The Variables and Slow Transients Survey (VAST) on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is designed to detect highly variable and transient radio sources on timescales from 5 s to $\sim\!5$ yr. In this paper, we present the survey description, observation strategy and initial results from the VAST Phase I Pilot Survey. This pilot survey consists of $\sim\!162$ h of observations conducted at a central frequency of 888 MHz between 2019 August and 2020 August, with a typical rms sensitivity of $0.24\ \mathrm{mJy\ beam}^{-1}$ and angular resolution of $12-20$ arcseconds. There are 113 fields, each of which was observed for 12 min integration time, with between 5 and 13 repeats, with cadences between 1 day and 8 months. The total area of the pilot survey footprint is 5 131 square degrees, covering six distinct regions of the sky. An initial search of two of these regions, totalling 1 646 square degrees, revealed 28 highly variable and/or transient sources. Seven of these are known pulsars, including the millisecond pulsar J2039–5617. Another seven are stars, four of which have no previously reported radio detection (SCR J0533–4257, LEHPM 2-783, UCAC3 89–412162 and 2MASS J22414436–6119311). Of the remaining 14 sources, two are active galactic nuclei, six are associated with galaxies and the other six have no multi-wavelength counterparts and are yet to be identified.

Micronutrients are important for normal cardiovascular function. They may play a role in the increased risk of cardiovascular disease observed in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and T2D-related heart failure. The aims of this study were to (1) examine micronutrient status in people with T2D v. healthy controls; (2) assess any changes following a nutritionally complete meal replacement plan (MRP) compared with routine care; (3) determine if any changes were associated with changes in cardiovascular structure/function. This was a secondary analysis of data from a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded end-point trial of people with T2D, with a nested case–control [NCT02590822]. Anthropometrics, cardiac resonance imaging and fasting blood samples (to quantify vitamins B1, B6, B12, D and C; and iron and ferritin) were collected at baseline and 12 weeks following the MRP or routine care. Comparative data in healthy controls were collected at baseline. A total of eighty-three people with T2D and thirty-six healthy controls were compared at baseline; all had micronutrient status within reference ranges. Vitamin B1 was higher (148⋅9 v. 131⋅7; P 0⋅01) and B6 lower (37⋅3 v. 52⋅9; P 0⋅01) in T2D v. controls. All thirty participants randomised to routine care and twenty-four to the MRP completed the study. There was an increase in vitamins B1, B6, D and C following the MRP, which were not associated with changes in cardiovascular structure/function. In conclusion, changes in micronutrient status following the MRP were not independently associated with improvements in cardiovascular structure/function in people with T2D.

Increased fruit and vegetable (FV) intake is associated with reduced blood pressure (BP). However, it is not clear whether the effect of FV on BP depends on the type of FV consumed. Furthermore, there is limited research regarding the comparative effect of juices or whole FV on BP. Baseline data from a prospective cohort study of 10 660 men aged 50–59 years examined not only the cross-sectional association between total FV intake but also specific types of FV and BP in France and Northern Ireland. BP was measured, and dietary intake assessed using FFQ. After adjusting for confounders, both systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were significantly inversely associated with total fruit, vegetable and fruit juice intake; however, when examined according to fruit or vegetable sub-type (citrus fruit, other fruit, fruit juices, cooked vegetables and raw vegetables), only the other fruit and raw vegetable categories were consistently associated with reduced SBP and DBP. In relation to the risk of hypertension based on SBP >140 mmHg, the OR for total fruit, vegetable and fruit juice intake (per fourth) was 0·95 (95 % CI 0·91, 1·00), with the same estimates being 0·98 (95 % CI 0·94, 1·02) for citrus fruit (per fourth), 1·02 (95 % CI 0·98, 1·06) for fruit juice (per fourth), 0·93 (95 % CI 0·89, 0·98) for other fruit (per fourth), 1·05 (95 % CI 0·99, 1·10) for cooked vegetable (per fourth) and 0·86 (95 % CI 0·80, 0·91) for raw vegetable intakes (per fourth). Similar results were obtained for DBP. In conclusion, a high overall intake of fruit, vegetables and fruit juice was inversely associated with SBP, DBP and risk of hypertension, but this differed by FV sub-type, suggesting that the strength of the association between FV sub-types and BP might be related to the type consumed, or to processing or cooking-related factors.

The purpose is to give an overview of the extent, range and nature of existing definitions of the concept ‘ageing in place’. Providing such an overview may be helpful, for policy makers, researchers, communities and service providers, to make sense of the versatility and uses of the concept, and allow the improvement and increase the success of efforts to contribute to the quality of life of older people. The overview was created using Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review methodology. Out of 3,692 retrieved articles, 34 met the inclusion criteria. These studies concentrate on the following five key themes concerning ‘ageing in place’: ‘ageing in place’ in relation to place, to social networks, to support, to technology and to personal characteristics. Each of these key themes consists of other aspects, like physical place and attachment to place for the keyword place. This study concludes that the concept ‘ageing in place’ is broad and can be viewed from different (i.e. five) key themes. A more thorough understanding of ‘ageing in place’ provides knowledge about the existing key themes and aspects. These findings might provide practical support for professionals and governments when they develop their policies about ‘ageing in place’ integrally and to develop fit policies.

This article introduces a special volume of Advances in Archaeological Practice dedicated to the interpretation and presentation of archaeology. It provides an overview of several essays that came out of a session at the European Association of Archaeology Conference in 2017, which focused upon how interpretation can be implemented within daily practices of (cultural resource management) archaeology in a way that provides heritage value. We bring the arguments together into a call for a creative, interpretive archaeology that does not take compliance or academic publications as its end goal but will speak to a far wider range of audiences through the development and presentation of stories and narratives that truly engage and inspire people. We argue that this can be achieved by implementing “emotion design” methods that dynamically differentiate between information, message, emotion, and media, by working closely together with creatives, interpretive experts, communities, and partners and, ultimately, by integrating interpretation firmly at the core of planning processes, archaeological workflows, and our daily practices.

Introduction: The administration of “to-go” medications in the Kelowna General Hospital Emergency Department was identified as an issue. Frequently, multiple administrations of “to-go” medication pre-packs were administered to individual patients on a frequent basis. In addition, the variability in “to-go” medication was substantial between providers. Recognizing the patient issues (addiction, dependency and diversion) and system issues (costs, risk) a team-based quality improvement initiative was instituted, utilizing a variety of quality improvement techniques. The aim was to reduce the number of “to-go” medications by half, within a year. Methods: The project began January 2015, and is ongoing. Multiple stakeholders were engaged within the emergency department; these included leaders of the physician, nursing and pharmacy teams, including an executive sponsor. Using change theory, and traditional Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, an iterative methodology was proposed. The outcome measure proposed was number of “to-go” medications administered; secondary measures included number of opioid “to-go” and benzodiazepine “to-go“prescriptions. Balancing measures were the number of narcotic prescriptions written. Physician prescribing practice and nursing practice were reviewed at meetings and huddles. Individualized reports were provided to physicians for self-review. Data was collated at baseline then reviewed quarterly at meetings and huddles. Run charts were utilized along with raw data and individualized reports. Results: At baseline (January 2015), the number of “to-go” medications was 708. Over the next year, this value reduced to 459, showing a 35% reduction in “to-go”. Two years later (June 2017), this had reduced to 142, resulting in an overall reduction of 80% “to-go” medications. Secondary measures are currently under analysis. Further, no increase in prescribing of narcotics was seen during this time period. Conclusion: The administration of “to-go” medications from the emergency department has significant individual and societal impact. Frequently, these medications are diverted; meaning, sold for profit on the black market. Further, opioid prescribing is under increased scrutiny as the linkage between opioid prescriptions and addiction / dependency becomes more evident. This quality improvement initiative was successful for a number of reasons. First, we had strong engagement from the full emergency department clinical teams. The issue was first identified collaboratively, and teamwork and participation was strong from the outset. Second, we used individual and aggregate data to provide feedback on a regular basis. Third, we had strong support from our executive sponsor(s) who were able to support the efforts and champion and present the results locally, and now, throughout the Health Region.

Emerging evidence suggests that diet and renal function are related. Little is known, however, about the association of consumption of whole grains, fruit and vegetables with urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR) and changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). We investigated this in a population-based cohort aged 26–65 years. Data were from 3787 participants from the Doetinchem cohort study, who were examined ≥3 times, 5 years apart. Consumption of food groups was assessed at each round with a validated FFQ. GFR was estimated at each round from routinely measured cystatin C and creatinine using the Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology (CKD-EPI) equation. ACR was measured at the last round. Generalised estimated equation models were performed to examine associations with changes in eGFR. Linear regression was used to examine associations with ACR. Adjustments were made for covariates related to lifestyle, biological factors and diet. Mean baseline eGFR was 104·5 (sd 13·7) and mean annual decline was −0·95 (sd 0·67) ml/min per 1·73 m2 over a 15-year follow-up. A trend was observed towards slightly less annual decline in eGFR among those with higher consumption of whole grains (P=0·06). This association, however, was attenuated and no longer significant in multivariate models (P=0·29). Consumption of fruit and vegetables was not associated with changes in eGFR and urinary ACR. In conclusion, consumption of whole grains, fruit and vegetables is not associated with changes in eGFR and mean ACR. As this was the first longitudinal study into this association in the general population, and as results are only partially in line with related studies, further research is recommended.

