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plant extracts contain many active compounds, which are tremendously fruitful for plant defence against several insect pests. the prime objectives of the present study were to calculate the extraction yield and to evaluate the leaf extracts of Citrullus colocynthis (L.), Cannabis indica (L.) and Artemisia argyi (L.) against Brevicoryne brassicae and to conduct biochemical analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Gc-MS). the results suggested that when using ethanol, C. colocynthis produced a high dry yield (12.45%), followed by that of C. indica and A. argyi, which were 12.37% and 10.95%, respectively. The toxicity results showed that A. argyi was toxic to B. brassicae with an Lc 50 of 3.91 mg mL −1 , followed by the toxicity of C. colocynthis and C. indica, exhibiting Lc 50 values of 6.26 and 10.04 mg mL −1 , respectively, which were obtained via a residual assay; with a contact assay, the Lc 50 values of C. colocynthis, C. indica and A. argyi were 0.22 mg mL −1 , 1.96 and 2.87 mg mL −1 , respectively. the interaction of plant extracts, concentration and time revealed that the maximum mortality based on a concentration of 20 mg L −1 was 55.50%, the time-based mortality was 55% at 72 h of exposure, and the treatment-based mortality was 44.13% for A. argyi via the residual assay. on the other hand, the maximum concentration-based mortality was 74.44% at 20 mg mL −1 , the time-based mortality was 66.38% after 72 h of exposure, and 57.30% treatment-based mortality was afforded by A. argyi via the contact assay. the biochemical analysis presented ten constituents in both the A. argyi and C. colocynthis extracts and twenty in that of C. indica, corresponding to 99.80%, 99.99% and 97% of the total extracts, respectively. Moreover, the detected caryophylleneonides (sesquiterpenes), α-bisabolol and dronabinol (Δ 9-tHc) from C. indica and erucylamide and octasiloxane hexamethyl from C. colocynthis exhibited insecticidal properties, which might be responsible for aphid mortality. However, A. argyi was evaluated for the first time against B. brassicae. It was concluded that all the plant extracts possessed significant insecticidal properties and could be introduced as botanical insecticides after field evaluations. The cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae L. (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a serious pest native to Europe but now found globally 1,2 , and it causes significant losses to economically important crops, including broccoli, oilseed rape, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, black and white mustard, toria, Chinese cabbage, kale, and other field crops 1. It also causes yellowing, stunting, and plant wilting and acts as a vector of several viral diseases in crucifers, including cauliflower mosaic virus and turnip mosaic virus 3,4. In the case of severe infestation, plants become covered with aphids, resulting in leaf surfaces roofed with black mould due to honey secretion, which can ultimately cause

Brevicoryne brassicae is a problematic pest in cabbage and other field crops. Synthetic pesticides are used to control this pest, but they are injurious for human health and the environment. The present study aimed to purify and identify the active compounds from Citrullus colocynthis leaves with an appraisal of their efficacy against B. brassicae. Separation and purification were performed via different chromatographic techniques. Molecular analysis and chemical structures were recognized by mass spectrum (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), respectively. Moreover, in vitro and in vivo aphicidal activity was assessed using various concentrations, i.e., 6.25, 12.5, 25 and 50 µg/mL at 12, 24, 48 and 72 h exposure. The outcome shows that mass spectrum analyses of the purified compounds suggested the molecular formulae are C30H50O and C29H50O, C29H48O. The compounds were characterized as fernenol and a mixture of spinasterol, 22,23-dihydrospinasterol by 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR spectrum analysis. The toxicity results showed that the mixture of spinasterol and 22,23-dihydrospinasterol showed LC50 values of 32.36, 44.49 and 37.50 µg/mL by contact, residual and greenhouse assay at 72 h exposure, respectively. In contrast, fernenol recorded LC50 values as 47.99, 57.46 and 58.67 µg/mL, respectively. On the other hand, spinasterol, 22,23-dihydrospinasterol showed the highest mortality, i.e., 66.67%, 53.33% and 60% while, 30%, 23.33% and 25% mortality was recorded by fernenol after 72 h at 50 µg/mL by contact, residual and greenhouse assay, respectively. This study suggests that spinasterol, 22,23-dihydrospinasterol are more effective against B. brassicae which may be introduced as an effective and suitable substitute of synthetic chemical pesticides.

Many factors influence the connection states between nodes of wireless sensor networks, such as physical distance, and the network load, making the network's edge length dynamic in abundant scenarios. This dynamic property makes the network essentially form a graph with stochastic edge lengths. In this paper, we study the stochastic shortest path problem on a directional graph with stochastic edge lengths, using reinforcement learning algorithms. we regard each edge length as a random variable following unknown probability distribution and aim to find the stochastic shortest path on this stochastic graph. We evaluate the performance of path-finding algorithms using regret, which represents the cumulative reward difference between the practical path-finding algorithm and the optimal strategy that chooses the global stochastic shortest path every time. We model the path-finding procedure as a Markov decision process and propose two online path-finding algorithms: Q SSP algorithm and SARSA SSP algorithm, both combined with specifically-devised average reward mechanism. We justify the convergence property and correctness of the proposed algorithms theoretically. Experiments conducted on two benchmark graphs illustrate the superior performance of the proposed Q SSP algorithm which outperforms the SARSA SSP algorithm and other competitive algorithms about the regret metric.

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Background Idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD) is an uncommon lymphoproliferative disorder and lacks treatment consensus. Herein, we report a case of iMCD complicated with Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) and secondary membranous nephropathy (SMN). Case presentation A 45-year-old female with dry mouth for 3 months and anasarca and proteinuria for 2 months was admitted. She also experienced chest tightness, wheezing, fever, weight loss, moderate proteinuria and hypoalbuminemia. A computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a tissue mass in the thymus area and enlarged multiple lymph nodes. Her symptoms did not improve after resection of the thymus mass. The pathological findings were “reactive hyperplasia of the mediastinal lymph nodes and thymic hyperplasia”. Lymph node biopsy findings confirmed iMCD with human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8) negativity. Based on anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) 1:320, anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibody positivity, salivary flow less than 0.1 ml/min and lip biopsy with focal lymphocytic sialadenitis, SS was diagnosed. Kidney biopsy showed secondary membranous nephropathy with endocapillary cell proliferation and infiltration of plasma cells and lymphocytes in the tubulointerstitium. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were significantly increased, and therapy with tocilizumab (anti-IL-6 receptor antibody) worked well. The combination of cyclophosphamide (CyS) with methylprednisolone (MP) maintained satisfactory remission. Conclusions Our case of iMCD with SS and SMN is rare. There is a need for increased awareness of the disease to avoid unnecessary procedures and misdiagnoses. IL-6 was extremely high, and there was a rapid response to anti-IL-6 receptor agents. The combination of CyS with MP maintained complete remission.

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A bioassay‐guided fractionation of Cynanchum komarovii crude alkaloid extract led to the isolation of two alkaloids. The isolated alkaloids were identified as 7‐demethoxytylophorine (1) and 6‐hydroxyl‐2,3‐dimethoxy phenanthroindolizidine (2) based on the comparison of their spectroscopic characteristics with the literature data. Insecticidal, antifeedant and growth inhibitory effects of these two alkaloids against the 3rd instar larvae of Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) were examined. The results showed that alkaloid 1 was more toxic than alkaloid 2 against the 3rd instar larvae of Plutella xylostella L., but both alkaloids were less toxic than the total alkaloid fraction. For antifeedant activity, alkaloid 1 showed AFC50 of 1.82 mg/ml at 24 h after treatment, alkaloid 2 showed 3.89 mg/ml, while total alkaloids showed 1.56 mg/ml. In dipping toxicity test, alkaloids 1 and 2 produced 93.3% and 63.3% mortality at 72 h after treatment, respectively, while total alkaloids produced 96.7% mortality. The LC50 values for alkaloids 1, 2 and the total alkaloids were 3.54, 9.21 and 2.63 mg/ml, respectively. The development of larvae was also inhibited, and the growth inhibition rates at the concentration of 15.00 mg/ml were 92.8%, 78.2% and 98.6% for alkaloids 1, 2 and total alkaloids, respectively, at 72 h after treatment. Compared with antifeedant and dipping effect, the alkaloids 1, 2 and total alkaloid fraction revealed weak feeding toxicity, and their corrected mortality rates at the concentration of 15.00 mg/ml were 60.0%, 40.0% and 63.3% at 7 days after treatment. The LC50 values for alkaloids 1, 2 and total alkaloids were 12.58, 32.37 and 8.88 mg/ml, respectively, at 7 days after treatment.