The zCOSMOS 20k Group Catalog

We present an optical group catalog between 0.1 < z < 1 based on 16,500 high-quality spectroscopic redshifts in the completed zCOSMOS-bright survey. The catalog published herein contains 1498 groups in total and 192 groups with more than five observed members. The catalog includes both group properties and the identification of the member galaxies. Based on mock catalogs, the completeness and purity of groups with three and more members should be both about 83% with respect to all groups that should have been detectable within the survey, and more than 75% of the groups should exhibit a one-to-one correspondence to the "real" groups. Particularly at high redshift, there are apparently more galaxies in groups in the COSMOS field than expected from mock catalogs. We detect clear evidence for the growth of cosmic structure over the last seven billion years in the sense that the fraction of galaxies that are found in groups (in volume-limited samples) increases significantly with cosmic time. In the second part of the paper, we develop a method for associating galaxies that only have photo-z to our spectroscopically identified groups. We show that this leads to improved definition of group centers, improved identification of the most massive galaxies in the groups, and improved identification of central and satellite galaxies, where we define the former to be galaxies at the minimum of the gravitational potential wells. Subsamples of centrals and satellites in the groups can be defined with purities up to 80%, while a straight binary classification of all group and non-group galaxies into centrals and satellites achieves purities of 85% and 75%, respectively, for the spectroscopic sample.Comment: 26 pages, 21 figures, published in ApJ (along with machine-readable tables

A method for the reconstruction of unknown non-monotonic growth functions in the chemostat

We propose an adaptive control law that allows one to identify unstable steady states of the open-loop system in the single-species chemostat model without the knowledge of the growth function. We then show how one can use this control law to trace out (reconstruct) the whole graph of the growth function. The process of tracing out the graph can be performed either continuously or step-wise. We present and compare both approaches. Even in the case of two species in competition, which is not directly accessible with our approach due to lack of controllability, feedback control improves identifiability of the non-dominant growth rate.Comment: expansion of ideas from proceedings paper (17 pages, 8 figures), proceedings paper is version v

The close environment of 24 micron galaxies at 0.6<z<1.0 in the COSMOS field

We investigate the close environment of 203 Spitzer 24 micron-selected sources at 0.6<z<1.0 using zCOSMOS-bright redshifts and spectra of I<22.5 AB mag galaxies, over 1.5 sq. deg. of the COSMOS field. We quantify the degree of passivity of the LIRG and ULIRG environments by analysing the fraction of close neighbours with Dn(4000)>1.4. We find that LIRGs at 0.6<z<0.8 live in more passive environments than those of other optical galaxies that have the same stellar mass distribution. Instead, ULIRGs inhabit more active regions (e.g. LIRGs and ULIRGs at 0.6<z<0.8 have, respectively, (42.0 +/- 4.9)% and (24.5 +/- 5.9)% of neighbours with Dn (4000)>1.4 within 1 Mpc and +/- 500 km/s). The contrast between the activities of the close environments of LIRGs and ULIRGs appears especially enhanced in the COSMOS field density peak at z~0.67, because LIRGs on this peak have a larger fraction of passive neighbours, while ULIRGs have as active close environments as those outside the large-scale structure. The differential environmental activity is related to the differences in the distributions of stellar mass ratios between LIRGs/ULIRGs and their close neighbours, as well as in the general local density fields. At 0.8<z<1.0, instead, we find no differences in the environment densities of ULIRGs and other similarly massive galaxies, in spite of the differential activities. We discuss a possible scenario to explain these findings.Comment: ApJ, in press. 9 pages, including 5 figure

Genetic Determinants of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Diverse Populations From the PAGE Study

Substantial progress has been made in identifying susceptibility variants for AMD in European populations; however, few studies have been conducted to understand the role these variants play in AMD risk in diverse populations. The present study aims to examine AMD risk across diverse populations in known and suspected AMD complement factor and lipid-related loci

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) : Investigating care practices pointed out to disparities in diagnosis and treatment across European Union

