Ligustri Lucidi Fructus as a traditional Chinese medicine: a review of its phytochemistry and pharmacology

Ligustri Lucidi Fructus (LLF) is the fruits of Ligustrum lucidum Ait. (Oleaceae). This review based on nearly 80 literary sources discusses the knowledge of chemistry and biological effects of this species. Several types of chemical constituents considered as the characteristic and active constituents from LLF were isolated including 40 triterpenoids, 48 iridoids, 10 flavones, 10 phenylethanoid glycosides and others. Various extracts and individual compounds derived from this species have been found to possess a variety of pharmacological effects, e.g. anti-tumour, hepatoprotective, immune regulating, antioxidative and anti-ageing effects, anti-inflammation and reducing hypercholesterolaemia effects and so on. The results of data analysis on the chemical, pharmacological characteristics of LLF support the view that this species has many therapeutic properties and indicate its potential as an effective herbal remedy. Finally, some suggestions for further research on chemical and pharmacological properties are given in this review. Theoretical basis was given for further exploiting and utilising LLF.     

Dissipative quantum phase transition in a biased Tavis-Cummings model

We study the dissipative quantum phase transition(QPT)in a biased Tavis–Cummings model consisting of an ensemble of two-level systems(TLSs)interacting with a cavity mode,where the TLSs are pumped by a drive field.In our proposal,we use a dissipative TLS ensemble and an active cavity with effective gain.In the weak drive-field limit,the QPT can occur under the combined actions of the loss and gain of the system.Owing to the active cavity,the QPT behavior can be much differentiated even for a finite strength of the drive field on the TLS ensemble.Also,we propose to implement our scheme based on the dissipative nitrogen-vacancy(NV)centers coupled to an active optical cavity made from the gainmedium-doped silica.Furthermore,we show that the QPT can be measured by probing the transmission spectrum of the cavity embedding the ensemble of the NV centers.     

Engineered Anisotropic Fluids of Rare-Earth Nanomaterials

The self-assembly of inorganic nanoparticles into well-ordered structures in the absence of solvents is generally hindered by van der Waals forces, leading to random aggregates between them. To address the problem, we functionalized rigid rare-earth (RE) nanoparticles with a layer of flexible polymers by electrostatic complexation. Consequently, an ordered and solvent-free liquid crystal (LC) state of RE nanoparticles was realized. The RE nanomaterials including nanospheres, nanorods, nanodiscs, microprisms, and nanowires all show a typical nematic LC phase with one-dimensional orientational order, while their microstructures strongly depend on the particles’ shape and size. Interestingly, the solvent-free thermotropic LCs possess an extremely wide temperature range from −40 °C to 200 °C. The intrinsic ordering and fluidity endow anisotropic luminescence properties in the system of shearing-aligned RE LCs, offering potential applications in anisotropic optical micro-devices.     

In-situ preparation and electrochromic properties of TiO2/PTPA-HTAN core-shell nanocomposite film

A new star-shaped structure conjugated microporous polymers, poly (2,8,14-tri[4-diphenyl-benzene]-hexaazatrinaphthylene) (PTPA-HATN), was designed and in-situ electrochemically polymerized on the surfaces of FTO electrodes with a directional alignment TiO₂ nanorod array to obtain TiO₂/PTPA-HATN core-shell nanocomposite films. Compared with the PTPA-HATN film, the TiO₂/PTPA-HATN composite film exhibits higher optical contrast and faster response time, with contrast of 57% at 783 nm, coloring time of 3.62 s and discoloring time of 2.55 s (43%, 4.63 s and 4.77 s for PTPA-HATN film, respectively). After 400 cycles, the contrast of nanocomposite film decreased by 28%, while the PTPA-HATN film basically lost its electrochromic properties. A simple three-layer EC prototype device based on TiO₂/PTPA-HATN nanocomposite film constructed with hydrogel electrolyte clearly shows color changes at different voltages. On the one hand, the formation of core-shell porous nanostructure of TiO₂/PTPA-HATN composite film provides a larger ion doping/de-doping interface, shortening the average diffusion length of ions. On the other hand, the large indented polymer-nanorods contact interface makes it difficult for the polymer to detach from the electrode, thus significantly improving the cyclic stability of the composite film.     

New strategy for reversal tolerant anode for automotive polymer electrolyte fuel cell

New approach for the reversal tolerant anode for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is suggested by using the multifunctional IrRu alloy catalyst having concurrent superior activities towards hydrogen oxidation reaction and oxygen evolution reaction to mitigate the degradation of anode under the fuel starvation condition.     

Optimal harvesting strategy of a stochastic inshore–offshore hairtail fishery model driven by Lévy jumps in a polluted environment

Nonlinear Dynamics - With the increasing demand for aquatic products all over the world, exploring the interactions between inshore and offshore fisheries is one of the meaningful issues to help...     

Theory of the magnon Kerr effect in cavity magnonics

We develop a theory for the magnon Kerr effect in a cavity magnonics system, consisting of magnons in a small yttrium iron garnet(YIG) sphere strongly coupled to cavity photons, and use it to study the bistability in this hybrid system. To have a complete picture of the bistability phenomenon, we analyze two different cases in driving the cavity magnonics system, i.e.,directly pumping the YIG sphere and the cavity, respectively. In both cases, the magnon frequency shifts due to the Kerr effect exhibit a similar bistable behavior but the corresponding critical powers are different. Moreover, we show how the bistability of the system can be demonstrated using the transmission spectrum of the cavity. Our results are valid in a wide parameter regime and generalize the theory of bistability in a cavity magnonics system.