The intraspecific morphological variability of Styloperla Wu, 1935 (Plecoptera: Styloperlidae).

Intraspecific morphological variability of four Styloperla Wu, 1935 species are described and discussed in this paper. The males of each species have variable specializations present at their basal cercal process, including the variable number of branches or differing degrees of curvature at the apical spines. A generalization on the species definition of Plecoptera, especially a new concept of conspecificity is also provided herein.

New species of Illiesonemoura and Nemoura (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from Yunnan Province of southern China.

Two new species of Nemouridae, Illiesonemoura qianae Du, Zhao, & Rehman sp. nov. and Nemoura longistyla Zhao, Rehman & Du sp. nov., are described and illustrated from Yunnan Province of southern China. The morphological characteristics of the new species are compared to related taxa and new images are also provided.

Characteristics and influencing factors of soil preferential flow in typical stands of Karst area in southwest China.

The study of preferential flow phenomena in Karst areas and the identification of the main factors influencing preferential flow are of great importance for the recovery of local vegetation. The distribution of the dyeing solution in the vertical and horizontal directions was examined by field staining tracer test and image processing technique. We analyzed the total dyeing area ratio, matrix flow depth, preferential flow ratio, and length index as pre-ferential flow characteristic parameters, and 14 factors affecting preferential flow using grey correlation analysis. The results showed that there were two main types of preferential flow, funnel-shaped and dendritic, with lateral water movement occurring in the soil of typical Karst stands. The mean value of the dyeing area ratio of the understory in Karst areas was 19.4%, and that of the matrix flow depth, preferential flow ratio, and length index was 4.96 cm, 62.9%, and 385.5%, respectively. Among the 14 environmental factors influencing preferential flow, the initial soil moisture content had the strongest influence on the dyeing area ratio, the available potassium content had the most significant influence on the matrix flow depth, and available phosphorous content had the most significant influence on both the preferential flow ratio and the length index. The high degree of development and spatial variability of preferential flow under typical forest stands in Karst areas was strongly influenced by physical properties such as initial soil water content, while soil nutrient also exerts important influence on preferential flow.

The First Study of Mating Mistakes in Stoneflies (Plecoptera) from China, with Remarks on Their Biological Implications.

Currently, information on the biology of Plecoptera from China is scarce, particularly on mating behavior. In this paper, the existence of mating mistakes (erroneous mating attempts) involving 13 Chinese stonefly species (belonging to nine genera and three families) is reported. These erroneous mating behaviors can be included into three different categories: mating attempts between conspecific males (including the formation of erroneous mating balls), mating attempts between different taxa (including displacement attempts during copulation), and mating-related behaviors with non-living objects. From these behaviors, some aspects of stoneflies during mating, such as the physical competition between males, the sensorial mechanisms implied in triggering a mating behavior, the conditions favoring the mating mistakes, and the possible consequences of interspecific mating in the hybrid production, are discussed.

Mechanisms of fungal community assembly in wild stoneflies moderated by host characteristics and local environment.

Deterministic and stochastic forces both drive microbiota assembly in animals, yet their relative contribution remains elusive, especially in wild aquatic-insect-associated fungal communities. Here, we applied amplicon sequencing to survey the assembly mechanisms of the fungal community in 155 wild stonefly individuals involving 44 species of 20 genera within eight families collected from multiple locations in China. Analysis showed that fungal diversity and network complexity differed significantly among the eight stonefly families, and that the fungal communities in stoneflies exhibited a significant distance-decay pattern across large spatial scales. Both a structural equation model and variance partitioning analysis revealed that environmental factors (e.g., geographical, climatic) outweigh host attributes in shaping the fungal community of stoneflies. Using neutral and null model analyses, we also find that deterministic processes play a larger role than stochasticity in driving the fungal community assembly. However, the relative contribution of ecological processes including dispersal, drift, and selection, varied strongly with host taxonomy. Furthermore, environmental conditions also significantly affect the strength of these ecological processes. Overall, our findings illustrate that variations in host attributes and environment factors may moderate the relative influence of deterministic and stochastic processes to fungal community composition in wild stoneflies, which provides new insights into mechanisms of microbial community assembly in aquatic arthropods.

Additions to the fauna and biology of stoneflies (Plecoptera) in Taizi River Basin, Liaoning, with seven new species records to China.

Background: An investigation report of stonefly fauna in Benxi Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning Province, northeast China (used to be called Manchuria, now includes Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang Provinces and parts of Inner Mongolia, which are adjacent to the Russian Far East and the Korean Peninsula). Materials were studied with field observation in 2018 and 2019. New information: This paper records five families, nine genera and 14 species of stoneflies from Taizi River, Liaoning Province. Nine species have been recorded for the first time in China and the biology of several common species is also reported for the first time.

