Statistical analysis of dwarf galaxies and their globular clusters in the Local Volume

Morphological classification of dwarf galaxies into early and late type, though can account for some of their origin and characteristics but does not help to study their formation mechanism. So an objective classification using Principal Component analysis together with K means Cluster Analysis of these dwarf galaxies and their globular clusters is carried out to overcome this problem. It is found that the classification of dwarf galaxies in the Local Volume is irrespective of their morphological indices. The more massive (MV 0 < -13.7) galaxies evolve through self-enrichment and harbor dynamically less evolved younger globular clusters (GCs) whereas fainter galaxies (MV 0 > -13.7) are influenced by their environment in the star formation process.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables, published in Ap

Single cell transcriptional analysis reveals novel innate immune cell types

Single-cell analysis has the potential to provide us with a host of new knowledge about biological systems, but it comes with the challenge of correctly interpreting the biological information. While emerging techniques have made it possible to measure inter-cellular variability at the transcriptome level, no consensus yet exists on the most appropriate method of data analysis of such single cell data. Methods for analysis of transcriptional data at the population level are well established but are not well suited to single cell analysis due to their dependence on population averages. In order to address this question, we have systematically tested combinations of methods for primary data analysis on single cell transcription data generated from two types of primary immune cells, neutrophils and T lymphocytes. Cells were obtained from healthy individuals, and single cell transcript expression data was obtained by a combination of single cell sorting and nanoscale quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) for markers of cell type, intracellular signaling, and immune functionality. Gene expression analysis was focused on hierarchical clustering to determine the existence of cellular subgroups within the populations. Nine combinations of criteria for data exclusion and normalization were tested and evaluated. Bimodality in gene expression indicated the presence of cellular subgroups which were also revealed by data clustering. We observed evidence for two clearly defined cellular subtypes in the neutrophil populations and at least two in the T lymphocyte populations. When normalizing the data by different methods, we observed varying outcomes with corresponding interpretations of the biological characteristics of the cell populations. Normalization of the data by linear standardization taking into account technical effects such as plate effects, resulted in interpretations that most closely matched biological expectations. Single cell transcription profiling provides evidence of cellular subclasses in neutrophils and leukocytes that may be independent of traditional classifications based on cell surface markers. The choice of primary data analysis method had a substantial effect on the interpretation of the data. Adjustment for technical effects is critical to prevent misinterpretation of single cell transcript data

From opportunity seeking to gap filling: Reframing Brazil in Lusophone Africa

This chapter inquires whether Brazil’s headways in Africa over recent years were organic in nature and in content or, in fact, were achieved at the expense of other previously established actors. By reframing Brazil’s agenda towards African lusophone countries in juxtaposition to the perceived external downturn of Portugal, the propitious context and consequences of a new player on the continent can be best brought into evidence. The push-and-pull forces enacted by both Brazil and Portugal towards Lusophone Africa are explored through the aftermath of the 2012 military coup in Guinea-Bissau and the adhesion of Equatorial Guinea to the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) in 2014. The chapter offers a reinterpretation of Brazil’s net gains in Africa and argues for its fragility and susceptibility to changing political-economic cycles.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Parents’ Disclosure of Their HIV Infection to Their Children in the Context of the Family

We interviewed 33 HIV-infected parents from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS), 27 of their minor children, 19 adult children, and 15 caregivers about the process of children learning that their parents were HIV positive. We summarize the retrospective descriptions of parents’ disclosure of their HIV status to their children, from the perspective of multiple family members. We analyzed transcripts of these interviews with systematic qualitative methods. Both parents and children reported unplanned disclosure experiences with positive and negative outcomes. Parents sometimes reported that disclosure was not as negative as they feared. However, within-household analysis showed disagreement between parents and children from the same household regarding disclosure outcomes. These findings suggest that disclosure should be addressed within a family context to facilitate communication and children’s coping. Parents should consider negative and positive outcomes, unplanned disclosure and children’s capacity to adapt after disclosure when deciding whether to disclose

Gravitational structure formation in scale relativity

In the framework of the theory of scale relativity, we suggest a solution to the cosmological problem of the formation and evolution of gravitational structures on many scales. This approach is based on the giving up of the hypothesis of differentiability of space-time coordinates. As a consequence of this generalization, space-time is not only curved, but also fractal. In analogy with Einstein's general relativistic methods, we describe the effects of space fractality on motion by the construction of a covariant derivative. The principle of equivalence allows us to write the equation of dynamics as a geodesics equation that takes the form of the equation of free Galilean motion. Then, after a change of variables, this equation can be integrated in terms of a gravitational Schrodinger equation that involves a new fundamental gravitational coupling constant, alpha_{g} = w_{0}/c. Its solutions give probability densities that quantitatively describe precise morphologies in the position space and in the velocity space. Finally the theoretical predictions are successfully checked by a comparison with observational data: we find that matter is self-organized in accordance with the solutions of the gravitational Schrodinger equation on the basis of the universal constant w_{0}=144.7 +- 0.7 km/s (and its multiples and sub-multiples), from the scale of our Earth and the Solar System to large scale structures of the UniverseComment: 34 pages, 42 figures. Higher quality figures adde

Measurement of B(t->Wb)/B(t->Wq) at the Collider Detector at Fermilab

We present a measurement of the ratio of top-quark branching fractions R= B(t -> Wb)/B(t -> Wq), where q can be a b, s or a d quark, using lepton-plus-jets and dilepton data sets with integrated luminosity of ~162 pb^{-1} collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab during Run II of the Tevatron. The measurement is derived from the relative numbers of t-tbar events with different multiplicity of identified secondary vertices. We set a lower limit of R > 0.61 at 95% confidence level.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, published in Physical Review Letters; changes made to be consistent with published versio

Measurement of WγW\gamma and ZγZ\gamma Production in ppˉp\bar{p} Collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV

The Standard Model predictions for $W\gamma$ and $Z\gamma$ production are tested using an integrated luminosity of 200 pb$^{-1}$ of \ppbar collision data collected at the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The cross sections are measured selecting leptonic decays of the $W$ and $Z$ bosons, and photons with transverse energy $E_T>7$ GeV that are well separated from leptons. The production cross sections and kinematic distributions for the $W\gamma$ and $Z\gamma$ are compared to SM predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR