Ejecta velocity of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is one powerful tool to differentiate between progenitor scenarios and explosion mechanisms. Here we revisit the relation between photospheric Si ii ...λ6355 velocities (vSi ii) and host-galaxy properties with ∼280 SNe Ia. A more stringent criterion on the phase of SN spectra is adopted to classify SNe Ia in terms of their photospheric velocities. We find a significant trend that SNe Ia with faster Si ii λ6355 (high-vSi ii SNe Ia) tend to explode in massive environments, whereas their slower counterparts can be found in both lower-mass and massive environments. This trend is further supported by the direct measurements on host gas-phase metallicities. We suggest this relation is likely caused by at least two populations of SNe Ia. Since stars of higher metallicity (at a given mass) generally form less massive white dwarfs, our results support some theoretical models that high-vSi ii SNe Ia may originate from sub-Chandrasekhar class of explosions. Previous observations also showed some evidence that high-vSi ii SNe Ia could be related to the single degenerate systems. However, we find high-vSi ii SNe Ia do not come from particularly young populations. We conclude metallicity is likely the dominant factor in forming high-vSi ii SNe Ia. This also implies their potential evolution with redshift and impact on the precision of SN Ia cosmology.
Abstract
We present constraints on cosmological parameters from the Pantheon+ analysis of 1701 light curves of 1550 distinct Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) ranging in redshift from
z
= 0.001 to 2.26. ...This work features an increased sample size from the addition of multiple cross-calibrated photometric systems of SNe covering an increased redshift span, and improved treatments of systematic uncertainties in comparison to the original Pantheon analysis, which together result in a factor of 2 improvement in cosmological constraining power. For a flat ΛCDM model, we find Ω
M
= 0.334 ± 0.018 from SNe Ia alone. For a flat
w
0
CDM model, we measure
w
0
= −0.90 ± 0.14 from SNe Ia alone,
H
0
= 73.5 ± 1.1 km s
−1
Mpc
−1
when including the Cepheid host distances and covariance (SH0ES), and
w
0
=
−
0.978
−
0.031
+
0.024
when combining the SN likelihood with Planck constraints from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO); both
w
0
values are consistent with a cosmological constant. We also present the most precise measurements to date on the evolution of dark energy in a flat
w
0
w
a
CDM universe, and measure
w
a
=
−
0.1
−
2.0
+
0.9
from Pantheon+ SNe Ia alone,
H
0
= 73.3 ± 1.1 km s
−1
Mpc
−1
when including SH0ES Cepheid distances, and
w
a
=
−
0.65
−
0.32
+
0.28
when combining Pantheon+ SNe Ia with CMB and BAO data. Finally, we find that systematic uncertainties in the use of SNe Ia along the distance ladder comprise less than one-third of the total uncertainty in the measurement of
H
0
and cannot explain the present “Hubble tension” between local measurements and early universe predictions from the cosmological model.
Black garlic is obtained from fresh garlic (Allium sativum L.) that has been fermented for a period of time at a controlled high temperature (60–90°C) under controlled high humidity (80–90%). When ...compared with fresh garlic, black garlic does not release a strong offensive flavor owing to the reduced content of allicin. Enhanced bioactivity of black garlic compared with that of fresh garlic is attributed to its changes in physicochemical properties. Studies concerning the fundamental findings of black garlic, such as its production, bioactivity, and applications, have thus been conducted. Several types of black garlic products are also available in the market with a fair selling volume. In this article, we summarize the current knowledge of changes in the components, bioactivity, production, and applications of black garlic, as well as the proposed future prospects on their possible applications as a functional food product.
Display omitted
•Component change of garlic during fermentation is summarized.•Production, bioactivity, and application are summarized.•Different types and functions of black garlic products are introduced.
Most Type I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) reported to date have been identified by their high peak luminosities and spectra lacking obvious signs of hydrogen. We demonstrate that these events ...can be distinguished from normal-luminosity SNe (including Type Ic events) solely from their spectra over a wide range of light-curve phases. We use this distinction to select 19 SLSNe-I and four possible SLSNe-I from the Palomar Transient Factory archive (including seven previously published objects). We present 127 new spectra of these objects and combine these with 39 previously published spectra, and we use these to discuss the average spectral properties of SLSNe-I at different spectral phases. We find that Mn ii most probably contributes to the ultraviolet spectral features after maximum light, and we give a detailed study of the O ii features that often characterize the early-time optical spectra of SLSNe-I. We discuss the velocity distribution of O ii, finding that for some SLSNe-I this can be confined to a narrow range compared to relatively large systematic velocity shifts. Mg ii and Fe ii favor higher velocities than O ii and C ii, and we briefly discuss how this may constrain power-source models. We tentatively group objects by how well they match either SN 2011ke or PTF12dam and discuss the possibility that physically distinct events may have been previously grouped together under the SLSN-I label.
