Forecasting the distribution range of Hylurgus ligniperda (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the present and future under the influence of climate change.

Hylurgus ligniperda (Fabricius) is an important pest that attacks Pinus species in China. It impacts the vitality of local pine vegetation, reduces the ability to prevent windbreak and sand fixation, and causes ecological loss. MaxEnt and ArcGIS are used to predict and analyze the changes in suitable distribution areas of H.

Investigating the impact of discretization techniques on real-time digital control of DC-DC boost converters: A comprehensive analysis.

This paper provides a thorough comparative analysis of discretization techniques commonly utilized in digital control applications for DC-DC boost converters (DBCs). Given the crucial role of DC-DC converters in various industries such as renewable energy systems, electric vehicles, and portable electronic devices, it is imperative to optimize their performance through efficient digital control. This study aims to improve the understanding of the effects of discretization methods on control system behaviour.

Polyimide as a biomedical material: advantages and applications.

Polyimides (PIs) are a class of polymers characterized by strong covalent bonds, which offer the advantages of high thermal weight, low weight, good electronic properties and superior mechanical properties. They have been successfully used in the fields of microelectronics, aerospace engineering, nanomaterials, lasers, energy storage and painting. Their biomedical applications have attracted extensive attention, and they have been explored for use as an implantable, detectable, and antibacterial material in recent years.

Changes in Current Transport and Regulation of the Microstructure of Graphene/Polyimide Films under Joule Heating Treatment.

The excellent electrical properties of graphene have received widespread attention. However, the difficulty of electron transfer between layers still restricts the application of graphene composite materials to a large extent. Therefore, in this study, graphene/polyimide films were subjected to a Joule heating treatment to improve the electrical conductivity of the film by ~76.

Non-Blinking Luminescence from Charged Single Graphene Quantum Dots.

Photoluminescence blinking behavior from single quantum dots under steady illumination is an important but controversial topic. Its occurrence has impeded the use of single quantum dots in bioimaging. Different mechanisms have been proposed to account for it, although controversial, the most important of which is the non-radiative Auger recombination mechanism whereby photocharging of quantum dots can lead to the blinking phenomenon.

Molecular mechanisms of the antibacterial activity of polyimide fibers in a skin-wound model with Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial infection .

Recently, the need for antibacterial dressings has amplified because of the increase of traumatic injuries. However, there is still a lack of ideal, natural antibacterial dressings that show an efficient antibacterial property with no toxicity. Polyimide (PI) used as an implantable and flexible material has been recently reported as a mixture of particles showing more desirable antibacterial properties.

Population Genetics Reveals That the Western Tianshan Mountains Populations of (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) May Have Not been Recently Introduced.

Matsumura is a wood-boring beetle that aggressively attacks species of the genus that has recently caused serious damage to the wild apple tree . (Lebed.) in the western Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang.

The conserved mitochondrial genome of the jewel beetle (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) and its phylogenetic implications for the suborder Polyphaga.

In this study, we sequenced the mitochondrial (mt) genome of Agrilus mali (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) using next-generation sequencing, and accordingly annotated 13 protein-coding, 22 tRNA, and 2 rRNA genes and a 1458-bp non-coding region. Comparative analysis indicated that the mt genome of A. mali is relatively conserved, with a typical gene content and order identical to those of other coleopterans.

MOF-Derived CoO Polyhedrons as Efficient Polysulfides Barrier on Polyimide Separators for High Temperature Lithium-sulfur Batteries.

The incorporation of highly polarized inorganic compounds in functional separators is expected to alleviate the high temperature safety- and performance-related issues for promising lithium-sulfur batteries. In this work, a unique CoO polyhedral coating on thermal-stable polyimide (PI) separators was developed by a simple one-step low-temperature calcination method utilizing metal-organic framework (MOF) of Co-based zeolitic-imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-Co) precursors. The unique CoO polyhedral structures possess several structural merits including small primary particle size, large pore size, rich grain boundary, and high ionic conductivity, which endow the ability to adequately adsorb dissolved polysulfides.

Pt nanoparticles decorated rose-like BiOCO configurations for efficient photocatalytic removal of water organic pollutants.

Pt nanoparticles decorated with rose-like BiOCO configurations were synthesized a simple photoreduction method at room temperature. The structure, morphology, optical and electronic properties, and photocatalytic performance of the as-prepared materials were characterized. Compared to pure BiOCO, the Pt/BiOCO photocatalysts show better performance in decomposing RhB, BPA and OTC under visible light ( > 420 nm).

Percolation channels: a universal idea to describe the atomic structure and dynamics of glasses and melts.

Understanding the links between chemical composition, nano-structure and the dynamic properties of silicate melts and glasses is fundamental to both Earth and Materials Sciences. Central to this is whether the distribution of mobile metallic ions is random or not. In silicate systems, such as window glass, it is well-established that the short-range structure is not random but metal ions cluster, forming percolation channels through a partly broken network of corner-sharing SiO tetrahedra.

Facile electrosynthesis of silicon carbide nanowires from silica/carbon precursors in molten salt.

Silicon carbide nanowires (SiC NWs) have attracted intensive attention in recent years due to their outstanding performances in many applications. A large-scale and facile production of SiC NWs is critical to its successful application. Here, we report a simple method for the production of SiC NWs from inexpensive and abundantly available silica/carbon (SiO/C) precursors in molten calcium chloride.

Solid oxide membrane-assisted controllable electrolytic fabrication of metal carbides in molten salt.

Silicon carbide (SiC), titanium carbide (TiC), zirconium carbide (ZrC), and tantalum carbide (TaC) have been electrochemically produced directly from their corresponding stoichiometric metal oxides/carbon (MOx/C) precursors by electrodeoxidation in molten calcium chloride (CaCl2). An assembled yttria stabilized zirconia solid oxide membrane (SOM)-based anode was employed to control the electrodeoxidation process. The SOM-assisted controllable electrochemical process was carried out in molten CaCl2 at 1000 °C with a potential of 3.

Hybrid glasses from strong and fragile metal-organic framework liquids.

Hybrid glasses connect the emerging field of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with the glass formation, amorphization and melting processes of these chemically versatile systems. Though inorganic zeolites collapse around the glass transition and melt at higher temperatures, the relationship between amorphization and melting has so far not been investigated. Here we show how heating MOFs of zeolitic topology first results in a low density 'perfect' glass, similar to those formed in ice, silicon and disaccharides.

Hydrothermal fabrication of MnCO₃@rGO composite as an anode material for high-performance lithium ion batteries.

The layer structure of graphene or reduced graphene oxide (rGO) opens an avenue for the development of advanced functional materials. In this paper, a MnCO3@rGO composite (MGC) was fabricated by anchoring MnCO3 nanoparticles (NPs) on rGO sheets in the hydrothermal reduction process of graphene oxide by using NaBH4. MnCO3 NPs with an average diameter of 8-20 nm were anchored onto the surface of rGO.

Counteracting stagnation in genetic algorithm calculations by implementation of a micro genetic algorithm strategy.

A new strategy for implementing the concept of a "micro genetic algorithm" within a standard genetic algorithm (GA) procedure is proposed. The strategy operates by applying criteria to test for the occurrence of stagnation within the population of a standard GA calculation, and triggering the micro-GA procedure whenever stagnation is detected. The micro-GA is implemented in terms of the parallel evolution of a number of small sub-populations (comprising predominantly new randomly generated structures together with a few of the best structures from the stagnated population), and the sub-population of highest quality following the micro-GA procedure is used in the construction of the next population of the standard GA calculation.

Residue-based charge flipping: a new variant of an emerging algorithm for structure solution from X-ray diffraction data.

There is currently substantial interest and activity in the development and application of a new technique, called "charge flipping" (CF), that has emerged in the past few years for carrying out structure solution from X-ray diffraction data. We report here a new variant of this technique, termed "residue-based charge flipping" (RBCF), in which the residues of calculated and experimental structure factor amplitudes, together with the corresponding electron density residues, are introduced within the CF algorithm. An important feature of this approach is that it does not require a positive threshold electron density value (delta) to be specified to control the charge-flipping step within the algorithm (in contrast, it is well established that the success of standard CF calculations can depend critically on choosing a suitable value of delta for a given structural problem).