Grouping by feature of cross-modal flankers in temporal ventriloquism

Signals in one sensory modality can influence perception of another, for example the bias of visual timing by audition: temporal ventriloquism. Strong accounts of temporal ventriloquism hold that the sensory representation of visual signal timing changes to that of the nearby sound. Alternatively, underlying sensory representations do not change. Rather, perceptual grouping processes based on spatial, temporal, and featural information produce best-estimates of global event properties. In support of this interpretation, when feature-based perceptual grouping conflicts with temporal information-based in scenarios that reveal temporal ventriloquism, the effect is abolished. However, previous demonstrations of this disruption used long-range visual apparent-motion stimuli. We investigated whether similar manipulations of feature grouping could also disrupt the classical temporal ventriloquism demonstration, which occurs over a short temporal range. We estimated the precision of participants’ reports of which of two visual bars occurred first. The bars were accompanied by different cross-modal signals that onset synchronously or asynchronously with each bar. Participants’ performance improved with asynchronous presentation relative to synchronous - temporal ventriloquism - however, unlike the long-range apparent motion paradigm, this was unaffected by different combinations of cross-modal feature, suggesting that featural similarity of cross-modal signals may not modulate cross-modal temporal influences in short time scales

Linking the X-ray and infrared properties of star-forming galaxies at z < 1.5

We present the most complete study to date of the X-ray emission from star formation in high-redshift (median z = 0.7; z −3 in both hard and soft X-ray bands. From the sources which are star formation dominated, only a small fraction are individually X-ray detected and for the bulk of the sample we calculate average X-ray luminosities through stacking. We find an average soft X-ray to infrared ratio of log ?L SX /L IR ? = −4.3 and an average hard X-ray to infrared ratio of log?L HX /L IR ?=−3.8.WereportthattheX-ray/IRcorrelationisapproximatelylinearthrough the entire range of L IR and z probed and, although broadly consistent with the local (z < 0.1) one, it does display some discrepancies. We suggest that these discrepancies are unlikely to be physical, i.e. due to an intrinsic change in the X-ray properties of star-forming galaxies with cosmic time, as there is no significant evidence for evolution of the L X /L IR ratio with redshift. Instead, they are possibly due to selection effects and remaining AGN contamination. We also examine whether dust obscuration in the galaxy plays a role in attenuating X-rays from star formation, by investigating changes in the L X /L IR ratio as a function of the average dust temperature. We conclude that X-rays do not suffer any measurable attenuation in the host galaxy

Effect of agriculture on Cedar Lake water quality

Cover title.Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-59)

The far-infrared/radio correlation and radio spectral index of galaxies in the SFR-M* plane up to z 2

[Abridged] We study the evolution of the radio spectral index and far-infrared/radio correlation (FRC) across the star-formation rate-stellar masse (i.e. SFR-M*) plane up to z 2. We start from a M*-selected sample of galaxies with reliable SFR and redshift estimates. We then grid the SFR-M* plane in several redshift ranges and measure the infrared luminosity, radio luminosity, radio spectral index, and ultimately the FRC index (i.e. qFIR) of each SFR-M*-z bin. The infrared luminosities of our SFR-M*-z bins are estimated using their stacked far-infrared flux densities inferred from observations obtained with Herschel. Their radio luminosities and radio spectral indices (i.e. alpha, where Snu nu^-alpha) are estimated using their stacked 1.4GHz and 610MHz flux densities from the VLA and GMRT, respectively. Our far-infrared and radio observations include the most widely studied blank extragalactic fields -GOODS-N/S, ECDFS, and COSMOS- covering a sky area of 2deg^2. Using this methodology, we constrain the radio spectral index and FRC index of star-forming galaxies with M*>10^10Msun and 0<z<2.3. We find that alpha^1.4GHz_610MHz does not evolve significantly with redshift or with the distance of a galaxy with respect to the main sequence (MS) of the SFR-M* plane (i.e. Delta_log(SSFR)_MS=log[SSFR(galaxy)/SSFR_MS(M*,z)]). Instead, star-forming galaxies have a radio spectral index consistent with a canonical value of 0.8, which suggests that their radio spectra are dominated by non-thermal optically thin synchrotron emission. We find that qFIR displays a moderate but statistically significant redshift evolution as qFIR(z)=(2.35+/-0.08)*(1+z)^(-0.12+/-0.04), consistent with some previous literature. Finally, we find no significant correlation between qFIR and Delta_log(SSFR)_MS, though a weak positive trend, as observed in one of our redshift bins, cannot be firmly ruled out using our dataset.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A; 18 pages, 10 figure

