1,992 research outputs found
Automatic annotation of bioinformatics workflows with biomedical ontologies
Legacy scientific workflows, and the services within them, often present
scarce and unstructured (i.e. textual) descriptions. This makes it difficult to
find, share and reuse them, thus dramatically reducing their value to the
community. This paper presents an approach to annotating workflows and their
subcomponents with ontology terms, in an attempt to describe these artifacts in
a structured way. Despite a dearth of even textual descriptions, we
automatically annotated 530 myExperiment bioinformatics-related workflows,
including more than 2600 workflow-associated services, with relevant
ontological terms. Quantitative evaluation of the Information Content of these
terms suggests that, in cases where annotation was possible at all, the
annotation quality was comparable to manually curated bioinformatics resources.Comment: 6th International Symposium on Leveraging Applications (ISoLA 2014
conference), 15 pages, 4 figure
Optical properties of tungsten thin films perforated with a bidimensional array of subwavelength holes
We present a theorical investigation of the optical transmission of a
dielectric grating carved in a tungsten layer. For appropriate wavelengths
tungsten shows indeed a dielectric behaviour. Our numerical simulations leads
to theoretical results similar to those found with metallic systems studied in
earlier works. The interpretation of our results rests on the idea that the
transmission is correlated with the resonant response of eigenmodes coupled to
evanescent diffraction orders.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
The effect of pressure on statics, dynamics and stability of multielectron bubbles
The effect of pressure and negative pressure on the modes of oscillation of a
multi-electron bubble in liquid helium is calculated. Already at low pressures
of the order of 10-100 mbar, these effects are found to significantly modify
the frequencies of oscillation of the bubble. Stabilization of the bubble is
shown to occur in the presence of a small negative pressure, which expands the
bubble radius. Above a threshold negative pressure, the bubble is unstable.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
Cultural basis of social ‘deficits’ in autism spectrum disorders
There is very little research that specifically looks at how autism spectrum disorders are perceived in various communities. This qualitative research was conducted with parents who had children on the autistic spectrum belonging to four different ethnic communities (White British, Somali, West African and South Asian- 63 in total) and living in the UK. The study found that the importance that the parents give to various social skills varied on the basis of their cultural background and the gender of the parent. This is an important aspect to consider while providing support and services to individuals on the autism spectrum and their family members if the services have to be appropriate for their needs. This consideration would also enable the individuals on the autism spectrum to develop appropriate social skills required within their cultural groups. This is a preliminary study and further research on the topic is required
Mid-Infrared Spectral Diagnostics of Luminous Infrared Galaxies
We present a statistical analysis of the mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of 248
luminous infrared (IR) galaxies (LIRGs) which comprise the Great Observatories
All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS) observed with the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
on-board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The GOALS sample enables a direct
measurement of the relative contributions of star-formation and active galactic
nuclei (AGN) to the total IR emission from a large sample of local LIRGs. The
AGN contribution to the MIR emission (f-AGN) is estimated by employing several
diagnostics based on the properties of the [NeV], [OIV] and [NeII] fine
structure gas emission lines, the 6.2 microns PAH and the shape of the MIR
continuum. We find that 18% of all LIRGs contain an AGN and that in 10% of all
sources the AGN contributes more than 50% of the total IR luminosity. Summing
up the total IR luminosity contributed by AGN in all our sources suggests that
AGN supply ~12% of the total energy emitted by LIRGs. The average spectrum of
sources with an AGN looks similar to the average spectrum of sources without an
AGN, but it has lower PAH emission and a flatter MIR continuum. AGN dominated
LIRGs have higher IR luminosities, warmer MIR colors and are found in
interacting systems more often than pure starbursts LIRGs. However we find no
linear correlations between these properties and f-AGN. We used the IRAC colors
of LIRGs to confirm that finding AGN on the basis of their MIR colors may miss
~40% of AGN dominated (U)LIRGsComment: accepted for publication in ApJ, 34 pages, 12 figure
Crystalline Assemblies and Densest Packings of a Family of Truncated Tetrahedra and the Role of Directional Entropic Forces
Polyhedra and their arrangements have intrigued humankind since the ancient
Greeks and are today important motifs in condensed matter, with application to
many classes of liquids and solids. Yet, little is known about the
thermodynamically stable phases of polyhedrally-shaped building blocks, such as
faceted nanoparticles and colloids. Although hard particles are known to
organize due to entropy alone, and some unusual phases are reported in the
literature, the role of entropic forces in connection with polyhedral shape is
not well understood. Here, we study thermodynamic self-assembly of a family of
truncated tetrahedra and report several atomic crystal isostructures, including
diamond, {\beta}-tin, and high- pressure lithium, as the polyhedron shape
varies from tetrahedral to octahedral. We compare our findings with the densest
packings of the truncated tetrahedron family obtained by numerical compression
