Induction of nicotine in tobacco by herbivory and its relation to glucose oxidase activity in the labial gland of three noctuid caterpillars

Tobacco Nicotiana tabacum L. is a host plant ofHelicoverpa armigera (Huibner), Helicoverpa assulta Guenee and Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). The difference in leaf nicotine response to the feeding by these three larvae and the mechanical simulation of their feeding was examined by HPLC. Results indicated that nicotine induction was suppressed by H. armigera and H. assulta larvae feeding or by simulated damage treated with their labial glands extracts. The production of nicotine was also suppressed by the glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger when it was treated on mechanically wounded leaf area. On the contrary, the nicotine production was stimulated by S. litura larva feeding or by simulated damage treated with its labial gland extract. Heat denature can not counteract the stimulation effect of the S. litura labial gland extracts to tobacco nicotine production. The glucose oxidase activity was detected in labial gland extracts of both H. armigera and H. assulta, but the activity in H. armigera was significantly higher than that in H. assulta. No glucose oxidase activity was detected in labial gland extracts of S. litura. It is shown that the glucose oxidase activity in labial glands of caterpillars plays an important role in the nicotine response to herbivory. The glucose oxidase was mainly contained in the labial gland of H. armigera larva, and had the highest activity at pH 7.0. D-Glucose was the optimal substrate of the glucose oxidase. Labial gland glucose oxidase activities varied daily during larval development with high activities found when larvae were actively feeding.     

“The soul of the fact”—Poincaré and proof

Henri Poincaré acquired a reputation in his lifetime for being difficult to read. It was said that he missed out important steps in his arguments, assumed the truth of claims that would be difficult if not impossible to prove, and in short that he lacked rigour. In the years after his death this view coalesced into an exaggerated claim that his work was simply too vague, and has become a cliché. This paper argues that Poincaré was far from indifferent to rigour, and that what characterises his work is an attempt to convey a particular sense of what it is to understand a topic. Throughout his working life Poincaré was concerned to promote the understanding of many domains of mathematics and physics. This is as apparent in his views about geometry, his conventionalism, and his theory of knowledge, as it is in his work on electricity and optics, on number theory, and function theory. It is one of the ways Poincaré discharged his responsibilities as a scientist, and that it accounts not only for a surprising degree of unity in his work but also gives it its distinctive character—at once profound and elusive.     

一类非线性演化方程新的多级准确解

利用摄动法对NLS方程和Zakharov方程作展开.应用Jacobi椭圆函数展开法求得了零级近似方程的准确解,并在Lamé方程和Lamé函数的基础上分别求得一级近似方程和二级近似方程的准确解.这样,就求得此类非线性演化方程的多级准确解.     

Earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) of Sao Tomé

During a soil zoology expedition to Sao Tomé Island, among other members of the soil fauna, earthworms were collected. During this collecting trip some 170 earthworm specimens belonging to 18 species were gathered of which two, Dichogaster (Diplothecodrilus) coeruleoviridis and Dichogaster (Diplothecodrilus) zicsii, proved to be new to science. In addition, a small sample from the same locality was also examined and Dichogaster (Dichogaster) thomeana Cognetti, 1910 Cognetti de Martiis, L. 1910. Lombrichi raccolti dal Cav. Leonardo Fea nelle Isole del Capo Verde e nel Golfo di Guinea.. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, 4: 79–118.  [Google Scholar] was removed from synonymy of Dichogaster (Dichogaster) greeffi Michaelsen, 1902 Michaelsen, W. 1902. Neue Oligochaeten und neue Fundorte alt‐bekannter.. Mitteilungen aus dem Naturhistorischen Museum in Hamburg, 19: 3–53.  [Google Scholar].     

A new species of Notostrix (Acari: Eriophyidae), with notes on the host plants and distribution of species of this genus

Thirteen Notostrix Keifer species are presently known, all from leaves of palm trees (Arecaceae) to which they seemingly cause no major damage. A new species of this genus, Notostrix macrothrix sp. nov., is morphologically described based on adult females and males collected from coconut, Cocos nucifera L. (Arecaceae), on La Reunión Island. A discussion about the presently known distribution of mites of this genus is also presented. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:14C65CB2-AF56-4D85-AD49-56FA11119EF5     

Carathéodory系统解的存在性

将Carathéodory系统转化为Kurzweil广义常微分方程,利用已知的Kurzweil广义常微分方程解的存在性理论讨论了Carathéodory系统解的存在性.     

Protégé知识模型的研究

研究了Protégé知识模型和元类体系结构，用元类描述了Protégé的知识模型并将protégé知识模型转换为RDF知识模型。     

拟三次Bézier曲线的形状调整

对于Bézier曲线的形状调整问题,给出了一组含有2个参数的四次多项式基函数,它是三次Bernstein基函数的扩展.基于该组基函数定义的带形状参数的曲线,称为三次拟Bézier（三次Q-Bézier）曲线,其优点是在保持控制多边形不变的情况下,可以通过改变形状参数来调整曲线形状.研究基于几何约束的形状调整,通过改变形状参数来满足给定的约束条件,得到形状参数简洁的计算公式,具有明显的几何意义.计算实例表明,该方法是有效的,可以广泛地应用于计算机辅助设计中对曲线形状调整.     

XII.—The upper Valentian trilobite fauna of Shropshire

Summary

Records of ten species of Sosylus collected in Nigeria are given, with details of distribution, host trees and platypodid associates. The Sosylus fauna of Nigeria appears to lie between that of Ghana and the Congo in species composition. Comment is made on the close association that some Sosylus species have with their platypodid hosts.