We present the source separation framework scarlet for multi-band images, which is based on a generalization of the Non-negative Matrix Factorization to alternative and several simultaneous ...constraints. Our approach describes the observed scene as a mixture of components with compact spatial support and uniform spectra over their support. We present the algorithm to perform the matrix factorization and introduce constraints that are useful for optical images of stars and distinct stellar populations in galaxies, in particular symmetry and monotonicity with respect to the source peak position. We also derive the treatment of correlated noise and convolutions with band-dependent point spread functions, rendering our approach applicable to coadded images observed under variable seeing conditions. scarlet thus yields a PSF-matched photometry measurement with an optimally chosen weight function given by the mean morphology in all available bands. We demonstrate the performance of scarlet for deblending crowded extragalactic scenes and on an AGN jet–host galaxy separation problem in deep 5-band imaging from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Strategic Survey Program. Using simulations with prominent crowding we show that scarlet yields superior results to the HSC-SDSS deblender for the recovery of total fluxes, colors, and morphologies. Due to its non-parametric nature, a conceptual limitation of scarlet is its sensitivity to undetected sources or multiple stellar population within detected sources, but an iterative strategy that adds components at the location of significant residuals appears promising. The code is implemented in Python with C++ extensions and is available at https://github.com/fred3m/scarlet.
We demonstrate a qubit readout scheme that exploits the Jaynes-Cummings nonlinearity of a superconducting cavity coupled to transmon qubits. We find that, in the strongly driven dispersive regime of ...this system, there is the unexpected onset of a high-transmission "bright" state at a critical power which depends sensitively on the initial qubit state. A simple and robust measurement protocol exploiting this effect achieves a single-shot fidelity of 87% using a conventional sample design and experimental setup, and at least 61% fidelity to joint correlations of three qubits.
We present a new instrument, the Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM), which routinely characterizes and monitors the mass and chemical composition of non-refractory submicron particulate ...matter in real time. Under ambient conditions, mass concentrations of particulate organics, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and chloride are obtained with a detection limit <0.2 μg/m
3
for 30 min of signal averaging. The ACSM is built upon the same technology as the widely used Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS), in which an aerodynamic particle focusing lens is combined with high vacuum thermal particle vaporization, electron impact ionization, and mass spectrometry. Modifications in the ACSM design, however, allow it to be smaller, lower cost, and simpler to operate than the AMS. The ACSM is also capable of routine stable operation for long periods of time (months). Results from a field measurement campaign in Queens, NY where the ACSM operated unattended and continuously for 8 weeks, are presented. ACSM data is analyzed with the same well-developed techniques that are used for the AMS. Trends in the ACSM mass concentrations observed during the Queens, NY study compare well with those from co-located instruments. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) of the ACSM organic aerosol spectra extracts two components: hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA) and oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA). The mass spectra and time trends of both components correlate well with PMF results obtained from a co-located high resolution time-of-flight AMS instrument.
AbstractA new framework for bridge-deflection estimation through inclinometer data is presented in this paper. Whether the structure is damaged or not, deflection could be precisely estimated via the ...finite-element model (FEM) combined with the partial least-square regression (PLSR) method. In addition, damage localization is achieved at the same time. First, the deflection of a damaged structure is equivalent to that of an undamaged structure but subjected to special virtual loads. Second, the basis functions used in regression are calculated by the FEM of the undamaged structure rather than pure mathematical derivations. Third, the PLSR model is built on the basis of these basis functions and measured inclination data. By solving the PLSR equation, all the nodal inclinations and corresponding nodal loads of the structure could be obtained despite a limited number of measured nodes. Finally, the rotation-displacement transfer matrix is derived to reconstruct deflection from estimated inclinations, and the changes in nodal loads are served as damage indicators. To verify its effectiveness, numerical simulations considering various damage scenarios and different noise levels are performed. The results indicate that the proposed method is quite accurate and reliable in deflection estimation, and it could provide rough damage localization as well, which reveals a great potential in the field of structural health monitoring.
Periodontitis is one of the most prevalent chronic inflammatory diseases and is induced by the interaction between oral microorganisms and the host immune system. Plasma cells are of special interest ...in chronic periodontitis (CP), as they represent ~50% of infiltrated immune cells in periodontal lesions. Plasma cells constitute the only known cell type capable of antibody production; however, recent evidence supports an emerging role for distinct sets of plasma cells in cytokine production. However, the presence of cytokine-producing plasma cells in CP is unknown. In this study, we used immunohistochemistry to detect significantly elevated levels of IL-35 and IL-37 (2 recently identified anti-inflammatory cytokines) in CP gingival tissue as compared with healthy tissue. Remarkably, we demonstrate that CD138+ CD38+ plasma cells are the major immune cell type in CP gingival tissues and that these cells produce IL-35 and IL-37. We used immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy analysis to identify a subset of plasma cells with robust cytoplasmic expression of IL-37—we denote this subset as IL-37-producing plasma cells (CD138+CD38+PIL-37). Another subset of plasma cells coproduces IL-35 and IL-37 and is denoted as IL-37/IL-35-coproducing plasma cells (CD138+CD38+PIL-35/IL-37). We determined that these 2 plasma cell subsets are IgG+plasma cells. Moreover, we show that human recombinant IL-35 and IL-37 exhibit a dose-dependent inhibition of osteoclast formation in vitro (~78.9% and 97.7% inhibition in 300 ng/mL of IL-35 and IL-37, respectively, P < 0.05). Overall, our findings suggest that PIL-37 and PIL-35/IL-37 exist as subsets of plasma cells in CP lesions and that these 2 new types of plasma cells may regulate periodontitis pathogenesis by inhibiting alveolar bone loss through directly blocking osteoclast formation. Importantly, these data suggest a novel role of plasma cells and offer potential new mechanistic and regulatory targets to be investigated in the context of periodontal health and disease.
