Recent far-UV (FUV) and near-UV (NUV) observations of the nearby galaxy NGC 4625 made by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) show the presence of an extended UV disk reaching to 4 times the optical ...radius of the galaxy. The UV-to-optical colors suggest that the bulk of the stars in the disk of NGC 4625 are currently being formed, providing a unique opportunity to study today the physics of star formation under conditions similar to those when the normal disks of spiral galaxies like the Milky Way first formed. In the case of NGC 4625, the star formation in the extended disk is likely to be triggered by interaction with NGC 4618 and possibly also with the newly discovered galaxy NGC 4625A. The positions of the FUV complexes in the extended disk coincide with peaks in the H I distribution. The masses of these complexes are in the range 10 super(3)-10 super(4) M sub( ), with their Ha emission (when present) being dominated by ionization from single stars.
Gene families are sets of structurally and evolutionarily related genes - in one or multiple species - that typically share a conserved biological function. As such, the identification and subsequent ...analyses of entire gene families are widely employed in the fields of evolutionary and functional genomics of both well established and newly sequenced plant genomes. Currently, plant gene families are typically identified using one of two major ways: 1) HMM-profile based searches using models built on Arabidopsis thaliana genes or 2) coding sequence homology searches using curated databases. Integrated databases containing functionally annotated genes and gene families have been developed for model organisms and several important crops; however, a comprehensive methodology for gene family annotation is currently lacking, preventing automated annotation of newly sequenced genomes.
This paper proposes a combined measure of homology identification, motif conservation, phylogenomic and integrated gene expression analyses to define gene family structures in multiple plant species. The MAP3K gene families in seven plant species, including two currently unexamined species Gossypium hirsutum, and Zostera marina, were characterized to reveal new insights into their collective function and evolution and demonstrate the effectiveness of our novel methodology.
Compared with recent reports, this methodology performs significantly better for the identification and analysis of gene family members in several monocots/dicots, diploid as well as polyploid plant species.
The unique stature of photographs as a definitive recording of events is being diminished due, in part, to the ease with which digital images can be manipulated and altered. Although good forgeries ...may leave no visual clues of having been tampered with, they may, nevertheless, alter the underlying statistics of an image. For example, we describe how resampling (e.g., scaling or rotating) introduces specific statistical correlations, and describe how these correlations can be automatically detected in any portion of an image. This technique works in the absence of any digital watermark or signature. We show the efficacy of this approach on uncompressed TIFF images, and JPEG and GIF images with minimal compression. We expect this technique to be among the first of many tools that will be needed to expose digital forgeries.
Several methods to handle data generated from bottom-up proteomics via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, particularly for peptide-centric quantification dealing with post-translational ...modification (PTM) analysis like reversible cysteine oxidation are evaluated. The paper proposes a pipeline based on the R programming language to analyze PTMs from peptide-centric label-free quantitative proteomics data.
Our methodology includes variance stabilization, normalization, and missing data imputation to account for the large dynamic range of PTM measurements. It also corrects biases from an enrichment protocol and reduces the random and systematic errors associated with label-free quantification. The performance of the methodology is tested by performing proteome-wide differential PTM quantitation using linear models analysis (limma). We objectively compare two imputation methods along with significance testing when using multiple-imputation for missing data.
Identifying PTMs in large-scale datasets is a problem with distinct characteristics that require new methods for handling missing data imputation and differential proteome analysis. Linear models in combination with multiple-imputation could significantly outperform a t-test-based decision method.
Waterlogging induces growth and developmental changes in sensitive crops such as cucumber (
Cucumis sativus
L.) during early plant development. However, information on the physiological mechanisms ...underpinning the response of cucumber plants to waterlogging conditions is limited. Here, we investigated the effects of 10-day waterlogging stress on the morphology, photosynthesis, and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters in two cultivars of cucumber seedlings. Waterlogging stress hampered cultivars’ growth, biomass accumulation, and photosynthetic capacity. Both cultivars also developed adventitious roots (ARs) after 10 days of waterlogging (DOW). We observed differential responses in the light- and carbon-dependent reactions of photosynthesis, with an increase in light-dependent reactions. At the same time, carbon assimilation was considerably inhibited by waterlogging. Specifically, the CO
2
assimilation rate (
A
) in leaves was significantly reduced and was caused by a corresponding decrease in stomatal conductance (g
s
). The downregulation of the maximum rate of Rubisco efficiency (V
cmax
) and the maximum rate of photosynthetic electron transport (J
max
) were non-stomatal limiting factors contributing to
A
reduction. Exposure of cucumber to 10 DOW affected the PSII photochemistry by downregulating the PSII quantum yield (Φ
PSII
). The redox state of the primary quinone acceptor in the lake model (1-qL), a measure of the regulatory balance of the light reactions, became more oxidized after 10 DOW, indicating enhanced electron sink capacity despite a reduced
A
. Overall, the results suggest that waterlogging induces alterations in the photochemical apparatus efficiency of cucumber. Thus, developing cultivars that resist inhibition of PSII photochemistry while maintaining carbon metabolism is a potential approach for increasing crops’ tolerance to waterlogged environments.
