CFRP truss for the CCAT 25 m diameter submillimeter-wave telescope

CCAT will be a 25 m diameter submillimeter-wave telescope that will operate inside a dome located on Cerro Chajnantor in the Atacama Desert. The telescope must have high aperture efficiency at a wavelength of 350 microns and good performance out to a wavelength of 200 microns. A conceptual design for a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) truss and primary reflector support truss has been developed. This design yields a telescope with a net �½ wave front error of <10 microns using a lookup table to adjust the segment actuators to compensate for gravitational deflections. Minor corrections may be required to compensate for the expected 20 C temperature excursions. These can be handled using a coarse lookup table

CCAT

Star formation, which drives the evolution of baryonic matter in the universe, occurs in the densest regions of the interstellar medium. As a result much of the emergent short wavelength radiation, UV to near IR, is absorbed by intervening dust and reradiated at longer wavelengths, far IR and subillimeter. Indeed the energy density of post primordial extragalactic light is divided equally between these short and long wavelengths, indicating equal amounts of radiation have passed through dusty and optically transparent environments over cosmic time. Comprehensive understanding of the processes of galaxy, star, and planetary formation requires, therefore, high sensitivity and high angular resolution observations, particularly surveys, in the far IR and submillimeter. A consortium led by Cornell and Caltech with JPL is now jointly planning the construction of a 25 m diameter telescope for submillimeter astronomy on a high mountain in northern Chile. This CCAT will combine high sensitivity, a wide field of view, and a broad wavelength range to provide an unprecedented capability for deep, large area, multi-color submillimeter surveys to complement narrow field, high resolution studies with ALMA. CCAT observations will address fundamental themes in contemporary astronomy, notably the formation and evolution of galaxies, the nature of the dark matter and dark energy that comprise most of the content of the universe, the formation of stars and planets, the conditions in circumstellar disks, and the conditions during the early history of the Solar system. The candidate CCAT site, at 5600m in northern Chile, enjoys superb observing conditions. To accommodate large format bolometer cameras, CCAT is designed with a 20 arcmin field of view. CCAT will incorporate closed loop active control of its segmented primary mirror to maintain a half wavefront error of 10 μm rms or less for the entire telescope. Instrumentation under consideration includes both short (650 μm–200 μm) and long (2 mm–750 μm) wavelength bolometer cameras, direct detection spectrometers, and heterodyne receiver arrays. In addition to Cornell and Caltech with JPL, the University of Colorado, the Universities of British Columbia and of Waterloo, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre on behalf of the UK community, and the Universities of Cologne and of Bonn have joined the CCAT consortium. When complete, CCAT will be the largest and most sensitive facility of its class as well as the highest altitude astronomical facility on Earth

Testing and evaluation of Dacron parachute elements after exposure to ethylene oxide and simulated package loading and heat cycle

Testing Dacron parachute components and assemblies by exposure to ethylene oxide sterilization, simulated package loading, and heat cycl

Radar studies of the planets

The radar measurements phase of the lunar studies involving reflectivity and topographic mapping of the visible lunar surface was ended in December 1972, but studies of the data and production of maps have continued. This work was supported by Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston. Topographic mapping of the equatorial regions of Mars has been carried out during the period of each opposition since that of 1967. The method comprised extended precise traveling time measurements to a small area centered on the subradar point. As measurements continued, planetary motions caused this point to sweep out extensive areas in both latitude and longitude permitting the development of a fairly extensive topographical map in the equatorial region. Radar observations of Mercury and Venus have also been made over the past few years. Refinements of planetary motions, reflectivity maps and determinations of rotation rates have resulted

The Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope status and technical progress

Five partners have currently joined a Consortium to develop the Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope (CCAT.) Included are Cornell University, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the University of Colorado at Boulder, the United Kingdom as represented by the Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC), and Canada as represented by the Universities of British Columbia and Waterloo. This consortium has continued work toward the design of the telescope and instrumentation, pursued fund raising, and further developed the science case for CCAT. An Engineering Design Phase is being planned for 2009-2011 with construction planned to begin shortly thereafter. CCAT continues as a wide field (20 arc min) FOV telescope operating from a shortest wavelength of 200µ. Testing has continued near the summit of Cerro Chajnantor in the Atacama Region of Chile above 5600 meters altitude and data indicates significantly lower water vapor in the seeing column than measured at the ALMA site on the plateau below. Work over the past two years has included research on manufacturing methods for optical segments, extensive study of mirror alignment sensing and control techniques, additional concepts for major structures, and further development of instrumentation

