CLASS: The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is an experiment to measure the signature of a gravitational wave background from inflation in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). CLASS is a multi-frequency array of four telescopes operating from a high-altitude site in the Atacama Desert in Chile. CLASS will survey 70% of the sky in four frequency bands centered at 38, 93, 148, and 217 GHz, which are chosen to straddle the Galactic-foreground minimum while avoiding strong atmospheric emission lines. This broad frequency coverage ensures that CLASS can distinguish Galactic emission from the CMB. The sky fraction of the CLASS survey will allow the full shape of the primordial B-mode power spectrum to be characterized, including the signal from reionization at low-length. Its unique combination of large sky coverage, control of systematic errors, and high sensitivity will allow CLASS to measure or place upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio at a level of r = 0:01 and make a cosmic-variance-limited measurement of the optical depth to the surface of last scattering, tau. (c) (2014) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only

Venus Observations at 40 and 90 GHz with CLASS

Using the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor, we measure the disk-averaged absolute Venus brightness temperature to be 432.3 $\pm$ 2.8 K and 355.6 $\pm$ 1.3 K in the Q and W frequency bands centered at 38.8 and 93.7 GHz, respectively. At both frequency bands, these are the most precise measurements to date. Furthermore, we observe no phase dependence of the measured temperature in either band. Our measurements are consistent with a CO$_2$-dominant atmospheric model that includes trace amounts of additional absorbers like SO$_2$ and H$_2$SO$_4$.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, published in PS

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) Telescope Architecture

We describe the instrument architecture of the Johns Hopkins University-led CLASS instrument, a groundbased cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimeter that will measure the large-scale polarization of the CMB in several frequency bands to search for evidence of inflation

Measuring Inflation with CLASS

Using the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS), we will measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) to constrain inflationary theory. The gravitational waves generated during the inflationary epoch imprinted specific polarization patterns -- quantifiable by tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ -- onto the CMB, which CLASS is designed to detect. Furthermore, we will be able to make assertions about the energy scale during inflation by discovering the features of the polarization power spectrum, providing a probe into physics of energy scales not conceivable in particle-accelerator physics. CLASS is a unique ground based experiment with extensive consideration given to mitigating systematic uncertainties

Epidemiology and health care utilization of patients suffering from Huntington’s disease in Germany: real world evidence based on German claims data

Background: Huntington’s disease (HD) is a rare, genetic, neurodegenerative and ultimately fatal disease with no cure or progression-delaying treatment currently available. HD is characterized by a triad of cognitive, behavioural and motor symptoms. Evidence on epidemiology and management of HD is limited, especially for Germany. This study aims to estimate the incidence and prevalence of HD and analyze the current routine care based on German claims data. Methods: The source of data was a sample of the Institute for Applied Health Research Berlin (InGef) Research Database, comprising data of approximately four million insured persons from approximately 70 German statutory health insurances. The study was conducted in a retrospective cross-sectional design using 2015 and 2016 as a two-year observation period. At least two outpatient or inpatient ICD-10 codes for HD (ICD-10: G10) during the study period were required for case identification. Patients were considered incident if no HD diagnoses in the 4 years prior to the year of case identification were documented. Information on outpatient drug dispensations, medical aids and remedies were considered to describe the current treatment situation of HD patients. Results: A 2-year incidence of 1.8 per 100,000 persons (95%-Confidence interval (CI): 1.4–2.4) and a 2-year period prevalence of 9.3 per 100,000 persons (95%-CI: 8.3–10.4) was observed. The prevalence of HD increased with advancing age, peaking at 60–69 years (16.8 per 100,000 persons; 95%-CI: 13.4–21.0) and decreasing afterwards. The most frequently observed comorbidities and disease-associated symptoms in HD patients were depression (42.9%), dementia (37.7%), urinary incontinence (32.5%), extrapyramidal and movement disorders (30.5%), dysphagia (28.6%) and disorders of the lipoprotein metabolism (28.2%). The most common medications in HD patients were antipsychotics (66.9%), followed by antidepressants (45.1%). Anticonvulsants (16.6%), opioids (14.6%) and hypnotics (9.7%) were observed less frequently. Physical therapy was the most often used medical aid in HD patients (46.4%). Nursing services and speech therapy were used by 27.9 and 22.7% of HD patients, respectively, whereas use of psychotherapy was rare (3.2%). Conclusions: Based on a representative sample, this study provides new insights into the epidemiology and routine care of HD patients in Germany, and thus, may serve as a starting point for further research

Two-year Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) Observations: 40 GHz Telescope Pointing, Beam Profile, Window Function, and Polarization Performance

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is a telescope array that observes the cosmic microwave background (CMB) over 75% of the sky from the Atacama Desert, Chile, at frequency bands centered near 40, 90, 150, and 220 GHz. CLASS measures the large angular scale (1 degrees less than or similar to theta <= 90 degrees) CMB polarization to constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio at the r similar to 0.01 level and the optical depth to last scattering to the sample variance limit. This paper presents the optical characterization of the 40 GHz telescope during its first observation era, from 2016 September to 2018 February. High signal-to-noise observations of the Moon establish the pointing and beam calibration. The telescope boresight pointing variation is <0.degrees 023 (<1.6% of the beam's full width at half maximum (FWHM)). We estimate beam parameters per detector and in aggregate, as in the CMB survey maps. The aggregate beam has an FWHM of 1.degrees 579 +/- 0.degrees 001 and a solid angle of 838 +/- 6 mu sr, consistent with physical optics simulations. The corresponding beam window function has a sub-percent error per multipole at l < 200. An extended 90 degrees beam map reveals no significant far sidelobes. The observed Moon polarization shows that the instrument polarization angles are consistent with the optical model and that the temperature-to-polarization leakage fraction is <10(-4) (95% C.L.). We find that the Moon-based results are consistent with measurements of M42, RCW.38, and Tau A from CLASS's CMB survey data. In particular, Tau A measurements establish degree-level precision for instrument polarization angles.National Science Foundation Division of Astronomical Sciences 0959349 1429236 1636634 1654494 National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) NNX14AB76A Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) CONICYT FONDECYT 1171811 CONICYT-PFCHA Magister Nacional Scholarship 2016-22161360 Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) Anillo ACT-1417 QUIMAL 160009 BASAL AFB170002 BASAL CATA AFB-170002 CATA Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) CONICYT PIA/BASAL AFB-170002 Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) CONICYT FONDECYT 1181620 Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT

CTA Contributions to the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015)

List of contributions from the CTA Consortium presented at the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference, 30 July - 6 August 2015, The Hague, The Netherlands.Comment: Index of CTA conference proceedings at the ICRC2015, The Hague (The Netherlands). v1: placeholder with no arXiv links yet, to be replaced once individual contributions have been all submitted; v2: final with arXiv links to all CTA contributions and full author lis