Function analysis and characterisation of a novel chitinase, MdCht9, in Musca domestica.

Insect chitinases have been proposed as potential targets for pest control. In this work, a novel group IV chitinase gene, MdCht9, from Musca domestica was found to have multiple functions in the physiological activity, including chitin regulation, development and antifungal immunity. The MdCht9 gene was cloned and sequenced, its phylogeny was analysed and its expression was determined in normal and 20E treated larvae.

Characteristics of the Distance and Space Required for Knife Slashing Using a Motion Capture System.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the perpetrator's sex, victim's position and slashing location as well as anthropometric parameters on distance and space required for slashing, to provide the theoretical basis for the judgment of whether the crime scene was consistent with the criminal activity space.

Methods: The kinematics data of 12 male and 12 female subjects slashing the neck of standing and supine mannequins as well as the chest of the standing mannequins with a kitchen knife were obtained by using a 3D motion capture system. The relationship between the perpetrator's sex-victim's position, the perpetrator's sex-slashing location, and anthropometric parameters and the distance and space required for the slashing were analyzed by two-factor repeated measures ANOVA and Pearson correlation analysis respectively.

Establishment of a Faba Bean Banker Plant System with Predator for the Control of Thrips on Tea Plants under Laboratory Conditions.

The stick tea thrip (Priesner) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a destructive pest in tea plantations in south and southwest China. To control this pest, a non-crop banker plant system was developed using a polyphagous predator (Poppius) (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) with the black bean aphid (Scopoli) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as an alternative prey and the faba bean as the banker plant to support the predator in targeting the pest. The fitness of on tea plants and faba bean was evaluated to determine its host specificity.

Proteomic Analysis of the Peritrophic Matrix from the Midgut of Third Instar Larvae, Musca domestica.

Objective: To better comprehend the molecular structure and physiological function of the housefly larval peritrophic matrix (PM), a mass spectrometry approach was used to investigate the PM protein composition.

Methods: The PM was dissected from the midgut of the third instar larvae, and protein extracted from the PM was evaluated using SDS-PAGE. A 1D-PAGE lane containing all protein bands was cut from top to bottom, the proteins in-gel trypsinised and analysed via shotgun liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

[Effects of temperature on the growth and development of Aglossa dimidiata parasitized on Litsea coreana].

In order to reveal the effects of temperature on the growth and development of Aglossa dimidiata parasitized on Litsea coreana, a laboratory experiment was conducted to study the mean development duration, development rate, and survival rate of A. dimidiata at its different growth stages at 31 degrees C, 28 degrees C, 25 degrees C, 22 degrees C, and 19 degrees C, with the development threshold temperature and effective accumulated temperature for different growth stages calculated. Temperature had significant effects on the developmental duration.