We describe an ultra-wide-bandwidth, low-frequency receiver recently installed on the Parkes radio telescope. The receiver system provides continuous frequency coverage from 704 to 4032 MHz. For much of the band ( ${\sim}60\%$ ), the system temperature is approximately 22 K and the receiver system remains in a linear regime even in the presence of strong mobile phone transmissions. We discuss the scientific and technical aspects of the new receiver, including its astronomical objectives, as well as the feed, receiver, digitiser, and signal processor design. We describe the pipeline routines that form the archive-ready data products and how those data files can be accessed from the archives. The system performance is quantified, including the system noise and linearity, beam shape, antenna efficiency, polarisation calibration, and timing stability.

For decades, the U.S. Air Force has contemplated replacing the A-10 Thunderbolt II “Warthog” with a newer fighter aircraft. However, a quantitative analysis comparing the Warthog’s performance and costs with those of its intended replacement, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, shows that retiring the Warthog would be operationally unsound and fiscally imprudent. The rationale for the replacement is that it would increase airpower capability while controlling costs. That rationale does not withstand scrutiny. An effectiveness analysis based on results from a survey of joint terminal attack controllers indicates that the A-10 vastly outperforms the F-35 in providing close-air support (CAS), a critical requirement for future conflicts against terrorists and insurgents. A cost analysis demonstrates that replacing the A-10 before its service life ends in 2035 would cost at least $20.9 billion. The replacement plan would waste substantial resources and seriously impair U.S. military capabilities. Given that constrained future budgets and low-intensity conflicts requiring precision CAS can be expected, the U.S. air fleet should include the A-10 Thunderbolt II.

Systems engineering and design thinking have been widely seen as distinctly different processes, systems engineering being more data-driven and analytical, and design thinking being more human- centred and creative. We use the term ‘design thinking’ to encompass the plurality of human-centered design processes that seek to unpack the core values behind design decisions. With the increased awareness that both systems engineering and design thinking need each other, the effects of a possibly persisting distinction on engineers’ attitudes toward these two processes are not well understood. In this paper, we describe the development and validation of a scale for measuring individual attitudes about systems engineering and design thinking. Thematic analysis of engineering and design literature is used to derive a Likert scale reflecting these attitudes. We use exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to test and confirm this two-factor thematic representation, resulting in a 9-item Systems Engineering and Design Thinking Scale measure of attitudes.

Populations of Critically Endangered White-rumped Gyps bengalensis and Slender-billed G. tenuirostris Vultures in Nepal declined rapidly during the 2000s, almost certainly because of the effects of the use in livestock of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, which is nephrotoxic to Gyps vultures. In 2006, veterinary use of diclofenac was banned in Nepal and this was followed by the gradual implementation, over most of the geographical range of the two vulture species in Nepal, of a Vulture Safe Zone (VSZ) programme to advocate vulture conservation, raise awareness about diclofenac, provide vultures with NSAID-free food and encourage the veterinary use in livestock of a vulture-safe alternative NSAID (meloxicam). We report the results of long-term monitoring of vulture populations in Nepal before and after this programme was implemented, by means of road transects. Piecewise regression analysis of the count data indicated that a rapid decline of the White-rumped Vulture population from 2002 up to about 2013 gave way to a partial recovery between about 2013 and 2018. More limited data for the Slender-billed Vulture indicated that a rapid decline also gave way to partial recovery from about 2012 onwards. The rates at which populations were increasing in the 2010s exceeded the upper end of the range of increase rates expected in a closed population under optimal conditions. The possibility that immigration from India is contributing to the changes cannot be excluded. We present evidence from open and undercover pharmacy surveys that the VSZ programme had apparently become effective in reducing the availability of diclofenac in a large part of the range of these species in Nepal by about 2011. Hence, community-based advocacy and awareness-raising actions, and possibly also provisioning of safe food, may have made an important contribution to vulture conservation by augmenting the effects of changes in the regulation of toxic veterinary drugs.

The study is aimed to better understand how post-acute-care services help persons with acquired brain injury (ABI) and their families following acute-care discharge. Participants included 21 primary family caregivers of persons with ABI. Participants reported their level of satisfaction with 14 different post-acute-care ABI services following discharge from an acute-care ABI facility in a large south-western city in the United States. Participants completed a survey following the discharge (on average 8.1 months) of their family member from acute-care services. Surveys included both quantitative and open-ended questions. The present study focused on participant satisfaction ratings and perceptions of helpfulness among the 14 different service areas. The average satisfaction rating across the 14 service areas was 73.4%. Professional consultation and assessment (81.8%) received the highest satisfaction rating, followed by therapy and intervention (77.9%), and peer support (51.9%). Open-ended question responses on the helpfulness of post-acute-care services focused on (a) therapy and intervention and (b) professional consultation and assessment. Study findings highlight the need to track the use of ABI services from the acute-phase through long-term community adjustment. Findings also underscore the importance of targeting interventions and services specific to the post-acute phase of ABI rehabilitation.

