15,357 research outputs found
Optical Identification of He White Dwarfs Orbiting Four Millisecond Pulsars in the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae
We used ultra-deep UV observations obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope
to search for optical companions to binary millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in the
globular cluster 47 Tucanae. We identified four new counterparts (to MSPs
47TucQ, 47TucS, 47TucT and 47TucY) and confirmed those already known (to MSPs
47TucU and 47TucW). In the color magnitude diagram, the detected companions are
located in a region between the main sequence and the CO white dwarf cooling
sequences, consistent with the cooling tracks of He white dwarfs of mass
between 0.15 Msun and 0.20 Msun. For each identified companion, mass, cooling
age, temperature and pulsar mass (as a function of the inclination angle) have
been derived and discussed. For 47TucU we also found that the past accretion
history likely proceeded in a sub-Eddington rate. The companion to the redback
47TucW is confirmed to be a non degenerate star, with properties particularly
similar to those observed for black widow systems. Two stars have been
identified within the 2-sigma astrometric uncertainty from the radio positions
of 47TucH and 47TucI, but the available data prevent us from firmly assessing
whether they are the true companions of these two MSPs.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication by Ap
Count three for wear able computers
This paper is a postprint of a paper submitted to and accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the IEE Eurowearable 2003 Conference, and is subject to Institution of Engineering and Technology Copyright. The copy of record is available at the IET Digital Library.
A revised version of this paper was also published in Electronics Systems and Software, also subject to Institution of Engineering and Technology Copyright. The copy of record is also available at the IET Digital Library.A description of 'ubiquitous computer' is presented. Ubiquitous computers imply portable computers embedded into everyday objects, which would replace personal computers. Ubiquitous computers can be mapped into a three-tier scheme, differentiated by processor performance and flexibility of function. The power consumption of mobile devices is one of the most important design considerations. The size of a wearable system is often a design limitation
Radio Timing and Optical Photometry of the Black Widow System PSR J1953+1846A in the Globular Cluster M71
We report on the determination of the astrometric, spin and orbital
parameters for PSR J1953+1846A, a "black widow" binary millisecond pulsar in
the globular cluster M71. By using the accurate position and orbital parameters
obtained from radio timing, we identified the optical companion in ACS/Hubble
Space Telescope images. It turns out to be a faint (m_F606W>=24, m_F814W>=23)
and variable star located at only ~0.06" from the pulsar timing position. The
light curve shows a maximum at the pulsar inferior conjunction and a minimum at
the pulsar superior conjunction, thus confirming the association with the
system. The shape of the optical modulation suggests that the companion star is
heated, likely by the pulsar wind. The comparison with the X-ray light curve
possibly suggests the presence of an intra-binary shock due to the interaction
between the pulsar wind and the material released by the companion. This is the
second identification (after COM-M5C) of an optical companion to a black widow
pulsar in a globular cluster. Interestingly, the two companions show a similar
light curve and share the same position in the color magnitude diagram.Comment: Accepted for publication by ApJ; 33 Pages, 10 Figures, 3 Table
Collaborative Layer-wise Discriminative Learning in Deep Neural Networks
Intermediate features at different layers of a deep neural network are known
to be discriminative for visual patterns of different complexities. However,
most existing works ignore such cross-layer heterogeneities when classifying
samples of different complexities. For example, if a training sample has
already been correctly classified at a specific layer with high confidence, we
argue that it is unnecessary to enforce rest layers to classify this sample
correctly and a better strategy is to encourage those layers to focus on other
samples.
In this paper, we propose a layer-wise discriminative learning method to
enhance the discriminative capability of a deep network by allowing its layers
to work collaboratively for classification. Towards this target, we introduce
multiple classifiers on top of multiple layers. Each classifier not only tries
to correctly classify the features from its input layer, but also coordinates
with other classifiers to jointly maximize the final classification
performance. Guided by the other companion classifiers, each classifier learns
to concentrate on certain training examples and boosts the overall performance.
