Sympathy and Punishment: Evolution of Cooperation in Public Goods Game

An important way to maintain human cooperation is punishing defection. However, since punishment is costly, how can it arise and evolve given that individuals who contribute but do not punish fare better than the punishers? This leads to a violation of causality, since the evolution of punishment is prior to the one of cooperation behaviour in evolutionary dynamics. Our public goods game computer simulations based on generalized Moran Process, show that, if there exists a \'behaviour-based sympathy\' that compensates those who punish at a personal cost, the way for the emergence and establishment of punishing behaviour is paved. In this way, the causality violation dissipates. Among humans sympathy can be expressed in many ways such as care, praise, solace, ethical support, admiration, and sometimes even adoration; in our computer simulations, we use a small amount of transfer payment to express \'behaviour-based sympathy\'. Our conclusions indicate that, there exists co-evolution of sympathy, punishment and cooperation. According to classical philosophy literature, sympathy is a key factor in morality and justice is embodied by punishment; in modern societies, both the moral norms and the judicial system, the representations of sympathy and punishment, play an essential role in stable social cooperation.Public Goods Game, Cooperation, Social Dilemma, Co-Evolution, Sympathy, Punishment

Accelerated Computation of Free Energy Profile at ab Initio Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanics Accuracy via a Semi-Empirical Reference Potential. I. Weighted Thermodynamics Perturbation

Free energy profile (FE Profile) is an essential quantity for the estimation of reaction rate and the validation of reaction mechanism. For chemical reactions in condensed phase or enzymatic reactions, the computation of FE profile at ab initio (ai) quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) level is still far too expensive. Semiempirical (SE) method can be hundreds or thousands of times faster than the ai methods. However, the accuracy of SE methods is often unsatisfactory, due to the approximations that have been adopted in these methods. In this work, we proposed a new method termed MBAR+wTP, in which the ai QM/MM free energy profile is computed by a weighted thermodynamic perturbation (TP) correction to the SE profile generated by the multistate Bennett acceptance ratio (MBAR) analysis of the trajectories from umbrella samplings (US). The weight factors used in the TP calculations are a byproduct of the MBAR analysis in the post-processing of the US trajectories, which are often discarded after the free energy calculations. The results show that this approach can enhance the efficiency of ai FE profile calculations by several orders of magnitude

U(1) × U(1) symmetry-protected topological order in Gutzwiller wave functions

Gutzwiller projection is a way to construct many-body wave functions that could carry topological order or symmetry-protected topological (SPT) order. However, an important issue is to determine whether or not a given Gutzwiller-projected wave function (GWF) carries a nontrivial SPT order, and which SPT order is carried by the wave function. In this paper, we numerically study the SPT order in a spin S = 1 GWF on the kagome lattice. Using the standard Monte Carlo method, we directly confirm that the GWF has (1) gapped bulk with short-range correlations, (2) a trivial topological order via a nondegenerate ground state, and zero topological entanglement entropy, (3) a nontrivial U(1) × U(1) SPT order via the Hall conductances of the protecting U(1) × U(1) symmetry, and (4) a symmetry-protected gapless boundary. This represents numerical evidence of continuous symmetry-protected topological order in two-dimensional bosonic lattice systems.Perimeter Institute for Theoretical PhysicsNational Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMR-1005541)National Natural Science Foundation (China) (Grant 11274192)Templeton Foundation (Grant 39901

Ion Selectivity and Stability Enhancement of SPEEK/Lignin Membrane for Vanadium Redox Flow Battery: The Degree of Sulfonation Effect

A membrane of high ion selectivity, high stability, and low cost is desirable for vanadium redox flow battery (VRB). In this study, a composite membrane is formed by blending the sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) with lignin (SPEEK/lignin), and optimized by tailoring the degree of sulfonation. The incorporation of lignin into the SPEEK matrix provides more proton transport pathway and meanwhile adjusts the water channel to repulse vanadium ions. The VRB cells assembled with the composite membranes exhibit high coulombic efficiency (~99.27%) and impressive energy efficiency (~82.75%). The cells maintain a discharge capacity of ~95% after 100 cycles and ~85% after 200 cycles at 120 mA cm−2, much higher than the commercial Nafion 212. The SPEEK/lignin composite membranes are promising for application in VRB system