Panchromatic spectral energy distributions of Herschel sources

(abridged) Far-infrared Herschel photometry from the PEP and HerMES programs is combined with ancillary datasets in the GOODS-N, GOODS-S, and COSMOS fields. Based on this rich dataset, we reproduce the restframe UV to FIR ten-colors distribution of galaxies using a superposition of multi-variate Gaussian modes. The median SED of each mode is then fitted with a modified version of the MAGPHYS code that combines stellar light, emission from dust heated by stars and a possible warm dust contribution heated by an AGN. The defined Gaussian grouping is also used to identify rare sources. The zoology of outliers includes Herschel-detected ellipticals, very blue z~1 Ly-break galaxies, quiescent spirals, and torus-dominated AGN with star formation. Out of these groups and outliers, a new template library is assembled, consisting of 32 SEDs describing the intrinsic scatter in the restframe UV-to-submm colors of infrared galaxies. This library is tested against L(IR) estimates with and without Herschel data included, and compared to eight other popular methods often adopted in the literature. When implementing Herschel photometry, these approaches produce L(IR) values consistent with each other within a median absolute deviation of 10-20%, the scatter being dominated more by fine tuning of the codes, rather than by the choice of SED templates. Finally, the library is used to classify 24 micron detected sources in PEP GOODS fields. AGN appear to be distributed in the stellar mass (M*) vs. star formation rate (SFR) space along with all other galaxies, regardless of the amount of infrared luminosity they are powering, with the tendency to lie on the high SFR side of the "main sequence". The incidence of warmer star-forming sources grows for objects with higher specific star formation rates (sSFR), and they tend to populate the "off-sequence" region of the M*-SFR-z space.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Some figures are presented in low resolution. The new galaxy templates are available for download at the address http://www.mpe.mpg.de/ir/Research/PEP/uvfir_temp

A Population of Dust-rich Quasars at z ~ 1.5

We report Herschel SPIRE (250, 350, and 500 μm) detections of 32 quasars with redshifts 0.5 ≤z < 3.6 from the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES). These sources are from a MIPS 24 μm flux-limited sample of 326 quasars in the Lockman Hole Field. The extensive multi-wavelength data available in the field permit construction of the rest-frame spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from ultraviolet to the mid-infrared for all sources, and to the far-infrared (FIR) for the 32 objects. Most quasars with Herschel FIR detections show dust temperatures in the range of 25-60 K, with a mean of 34 K. The FIR luminosities range from 10^(11.3) to 10^(13.5) L_☉, qualifying most of their hosts as ultra- or hyper-luminous infrared galaxies. These FIR-detected quasars may represent a dust-rich population, but with lower redshifts and fainter luminosities than quasars observed at ~1 mm. However, their FIR properties cannot be predicted from shorter wavelengths (0.3-20 μm, rest frame), and the bolometric luminosities derived using the 5100 Å index may be underestimated for these FIR-detected quasars. Regardless of redshift, we observed a decline in the relative strength of FIR luminosities for quasars with higher near-infrared luminosities

The role of PCOS in mental health and sexual function in women with obesity and a history of infertility

STUDY QUESTION: Do mental health and sexual function differ between women with or without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) with comparable BMI and fertility characteristics? SUMMARY ANSWER: Women with PCOS have a poorer mental quality of life than women without PCOS, but there were no differences in symptoms of depression, anxiety, physical quality of life or sexual function. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Various studies suggest that women with PCOS have poorer mental health, such as higher symptoms of anxiety and depression with a lower quality of life, and have an impaired sexual function compared to women without PCOS. However, in most studies, BMI and infertility status differ between women with and without PCOS, which may hamper comparability. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of a 5-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) among women with obesity and a history of infertility. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Participants in this follow-up study of an RCT were women with obesity and infertility randomized to a lifestyle intervention followed by infertility treatment or prompt infertility treatment (control), stratified by ovulatory status and trial centre. In total, 173 (30.0%) women of the 577 women randomized in the initial trial participated in this follow-up study, with a mean follow-up of 5.5 years (range 3.7–7.0 years); of these women 73 had been diagnosed with PCOS and 100 did not have PCOS. Participants completed questionnaires on symptoms of anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS)), quality of life (36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)) and sexual function (McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire (MFSQ)). We also compared quality of life subscale scores in women with and without PCOS and compared them to an age-matched Dutch reference population with average BMI. Effect sizes were calculated to assess the differences. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Symptoms of anxiety and depression, physical quality of life and sexual function did not differ significantly between obese women with and without PCOS. However, women with PCOS had a worse mental quality of life summary component score (−3.60 [95% CI −6.72 to −0.56]), mainly due to a lower score on the subscale ‘role limitations due to emotional problems’ (−12.41 [95% CI −22.78 to −2.28]), compared to women without PCOS. However, compared to an age-matched Dutch reference population, the obese infertile women with and without PCOS both scored lower on almost all physical and mental quality of life subscales. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: These are secondary analyses of the follow-up study of the RCT. No power analysis was performed for the outcomes included in this analysis and, as our study had a relatively small sample size, the null findings could be based on insufficient power to detect small differences between the groups. Our study population had a high mean BMI (average total group 34.5 [SD ± 5.1]); therefore, our results may only be generalizable to women with obesity. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Our results indicate that PCOS status is associated with impaired mental quality of life. Anxiety and depression, physical quality of life and sexual function in obese infertile women with PCOS seem more related to the obesity than the PCOS status. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): The initial study and follow-up were supported by grants from: ZonMw (50-50110-96-518), the Dutch Heart Foundation (2013T085) and the European Commission (633595). The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the UMCG received an unrestricted educational grant from Ferring pharmaceuticals BV, The Netherlands, outside the submitted work. A.H. reports consultancy for Ferring pharmaceuticals. B.W.J.M. is supported by an NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship (GNT1082548). B.W.J.M. reports consultancy for ObsEva, Merck Merck KGaA, iGenomix and Guerbet. All other authors declare no competing interests. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: The initial trial was registered on 16 November 2008 in the Dutch trial register; clinical trial registry number NTR1530