Two new species of Amphinemurinae (Plecoptera; Nemouridae) from Yunnan Province, China.

Two new species of Nemouridae stoneflies, Amphinemura oblonga Rehman, Du Zhao sp. nov. and Mesonemoura diqinga Rehman, Du Zhao sp. nov., are described from China (Yunnan Province, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Shangri-la city, Gezan township, Langdu Village). Diagnosis, description of terminalia, illustration of terminalia appendages and terminalia similarities with closely related species are provided and discussed.

Two new species of Amphinemura (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from Taiwan Province on the southeast coast of China.

Two new species of Amphinemura were described and illustrated from Taiwan Province of China: Amphinemura reni Du Zhao, sp. nov. and Amphinemura triquetra Zhao Du, sp. nov. The morphological characteristics of the new species were compared to related taxa. Additionally, a key to the adult males of Amphinemura known from Taiwan Province of China was given in this paper.

Molecular phylogeny inferred from the mitochondrial genomes of Plecoptera with Oyamia nigribasis (Plecoptera: Perlidae).

In this study, the mitochondrial genome of the stonefly, Oyamia nigribasis Banks, 1920 (Plecoptera: Perlidae), was sequenced and compared with the mtDNA genomes of 38 other stoneflies and two Ephemerae. The O. nigribasis mitogenome is a circular 15,923 bp molecule that encodes a large, noncoding control region (CR) and 37 typical mtDNA genes; these include 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), and two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), respectively. Most of the PCGs initiated with ATN and terminated with TAN. The dihydrouridine (DHU) arm of tRNASer (AGN) was missing, whereas the other 21 tRNAs all exhibited the typical cloverleaf secondary structure. Stem-loop (SL) structures and tandem repeats were identified in the CR. Phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood were undertaken to determine relationships between stoneflies. Results indicated that the Antarctoperlaria, which contains Gripopterygidae, was absolutely separated from Arctoperlaria; this finding agrees with morphology. Finally, the overall relationships could be summarized as follows ((((Notonemouridae + Nemouridae) + Leuctridae) + (Scopuridae + (Capniidae + Taeniopterygidae))) + (((Perlodidae + Chloroperlidae) + Perlidae) + (Pteronarcyidae + (Peltoperlidae + Styloperlidae))) + ((Diamphipnoidae + Eustheniidae) + Gripopterygidae)).

A new species of Protonemura (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from China and new images of three other species of the genus.

A new nemourid species, Protonemura longispina sp. nov. from Sichuan Province of southwestern China is described. The outer lobe of the paraprocts with numerous long spines and the basal portion divided into two lobes, distinguishes the new species from all congeners. New images of three other species, P. bidigitata Du Wang, P. biintrans Li Yang, and P. macrodactyla Du Zhou are given. Additionally, a key to the adult males of Protonemura known from China is provided.

A new species of Sphaeronemoura (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from China and additions to three other species of the genus.

A new species of the nemourid genus Sphaeronemoura, S. tetragona Du Zhao, sp. nov. is described from Hunan Province of southeastern China. The new species is illustrated and compared to the other similar species of this genus. Additional illustrations and records for S. songshana Li Yang, 2009, S. multicurvata Li, Li Yang, 2020, and S. grandicauda (Wu, 1973) are also provided.

Contribution to the knowledge of Chinese Cerconychia Klapálek (Plecoptera: Pteronarcyoidea: Styloperlidae) with a new synonym.

Cerconychia Klapálek, 1913 is a genus of the Asian family Styloperlidae that is included in the superfamily Pteronarcyoidea. The genus currently includes five species that mainly occur southern and northwestern China, with one species also found in Vietnam. We recently examined specimens from Yunnan, Hainan, and Taiwan provinces, China and determined them as C. flectospina Wu 1962, C. sinensis Yang Yang, 1995, and C brunnea Klapálek, 1913. We place Cerconychia sapa Stark Sivec, 2007 as a junior subjective synonym of C. flectospina. We provide new images of the three species to facilitate identification.

A new species of Styloperla (Plecoptera: Styloperlidae) from China, with supplementary illustrations for Styloperla jiangxiensis.

A new species, Styloperla starki Zhao, Huo et Du, sp. nov. is described from Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces of eastern coastal China. The new species has a process on the basal cercal segment that bears a pair of small spines, and a process with a pair of ventral, subapical spines. The aedeagus of the male of the new species is membranous, tongue shaped and flat, bearing regular spiral striae with a pair of inner sclerites and with several rows of minute spines on each apical flap. Additionally, we redescribe and illustrate Styloperla jiangxiensis Yang Yang, 1990.

Molecular phylogeny of Systellognatha (Plecoptera: Arctoperlaria) inferred from mitochondrial genome sequences.

The infraorder Systellognatha is the most species-rich clade in the insect order Plecoptera and includes six families in two superfamilies: Pteronarcyoidea (Pteronarcyidae, Peltoperlidae, and Styloperlidae) and Perloidea (Perlidae, Perlodidae, and Chloroperlidae). To resolve the debatable phylogeny of Systellognatha, we carried out the first mitochondrial phylogenetic analysis covering all the six families, including three newly sequenced mitogenomes from two families (Perlodidae and Peltoperlidae) and 15 published mitogenomes. The three newly reported mitogenomes share conserved mitogenomic features with other sequenced stoneflies. For phylogenetic analyses, we assembled five datasets with two inference methods to assess their influence on topology and nodal support within Systellognatha. The results indicated that inclusion of the third codon positions of PCGs, exclusion of rRNA genes, the use of nucleotide datasets and Bayesian inference could improve the phylogenetic reconstruction of Systellognatha. The monophyly of Perloidea was supported in the mitochondrial phylogeny, but Pteronarcyoidea was recovered as paraphyletic and remained controversial. In this mitochondrial phylogenetic study, the relationships within Systellognatha were recovered as (((Perlidae + (Perlodidae + Chloroperlidae)) + (Pteronarcyidae + Styloperlidae)) + Peltoperlidae).

Design and Optimization of a Stationary Electrode in a Vertically-Driven MEMS Inertial Switch for Extending Contact Duration.

A novel micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) inertial microswitch with a flexible contact-enhanced structure to extend the contact duration has been proposed in the present work. In order to investigate the stiffness k of the stationary electrodes, the stationary electrodes with different shapes, thickness h, width b, and length l were designed, analyzed, and simulated using ANSYS software. Both the analytical and the simulated results indicate that the stiffness k increases with thickness h and width b, while decreasing with an increase of length l, and it is related to the shape. The inertial micro-switches with different kinds of stationary electrodes were simulated using ANSYS software and fabricated using surface micromachining technology. The dynamic simulation indicates that the contact time will decrease with the increase of thickness h and width b, but increase with the length l, and it is related to the shape. As a result, the contact time decreases with the stiffness k of the stationary electrode. Furthermore, the simulated results reveal that the stiffness k changes more rapidly with h and l compared to b. However, overlarge dimension of the whole microswitch is contradicted with small footprint area expectation in the structure design. Therefore, it is unreasonable to extend the contact duration by increasing the length l excessively. Thus, the best and most convenient way to prolong the contact time is to reduce the thickness h of the stationary electrode while keeping the plane geometric structure of the inertial micro-switch unchanged. Finally, the fabricated micro-switches with different shapes of stationary electrodes have been evaluated by a standard dropping hammer system. The test maximum contact time under 288 g acceleration can reach 125 µs. It is shown that the test results are in accordance with the simulated results. The conclusions obtained in this work can provide guidance for the future design and fabrication of inertial microswitches.

New serum biomarkers for detection of tuberculosis using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

BACKGROUND: New technologies for the early detection of tuberculosis (TB) are urgently needed. Pathological changes within an organ might be reflected in proteomic patterns in serum. The aim of the present study was to screen for the potential protein biomarkers in serum for the diagnosis of TB using proteomic fingerprint technology. METHODS: Proteomic fingerprint technology combining protein chips with surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) was used to profile the serum proteins from 50 patients with TB, 25 patients with lung disease other than TB, and 25 healthy volunteers. The protein fingerprint expression of all the serum samples and the resulting profiles between TB and control groups were analyzed with the Biomarker Wizard system. RESULTS: A total of 30 discriminating m/z peaks were detected that were related to TB (p<0.01). The model of biomarkers constructed by the Biomarker Patterns Software based on the three biomarkers (2024, 8007, and 8598 Da) generated excellent separation between the TB and control groups. The sensitivity was 84.0% and the specificity was 86.0%. Blind test data indicated a sensitivity of 80.0% and a specificity of 84.2%. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggested a potential application of SELDI-TOF MS as an effective technology to profile serum proteome, and with pattern analysis, a diagnostic model comprising three potential biomarkers was indicated to differentiate people with TB and healthy controls rapidly and precisely.