CMB-S4: Forecasting Constraints on Primordial Gravitational Waves

CMB-S4---the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment---is set to significantly advance the sensitivity of CMB measurements and enhance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Universe, from the highest energies at the dawn of time through the growth of structure to the present day. Among the science cases pursued with CMB-S4, the quest for detecting primordial gravitational waves is a central driver of the experimental design. This work details the development of a forecasting framework that includes a power-spectrum-based semi-analytic projection tool, targeted explicitly towards optimizing constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, in the presence of Galactic foregrounds and gravitational lensing of the CMB. This framework is unique in its direct use of information from the achieved performance of current Stage 2--3 CMB experiments to robustly forecast the science reach of upcoming CMB-polarization endeavors. The methodology allows for rapid iteration over experimental configurations and offers a flexible way to optimize the design of future experiments given a desired scientific goal. To form a closed-loop process, we couple this semi-analytic tool with map-based validation studies, which allow for the injection of additional complexity and verification of our forecasts with several independent analysis methods. We document multiple rounds of forecasts for CMB-S4 using this process and the resulting establishment of the current reference design of the primordial gravitational-wave component of the Stage-4 experiment, optimized to achieve our science goals of detecting primordial gravitational waves for $r > 0.003$ at greater than $5\sigma$, or, in the absence of a detection, of reaching an upper limit of $r < 0.001$ at $95\%$ CL.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, 9 tables, submitted to ApJ. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1907.0447

Working in the Public Interest Law Conference

The two-day conference included a variety of panel discussions and roundtables on such topics as: civil liberties; race and the criminal justice system; decriminalizing mental illness; funding public defender systems; the media\u27s role in the law; immigration; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth in state sponsored institutions; environmental justice; and women\u27s reproductive rights

CMB-S4: Forecasting Constraints on Primordial Gravitational Waves

Abstract: CMB-S4—the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment—is set to significantly advance the sensitivity of CMB measurements and enhance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe. Among the science cases pursued with CMB-S4, the quest for detecting primordial gravitational waves is a central driver of the experimental design. This work details the development of a forecasting framework that includes a power-spectrum-based semianalytic projection tool, targeted explicitly toward optimizing constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, in the presence of Galactic foregrounds and gravitational lensing of the CMB. This framework is unique in its direct use of information from the achieved performance of current Stage 2–3 CMB experiments to robustly forecast the science reach of upcoming CMB-polarization endeavors. The methodology allows for rapid iteration over experimental configurations and offers a flexible way to optimize the design of future experiments, given a desired scientific goal. To form a closed-loop process, we couple this semianalytic tool with map-based validation studies, which allow for the injection of additional complexity and verification of our forecasts with several independent analysis methods. We document multiple rounds of forecasts for CMB-S4 using this process and the resulting establishment of the current reference design of the primordial gravitational-wave component of the Stage-4 experiment, optimized to achieve our science goals of detecting primordial gravitational waves for r > 0.003 at greater than 5σ, or in the absence of a detection, of reaching an upper limit of r < 0.001 at 95% CL

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Seasonal Mass, Performance under Grazing, and Animal Preference for Irrigated Winter Cereal Forages under Continuous Stocking in a Semiarid, Subtropical Region

Winter annual cereal forages perform well in semiarid, subtropical regions forming, a significant component of livestock operations for autumn through spring stocker cattle (Bos taurus) backgrounding in either grazeout or graze-grain systems; however, little information is available about their relative seasonal productivity and animal preference. Seasonal growth and regrowth under grazing and grazing preference of oat (Avena sativa), rye (Secale cereale), triticale (&times;Triticosecale rimpaui Wittm.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum) were compared over two years at New Mexico State University&rsquo;s Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center at Tucumcari. Seasonlong (Nov&ndash;Apr) average forage dry matter yield was rye &gt; oat &gt; wheat &gt; triticale (5.03, 4.44, 3.58, and 2.79 Mg ha&minus;1, respectively; p &lt; 0.0001). Rye also had greater average monthly growth than the other cereals, among which there was no difference (1.58, 1.05, 0.96, and 0.85 Mg ha&minus;1 mo&minus;1 for rye, oat, wheat, and triticale, respectively; p &lt; 0.0331). Growth of ungrazed cereals was reduced in mid-winter and regrowth of grazed forage did not equal removal by growing cattle. When given a preference and allowed to deplete available forage, growing cattle preferred oat followed by rye, then wheat and triticale. Regrowth of grazed forage did not differ among cereals

A Comparison of Native Grass and Triticale Pastures during Late Winter for Growing Cattle in Semiarid, Subtropical Regions

