The Multiplexed Squid Tes Array at Ninety Gigahertz (Mustang)

The Multiplexed SQUID/TES Array at Ninety Gigahertz (MUSTANG) is a bolometric continuum imaging camera designed to operate at the Gregorian focus of the 100m Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in Pocahontas county, West Virginia. The combination of the GBT\u27s large collecting area and the 8x8 array of transition edge sensors at the heart of MUSTANG allows for deep imaging at 10\u27\u27 resolution at 90GHz. The MUSTANG receiver is now a facility instrument of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory available to the general astronomical community. The 3.3mm continuum passband is useful to access a large range of Galactic and extra-Galactic astrophysics. Sources with synchrotron, free-free and thermal blackbody emission can be detected at 3.3mm. Of particular interest is the Sunyaev Zel\u27dovich effect in clusters of galaxies, which arises from the inverse Compton scattering of CMB photons off hot electrons in the intra-cluster medium. In the MUSTANG band, the effect is observationally manifested as an artificial decrement in power on the sky in the direction of the cluster. There have been many experiments in the past two decades dedicated to measurements of the SZE, however, nearly all of them were accomplished with angular resolution larger than ~1\u27. The massive primary of the GBT enables measurements of the SZE on 10\u27\u27 scales. This provides a new technique to map pressure substructure in the plasma atmospheres of merging clusters of galaxies. By analyzing MUSTANG data along side X-ray data, spatially resolved measurements of the temperature, density and pressure of the ICM can be performed which can be used to infer the physics governing major mergers. This thesis details the design, commissioning and operation of the various components which comprise the MUSTANG receiver. This includes the sub-kelvin cryogenic cooling, the time domain multiplexed readout electronics and the array of transition edge sensor bolometers. Laboratory characterization of the detector array is thoroughly described, including the measurements of the transition temperatures, thermal conductance, noise properties and time constants. Bolometric cameras measure celestial radiation as time ordered data. To reliably produce images from traces in the time domain, care must be taken to modulate the signal in an optimized fashion during observations. Once the data are taken, algorithms must be developed to isolate the signal of interest from the foregrounds produced by atmospheric emission. This thesis presents the techniques developed to scan, calibrate, filter and produce images from time ordered data taken with MUSTANG and the GBT. From the Fall of 2006 to the winter of 2010, the MUSTANG receiver was commissioned on the GBT and used for a range of astrophysical measurements. The commissioning process and early science results are given in this thesis. This includes the modifications made to the instrument which have resulted in dramatically enhanced sensitivity as well as the images produced from bright extended millimeter sources such as high mass star forming regions, active galactic nuclei and supernova remnants. This thesis presents a sample of merging clusters of galaxies imaged through their Sunyaev Zel\u27dovich signatures at high angular resolution. In the massive cluster RXJ1347, a previously reported pressure enhancement to the south east of the cluster peak was confirmed. This is now interpreted as a parcel of hot shock heated gas (KT~20keV) produced in a recent merger. In the high redshift systems MACS0744 and CL1226, pressure substructure was identified and is believed to be associated with merger activity. Both systems contain peaks in dark matter revealed by gravitational lensing which are not associated with baryonic emission, supportive of a scenario in which an infalling cluster has passed through a main cluster being stripped of its baryons. In MACS0744, the SZE and X-ray morphology is suggestive of a shock wave propagating through the ICM. By fitting the Rankine Hugoniot jump conditions in a simultaneous SZE/X-ray analysis, the likelihood of this interpretation is explored. The system is well described by a mildly supersonic shock wave propagating with a Mach number of ~1.2

SIS model of disease extinction on heterogeneous directed population networks

Understanding the spread of diseases through complex networks is of great interest where realistic, heterogeneous contact patterns play a crucial role in the spread. Most works have focused on mean-field behavior -- quantifying how contact patterns affect the emergence and stability of (meta)stable endemic states in networks. On the other hand, much less is known about longer time scale dynamics, such as disease extinction, whereby inherent process stochasticity and contact heterogeneity interact to produce large fluctuations that result in the spontaneous clearance of infection. Here we show that heterogeneity in both susceptibility and infectiousness (incoming and outgoing degree, respectively) has a non-trivial effect on extinction in directed contact networks, both speeding-up and slowing-down extinction rates depending on the relative proportion of such edges in a network, and on whether the heterogeneities in the incoming and outgoing degrees are correlated or anticorrelated. In particular, we show that weak anticorrelated heterogeneity can increase the disease stability, whereas strong heterogeneity gives rise to markedly different results for correlated and anticorrelated heterogeneous networks. All analytical results are corroborated through various numerical schemes including network Monte-Carlo simulations.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. E (2022

Spatial and Temporal Stability of Airglow Measured in the Meinel Band Window at 1191.3 nm

