Integrating CuO Colloidal Mie Resonators in Structurally Colored Butterfly Wings for Bio-Nanohybrid Photonic Applications.

Colloidal CuO nanoparticles can exhibit both photocatalytic activity under visible light illumination and resonant Mie scattering, but, for their practical application, they have to be immobilized on a substrate. Butterfly wings, with complex hierarchical photonic nanoarchitectures, constitute a promising substrate for the immobilization of nanoparticles and for the tuning of their optical properties. The native wax layer covering the wing scales of butterflies was removed by simple ethanol pretreatment prior to the deposition of CuO nanoparticles, which allowed reproducible deposition on the dorsal blue wing scale nanoarchitectures via drop casting.

Endocannabinoid and neuroplasticity-related changes as susceptibility factors in a rat model of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Traumatic experiences result in the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 10-25% of exposed individuals. While human clinical studies suggest that susceptibility is potentially linked to endocannabinoid (eCB) signaling, neurobiological PTSD susceptibility factors are poorly understood. Employing a rat model of contextual conditioned fear, we characterized distinct resilient and susceptible subpopulations based on lasting generalized fear, a core symptom of PTSD.

Not all apparently gynandromorphic butterflies are gynandrous: The case of Polyommatus icarus and its relatives (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae).

Beside the more than two thousand normal specimens of Polyommatus icarus (Rottemburg, 1775) yielded by rearing experiments, there was one perfectly bilateral dichromatic individual first considered to be gynandrous. On the basis of analysing genitalia traits, wing surface covering scale micromorphology, and the spectral characteristics of the blue colour generated by the cover scales, the gender of the specimen has been identified as female. This exemplar was investigated in comparison with gynandrous specimens from the collections of the Hungarian Natural History Museum exhibiting various degrees of intermixing of blue and brown coloration.

Attosecond Probing of Nuclear Vibrations in the D and HeH Molecular Ions.

We study the ultrafast photodissociation of small diatomic molecules using attosecond laser pulses of moderate intensity in the (extreme) ultraviolet regime. The simultaneous application of subfemtosecond laser pulses with different photon energies─resonant in the region of the molecular motion─allows one to monitor the vibrational dynamics of simple diatomics, like the D and HeH molecular ions. In our real-time wave packet simulations, the nuclear dynamics is initiated either by sudden ionization (D) or by explicit pump pulses (HeH) via distortion of the potential energy of the molecule.

The role of the GABAergic cells of the median raphe region in reinforcement-based learning.

Learning and memory are important in everyday life as well as in pathological conditions. The median raphe region (MRR) contributes to memory formation; however, its precise role and the neurotransmitters involved have yet to be elucidated. To address this issue, we stimulated the MRR neurons of mice by chemogenetic technique and studied them in the operant conditioning and active avoidance tests.

Breeding Serves as a Large-Scale and Environmentally Friendly Source of Precisely Tuned Photonic Nanoarchitectures.

The colour of the butterfly wing serves as an important sexual and species-specific signal. Some species produce structural colouration by developing wing scales with photonic nanoarchitectures. These nanostructures are highly conservative, allowing only a ±10 nm peak wavelength deviation in the reflectance spectra of the blue structural colour in natural Common Blue () populations.

Post-weaning social isolation in male mice leads to abnormal aggression and disrupted network organization in the prefrontal cortex: Contribution of parvalbumin interneurons with or without perineuronal nets.

Adverse social experiences during childhood increase the risk of developing aggression-related psychopathologies. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a key regulator of social behavior, where experience-dependent network development is tied to the maturation of parvalbumin-positive (PV+) interneurons. Maltreatment in childhood could impact PFC development and lead to disturbances in social behavior during later life.

Investigating the Effect of Reflectance Tuning on Photocatalytic Dye Degradation with Biotemplated ZnO Photonic Nanoarchitectures Based on Butterfly Wings.

Photonic nanoarchitectures of butterfly wings can serve as biotemplates to prepare semiconductor thin films of ZnO by atomic layer deposition. The resulting biotemplated ZnO nanoarchitecture preserves the structural and optical properties of the natural system, while it will also have the features of the functional material. The ZnO-coated wings can be used directly in heterogeneous photocatalysis to decompose pollutants dissolved in water upon visible light illumination.

Wide-gamut structural colours on oakblue butterflies by naturally tuned photonic nanoarchitectures.