The MICOS complex (mitochondrial contact site and cristae organizing system) is essential for mitochondrial inner membrane organization and mitochondrial membrane contacts, however, the molecular ...regulation of MICOS assembly and the physiological functions of MICOS in mammals remain obscure. Here, we report that Mic60/Mitofilin has a critical role in the MICOS assembly, which determines the mitochondrial morphology and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) organization. The downregulation of Mic60/Mitofilin or Mic19/CHCHD3 results in instability of other MICOS components, disassembly of MICOS complex and disorganized mitochondrial cristae. We show that there exists direct interaction between Mic60/Mitofilin and Mic19/CHCHD3, which is crucial for their stabilization in mammals. Importantly, we identified that the mitochondrial i-AAA protease Yme1L regulates Mic60/Mitofilin homeostasis. Impaired MICOS assembly causes the formation of 'giant mitochondria' because of dysregulated mitochondrial fusion and fission. Also, mtDNA nucleoids are disorganized and clustered in these giant mitochondria in which mtDNA transcription is attenuated because of remarkable downregulation of some key mtDNA nucleoid-associated proteins. Together, these findings demonstrate that Mic60/Mitofilin homeostasis regulated by Yme1L is central to the MICOS assembly, which is required for maintenance of mitochondrial morphology and organization of mtDNA nucleoids.
One of the greatest challenges in the application of organic phase change materials (PCMs) is to increase their thermal conductivity while maintaining high phase change enthalpy. 1-Tetradecanol/Ag ...nanowires composite PCM containing 62.73 wt% (about 11.8 vol%) of Ag nanowires showed remarkably high thermal conductivity (1.46 W m
−1
K
−1
) and reasonably high phase change enthalpy (76.5 J g
−1
). This behavior was attributed to the high aspect ratio of Ag nanowires, few thermal conduct interfaces, and high interface thermal conductivity of Ag nanowires in the composite PCM. These results indicated that Ag nanowires might be strong candidates for thermal conductivity enhancement of organic PCMs.
Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Previous studies have suggested that the maternal vaginal microbiota contributes to the pathophysiology of PTB, but ...conflicting results in recent years have raised doubts. We conducted a study of PTB compared with term birth in two cohorts of pregnant women: one predominantly Caucasian (n = 39) at low risk for PTB, the second predominantly African American and at high-risk (n = 96). We profiled the taxonomic composition of 2,179 vaginal swabs collected prospectively and weekly during gestation using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Previously proposed associations between PTB and lower Lactobacillus and higher Gardnerella abundances replicated in the low-risk cohort, but not in the high-risk cohort. High-resolution bioinformatics enabled taxonomic assignment to the species and subspecies levels, revealing that Lactobacillus crispatus was associated with low risk of PTB in both cohorts, while Lactobacillus iners was not, and that a subspecies clade of Gardnerella vaginalis explained the genus association with PTB. Patterns of cooccurrence between L. crispatus and Gardnerella were highly exclusive, while Gardnerella and L. iners often coexisted at high frequencies. We argue that the vaginal microbiota is better represented by the quantitative frequencies of these key taxa than by classifying communities into five community state types. Our findings extend and corroborate the association between the vaginal microbiota and PTB, demonstrate the benefits of high-resolution statistical bioinformatics in clinical microbiome studies, and suggest that previous conflicting results may reflect the different risk profile of women of black race.
Parasitic wasps rely on olfaction to locate their hosts in complex chemical environments. Odorant receptors (ORs) function together with well‐conserved odorant coreceptors (ORcos) to determine the ...sensitivity and specificity of olfactory reception. Campoletis chlorideae (Hymenoptera: Ichneunmonidae) is a solitary larval endoparasitoid of the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, and some other noctuid species. To understand the molecular basis of C. chlorideae’s olfactory reception, we sequenced the transcriptome of adult male and female heads (including antennae) and identified 211 OR transcripts, with 95 being putatively full length. The tissue expression profiles, as assessed by reverse‐transcription PCR, showed that seven ORs were expressed only or more highly in female antennae. Their functions were analysed using the Xenopu slaevis oocyte expression system and two‐electrode voltage‐clamp recordings. CchlOR62 was tuned to cis‐jasmone, which was attractive to female C. chlorideae adults and H. armigera larvae in the subsequent behavioural assays. Further bioassays using caged plants showed that the parasitism rate of H. armigera larvae by C. chlorideae on cis‐jasmone‐treated tobacco plants was higher than on the control plants. Thus, cis‐jasmone appears to be an important infochemical involved in the interactions of plants, H. armigera and C. chlorideae, and CchlOR62 mediates the attractiveness of cis‐jasmone to C. chlorideae.
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