We present a robust method, weighted von Mises kernel density estimation, along with boundary correction to reconstruct the underlying number density field of galaxies. We apply this method to ...galaxies brighter than Hubble Space Telescope AB mag in the redshift range 0.4 ≤ z ≤ 5 in the five CANDELS fields (GOODS-N, GOODS-S, EGS, UDS, and COSMOS). We then use these measurements to explore the environmental dependence of the star formation activity of galaxies. We find strong evidence of environmental quenching for massive galaxies (M 1011 M ) out to z ∼ 3.5 such that an overdense environment hosts 20% more massive quiescent galaxies than an underdense region. We also find that environmental quenching efficiency grows with stellar mass and reaches ∼60% for massive galaxies at z ∼ 0.5. The environmental quenching is also more efficient than stellar mass quenching for low-mass galaxies (M 1010 M ) at low and intermediate redshifts (z 1.2). Our findings concur thoroughly with the "overconsumption" quenching model where the termination of cool gas accretion (cosmological starvation) happens in an overdense environment and the galaxy starts to consume its remaining gas reservoir in depletion time. The depletion time depends on the stellar mass and could explain the evolution of environmental quenching efficiency with stellar mass.
To achieve a fuller understanding of galaxy evolution, SED fitting can be used to recover quantities beyond stellar masses (M*) and star formation rates (SFRs). We use star formation histories (SFHs) ...reconstructed via the Dense Basis method of Iyer & Gawiser for a sample of 17,873 galaxies at 0.5 < z < 6 in the Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey GOODS-S field to study the nature and evolution of the SFR-M* correlation. The reconstructed SFHs represent trajectories in SFR-M* space, enabling us to study galaxies at epochs earlier than observed by propagating them backward in time along these trajectories. We study the SFR-M* correlation at z = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 using both direct fits to galaxies observed at those epochs and SFR-M* trajectories of galaxies observed at lower redshifts. The SFR-M* correlations obtained using the two approaches are found to be consistent with each other through a K-S test. Validation tests using SFHs from semi-analytic models and cosmological hydrodynamical simulations confirm the sensitivity of the method to changes in the slope, normalization, and shape of the SFR-M* correlation. This technique allows us to further probe the low-mass regime of the correlation at high z by ∼1 dex and over an effective volume of ∼10× larger than possible with just direct fits. We find that the SFR-M* correlation is consistent with being linear down to M* ∼ 106 M at z > 4. The evolution of the correlation is well described by , where tuniv is the age of the universe in Gyr.
The rate of major galaxy-galaxy merging is theoretically predicted to steadily increase with redshift during the peak epoch of massive galaxy development (1 ≤ z ≤ 3). We use close-pair statistics to ...objectively study the incidence of massive galaxies (stellar M1 > 2 × 1010 M⊙) hosting major companions (1 ≤ M1/M2 ≤ 4; i.e. <4:1) at six epochs spanning 0 < z < 3. We select companions from a nearly complete, mass-limited (≥5 × 109 M⊙) sample of 23 696 galaxies in the five Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey fields and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Using 5-50 kpc projected separation and close redshift proximity criteria, we find that the major companion fraction fmc(z) based on stellar mass-ratio (MR) selection increases from 6 per cent (z ∼ 0) to 16 per cent (z ∼ 0.8), then turns over at z ∼ 1 and decreases to 7 per cent (z ∼ 3). Instead, if we use a major F160W flux-ratio (FR) selection, we find that fmc(z) increases steadily until z = 3 owing to increasing contamination from minor (MR > 4:1) companions at z > 1. We show that these evolutionary trends are statistically robust to changes in companion proximity. We find disagreements between published results are resolved when selection criteria are closely matched. If we compute merger rates using constant fraction-to-rate conversion factors (Cmerg,pair = 0.6 and Tobs,pair = 0.65 Gyr), we find that MR rates disagree with theoretical predictions at z > 1.5. Instead, if we use an evolving Tobs,pair(z) ∝ (1 + z)-2 from Snyder et al., our MR-based rates agree with theory at 0 < z < 3. Our analysis underscores the need for detailed calibration of Cmerg,pair and Tobs,pair as a function of redshift, mass, and companion selection criteria to better constrain the empirical major merger history.