Obesity has been associated with cognition in observational studies; however, whether its effect is confounding or a reverse causality remains inconclusive. This study aimed to investigate the causal ...relationships of overall obesity, measured by body mass index (BMI), and abdominal adiposity, measured by waist-hip ratio adjusted for BMI (WHRadjBMI), and cognition across European and Asian populations using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.
We used publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data of European ancestry, including BMI (n = 322,154) and WHRadjBMI (n = 210,088) from the GIANT consortium, and cognition performance (n = 257,828) from the UK Biobank and COGENT consortium. Data for individuals of Asian ancestry were retrieved from Taiwan Biobank to perform GWAS for BMI (n = 65,689), WHRadjBMI (n = 65,683), and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE, n = 21,273). MR analysis was carried out using the inverse-variance weighted method for the main results. Further, we examined the overall pleiotropy by MR-Egger intercept, and detected and adjusted for possible outliers using MR PRESSO.
No causal effect of BMI on cognition performance (beta 95% CI = 0.00 -0.07, 0.07, p value = 0.91) was found for Europeans; however, a 1-SD increase in WHRadjBMI was associated with a 0.07 standardized score decrease in cognition performance (beta 95% CI = -0.07 -0.12, -0.02, p value = 0.006). Further, no causal effect of BMI on MMSE (beta 95% CI = 0.01 -0.08, 0.10, p = 0.91) was found for Asians; however, a 1-SD increase in WHRadjBMI was associated with a 0.17 standardized score decrease in MMSE (beta 95% CI = -0.17 -0.30, -0.03, p = 0.02). In both populations, overall pleiotropy was not detected, and outliers did not affect the robustness of the main findings.
This trans-ethnic MR study reveals that abdominal adiposity, as measured by WHR adjusted for BMI, impairs cognition, whereas weak evidence suggests that BMI impairs cognition.
Scope
The aging biomarkers are alternatives and none of them can act as a strong predictor of frailty during the progression of aging. Several studies reveal the relationship between metabolites and ...frailty or gut microbiota and frailty. However, the connection between metabolites and gut microbiota in non‐robust older adults has not been discussed yet. The study aims to combine the findings of serum metabolites and gut microbiota in non‐robust subjects as a possible diagnostic biomarker.
Methods and results
Frailty‐related assessments are conducted to ensure the discrimination of non‐robustness. The serum and fecal are collected for serum metabolomics and gut microbiota analysis. Robust and non‐robust subjects show very different gut microbial compositions. Among the gut microbial differences, Escherichia/Shigella and its higher taxonomic ranks are found to have the most discriminative abundance among compared groups. More importantly, the abundance of Escherichia/Shigella is found to be positively correlated (p < 0.05) with the level of discriminant metabolites, such as serum oxoglutarate, glutamic acid, and 1‐methyladenosine.
Conclusion
These results indicate the obvious interrelation between gut microbiota and serum metabolites in non‐robust older adults. Besides, the findings suggest that Escherichia/Shigella can be a potential biomarker candidate for robustness sub‐phenotypic identification.
The abundance of Escherichia/Shigella is found to be positively correlated with the level of discriminant metabolites, such as serum oxoglutarate, glutamic acid, and 1‐methyladenosine.
Astrocytes play important roles in neurological disorders such as stroke, injury, and neurodegeneration. Most knowledge on astrocyte biology is based on studies of mouse models and the similarities ...and differences between human and mouse astrocytes are insufficiently characterized, presenting a barrier in translational research. Based on analyses of acutely purified astrocytes, serum-free cultures of primary astrocytes, and xenografted chimeric mice, we find extensive conservation in astrocytic gene expression between human and mouse samples. However, the genes involved in defense response and metabolism show species-specific differences. Human astrocytes exhibit greater susceptibility to oxidative stress than mouse astrocytes, due to differences in mitochondrial physiology and detoxification pathways. In addition, we find that mouse but not human astrocytes activate a molecular program for neural repair under hypoxia, whereas human but not mouse astrocytes activate the antigen presentation pathway under inflammatory conditions. Here, we show species-dependent properties of astrocytes, which can be informative for improving translation from mouse models to humans.
