1,024 research outputs found
The distribution of pairwise peculiar velocities in the nonlinear regime
The distribution of pairwise, relative peculiar velocities, , on
small nonlinear scales, , is derived from the Press--Schechter approach.
This derivation assumes that Press--Schechter clumps are virialized and
isothermal. The virialized assumption requires that the circular velocity, , where denotes the mass of the clump. The isothermal
assumption means that the circular velocity is independent of radius. Further,
it is assumed that the velocity distribution within a clump is Maxwellian, that
the pairwise relative velocity distribution is isotropic, and that on nonlinear
scales clump-clump motions are unimportant when calculating the distribution of
velocity differences. Comparison with -body simulations shows that, on small
nonlinear scales, all these assumptions are accurate. For most power spectra of
interest, the resulting line of sight, pairwise, relative velocity
distribution, , is well approximated by an exponential, rather
than a Gaussian distribution. This simple Press--Schechter model is also able
to provide a natural explanation for the observed, non-Maxwellian shape of
, the distribution of peculiar velocities.Comment: (MNRAS, in press) 16 pages, uuencode
The Mass Function of Dark Halos in Superclusters and Voids
A modification of the Press-Schechter theory allowing for presence of a
background large-scale structure (LSS) - a supercluster or a void, is proposed.
The LSS is accounted as the statistical constraints in form of linear
functionals of the random overdensity field. The deviation of the background
density within the LSS is interpreted in a pseudo-cosmological sense. Using the
constraints formalism may help us to probe non-trivial spatial statistics of
haloes, e.g. edge and shape effects on boundaries of the superclusters and
voids. Parameters of the constraints are connected to features of the LSS: its
mean overdensity, a spatial scale and a shape, and spatial momenta of higher
orders. It is shown that presence of a non-virialized LSS can lead to an
observable deviation of the mass function. This effect is exploited to build a
procedure to recover parameters of the background perturbation from the
observationally estimated mass function.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures; to be appeared in Astronomy Reports, 2014, Vol.
58, No. 6, pp. 386-39
Halo stochasticity in global clustering analysis
In the present work we study the statistics of haloes, which in the halo
model determines the distribution of galaxies. Haloes are known to be biased
tracer of dark matter, and at large scales it is usually assumed there is no
intrinsic stochasticity between the two fields. Following the work of Seljak &
Warren (2004), we explore how correct this assumption is and, moving a step
further, we try to qualify the nature of stochasticity. We use Principal
Component Analysis applied to the outputs of a cosmological N-body simulation
to: (1) explore the behaviour of stochasticity in the correlation between
haloes of different masses; (2) explore the behaviour of stochasticity in the
correlation between haloes and dark matter. We show results obtained using a
catalogue with 2.1 million haloes, from a PMFAST simulation with box size of
1000h^{-1}Mpc. In the relation between different populations of haloes we find
that stochasticity is not-negligible even at large scales. In agreement with
the conclusions of Tegmark & Bromley (1999) who studied the correlations of
different galaxy populations, we found that the shot-noise subtracted
stochasticity is qualitatively different from `enhanced' shot noise and,
specifically, it is dominated by a single stochastic eigenvalue. We call this
the `minimally stochastic' scenario, as opposed to shot noise which is
`maximally stochastic'. In the correlation between haloes and dark matter, we
find that stochasticity is minimized, as expected, near the dark matter peak (k
~ 0.02 h Mpc^{-1} for a LambdaCDM cosmology) and, even at large scales, it is
of the order of 15 per cent above the shot noise. Moreover, we find that the
reconstruction of the dark matter distribution is improved when we use
eigenvectors as tracers of the bias. [Abridged]Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to MNRA
Rare mutations and potentially damaging missense variants in genes encoding fibrillar collagens and proteins involved in their production are candidates for risk for preterm premature rupture of membranes
Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) is the leading identifiable cause of preterm birth with ~ 40% of preterm births being associated with PPROM and occurs in 1% - 2% of all pregnancies. We hypothesized that multiple rare variants in fetal genes involved in extracellular matrix synthesis would associate with PPROM, based on the assumption that impaired elaboration of matrix proteins would reduce fetal membrane tensile strength, predisposing to unscheduled rupture. We performed whole exome sequencing (WES) on neonatal DNA derived from pregnancies complicated by PPROM (49 cases) and healthy term deliveries (20 controls) to identify candidate mutations/variants. Genotyping for selected variants from the WES study was carried out on an additional 188 PPROM cases and 175 controls. All mothers were self-reported African Americans, and a panel of ancestry informative markers was used to control for genetic ancestry in all genetic association tests. In support of the primary hypothesis, a statistically significant genetic burden (all samples combined, SKAT-O p-value = 0.0225) of damaging/potentially damaging rare variants was identified in the genes of interest—fibrillar collagen genes, which contribute to fetal membrane strength and integrity. These findings suggest that the fetal contribution to PPROM is polygenic, and driven by an increased burden of rare variants that may also contribute to the disparities in rates of preterm birth among African Americans
Three-Point Correlations in Weak Lensing Surveys: Model Predictions and Applications
We use the halo model of clustering to compute two- and three-point
correlation functions for weak lensing, and apply them in a new statistical
technique to measure properties of massive halos. We present analytical results
on the eight shear three-point correlation functions constructed using
combination of the two shear components at each vertex of a triangle. We
compare the amplitude and configuration dependence of the functions with
ray-tracing simulations and find excellent agreement for different scales and
models. These results are promising, since shear statistics are easier to
measure than the convergence. In addition, the symmetry properties of the shear
three-point functions provide a new and precise way of disentangling the
lensing E-mode from the B-mode due to possible systematic errors.
We develop an approach based on correlation functions to measure the
properties of galaxy-group and cluster halos from lensing surveys. Shear
correlations on small scales arise from the lensing matter within halos of mass
M > 10^13 solar masses. Thus the measurement of two- and three-point
correlations can be used to extract information on halo density profiles,
primarily the inner slope and halo concentration. We demonstrate the
feasibility of such an analysis for forthcoming surveys. We include covariances
in the correlation functions due to sample variance and intrinsic ellipticity
noise to show that 10% accuracy on profile parameters is achievable with
surveys like the CFHT Legacy survey, and significantly better with future
surveys. Our statistical approach is complementary to the standard approach of
identifying individual objects in survey data and measuring their properties.Comment: 30 pages, 21 figures. Corrected typos in equations (23) and (28).
Matches version for publication in MNRA
In Silico Derivation of HLA-Specific Alloreactivity Potential from Whole Exome Sequencing of Stem Cell Transplant Donors and Recipients: Understanding the Quantitative Immuno-biology of Allogeneic Transplantation
Donor T cell mediated graft vs. host effects may result from the aggregate
alloreactivity to minor histocompatibility antigens (mHA) presented by the HLA
in each donor-recipient pair (DRP) undergoing stem cell transplantation (SCT).
Whole exome sequencing has demonstrated extensive nucleotide sequence variation
in HLA-matched DRP. Non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) in
the GVH direction (polymorphisms present in recipient and absent in donor) were
identified in 4 HLA-matched related and 5 unrelated DRP. The nucleotide
sequence flanking each SNP was obtained utilizing the ANNOVAR software package.
All possible nonameric-peptides encoded by the non-synonymous SNP were then
interrogated in-silico for their likelihood to be presented by the HLA class I
molecules in individual DRP, using the Immune-Epitope Database (IEDB) SMM
algorithm. The IEDB-SMM algorithm predicted a median 18,396 peptides/DRP which
bound HLA with an IC50 of <500nM, and 2254 peptides/DRP with an IC50 of <50nM.
Unrelated donors generally had higher numbers of peptides presented by the HLA.
A similarly large library of presented peptides was identified when the data
was interrogated using the Net MHCPan algorithm. These peptides were uniformly
distributed in the various organ systems. The bioinformatic algorithm presented
here demonstrates that there may be a high level of minor histocompatibility
antigen variation in HLA-matched individuals, constituting an HLA-specific
alloreactivity potential. These data provide a possible explanation for how
relatively minor adjustments in GVHD prophylaxis yield relatively similar
outcomes in HLA matched and mismatched SCT recipients.Comment: Abstract: 235, Words: 6422, Figures: 7, Tables: 3, Supplementary
figures: 2, Supplementary tables:
The fractal dimension of star-forming regions at different spatial scales in M33
We study the distribution of stars, HII regions, molecular gas, and
individual giant molecular clouds in M33 over a wide range of spatial scales.
The clustering strength of these components is systematically estimated through
the fractal dimension. We find scale-free behavior at small spatial scales and
a transition to a larger correlation dimension (consistent with a nearly
uniform distribution) at larger scales. The transition region lies in the range
500-1000 pc. This transition defines a characteristic size that separates the
regime of small-scale turbulent motion from that of large-scale galactic
dynamics. At small spatial scales, bright young stars and molecular gas are
distributed with nearly the same three-dimensional fractal dimension (Df <=
1.9), whereas fainter stars and HII regions exhibit higher values (Df =
2.2-2.5). Our results indicate that the interstellar medium in M33 is on
average more fragmented and irregular than in the Milky Way.Comment: 18 pages including 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
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