50 research outputs found
Extragalactic Radio Continuum Surveys and the Transformation of Radio Astronomy
Next-generation radio surveys are about to transform radio astronomy by
discovering and studying tens of millions of previously unknown radio sources.
These surveys will provide new insights to understand the evolution of
galaxies, measuring the evolution of the cosmic star formation rate, and
rivalling traditional techniques in the measurement of fundamental cosmological
parameters. By observing a new volume of observational parameter space, they
are also likely to discover unexpected new phenomena. This review traces the
evolution of extragalactic radio continuum surveys from the earliest days of
radio astronomy to the present, and identifies the challenges that must be
overcome to achieve this transformational change.Comment: To be published in Nature Astronomy 18 Sept 201
Identification of Host Genes Involved in Geminivirus Infection Using a Reverse Genetics Approach
Geminiviruses, like all viruses, rely on the host cell machinery to establish a successful infection, but the identity and function of these required host proteins remain largely unknown. Tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus (TYLCSV), a monopartite geminivirus, is one of the causal agents of the devastating Tomato yellow leaf curl disease (TYLCD). The transgenic 2IRGFP N. benthamiana plants, used in combination with Virus Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS), entail an important potential as a tool in reverse genetics studies to identify host factors involved in TYLCSV infection. Using these transgenic plants, we have made an accurate description of the evolution of TYLCSV replication in the host in both space and time. Moreover, we have determined that TYLCSV and Tobacco rattle virus (TRV) do not dramatically influence each other when co-infected in N. benthamiana, what makes the use of TRV-induced gene silencing in combination with TYLCSV for reverse genetic studies feasible. Finally, we have tested the effect of silencing candidate host genes on TYLCSV infection, identifying eighteen genes potentially involved in this process, fifteen of which had never been implicated in geminiviral infections before. Seven of the analyzed genes have a potential anti-viral effect, whereas the expression of the other eleven is required for a full infection. Interestingly, almost half of the genes altering TYLCSV infection play a role in postranslational modifications. Therefore, our results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying geminivirus infections, and at the same time reveal the 2IRGFP/VIGS system as a powerful tool for functional reverse genetics studies
Genomic Analysis of the Hydrocarbon-Producing, Cellulolytic, Endophytic Fungus Ascocoryne sarcoides
The microbial conversion of solid cellulosic biomass to liquid biofuels may provide a renewable energy source for transportation fuels. Endophytes represent a promising group of organisms, as they are a mostly untapped reservoir of metabolic diversity. They are often able to degrade cellulose, and they can produce an extraordinary diversity of metabolites. The filamentous fungal endophyte Ascocoryne sarcoides was shown to produce potential-biofuel metabolites when grown on a cellulose-based medium; however, the genetic pathways needed for this production are unknown and the lack of genetic tools makes traditional reverse genetics difficult. We present the genomic characterization of A. sarcoides and use transcriptomic and metabolomic data to describe the genes involved in cellulose degradation and to provide hypotheses for the biofuel production pathways. In total, almost 80 biosynthetic clusters were identified, including several previously found only in plants. Additionally, many transcriptionally active regions outside of genes showed condition-specific expression, offering more evidence for the role of long non-coding RNA in gene regulation. This is one of the highest quality fungal genomes and, to our knowledge, the only thoroughly annotated and transcriptionally profiled fungal endophyte genome currently available. The analyses and datasets contribute to the study of cellulose degradation and biofuel production and provide the genomic foundation for the study of a model endophyte system
Euclid preparation XXVIII. Forecasts for ten different higher-order weak lensing statistics
