The Role of Herbivore-induced Plant Volatiles in Trophic Interactions: The Swiss Connection.

It is increasingly evident that plants actively respond to the threats and challenges that they come to face while growing. This is particularly manifested in the dynamic responses to insect herbivory, especially in terms of the volatile compounds that the attacked plants emit. Indeed, many plants respond to insect-inflicted damage with the synthesis and release of volatile organic compounds.

X,Y, and Z: A bird's eye view on light pollution.

The global increase in light pollution is being viewed with growing concern, as it has been reported to have negative effects ranging from the individual to the ecosystem level.Unlike movement on the ground, flying and swimming allows vertical motion. Here, we demonstrate that flight altitude change is crucial to the perception and susceptibility of artificial light at night of air-borne organisms.

Belowground and aboveground herbivory differentially affect the transcriptome in roots and shoots of maize.

Unlabelled: Plants recognize and respond to feeding by herbivorous insects by upregulating their local and systemic defenses. While defense induction by aboveground herbivores has been well studied, far less is known about local and systemic defense responses against attacks by belowground herbivores. Here, we investigated and compared the responses of the maize transcriptome to belowground and aboveground mechanical damage and infestation by two well-adapted herbivores: the soil-dwelling western corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and the leaf-chewing fall armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Psychoanalytical Considerations of Emotion Regulation Disorders in Multiple Complex-Traumatized Children-A Study Protocol of the Prospective Study MuKi.

Studies in adults with mental disorders suggest that the experience of early and chronic trauma is associated with changes in reward expectancy and processing. In addition, severe childhood trauma has been shown to contribute to the development of mental disorders in general. Data on effects of early childhood trauma on reward expectancy and processing in middle childhood currently appear insufficient.

The rising moon promotes mate finding in moths.

To counteract insect decline, it is essential to understand the underlying causes, especially for key pollinators such as nocturnal moths whose ability to orientate can easily be influenced by ambient light conditions. These comprise natural light sources as well as artificial light, but their specific relevance for moth orientation is still unknown. We investigated the influence of moonlight on the reproductive behavior of privet hawkmoths (Sphinx ligustri) at a relatively dark site where the Milky Way was visible while the horizon was illuminated by distant light sources and skyglow.

Comparative Screening of Mexican, Rwandan and Commercial Entomopathogenic Nematodes to Be Used against Invasive Fall Armyworm, .

The fall armyworm (FAW), Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an important pest of maize originating from the Americas. It recently invaded Africa and Asia, where it causes severe yield losses to maize. To fight this pest, tremendous quantities of synthetic insecticides are being used.

A new innovative real-time tracking method for flying insects applicable under natural conditions.

Background: Sixty percent of all species are insects, yet despite global efforts to monitor animal movement patterns, insects are continuously underrepresented. This striking difference between species richness and the number of species monitored is not due to a lack of interest but rather to the lack of technical solutions. Often the accuracy and speed of established tracking methods is not high enough to record behavior and react to it experimentally in real-time, which applies in particular to small flying animals.

Evolutionary changes in an invasive plant support the defensive role of plant volatiles.

It is increasingly evident that plants interact with their outside world through the production of volatile organic compounds, but whether the volatiles have evolved to serve in plant defense is still a topic of considerable debate. Unharmed leaves constitutively release small amounts of volatiles, but when the leaves are damaged by herbivorous arthropods, they emit substantially more volatiles. These herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) attract parasitoids and predators that kill insect herbivores, and this can benefit the plants.

Differential Levels of Fatty Acid-Amino Acid Conjugates in the Oral Secretions of Lepidopteran Larvae Account for the Different Profiles of Volatiles.

Background: Plants have evolved sophisticated defense responses to insect herbivore attack, which often involve elicitors in the insects' oral secretions. The major eliciting compounds in insect oral secretions across different species and their potency in inducing volatile emissions have not yet been fully characterized and compared.

Results: Seven lepidopteran insects with variable duration of association with maize were selected, five species known as pests for a long time (Ostrinia furnacalis, Spodoptera exigua, Spodoptera litura, Mythimna separata, and Helicoverpa armigera) and two newly emerging pests (Athetis lepigone and Athetis dissimilis).

Insulin polymorphism induced by two polyphenols: new crystal forms and advances in macromolecular powder diffraction.

This study focuses on the polymorphism of human insulin (HI) upon the binding of the phenolic derivatives p-coumaric acid or trans-resveratrol over a wide pH range. The determination of the structural behaviour of HI via X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) is reported. Four distinct polymorphs were identified, two of which have not been reported previously.

Outcomes after spinal stenosis surgery by type of surgery in adults aged 60 years and older.

Aims Of The Study: Mobility disability due to spinal stenosis is common in the senior population and often surgery is warranted for patients with severe symptoms and neurological dysfunction. However, although current clinical guidelines recommend stabilisation surgery in addition to decompression in patients with spinal stenosis and instability due to degenerative spondylolisthesis, the relationship between outcomes and the specific type of surgery have not been well studied. We therefore assessed the postoperative recovery timeline for 12 months and compared patient-reported outcomes dependent on the extent of decompression and additional stabilisation among seniors undergoing spinal stenosis surgery.

