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

Separating the Early Universe from the Late Universe: cosmological parameter estimation beyond the black box

We present a method for measuring the cosmic matter budget without assumptions about speculative Early Universe physics, and for measuring the primordial power spectrum P*(k) non-parametrically, either by combining CMB and LSS information or by using CMB polarization. Our method complements currently fashionable ``black box'' cosmological parameter analysis, constraining cosmological models in a more physically intuitive fashion by mapping measurements of CMB, weak lensing and cluster abundance into k-space, where they can be directly compared with each other and with galaxy and Lyman alpha forest clustering. Including the new CBI results, we find that CMB measurements of P(k) overlap with those from 2dF galaxy clustering by over an order of magnitude in scale, and even overlap with weak lensing measurements. We describe how our approach can be used to raise the ambition level beyond cosmological parameter fitting as data improves, testing rather than assuming the underlying physics.Comment: Replaced to match accepted PRD version. Refs added. Combined CMB data and window functions at http://www.hep.upenn.edu/~max/pwindows.html or from [email protected]. 18 figs, 19 journal page

The last stand before MAP: cosmological parameters from lensing, CMB and galaxy clustering

Cosmic shear measurements have now improved to the point where they deserve to be treated on par with CMB and galaxy clustering data for cosmological parameter analysis, using the full measured aperture mass variance curve rather than a mere phenomenological parametrization thereof. We perform a detailed 9-parameter analysis of recent lensing (RCS), CMB (up to Archeops) and galaxy clustering (2dF) data, both separately and jointly. CMB and 2dF data are consistent with a simple flat adiabatic scale-invariant model with Omega_Lambda=0.72+/-0.09, omega_cdm=0.115+/- 0.013, omega_b=0.024+/-0.003, and a hint of reionization around z~8. Lensing helps further tighten these constraints, but reveals tension regarding the power spectrum normalization: including the RCS survey results raises sigma8 significantly and forces other parameters to uncomfortable values. Indeed, sigma8 is emerging as the currently most controversial cosmological parameter, and we discuss possible resolutions of this sigma8 problem. We also comment on the disturbing fact that many recent analyses (including this one) obtain error bars smaller than the Fisher matrix bound. We produce a CMB power spectrum combining all existing experiments, and using it for a "MAP versus world" comparison next month will provide a powerful test of how realistic the error estimates have been in the cosmology community.Comment: Added references and Fisher error discussion. Combined CMB data, window and covariance matrix for January "MAP vs World" contest at http://www.hep.upenn.edu/~max/cmblsslens.html or from [email protected]

The Cost of Alcohol Abuse in California: A Briefing Paper

Alcohol abuse is known to cause illness, disability, and premature death. It is also a contributing factor in many instances to criminal activity, motor vehicle crashes, and other injuries. Substantial costs resulting from alcohol abuse are incurred in the United States and in California, including the cost of providing medical care for people with alcohol-related illness, treatment and prevention costs, costs to the law enforcement system, costs resulting from alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and other injuries, and the indirect costs associated with disability, diminished capacity, and premature death from alcohol-related causes.The purpose of this briefing paper is to review the research that has been done in this area, and to present preliminary estimates of the costs of alcohol abuse in California and its impact on the state. These estimates are based on research that has been conducted by experts at the national level over the years coupled with some specific analyses conducted for California. We also suggest how one could conduct a thorough study to develop more detailed and refined estimates for the state.THE COST OF ALCOHOL ABUSE IN CALIFORNIA: HIGHLIGHTS1) The cost of alcohol abuse in California in 2001 totaled $17.8 billion for health service, substance abuse treatment/prevention, lost productivity from premature deaths, and justice system costs (See Appendix Table 11).2) Nearly 84,000 hospital discharges resulted from alcohol abuse, including 11,388 discharges with alcohol dependence syndrome, 9,314 with alcoholic psychoses, and 8,115 with cirrhosis of the liver. Almost 16,000 Californians were hospitalized for injuries that resulted from alcohol use (Table 3 and page 3).3) Hospitalization costs amounted to$1.3 billion (Table 6). The mean length of hospitalization in non-federal hospitals was 6.5 days and the mean cost per hospitalization was over $12,000 (Table 5 and page 3).4) Public programs paid for 64$1.11 billion (Table 6 and page 4).6) Health insurance administration costs in California attributed to alcohol abuse amounted to $122 million for 2001 (Table 6 and page 5).7) More than 13,000 Californians died as a result of alcohol abuse, including 3,600 who died of primary alcohol-caused diagnoses, over 5,100 who died of an alcohol –related diagnosis, and 4,400 who died of an injury attributed to alcohol. These deaths represented lost productivity of nearly$8 billion and over 358,000 life years (Tables 7,8 and page 6).8) Criminal justice system costs attributed to alcohol were as high as $6.7 billion including$2.1 billion for police protection, $2.1 billion for judicial and legal services, and$2.4 billion for corrections (Table 9 and page 6).9) In California’s justice system, 25% of total police arrests are for alcohol-specific offenses; approximately 43% of total arrests have been observed to be alcohol-involved (Table 10 and page 6). An estimated 36 percent of state prison and jail inmates were under the influence of alcohol at the time of their convicted offense (Table 9 and page 7).10) The alcoholic beverage industry paid excise taxes, license fees, and fines totaling $350 million in 2001. In addition to$41 million in license fees and fines, this included $130 million excise taxes on beer sales,$19 million on wine sales, and $138 million on the sale of spirits (Page 8).11)Seen as an additional cost for the price of a drink, health care and justice system costs add 18 cents not paid by the drinker. Offsetting beverage industry payments (through excise taxes, license fees, and fines) are less than one cent (Page 13)