The correlation between the plasma concentration of gemcitabine and short-term efficacy and adverse reactions in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

AbstractBackground: Worldwide, non-small cell lung cancers have the highest incidence and mortality rates of all cancers. Gemcitabine (2’,2’-difluoro-2’-deoxycytidine or dFdC, C9H11F2N304) is widely used as the first-line chemo-reagent for lung cancer patients whose tumors have been diagnosed to be at an advanced stage and are therefore unresectable. Objective: The objective of this systematic study was to establish the correlation between the plasma concentration of gemcitabine and short-term clinical efficacy and adverse reactions in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Material and methods: In total, 53 patients were given the chemotherapy medications, gemcitabine and cisplatin, every 3 weeks. Plasma concentrations of gemcitabine were determined using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. A modified methodology of the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry system was verified and performed to detect plasma concentrations of gemcitabine. The clinical endpoints – short-term clinical efficacy and adverse reactions – were evaluated after two cycles. Results: The plasma concentration range of gemcitabine in 53 patients was 1.58-28.70μg/ml (mean 14.37±8.63μg/ml), with 28 patients in the >15μg/ml group (mean 21.76±3.45μg/ml), and 25 patients in the ≤15μg/ml group (mean 6.09±3.57μg/ml). The clinical benefit rate (CBR) of the >15μg/ml group was significantly higher than that of the 15μg/ml group (p<0.05). The incidences of leukopenia and neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and grade III-IV gastrointestinal reactions in the >15μg/ml group were significantly higher than in the ≤15μg/ml group (p<0.05). There was no statistical difference between the two groups in terms of the incidences of reduced hemoglobin, liver and kidney function damage, allergic reaction and rash (p>0.05). The analysis of the plasma concentration of gemcitabine and the percentage of reduction in neutrophil count (NEUT) (r2 = 0.3212; p<0.05) and platelet (PLT) (r2 = 0.6439; p<0.05) showed a significant positive correlation. Conclusions: In patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, a high plasma concentration of gemcitabine can improve the short-term clinical efficacy of treatment, but increase the incidence of grade III-IV adverse reactions. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2021; 35(1):72-82] Key words: Non-small cell lung cancer, gemcitabine, plasma concentration, short-term efficacy, adverse reaction

Transcriptional Regulations on the Low-Temperature-Induced Floral Transition in an Orchidaceae Species, Dendrobium nobile: An Expressed Sequence Tags Analysis

Vernalization-induced flowering is a cold-relevant adaptation in many species, but little is known about the genetic basis behind in Orchidaceae species. Here, we reported a collection of 15017 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from the vernalized axillary buds of an Orchidaceae species, Dendrobium nobile, which were assembled for 9616 unique gene clusters. Functional enrichment analysis showed that genes in relation to the responses to stresses, especially in the form of low temperatures, and those involving in protein biosynthesis and chromatin assembly were significantly overrepresented during 40 days of vernalization. Additionally, a total of 59 putative flowering-relevant genes were recognized, including those homologous to known key players in vernalization pathways in temperate cereals or Arabidopsis, such as cereal VRN1, FT/VRN3, and Arabidopsis AGL19. Results from this study suggest that the networks regulating vernalization-induced floral transition are conserved, but just in a part, in D. nobile, temperate cereals, and Arabidopsis

Hydrogen Chemisorption on Doubly Vanadium Doped Aluminum Clusters

Producción CientíficaThe interaction of hydrogen with doubly vanadium doped aluminum clusters, AlnV2+ (n = 1–12), is studied experimentally by time-of-flight mass spectrometry and infrared multiple photon dissociation spectroscopy. The hydrogen binding geometry is inferred from comparison with infrared spectra predicted by density functional theory and shows that for the more reactive clusters the hydrogen adsorbs dissociatively. Three sizes, n = 4, 5 and 7, are remarkably unreactive compared to the other clusters. For larger sizes the reactivity decreases, a behavior that is similar to that of singly vanadium doped aluminum clusters, and that might be attributed to geometric and/or electronic shielding of the dopants. By examining the electronic structure of Al6V2+ and Al7V2+, interactions between the frontier orbitals of the clusters and those of H2 that explain the size-dependent reactivity are identified.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project RYC-2014-15261