Closed-loop control of complex networks : A trade-off between time and energy

W. L. is supported by the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grants No. 11322111 and No. 61773125). Y.-Z. S. is supported by the NSFC (Grant No. 61403393). Y.-C. L. acknowledges support from the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship program sponsored by the Basic Research Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and funded by the Office of Naval Research through Grant No. N00014-16-1-2828. Y.-Z. S. and S.-Y. L. contributed equally to this work.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Sex-Specific Correlations of Individual Heterozygosity, Parasite Load, and Scalation Asymmetry in a Sexually Dichromatic Lizard

Heterozygosity-fitness correlations (HFCs) provide insights into the genetic bases of individual fitness variation in natural populations. However, despite decades of study, the biological significance of HFCs is still under debate. In this study, we investigated HFCs in a large population of the sexually dimorphic lizard Takydromus viridipunctatus (Lacertidae). Because of the high prevalence of parasitism from trombiculid mites in this lizard, we expect individual fitness (i.e., survival) to decrease with increasing parasite load. Furthermore, because morphological asymmetry is likely to influence individuals\u27 mobility (i.e., limb asymmetry) and male biting ability during copulation (i.e., head asymmetry) in this species, we also hypothesize that individual fitness should decrease with increasing morphological asymmetry. Although we did not formally test the relationship between morphological asymmetry and fitness in this lizard, we demonstrated that survival decreased with increasing parasite load using a capture-mark-recapture data set. We used a separate sample of 140 lizards to test the correlations between individual heterozygosity (i.e., standardized mean d2 and HL based on 10 microsatellite loci) and the two fitness traits (i.e., parasite load and morphological asymmetry). We also evaluated and excluded the possibility that single-locus effects produced spurious HFCs. Our results suggest male-only, negative correlations between individual heterozygosity and parasite load and between individual heterozygosity and asymmetry, suggesting sex-specific, positive HFCs. Male T. viridipunctatus with higher heterozygosity tend to have lower parasite loads (i.e., higher survival) and lower asymmetry, providing a rare example of HFC in reptiles

Enhancing CO2 Electroreduction to Ethanol on Copper-Silver Composites by Opening an Alternative Catalytic Pathway

A fundamental question in the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is how to rationally control the catalytic selectivity. For instance, adding a CO-producing metal like Ag to Cu shifts the latter’s CO2RR selectivity towards C2 products, but the underlying cause of the change is unclear. Herein, we show that CuAg boundaries facilitate the coupling of carbon-containing species to give ethanol, through an otherwise closed pathway. Oxide-derived Cu nanowires mixed with 20 nm Ag particles (Cu:Ag mole ratio of 1:20) reduce CO2 to ethanol with a current density of -4.1 mA/cm2 at -1.1 V vs. RHE and ethanol/ethylene Faradaic efficiency ratio of 1.1. These figures of merit are respectively 5 and 3 times higher than those for pure oxide-derived Cu nanowires. CO2RR using different Ag:Cu ratios and Ag particle sizes reveals that ethanol production scales with CO production on the Ag sites and the abundance of CuAg boundaries, and, very interestingly, without significant modifications to ethylene formation. Computational modelling shows selective ethanol evolution via Langmuir-Hinshelwood *CO + *CHx (x = 1, 2) coupling at CuAg boundaries, and that the formation of energy-intensive CO dimers is circumvented.This work is supported by an academic research fund (R-143-000-683-112) from the Ministry of Education, Singapore and the National University of Singapore Flagship Green Energy Program (R-143-000-A55-646 and R-143-000-A55-733). F.C.-V acknowledges funding from Spanish MICIUN RTI2018-095460–B-I00 and María de Maeztu MDM-2017-0767 grants and, in part, by Generalitat de Catalunya 2017SGR13. O.P. thanks the Spanish MICIUN for a PhD grant (PRE2018-083811). We thank Red Española de Supercomputación (RES) for supercomputing time at SCAYLE (projects QS-2019-3-0018, QS-2019-2-0023 and QCM-2019-1-0034). The use of supercomputing facilities at SURFsara was sponsored by NWO Physical Sciences, with financial support by NWO. We also thank Cheryldine Lim from the SERIS for assisting with SEM and EDX mapping experiments, and Futian You and Ka Yau Lee from the NUS for assisting with TEM imaging