The iridescent structural colours of butterflies, generated by photonic nanoarchitectures, often function as species-specific sexual signals; therefore, they are reproduced precisely from generation to generation. The wing scales of oakblue hairstreak butterflies (genus , Theclinae, Lycaenidae, Lepidoptera) contain multi-layer photonic nanoarchitectures, which can generate a wide range of structural colours, from violet to green. By scanning (SEM) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation, the colour tuning mechanism of the cover scales was explored.

[Nutrient intake and nutritional status of 4-10-year-old Hungarian children].

Introduction And Objective: The growing trend of childhood obesity is a major public health issue. Collaborations between medical and healthcare professionals, preventive and health preservative programs, dietary habit and nutrient intake studies are indispensable.

Method: A representative study has been performed among 4-10-year-old Hungarian children by gender, age, size of settlement and region.

Measuring and Modelling Structural Colours of (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) Finely Tuned by Wing Scale Lower Lamina in Various Subspecies.

The nymphalid butterfly (Hopffer, 1855) is the only structurally coloured species representing the genus along the Indian Ocean coast in East Africa and Southern Africa, with a distribution from southern Somalia to the Kwa-Zulu-Natal region of South Africa. The range of is subdivided to several, geographically distinct populations, currently recognised as subspecies by taxonomists on the basis of violet, blue, and green-coloured morphs. We investigated the optical mechanism of all these morphs by various materials science techniques.

Interaction between [(η--cym)M(HO)] (M = Ru, Os) or [(η-Cp*)M(HO)] (M = Rh, Ir) and Phosphonate Derivatives of Iminodiacetic Acid: A Solution Equilibrium and DFT Study.

The pH-dependent binding strengths and modes of the organometallic [(η--cym)M(HO)] (M = Ru, Os; -cym = 1-methyl-4-isopropylbenzene) or [(η-Cp*)M(HO)] (M = Rh, Ir; Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadienyl anion) cations towards iminodiacetic acid (HIda) and its biorelevant mono- and diphosphonate derivatives N-(phosphonomethyl)-glycine (HIdaP) and iminodi(methylphosphonic acid) (HIda2P) was studied in an aqueous solution. The results showed that all three of the ligands form 1:1 complexes via the tridentate (O,N,O) donor set, for which the binding mode was further corroborated by the DFT method. Although with IdaP and Ida2P in mono- and bis-protonated species, where H might also be located at the non-coordinating N atom, the theoretical calculations revealed the protonation of the phosphonate group(s) and the tridentate coordination of the phosphonate ligands.

Spectral Engineering of Hybrid Biotemplated Photonic/Photocatalytic Nanoarchitectures.

Solar radiation is a cheap and abundant energy for water remediation, hydrogen generation by water splitting, and CO reduction. Supported photocatalysts have to be tuned to the pollutants to be eliminated. Spectral engineering may be a handy tool to increase the efficiency or the selectivity of these.

Pd(II) Binding Strength of a Novel Ambidentate Dipeptide-Hydroxypyridinonate Ligand: A Solution Equilibrium Study.

A novel ambidentate dipeptide conjugate (H(L1)) containing N-donor atoms of the peptide part and an (O,O) chelate at the hydroxypyridinone (HP) ring is synthesized and characterized. It is hoped that this chelating ligand can be useful to obtain multitargeted Co(III)/Pt(II) dinuclear complexes with anticancer potential. The Pd(II) (as a Pt(II) model but with faster ligand exchange reactions) binding strength of the ligand was studied in an aqueous solution with the combined use of pH-potentiometry and NMR.

Tracing the vibrational dynamics of sodium iodide the spectrum of emitted photofragments.

We study by real-time wave packet simulations the ultrafast photodissociation dynamics of the sodium iodide molecule with the aim to trace molecular vibrational motion in a bound electronic state. Applying a few-cycle infrared pump laser pulse, a nuclear wave packet is created in the ground electronic state the dynamic Stark shift of the potential energy curves of the molecule. To probe this coherent motion in the ground state, we propose to use a series of ultrashort laser pulses with different photon energies that resonantly promote the spread-out wave packet to the repulsive excited state.

Primary Care Severe Asthma Registry and Education Project (PCSAR-EDU): Phase 1 - an e-Delphi for registry definitions and indices of clinician behaviour.

Introduction: Although most asthma is mild to moderate, severe asthma accounts for disproportionate personal and societal costs. Poor co-ordination of care between primary care and specialist settings is recognised as a barrier to achieving optimal outcomes. The Primary Care Severe Asthma Registry and Education (PCSAR-EDU) project aims to address these gaps through the interdisciplinary development and evaluation of both a 'real-world' severe asthma registry and an educational programme for primary care providers.

Diversity in the Interaction of Amino Acid- and Peptide-Based Hydroxamic Acids with Some Platinum Group Metals in Solution.

Complexes that incorporate both ligand(s) and metal(s) exhibiting cytotoxic activity can especially be interesting to develop multifunctional drug molecules with desired activities. In this review, the limited number of solution results collected in our laboratory on the complexes of Pd(II) and two other platinum group metals-the half-sandwich type, [(η--cym)Ru(HO)], and [(η-Cp*)Rh(HO)]-with hydroxamic acid derivatives of three amino acids, two imidazole analogues, and four small peptides are summarized and evaluated. Unlike the limited number of coordination sites of these metal ions (four and three for Pd(II) and the organometallic cations, respectively), the ligands discussed here offer a relatively high number of donor atoms as well as variation in their position within the ligands, resulting in a large versatility of the likely coordination modes.

Neurochemically distinct populations of the bed nucleus of stria terminalis modulate innate fear response to weak threat evoked by predator odor stimuli.

Anxiety and trauma-related disorders are characterized by significant alterations in threat detection, resulting in inadequate fear responses evoked by weak threats or safety stimuli. Recent research pointed out the important role of the bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) in threat anticipation and fear modulation under ambiguous threats, hence, exaggerated fear may be traced back to altered BNST function. To test this hypothesis, we chemogenetically inhibited specific BNST neuronal populations (corticotropin-releasing hormone - BNST and somatostatin - BNST expressing neurons) in a predator odor-evoked innate fear paradigm.

Scale granules and colours: Sexual dimorphism in Trichonis (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae, Theclinae).

A large fraction of dorsal wing surface ground scales show an unusual granulated nature, composed of material apparently extruded from the scale lumen in male individuals of both Trichonis Hewitson, 1865 species in the tribe Eumaeini, a rare Guyanian-Amazonian genus. Only a few not-granulated male specimens are known, females are not granulated. The granulated scales are investigated by various microscopic (optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, focused ion beam lamella cutting) and spectroscopic (optical reflectance, energy-dispersive X-ray (EDS), Raman) techniques.

Concordance of the spectral properties of dorsal wing scales with the phylogeographic structure of European male Polyommatus icarus butterflies.

The males of more than 80% of the Lycaenidae species belonging to the tribe Polyommatini exhibit structural coloration on their dorsal wing surfaces. These colors have a role in reinforcement in prezygotic reproductive isolation. The species-specific colors are produced by the cellular self-assembly of chitin/air nanocomposites.

Factors Determining the Metal Ion Binding Ability and Selectivity of Hydroxamate-Based Compounds.

There has been a long tradition for a broad spectrum of applications of both natural and synthetic hydroxamic acids and derivatives. Even nowadays, a huge number of newly designed representatives (from different monohydroxamate-based compounds to siderophore conjugates) are used to develop potential drug candidates with desired activities. Since these compounds are effective metal-chelating agents, their biological roles and actions as well as their various applications, e.

Multi-instrumental techniques for evaluating butterfly structural colors: A case study on Polyommatus bellargus (Rottemburg, 1775) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae).

Color is an important communication channel for day-flying butterflies. Chemical (pigmentary) coloration is often supplemented by physical color generated by photonic nanostructures. These nanoarchitectures - which are characteristic for a given species - exhibit wavelength ranges in which light propagation is forbidden.

Somatostatin Neurons of the Bed Nucleus of Stria Terminalis Enhance Associative Fear Memory Consolidation in Mice.

Excessive fear learning and generalized, extinction-resistant fear memories are core symptoms of anxiety and trauma-related disorders. Despite significant evidence from clinical studies reporting hyperactivity of the bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) under these conditions, the role of BNST in fear learning and expression is still not clarified. Here, we tested how BNST modulates fear learning in male mice using a chemogenetic approach.

Stability and Selective Vapor Sensing of Structurally Colored Lepidopteran Wings Under Humid Conditions.

Biological photonic nanoarchitectures are capable of rapidly and chemically selectively sensing volatile organic compounds due to changing color when exposed to such vapors. Here, stability and the vapor sensing properties of butterfly and moth wings were investigated by optical spectroscopy in the presence of water vapor. It was shown that repeated 30 s vapor exposures over 50 min did not change the resulting optical response signal in a time-dependent manner, and after 5-min exposures the sensor preserved its initial properties.