Revisiting the structure of a synthetic somatostatin analogue for peptide drug design.

Natural or artificially manufactured peptides attract scientific interest worldwide owing to their wide array of pharmaceutical and biological activities. X-ray structural studies are used to provide a precise extraction of information, which can be used to enable a better understanding of the function and physicochemical characteristics of peptides. Although it is vulnerable to disassociation, one of the most vital human peptide hormones, somatostatin, plays a regulatory role in the endocrine system as well as in the release of numerous secondary hormones.

Distinct Roles of Cuticular Aldehydes as Pheromonal Cues in Two Cotesia Parasitoids.

Cuticular compounds (CCs) that cover the surface of insects primarily serve as protection against entomopathogens, harmful substances, and desiccation. However, CCs may also have secondary signaling functions. By studying the role of CCs in intraspecific interactions, we may advance our understanding of the evolution of pheromonal communication in insects.

The Combined Use of an Attractive and a Repellent Sex Pheromonal Component by a Gregarious Parasitoid.

Gregarious parasitoids usually clump their cocoons together and the adults emerge in a synchronized fashion. This makes it easy for them to find mating partners and most copulations indeed take place at the natal patch. Yet, males should leave such sites when females are no longer receptive.

Coxsackievirus B3 protease 3C: expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary structural insights.

Viral proteases are proteolytic enzymes that orchestrate the assembly of viral components during the viral life cycle and proliferation. Here, the expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis are presented of protease 3C, the main protease of an emerging enterovirus, coxsackievirus B3, that is responsible for many cases of viral myocarditis. Polycrystalline protein precipitates suitable for X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) measurements were produced in the presence of 22-28%(w/v) PEG 4000, 0.

Combined use of herbivore-induced plant volatiles and sex pheromones for mate location in braconid parasitoids.

Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) are important cues for female parasitic wasps to find hosts. Here, we investigated the possibility that HIPVs may also serve parasitoids as cues to locate mates. To test this, the odour preferences of four braconid wasps - the gregarious parasitoid Cotesia glomerata (L.

Street lighting: sex-independent impacts on moth movement.

Artificial lights have become an integral and welcome part of our urban and peri-urban environments. However, recent research has highlighted the potentially negative ecological consequences of ubiquitous artificial light. In particular, insects, especially moths, are expected to be negatively impacted by the presence of artificial lights.

[The treatment of tuberculosis].

The incidence of tuberculosis decreases. However, clinical cases frequently raise questions, mainly in the context of contact tracing or when antimicrobial resistance is suspected. Empiric standard treatment consists of rifampin, isoniazid, ethambutol and pyrazinamide.

Human insulin polymorphism upon ligand binding and pH variation: the case of 4-ethylresorcinol.

This study focuses on the effects of the organic ligand 4-ethylresorcinol on the crystal structure of human insulin using powder X-ray crystallography. For this purpose, systematic crystallization experiments have been conducted in the presence of the organic ligand and zinc ions within the pH range 4.50-8.

High female survival promotes evolution of protogyny and sexual conflict.

Existing models explaining the evolution of sexual dimorphism in the timing of emergence (SDT) in Lepidoptera assume equal mortality rates for males and females. The limiting assumption of equal mortality rates has the consequence that these models are only able to explain the evolution of emergence of males before females, i.e.

Exceptional Use of Sex Pheromones by Parasitoids of the Genus Cotesia: Males Are Strongly Attracted to Virgin Females, but Are No Longer Attracted to or Even Repelled by Mated Females.

Sex pheromones have rarely been studied in parasitoids, and it remains largely unknown how male and female parasitoids locate each other. We investigated possible attraction (and repellency) between the sexes of two braconid wasps belonging to the same genus, the gregarious parasitoid, Cotesia glomerata (L.), and the solitary parasitoid, Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson).

Differential performance and parasitism of caterpillars on maize inbred lines with distinctly different herbivore-induced volatile emissions.

Plant volatiles induced by insect feeding are known to attract natural enemies of the herbivores. Six maize inbred lines that showed distinctly different patterns of volatile emission in laboratory assays were planted in randomized plots in the Central Mexican Highlands to test their ability to recruit parasitic wasps under field conditions. The plants were artificially infested with neonate larvae of the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda, and two of its main endoparasitoids, Campoletis sonorensis and Cotesia marginiventris, were released in the plots.

[A 76-year-old female patient with deep venous thrombosis and cervical lymphadenopathy].

We report the case of a 76-year-old female patient presenting with deep venous thrombosis and upper cervical lymphadenopathy. A computed tomography (CT) scan showed multiple hepatic lesions with a high suspicion of metastatic disease from an unknown primary tumor. The differential diagnosis of lymphadenopathy and hepatic lesions includes malignant tumors and various infectious diseases.