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One new eudesmane sesquiterpene 1 and one new chromolaevane sesquiterpene 2, along with 19 known compounds, have been isolated from the invasive plant Solidago canadensis. Their structures were established by spectroscopic means, including 1D/2D-NMR and HR-ESIMS analyses. Compounds 10 and 12, in combination with fluconazole, showed significant activity in an in vitro synergistic antifungal assay against Candida albicans, with FIC values of

Polyphagous aphids often consist of host‐specialized lineages, which have greater fitness on their native hosts than on others. The underlying causes are important for understanding of the evolution of diet breadth and host shift of aphids. The cotton‐melon aphid Aphis gossypii Glover is extremely polyphagous with many strict host‐specialized lineages. Whether and how the lineage specialized on the primary host hibiscus shifts to the secondary host cucumber remains elusive. We found that the hibiscus‐specialized lineage suffered high mortality and gave birth to very few nymphs developing into yellow dwarfs on fresh cucumber leaves, and did not inflict any damage symptoms on cucumber plants. The poor performance did not improve with prolonged exposure to cucumber; however, it did significantly improve when the cucumber leaves were pre‐infected with a biotrophic phytopathogen Pseudoperonospora cubensis. More importantly, the hibiscus‐specialized lineage with two‐generation feeding experience on pre‐infected cucumber leaves performed as well as the cucumber‐specialized lineage did on fresh cucumber leaves, and inflicted typical damage symptoms on intact cucumber plants. Electrical penetration graph (EPG) indicated that the hibiscus‐specialized lineage did not ingest phloem sap from fresh cucumber leaves but succeeded in ingesting phloem sap from pre‐infected cucumber leaves, which explained the performance improvement of the hibiscus‐specialized lineage on pre‐infected cucumber leaves. This study revealed a new pathway for the hibiscus‐specialized lineage to quickly acclimate to cucumber under the assistance of the phytopathogen. We considered that the short feeding experience on pre‐infected cucumber may activate expression of effector genes that are related to specific host utilization. We suggest to identify host‐specific effectors by comparing proteomes or/and transcriptomes of the hibiscus‐specialized lineage before and after acclimating to cucumber., The hibiscus‐specialized Aphis gossypii cannot use cucumber as host plant but performed well on cucumber that has been pre‐infected with the phytopathogen Pseudoperonospora cubensis; a short feeding experience on the pre‐infected cucumber enables the hibiscus‐specialized A. gossypii to fully adapt to fresh cucumber.

Solar-driven steam generation has been considered as a prevalent and sustainable approach to obtain clean fresh water. However, the presence of microorganisms in seawater may cause the biofouling and degradation of polymeric photothermal materials and clog the channels for water transportation, leading to a decrease in solar evaporation efficiency during long-term usage. Herein, we have reported a facile strategy to construct a robust cellulose membrane device coated by tobramycin-doped polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA/TOB@CA). The PDA/TOB@CA membrane not only exhibited synergistic antibacterial behaviors with long-term and sustained antibiotic release profiles, but also achieved a high water evaporation rate of 1.61 kg m

Background Siegesbeckia orientalis L. have been used as a traditional Chinese medicine “Xi-Xian-Cao” for centuries with multiple medicinal benefits including cancerous treatment. Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women worldwide. And the Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), accounting for about 15 ~ 18% of all breast cancers, is notorious for its poor prognosis, high rate of relapse and short overall survival. Because of lacking effective therapeutic targets or drugs, treatment of TNBC in clinical encounters great obstacle. Recently, we have reported the isolation of twenty-seven germacranolides including So-2 from the aerial parts of S. orientalis with potent cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells. However, the specific mechanism needs to be elucidated. The aim of this study is to verified the anti-tumor function of the natural compound So-2 and uncover the underlying mechanism. Methods We investigated the anti-tumor role of So-2 both in vitro and in vivo. An orthotopic transplantation tumor model was established to assess the in vivo antitumor effects of So-2. Two TNBC cell lines MDA-MB-231 and BT-549 cells were employed to study the cytotoxicity effect and specific mechanism of So-2 in vitro. We studied the influence of So-2 on TNBC cell proliferation, migration and ferroptosis in detail. Results So-2 was shown to cause cell cycle arrest and suppress TNBC cell proliferation and migration. Also, So-2 was identified to be a bona fide ferroptosis inducer in TNBC cells. We also characterized the oncogenic role of the transcription factor E2F7 in TNBC. And E2F7 was downregulated by So-2 while inducing ferroptosis. E2F7 was demonstrated to be involved in the ferroptosis-inducing and tumor suppression effect of So-2. Conclusion So-2 exhibits inhibitory effect on TNBC growth and migration both in vitro and vivo by inducing TNBC ferroptosis via downregulating the expression of E2F7. These findings provide valuable insight into the pathogenesis of TNBC. The natural compound So-2, isolated from Chinese traditional medicine, might be a prospective drug candidate in TNBC therapy.