The Cost of Alcohol Abuse in California: A Briefing Paper

Alcohol abuse is known to cause illness, disability, and premature death. It is also a contributing factor in many instances to criminal activity, motor vehicle crashes, and other injuries. Substantial costs resulting from alcohol abuse are incurred in the United States and in California, including the cost of providing medical care for people with alcohol-related illness, treatment and prevention costs, costs to the law enforcement system, costs resulting from alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and other injuries, and the indirect costs associated with disability, diminished capacity, and premature death from alcohol-related causes.The purpose of this briefing paper is to review the research that has been done in this area, and to present preliminary estimates of the costs of alcohol abuse in California and its impact on the state. These estimates are based on research that has been conducted by experts at the national level over the years coupled with some specific analyses conducted for California. We also suggest how one could conduct a thorough study to develop more detailed and refined estimates for the state.THE COST OF ALCOHOL ABUSE IN CALIFORNIA: HIGHLIGHTS1) The cost of alcohol abuse in California in 2001 totaled $17.8 billion for health service, substance abuse treatment/prevention, lost productivity from premature deaths, and justice system costs (See Appendix Table 11).2) Nearly 84,000 hospital discharges resulted from alcohol abuse, including 11,388 discharges with alcohol dependence syndrome, 9,314 with alcoholic psychoses, and 8,115 with cirrhosis of the liver. Almost 16,000 Californians were hospitalized for injuries that resulted from alcohol use (Table 3 and page 3).3) Hospitalization costs amounted to$1.3 billion (Table 6). The mean length of hospitalization in non-federal hospitals was 6.5 days and the mean cost per hospitalization was over $12,000 (Table 5 and page 3).4) Public programs paid for 64$1.11 billion (Table 6 and page 4).6) Health insurance administration costs in California attributed to alcohol abuse amounted to $122 million for 2001 (Table 6 and page 5).7) More than 13,000 Californians died as a result of alcohol abuse, including 3,600 who died of primary alcohol-caused diagnoses, over 5,100 who died of an alcohol –related diagnosis, and 4,400 who died of an injury attributed to alcohol. These deaths represented lost productivity of nearly$8 billion and over 358,000 life years (Tables 7,8 and page 6).8) Criminal justice system costs attributed to alcohol were as high as $6.7 billion including$2.1 billion for police protection, $2.1 billion for judicial and legal services, and$2.4 billion for corrections (Table 9 and page 6).9) In California’s justice system, 25% of total police arrests are for alcohol-specific offenses; approximately 43% of total arrests have been observed to be alcohol-involved (Table 10 and page 6). An estimated 36 percent of state prison and jail inmates were under the influence of alcohol at the time of their convicted offense (Table 9 and page 7).10) The alcoholic beverage industry paid excise taxes, license fees, and fines totaling $350 million in 2001. In addition to$41 million in license fees and fines, this included $130 million excise taxes on beer sales,$19 million on wine sales, and $138 million on the sale of spirits (Page 8).11)Seen as an additional cost for the price of a drink, health care and justice system costs add 18 cents not paid by the drinker. Offsetting beverage industry payments (through excise taxes, license fees, and fines) are less than one cent (Page 13)

Strategies to enable large-scale proteomics for reproducible research

Reproducible research is the bedrock of experimental science. To enable the deployment of large-scale proteomics, we assess the reproducibility of mass spectrometry (MS) over time and across instruments and develop computational methods for improving quantitative accuracy. We perform 1560 data independent acquisition (DIA)-MS runs of eight samples containing known proportions of ovarian and prostate cancer tissue and yeast, or control HEK293T cells. Replicates are run on six mass spectrometers operating continuously with varying maintenance schedules over four months, interspersed with ~5000 other runs. We utilise negative controls and replicates to remove unwanted variation and enhance biological signal, outperforming existing methods. We also design a method for reducing missing values. Integrating these computational modules into a pipeline (ProNorM), we mitigate variation among instruments over time and accurately predict tissue proportions. We demonstrate how to improve the quantitative analysis of large-scale DIA-MS data, providing a pathway toward clinical proteomics.ISSN:2041-172