LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Harnessing the NEON data revolution to advance open environmental science with a diverse and data-capable community

It is a critical time to reflect on the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) science to date as well as envision what research can be done right now with NEON (and other) data and what training is needed to enable a diverse user community. NEON became fully operational in May 2019 and has pivoted from planning and construction to operation and maintenance. In this overview, the history of and foundational thinking around NEON are discussed. A framework of open science is described with a discussion of how NEON can be situated as part of a larger data constellation—across existing networks and different suites of ecological measurements and sensors. Next, a synthesis of early NEON science, based on >100 existing publications, funded proposal efforts, and emergent science at the very first NEON Science Summit (hosted by Earth Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder in October 2019) is provided. Key questions that the ecology community will address with NEON data in the next 10 yr are outlined, from understanding drivers of biodiversity across spatial and temporal scales to defining complex feedback mechanisms in human–environmental systems. Last, the essential elements needed to engage and support a diverse and inclusive NEON user community are highlighted: training resources and tools that are openly available, funding for broad community engagement initiatives, and a mechanism to share and advertise those opportunities. NEON users require both the skills to work with NEON data and the ecological or environmental science domain knowledge to understand and interpret them. This paper synthesizes early directions in the community’s use of NEON data, and opportunities for the next 10 yr of NEON operations in emergent science themes, open science best practices, education and training, and community building

The response of Texas public health agencies and workers to the emergency preparedness initiatives after 9/11

The purpose of this research was to better understand the impact of the terrorist attacks in 2001 on public health, particularly for Texas public health. This study employed mixed methods to examine changes to public health culture within Texas local public health agencies, important attitudes of public health workers toward responding to a disaster, and the funding policies that might ensure our investment in public health emergency preparedness is protected. A qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with a large sample of public health officials in Texas found that all the constituent parts of a peculiar culture for public health preparedness existed that spanned the state\u27s local health departments regardless of size, or funding level. The new preparedness culture in Texas had the hallmarks necessary for a robust public health preparedness and emergency response system. The willingness of public health workers, necessary to make these kinds of changes and mount a disaster response was examined in one of Texas\u27 most experienced disaster response teams—the public health workers for the City of Houston. A hypothesized latent variable model showed that willingness mediated all other factors in the model (self-efficacy, knowledge, barriers, and risk perception) for self-reported likelihood of reporting to work for a disaster. The RMSEA for the final model was 0.042 with a confidence interval of 0.036—0.049 and the chi-squared difference test was P=0.08, indicating a well-fitted model that suggests willingness is an important factor for consideration by preparedness planners and researchers alike. Finally, with disasters on the rise and federal funding for preparedness dwindling, a review of states\u27 policies for the distribution of these funds and their advantages and disadvantages were examined through a review of current literature and public documents, and a survey of state-level public health officials, emergency management professionals and researchers. Although the base plus per-capita method is the most common, it is not necessarily perceived to be the most effective. No clear optimal method emerged from the study, but recommendations for a strategic combination of three methods were made that has the potential to maximize the benefits of each method, while minimizing the weaknesses

HPV knowledge, attitudes, and cultural beliefs among Hispanic men and women living on the Texas-Mexico Border

Background U.S., Hispanic women have higher cervical cancer incidence rates than non-Hispanic Whites and African Americans and lower rates of cervical cancer screening. Knowledge, attitudes, and cultural beliefs may play a role in higher rates of infection of HPV and decisions about subsequent diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer. Study aim To explore the level of HPV knowledge, attitudes, and cultural beliefs among Hispanic men and women on the Texas-Mexico border. Methodological Approach Informed by feminist ethnography, the authors used an interpretive approach to understand local respondents' concerns and interests. Focus group sessions were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Recruitment and sample Promotoras (lay health workers) recruited participants using convenience sampling methods. Group sessions were held in public service centers in Brownsville. Participants' ages ranged from 19 to 76 years. Methods analysis Focus group discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed in Spanish. Researchers read and discussed all the transcripts and generated a coding list. Transcripts were coded using ATLAS.ti 5.0. Key findings Participants had little understanding about HPV and its role in the etiology of cervical cancer. Attitudes and concerns differed by gender. Women interpreted a diagnosis of HPV as a diagnosis of cancer and expressed fatalistic beliefs about its treatment. Men initially interpreted a diagnosis of HPV as an indication of their partners' infidelity, but after reflecting upon the ambiguity of HPV transmission, attributed their initial reaction to cultural ideals of machismo. Men ultimately were interested in helping their partners seek care in the event of a positive diagnosis. Implications for practice Results suggest that understanding Hispanics' cultural norms and values concerning disease, sexuality, and gender is essential to the design and implementation of preventive interventions for HPV and cervical cancer.https://taylorandfrancis.co

Respiratory morbidity at follow up of small for gestational age infants born very prematurely

Background: To determine whether small for gestational age (SGA) infants, born very prematurely had increased respiratory morbidity in the neonatal period and at follow up.Methods: Data were examined from infants entered into the United Kingdom Oscillation Study (UKOS). 174 of 797 infants who were born at less than 29 weeks of gestational age, were SGA. Overall, 92% were exposed to antenatal corticosteroids and 97% received surfactant and follow up data at 22-28 months were available for 367 infants.Results: After adjustment for gestational age and sex, SGA infants had higher rates of supplementary oxygen dependency at 36 weeks postmenstrual age (OR: 3.23; 95% CI 2.03, 5.13), pulmonary haemorrhage (3.07; 1.82, 5.18), death (3.32; 2.13, 5.17) and postnatal corticosteroid requirement (2.09;1.35,3.23). After adjustment for infant and respiratory morbidity risk factors, a lower mean birth weight z- score was associated with a higher prevalence of respiratory admissions (OR 1.40; 1.03, 1.88 for one standard deviation change in z score), cough (1.28; 1.00, 1.65) and use of chest medicines (1.32; 1.01, 1.73).Conclusion: Small for gestational age, very prematurely born infants, despite routine use of antenatal corticosteroids and postnatal surfactant, had increased respiratory morbidity at follow up, which was not due to poor neonatal outcome