Forage-based beef production is one of the most productive agricultural systems, especially in semiarid, subtropical environments, yet it is temporally variable due to climatic factors. Dormant native perennial warm-season grasses are available for grazing from autumn through spring; however, their protein concentration is inadequate to support growing cattle. Winter cereal forages, such as triticale [×Triticosecale Wittm. ex A. Camus (Secale × Triticum)], can fill fall through spring forage gaps with sufficient protein concentration. Triticale productivity was evaluated, and beef stocker performance on triticale was compared with supplemented native grassland for late winter pasture in each of three years at New Mexico State University’s Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center in Tucumcari, NM USA. Study results indicated that triticale pasture forage mass varied over the three years due to precipitation and different triticale planting dates each year, influencing the length of grazing period. Triticale provided late winter average daily gain approximately twice that of cattle grazing dormant native grass with protein supplementation (0.70 vs. 0.36 kg hd−1 d−1, p < 0.0001). Therefore, triticale can be utilized to provide adequate growth of young calves without the added costs of supplementation

A Comparison of Native Grass and Triticale Pastures during Late Winter for Growing Cattle in Semiarid, Subtropical Regions

Forage-based beef production is one of the most productive agricultural systems, especially in semiarid, subtropical environments, yet it is temporally variable due to climatic factors. Dormant native perennial warm-season grasses are available for grazing from autumn through spring; however, their protein concentration is inadequate to support growing cattle. Winter cereal forages, such as triticale [&times;Triticosecale Wittm. ex A. Camus (Secale &times; Triticum)], can fill fall through spring forage gaps with sufficient protein concentration. Triticale productivity was evaluated, and beef stocker performance on triticale was compared with supplemented native grassland for late winter pasture in each of three years at New Mexico State University&rsquo;s Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center in Tucumcari, NM USA. Study results indicated that triticale pasture forage mass varied over the three years due to precipitation and different triticale planting dates each year, influencing the length of grazing period. Triticale provided late winter average daily gain approximately twice that of cattle grazing dormant native grass with protein supplementation (0.70 vs. 0.36 kg hd&minus;1 d&minus;1, p &lt; 0.0001). Therefore, triticale can be utilized to provide adequate growth of young calves without the added costs of supplementation

Conditioned Food Aversion: From Theory to Practice

In most plant communities there are plants that can poison animals. A few plants contain high levels of toxins, or contain highly toxic compounds, and pose a real threat to grazing livestock. Some of these plants may be readily grazed by livestock, which makes it difficult to manage around them. Conditioned food aversion offers a way to train livestock to avoid eating specific poisonous plants

Water system is a controlling variable modulating bacterial diversity of gastrointestinal tract and performance in rainbow trout

<div><p>A two-phase feeding study evaluating performance of rainbow trout and comparing luminal and mucosal gastrointestinal tract (GIT) bacterial community compositions when fed two alternative protein diets in two rearing systems was conducted. Alternative protein diets (animal protein and plant protein diets) balanced with crystalline amino acids: lysine, methionine and threonine or unbalanced, were fed to rainbow trout in two separate water systems (recirculating (RR) and flow-through (FF)) for a period of 16 weeks. The four diets, each contained 38% digestible protein and 20% fats, were fed to rainbow trout with an average weight of 12.02 ± 0.61 g, and sorted at 30 fish/tank and 12 tanks per dietary treatment. Phase 1 lasted for 8 weeks after which fish from each tank were randomly divided, with one-half moved to new tanks of the opposing system (i.e. from RR to FF and vice versa). The remaining halves were retained in their initial tank and system, and fed their original diets for another 8 weeks (phase 2). After the 16^th week, 3 fish/tank were sampled for each of proximate analysis, body indexes and 16S rRNA analysis of GIT microbiota. Fish weight (P = 0.0008, P = 0.0030, P<0.0010) and body fat (P = 0.0008, P = 0.0041, P = 0.0177) were significantly affected by diet, diet quality (balanced or unbalanced) and system, respectively. Feed intake (P = 0.0008) and body energy (P<0.0010) were altered by system. Body indexes were not affected by dietary treatment and water systems. Compositional dissimilarities existed between samples from the rearing water and GIT locations (ANOSIM: (R = 0.29, P = 0.0010), PERMANOVA: R = 0.39, P = 0.0010), but not in dietary samples (ANOSIM: R = 0.004, P = 0.3140, PERMANOVA: R = 0.008, P = 0.4540). Bacteria were predominantly from the phyla <i>Proteobacteria</i>, <i>Firmicutes</i> and <i>Bacteroidetes</i>. Their abundance differed with more dissimilarity in the luminal samples (ANOSIM: R = 0.40, P = 0.0010, PERMANOVA: R = 0.56, P = 0.0010) than those from the mucosal intestine (ANOSIM: R = 0.37, P = 0.0010, PERMANOVA: R = 0.41, P = 0.0010). Bacteria generally associated with carbohydrate and certain amino acids metabolism were observed in the mucosal intestine while rearing water appeared to serve as the main route of colonization of <i>Aeromonas</i> and <i>Acinetobacter</i> in the rainbow trout.</p></div

Comparison of bacterial diversity indexes of water samples from trout fed animal and plant protein diets.

<p>Comparison of bacterial diversity indexes of water samples from trout fed animal and plant protein diets.</p