181 research outputs found
Context-Aware Data Association for Multi-Inhabitant Sensor-Based Activity Recognition
Recognizing the activities of daily living (ADLs) in multi-inhabitant settings is a challenging task. One of the major challenges is the so-called data association problem: how to assign to each user the environmental sensor events that he/she actually triggered? In this paper, we tackle this problem with a contextaware approach. Each user in the home wears a smartwatch, which is used to gather several high-level context information, like the location in the home (thanks to a micro-localization infrastructure) and the posture (e.g., sitting or standing). Context data is used to associate sensor events to the users which more likely triggered them. We show the impact of context reasoning in our framework on a dataset where up to 4 subjects perform ADLs at the same time (collaboratively or individually). We also report our experience and the lessons learned in deploying a running prototype of our method
Phenotypic selection under two contrasting environments in wild sunflower and its cropâwild hybrid
Hybridization is a common phenomenon in plants and can lead to the introgression of alleles from one population into another, generate new hybrid lineages, or cause species extinction. The environmental conditions and the genetic background of the participating populations may influence these outcomes since they can affect the fitness of hybrids, thereby increasing or decreasing the chances of introgression. Thus, it is important to understand the contextâdependent prospects for introgression of alleles into diverse populations and under multiple ecological environments. Cropâwild hybridization presents an opportunity to explore these dynamics in agroecosystems. To this end, we used diverse wild and hybrid sunflowers from across the northern United States as a basis for evaluating variation in morphological traits and assessing contextâdependence selection. These cropâwild hybrids and their wild counterparts were grown under agricultural conditions in the field with and without wheat competition. Interactions between origin and cross type affected expression of early functional traits, while interactions between competition and cross type acted on reproductive traits. A smattering of early and reproductive traits were affected by interactions between cross type and competition that varied by origin (i.e., 3âway interactions). Seven functional traits, especially number of branches and tertiary head diameter, underwent net and direct directional selection, while six out of these seven traits appear to also be experiencing nonâlinear selection dynamics. In general, wildâlike traits were favored under both sets of conditions, while, under wheat competition, some cropâlike traits related to fast growth and primary head diameter became important. These data reaffirm the hypothesis that stressful conditions establish a scenario more suitable for crop introgression and clarify that nonâlinear selection dynamics may play a role in this process.Fil: Presotto, Alejandro Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - BahĂa Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona SemiĂĄrida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona SemiĂĄrida; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de AgronomĂa; ArgentinaFil: HernĂĄndez, Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - BahĂa Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona SemiĂĄrida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona SemiĂĄrida; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de AgronomĂa; ArgentinaFil: Mercer, Kristin L.. Ohio State University; Estados Unido
Characterizing Diffused Stellar Light in simulated galaxy clusters
[Abridged] In this paper, we carry out a detailed analysis of the performance
of two different methods to identify the diffuse stellar light in cosmological
hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters. One method is based on a
dynamical analysis of the stellar component. The second method is closer to
techniques commonly employed in observational studies. Both the dynamical
method and the method based on the surface brightness limit criterion are
applied to the same set of hydrodynamical simulations for a large sample about
80 galaxy clusters.
We find significant differences between the ICL and DSC fractions computed
with the two corresponding methods, which amounts to about a factor of two for
the AGN simulations, and a factor of four for the CSF set. We also find that
the inclusion of AGN feedback boosts the DSC and ICL fractions by a factor of
1.5-2, respectively, while leaving the BCG+ICL and BCG+DSC mass fraction almost
unchanged. The sum of the BCG and DSC mass stellar mass fraction is found to
decrease from ~80 per cent in galaxy groups to ~60 per cent in rich clusters,
thus in excess of what found from observational analysis.
We identify the average surface brightness limits that yields the ICL
fraction from the SBL method close to the DSC fraction from the dynamical
method. These surface brightness limits turn out to be brighter in the CSF than
in the AGN simulations. This is consistent with the finding that AGN feedback
makes BCGs to be less massive and with shallower density profiles than in the
CSF simulations. The BCG stellar component, as identified by both methods, are
slightly older and more metal-rich than the stars in the diffuse component.Comment: 18 Pages, 15 figures. Matches to MNRAS published versio
SHP-1 phosphatase activity counteracts increased T cell receptor affinity.