Thin sand layers are widely developed in the Cretaceous Baxigai Formation in the Yudong area, western Tabei Uplift, and series of lithologic traps controlled by the structures are formed. The thickness of the target layer is 3–5 m, which is beyond the resolution of conventional seismic data; this causes the prediction of the reservoir to be difficult. Starting from the forward simulation, a forward model was designed based on the well logging data and characteristics of the strata in the well area to analyze the impact of different thin reservoir development modes on the seismic waveform. The experimental results show that the amplitude of thick sandstone is strong, while that of the thin sandstone is weaker. When mudstone barriers develop in sandstones, the amplitude decreases and the trough widens. Based on the results above, the seismic facies plan is formed by clustering the two attributes of wave trough width and amplitude, and the qualitative prediction of the reservoir can be realized on the plane by referring to the drilled rock information. Based on this, high-resolution seismic waveform inversion was carried out to achieve vertical reservoir prediction. The inversion results on the profile are higher than those of well logging. Furthermore, geological knowledge is achieved on the plane and good application results are obtained.

The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)/angiotensin 1-7/MAS axis and the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic signaling system have both been shown to have the dual potential to improve insulin resistance (IR) and hepatic steatosis associated with obesity in the liver. Recent studies have demonstrated that ACE2 can regulate the GABA signal in various tissues. Notwithstanding this evidence, the functional relationship between ACE2 and GABA signal in the liver under IR remains elusive. Here, we used high-fat diet-induced models of IR in C57BL/6 mice as well as ACE2KO and adeno-associated virus-mediated ACE2 overexpression mouse models to address this knowledge gap. Our analysis showed that glutamate decarboxylase (GAD)67/GABA signaling was weakened in the liver during IR, whereas the expression of GAD67 and GABA decreased significantly in ACE2KO mice. Furthermore, exogenous administration of angiotensin 1-7 and adeno-associated virus- or lentivirus-mediated overexpression of ACE2 significantly increased hepatic GABA signaling in models of IR both in vivo and in vitro. We found that this treatment prevented lipid accumulation and promoted fatty acid β oxidation in hepatocytes as well as inhibited the expression of gluconeogenesis- and inflammation-related genes, which could be reversed by allylglycine, a specific GAD67 inhibitor. Collectively, our findings show that signaling via the ACE2/A1-7/MAS axis can improve hepatic IR by regulating hepatic GABA signaling. We propose that this research might indicate a potential strategy for the management of diabetes.

Metamaterial perfect absorber is very important in the study of refractive index sensor. The time domain finite difference method is used to simulate the surface plasmon structure. The double nanorod periodic structure is designed, and the parameters of the top layer structure are optimized according to the impedance matching principle, and the absorption rate of the structure to the light wave reaches 99.6% when the wavelength is about 12 mm. The absorption spectroscopy of the structure is studied with the change of the refractive index of the spatial medium around the structure, and the sensitivity of the double nanorod structure is 4,008 nm/RIU, which can be used to measure the refractive index of the gas.

Background: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the serious complications of diabetes. However, there is no unified and clear understanding of the pathogenesis of DKD at present. The evidence suggests that genetic predispositions play a significant role in an individual’s susceptibility to DKD. WGCNA analysis may provide a new way to search for genes closely related to DKD. Methods: In this study we analysed key genes and pathways involved in DKD from RNA-seq count results using 23 peripheral blood samples from patients with DKD. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed with the WGCNA package.Results: We found turquoise and purple module were characterized as having the highest correlation with large proteinuria stage in DKD. Furthermore, the key genes, including DCN, F2R, LTBP2, B2M, PSMB8, and NLRC5, were evaluated through a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network combined with a co-expression network, which were expected to be potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets of DKD. Conclusions: These signalling pathways and hub genes will provide effective targets and ideas for further study of the pathogenesis of DKD and are expected to have roles in the prevention of, early screening for, and the treatment of DKD.