We present a WFC3 F160W (H-band) selected catalog in the CANDELS/GOODS-N field containing photometry from the ultraviolet (UV) to the far-infrared (IR), photometric redshifts, and stellar parameters ...derived from the analysis of the multiwavelength data. The catalog contains 35,445 sources over the 171 arcmin2 of the CANDELS F160W mosaic. The 5 detection limits (within an aperture of radius 0 17) of the mosaic range between H = 27.8, 28.2, and 28.7 in the wide, intermediate, and deep regions, which span approximately 50%, 15%, and 35% of the total area. The multiwavelength photometry includes broadband data from the UV (U band from KPNO and LBC), optical (HST/ACS F435W, F606W, F775W, F814W, and F850LP), near-to-mid IR (HST/WFC3 F105W, F125W, F140W, and F160W; Subaru/MOIRCS Ks; CFHT/Megacam K; and Spitzer/IRAC 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 m), and far-IR (Spitzer/MIPS 24 m, HERSCHEL/PACS 100 and 160 m, SPIRE 250, 350 and 500 m) observations. In addition, the catalog also includes optical medium-band data (R ∼ 50) in 25 consecutive bands, λ = 500-950 nm, from the SHARDS survey and WFC3 IR spectroscopic observations with the G102 and G141 grisms (R ∼ 210 and 130). The use of higher spectral resolution data to estimate photometric redshifts provides very high, and nearly uniform, precision from z = 0-2.5. The comparison to 1485 good-quality spectroscopic redshifts up to z ∼ 3 yields Δz/(1 + zspec) = 0.0032 and an outlier fraction of = 4.3%. In addition to the multiband photometry, we release value-added catalogs with emission-line fluxes, stellar masses, dust attenuations, UV- and IR-based star formation rates, and rest-frame colors.
Metabolite identification remains a bottleneck and a still unregulated area in untargeted LC-MS metabolomics. The metabolomics research community and, in particular, the metabolomics standards ...initiative (MSI) proposed minimum reporting standards for metabolomics including those for reporting metabolite identification as long ago as 2007. Initially, four levels were proposed ranging from level 1 (unambiguously identified analyte) to level 4 (unidentified analyte). This scheme was expanded in 2014, by independent research groups, to give five levels of confidence. Both schemes provided guidance to the researcher and described the logical steps that had to be made to reach a confident reporting level. These guidelines have been presented and discussed extensively, becoming well-known to authors, editors, and reviewers for academic publications. Despite continuous promotion within the metabolomics community, the application of such guidelines is questionable. The scope of this meta-analysis was to systematically review the current LC-MS-based literature and effectively determine the proportion of papers following the proposed guidelines. Also, within the scope of this meta-analysis was the measurement of the actual identification levels reported in the literature, that is to find how many of the published papers really reached full metabolite identification (level 1) and how many papers did not reach this level.
ABSTRACT
Hubble Space Telescope observations show that low-mass ($M_*=10^9\!-\!10^{10}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$) galaxies at high redshift (z = 1.0–2.5) tend to be elongated (prolate) rather than disky ...(oblate) or spheroidal. This is explained in zoom-in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations by the fact that these galaxies are forming in cosmic web filaments where accretion happens preferentially along the direction of elongation. We ask whether the elongated morphology of these galaxies allows them to be used as effective tracers of cosmic web filaments at high redshift via their intrinsic alignments. Using mock light cones and spectroscopically confirmed galaxy pairs from the Cosmic Assembly Near-infared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS), we test two types of alignments: (1) between the galaxy major axis and the direction to nearby galaxies of any mass and (2) between the major axes of nearby pairs of low-mass, likely prolate, galaxies. The mock light cones predict strong signals in 3D real space, 3D redshift space, and 2D projected redshift space for both types of alignments (assuming prolate galaxy orientations are the same as those of their host prolate haloes), but we do not detect significant alignment signals in CANDELS observations. However, we show that spectroscopic redshifts have been obtained for only a small fraction of highly elongated galaxies, and accounting for spectroscopic incompleteness and redshift errors significantly degrades the 2D mock signal. This may partly explain the alignment discrepancy and highlights one of several avenues for future work.
At intermediate and high redshifts, measurements of galaxy star formation rates are usually based on rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) data. A correction for dust attenuation, AUV, is needed for these ...measurements. This correction is typically inferred from UV spectral slopes (β) using an equation known as "Meurer's Relation." In this paper, we study this relation at a redshift of 1.5 using images and photometric measurements in the rest-frame UV (HST) through mid-infrared (Spitzer). It is shown that massive star-forming galaxies (above ) have dust corrections that are dependent on their inclination to the line of sight. Edge-on galaxies have higher AUV and infrared excess (IRX = L(IR)/L(UV)) than face-on galaxies at a given β. Interestingly, dust corrections for low-mass star-forming galaxies do not depend on inclination. This is likely because more massive galaxies have more disk-like shapes/kinematics, while low-mass galaxies are more prolate and have more disturbed kinematics. To account for an inclination-dependent dust correction, a modified Meurer's Relation is derived: , where b/a is the galaxy axis ratio. This inclination dependence of AUV can be explained by a two-component model of the dust distribution inside galaxies. In such a model, the dust attenuation of edge-on galaxies has a higher contribution from a mixture component (dust uniformly mixed with stars in the diffuse interstellar medium), and a lower contribution from a birth cloud component (near-spherical dust shells surrounding young stars in H ii regions) than that of face-on galaxies. The difference is caused by the larger path lengths through disks at higher inclinations.