ME/CFS is a chronic, complex, multisystem disease that often limits the health and functioning of the affected patients. Diagnosing patients with ME/CFS is a challenge, and many different case definitions exist and are used in clinical practice and research. Even after diagnosis, medical treatment is very challenging. Symptom relief and coping may affect how patients live with their disease and their quality of life. There is no consensus on which diagnostic criteria should be used and which treatment strategies can be recommended for patients. The purpose of the current project was to map the landscape of the Euromene countries in respect of national guidelines and recommendations for case definition, diagnosis and clinical approaches for ME/CFS patients. A 23 items questionnaire was sent out by email to the members of Euromene. The form contained questions on existing guidelines for case definitions, treatment/management of the disease, tests and questionnaires applied, and the prioritization of information for data sampling in research. We obtained information from 17 countries. Five countries reported having national guidelines for diagnosis, and five countries reported having guidelines for clinical approaches. For diagnostic purposes, the Fukuda criteria were most often recommended, and also the Canadian Consensus criteria, the International Consensus Criteria and the Oxford criteria were used. A mix of diagnostic criteria was applied within those countries having no guidelines. Many different questionnaires and tests were used for symptom registration and diagnostic investigation. For symptom relief, pain and anti-depressive medication were most often recommended. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Graded Exercise treatment were often recommended as disease management and rehabilitative/palliative strategies. The lack of consistency in recommendations across European countries urges the development of regulations, guidance and standards. The results of this study will contribute to the harmonization of diagnostic criteria and treatment for ME/CFS in Europe

Modern wolves trace their origin to a late Pleistocene expansion from Beringia

Grey wolves (Canis lupus) are one of the few large terrestrial carnivores that maintained a wide geographic distribution across the Northern Hemisphere throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Recent genetic studies have suggested that, despite this continuous presence, major demographic changes occurred in wolf populations between the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, and that extant wolves trace their ancestry to a single late Pleistocene population. Both the geographic origin of this ancestral population and how it became widespread remain a mystery. Here we analyzed a large dataset of novel modern and ancient mitochondrial wolf genomes, spanning the last 50,000 years, using a spatially and temporally explicit modeling framework to show that contemporary wolf populations across the globe trace their ancestry to an expansion from Beringia at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum - a process most likely driven by the significant ecological changes that occurred across the Northern Hemisphere during this period. This study provides direct ancient genetic evidence that long-range migration has played an important role in the population history of a large carnivore and provides an insight into how wolves survived the wave of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last glaciation. Moreover, because late Pleistocene grey wolves were the likely source from which all modern dogs trace their origins, the demographic history described in this study has fundamental implications for understanding the geographical origin of the dog

Self transglutaminase-based rapid coeliac disease antibody detection by a lateral flow method

Background The conventional coeliac disease antibody tests require patient's sera, and are laborious and time-consuming. Aim To evaluate a newly developed rapid whole blood test in coeliac disease antibody detection, and its suitability for office use. Methods Endogenous tissue transglutaminase found in red blood cells in a whole blood fingertip or venous sample is liberated upon haemolysis and complexes with tissue transglutaminase antibodies, if present. The complexes, captured by a lateral flow system, are visualized within 5 min. Stored samples from 121 untreated, 106 treated coeliac disease patients and 107 controls were evaluated and compared with serum endomysium and tissue transglutaminase antibody tests and histology; 150 patients were prospectively tested on site in the doctor's office. Results The rapid test showed sensitivity (96.7%) comparable with the serum endomysium and tissue transglutaminase antibody tests from stored samples; specificity was slightly lower (93.5%). When tested on site the results were concordant in 96.7% of cases compared with endomysium and tissue transglutaminase antibody results. The test recognized the disappearance of tissue transglutaminase antibodies on a gluten-free diet. Conclusions The self tissue transglutaminase-based rapid test can be easily carried out from a fingertip blood sample on site in the physician's office for both coeliac disease case finding and dietary monitoring purposes

Untargeted screening of the bound / free phenolic composition in tomato cultivars for industrial transformation

Tomato is one of the most important agricultural crops and it is characterized by a wide bioactive compound profile. However, little information is reported on its comprehensive polyphenol profile. In this work, 13 commercial tomato cultivars for industrial transformation were screened by ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS) for both free and bound phenolic profiles. Thereafter, the in vitro antioxidant activity of each cultivar was assessed by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and oxygen radical absorbance activity (ORAC) assays. Multivariate statistics, i.e. orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), were then used to model samples according to their distinct phenolic signatures, thus providing compounds that better discriminated between the distributions of the cultivars that were considered. RESULTS: More than 350 phenolic compounds could be identified across the samples that were considered: flavonoids (such as flavones and flavanols), hydroxycinnamic acids, lignans, and lower-molecular-weight phenolics were the most frequently observed classes of phenolics in tomato berries. Anthocyanins were the most abundant class among bound phenolics (being highest in the Leader F1 and Defender F1 cultivars), followed by tyrosols (mainly in Heinz cultivars). However, flavones and hydroxybenzoic acids were the most represented discriminant phenolics in the bound fraction. CONCLUSIONS: Untargeted metabolomics allowed significant differences in phenolic composition to be outlined across the tomato cultivars that were analyzed. Such differences were particularly evident regarding the free-to-bound phenolic ratio, hence allowing differences in the bioaccessibility of phenolics to be postulated