In vivo antidiabetic activity of qwueous extract of Artemisia argyi (Chinese mugwort) in alloxan-induced diabetic rats

Purpose: To determine the antidiabetic, antioxidant and anti-hyperlipidemic effects of aqueous leaf extract of Artemisia argyi (Asteraceae) in alloxan (ALX)-induced diabetic rats. Experimental: Soxhlet apparatus was packed with grinded leaves of A. Argyi and subjected to extraction by double distillation using water as  running solvent for 4 – 5 h. Male albino Wistar rats weighing 150 ± 10 g were used in this study. Diabetes was induced in overnight-fasted rats via intraperitoneal administration of freshly prepared 10 % alloxan solution at a dose of 186.9 mg/kg. Serum glucose (Glc), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), triglycerides (TGs) and total cholesterol (TC) were evaluated using Randox assay kits. Serum reduced glutathione (GSH) was assayed using a slight modification of a previously reproted procedure, while histological examination was carried out microscopically after hematoxylin and eosin staining. Results: Oral administration of aqueous extract of Artemisia argyi significantly reduced ALX-induced increases in glycosylated hemoglobin and blood glucose, but significantly increased total protein, hemoglobin, insulin, and C-peptide levels (p < 0.05). Administration of the extract also led to a significant upsurge in non-enzymic antioxidants i.e. ceruloplasmin, GSH, vitamin E and vitamin C. The extract produced a hypolipidemic effect by significantly reducing total cholesterol (TC) and serum TGs. The hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of the extract were dose-dependent (p < 0.05). Histological examination of the pancreas revealed that the extract protected the integrity of beta cells in ALXinduced diabetic rats. Conclusion: These results indicate the beneficial effects of Artemisia argyi against diabetes mellitus. Thus, Artemisia argyi may be useful in the management of diabetes mellitus. Keywords: Artemisia argyi, Antidiabetic, Glutathione, Histopathology, Antioxidan

Coexistence of Magnetic Orders in Two-Dimensional Magnet CrI3.

The magnetic properties in two-dimensional van der Waals materials depend sensitively on structure. CrI3, as an example, has been recently demonstrated to exhibit distinct magnetic properties depending on the layer thickness and stacking order. Bulk CrI3 is ferromagnetic (FM) with a Curie temperature of 61 K and a rhombohedral layer stacking, whereas few-layer CrI3 has a layered antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase with a lower ordering temperature of 45 K and a monoclinic stacking. In this work, we use cryogenic magnetic force microscopy to investigate CrI3 flakes in the intermediate thickness range (25-200 nm) and find that the two types of magnetic orders, hence the stacking orders, can coexist in the same flake with a layer of ∼13 nm at each surface being in the layered AFM phase similar to few-layer CrI3 and the rest in the bulk FM phase. The switching of the bulk moment proceeds through a remnant state with nearly compensated magnetic moment along the c-axis, indicating formation of c-axis domains allowed by a weak interlayer coupling strength in the rhombohedral phase. Our results provide a comprehensive picture on the magnetism in CrI3 and point to the possibility of engineering magnetic heterostructures within the same material

Role of dimensional crossover on spin-orbit torque efficiency in magnetic insulator thin films

Magnetic insulators (MIs) attract tremendous interest for spintronic applications due to low Gilbert damping and absence of Ohmic loss. Magnetic order of MIs can be manipulated and even switched by spin-orbit torques (SOTs) generated through spin Hall effect and Rashba-Edelstein effect in heavy metal/MI bilayers. SOTs on MIs are more intriguing than magnetic metals since SOTs cannot be transferred to MIs through direct injection of electron spins. Understanding of SOTs on MIs remains elusive, especially how SOTs scale with the film thickness. Here, we observe the critical role of dimensionality on the SOT efficiency by systematically studying the MI layer thickness dependent SOT efficiency in tungsten/thulium iron garnet (W/TmIG) bilayers. We first show that the TmIG thin film evolves from two-dimensional to three-dimensional magnetic phase transitions as the thickness increases, due to the suppression of long-wavelength thermal fluctuation. Then, we report the significant enhancement of the measured SOT efficiency as the thickness increases. We attribute this effect to the increase of the magnetic moment density in concert with the suppression of thermal fluctuations. At last, we demonstrate the current-induced SOT switching in the W/TmIG bilayers with a TmIG thickness up to 15 nm. The switching current density is comparable with those of heavy metal/ferromagnetic metal cases. Our findings shed light on the understanding of SOTs in MIs, which is important for the future development of ultrathin MI-based low-power spintronics

Spatial-temporal distribution and potential risk of pesticides in ambient air in the North China Plain

The intensive use of pesticides in the North China Plain (NCP) has resulted in widespread contamination of pesticides in the local atmosphere, posing risks to air quality and human health. However, the occurrence and distribution of atmospheric pesticides in the NCP as well as their risk assessment have not been well investigated. In this study, 300 monthly samples were collected using passive air samplers with polyurethane foam at ten rural sites with different crop systems in Quzhou county, the NCP, from June 2021 to May 2022. The pesticides were quantified using mass-spectrometric techniques. Our results revealed that chlorpyrifos, carbendazim, and atrazine were the most frequently found pesticides in the air samples, with detection frequencies of ≥ 87 % across the samples. The average concentrations of atmospheric pesticides during spring (7.47 pg m-3) and summer (16.05 pg m-3) were significantly higher than those during autumn (2.04 pg m-3) and winter (1.71 pg m-3), attributable to the intensified application of pesticides during the warmer seasons. Additionally, cash crop sites exhibited higher concentrations (10.26 pg m-3) of atmospheric pesticides compared to grain crop (5.59 pg m-3) and greenhouse sites (3.81 pg m-3), primarily due to more frequent pesticides spraying events in cash crop fields. These findings indicate a distinct spatial-temporal distribution pattern of atmospheric pesticides influenced by both seasons and crop systems. Furthermore, the model-based inhalation risk assessment indicates that inhalation exposure to atmospheric pesticides is unlikely to pose a significant public concern