One of the biggest open questions regarding the evolution of the galaxy population over time, is how their properties (such as their morphologies) are affected by their local environment, e.g. the ...density of matter in the region where they are found. In the local universe, studies have shown that elliptical galaxies are found predominantly in the central regions of galaxy clusters where densities are higher, while disk galaxies reside in regions of lower densities such as the edges of clusters and the low-density ”field”. We investigate if this pattern continues to exist at earlier times by using data from the CANDELS collaboration at redshifts up to z ∼ 3. For this, we make use of photometric redshift probability distributions (photo-z PDFs) for the galaxies observed by CANDELS. This required the development of new statistical methods to improve the quality of the PDFs measured by the CANDELS team, described in the thesis. We have used 3D-HST grism redshifts as well as spectroscopic redshifts where available, to test and optimize techniques for combining PDFs determined from multiple methods. We use morphological catalogs provided by the CANDELS team to select galaxies from three main categories: spheroid, disk, and irregular galaxies. We investigate the relative clustering of these different morphological types by estimating two-point cross correlation functions of each type with the full sample of CANDELS galaxies. Our results show that spheroid galaxies still cluster more strongly than disk galaxies at small separations at higher redshifts, while at larger separations the difference in their clustering amplitudes is not statistically significant. At the highest redshifts studied, clustering measurements are too noisy to detect differences in clustering strength, if any persist.
Untargeted metabolomics is an analytical approach with numerous applications serving as an effective metabolic phenotyping platform to characterize small molecules within a biological system. Data ...quality can be challenging to evaluate and demonstrate in metabolomics experiments. This has driven the use of pooled quality control (QC) samples for monitoring and, if necessary, correcting for analytical variance introduced during sample preparation and data acquisition stages. Described herein is a scoping literature review detailing the use of pooled QC samples in published untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based metabolomics studies. A literature query was performed, the list of papers was filtered, and suitable articles were randomly sampled. In total, 109 papers were each reviewed by at least five reviewers, answering predefined questions surrounding the use of pooled quality control samples. The results of the review indicate that use of pooled QC samples has been relatively widely adopted by the metabolomics community and that it is used at a similar frequency across biological taxa and sample types in both small- and large-scale studies. However, while many studies generated and analyzed pooled QC samples, relatively few reported the use of pooled QC samples to improve data quality. This demonstrates a clear opportunity for the field to more frequently utilize pooled QC samples for quality reporting, feature filtering, analytical drift correction, and metabolite annotation. Additionally, our survey approach enabled us to assess the ambiguity in the reporting of the methods used to describe the generation and use of pooled QC samples. This analysis indicates that many details of the QC framework are missing or unclear, limiting the reader's ability to determine which QC steps have been taken. Collectively, these results capture the current state of pooled QC sample usage and highlight existing strengths and deficiencies as they are applied in untargeted LC-MS metabolomics.
The national infrastructure FoodOmicsGR_RI coordinates research efforts from eight Greek Universities and Research Centers in a network aiming to support research and development (R&D) in the ...agri-food sector. The goals of FoodOmicsGR_RI are the comprehensive in-depth characterization of foods using cutting-edge omics technologies and the support of dietary/nutrition studies. The network combines strong omics expertise with expert field/application scientists (food/nutrition sciences, plant protection/plant growth, animal husbandry, apiculture and 10 other fields). Human resources involve more than 60 staff scientists and more than 30 recruits. State-of-the-art technologies and instrumentation is available for the comprehensive mapping of the food composition and available genetic resources, the assessment of the distinct value of foods, and the effect of nutritional intervention on the metabolic profile of biological samples of consumers and animal models. The consortium has the know-how and expertise that covers the breadth of the Greek agri-food sector. Metabolomics teams have developed and implemented a variety of methods for profiling and quantitative analysis. The implementation plan includes the following research axes: development of a detailed database of Greek food constituents; exploitation of "omics" technologies to assess domestic agricultural biodiversity aiding authenticity-traceability control/certification of geographical/genetic origin; highlighting unique characteristics of Greek products with an emphasis on quality, sustainability and food safety; assessment of diet's effect on health and well-being; creating added value from agri-food waste. FoodOmicsGR_RI develops new tools to evaluate the nutritional value of Greek foods, study the role of traditional foods and Greek functional foods in the prevention of chronic diseases and support health claims of Greek traditional products. FoodOmicsGR_RI provides access to state-of-the-art facilities, unique, well-characterised sample sets, obtained from precision/experimental farming/breeding (milk, honey, meat, olive oil and so forth) along with more than 20 complementary scientific disciplines. FoodOmicsGR_RI is open for collaboration with national and international stakeholders.
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