Chemometry use in the evaluation of the sanya bay water quality

No presente estudo foi realizada a identificação dos efeitos antropogênicos e das características naturais marinhas das águas da Baía de Sanya, situada ao sul do Mar da China, através de método quimiométrico. A análise de componentes principais (PCA) aplicada aos dados extraiu quatro eixos que explicaram 85,52% da variância total dos dados. Através das análises de Agrupamento e PCA foram identificados três padrões diferentes de qualidade das águas, baseados nos efeitos antropogênicos e nas características marinhas: Grupo I, localizado nas partes externa e mediana da baía; Grupo II, próximo do centro urbano de Sanya; Grupo III, localizado no estuário do Rio Sanya. Quanto ao padrão temporal, as referidas análises distinguiram uma estação seca, de novembro a abril, e uma estação chuvosa, de maio a outubro, relacionadas ao clima e características naturais. Foi visto que tanto a fonte poluidora externa, representada pelo Rio Sanya, quanto as águas do Mar do Sul da China influenciam a qualidade das águas da Baía de Sanya. Esses resultados podem ser relevantes quando considerados sob o ponto de vista do desenvolvimento socioeconômico e de saúde humana dessa região.In this study, chemometric method is employed to identify anthropogenic effects on the water quality in Sanya Bay, South China Sea, and its marine and natural characteristics. Principal component analysis has extracted the four latent factors, thus explaining 85.52% of the total variance. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis have identified three different patterns of water quality based on anthropogenic effects and marine characteristics: Cluster I located in the outer and middle parts of the bay, Cluster II close to downtown Sanya, Cluster III located in the Sanya River estuary. In terms of the temporal pattern, principal component analysis and cluster analysis have distinguished the dry season from November to the following April, and the rainy season from May to October. The temporal pattern is related to climate and natural characteristics. The similarity index between variables and scores of samples can further distinguish the contribution of the variables to the samples. Both the polluting sources external to the Sanya River and the water from the South China Sea exercise an important influence on the water quality in Sanya Bay. These results may be valuable for socioeconomic development and human health in the Sanya Bay area

A one-dimensional ladder-like coordination polymer: poly[[hexa­aqua­bis(μ-5-nitro­benzene-1,3-dicarboxyl­ato-κ3 O,O′,O′′)(μ-oxalato-κ4 O,O′:O′′,O′′′)diyttrium(III)] trihydrate]

In the crystal structure of the title one-dimensional coordination polymer, [Y2(C8H3NO6)2(C2O4)(H2O)6]·3H2O, each YIII ion is bridged to its neighbours by two 5-nitro­benzene-1,3-dicarboxyl­ate (nbdc) dianions and one oxalate dianion (located on an inversion centre) to form a ladder-like polymeric structure. The two carboxylate groups of nbdc assume different modes of coordination, one is chelating whereas the other is monodentate. Three water mol­ecules coordinate to the YIII ion to complete an eight-coordinate distorted dodecahedral geometry. The ladder-like polymers are assembled together by hydrogen bonding and π–π stacking [centrio–centriod distance = 3.819 (9) Å] in the crystal structure

Bromidotricarbon­yl[2-(pyridin-2-yl-κN)-5-p-tolyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-κN 3]rhenium(I) dichloro­methane monosolvate

In the title compound, [ReBr(C14H11N3O)(CO)3]·CH2Cl2, the coordination geometry of the ReI atom is a distorted ReC3N2Br octa­hedron with the carbonyl C atoms in a fac arrangement. Within the 2-(pyridin-2-yl)-5-p-tolyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole ligand, the dihedral angles between the oxadiazole ring and the pyridine (py) and benzene (bz) rings are 1.7 (2) and 7.1 (2)°, respectively, and the dihedral angle between the py and bz rings is 5.5 (2)°. In the crystal, aromatic π–π stacking between the oxadiazole rings of adjacent mol­ecules [centroid–centroid separation = 3.465 (3) Å] is seen

Demonstration of Adiabatic Variational Quantum Computing with a Superconducting Quantum Coprocessor

Adiabatic quantum computing enables the preparation of many-body ground states. This is key for applications in chemistry, materials science, and beyond. Realisation poses major experimental challenges: Direct analog implementation requires complex Hamiltonian engineering, while the digitised version needs deep quantum gate circuits. To bypass these obstacles, we suggest an adiabatic variational hybrid algorithm, which employs short quantum circuits and provides a systematic quantum adiabatic optimisation of the circuit parameters. The quantum adiabatic theorem promises not only the ground state but also that the excited eigenstates can be found. We report the first experimental demonstration that many-body eigenstates can be efficiently prepared by an adiabatic variational algorithm assisted with a multi-qubit superconducting coprocessor. We track the real-time evolution of the ground and exited states of transverse-field Ising spins with a fidelity up that can reach about 99%.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure