No smoke without fire : cosmic dust emission as a tracer of star formation in galaxies

Studies of the history of the Universe are for a large part concerned with mapping the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time. Beginning from the seeds of density perturbations in the early Universe, and building up through gravitational and astrophysical interactions to form the wide diversity seen in the present day, galaxies allow us to observe the distribution of luminous (and dark) matter over a wide range of look-back times. A key process in galaxy evolution is the formation of stars, an activity which is readily observed by indirect means, although the detailed mechanism is not fully understood. One of the most successful methods for tracing star formation is to observe the emission from dust in galaxies. These tiny particles of carbon- and silicon-based solids resemble smoke, pervading the interstellar medium in many (if not all) galaxies, and blocking the short-wavelength radiation from hot, newly-formed stars. They re-radiate this energy as far-infrared radiation (wavelengths ~10-1000 microns), which can be detected from sources throughout the Universe by telescopes such as the Spitzer and Herschel space observatories. The spectral form of this radiation varies from one galaxy to another, depending on many factors such as the activity within the galaxy, the amount of dust, and the sources heating the dust. Hence, with careful interpretation, we can use these observations to trace the star-forming activity and dust mass in different types of galaxies from early times through to the present day. In this thesis I describe three projects, each of which utilises multi-wavelength datasets from large surveys to probe the dust emission from samples of galaxies at different cosmic epochs, and explore the relationship between dust emission and other galaxy properties. The first project samples the most massive galaxies at a range of redshifts spanning the peak era of star formation, and investigates the correlation between far-infrared and radio emission. I use a `stacking' methodology to avoid bias towards the brightest star-forming galaxies, and show that the far-infrared and radio tracers of star formation agree up to high redshifts in typical massive galaxies. In the second project I apply the stacking method to a large sample of low-redshift galaxies selected from a major optical survey spanning the last four billion years of evolution. I make use of the largest ever sub-millimetre imaging survey to produce a detailed and unbiased census of the dust mass in ordinary galaxies as a function of optical brightness, colour and look-back time. I show that the luminosity and temperature of dust is a strong function of galaxy mass and colour, while the dust masses of all galaxy types have decreased rapidly over the time span probed. The final project focuses on a small sample of nearby galaxies and utilises data obtained and reduced by myself to probe the molecular-gas content of galaxies selected to have large dust masses. This study addresses questions about how well the cold dust, traced by the sub-millimetre wavebands of Herschel, is correlated with the cold gas, which provides the fuel for ongoing star formation. The thesis demonstrates the utility of statistical techniques for large surveys, and also contains aspects of data reduction and extensive discussion of the astrophysical interpretation of results. Through these various analyses I show that dust emission can provide a valuable window on the growth of galaxies through star formation. The work contained herein represents significant progress in the field of observational extragalactic astronomy, including work recently published in the scientific literature in two collaborative research papers led by myself, in addition to a third paper that I am currently preparing

No smoke without fire : cosmic dust emission as a tracer of star formation in galaxies

Studies of the history of the Universe are for a large part concerned with mapping the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time. Beginning from the seeds of density perturbations in the early Universe, and building up through gravitational and astrophysical interactions to form the wide diversity seen in the present day, galaxies allow us to observe the distribution of luminous (and dark) matter over a wide range of look-back times. A key process in galaxy evolution is the formation of stars, an activity which is readily observed by indirect means, although the detailed mechanism is not fully understood. One of the most successful methods for tracing star formation is to observe the emission from dust in galaxies. These tiny particles of carbon- and silicon-based solids resemble smoke, pervading the interstellar medium in many (if not all) galaxies, and blocking the short-wavelength radiation from hot, newly-formed stars. They re-radiate this energy as far-infrared radiation (wavelengths ~10-1000 microns), which can be detected from sources throughout the Universe by telescopes such as the Spitzer and Herschel space observatories. The spectral form of this radiation varies from one galaxy to another, depending on many factors such as the activity within the galaxy, the amount of dust, and the sources heating the dust. Hence, with careful interpretation, we can use these observations to trace the star-forming activity and dust mass in different types of galaxies from early times through to the present day. In this thesis I describe three projects, each of which utilises multi-wavelength datasets from large surveys to probe the dust emission from samples of galaxies at different cosmic epochs, and explore the relationship between dust emission and other galaxy properties. The first project samples the most massive galaxies at a range of redshifts spanning the peak era of star formation, and investigates the correlation between far-infrared and radio emission. I use a `stacking' methodology to avoid bias towards the brightest star-forming galaxies, and show that the far-infrared and radio tracers of star formation agree up to high redshifts in typical massive galaxies. In the second project I apply the stacking method to a large sample of low-redshift galaxies selected from a major optical survey spanning the last four billion years of evolution. I make use of the largest ever sub-millimetre imaging survey to produce a detailed and unbiased census of the dust mass in ordinary galaxies as a function of optical brightness, colour and look-back time. I show that the luminosity and temperature of dust is a strong function of galaxy mass and colour, while the dust masses of all galaxy types have decreased rapidly over the time span probed. The final project focuses on a small sample of nearby galaxies and utilises data obtained and reduced by myself to probe the molecular-gas content of galaxies selected to have large dust masses. This study addresses questions about how well the cold dust, traced by the sub-millimetre wavebands of Herschel, is correlated with the cold gas, which provides the fuel for ongoing star formation. The thesis demonstrates the utility of statistical techniques for large surveys, and also contains aspects of data reduction and extensive discussion of the astrophysical interpretation of results. Through these various analyses I show that dust emission can provide a valuable window on the growth of galaxies through star formation. The work contained herein represents significant progress in the field of observational extragalactic astronomy, including work recently published in the scientific literature in two collaborative research papers led by myself, in addition to a third paper that I am currently preparing

Long-Range Periodic Patterns in Microbial Genomes Indicate Significant Multi-Scale Chromosomal Organization

Genome organization can be studied through analysis of chromosome position-dependent patterns in sequence-derived parameters. A comprehensive analysis of such patterns in prokaryotic sequences and genome-scale functional data has yet to be performed. We detected spatial patterns in sequence-derived parameters for 163 chromosomes occurring in 135 bacterial and 16 archaeal organisms using wavelet analysis. Pattern strength was found to correlate with organism-specific features such as genome size, overall GC content, and the occurrence of known motility and chromosomal binding proteins. Given additional functional data for Escherichia coli, we found significant correlations among chromosome position dependent patterns in numerous properties, some of which are consistent with previously experimentally identified chromosome macrodomains. These results demonstrate that the large-scale organization of most sequenced genomes is significantly nonrandom, and, moreover, that this organization is likely linked to genome size, nucleotide composition, and information transfer processes. Constraints on genome evolution and design are thus not solely dependent upon information content, but also upon an intricate multi-parameter, multi-length-scale organization of the chromosome

Best practice coral restoration for the Great Barrier Reef

As the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) continues to degrade through repeated mass bleaching events, crown-of-thorns starfish and major disease outbreaks, and the impacts of intense cyclones, pressure is growing for direct intervention to assist the recovery of reef-building corals. Decreasing coral cover on the GBR and other Australian reefs has been recognised as a serious problem relatively recently in Australia but follows a global trend, with many overseas reefs now highly degraded. Various types of coral restoration, rehabilitation and assisted recovery projects have been trialled overseas for decades and it makes sense to look at what has and hasn’t worked overseas to determine a range of options that may suit GBR conditions. Some direct interventions to assist coral recovery have been trialled in Australia such as transplanting corals, algae removal to promote coral recovery and larval enhancement promoting direct coral recruitment. In addition, after physical damage from cyclones, ship strikes or dragged anchors, local dive operators and dive clubs (permitted or unpermitted) often attempt to assist the recovery of corals by tipping over flipped tabular corals and reattaching broken branching corals or sea fans. These latter assisted recovery techniques are rarely underpinned by scientific data on coral recovery. A lack of best practice guidelines for these actions limits the chance of success and increases the health and safety risks of these activities

LOFAR/H-ATLAS: The low-frequency radio luminosity - star-formation rate relation

Radio emission is a key indicator of star-formation activity in galaxies, but the radio luminosity-star formation relation has to date been studied almost exclusively at frequencies of 1.4 GHz or above. At lower radio frequencies the effects of thermal radio emission are greatly reduced, and so we would expect the radio emission observed to be completely dominated by synchrotron radiation from supernova-generated cosmic rays. As part of the LOFAR Surveys Key Science project, the Herschel-ATLAS NGP field has been surveyed with LOFAR at an effective frequency of 150 MHz. We select a sample from the MPA-JHU catalogue of SDSS galaxies in this area: the combination of Herschel, optical and mid-infrared data enable us to derive star-formation rates (SFRs) for our sources using spectral energy distribution fitting, allowing a detailed study of the low-frequency radio luminosity--star-formation relation in the nearby Universe. For those objects selected as star-forming galaxies (SFGs) using optical emission line diagnostics, we find a tight relationship between the 150 MHz radio luminosity ($L_{150}$) and SFR. Interestingly, we find that a single power-law relationship between $L_{150}$ and SFR is not a good description of all SFGs: a broken power law model provides a better fit. This may indicate an additional mechanism for the generation of radio-emitting cosmic rays. Also, at given SFR, the radio luminosity depends on the stellar mass of the galaxy. Objects which were not classified as SFGs have higher 150-MHz radio luminosity than would be expected given their SFR, implying an important role for low-level active galactic nucleus activity.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The Infrared Properties of Sources Matched in the WISE All-Sky and Herschel Atlas Surveys