By converting ambient energy into electricity, energy harvesting is capable of at least offsetting, or even replacing, the reliance of small portable electronics on traditional power supplies, such ...as batteries. Here we demonstrate a novel and simple generator with extremely low cost for efficiently harvesting mechanical energy that is typically present in the form of vibrations and random displacements/deformation. Owing to the coupling of contact charging and electrostatic induction, electric generation was achieved with a cycled process of contact and separation between two polymer films. A detailed theory is developed for understanding the proposed mechanism. The instantaneous electric power density reached as high as 31.2 mW/cm3 at a maximum open circuit voltage of 110 V. Furthermore, the generator was successfully used without electric storage as a direct power source for pulse electrodeposition (PED) of micro/nanocrystalline silver structure. The cathodic current efficiency reached up to 86.6%. Not only does this work present a new type of generator that is featured by simple fabrication, large electric output, excellent robustness, and extremely low cost, but also extends the application of energy-harvesting technology to the field of electrochemistry with further utilizations including, but not limited to, pollutant degradation, corrosion protection, and water splitting.
Scope
Aging is a natural process characterized by a multifactorial, physical decline, and functional disability. Nevertheless, healthy aging can be achieved by following a multidirectional strategy. ...The current study aims to investigate the anti‐aging potential of fermented black soybean and adlay (FBA).
Methods and results
FBA supplements are incorporated into a natural aging mouse model that is designed to evaluate anti‐aging effects. Results show that FBA supplementation prevents muscle loss and visceral adipose tissue accumulation. FBA can also reduce aging biomarkers (including the expression of hepatic p16INK4A and galactosidase beta‐1 (GLB1). Hepatic 8‐hydoxy‐2'‐deoxyguanosine (8‐oxodG) and pro‐inflammatory cytokines have been significantly reduced. Lastly, FBA supplementation improves aging‐related gut microbial dysbiosis by reshaping gut microbial composition and promoting the growth of beneficial microbes such as Alistipes, Anaeroplasma, Coriobacteriaceae UCG002, and Parvibacter members in both genders of aged mice. In the functional prediction of gut microbiota, correlations to metabolic, neurodegenerative, infectious, and immune system diseases have been reduced in supplemented mice compared to aged mice. Moreover, FBA supplementation can reverse the reduced ability of microbiota in aged mice for lipid metabolism and xenobiotics biodegradation.
Conclusions
The results suggest that FBA exhibits noteworthy anti‐aging effects and that it can potentially be developed into a functional food for healthy aging.
Fermented soybean and adlay (FBA), a new form of Japanese natto product achieves healthy aging with the concept of whole food. FBA supplementation in diet prevents muscle loss and visceral adipose tissue accumulation in natural aging mice. FBA improves the issues of inflammaging and oxidative stress. Age‐related gut microbial dysbiosis can be ameliorated with supplementation of FBA during aging.
Automated classification of supernovae (SNe) based on optical photometric light-curve information is essential in the upcoming era of wide-field time domain surveys, such as the Legacy Survey of ...Space and Time (LSST) conducted by the Rubin Observatory. Photometric classification can enable real-time identification of interesting events for extended multiwavelength follow-up, as well as archival population studies. Here we present the complete sample of 5243 "SN-like" light curves (in gP1rP1iP1zP1) from the Pan-STARRS1 Medium-Deep Survey (PS1-MDS). The PS1-MDS is similar to the planned LSST Wide-Fast-Deep survey in terms of cadence, filters, and depth, making this a useful training set for the community. Using this data set, we train a novel semisupervised machine learning algorithm to photometrically classify 2315 new SN-like light curves with host galaxy spectroscopic redshifts. Our algorithm consists of an RF supervised classification step and a novel unsupervised step in which we introduce a recurrent autoencoder neural network (RAENN). Our final pipeline, dubbed SuperRAENN, has an accuracy of 87% across five SN classes (Type Ia, Ibc, II, IIn, SLSN-I) and macro-averaged purity and completeness of 66% and 69%, respectively. We find the highest accuracy rates for SNe Ia and SLSNe and the lowest for SNe Ibc. Our complete spectroscopically and photometrically classified samples break down into 62.0% Type Ia (1839 objects), 19.8% Type II (553 objects), 4.8% Type IIn (136 objects), 11.7% Type Ibc (291 objects), and 1.6% Type I SLSNe (54 objects).
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