The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)/angiotensin 1–7 (A1–7)/MAS axis and glutamate decarboxylase 67 (GAD67)/gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) signal both exist in the islet and play important roles in regulating blood glucose metabolism. It has been reported that the activation of ACE2 in the brain increases GABA expression to improve biological effects; however, it is unclear whether there is functional correlation between the ACE2/A1–7/MAS axis and GAD67/GABA signal in the islet. In this study, we showed that the ACE2/A1–7/MAS and GABA signaling systems decreased in the islet of different metabolic stress models. In ACE2-knockout mice, we found that GAD67 and GABA expression decreased significantly, which was reversed by exogenous administration of A1–7. Furthermore, A1–7 mediated PDX1 and AKT activation was inhibited by allylglycine (a specific GAD67 inhibitor) in MIN6 cells. Moreover, giving A1–7 and GABA could significantly reduce beta-cell dedifferentiation and improved glucose metabolism during metabolic stress in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, our study reveals that the ACE2/A1–7/MAS axis improves beta-cell function through regulating GAD67/GABA signal in beta cells and that up-regulating the ACE2/A1–7/MAS axis and GABA signals delays the development of obesity-induced diabetes.

In vivo beta-cell neogenesis may be one way to treat diabetes. We aimed to investigate the effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) on beta-cell neogenesis in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Male C57BL/6J mice, 6 wk old, were randomly divided into three groups: Control, T2DM, and T2DM + Lira. T2DM was induced using high-fat diet and intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (40 mg/kg/d for 3 d). At 8 wk after streptozotocin injection, T2DM + Lira group was injected intraperitoneally with GLP-1 analog liraglutide (0.8 mg/kg/d) for 4 wk. Apparently for the first time, we report the appearance of a primitive bud connected to pancreas in all adult mice from each group. The primitive bud was characterized by scattered single monohormonal cells expressing insulin, GLP-1, somatostatin, or pancreatic polypeptide, and four-hormonal cells, but no acinar cells and ductal epithelial cells. Monohormonal cells in it were small, newborn, immature cells that rapidly proliferated and expressed cell markers indicative of immaturity. In parallel, Ngn3+endocrine progenitors and Nestin+cells existed in the primitive bud. Liraglutide facilitated neogenesis and rapid growth of acinar cells, pancreatic ducts, and blood vessels in the primitive bud. Meanwhile, scattered hormonal cells aggregated into cell clusters and grew into larger islets; polyhormonal cells differentiated into monohormonal cells. Extensive growth of exocrine and endocrine glands resulted in the neogenesis of immature pancreatic lobes in adult mice of T2DM + Lira group. Contrary to predominant acinar cells in mature pancreatic lobes, there were still a substantial number of mesenchymal cells around acinar cells in immature pancreatic lobes, which resulted in the loose appearance. Our results suggest that adult mice preserve the capacity of pancreatic neogenesis from the primitive bud, which liraglutide facilitates in adult T2DM mice. To our knowledge, this is the first time such a phenomenon has been reported.

In recent years, using ecological control method for pest management has become a hot topic, and some pest-predator models have been proposed. These models are expressed by impulse control equations, and which can be transformed into a global optimization problem. But it is easy to fall into local optimal when solving these equations by traditional method. On the other hand, differential evolution (DE) algorithm has been widely used to solve a variety of complex optimization problems. Therefore, attempting to solve the impulse control equations of plant-pest-predator model by DE algorithm is an important motivation of this paper. In order to further enhance the optimization capability, a rotation-based differential evolution (RDE) was introduced by embedding a rotation-based learning mechanism into DE. The simulation experiments show that the RDE algorithm can solve the impulse control equations effectively, and the results are more competitive than those obtained by the traditional algorithms. Meanwhile, the convergence speed of RDE algorithm is also very fast. This preliminary study may provide a new method for solving ecological control problem.

