Extreme Low Thermal Conductivity in Nanoscale 3D Si Phononic Crystal with Spherical Pores

In this work, we propose a nanoscale three-dimensional (3D) Si phononic crystal (PnC) with spherical pores, which can reduce the thermal conductivity of bulk Si by a factor up to <i>10,000 times</i> at room temperature. Thermal conductivity of Si PnCs depends on the porosity, for example, the thermal conductivity of Si PnCs with porosity 50% is 300 times smaller than that of bulk Si. The phonon participation ratio spectra demonstrate that more phonons are localized as the porosity increases. The thermal conductivity is insensitive to the temperature changes from room temperature to 1100 K. The extreme-low thermal conductivity could lead to a larger value of ZT than unity as the periodic structure affects very little the electric conductivity

Scutellarin Alleviates Diabetic Retinopathy via the Suppression of Nucleotide-Binding Oligomerization Domain (NOD)-Like Receptor Pyrin Domain Containing Protein 3 Inflammasome Activation

Diabetic retinopathy, a prevalent complication of diabetes, represents the leading cause of vision loss and blindness among middle-aged and elderly populations. Recent research has demonstrated the ameliorating effects of scutellarin on diabetes-associated complications such as diabetic retinopathy and type 2 diabetic cardiomyopathy. However, investigations into its protective impact and underlying mechanisms on diabetic retinopathy are scant. This study aims to explore the therapeutic potential of scutellarin in diabetic retinopathy treatment. Diabetic retinopathy was induced in rats through intraperitoneal injections of streptozotocin (STZ, 60 mg/kg) administered daily for three consecutive days. Following this, diabetic retinopathy rats received daily intragastric administration of scutellarin (40 mg/kg) for 42 days. Our findings suggest that scutellarin alleviates histological damage in the retinal tissues of streptozotocin-challenged rats. Furthermore, scutellarin effectively enhances total retinal thickness and increases the number of ganglion cell layer (GCL) cells in the retinal tissues of streptozotocin-treated rats. Scutellarin also demonstrated anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in the retinal tissues of STZ-induced rats, as indicated by reduced levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6, and elevated levels of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase. Additionally, scutellarin effectively inhibited the expression of NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing protein 3 inflammasome-related markers in the retinal tissues of streptozotocin-administered rats. Collectively, our results indicate that scutellarin significantly reduces streptozotocin-induced retinal inflammation, an effect that may be partially attributed to the suppression of NLRP3 inflammasome activation.</p

Antioxidant activities of the extracts and different fractions from <i>Z. bungeanum</i> leaves.

<p>ECE: ethanol crude extracts; PEF: petroleum ether fraction; CF: chloroform fraction; EAF: ethyl acetate fraction; AF: acetone fraction; MF: methanol fraction.</p><p>Each values represented in tables are means ± SD (N = 3).</p><p>Values with different letters (a, b, c, d, e) within same column were significantly different (P<0.05).</p><p>Antioxidant activities of the extracts and different fractions from <i>Z. bungeanum</i> leaves.</p

An Improved Artificial Bee Colony-Based Approach for Zoning Protected Ecological Areas

<div><p>China is facing ecological and environmental challenges as its urban growth rate continues to rise, and zoning protected ecological areas is recognized as an effective response measure. Zoning inherently involves both site attributes and aggregation attributes, and the combination of mathematical models and heuristic algorithms have proven advantageous. In this article, an improved artificial bee colony (IABC)-based approach is proposed for zoning protected ecological areas at a regional scale. Three main improvements were made: the first is the use of multiple strategies to generate the initial bee population of a specific quality and diversity, the second is an exploitation search procedure to generate neighbor solutions combining “replace” and “alter” operations, and the third is a “swap” strategy to enable a local search for the iterative optimal solution. The IABC algorithm was verified using simulated data. Then it was applied to define an optimum scheme of protected ecological areas of Sanya (in the Hainan province of China), and a reasonable solution was obtained. Finally, a comparison experiment with other methods (agent-based land allocation model, ant colony optimization, and density slicing) was conducted and demonstrated that the IABC algorithm was more effective and efficient than the other methods. Through this study, we aimed to provide a scientifically sound, practical approach for zoning procedures.</p></div

IC₅₀ values of isolated compounds for DPPH radical scavenging activity (mean ± SD, n = 3).

<p>Bars with no letters in common are significantly different (P<0.05).</p

Ecological suitability and urban development potential maps of Sanya.

<p>(a) Ecological suitability map. (b) Urban development potential map.</p

Overlay of the optimization results after repeatedly running the IABC algorithm 10 times.

<p>Overlay of the optimization results after repeatedly running the IABC algorithm 10 times.</p

Influence of pretreatment with different isolated compounds on growth in <i>E. coli</i> under peroxide stress (mean ± SD, N = 3).

<p>Influence of pretreatment with different isolated compounds on growth in <i>E. coli</i> under peroxide stress (mean ± SD, N = 3).</p

LSD test for differences in cyproconazole resistance and virulence among the five <i>Mycosphaerella graminicola</i> populations sampled from Australia, Israel, Switzerland and USA.

1<p>Percentage Leaf Area Covered by Lesions.</p>2<p>Percentage Leaf Area Covered by Pycnidia.</p>3<p>Values followed by different letters are significantly different at P≤0.05.</p

Pseudo code of the “pseudo-random” initialization.

<p>Pseudo code of the “pseudo-random” initialization.</p