Objectives: To examine whether apolipoprotein e4 (APOE) status moderates the association of family environment with child functioning following early traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: Sixty-five children with moderate to severe TBI and 70 children with orthopedic injury (OI) completed assessments 6, 12, 18 months, and 3.5 and 6.8 years post injury. DNA was extracted from saliva samples and genotyped for APOE e4 status. Linear mixed models examined moderating effects of APOE e4 status on associations between two family environment factors (parenting style, home environment) and three child outcomes (executive functioning, behavioral adjustment, adaptive functioning). Results: Children with TBI who were carriers of the e4 allele showed poorer adaptive functioning relative to non-carriers with TBI and children with OI in the context of low authoritarianism. At high levels of authoritarianism, non-carriers with TBI showed the poorest adaptive functioning among groups. There were no main effects or interactions involving APOE and executive functioning or behavioral adjustment. Conclusions:The APOE e4 allele was detrimental for long-term adaptive functioning in the context of positive parenting, whereas in less optimal parenting contexts, being a non-carrier was detrimental. We provide preliminary evidence for an interaction of APOE e4 status and parenting style in predicting long-term outcomes following early TBI. (JINS, 2016, 22, 859–864)

Estimation of survival rates is important for developing and evaluating conservation options for large carnivores. However, telemetry studies for large carnivores are often characterized by small sample sizes that limit meaningful conclusions. We used data from 10 published and 8 unpublished studies of leopards Panthera pardus in southern Africa to estimate survival rates and investigate causes of leopard mortality. Mean survival rates were significantly lower in non-protected (0.55 ± SE 0.08) compared to protected areas (0.88 ± 0.03). Inside protected areas juveniles had significantly lower survival (0.39 ± 0.10) compared to subadults (0.86 ± 0.07) and adults (0.88 ± 0.04). There was a greater difference in cause of death between protected and non-protected areas for females compared to males, with people being the dominant cause of mortality outside protected areas for both females and males. We suggest there is cause for concern regarding the sustainability of leopard populations in South Africa, as high female mortality may have severe demographic effects and a large proportion of suitable leopard habitat lies in non-protected areas. However, because a large proportion of deaths outside protected areas were attributed to deliberate killing by people, we suggest that management interventions may have the potential to increase leopard survival dramatically. We therefore stress the urgency to initiate actions, such as conflict mitigation programmes, to increase leopard survival in non-protected areas.

A series of uranium-containing gadolinium zirconate samples have been fabricated at 1723 K in air. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy have confirmed pyrochlore or defect fluorite structures, while diffuse reflectance, X-ray absorption near edge structure and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies indicate a predominantly U6+ oxidation state, even when Ca2+ was added to charge balance for U4+. The results demonstrate the potential of gadolinium zirconates as host materials for actinides.

Calcium and barium zirconium phosphates were prepared by hot isostatic pressing and their thermophysical properties investigated for potential use as actinide hosts for inert matrix fuels (IMF) in light water reactors. The materials are thermally stable up to at least 1600°C in air, however they degrade above around 1400°C in an inert atmosphere. The heat capacity and thermal conductivity were measured from room temperature up to 1200°C. The thermal conductivity coefficient for both CZP and BZP at 1000°C is 1.0 W m-1 K-1, a relatively low thermal conductivity that requires NZP-type materials to be dispersed in a composite cercer or cermet IMF.

Our objectives were to examine cognitive outcomes for extremely preterm/extremely low birth weight (EPT/ELBW, gestational age <28 weeks and/or birth weight <1000 g) children in kindergarten and the associations of these outcomes with neonatal factors, early childhood neurodevelopmental impairment, and socioeconomic status (SES). The sample comprised a hospital-based 2001–2003 birth cohort of 148 EPT/ELBW children (mean birth weight 818 g; mean gestational age 26 weeks) and a comparison group of 111 term-born normal birth weight (NBW) classmate controls. Controlling for background factors, the EPT/ELBW group had pervasive deficits relative to the NBW group on a comprehensive test battery, with rates of cognitive deficits that were 3 to 6 times higher in the EPT/ELBW group. Deficits on a measure of response inhibition were found in 48% versus 10%, odds ratio (95% confidence interval) = 7.32 (3.32, 16.16), p < .001. Deficits on measures of executive function and motor and perceptual-motor abilities were found even when controlling for acquired verbal knowledge. Neonatal risk factors, early neurodevelopmental impairment, and lower SES were associated with higher rates of deficits within the EPT/ELBW group. The findings document both global and selective cognitive deficits in EPT/ELBW children at school entry and justify efforts at early identification and intervention. (JINS, 2011, 17, 1067–1079)

A growing body of literature has documented evidence for emotion labeling (EL) deficits after traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, long-term effects of TBI on EL abilities, particularly among young children, are unclear. We investigated EL abilities and socio-emotional outcomes in 32 children with moderate–severe TBI, 23 with complicated-mild TBI, and 82 children with orthopedic injuries (OI), shortly after injury and at 18 months post-injury. All children were between 3:0 and 6:11 years of age at the time of injury. Repeated measures analyses indicated that all groups showed improved EL performance between acute and 18-month assessments, but that the moderate–severe TBI group improved at a slower rate than the OI group, so that the two groups showed significantly different performance at 18 months. Emotion labeling ability did not significantly contribute to the prediction of socio-emotional outcomes after controlling for pre-injury functioning. These results provide preliminary evidence of emerging EL deficits after early childhood TBI that are related to injury severity but that do not predict social and behavioral outcomes. (JINS, 2011, 17, 1132–1142)