We investigated the roles of rootstocks in Cu accumulation and tolerance in Malus plants by grafting ‘Hanfu’ (HF) scions onto M. baccata (Mb) and M. prunifolia (Mp) rootstocks, which have different Cu tolerances. The grafts were exposed to basal or excess Cu for 20 d. Excess Cu-treated HF/Mb had less biomass, and pronounced root architecture deformation and leaf ultrastructure damage than excess Cu-challenged HF/Mp. Root Cu concentrations and bio-concentration factor (BCF) were higher in HF/Mp than HF/Mb, whereas HF/Mb had higher stem and leaf Cu concentrations than HF/Mp. Excess Cu lowered root and aerial tissue BCF and translocation factor (Tf) in all plants; however, Tf was markedly higher in HF/Mb than in HF/Mp. The subcellular distribution of Cu in the roots and leaves indicated that excess Cu treatments increased Cu fixation in the root cell walls, which decreased Cu mobility. Compared to HF/Mb, HF/Mp sequestered more Cu in its root cell walls and less Cu in leaf plastids, nuclei, and mitochondria. Moreover, HF/Mp roots and leaves had higher concentrations of water-insoluble Cu compounds than HF/Mb, which reduced Cu mobility and toxicity. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that the carboxyl, hydroxyl and acylamino groups of the cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and proteins were the main Cu binding sites in the root cell walls. Excess Cu-induced superoxide anion and malondialdehyde were 28.6% and 5.1% lower, but soluble phenolics, ascorbate and glutathione were 10.5%, 41.9% and 17.7% higher in HF/Mp than HF/Mb leaves. Compared with HF/Mb, certain genes involved in Cu transport were downregulated, while other genes involved in detoxification were upregulated in HF/Mp roots and leaves. Our results show that Mp inhibited Cu translocation and mitigated Cu toxicity in Malus scions by regulating Cu mobility, antioxidant defense mechanisms, and transcription of key genes involved in Cu translocation and detoxification.

Background: Heart rate variability (HRV) provides indices related to all types of risks for death, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, especially in elderly. Obesity and grip are related to diseases, thus decrease elderly healthy life. However, there is no definitive link between HRV and muscle strength and obesity. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine whether grip strength and obesity are associated with HRV in elderly, community-dwelling Chinese individuals.Method: Our study population consisted of residents of Township Central Hospital of Chadian, Tianjin, China. We measured short term HRV, grip strength, and body mass index (BMI). The HRV measures were transformed to the natural log to normalize the distribution and we used logistic regression to explore the relationship.Results: A total of 534 participants over the age of 60 (200 men, mean age 69.2±6.0) had complete data at the baseline and were included in the analysis. Compared with the isolated-obesity group and isolated-low-grip-strength group, the group with concurrent obesity and low grip strength has a stronger relation with LF n.u.[0.94(0.90-0.98)], ln(LF) [0.50(0.29-0.95)], and ln(LF/HF) [0.41(0.20-0.83)].Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that low HRV is associated with concurrent low grip strength and obesity in older adults, rather than isolated low grip strength or isolated obesity. These results may provide a reference for early screening of cardiac autonomic function disorders in patients with potential heart disease in clinic, thus contributing indirectly to the prevention or rehabilitation of cardiovascular disease. It also provides a new idea for further mechanism research.Clinical trial registry Our research was registered on Research Registry website (URL: http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx ), the registry number was ChiCTR1800016308.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a great contribution to the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). The aim of this study was to explore potential miRNAs-genes regulatory network and biomarkers for the pathogenesis of DN using bioinformatics methods. Gene expression profiling data related to DN (GSE1009) was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and then differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between DN patients and normal individuals were screened using GEO2R, followed by a series of bioinformatics analyses, including identifying key genes, conducting pathway enrichment analysis, predicting and identifying key miRNAs, and establishing regulatory relationships between key miRNAs and their target genes. A total of 600 DEGs associated with DN were identified. An additional 7 key DEGs, including 6 downregulated genes, such as vascular endothelial growth factor α (VEGFA) and COL4A5, and 1 upregulated gene (CCL19), were identified in another dataset (GSE30528) from glomeruli samples. Pathway analysis showed that the down- and upregulated DEGs were enriched in 14 and 6 pathways, respectively, with 7 key genes mainly involved in extracellular matrix–receptor interaction, PI3K/Akt signaling, focal adhesion, and Rap1 signaling. The relationships between miRNAs and target genes were constructed, showing that miR-29 targeted COL4A and VEGFA, miR-200 targeted VEGFA, miR-25 targeted ITGAV, and miR-27 targeted EGFR. MiR-29 and miR-200 may play important roles in DN. VEGFA and COL4A5 were targeted by miR-29 and VEGFA by miR-200, which may mediate multiple signaling pathways leading to the pathogenesis and development of DN.

Eleven new highly oxygenated germacrane-type sesquiterpenoids (1–11) and 16 known analogues (12–27) were isolated from the aerial parts of Sigesbeckia orientalis. Their structures, including absolute configurations, were determined by comprehensive spectroscopic methods especially NMR and ECD analyses. Compounds 13, 21 and 23 possessing an 8-methacryloxy group showed stronger in vitro cytotoxicity against human A549 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines than other co-metabolites, with IC50 values ranging from 6.02 to 10.77 μM comparable to the positive control adriamycin.

One risk of growing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops is the potential nontarget effects which are likely related to the environmental behavior of crystal (Cry) toxins. Bt rice residues left in field after harvest constitute a main source of Cry toxins entering the environment. To our knowledge, very few studies have simultaneously evaluated the persistence of Cry toxins in Bt rice residues under field conditions using different methods. Here, we established a bioassay method with a target insect: the striped stem borer (SSB), Chilo suppressalis Walker. The reaction limit of the SSB to Cry toxins ranged from 5.4 to 12.7 ng g−1 in artificial diet, indicating that the detection limit of the bioassay ranged from 54 to 127 ng g−1 rice residues. A field decomposition experiment lasting for 210 d was conducted with the straw of two Bt rice lines transformed with either cry1Ab/1Ac or cry2A. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) revealed that the Cry toxins in the Bt rice residues experienced rapid degradation to below 25% of the initial level in the first 42 d, and then decreased to below 100 ng g−1 rice residues within 100 to 140 d. Flooded conditions accelerated the degradation in the beginning compared with buried conditions. The Cry toxins were still detectable by ELISA, although at levels below 10 ng g−1 rice residues (

Differential Evolution Algorithm (DE) is an intelligent algorithm widely used in recent years. Many scholars have studied DE algorithm from many aspects, such as theory and application. Selection operator using greedy strategy is an important part of DE algorithm. Traditionally thought, the DE selection operator is only a means to maintain effective population evolution of DE. In fact, the DE selection operator also has some capability to optimize. For this reason, this paper constructs some DE variants, and compares the optimization results of them with the standard DE algorithm. Simulation results show that the new algorithm which only using greedy selection can achieve certain optimization results, meanwhile, DE algorithm which removing its greedy selection operator only has poor performance. This proves that DE selection operator has certain optimization capability.

Seven rare oxylipins, siegesbeckins A–G (1–7) representing further bioactive constituents different from the general terpenyl compounds found in Siegesbeckia species, have been obtained from the aerial parts of Siegesbeckia glabrescens. These isolates were identified to be a series of methyl 4-methylpentanoates incorporating fatty acid moieties of different chain lengths, based on spectroscopic techniques, and their absolute configurations were determined via chemical degradation and comparison of experimental and theoretically calculated ECD spectra. With respect to bioactivity, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic properties of selected compounds were evaluated. Compounds 1 and 5 showed moderate antibacterial activity against two Gram-positive bacteria with MIC values of 4.3 μg/mL, while 3 showed no pronounced activity in these assays.

Purpose Currently there is no consensus on the correlation between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and muscle strength. The objective of this study was to examine the associations between MetS and its components and different handgrip strength (HS) indexes among Chinese community-dwelling elderly individuals. In addition, we hoped to find an optimal cutoff point for the index most relevant to MetS. Methods Data were obtained from 909 participants aged ≥ 60 years (385 men, average age, 68.0 ± 5.9 y). We used the International Diabetes Federation metabolic syndrome guidelines to define MetS. General data of all participants were collected through questionnaires and anthropometric data were measured. At the same time, blood samples were collected. Results The prevalence of MetS was 26.8 % in men and 46.9 % in women. In all HS indexes, HS/body fat mass was most strongly correlated with MetS, and the areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve were 0.723 (95 % confidence interval [CI] = 0.669-0.776) in men and 0.619 (95 % CI = 0.571-0.667) in women, and the optimal cutoffs were 1.92 in men and 1.25 in women. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of MetS for low HS/body fat mass were 5.38 (95 % CI = 3.03–9.56, p Conclusions HS/body fat mass appears to be the index best associated with MetS and its components, and in men it is more relevant than in women.