We present an analysis of the mid-infrared Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) sources seen within the equatorial GAMA G12 field, located in the North Galactic Cap. Our motivation is to study ...and characterize the behavior of WISE source populations in anticipation of the deep multiwavelength surveys that will define the next decade, with the principal science goal of mapping the 3D large-scale structures and determining the global physical attributes of the host galaxies. In combination with cosmological redshifts, we identify galaxies from their WISE W1 (3.4 m) resolved emission, and we also perform a star-galaxy separation using apparent magnitude, colors, and statistical modeling of star counts. The resulting galaxy catalog has 590,000 sources in 60 deg2, reaching a W1 5 depth of 31 Jy. At the faint end, where redshifts are not available, we employ a luminosity function analysis to show that approximately 27% of all WISE extragalactic sources to a limit of 17.5 mag (31 Jy) are at high redshift, . The spatial distribution is investigated using two-point correlation functions and a 3D source density characterization at 5 Mpc and 20 Mpc scales. For angular distributions, we find that brighter and more massive sources are strongly clustered relative to fainter sources with lower mass; likewise, based on WISE colors, spheroidal galaxies have the strongest clustering, while late-type disk galaxies have the lowest clustering amplitudes. In three dimensions, we find a number of distinct groupings, often bridged by filaments and superstructures. Using special visualization tools, we map these structures, exploring how clustering may play a role with stellar mass and galaxy type.
The current work presents a comparative and site specific study for the application of zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nano-Fe
0) and magnetite nanoparticles (nano-Fe
3O
4) for the removal of U from ...carbonate-rich environmental water taken from the Lişava valley, Banat, Romania.
Nanoparticles were introduced to the Lişava water under surface and deep aquifer oxygen conditions, with a U
VI-only solution studied as a simple system comparator. Thebatch systems were analysed over an 84 day reaction period, during which the liquid and nanoparticulate solids were periodically sampled to determine chemical evolution of the solutions and particulates.
Results indicated that U was removed by all nano-Fe
0 systems to <10 μg L
−1 (>98% removal) within 2 h of reaction, below EPA and WHO specified drinking water regulations. Similar U concentrations were maintained until approximately 48 h. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the nanoparticulate solids confirmed partial chemical reduction of U
VI to U
IV concurrent with Fe oxidation. In contrast, nano-Fe
3O
4 failed to achieve >20% U removal from the Lişava water. Whilst the outer surface of both the nano-Fe
0 and nano-Fe
3O
4 was initially near-stoichiometric magnetite, the greater performance exhibited by nano-Fe
0 is attributed to the presence of a Fe
0 core for enhanced aqueous reactivity, sufficient to achieve near-total removal of aqueous U despite any competing reactions within the carbonate-rich Lişava water.
Over extended reaction periods (>1 week) the chemically simple U
VI-only solution treated using nano-Fe
0 exhibited near-complete and maintained U removal. In contrast, appreciable U re-release was recorded for the Lişava water solutions treated using nano-Fe
0. This behaviour is attributed to the high stability of U in the presence of ligands (predominantly carbonate) within the Lişava water, inducing preferential re-release to the aqueous phase during nano-Fe
0 corrosion.
The current study therefore provides clear evidence for the removal and immobilisation of U from environmental waters using Fe-based nanoparticles. As a contrast to previous experimental studies reporting impressive figures for U removal and retention from simple aqueous systems, the present work demonstrates both nanomaterials as ineffective on timescales >1 week. Consequently further research is required to develop nanomaterials that exhibit greater reactivity and extended retention of inorganic contaminants in chemically complex environmental waters.
