REDSHIFT MEASUREMENT and SPECTRAL CLASSIFICATION for eBOSS GALAXIES with the REDMONSTER SOFTWARE

We describe the redmonster automated redshift measurement and spectral classification software designed for the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV). We describe the algorithms, the template standard and requirements, and the newly developed galaxy templates to be used on eBOSS spectra. We present results from testing on early data from eBOSS, where we have found a 90.5% automated redshift and spectral classification success rate for the luminous red galaxy sample (redshifts 0.6 ≲ z ≲ 1.0). The redmonster performance meets the eBOSS cosmology requirements for redshift classification and catastrophic failures and represents a significant improvement over the previous pipeline. We describe the empirical processes used to determine the optimum number of additive polynomial terms in our models and an acceptable δX2rthreshold for declaring statistical confidence. Statistical errors on redshift measurement due to photon shot noise are assessed, and we find typical values of a few tens of km s-1. An investigation of redshift differences in repeat observations scaled by error estimates yields a distribution with a Gaussian mean and standard deviation of μ ∼ 0.01 and σ ∼ 0.65, respectively, suggesting the reported statistical redshift uncertainties are over-estimated by ∼54%. We assess the effects of object magnitude, signal-to-noise ratio, fiber number, and fiber head location on the pipeline's redshift success rate. Finally, we describe directions of ongoing development

Age-related changes in global motion coherence: conflicting haemodynamic and perceptual responses

Our aim was to use both behavioural and neuroimaging data to identify indicators of perceptual decline in motion processing. We employed a global motion coherence task and functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). Healthy adults (n = 72, 18-85) were recruited into the following groups: young (n = 28, mean age = 28), middle-aged (n = 22, mean age = 50), and older adults (n = 23, mean age = 70). Participants were assessed on their motion coherence thresholds at 3 different speeds using a psychophysical design. As expected, we report age group differences in motion processing as demonstrated by higher motion coherence thresholds in older adults. Crucially, we add correlational data showing that global motion perception declines linearly as a function of age. The associated fNIRS recordings provide a clear physiological correlate of global motion perception. The crux of this study lies in the robust linear correlation between age and haemodynamic response for both measures of oxygenation. We hypothesise that there is an increase in neural recruitment, necessitating an increase in metabolic need and blood flow, which presents as a higher oxygenated haemoglobin response. We report age-related changes in motion perception with poorer behavioural performance (high motion coherence thresholds) associated with an increased haemodynamic response

MSH3 polymorphisms and protein levels affect CAG repeat instability in huntington's disease mice

Expansions of trinucleotide CAG/CTG repeats in somatic tissues are thought to contribute to ongoing disease progression through an affected individual's life with Huntington's disease or myotonic dystrophy. Broad ranges of repeat instability arise between individuals with expanded repeats, suggesting the existence of modifiers of repeat instability. Mice with expanded CAG/CTG repeats show variable levels of instability depending upon mouse strain. However, to date the genetic modifiers underlying these differences have not been identified. We show that in liver and striatum the R6/1 Huntington's disease (HD) (CAG)~100 transgene, when present in a congenic C57BL/6J (B6) background, incurred expansion-biased repeat mutations, whereas the repeat was stable in a congenic BALB/cByJ (CBy) background. Reciprocal congenic mice revealed the Msh3 gene as the determinant for the differences in repeat instability. Expansion bias was observed in congenic mice homozygous for the B6 Msh3 gene on a CBy background, while the CAG tract was stabilized in congenics homozygous for the CBy Msh3 gene on a B6 background. The CAG stabilization was as dramatic as genetic deficiency of Msh2. The B6 and CBy Msh3 genes had identical promoters but differed in coding regions and showed strikingly different protein levels. B6 MSH3 variant protein is highly expressed and associated with CAG expansions, while the CBy MSH3 variant protein is expressed at barely detectable levels, associating with CAG stability. The DHFR protein, which is divergently transcribed from a promoter shared by the Msh3 gene, did not show varied levels between mouse strains. Thus, naturally occurring MSH3 protein polymorphisms are modifiers of CAG repeat instability, likely through variable MSH3 protein stability. Since evidence supports that somatic CAG instability is a modifier and predictor of disease, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that variable levels of CAG instability associated with polymorphisms of DNA repair genes may have prognostic implications for various repeat-associated diseases

REMOVABLE SETS FOR LIPSCHITZ HARMONIC FUNCTIONS ON CARNOT GROUPS

Abstract. Let G be a Carnot group with homogeneous dimension Q ≥ 3 and let L be a sub-Laplacian on G. We prove that the critical dimension for removable sets of Lipschitz L-harmonic functions is (Q − 1). Moreover we construct self-similar sets with positive and finite H Q−1 measure which are removable. 1

Shake a tail feather: the evolution of the theropod tail into a stiff aerodynamic surface