The study aimed to understand the use and barriers to use of post-acute-care services by persons with acquired brain injury (ABI). A total of 21 primary family caregivers of persons recently discharged from an ABI acute-care facility in a large southwestern city in the United States participated. Service use in 14 domains appeared consistent with post-discharge needs. In five service areas, participants were not aware the service was available. Professionals in acute ABI rehabilitation units need to be fully aware of the range of available potential supports and diligent in informing injured persons and their families about available post-discharge services.

The Livingstone's fruit bat Pteropus livingstonii is endemic to the small islands of Anjouan and Mohéli in the Comoros archipelago, Indian Ocean. The species is under threat from anthropogenic pressure on the little that remains of its forest habitat, now restricted to the islands’ upper elevations and steepest slopes. We report the results of the most comprehensive survey of this species to date, and present recommendations for ongoing field conservation efforts and monitoring. Morning counts were conducted at roost sites in the wet and dry seasons during 2011–2013. Habitat structure around the roosting sites was characterized and roost numbers compared, to investigate the potential effect of habitat loss and degradation. We estimate the population to comprise c. 1,260 individuals distributed across 21 roosts on the two islands. All occupied roosting sites were restricted to a narrow altitudinal range, and roosting populations in agroforestry areas were smaller than those found in degraded and undisturbed forest. Only one of the 16 roosts on Anjouan was found in undisturbed, old-growth forest with no nearby signs of clearance for agriculture or landslides following tree-felling upslope. Following a suspected severe population decline as a result of widespread and long-term forest loss Livingstone's fruit bat has been recategorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

The Upper Mustang region of Nepal holds important breeding populations of Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis. Despite this species being considered ‘Least Concern’ on the IUCN Red List, the population in Upper Mustang had declined substantially in the early to mid-2000s. During that period, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac was commonly used to treat illness and injury in domesticated ungulates throughout Nepal. The timing and magnitude of declines in Himalayan Griffon in Upper Mustang resemble the declines in resident populations of the ‘Critically Endangered’ White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis and Slender-billed Vulture Gyps tenuirostris in Nepal, both of which are also known to be highly sensitive to diclofenac. Since 2006, the veterinary use of diclofenac has been banned in Nepal to prevent further vulture declines. In this paper, we analyse the population trend in Himalayan Griffon in Upper Mustang between 2002 and 2014 and show a partial recovery. We conclude that the decline is now occurring at a slower rate than previously observed and immigration from areas where diclofenac was either not or rarely used the probable explanation for the recovery observed.

This will be the last triennial report from Commission 50 under that label, because of the reorganization of the IAU at the end of the triennial period. Fortunately, site protection was recognized as an important ongoing function of the IAU, and the work of the Commission is continuing as Commission C.B7. The Commission has its primary association with Division B because of the technical aspects of its work and association with ground-based facilities, while it has the support of Division C as an Inter-Division Commission because of the strong need for educating the public on the issues.

The closing session included a panel on the challenge of raising cultural awareness of the negative effects of light pollution and RFI, and a discussion about the means to implement the IAU Resolution on the Right to Starlight. The strongest arguments to the public are that light pollution wastes precious energy and adds greenhouse gases, and that artificial light at night can be damaging to human health and to the natural environment. As astronomers, our community is concerned that the world is blinding itself to the electromagnetic radiation connecting us to the Universe. An outcome of successful advocacy would be to create demand for commercial products that minimize blue light and upward radiation. Implementation of the resolution on the Right to Starlight has multiple aspects. The IAU, through its site protection commission, should provide a clear technical description of "astronomy friendly" lighting and specifications for protection of the near zones around optical observatories. In addition, the commission should provide reference materials for astronomers giving public presentations, provide a forum for those seeking stronger local or national regulation, seek IAU approval for endorsement of protected status of sites and regions, and support the process of gaining UNESCO World Heritage Status for observatories and their regions.

The Executive Committee Working Group on “Cosmic Light” was created in 2014 (at its EC94 Meeting, Apr.30-May 2, Canberra, Australia), in preparation of the contribution of the IAU to the UNESCO “2015 International Year of Light and Light Technologies” (IYL2015), which had been approved by the UN in December 2013 (see http://www.light2015.org/Home.html).