► Nano-Fe
0 has been widely reported as a next generation solution to water treatment. ► World’s 1st study: nano-Fe
0 for cleanup of U polluted water that is real in origin. ► Samples from abandoned U mine; results key in assessing effective cleanup strategy. ► Results crucial for determining viability of nano-Fe
0 for real-world applications. ► Results conclude previous studies as largely overestimating nano-Fe
0 performance.
More than a third of elderly fall each year in the United States. It has been shown that the longer the lie on the floor, the poorer is the outcome of the medical intervention. To reduce delay of the ...medical intervention, we have developed an acoustic fall detection system (acoustic-FADE) that automatically detects a fall and reports it promptly to the caregiver. Acoustic-FADE consists of a circular microphone array that captures the sounds in a room. When a sound is detected, acoustic-FADE locates the source, enhances the signal, and classifies it as "fall" or "nonfall." The sound source is located using the steered response power with phase transform technique, which has been shown to be robust under noisy environments and resilient to reverberation effects. Signal enhancement is performed by the beamforming technique based on the estimated sound source location. Height information is used to increase the specificity. The mel-frequency cepstral coefficient features computed from the enhanced signal are utilized in the classification process. We have evaluated the performance of acoustic-FADE using simulated fall and nonfall sounds performed by three stunt actors trained to behave like elderly under different environmental conditions. Using a dataset consisting of 120 falls and 120 nonfalls, the acoustic-FADE achieves 100% sensitivity at a specificity of 97%.
We present the Lambda Adaptive Multi-Band Deblending Algorithm in R (lambdar), a novel code for calculating matched aperture photometry across images that are neither pixel- nor PSF-matched, using ...prior aperture definitions derived from high-resolution optical imaging. The development of this program is motivated by the desire for consistent photometry and uncertainties across large ranges of photometric imaging, for use in calculating spectral energy distributions. We describe the program, specifically key features required for robust determination of panchromatic photometry: propagation of apertures to images with arbitrary resolution, local background estimation, aperture normalization, uncertainty determination and propagation, and object deblending. Using simulated images, we demonstrate that the program is able to recover accurate photometric measurements in both high-resolution, low-confusion, and low-resolution, high-confusion, regimes. We apply the program to the 21-band photometric data set from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) Panchromatic Data Release (PDR; Driver et al. 2016), which contains imaging spanning the far-UV to the far-IR. We compare photometry derived from lambdar with that presented in Driver et al. (2016), finding broad agreement between the data sets. None the less, we demonstrate that the photometry from lambdar is superior to that from the GAMA PDR, as determined by a reduction in the outlier rate and intrinsic scatter of colours in the lambdar data set. We similarly find a decrease in the outlier rate of stellar masses and star formation rates using lambdar photometry. Finally, we note an exceptional increase in the number of UV and mid-IR sources able to be constrained, which is accompanied by a significant increase in the mid-IR colour–colour parameter-space able to be explored.
This paper is the second in a pair of papers presenting data release 1 (DR1) of the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS), the largest single open-time key project carried out ...with the Herschel
Space Observatory. The H-ATLAS is a wide-area imaging survey carried out in five photometric bands at 100, 160, 250, 350 and 500 μm covering a total area of 600 deg2. In this paper, we describe the identification of optical counterparts to submillimetre sources in DR1, comprising an area of 161 deg2 over three equatorial fields of roughly 12 × 4.5 deg centred at 9h, 12h and 14
${^{\rm h}_{.}}$
5, respectively. Of all the H-ATLAS fields, the equatorial regions benefit from the greatest overlap with current multi-wavelength surveys spanning ultraviolet (UV) to mid-infrared regimes, as well as extensive spectroscopic coverage. We use a likelihood ratio technique to identify Sloan Digital Sky Survey counterparts at r < 22.4 for 250-μm-selected sources detected at ≥4σ (≈28 mJy). We find ‘reliable’ counterparts (reliability R ≥ 0.8) for 44 835 sources (39 per cent), with an estimated completeness of 73.0 per cent and contamination rate of 4.7 per cent. Using redshifts and multi-wavelength photometry from GAMA and other public catalogues, we show that H-ATLAS-selected galaxies at z < 0.5 span a wide range of optical colours, total infrared (IR) luminosities and IR/UV ratios, with no strong disposition towards mid-IR-classified active galactic nuclei in comparison with optical selection. The data described herein, together with all maps and catalogues described in the companion paper, are available from the H-ATLAS website at www.h-atlas.org.
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