Anti-self/tumor T cell function can be improved by increasing TCR-peptide MHC (pMHC) affinity within physiological limits, but paradoxically further increases (K(d) < 1 ÎŒM) lead to drastic functional declines. Using human CD8(+) T cells engineered with TCRs of incremental affinity for the tumor antigen HLA-A2/NY-ESO-1, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying this high-affinity-associated loss of function. As compared with cells expressing TCR affinities generating optimal function (K(d) = 5 to 1 ÎŒM), those with supraphysiological affinity (K(d) = 1 ÎŒM to 15 nM) showed impaired gene expression, signaling, and surface expression of activatory/costimulatory receptors. Preferential expression of the inhibitory receptor programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) was limited to T cells with the highest TCR affinity, correlating with full functional recovery upon PD-1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade. In contrast, upregulation of the Src homology 2 domain-containing phosphatase 1 (SHP-1/PTPN6) was broad, with gradually enhanced expression in CD8(+) T cells with increasing TCR affinities. Consequently, pharmacological inhibition of SHP-1 with sodium stibogluconate augmented the function of all engineered T cells, and this correlated with the TCR affinity-dependent levels of SHP-1. These data highlight an unexpected and global role of SHP-1 in regulating CD8(+) T cell activation and responsiveness and support the development of therapies inhibiting protein tyrosine phosphatases to enhance T cell-mediated immunity
CLASH: Extending galaxy strong lensing to small physical scales with distant sources highly-magnified by galaxy cluster members
We present a strong lensing system in which a double source is imaged 5 times
by 2 early-type galaxies. We take advantage in this target of the multi-band
photometry obtained as part of the CLASH program, complemented by the
spectroscopic data of the VLT/VIMOS and FORS2 follow-up campaign. We use a
photometric redshift of 3.7 for the source and confirm spectroscopically the
membership of the 2 lenses to the galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 at redshift
0.44. We exploit the excellent angular resolution of the HST/ACS images to
model the 2 lenses in terms of singular isothermal sphere profiles and derive
robust effective velocity dispersions of (97 +/- 3) and (240 +/- 6) km/s. The
total mass distribution of the cluster is also well characterized by using only
the local information contained in this lensing system, that is located at a
projected distance of more than 300 kpc from the cluster luminosity center.
According to our best-fitting lensing and composite stellar population models,
the source is magnified by a total factor of 50 and has a luminous mass of
about (1.0 +/- 0.5) x 10^{9} M_{Sun}. By combining the total and luminous mass
estimates of the 2 lenses, we measure luminous over total mass fractions
projected within the effective radii of 0.51 +/- 0.21 and 0.80 +/- 0.32. With
these lenses we can extend the analysis of the mass properties of lens
early-type galaxies by factors that are about 2 and 3 times smaller than
previously done with regard to, respectively, velocity dispersion and luminous
mass. The comparison of the total and luminous quantities of our lenses with
those of astrophysical objects with different physical scales reveals the
potential of studies of this kind for investigating the internal structure of
galaxies. These studies, made possible thanks to the CLASH survey, will allow
us to go beyond the current limits posed by the available lens samples in the
field.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Extreme emission-line galaxies out to z1 in zCOSMOS. I. Sample and characterization of global properties
We present a thorough characterization of a large sample of 183 extreme
emission-line galaxies (EELGs) at redshift 0.11 < z < 0.93 selected from the
20k zCOSMOS Bright Survey because of their unusually large emission line
equivalent widths. We use multiwavelength COSMOS photometry, HST-ACS I-band
imaging and optical zCOSMOS spectroscopy to derive the main global properties
of EELGs, such as sizes, masses, SFRs, reliable metallicities from both
"direct" and "strong-line" methods. The EELGs are compact (R_50 ~ 1.3 kpc),
low-mass (log(M*/Msol)~7-10) galaxies forming stars at unusually high specific
SFR (log(sSFR/yr) up to ~ -7) compared to main sequence SFGs of the same
stellar mass and redshift. At UV wavelengths, the EELGs are luminous and show
high surface brightness and include strong Ly emitters, as revealed by
GALEX spectroscopy. We show that zCOSMOS EELGs are high-ionization,
low-metallicity systems, with median 12+log(O/H)=8.16, including a handful of
extremely metal-deficient galaxies (<10% solar). While ~80% of the EELGs show
non-axisymmetric morphologies, including clumpy and tadpole galaxies, we find
that ~29% of them show additional low surface-brightness features, which
strongly suggest recent or ongoing interactions. As star-forming dwarfs in the
local Universe, EELGs are most often found in relative isolation. While only
very few EELGs belong to compact groups, almost one third of them are found in
spectroscopically confirmed loose pairs or triplets. We conclude that EELGs are
galaxies caught in a transient and probably early period of their evolution,
where they are efficiently building-up a significant fraction of their
present-day stellar mass in an ongoing galaxy-wide starburst. Therefore, the
EELGs constitute an ideal benchmark for comparison studies between low- and
high-redshift low-mass star-forming galaxies.Comment: Accepted in A&A. Final replacement to match the version in press. It
includes a minor change in the title and a new figur
zCOSMOS 20k: Satellite galaxies are the main drivers of environmental effects in the galaxy population at least to z~0.7