We report on the temporal and spatial fluctuations in the atmospheric brightness in the narrow band between Meinel emission lines at 1191.3 nm using an R=320 near-infrared instrument. We present the instrument design and implementation, followed by a detailed analysis of data taken over the course of a night from Table Mountain Observatory. The absolute sky brightness at this wavelength is found to be 5330 +/- 30 nW m^-2 sr^-1, consistent with previous measurements of the inter-band airglow at these wavelengths. This amplitude is larger than simple models of the continuum component of the airglow emission at these wavelengths, confirming that an extra emissive or scattering component is required to explain the observations. We perform a detailed investigation of the noise properties of the data and find no evidence for a noise component associated with temporal instability in the inter-line continuum. This result demonstrates that in several hours of ~100s integrations the noise performance of the instrument does not appear to significantly degrade from expectations, giving a proof of concept that near-IR line intensity mapping may be feasible from ground-based sites.Comment: 15 figures, submitted to PAS

Hearing Aid Use and Cognitive Function: A Systematic Review

This systematic review analyzed the research relating the use of hearing aids to cognitive function. Hearing aid use was examined to see if wearing hearing aids improves cognitive function, if the length of time hearing aids are worn impacts cognitive ability, if the type of hearing aid used has any impact on cognitive function, and if hearing aid use slows down cognitive decline. Ten studies met the criteria for this review. An analysis of the research revealed some evidence to support wearing hearing aids improves cognitive function, however, there is substantial evidence that shows no impact between wearing hearing aids and cognitive function. The length of time people wear hearing aids or the type of hearing aids could not be determined as a factor in change in cognitive function. More research needs to be conducted, and is currently underway, to prove the impact hearing aid use has on cognitive ability

DEPRESSION – ET GLOBALT PROBLEM

Depression er en af de mest udbredte psykiske lidelser i den vestlige verden og er derfor blevet et omfattende samfundsmæssigt problem. Desuden har den øgede globalisering og migration i verden medført, at mennesker fra både vestlige og ikke-vestlige kulturer nu lever tæt sammen. En sådan sammenfletning af kulturelle verdener er en udfordring for både diagnosticering og behandling af depression i et multikulturelt perspektiv. Artiklen integrerer forskellige perspektiver på depression, særligt med fokus på kulturens rolle, og argumenterer for vigtigheden af et tværfagligt perspektiv i forhold til en bedre forståelse af lidelsen. Først undersøges vestlige forklaringsmodeller for depression i psykologiske teorier. Disse teorier er baseret på vestlige antagelser om menneskets og verdens natur, og artiklen udforsker derfor disse antagelser nærmere. Kulturens rolle i det diagnostiske system DSM uddybes, og nogle væsentlige temaer beskrives for at argumentere for nødvendigheden af en tværfaglig forståelsesramme. Dernæst anvendes det tværfaglige perspektiv til at se på behandling af etniske minoriteter i vestlige lande. Artiklen diskuterer nogle væsentlige problemer ved brugen af traditionel psykoterapi og fordele ved såkaldt multikulturel psykoterapi, når det gælder etniske minoriteter. I artiklen præsenteres således et bredt og tværfagligt perspektiv på depression både i forhold til diagnosticering og behandling

Use of the interRAI CHESS Scale to Predict Mortality among Persons with Neurological Conditions in Three Care Settings

Background: Persons with certain neurological conditions have higher mortality rates than the population without neurological conditions, but the risk factors for increased mortality within diagnostic groups are less well understood. The interRAI CHESS scale has been shown to be a strong predictor of mortality in the overall population of persons receiving health care in community and institutional settings. This study examines the performance of CHESS as a predictor of mortality among persons with 11 different neurological conditions. Methods: Survival analyses were done with interRAI assessments linked to mortality data among persons in home care (n = 359,940), complex continuing care hospitals/units (n = 88,721), and nursing homes (n = 185,309) in seven Canadian provinces/territories. Results: CHESS was a significant predictor of mortality in all 3 care settings for the 11 neurological diagnostic groups considered after adjusting for age and sex. The distribution of CHESS scores varied between diagnostic groups and within diagnostic groups in different care settings. Conclusions: CHESS is a valid predictor of mortality in neurological populations in community and institutional care. It may prove useful for several clinical, administrative, policy-development, evaluation and research purposes. Because it is routinely gathered as part of normal clinical practice in jurisdictions (like Canada) that have implemented interRAI assessment instruments, CHESS can be derived without additional need for data collection.Public Health Agency of Canada, Project #6271-15-2010/3970773, Ontario Home Care Research and Knowledge Exchange Chair (to JPH) through the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Car

Integration and instrument characterization of the cosmic infrared background experiment 2 (CIBER-2)

The extragalactic background light (EBL) is the integrated emission from all objects outside of the Milky Way galaxy. Imprinted by the history of stellar emission, the EBL in the near infrared traces light back to the birth of the first stars in the Universe and can allow tight constraints on structure formation models. Recent studies using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope and the first Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment (CIBER-1) find that there are excess fluctuations in the EBL on large scales which have been attributed to either high redshift galaxies and quasars, or to stars that were stripped from their host galaxies during merging events. To help disentangle these two models, multi-wavelength data can be used to trace their distinctive spectral features. Following the success of CIBER-1, CIBER-2 is designed to identify the sources of the EBL excess fluctuations using data in six wavebands covering the optical and near infrared. The experiment consists of a cryogenic payload and is scheduled to launch four times on a recoverable sounding rocket. CIBER-2 has a 28.5 cm telescope coupled with an optics system to obtain wide-field images in six broad spectral bands between 0.5 and 2.5 μm simultaneously. The experiment uses 2048 × 2048 HAWAII-2RG detector arrays and a cryogenic star tracker. A prototype of the cryogenic star tracker is under construction for a separate launch to verify its performance and star tracking algorithm. The mechanical, optical, and electrical components of the CIBER-2 experiment will have been integrated into the payload by mid-2018. Here we present the final design of CIBER-2 and our team’s instrument characterization efforts. The design and analysis of the optical focus tests will be discussed. We also report on the performance of CIBER-2 support systems, including the cooling mechanisms and deployable components. Finally, we outline the remaining tasks required to prepare the payload for launch

The CNDR: Collaborating to translate new therapies for Canadians

Background: Patient registries represent an important method of organizing real world patient information for clinical and research purposes. Registries can facilitate clinical trial planning and recruitment and are particularly useful in this regard for uncommon and rare diseases. Neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) are individually rare but in aggregate have a significant prevalence. In Canada, information on NMDs is lacking. Barriers to performing Canadian multicentre NMD research exist which can be overcome by a comprehensive and collaborative NMD registry. Methods: We describe the objectives, design, feasibility and initial recruitment results for the Canadian Neuromuscular Disease Registry (CNDR). Results: The CNDR is a clinic-based registry which launched nationally in June 2011, incorporates paediatric and adult neuromuscular clinics in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and, as of December 2012, has recruited 1161 patients from 12 provinces and territories. Complete medical datasets have been captured on 460 index disease patients. Another 618 non-index patients have been recruited with capture of physician-confirmed diagnosis and contact information. We have demonstrated the feasibility of blended clinic and central office-based recruitment. Index disease patients recruited at the time of writing include 253 with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy, 161 with myotonic dystrophy, and 71 with ALS. Conclusions: The CNDR is a new nationwide registry of patients with NMDs that represents an important advance in Canadian neuromuscular disease research capacity. It provides an innovative platform for organizing patient information to facilitate clinical research and to expedite translation of recent laboratory findings into human studies

The cosmic infrared background experiment-2 (CIBER-2) for studying the near-infrared extragalactic background light

We present the current status of the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment-2 (CIBER-2) project, whose goal is to make a rocket-borne measurement of the near-infrared Extragalactic Background Light (EBL), under a collaboration with U.S.A., Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The EBL is the integrated light of all extragalactic sources of emission back to the early Universe. At near-infrared wavelengths, measurement of the EBL is a promising way to detect the diffuse light from the first collapsed structures at redshift z∼10, which are impossible to detect as individual sources. However, recently, the intra-halo light (IHL) model is advocated as the main contribution to the EBL, and our new result of the EBL fluctuation from CIBER-1 experiment is also supporting this model. In this model, EBL is contributed by accumulated light from stars in the dark halo regions of low- redshift (z<2) galaxies, those were tidally stripped by the interaction of satellite dwarf galaxies. Thus, in order to understand the origin of the EBL, both the spatial fluctuation observations with multiple wavelength bands and the absolute spectroscopic observations for the EBL are highly required. After the successful initial CIBER- 1 experiment, we are now developing a new instrument CIBER-2, which is comprised of a 28.5-cm aluminum telescope and three broad-band, wide-field imaging cameras. The three wide-field (2.3×2.3 degrees) imaging cameras use the 2K×2K HgCdTe HAWAII-2RG arrays, and cover the optical and near-infrared wavelength range of 0.5–0.9 μm, 1.0–1.4 μm and 1.5–2.0 μm, respectively. Combining a large area telescope with the high sensitivity detectors, CIBER-2 will be able to measure the spatial fluctuations in the EBL at much fainter levels than those detected in previous CIBER-1 experiment. Additionally, we will use a linear variable filter installed just above the detectors so that a measurement of the absolute spectrum of the EBL is also possible. In this paper, the scientific motivation and the expected performance for CIBER-2 will be presented. The detailed designs of the telescope and imaging cameras will also be discussed, including the designs of the mechanical, cryogenic, and electrical systems

Galaxy Cluster Pressure Profiles as Determined by Sunyaev Zel'dovich Effect Observations with MUSTANG and Bolocam I: Joint Analysis Technique

We present a technique to constrain galaxy cluster pressure profiles by jointly fitting Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) data obtained with MUSTANG and Bolocam for the clusters Abell 1835 and MACS0647. Bolocam and MUSTANG probe different angular scales and are thus highly complementary. We find that the addition of the high resolution MUSTANG data can improve constraints on pressure profile parameters relative to those derived solely from Bolocam. In Abell 1835 and MACS0647, we find gNFW inner slopes of $\gamma = 0.36_{-0.21}^{+0.33}$ and $\gamma = 0.38_{-0.25}^{+0.20}$, respectively when $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are constrained to 0.86 and 4.67 respectively. The fitted SZE pressure profiles are in good agreement with X-ray derived pressure profiles.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to Ap