Impact of Rubin Observatory LSST Template Acquisition Strategies on Early Science from the Transients and Variable Stars Science Collaboration: Non-time-critical Science Cases

Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time, LSST, will revolutionize modern astronomy by producing an extremely deep (coadded depth ~27 mag) depth-limited survey of the entire southern sky (LSST Science Collaboration et al. 2009). The 8.4 m large-aperture, wide-field telescope, which is based in Cerro Pachón, will image the entire Southern sky every three nights in multiple bands (SDSS-u, g, r, i, z, y) and produce a fire-hose of data, 20 Tb each night, concluding in a 60 petabyte data set as the legacy of the 10 yr survey. Extracting meaningful light curves from variable objects requires difference imaging to both identify variability and calibrate light curve data products. Templates, co-added groups of visits that act as an image of the "static" sky, are a key component of Difference Imaging Analysis (DIA) and as such are of paramount importance for all science that involves variable objects. As the "non-time-critical" science cases discussed here are mostly periodic, they generally do not depend upon the survey alert stream; however, templates are still crucial for performing science and calibrations during the first year. We provide recommendations for observing strategies for template acquisition starting from commissioning and through Year 1 of the survey

Constructions of generalized complex structures in dimension four

Four-manifold theory is employed to study the existence of (twisted) generalized complex structures. It is shown that there exist (twisted) generalized complex structures that have more than one type change loci. In an example-driven fashion, (twisted) generalized complex structures are constructed on a myriad of four-manifolds, both simply and non-simply connected, which are neither complex nor symplectic

All-Cause Mortality After Diabetes-Related Amputation in Barbados: A prospective case-control study

OBJECTIVE—To determine the mortality rate after diabetes-related lower-extremity amputation (LEA) in an African-descent Caribbean population

Globalising assessment: an ethnography of literacy assessment, camels and fast food in the Mongolian Gobi

What happens when standardised literacy assessments travel globally? The paper presents an ethnographic account of adult literacy assessment events in rural Mongolia. It examines the dynamics of literacy assessment in terms of the movement and re-contextualisation of test items as they travel globally and are received locally by Mongolian respondents. The analysis of literacy assessment events is informed by Goodwin’s ‘participation framework’ on language as embodied and situated interactive phenomena and by Actor Network Theory. Actor Network Theory (ANT) is applied to examine literacy assessment events as processes of translation shaped by an ‘assemblage’ of human and non-human actors (including the assessment texts)

Impact of Rubin Observatory LSST Template Acquisition Strategies on Early Science from the Transients and Variable Stars Science Collaboration: Non-time-critical Science Cases

Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time, LSST, will revolutionize modern astronomy by producing an extremely deep (coadded depth ~27 mag) depth-limited survey of the entire southern sky (LSST Science Collaboration et al. 2009). The 8.4 m large-aperture, wide-field telescope, which is based in Cerro Pachón, will image the entire Southern sky every three nights in multiple bands (SDSS-u, g, r, i, z, y) and produce a fire-hose of data, 20 Tb each night, concluding in a 60 petabyte data set as the legacy of the 10 yr survey. Extracting meaningful light curves from variable objects requires difference imaging to both identify variability and calibrate light curve data products. Templates, co-added groups of visits that act as an image of the "static" sky, are a key component of Difference Imaging Analysis (DIA) and as such are of paramount importance for all science that involves variable objects. As the "non-time-critical" science cases discussed here are mostly periodic, they generally do not depend upon the survey alert stream; however, templates are still crucial for performing science and calibrations during the first year. We provide recommendations for observing strategies for template acquisition starting from commissioning and through Year 1 of the survey

Exotic smooth structures on 4-manifolds with zero signature

For every integer $k\geq 2$, we construct infinite families of mutually nondiffeomorphic irreducible smooth structures on the topological $4$-manifolds $(2k-1)(S^2\times S^2)$ and (2k-1)(\CP#\CPb), the connected sums of $2k-1$ copies of $S^2\times S^2$ and \CP#\CPb.Comment: 6 page

Bacterial vaginosis in female facility workers in north-western Tanzania: prevalence and risk factors

OBJECTIVES: To determine prevalence of, and risk factors for, bacterial vaginosis (BV) among herpes simplex virus (HSV) 2 seropositive Tanzanian women at enrollment into a randomised, placebo-controlled trial of HSV suppressive treatment. METHODS: 1305 HSV-2 seropositive women aged 16-35 years working in bars, guesthouses and similar facilities were interviewed, examined and tested for HIV, syphilis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, BV, candidiasis and trichomoniasis. Factors associated with BV were analysed using logistic regression to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: BV prevalence was 62.9%; prevalence of Nugent score 9-10 was 16.1%. Independent risk factors for BV were work facility type, fewer dependents, increasing alcohol consumption, sex in the last week (adjusted OR 2.03; 95% CI 1.57 to 2.62), using cloths or cotton wool for menstrual hygiene, HIV (adjusted OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.83) and Trichomonas vaginalis infection. There was no association between BV and the frequency or method of vaginal cleansing. However, BV was less prevalent among women who reported inserting substances to dry the vagina for sex (adjusted OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.25 to 0.75). CONCLUSION: BV was extremely prevalent among our study population of HSV-2 positive female facility workers in North-western Tanzania. Although recent sex was associated with increased BV prevalence, vaginal drying was associated with lower BV prevalence. Further studies of the effects of specific practices on vaginal flora are warranted

Assembly maps with coefficients in topological algebras and the integral K-theoretic Novikov conjecture

We prove that any countable discrete and torsion free subgroup of a general linear group over an arbitrary field or a similar subgroup of an almost connected Lie group satisfies the integral algebraic K-theoretic (split) Novikov conjecture over \cpt and \S, where \cpt denotes the C^*-algebra of compact operators and \S denotes the algebra of Schatten class operators. We introduce assembly maps with finite coefficients and under an additional hypothesis, we prove that such a group also satisfies the algebraic K-theoretic Novikov conjecture over \bar{\mathbb{Q}} and \mathbb{C} with finite coefficients. For all torsion free Gromov hyperbolic groups G, we demonstrate that the canonical algebra homomorphism \cpt[G]\map C^*_r(G)\hat{\otimes}\cpt induces an isomorphism between their algebraic K-theory groups.Comment: v2 Exposition improved; one lemma and grant acknowledgement added; v3 some terminology changed and details added, Theorems 4.5 and 4.7 in v3 need an extra hypothesis; v4 abridged version accepted for publication in JHR