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation of liver function, intestinal flora, vitamin D and interleukin-17A (IL-17A) levels in patients with liver cirrhosis. A total of 52 patients diagnosed with posthepatitic cirrhosis and admitted into Yantai Infectious Disease Hospital (Yantai, China) from January to December in 2012 (liver cirrhosis group), and 52 patients with chronic hepatitis B (hepatitis group), and 40 healthy volunteers receiving physical examination in the hospital (normal control group) were selected into the study. The liver function, hepatitis B virus (HBV) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) level, intestinal flora distribution, vitamin D and IL-17A levels of all patients were detected, and the correlation among them was analyzed via Pearson's analysis. The number of Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus, Staphylococcus aureus and Saccharomyces in hepatitis and liver cirrhosis groups was significantly greater than in the normal control group (P

Background: Reduced muscle strength, as measured by handgrip strength (HS), has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study was to examine the association between different HS indexes and CVD risk factors in elderly Chinese individuals. We also determine optimal cutoffs of HS indexes for predicting CVD risk factors. Methods: Data were obtained from 603 men and 789 women aged ≥60 years (average age 66.8 ± 6.4 y). These study participants were recruited in the suburb area of Tianjin, China. An individual was considered a patient when they exhibited any one of three CVD risk factors: diabetes mellitus, hypertension and dyslipidemia. All participants were interviewed face-to-face. In addition, serum samples were collected from all participants, and all participants underwent measures of anthropometry and HS. Results: The optimal cutoffs were 0.376 of HS/weight in men and 0.726 of HS/body fat mass in women for predicting diabetes mellitus. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of at least one CVD risk factor for those with low muscle strength identified by HS/body fat mass were 2.14 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.53, 3.44; p

Curcumin shows several pharmacological activities with low toxicity, but its low water solubility limits its usage. To overcome these drawback, methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly ( $$\delta$$ -valerolactone) was synthesized through ring-opening polymerization with mPEG and $$\delta$$ -valerolactone as raw materials and hydrochloride ethyl ether as catalyst. The nanoparticles were developed by thin-film hydration and used as the delivery system for curcumin. The pharmacokinetics, in vitro release and safety of curcumin-loaded nanoparticles were evaluated. The results showed that nanoparticles had high drug-loading capacity (11.70 %) and entrapment efficiency (92.66 %). The water solubility of curcumin was increased to 1.851 mg/mL, which was approximately 1.73 × 105 times higher than that of free curcumin. The plasma AUC0–∞ and V z of curcumin-loaded nanoparticles were 3.60- and 4.56-fold higher than that of curcumin control solution, respectively. The CLz of curcumin-loaded nanoparticles was decreased by 3.60-fold. The MRT0–∞ changed from 0.284 to 4.657 h. Hemolysis test results revealed that the mPEG–PVL was safe for intravenous injection. These results clearly showed that the curcumin-loaded nanoparticles were suitable to be a delivery vehicle for curcumin.

Some sufficient conditions for biholomorphic convex mappings of orderαon the Reinhardt domainBpninCnare given; from that, criteria for biholomorphic convex mappings of orderαwith particular form become direct. As applications of these sufficient conditions, some concrete biholomorphic convex mappings of orderα onBpnare provided.

In recent years, evolutionary algorithms have developed rapidly and become an important method for solving complex and nonlinear optimisation problems. Many evolutionary algorithms, such as differential evolution algorithm (DE), artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC) and brainstorming algorithm (BSO), adopt the natural selection principle of 'survival of the fittest' to determine the individuals of new populations. For a long time, researchers regard the selection operator as an important part of maintaining the evolution of the algorithm, and seldom distinguish the optimisation ability of the selection operator. In fact, the natural selection operator also has some abilities to optimise. For this reason, this paper takes DE algorithm as an example to construct different DE variants, and compares the optimisation results of them with the standard DE algorithm. Simulation results show that the new algorithm which only using natural selection can achieve certain optimisation results, meanwhile, DE algorithm which removing its greedy selection operator only has poor performance. This proves that natural selection operator has certain optimisation ability. Theoretical analysis shows that natural selection mechanism can determine a searching baseline during evolution and make exploration and exploitation fuse with each other.