Long-term cardiometabolic disease risk in women with PCOS:a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with cardiometabolic disease, but recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses of longitudinal studies that quantify these associations are lacking. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE: Is PCOS a risk factor for cardiometabolic disease? SEARCH METHODS: We searched from inception to September 2019 in MEDLINE and EMBASE using controlled terms (e.g. MESH) and text words for PCOS and cardiometabolic outcomes, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, myocardial infarction, hypertension (HT), type 2 diabetes (T2D), metabolic syndrome and dyslipidaemia. Cohort studies and case-control studies comparing the prevalence of T2D, HT, fatal or non-fatal CVD and/or lipid concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TGs) between women with and without PCOS of ≥18 years of age were eligible for this systematic review and meta-analysis. Studies were eligible regardless of the degree to which they adjusted for confounders including obesity. Articles had to be written in English, German or Dutch. Intervention studies, animal studies, conference abstracts, studies with a follow-up duration less than 3 years and studies with less than 10 PCOS cases were excluded. Study selection, quality assessment (Newcastle-Ottawa Scale) and data extraction were performed by two independent researchers. OUTCOMES: Of the 5971 identified records, 23 cohort studies were included in the current systematic review. Women with PCOS had increased risks of HT (risk ratio (RR): 1.75, 95% CI 1.42 to 2.15), T2D (RR: 3.00, 95% CI 2.56 to 3.51), a higher serum concentration of TC (mean difference (MD): 7.14 95% CI 1.58 to 12.70 mg/dl), a lower serum concentration of HDL-C (MD: -2.45 95% CI -4.51 to -0.38 mg/dl) and increased risks of non-fatal cerebrovascular disease events (RR: 1.41, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.94) compared to women without PCOS. No differences were found for LDL-C (MD: 3.32 95% CI -4.11 to 10.75 mg/dl), TG (MD 18.53 95% CI -0.58 to 37.64 mg/dl) or coronary disease events (RR: 1.78, 95% CI 0.99 to 3.23). No meta-analyses could be performed for fatal CVD events due to the paucity of mortality data. WIDER IMPLICATIONS: Women with PCOS are at increased risk of cardiometabolic disease. This review quantifies this risk, which is important for clinicians to inform patients and to take into account in the cardiovascular risk assessment of women with PCOS. Future clinical trials are needed to assess the ability of cardiometabolic screening and management in women with PCOS to reduce future CVD morbidity

Connecting stellar mass and star-formation rate to dark matter halo mass out to z ~ 2

We have constructed an extended halo model (EHM) which relates the total stellar mass and star-formation rate (SFR) to halo mass (M_h). An empirical relation between the distribution functions of total stellar mass of galaxies and host halo mass, tuned to match the spatial density of galaxies over 0<z<2 and the clustering properties at z~0, is extended to include two different scenarios describing the variation of SFR on M_h. We also present new measurements of the redshift evolution of the average SFR for star-forming galaxies of different stellar mass up to z=2, using data from the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) for infrared-bright galaxies. Combining the EHM with the halo accretion histories from numerical simulations, we trace the stellar mass growth and star-formation history in halos spanning a range of masses. We find that: (1) The intensity of the star-forming activity in halos in the probed mass range has steadily decreased from z~2 to 0; (2) At a given epoch, halos in the mass range between a few times 10^{11} M_Sun and a few times 10^{12} M_Sun are the most efficient at hosting star formation; (3) The peak of SFR density shifts to lower mass halos over time; (4) Galaxies that are forming stars most actively at z~2 evolve into quiescent galaxies in today's group environments, strongly supporting previous claims that the most powerful starbursts at z~2 are progenitors of today's elliptical galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA