Nanoemulsions have attracted much attention due to their wide application in commercial industries such as pharmaceutics, food, beverages and skin care. Cremophor EL has been extensively used for emulsification, protection and solubilization of various lipophilic bioactive agents. However, their anaphylactoid hypersensitivity reactions are still challenging. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and characterize a promising, low-level Cremophor EL-stabilized o/w nanoemulsion using the spontaneous emulsification method for oral administration. From comparing the physicochemical properties (particle size and size distribution) of their emulsions, Cremophor has better emulsifying capacity than Tween and the droplet radius of emulsions can be reduced by increasing the surfactant concentration in current systems. The impact of various short-chain alcohols (C–OH < 5) on the formation and stability of nanoemulsions was also investigated to optimize the formulations. And there is a good correlation between nanoemulsion droplet size and the surfactant packing parameter (p). The smallest droplet size with the narrowest size distribution was produced by the system containing ethylene glycol as a cosurfactant. However, preparation of nanoemulsions with ethylene glycol was a time-consuming process since it was difficult to emulsify the water-induced gel-structure. Surfactant-to-oil mass ratio and surfactant-to-cosurfactant levels had to be optimized to produce fine droplets. Moreover, there was a linear relationship between the viscosity/log P value of alcohols and droplet size. Ostwald ripening was the dominant breakdown process of nanoemulsions obtained in the ethyl oleate/Cremophor EL–butanol (3 : 2)/water system. Ostwald ripening rate was increased with increasing surfactant concentration. Dilution (100×) of this system considerably improved their stability against droplet growth. This study demonstrated that alcohol addition might be a useful tool for preparing Cremophor EL-stabilized nanoemulsions for pharmaceutical applications.

Considering the fact that biopesticides are increasingly used to replace synthetic pesticides in pest control, it is necessary to assess their ecotoxicity and especially their non-target effects on soil microorganisms, which is largely unknown. In this study, the effects of the synthetic pesticide carbendazim and the biopesticides (cantharidin and norcantharidin) on soil microbial parameters in a silt loam soil were evaluated. By using commercial formulations at the recommended and higher rates, both cantharidin and norcantharidin induced adverse effects on soil invertase, phosphatase activities and fungal gene structure, but these changes were transient. After about two weeks, the harmful effects owing to the application of pesticides phased out and eventually became comparable with non-treated samples. The degradation of cantharidin and norcantharidin was rapid and can be completed within a few days in the soil. None of the three pesticides caused significant shifts in urease activity. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the soil microbial toxicity of these biopesticides for reasonable and efficient usage.

In this article, the composition and distribution of bacteria associated with the gut of Tenebrio molitor (L.) larvae were investigated using both culture-dependent and culture-independent denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) methods. This work compares bacterial species associated with four different parts of T. molitor larvae gut: foregut, anterior midgut, posterior midgut, and hindgut. Five genera, Weissella, Lactococcus, Rahnella, Cronobacter, and Enterococcus, were isolated using nutrient agar. All of these strains were present in the posterior midgut and hindgut. The strains with milk-clotting activity in selective casein-plates assay were sequenced and identified as species of genera Weissella and Lactococcus, and those with proteolytic activity as Rahnella and Cronobacter, implying that they may be involved in protein utilization. But none of these strains showed cellulolytic activity. In DGGE experiment, 19 isolated bands belonging to nine taxa (Spiroplasma, Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Bacillus, an uncultured Bacillaceae, Clostridium, Enterobacter, Pantoea, and an uncultured Clostridium) were extracted and identified from DGGE gels. These species could be assigned to three phyla Tenericutes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. According to the DGGE analysis, the bacterial communities of the four gut regions exhibited some differences, with the hindgut showing the highest bands abundance and diversity. The genus Spiroplasma, which is generally regarded as pathogen or male-killing bacteria in insects, had a high abundance in the gut environment, their potential role is worthy of a further study.

Phylogenetic relationships among major lineages of the Evacanthinae, a highly diverse leafhopper subfamily distributed worldwide, were explored by analysing a dataset of 100 discrete morphological characters and DNA sequence data from five gene regions. Sixty-seven taxa representing all evacanthine tribes and all regional faunas, and fourteen putative outgroup taxa were included. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian analyses yielded similar tree topologies that were well resolved with strong support for the monophyly of Evacanthinae and its four previously included tribes, but indicated that Draconirvana Dietrich, was incorrectly placed to tribe and that Sophonia Walker, Evacanthus Le Peletier & Serville, Bundera Distant, Paraonukia Ishihara and Onukia Matsumura are not monophyletic. Divergence time analysis suggests that the deepest divergences coincided with breakup of Gondwana but that more recent divergences occurred largely within a single biogeographic realm during the Paleogene, with a few long-distance dispersal events. Biogeographical analyses suggest that Evacanthinae originated in Neotropical region. A new tribe, Pentoffiini trib.n., is established to include Pentoffia Kramer and Evanirvana Hill, the genus Draconirvana Dietrich, placement n. is transferred to Evacanthini from Nirvanini, a key to tribes is also given and illustrations of representative genera are provided.