Submillimetre surveys: The prospects for Herschel

Using the observed submillimetre source counts, from 250-1200 microns (including the most recent 250, 350 and 500 micron counts from BLAST), we present a model capable of reproducing these results, which is used as a basis to make predictions for upcoming surveys with the SPIRE instrument aboard the Herschel Space Observatory. The model successfully fits both the integral and differential source counts of submillimetre galaxies in all wavebands, predicting that while ultra-luminous infrared galaxies dominate at the brightest flux densities, the bulk of the infrared background is due to the less luminous infrared galaxy population. The model also predicts confusion limits and contributions to the cosmic infrared background that are consistent with the BLAST results. Applying this to SPIRE gives predicted source confusion limits of 19.4, 20.5 and 16.1mJy in the 250, 350 and 500 micron bands respectively. This means the SPIRE surveys should achieve sensitivities 1.5 times deeper than BLAST, revealing a fainter population of infrared-luminous galaxies, and detecting approximately 2600, 1300, and 700 sources per square degree in the SPIRE bands (with one in three sources expected to be a high redshift ultra-luminous source at 500 microns). The model number redshift distributions predict a bimodal distribution of local quiescent galaxies and a high redshift peak corresponding to strongly evolving star-forming galaxies. It suggests the very deepest surveys with Herschel-SPIRE ought to sample the source population responsible for the bulk of the infrared background.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Advocating for Psychology in OHSU Pediatric Gastroenterology

The Pediatric Gastroenterology (Peds GI) division at Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU) aims to expand their team to include an additional faculty psychologist to meet patient demands, expand their clinical expertise, and serve as leaders in evidence based Peds GI care in the state of Oregon. Our team assessed feasibility of this by reviewing the benefits of integrated behavioral health services, conducting interviews with key stakeholders to determine their needs with regards to prospective psychology services, and assisting the Peds GI division with the creation of a framework for assessing the value-added by a psychologist. Key to understand the matrixed environment of Peds GI and Department of Psychology?s desires, stakeholder interviews shed light on the necessity to aim for strategic recruitment of new psychologists who are interested in non-clinical pursuits, such as teaching, research, and advocacy in addition to clinical care, in order to satisfy the multiple stakeholders. Chronic pain disorders and autism spectrum disorders are two relevant domains highlighted as potential research areas that may benefit multiple pediatric clinics and assist OHSU in becoming a gold standard leader in Peds GI services. Co-authors: Albarado, Megan Martin, Becky Sebring, Lia Vasoya, Bella Willis, Nikk

Endodontic inflammatory disease and myocardial infarction

Atherosclerosis is the underlying cause to suffering an acute myocardial infarction. Disruption of atherosclerotic plaques lead to thrombus formation and occlusion of the coronary arteries which impedes blood supply to the heart. Inflammation plays a role in the pathogenesis. Through spread of pro-inflammatory mediators, oral inflammatory diseases may contribute to the risk of acute coronary events. The PAROKRANK study reported an independent association between marginal periodontitis and the risk of acute myocardial infarction. The main objective of this thesis was to explore if a similar association exists between endodontic inflammatory disease and acute myocardial infarction. Study I addressed observer reliability in assessment of endodontic variables in panoramic radiographs. Calibration improved agreement between three observers and a reference standard in assessment of periapical lesions (from weighted 0.22, 0.30 and 0.60 to 0.59, 0.64 and 0.80 respectively). In Study II, endodontic variables in PAROKRANK patients and controls were compared. Following adjustment for confounders, more missing teeth increased the risk (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.02-1.06), whilst number of filled teeth reduced the risk (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.96-1.00), of myocardial infarction. Decayed teeth (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.02-1.37) and primary apical periodontitis (OR 1.57; 95% CI 1.08-2.29) increased the risk in younger age-groups while root filled teeth (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.03-1.36) increased risk in older age groups. Study III explored a composite of endodontic inflammatory disease as an indicator of acute myocardial infarction. In a multivariable logistics regression model, the composite, calculated as the sum of seven weighted endodontic variables, best predicted the risk of myocardial infarction (OR 1.97; 95% CI 1.23-3.17). Study IV analysed correlations between endodontic variables and systemic levels of pro-inflammatory markers in blood. In adjusted analyses, presenting ≥1 root filled tooth related to lower levels of several cytokines (IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-12p70), whilst ≥1 primary apical periodontitis related to higher levels of interleukin-8 (=0.06). In Study V, national registries were assessed for mortality and morbidity data of the PAROKRANK cohort during a follow-up of eight years. Following adjustment for confounders, remaining teeth and non-root filled teeth decreased the risk of future events, whilst higher DMFT-score increased the risk and ≥1 primary apical periodontitis decreased the risk of suffering cardiovascular events. Higher DMFT-score and decayed teeth increased the risk of all-cause mortality

Exploradores de Idiomas: High School Led Spanish Lessons

To better understand how to educate U.S. students to be global citizens, this applied research project will investigate how cities can begin to incorporate small language programs into their communities in order to create more opportunities for students to become bilingual and develop global competence