We describe the infrared properties of sources detected over approx. 36 deg2 of sky in the GAMA 15-hr equatorial field, using data from both the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large-Area Survey (H-ATLAS) and Wide-field Infrared Survey (WISE). With 5(sigma) point-source depths of 34 and 0.048 mJy at 250 microns and 3.4 microns, respectively, we are able to identify 50.6% of the H-ATLAS sources in the WISE survey, corresponding to a surface density of approx. 630 deg-2. Approximately two-thirds of these sources have measured spectroscopic or optical/near-IR photometric redshifts of z or approx. 20.5) have 250-350 microns flux density ratios that suggest either high-redshift galaxies (z > or approx. 1.5) or optically faint low-redshift galaxies with unusually low temperatures (T < or approx. 20). Their small 3.4-250 microns flux ratios favor a high-redshift galaxy population, as only the most actively star-forming galaxies at low redshift (e.g., Arp 220) exhibit comparable flux density ratios. Furthermore, we find a relatively large AGN fraction (approx. 30%) in a 12 microns flux-limited subsample of H-ATLAS sources, also consistent with there being a significant population of high-redshift sources in the no-redshift sample

Estimating the global cost of vision impairment and its major causes: protocol for a systematic review

Introduction: Vision impairment (VI) places a burden on individuals, health systems and society in general. In order to support the case for investing in eye health services, an updated cost of illness study that measures the global impact of VI is necessary. To perform such a study, a systematic review of the literature is needed. Here we outline the protocol for a systematic review to describe and summarise the costs associated with VI and its major causes. Methods and analysis: We will systematically search in Medline (Ovid) and the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination database which includes the National Health Service Economics Evaluation Database. No language or geographical restriction will be applied. Additional literature will be identified by reviewing the references in the included studies and by contacting field experts. Grey literature will be considered. The review will include any study published from 1 January 2000 to November 2019 that provides information about costs of illness, burden of disease and/or loss of well-being in participants with VI due to an unspecified cause or due to one of the seven leading causes globally. Two reviewers will independently screen studies and extract relevant data from included studies. Methodological quality of economic studies will be assessed based on the British Medical Journal checklist for economic submissions adapted to costs of illness studies. This protocol has been prepared following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis protocols and has been published prospectively in Open Science Framework. Ethics and dissemination Formal ethical approval is not required, as primary data will not be collected in this review. The findings of this study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, stakeholder meetings and inclusion in the ongoing Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health. Registration details https://osf.io/9au3w (DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/6F8VM)

Insights into the cultured bacterial fraction of corals

Bacteria associated with coral hosts are diverse and abundant, with recent studies suggesting involvement of these symbionts in host resilience to anthropogenic stress. Despite their putative importance, the work dedicated to culturing coral-associated bacteria has received little attention. Combining published and unpublished data, here we report a comprehensive overview of the diversity and function of culturable bacteria isolated from corals originating from tropical, temperate, and cold-water habitats. A total of 3,055 isolates from 52 studies were considered by our metasurvey. Of these, 1,045 had full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences, spanning 138 formally described and 12 putatively novel bacterial genera across the Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria phyla. We performed comparative genomic analysis using the available genomes of 74 strains and identified potential signatures of beneficial bacterium-coral symbioses among the strains. Our analysis revealed \u3e 400 biosynthetic gene clusters that underlie the biosynthesis of antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and other secondary metabolites. Moreover, we uncovered genomic features-not previously described for coral-bacterium symbioses-potentially involved in host colonization and host-symbiont recognition, antiviral defense mechanisms, and/or integrated metabolic interactions, which we suggest as novel targets for the screening of coral probiotics. Our results highlight the importance of bacterial cultures to elucidate coral holobiont functioning and guide the selection of probiotic candidates to promote coral resilience and improve holistic and customized reef restoration and rehabilitation efforts

Announcing The Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health

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