Field Dissipation and Storage Stability of Glufosinate Ammonium and Its Metabolites in Soil

A simple analytical method was developed to measure concentrations of glufosinate ammonium and its metabolites, 3-methylphosphinico-propionic acid (MPP) and 2-methylphosphinico-acetic acid (MPA), in field soil samples. To determine the minimum quantification limit, samples were spiked at different levels (0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/kg). Soil samples were extracted with ammonium hydroxide solution 5% (v/v), concentrated, and reacted with trimethyl orthoacetate (TMOA) in the presence of acetic acid for derivatization. The derivatives were quantified by gas chromatography (GC) using a flame photometric detector (FPD). The linear correlation coefficients of glufosinate ammonium, MPP, and MPA in soil were 0.991, 0.999, and 0.999, respectively. The recoveries of this method for glufosinate ammonium, MPP, and MPA in soil were 77.2–95.5%, 98.3–100.3%, and 99.3–99.6% with relative standard deviations (RSD) of 1.8–4.1%, 0.4–1.4%, and 1.3–2.0%, respectively. Glufosinate ammonium dissipated rapidly in soil to MPA in hours and gradually degraded to MPP. The half-life of glufosinate ammonium degradation in soil was 2.30–2.93 days in an open field. In soil samples stored at −20°C glufosinate ammonium was stable for two months. The results of this study should provide guidance for the safe application of the herbicide glufosinate ammonium to agricultural products and the environment

The Environmental Sustainability Study of an Airport Building System Based on an Integrated LCA-Embodied Energy (Emergy)-ANN Analysis

From a global perspective, the ecological sustainability of building systems has always been a hot research topic, especially in China, where the annual amount of new construction is nearly half of the world. The difficulty is making a complete and accurate ecological assessment of the building system. This study has designed and adopted the LCA-Emergy-ANN framework to assess and analyze an airport building system for sustainability. The results demonstrate that building material emergy and operational stage emergy play a critical role and account for 92.4% of the entire emergy, which are the primary contributors. As the vital indicator, the emergy sustainability index (ESI) is 0.669, which is unsustainable (The eligibility standard is 1). Simultaneously, to ensure the accuracy of the data results, sensitivity analysis was performed. The artificial neural network (ANN) was used by integrating the LCA method and emergy approach to predict the sustainability trend in the long run. In the end, the optimization strategy is proposed to enhance the sustainability of the building system

The azimuthal currents in the ion-driven magnetic nozzle

Ion-driven magnetic nozzles (Ti > Te) are designed as intrinsic parts of cutting-edge propulsive technologies such as variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rockets (VASIMRs) and applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters. Employing a two-dimensional axisymmetric particle-in-cell (PIC) code, in the ion-driven magnetic nozzle, the compositions and distributions of azimuthal currents in different axial regions are investigated under various inlet ion temperatures Ti0 and found to differ dramatically from that in the electron-driven magnetic nozzles. Previously reported to be all paramagnetic and vanishing under a high magnetic field, the azimuthal currents resulting from the E × B drift are shown to turn diamagnetic and sustain a considerable magnitude when Ti0 is considered. The previously reported profile of diamagnetic drift current is altered by the introduction of inlet ion temperature, and the paramagnetic part is significantly suppressed. Moreover, a wide range of paramagnetic currents appear downstream due to the inward detachment of ions, which can also be reduced by increasing inlet ion temperature. Albeit considered in this paper, the azimuthal currents resulting from grad-B and curvature drift are still negligible in all cases of interest. The magnitude of diamagnetic azimuthal currents increases with amplifying Ti0, indicating a clear physical image of energy transformation from ion thermal energy to the directed kinetic energy through electromagnetic processes in the magnetic nozzle. Additionally, the magnetic inductive strength also has noticeable impacts on the azimuthal currents, the current magnitude tends to decrease as the magnetic field increases, and over-increment of it may result in larger divergence angles and lower nozzle efficiency

Observation of Internal Photoinduced Electron and Hole Separation in Hybrid Two-Dimentional Perovskite Films

Two-dimensional (2D) organolead halide perovskites are promising for various optoelectronic applications. Here we report a unique spontaneous charge (electron/hole) separation property in multilayered (BA)₂(MA)_<i>n</i>−1Pb_<i>n</i>I_3<i>n</i>+1 (BA = CH₃(CH₂)₃NH₃⁺, MA = CH₃NH₃⁺) 2D perovskite films by studying the charge carrier dynamics using ultrafast transient absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Surprisingly, the 2D perovskite films, although nominally prepared as “<i>n</i> = 4”, are found to be mixture of multiple perovskite phases, with <i>n</i> = 2, 3, 4 and ≈ ∞, that naturally align in the order of <i>n</i> along the direction perpendicular to the substrate. Driven by the band alignment between 2D perovskites phases, we observe consecutive photoinduced electron transfer from small-<i>n</i> to large-<i>n</i> phases and hole transfer in the opposite direction on hundreds of picoseconds inside the 2D film of ∼358 nm thickness. This internal charge transfer efficiently separates electrons and holes to the upper and bottom surfaces of the films, which is a unique property beneficial for applications in photovoltaics and other optoelectronics devices