.

The edible long-horned grasshopper Ruspolia differens Serville (Orthoptera:Tettigoniidae) is a highly nutritious food source consumed in over 20 African countries. Its occurrence is highly seasonal, and wild harvesting is carried out using locally designed and inefficient light traps, thus limiting sustainable utilization as an important food source. To ensure year-round production and availability of R. differens, we evaluated the effects of low-cost and affordable diets based on agricultural by-products on their growth performance, survival, fecundity, and longevity. A total of four diets with varying ratios of agricultural by-products were evaluated: Diet 1 [33.3% maize bran (MB) + 33.3% wheat bran (WB) + 33.3% Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MOLP)], Diet 2 [25% MB + 25% WB + 25% MOLP + 25% shrimp powder (SP)], Diet 3 [20% MB + 20% WB + 20% MOLP + 20% SP + 20% soya bean meal], and Diet 4 ("control"-routinely used diet). The grasshoppers were subjected to the diets from the 1st nymphal instar (24-h-old stages) through adult stages until death. Diet 3 had the highest crude protein content (28%) and digestibility (74.7%). R. differens fed Diet 3 had the shortest development time (57 days) [p < 0.001], highest survival (87%) [p < 0.001], and maximum longevity (89days) [p = 0.015] and fecundity (247 eggs/female) [p = 0.549] across the various diets. Female survival rate (59%) on Diet 3 was significantly higher compared to the males (41%). The adult female weight gain was significantly higher compared to males fed on different diets. Percentage hatchability of eggs was not significantly different when females were fed Diet 3 and Diet 2. There was a significantly positive correlation between longevity and fecundity of R. differens reared on Diet 2 and 3. These diets could be further optimized and fine-tuned for improved cost-effective mass production of R. differens continent-wide to reduce dependence on erratic and poor seasonal harvest during swarms.

Data-driven multi-objective optimization with neural network-based sensitivity analysis for semiconductor devices

Statistical modeling and optimization are critical for product quality management and technology development in the manufacturing industry. As the emerging device appears and technology advances, it consists of highly-correlated multivariate parameters and has a non-linear relationship. Moreover, technology development requires extensive cost and effort, and often it takes several years to establish a physical model after the advent of new technology. Thus, this paper presents an effective data-driven multi-objective optimization with neural network-based sensitivity analysis for semiconductor devices before explicitly developing a physical or compact model. Sensitivity analysis allows a quick search for influential parameters and selects design parameter candidates for a customized solution. Then, the selected parameters are adjusted to maintain within the set range by the scaled sensitivities and to have robustness against noise. It optimizes design variables to meet performance and variation requirements simultaneously, considering correlation between parameters. Therefore, multi-objective solutions hold physical consistency and are found with ¡ 1.7% error. The proposed method is efficient in computational time, which is significantly reduced by more than 80% compared to Bayesian optimization for process optimization. This approach is a general methodology applicable to various industries besides the semiconductor field. Finally, we expect this study to help shorten development time and improve yield through customized multi-objective solutions.

Differentiation of Developmental Pathways Results in Different Life-History Patterns between the High and Low Latitudinal Populations in the Asian Corn Borer.

Individual insects often exhibit two alternative pathways of non-diapausing and diapausing developments. Yet, most studies have focused on the latitudinal variation in life-history traits for non-diapausing individuals. No study has examined the differences in life history traits between non-diapausing and diapausing individuals along a latitudinal gradient. We used six different geographical populations of Ostrinia furnacalis to examine the latitudinal variation in life-history traits between non-diapausing and diapausing individuals in terms of their sex ratio, larval and pupal developmental times, pupal weight, growth rate, adult weight and weight loss, and sexual size dimorphism. The results showed that latitudinal variation in life-history traits for both non-diapausing and diapausing individuals exhibited a sawtooth pattern, but the life-history pattern of the two alternative developmental pathways was significantly different between the high and low latitudes. For the non-diapausing pathway, the high-latitudinal populations showed a significantly shorter larval developmental time, higher growth rate and greater body weight than the low-latitudinal populations, suggesting countergradient variation. Conversely, in the diapausing pathway, the high-latitudinal populations had longer larval developmental times, lower growth rates and relatively smaller body weights than the low-latitudinal populations, suggesting cogradient variation. We also found that in the high-latitudinal populations, larvae in the non-diapausing pathway had shorter developmental time and higher body weight, whereas larval developmental time of the low-latitudinal populations was longer and the body weight was smaller. The relationship between larval developmental time and pupal weight was also different between the two developmental pathways. These results provide new insights into the evolution of life-history traits in this moth.