Theropod dinosaurs show striking morphological and functional tail variation; e.g., a long, robust, basal theropod tail used for counterbalance, or a short, modern avian tail used as an aerodynamic surface. We used a quantitative morphological and functional analysis to reconstruct intervertebral joint stiffness in the tail along the theropod lineage to extant birds. This provides new details of the tail's morphological transformation, and for the first time quantitatively evaluates its biomechanical consequences. We observe that both dorsoventral and lateral joint stiffness decreased along the non-avian theropod lineage (between nodes Theropoda and Paraves). Our results show how the tail structure of non-avian theropods was mechanically appropriate for holding itself up against gravity and maintaining passive balance. However, as dorsoventral and lateral joint stiffness decreased, the tail may have become more effective for dynamically maintaining balance. This supports our hypothesis of a reduction of dorsoventral and lateral joint stiffness in shorter tails. Along the avian theropod lineage (Avialae to crown group birds), dorsoventral and lateral joint stiffness increased overall, which appears to contradict our null expectation. We infer that this departure in joint stiffness is specific to the tail's aerodynamic role and the functional constraints imposed by it. Increased dorsoventral and lateral joint stiffness may have facilitated a gradually improved capacity to lift, depress, and swing the tail. The associated morphological changes should have resulted in a tail capable of producing larger muscular forces to utilise larger lift forces in flight. Improved joint mobility in neornithine birds potentially permitted an increase in the range of lift force vector orientations, which might have improved flight proficiency and manoeuvrability. The tail morphology of modern birds with tail fanning capabilities originated in early ornithuromorph birds. Hence, these capabilities should have been present in the early Cretaceous, with incipient tail-fanning capacity in the earliest pygostylian birds

Making space for empathy: supporting doctors in the emotional labour of clinical care

BACKGROUND: The academic and medical literature highlights the positive effects of empathy for patient care. Yet, very little attention has been given to the impact of the requirement for empathy on the physicians themselves and on their emotional wellbeing. DISCUSSION: The medical profession requires doctors to be both clinically competent and empathetic towards the patients. In practice, accommodating both requirements can be difficult for physicians. The image of the technically skilful, rational, and emotionally detached doctor dominates the profession, and inhibits physicians from engaging emotionally with their patients and their own feelings, which forms the basis for empathy. This inhibition has a negative impact not only on the patients but also on the physicians. The expression of emotions in medical practice is perceived as unprofessional and many doctors learn to supress and ignore their feelings. When facing stressful situations, these physicians are more likely to suffer from depression and burnout than those who engage with and reflect on their feelings. Physicians should be supported in their emotional work, which will help them develop empathy. Methods could include questionnaires that aid self-reflection, and discussion groups with peers and supervisors on emotional experiences. Yet, in order for these methods to work, the negative image associated with the expression of emotions should be questioned. Also, the work conditions of physicians should improve to allow them to make use of these tools. SUMMARY: Empathy should not only be expected from doctors but should be actively promoted, assisted and cultivated in the medical profession

Equal fitness paradigm explained by a trade-off between generation time and energy production rate

Most plant, animal and microbial species of widely varying body size and lifestyle are nearly equally fit as evidenced by their coexistence and persistence through millions of years. All organisms compete for a limited supply of organic chemical energy, derived mostly from photosynthesis, to invest in the two components of fitness: survival and production. All organisms are mortal because molecular and cellular damage accumulates over the lifetime; life persists only because parents produce offspring. We call this the equal fitness paradigm. The equal fitness paradigm occurs because: (1) there is a trade-off between generation time and productive power, which have equal-but-opposite scalings with body size and temperature; smaller and warmer organisms have shorter lifespans but produce biomass at higher rates than larger and colder organisms; (2) the energy content of biomass is essentially constant, ~22.4 kJ g−1 dry body weight; and (3) the fraction of biomass production incorporated into surviving offspring is also roughly constant, ~10–50%. As organisms transmit approximately the same quantity of energy per gram to offspring in the next generation, no species has an inherent lasting advantage in the struggle for existence. The equal fitness paradigm emphasizes the central importance of energy, biological scaling relations and power–time trade-offs in life history, ecology and evolution

Planktonic events may cause polymictic-dimictic regime shifts in temperate lakes

Water transparency affects the thermal structure of lakes, and within certain lake depth ranges, it can determine whether a lake mixes regularly (polymictic regime) or stratifies continuously (dimictic regime) from spring through summer. Phytoplankton biomass can influence transparency but the effect of its seasonal pattern on stratification is unknown. Therefore we analysed long term field data from two lakes of similar depth, transparency and climate but one polymictic and one dimictic, and simulated a conceptual lake with a hydrodynamic model. Transparency in the study lakes was typically low during spring and summer blooms and high in between during the clear water phase (CWP), caused when zooplankton graze the spring bloom. The effect of variability of transparency on thermal structure was stronger at intermediate transparency and stronger during a critical window in spring when the rate of lake warming is highest. Whereas the spring bloom strengthened stratification in spring, the CWP weakened it in summer. The presence or absence of the CWP influenced stratification duration and under some conditions determined the mixing regime. Therefore seasonal plankton dynamics, including biotic interactions that suppress the CWP, can influence lake temperatures, stratification duration, and potentially also the mixing regime