and report a new space filling polyhedron, which has been overlooked in
previous searches. Interestingly, the self-assembled structures differ from the
densest packings. We show that the self-assembled crystal structures can be
understood as a tendency for polyhedra to maximize face-to-face alignment,
which can be generalized as directional entropic forces.Comment: Article + supplementary information. 23 pages, 10 figures, 2 table
Investigation of Dual Active Nuclei, Outflows, Shock-Heated Gas, and Young Star Clusters in Markarian 266
Results of observations with the Spitzer, Hubble, GALEX, Chandra, and
XMM-Newton space telescopes are presented for the Luminous Infrared Galaxy
(LIRG) merger Mrk 266. The SW (Seyfert 2) and NE (LINER) nuclei reside in
galaxies with Hubble types SBb (pec) and S0/a (pec), respectively. Both
galaxies have L > L*, and they are inferred to each contain a ~2.5x10^8 M_sun
black hole. Mrk 266 SW is likely the primary source of a bright Fe K-alpha line
detected from the system, consistent with the reflection-dominated X-ray
spectrum of a heavily obscured AGN. Optical knots embedded in an arc with
aligned radio continuum radiation, combined with luminous H_2 line emission,
provide evidence for a radiative bow shock in an AGN-driven outflow surrounding
the NE nucleus. Soft X-ray emission modeled as shock-heated plasma is
co-spatial with radio continuum emission between the galaxies. Mid-IR
diagnostics indicate roughly equal contributions of AGN and starburst radiation
powering the bolometric luminosity. Approximately 120 star clusters have been
detected, with most having estimated ages < 50 Myr. Detection of 24 micron
emission extending ~34 arcsec (20 kpc) north of the galaxies is interpreted as
~2x10^7 M_sun of dust entrained in an outflowing superwind; at optical
wavelengths this region is resolved into a fragmented morphology indicative of
Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities in an expanding shell of ionized gas. Mrk 266
demonstrates that the dust "blow-out" phase can begin in a LIRG well before the
galaxies fully coalesce during a subsequent ULIRG phase, and rapid gas
consumption in luminous dual AGNs (kpc scale separations) early in the merger
process may explain the paucity of detected binary QSOs (sub-pc scale orbits)
in large surveys. An evolutionary sequence is proposed representing a
progression from dual to binary AGNs, accompanied by an increase in observed
L_x/L_ir ratios by 10^4 or more.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, 40 pages, 31
figures, 15 table
Do adults with high functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome differ in empathy and emotion recognition?
The present study examined whether adults with high functioning autism (HFA) showed greater difficulties in (i) their self-reported ability to empathise with others and/or (ii) their ability to read mental states in others’ eyes than adults with Asperger syndrome (AS). The Empathy Quotient (EQ) and ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test (Eyes Test) were compared in 43 adults with AS and 43 adults with HFA. No significant difference was observed on EQ score between groups, while adults with AS performed significantly better on the Eyes Test than those with HFA. This suggests that adults with HFA may need more support, particularly in mentalizing and complex emotion recognition, and raises questions about the existence of subgroups within autism spectrum conditions
Theory of extraordinary optical transmission through subwavelength hole arrays
We present a fully three-dimensional theoretical study of the extraordinary
transmission of light through subwavelength hole arrays in optically thick
metal films. Good agreement is obtained with experimental data. An analytical
minimal model is also developed, which conclusively shows that the enhancement
of transmission is due to tunneling through surface plasmons formed on each
metal-dielectric interfaces. Different regimes of tunneling (resonant through a
''surface plasmon molecule", or sequential through two isolated surface
plasmons) are found depending on the geometrical parameters defining the
system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
The Buried Starburst in the Interacting Galaxy II Zw 096 as Revealed by the Spitzer Space Telescope
An analysis of data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and AKARI Infrared Astronomy Satellite is presented for the z = 0.036 merging galaxy system II Zw 096 (CGCG 448-020). Because II Zw 096 has an infrared luminosity of log(L_(IR)/L_☉) = 11.94, it is classified as a Luminous Infrared Galaxy (LIRG), and was observed as part of the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS). The Spitzer data suggest that 80% of the total infrared luminosity comes from an extremely compact, red source not associated with the nuclei of the merging galaxies. The Spitzer mid-infrared spectra indicate no high-ionization lines from a buried active galactic nucleus in this source. The strong detection of the 3.3 μm and 6.2 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission features in the AKARI and Spitzer spectra also implies that the energy source of II Zw 096 is a starburst. Based on Spitzer infrared imaging and AKARI near-infrared spectroscopy, the star formation rate is estimated to be 120 M_☉ yr^(-1) and >45 M_☉ yr^(-1), respectively. Finally, the high-resolution B-, I-, and H-band images show many star clusters in the interacting system. The colors of these clusters suggest at least two populations—one with an age of 1-5 Myr and one with an age of 20-500 Myr, reddened by 0-2 mag of visual extinction. The masses of these clusters span a range between 10^6 and 10^8 M_☉. This starburst source is reminiscent of the extranuclear starburst seen in NGC 4038/9 (the Antennae Galaxies) and Arp 299 but approximately an order of magnitude more luminous than the Antennae. The source is remarkable in that the off-nuclear infrared luminosity dominates the entire system
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