We explore the role of environment in the evolution of galaxies over
0.1<z<0.7 using the final zCOSMOS-bright data set. Using the red fraction of
galaxies as a proxy for the quenched population, we find that the fraction of
red galaxies increases with the environmental overdensity and with the stellar
mass, consistent with previous works. As at lower redshift, the red fraction
appears to be separable in mass and environment, suggesting the action of two
processes: mass and environmental quenching. The parameters describing these
appear to be essentially the same at z~0.7 as locally. We explore the relation
between red fraction, mass and environment also for the central and satellite
galaxies separately, paying close attention to the effects of impurities in the
central-satellite classification and using carefully constructed samples
matched in stellar mass. There is little evidence for a dependence of the red
fraction of centrals on overdensity. Satellites are consistently redder at all
overdensities, and the satellite quenching efficiency increases with
overdensity at 0.1<z<0.4. This is less marked at higher redshift, but both are
nevertheless consistent with the equivalent local measurements. At a given
stellar mass, the fraction of galaxies that are satellites also increases with
the overdensity. At a given overdensity and mass, the obtained relation between
the environmental quenching and the satellite fraction agrees well with the
satellite quenching efficiency, demonstrating that the environmental quenching
in the overall population is consistent with being entirely produced through
the satellite quenching process at least up to z=0.7. However, despite the
unprecedented size of our high redshift samples, the associated statistical
uncertainties are still significant and our statements should be understood as
approximations to physical reality, rather than physically exact formulae.Comment: 22 pages, 19 figures, submitted to MNRA
CLASH-VLT: The stellar mass function and stellar mass density profile of the z=0.44 cluster of galaxies MACS J1206.2-0847
Context. The study of the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) in relation to
the galaxy environment and the stellar mass density profile, rho(r), is a
powerful tool to constrain models of galaxy evolution. Aims. We determine the
SMF of the z=0.44 cluster of galaxies MACS J1206.2-0847 separately for passive
and star-forming (SF) galaxies, in different regions of the cluster, from the
center out to approximately 2 virial radii. We also determine rho(r) to compare
it to the number density and total mass density profiles. Methods. We use the
dataset from the CLASH-VLT survey. Stellar masses are obtained by SED fitting
on 5-band photometric data obtained at the Subaru telescope. We identify 1363
cluster members down to a stellar mass of 10^9.5 Msolar. Results. The whole
cluster SMF is well fitted by a double Schechter function. The SMFs of cluster
SF and passive galaxies are statistically different. The SMF of the SF cluster
galaxies does not depend on the environment. The SMF of the passive population
has a significantly smaller slope (in absolute value) in the innermost (<0.50
Mpc), highest density cluster region, than in more external, lower density
regions. The number ratio of giant/subgiant galaxies is maximum in this
innermost region and minimum in the adjacent region, but then gently increases
again toward the cluster outskirts. This is also reflected in a decreasing
radial trend of the average stellar mass per cluster galaxy. On the other hand,
the stellar mass fraction, i.e., the ratio of stellar to total cluster mass,
does not show any significant radial trend. Conclusions. Our results appear
consistent with a scenario in which SF galaxies evolve into passive galaxies
due to density-dependent environmental processes, and eventually get destroyed
very near the cluster center to become part of a diffuse intracluster medium.Comment: A&A accepted, 15 pages, 13 figure
CLASH-VLT: spectroscopic confirmation of a z=6.11 quintuply lensed galaxy in the Frontier Fields Cluster RXC J2248.7-4431
We present VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) observations of a z 6
galaxy quintuply imaged by the Frontier Fields galaxy cluster RXC J2248.7-4431
(z=0.348). This sub-L^*, high-z galaxy has been recently discovered by Monna et
al. (2013) using dropout techniques with the 16-band HST photometry acquired as
part of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH). Obtained
as part of the CLASH-VLT survey, the VIMOS medium-resolution spectra of this
source show a very faint continuum between ~8700A and ~9300A and a prominent
emission line at 8643A, which can be readily identified with Lyman-alpha at
z=6.110. The emission line exhibits an asymmetric profile, with a more
pronounced red wing. The rest-frame equivalent width of the line is EW=79+-10A.
After correcting for magnification, the star-formation rate (SFR) estimated
from the Lya line is SFR(Lya)=11 M_{sol}/yr and that estimated from the UV data
is SFR(UV)=3 M_{sol}/yr. We estimate that the effective radius of the source is
R_e6
M_{sol}/yr/kpc^2 and, using the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, a gas surface mass
density Sigma_{gas}>10^3 M_{sol}/pc^2. Our results support the idea that this
magnified, distant galaxy is a young and compact object with 0.4 L^* at z=6,
with comparable amount of mass in gas and stars. Future follow-up observations
with ALMA will provide valuable insight into the SFR and molecular gas content
of this source. In the spirit of the Frontier Fields initiative, we also
publish the redshifts of several multiply imaged sources and other background
objects which will help improving the strong lensing model of this galaxy
cluster.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in A&A (minor
changes, published version
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