Academics researchers and "citizen scientists" from 22 countries confirmed that yellow mealworms, the larvae of Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus, can survive by eating polystyrene (PS) foam. More detailed assessments of this capability for mealworms were carried out by12 sources: five from the USA, six from China, and one from Northern Ireland. All of these mealworms digested PS foam. PS mass decreased and depolymerization was observed, with appearance of lower molecular weight residuals and functional groups indicative of oxidative transformations in extracts from the frass (insect excrement). An addition of gentamycin (30 mg g), a bactericidal antibiotic, inhibited depolymerization, implicating the gut microbiome in the biodegradation process. Microbial community analyses demonstrated significant taxonomic shifts for mealworms fed diets of PS plus bran and PS alone. The results indicate that mealworms from diverse locations eat and metabolize PS and support the hypothesis that this capacity is independent of the geographic origin of the mealworms, and is likely ubiquitous to members of this species.

SummaryTransgenic crops producing insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are extensively cultivated worldwide. To counter rapidly increasing pest resistance to crops that produce single Bt toxins, transgenic plant ‘pyramids’ producing two or more Bt toxins that kill the same pest have been widely adopted. However, cross‐resistance and antagonism between Bt toxins limit the sustainability of this approach. Here we describe development and testing of the first pyramids of cotton combining protection from a Bt toxin and RNA interference (RNAi). We developed two types of transgenic cotton plants producing double‐stranded RNA (dsRNA) from the global lepidopteran pest Helicoverpa armigera designed to interfere with its metabolism of juvenile hormone (JH). We focused on suppression of JH acid methyltransferase (JHAMT), which is crucial for JH synthesis, and JH‐binding protein (JHBP), which transports JH to organs. In 2015 and 2016, we tested larvae from a Bt‐resistant strain and a related susceptible strain of H. armigera on seven types of cotton: two controls, Bt cotton, two types of RNAi cotton (targeting JHAMT or JHBP) and two pyramids (Bt cotton plus each type of RNAi). Both types of RNAi cotton were effective against Bt‐resistant insects. Bt cotton and RNAi acted independently against the susceptible strain. In computer simulations of conditions in northern China, where millions of farmers grow Bt cotton as well as abundant non‐transgenic host plants of H. armigera, pyramided cotton combining a Bt toxin and RNAi substantially delayed resistance relative to using Bt cotton alone.

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A three-dimensional wave propagation model of parabolic approximation type (FOR3D) is used to examine 3-D ocean environmental variations. The background theory and characteristics of the model are reviewed briefly. Propagation situations that are classified as 3-D, N X 2-D, and 2-D are described in connection with FOR3D and are interpreted in several ways. An analytic exact solution is used to demonstrate the model's accuracy and its capability for treating fully 3-D propagation, when coupling exists between solutions in adjacent vertical planes of constant azimuth. It is also employed to illustrate a procedure for using approximate conditions at vertical side boundaries in a 3-D calculation. An application is made to an Atlantic Ocean shelf-slope environment with realistic bottom topographic variations and sound-speed profiles. The occurrence of significant azimuthal coupling is demonstrated in propagation loss versus range curves. It follows that, while the N X 2-D approximation of no azimuthal coupling is useful in many situations, not all 3-D ocean acoustics problems can be adequately solved without a fully 3-D propagation model.

Numerous contributions have been made in the enhancement of the Parabolic Equation (PE) approximation method, which has been shown to be a useful tool for solving realistic problems in many different scientific fields. Evidence of its usefulness is the application of PE to solve ocean acoustic propagation problems. In early years, when the PE was introduced to the field of underwater acoustics, its main purpose was to predict long-range, low-frequency acoustic propagations in range-dependent environments; thus, there were certain limitations. In the recent decade, these limitations have been relaxed a great deal due to many useful contributions. The time has come to survey and report these important contributions and to discuss how these contributions enhance the capability of the PE method. This paper gives a brief review of what had been done before 1984 and highlights some important PE developments from 1984 to 1994. Also, some applications of the PE to predict ocean acoustic propagation problems will be presented. We shall call attention to a few important issues related to the PE developments and applications. Looking ahead we will discuss what more a PE can do in order to stimulate future research, development, as well as applications.

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Fusarium and Verticillium wilts, two of the most important diseases in cotton, pose serious threats to cotton production. Here we introduced a novel antimicrobial protein Hcm1, which comprised harpin protein from Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola (Xoc), and the chimeric protein, cecropin A-melittin, into cotton. The transgenic cotton lines with stable Hcm1 expression showed a higher resistance to Verticillium and Fusarium wilts both in greenhouse and field trials compared to controls. Hcm1 enabled the transgenic cotton to produced a microscopic hypersensitive response (micro-HR), reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst, and caused the activation of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes in response to biotic stress, indicating that the transgenic cotton was in a primed state and ready to protect the host from pathogenic infection. Simultaneously, Hcm1 protein inhibited the growth of Verticillium dahliae (V. dahliae) and Fusarium oxysporum (F. oxysporum) in vitro. The spread of fungal biomass was also inhibited in vivo since the V. dahliae biomass was decreased dramatically in transgenic cotton plants after inoculation with V. dahliae. Together, these results demonstrate that Hcm1 could activate innate immunity and inhibit the growth of V. dahliae and F. oxysporum to protect cotton against Verticillium and Fusarium wilts.