Data pre-processing with high-level-synthesis and dataflow programming using HLS C++ dataflow template library

The readout of detectors with FPGAs is a common practice. Traditionally, this is done using a hardware description language such as VHDL, Verilog, or System Verilog. Data is preprocessed, filtered, and passed to high-performance computing clusters for the next processing steps. Many experiments require a continuous, trigger-less data stream, which significantly increases the algorithmic requirements. In this work, we show how to implement the increasingly complex algorithms using methods of dataflow programming and methods of Modern HLS C++ Template Programming. The focus is also on resource consumption, which must remain below an acceptable limit compared to a pure VHDL implementation. Additional design goals are fast and shorter development time, easy maintenance, the ability to adapt algorithms to changing needs, and high throughput to handle continuous data streams. We present the concept of a dataflow template library that can be used to realize the above design goals. The template library allows an algorithm to be represented as a data flow graph. It is designed in such a way that the maximum possible data throughput can be implemented with an initiation interval of 1. The locality of the algorithm is instantiated by local streaming buffers. It is shown how these buffers are implemented in such a way that a nearly balanced graph is obtained.

Effects of Crop Resistance on the Tritrophic Interactions between Wheat Lines, Schizaphis graminum (Hemitera: Aphididae), and Propylaea japonica (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae).

Crop resistance and biological control are both considered efficient and environmentally friendly methods of sustainable pest control. In this study, we aimed at investigating the direct influence of four wheat lines with varying resistance level on the life-history traits of the greenbug, Schizaphis graminum, and the mediational effect on the functional response of a predatory ladybird, Propylaea japonica, under laboratory conditions. Results showed that the aphid fitness was the lowest for aphids that had been feeding on wheat line ‘98-10-19’ for one year. These aphids had the longest development time, and least adult mass, minimal mean relative growth rate, and lowest reproductive fitness. In contrast, the aphids that fed on wheat line ‘98-10-30’ were the fittest, with the shortest development time and highest levels of reproductive fitness. The predatory activities of the ladybeetle, especially the adult male significantly decreased following the consumption of aphids belonging to the ‘98-10-19’-acclimated population. However, there were no significant differences in predatory efficiency (net attack frequency) among the four aphid acclimated populations. Our results showed that the wheat line ‘98-10-19’ has a relative higher resistance to S. graminum than the other three wheat lines, which could further decrease the amount of prey available for consumption. However, the ecological effect of the resistance of ‘98-10-19’ to S. graminum posed no negative influence on the biocontrol potential of P. japonica to these aphids, as their predatory efficiency increases at the fourth instar larvae phase.

Facial Recognition System Based on Genetic Algorithm Improved ROI-KNN Convolutional Neural Network

The facial recognition system is an application tool that uses artificial intelligence technology and biometrics technology to analyze and recognize the facial feature information of the human face. It is widely used in various fields, such as attendance and access control management in schools and companies, identity monitoring in stations and stores, facial recognition for fugitive criminals, and facial payment on mobile terminals. However, due to the short development time of the facial recognition system, the facial recognition system has the problem of low recognition accuracy when the recognized object is not cooperative. Although some scholars have proposed the region of interest (ROI)-K nearest neighbor algorithm (KNN) convolutional neural network theory by using the ROI and KNN and applied it to face recognition, the facial recognition system based on ROI-KNN convolutional neural network did not solve the problems of insufficient facial recognition accuracy and insufficient security. Under the conditions of insufficient illumination, excessive expression change, occlusion, high similarity of different individuals, and dynamic recognition, the recognition effect of the facial recognition system based on the ROI-KNN convolutional neural network is relatively limited. Therefore, to make the recognition accuracy of the facial recognition system higher and to make the facial recognition system play a greater role in the social and economic fields, this paper used the adaptive quantum genetic algorithm, the improved marker line graph genetic algorithm, and the feature weight value genetic algorithm to study the facial recognition system of the ROI-KNN convolutional neural network. The research results showed that after improving the ROI-KNN convolutional neural network based on the genetic algorithm, the recognition accuracy of the facial recognition system was increased by 4.99%, the recognition speed was increased by 7.46%, and the recognition security was increased by 2.66%.