Allowing for end-to-end training, our method can be conveniently embedded into
state-of-the-art deep networks. Experiments with multiple popular deep
networks, including Network in Network, GoogLeNet and VGGNet, on scale-various
object classification benchmarks, including CIFAR100, MNIST and ImageNet, and
scene classification benchmarks, including MIT67, SUN397 and Places205,
demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. In addition, we also analyze the
relationship between the proposed method and classical conditional random
fields models.Comment: To appear in ECCV 2016. Maybe subject to minor changes before
camera-ready versio
Bayesian optimization of the PC algorithm for learning Gaussian Bayesian networks
The PC algorithm is a popular method for learning the structure of Gaussian
Bayesian networks. It carries out statistical tests to determine absent edges
in the network. It is hence governed by two parameters: (i) The type of test,
and (ii) its significance level. These parameters are usually set to values
recommended by an expert. Nevertheless, such an approach can suffer from human
bias, leading to suboptimal reconstruction results. In this paper we consider a
more principled approach for choosing these parameters in an automatic way. For
this we optimize a reconstruction score evaluated on a set of different
Gaussian Bayesian networks. This objective is expensive to evaluate and lacks a
closed-form expression, which means that Bayesian optimization (BO) is a
natural choice. BO methods use a model to guide the search and are hence able
to exploit smoothness properties of the objective surface. We show that the
parameters found by a BO method outperform those found by a random search
strategy and the expert recommendation. Importantly, we have found that an
often overlooked statistical test provides the best over-all reconstruction
results
Identification, functional characterization and developmental regulation of sesquiterpene synthases from sunflower capitate glandular trichomes
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sesquiterpene lactones are characteristic metabolites of Asteraceae (or Compositae) which often display potent bioactivities and are sequestered in specialized organs such as laticifers, resin ducts, and trichomes. For characterization of sunflower sesquiterpene synthases we employed a simple method to isolate pure trichomes from anther appendages which facilitated the identification of these genes and investigation of their enzymatic functions and expression patterns during trichome development.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Glandular trichomes of sunflower (<it>Helianthus annuus </it>L.) were isolated, and their RNA was extracted to investigate the initial steps of sesquiterpene lactone biosynthesis. Reverse transcription-PCR experiments led to the identification of three sesquiterpene synthases. By combination of <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>characterization of sesquiterpene synthase gene products in <it>Escherichia coli </it>and <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</it>, respectively, two enzymes were identified as germacrene A synthases, the key enzymes of sesquiterpene lactone biosynthesis. Due to the very low <it>in vitro </it>activity, the third enzyme was expressed <it>in vivo </it>in yeast as a thioredoxin-fusion protein for functional characterization. In <it>in vivo </it>assays, it was identified as a multiproduct enzyme with the volatile sesquiterpene hydrocarbon δ-cadinene as one of the two main products with α-muuorlene, β-caryophyllene, α-humulene and α-copaene as minor products. The second main compound remained unidentified. For expression studies, glandular trichomes from the anther appendages of sunflower florets were isolated in particular developmental stages from the pre- to the post-secretory phase. All three sesquiterpene synthases were solely upregulated during the biosynthetically active stages of the trichomes. Expression in different aerial plant parts coincided with occurrence and maturity of trichomes. Young roots with root hairs showed expression of the sesquiterpene synthase genes as well.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study functionally identified sesquiterpene synthase genes predominantly expressed in sunflower trichomes. Evidence for the transcriptional regulation of sesquiterpene synthase genes in trichome cells suggest a potential use for these specialized cells for the identification of further genes involved in the biosynthesis, transport, and regulation of sesquiterpene lactones.</p
Impact of Hypothyroidism and Heart Failure on Hospitalization Risk.
BackgroundPrior studies suggest that the relationship between hypothyroidism and mortality is dependent on underlying cardiovascular risk. Little is known about the association of hypothyroidism with hospitalization risk, and how these associations are modified by cardiovascular status.MethodsThis study examined the association of thyroid status, defined by serum thyrotropin (TSH), with hospitalization risk among patients who received care at a large university-based tertiary care center between 1990 and 2015. Thyroid status was categorized as hypothyroidism versus euthyroidism (TSH >4.7 vs. 0.3-4.7 mIU/L, respectively). The relationship between thyroid status and hospitalization risk stratified by cardiovascular status was examined using multivariable Cox models.ResultsAmong 52,856 patients who met eligibility criteria, 49,791 (94.2%) had euthyroidism and 3065 (5.8%) had hypothyroidism. In analyses stratified by congestive heart failure (CHF) status, compared to euthyroidism, hypothyroidism was associated with higher risk of hospitalization in those with CHF but slightly lower risk in those without CHF (adjusted hazard ratio [aHRs] = 1.86 [confidence interval (CI) 1.17-2.94] and HR = 0.95 [CI 0.92-0.99], respectively; p = 0.006). In sensitivity analyses accounting for death as a competing event, underlying coronary artery disease modified the hypothyroidism-hospitalization relationship, such that stronger associations were observed among those with versus without coronary artery disease. In competing risk analyses, hypothyroidism was associated with higher versus lower risk of hospitalization among those with versus without cerebrovascular disease, respectively.ConclusionsHypothyroidism is associated with higher hospitalization risk among patients with underlying cardiovascular disease. Future studies are needed to determine whether correction of thyroid status with replacement therapy ameliorates hospitalization risk in this population
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