We use the nonstandard-finite-difference time-domain (NS-FDTD) method to investigate the interaction of light with the complicated microstructures in the Morpho butterfly scales, which produce the well-known brilliant blue coloring. The NS-FDTD algorithm is particularly suitable to analyze such complex structures because the calculation can be performed in a short time with high accuracy on a relatively coarse numerical grid. We analyze (1) the microstructure obtained directly by binarizing an electron microgram of the cross section of a scale, (2) the reflection and diffraction properties of three model structures--flat, alternating, and tree-shaped alternating multilayers, and (3) an array of alternating multilayers with random noise superposed on the height of the structures. We found that the actual microstructure well reproduced the reflection spectrum in a blue region by integrating the reflection intensities over all the reflection angles. Under normal incidence, the flat multilayer mainly stresses on multilayer interference except for shorter wavelengths, while alternating multilayer rather enhances the effect of diffraction grating due to longitudinally repeating structure by strongly suppressing the reflection toward the normal direction. In the array of alternating multilayers, the reflection into larger angles is considerably suppressed and the spectral shape becomes different from that expected for a single alternating multilayer. This suppression mainly comes from the scattering of reflected light by adjacent structures, which is particularly prominent for the TM mode. Thus a clear difference between the TE and TM modes is observed with respect to the origin of spectral shape, though the obtained spectra are similar to each other. Finally, the polarization dependence of the reflection and the importance of the alternating multilayer are discussed.

Three series (6, 13, and 14) of new diarylaniline (DAAN) analogues were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for anti-HIV potency, especially against the E138K viral strain with a major mutation conferring resistance to the new-generation non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor drug rilpivirine (1b). Promising new compounds were then assessed for physicochemical and associated pharmaceutical properties, including aqueous solubility, log P value, and metabolic stability, as well as predicted lipophilic parameters of ligand efficiency, ligand lipophilic efficiency, and ligand efficiency-dependent lipophilicity indices, which are associated with ADME property profiles. Compounds 6a, 14c, and 14d showed high potency against the 1b-resistant E138K mutated viral strain as well as good balance between anti-HIV-1 activity and desirable druglike properties. From the perspective of optimizing future NNRTI compounds as clinical trial candidates, computational modeling results provided valuable information about how the R1 group might provide greater efficacy against the E138K mutant.

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Electromagnetic induction current sensed by the membrane potential in biological neurons can be characterized with a memristor synapse, which can be employed to demonstrate the real oscillating voltage patterns of Barnacle muscle fibers. This paper presents a 3D autonomous memristor synapse-based Morris–Lecar (abbreviated as m-ML) model, which is implemented through introducing a memristor synapse-based induction current to substitute the externally applied current in an existing 2D nonautonomous Morris–Lecar model. Making use of one- and two-parameter bifurcation plots and time-domain representations, diverse period-adding bifurcations as well as abundant periodic and chaotic burst firings are demonstrated. Through constructing the fold and Hopf bifurcation sets of fast spiking subsystem, bifurcation analyses of these chaotic and periodic burst firings are carried out. Moreover, the periodic and chaotic spiking firings and coexisting firing behaviors are illustrated by using one- and two-parameter bifurcation plots and local attraction basins. Finally, based on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) board, a compact digital electronic neuron is fabricated for the 3D m-ML model, from which periodic and chaotic bursting/spiking firings are experimentally measured to verify the results of the numerical simulations.

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