Physicochemical Properties of Sugarcane Cultivars Affected Life History and Population Growth Parameters of Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefebvre) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Simple SummaryThe sugarcane stem borer, Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefebvre), is the most important pest of sugarcane in Iran and some other regions of the world. Variation in the resistance of six commercial sugarcane cultivars to S. nonagrioides was investigated using the oviposition preference, life history, and population growth parameters. Moreover, the physical and biochemical properties of the tested sugarcane cultivars were estimated to understand any possible correlation between the insect’s parameters and the physiochemical features of the cultivars tested. The physicochemical properties of sugarcane cultivars significantly affected S. nonagrioides oviposition behavior, life history, and population parameters. Based on the obtained results, the resistant cultivar, SP70-1143, could be recommended for cultivation in sugarcane fields where the risk of S. nonagrioides damage is usually high.The use of resistant cultivars is an efficient management strategy against S. nonagrioides. The effects of different sugarcane cultivars, CP48-103, CP57-614, CP69-1062, CP73-21, SP70-1143, and IRC99-02 were evaluated on the oviposition preference (free-choice assay), life history, and life table parameters of S. nonagrioides at 27 ± 1 °C, 60 ± 5% RH and a photoperiod of 16: 8 (L: D) h. The longest and shortest developmental times were on cultivars SP70-1143 and CP48-103, respectively. The oviposition preference of S. nonagrioides was the highest on cultivars CP48-103 and CP69-1062, and negatively correlated with the shoot trichome density and shoot rind hardness of the cultivars. The highest intrinsic rate of increase of S. nonagrioides was on cultivar CP48-103 and the lowest was on cultivar SP70-1143. The shortest mean generation time was on CP48-103 and the longest was on SP70-1143. The results indicate that cultivars CP48-103 and CP69-1062 were susceptible, and cultivar SP70-1143 was partially resistant against S. nonagrioides. This information could be useful for developing integrated management programs of S. nonagrioides, such as the use of resistant cultivars to reduce the damage caused by this pest in sugarcane fields.

Co-treatment of fecal matter with kitchen waste using black soldier fly: process performance evaluation

Organic matter processing through Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly) technology offers promising fecal sludge management (FSM) and sustainable sanitation option. Fecal matter has been valorized using black soldier fly (BSF) technology; however, there is insufficient knowledge in substrate co-treatment rationing rates to scale up the extant BSFL systems for optimum waste conversion. In this study, an evaluation of BSF process performance during co-treatment of fecal matter and kitchen waste was carried out under laboratory-scale conditions. BSF larvae feeding substrates were formulated using fresh fecal matter and kitchen waste (FM: KW) in the ratios; 1:0, 4:1, 2:1, 1:1, and 0:1. The experiments were set out in rectangular plastic containers (26*13*11cm). Under each mixing ratio, 1000g of the feed substrate was treated utilizing 5g of 5-day old BSF larvae. One hundred larvae were randomly picked at three-day intervals from each treatment (in triplicate) to monitor the larval weight gain across the treatment process. Larval days to 50% pupation, mean pupal yield, waste reduction rate (WR), bioconversion rates (BR), and feed conversion rates (FCR) were monitored for the process performance. The results showed that substrate mixed 1:1 attained the best measures; WR (90.56%), a high weight reduction index (WRI) (5.66), high BR (14.56), and a high overall pre-pupal yield (72.78g) within a shorter development time (16 days). This study affirms the performance efficacy of BSFL to sufficiently convert fecal substrates when co-treated with kitchen waste, promoting a circular economy. It, therefore, illustrates that a co-treatment strategy has the potential to boost and enhance sustainable fecal waste management for future applications.

Seasonality, body size, and maturation time in the neotropical grasshopper Sphenarium histrio across an altitudinal gradient

AbstractIn insects, male mating success and female fecundity usually increase with body size. However, natural selection favors faster maturation, reducing the risk of pre‐reproductive death, when the reproductive season is short in habitats located at high altitudes or far from the equator. Also, if males that mature earlier than females under these conditions increase their mating opportunities, protandry may evolve in their populations. Nonetheless, as body size is strongly correlated with maturation time in insects, faster sexual maturation is reached at the expense of having a small body size. We analyzed the differences in adult body size of males and females of the grasshopper Sphenarium histrio Gerstaecker (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae) in three sites across an altitudinal gradient in southern Mexico. We also evaluated the possibility of protandry in these sampling sites using a common garden experiment. Male and female grasshoppers collected from low altitude sites in the field and reared in the laboratory were larger than those from a high altitude, suggesting genetic differentiation. Grasshoppers from a high altitude hatched earlier, had a shorter development time, presented fewer instars, and were smaller than grasshoppers from the other sampling sites. Moreover, development time in the three sampling sites was shorter in males than in females, suggesting protandry. Interestingly, the males from the three sites showed similar growth rates, but the females from low and high altitudes, respectively, had the fastest and slowest growth rates. In general, the adaptive value of the evolution of protandry has been focused on males. However, it may be that the growth rates of females in these sites could modify the degree of protandry as a response to their risk of pre‐reproductive death and the potential benefits associated with multiple matings.