Recent cosmic shear studies have shown that higher-order statistics (HOS) developed by independent teams now outperform standard two-point estimators in terms of statistical precision thanks to their sensitivity to the non-Gaussian features of large-scale structure. The aim of the Higher-Order Weak Lensing Statistics (HOWLS) project is to assess, compare, and combine the constraining power of ten different HOS on a common set of Euclid-like mocks, derived from N-body simulations. In this first paper of the HOWLS series, we computed the nontomographic (Ωm, σ8) Fisher information for the one-point probability distribution function, peak counts, Minkowski functionals, Betti numbers, persistent homology Betti numbers and heatmap, and scattering transform coefficients, and we compare them to the shear and convergence two-point correlation functions in the absence of any systematic bias. We also include forecasts for three implementations of higher-order moments, but these cannot be robustly interpreted as the Gaussian likelihood assumption breaks down for these statistics. Taken individually, we find that each HOS outperforms the two-point statistics by a factor of around two in the precision of the forecasts with some variations across statistics and cosmological parameters. When combining all the HOS, this increases to a 4.5 times improvement, highlighting the immense potential of HOS for cosmic shear cosmological analyses with Euclid. The data used in this analysis are publicly released with the paper
Euclid preparation TBD. The effect of baryons on the Halo Mass Function
The Euclid photometric survey of galaxy clusters stands as a powerful
cosmological tool, with the capacity to significantly propel our understanding
of the Universe. Despite being sub-dominant to dark matter and dark energy, the
baryonic component in our Universe holds substantial influence over the
structure and mass of galaxy clusters. This paper presents a novel model to
precisely quantify the impact of baryons on galaxy cluster virial halo masses,
using the baryon fraction within a cluster as proxy for their effect.
Constructed on the premise of quasi-adiabaticity, the model includes two
parameters calibrated using non-radiative cosmological hydrodynamical
simulations and a single large-scale simulation from the Magneticum set, which
includes the physical processes driving galaxy formation. As a main result of
our analysis, we demonstrate that this model delivers a remarkable one percent
relative accuracy in determining the virial dark matter-only equivalent mass of
galaxy clusters, starting from the corresponding total cluster mass and baryon
fraction measured in hydrodynamical simulations. Furthermore, we demonstrate
that this result is robust against changes in cosmological parameters and
against varying the numerical implementation of the sub-resolution physical
processes included in the simulations. Our work substantiates previous claims
about the impact of baryons on cluster cosmology studies. In particular, we
show how neglecting these effects would lead to biased cosmological constraints
for a Euclid-like cluster abundance analysis. Importantly, we demonstrate that
uncertainties associated with our model, arising from baryonic corrections to
cluster masses, are sub-dominant when compared to the precision with which
mass-observable relations will be calibrated using Euclid, as well as our
current understanding of the baryon fraction within galaxy clusters.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, 4 tables, 1 appendix, abstract abridged for
arXiv submissio
Euclid preparation. TBD. Forecast impact of super-sample covariance on 3x2pt analysis with Euclid
Deviations from Gaussianity in the distribution of the fields probed by
large-scale structure surveys generate additional terms in the data covariance
matrix, increasing the uncertainties in the measurement of the cosmological
parameters. Super-sample covariance (SSC) is among the largest of these
non-Gaussian contributions, with the potential to significantly degrade
constraints on some of the parameters of the cosmological model under study --
especially for weak lensing cosmic shear. We compute and validate the impact of
SSC on the forecast uncertainties on the cosmological parameters for the Euclid
photometric survey, obtained with a Fisher matrix analysis, both considering
the Gaussian covariance alone and adding the SSC term -- computed through the
public code PySSC. The photometric probes are considered in isolation and
combined in the `32pt' analysis. We find the SSC impact to be
non-negligible -- halving the Figure of Merit of the dark energy parameters
(, ) in the 32pt case and substantially increasing the
uncertainties on , and for cosmic shear;
photometric galaxy clustering, on the other hand, is less affected due to the
lower probe response. The relative impact of SSC does not show significant
changes under variations of the redshift binning scheme, while it is smaller
for weak lensing when marginalising over the multiplicative shear bias nuisance
parameters, which also leads to poorer constraints on the cosmological
parameters. Finally, we explore how the use of prior information on the shear
and galaxy bias changes the SSC impact. Improving shear bias priors does not
have a significant impact, while galaxy bias must be calibrated to sub-percent
level to increase the Figure of Merit by the large amount needed to achieve the
value when SSC is not included.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figure
Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger
On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta