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您选择的条件: Yan Liang
  • Autoencoding Galaxy Spectra I: Architecture

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We introduce the neural network architecture SPENDER as a core differentiable building block for analyzing, representing, and creating galaxy spectra. It combines a convolutional encoder, which pays attention to up to 256 spectral features and compresses them into a low-dimensional latent space, with a decoder that generates a restframe representation, whose spectral range and resolution exceeds that of the observing instrument. The decoder is followed by explicit redshift, resampling, and convolution transformations to match the observations. The architecture takes galaxy spectra at arbitrary redshifts and is robust to glitches like residuals of the skyline subtraction, so that spectra from a large survey can be ingested directly without additional preprocessing. We demonstrate the performance of SPENDER by training on the entire spectroscopic galaxy sample of SDSS-II; show its ability to create highly accurate reconstructions with substantially reduced noise; perform deconvolution and oversampling for a super-resolution model that resolves the [OII] doublet; introduce a novel method to interpret attention weights as proxies for important spectral features; and infer the main degrees of freedom represented in the latent space. We conclude with a discussion of future improvements and applications.

  • DI Herculis Revisited: Starspots, Gravity Darkening, and 3-D Obliquities

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: DI Herculis is an eclipsing binary famous for a longstanding disagreement between theory and observation of the apsidal precession rate, which was resolved when both stars were found to be severely misaligned with the orbit. We used data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to refine our knowledge of the stellar obliquities and sharpen the comparison between the observed and theoretical precession rates. The TESS data show variations with a 1.07-day period, which we interpret as rotational modulation from starspots on the primary star. This interpretation is supported by the detection of photometric anomalies during primary eclipses consistent with starspot crossings. The secondary eclipse light curve shows a repeatable asymmetry which we interpret as an effect of gravity darkening. By combining the TESS data with previously obtained data, we determined the three-dimensional spin directions of both stars. Using this information, the updated value of the theoretical apsidal precession rate (including the effects of tides, rotation, and general relativity) is $1.35^{+0.58}_{-0.50}$ arcsec/cycle. The updated value of the observed rate (after including new TESS eclipse times) is $1.41^{+0.39}_{-0.28}$ arcsec/cycle. Given the agreement between the observed and theoretical values, we fitted all the relevant data simultaneously assuming the theory is correct. This allowed us to place tighter constraints on the stellar obliquities, which are $75^{+3}_{-3}$ and $80^{+3}_{-3}$ degrees for the primary and secondary stars, respectively.

  • Autoencoding Galaxy Spectra II: Redshift Invariance and Outlier Detection

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present an unsupervised outlier detection method for galaxy spectra based on the spectrum autoencoder architecture spender, which reliably captures spectral features and provides highly realistic reconstructions for SDSS galaxy spectra. We interpret the sample density in the autoencoder latent space as a probability distribution, and identify outliers as low-probability objects with a normalizing flow. However, we found that the latent-space position is not, as expected from the architecture, redshift invariant, which introduces stochasticity into the latent space and the outlier detection method. We solve this problem by adding two novel loss terms during training, which explicitly link latent-space distances to data-space distances, preserving locality in the autoencoding process. Minimizing the additional losses leads to a redshift-invariant, non-degenerate latent space distribution with clear separations between common and anomalous data. We inspect the spectra with the lowest probability and find them to include blends with foreground stars, extremely reddened galaxies, galaxy pairs and triples, and stars that are misclassified as galaxies. We release the newly trained spender model and the latent-space probability for the entire SDSS-I galaxy sample to aid further investigations.

  • Germline Polymorphisms and Length of Survival of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: An Exome-Wide Association Study in Multiple Cohorts

    分类: 医学、药学 >> 临床医学 分类: 生物学 >> 遗传学 提交时间: 2020-03-06

    摘要: Germline polymorphisms have been linked with differential survival outcomes in cancers but have not been well studied in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Here, two-phase association study is conducted to discover germline polymorphisms that are associated with the prognosis of NPC. The discovery phase includes two consecutive hospital cohorts of patients with NPC from Southern China. Exome-wide genotypes at 246,173 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are determined, followed by survival analysis for each SNP under Cox proportional hazards regression model. Candidate SNP is replicated in another two independent cohorts from Southern China and Singapore. Meta-analysis of all samples (n = 5,553) confirm that the presence of rs1131636-T, located in the 3′-UTR of RPA1, confers an inferior overall survival (HR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.20-1.47, P = 6.31 × 10-8). Bioinformatics and biological assays show that rs1131636 has regulatory effects on upstream RPA1. Functional studies further demonstrate that RPA1 promoted the growth, invasion, migration, and radioresistance of NPC cells. Additionally, miR-1253 has been identified as a suppressor for RPA1 expression, likely through regulation of its binding affinity to rs1131636 locus. Collectively, these findings provide a promising biomarker aiding in stratifying patients with poor survival, as well as a potential drug target for NPC.

  • The Arabidopsis CROWDED NUCLEI genes regulate seed germination by modulating degradation of ABI5 protein

    分类: 生物学 >> 植物学 >> 植物生理学 提交时间: 2016-05-03

    摘要: In Arabidopsis, the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays a vital role in inhibiting seed germination and in post-germination seedling establishment. In the ABA signaling pathway, ABI5, a basic Leu zipper transcription factor, has important functions in the regulation of seed germination. ABI5 protein localizes in nuclear bodies, along with AFP, COP1, and SIZ1, and was degraded through the 26S proteasome pathway. However, the mechanisms of ABI5 nuclear body formation and ABI5 protein degradation remain obscure. In this study, we found that the Arabidopsis CROWDED NUCLEI (CRWN) proteins, predicted nuclear matrix proteins essential for maintenance of nuclear morphology, also participate in ABA-controlled seed germination by regulating the degradation of ABI5 protein. During seed germination, the crwn mutants are hypersensitive to ABA and have higher levels of ABI5 protein compared to wild type. Genetic analysis suggested that CRWNs act upstream of ABI5. The observation that CRWN3 colocalizes with ABI5 in nuclear bodies indicates that CRWNs might participate in ABI5 protein degradation in nuclear bodies. Moreover, we revealed that the extreme C-terminal of CRWN3 protein is necessary for its function in the response to ABA in germination. Our results suggested important roles of CRWNs in ABI5 nuclear body organization and ABI5 protein degradation during seed germination.