The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope has carried out a survey of the entire Southern Sky at 887.5 MHz. The wide area, high angular resolution, and broad bandwidth provided by the low-band Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS-low) allow the production of a next-generation rotation measure (RM) grid across the entire Southern Sky. Here we introduce this project as Spectral and Polarisation in Cutouts of Extragalactic sources from RACS (SPICE-RACS). In our first data release, we image 30 RACS-low fields in Stokes I, Q, U at 25$^{\prime\prime}$ angular resolution, across 744–1032 MHz with 1 MHz spectral resolution. Using a bespoke, highly parallelised, software pipeline we are able to rapidly process wide-area spectro-polarimetric ASKAP observations. Notably, we use ‘postage stamp’ cutouts to assess the polarisation properties of 105912 radio components detected in total intensity. We find that our Stokes Q and U images have an rms noise of $\sim$80 $\unicode{x03BC}$Jy PSF$^{-1}$, and our correction for instrumental polarisation leakage allows us to characterise components with $\gtrsim$1% polarisation fraction over most of the field of view. We produce a broadband polarised radio component catalogue that contains 5818 RM measurements over an area of $\sim$1300 deg$^{2}$ with an average error in RM of $1.6^{+1.1}_{-1.0}$ rad m$^{-2}$, and an average linear polarisation fraction $3.4^{+3.0}_{-1.6}$ %. We determine this subset of components using the conditions that the polarised signal-to-noise ratio is $>$8, the polarisation fraction is above our estimated polarised leakage, and the Stokes I spectrum has a reliable model. Our catalogue provides an areal density of $4\pm2$ RMs deg$^{-2}$; an increase of $\sim$4 times over the previous state-of-the-art (Taylor, Stil, Sunstrum 2009, ApJ, 702, 1230). Meaning that, having used just 3% of the RACS-low sky area, we have produced the 3rd largest RM catalogue to date. This catalogue has broad applications for studying astrophysical magnetic fields; notably revealing remarkable structure in the Galactic RM sky. We will explore this Galactic structure in a follow-up paper. We will also apply the techniques described here to produce an all-Southern-sky RM catalogue from RACS observations. Finally, we make our catalogue, spectra, images, and processing pipeline publicly available.

An excellent laboratory for studying large scale magnetic fields is the grand design face-on spiral galaxy M51. Due to wavelength-dependent Faraday depolarization, linearly polarized synchrotron emission at different radio frequencies gives a picture of the galaxy at different depths: Observations at L-band (1 – 2 GHz) probe the halo region while at C- and X-band (4 – 8 GHz) the linearly polarized emission probe the disk region of M51. We present new observations of M51 using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at S-band (2 – 4 GHz), where previously no polarization observations existed, to shed new light on the transition region between the disk and the halo. We discuss a model of the depolarization of synchrotron radiation in a multilayer magneto-ionic medium and compare the model predictions to the multi-frequency polarization data of M51 between 1 – 8 GHz. The new S-band data are essential to distinguish between different models. Our study shows that the initial model parameters, i.e. the total regular and turbulent magnetic field strengths in the disk and halo of M51, need to be adjusted to successfully fit the models to the data.

The S-band Polarisation All-Sky Survey has observed the entire southern sky using the 64-m Parkes radio telescope at 2.3 GHz with an effective bandwidth of 184 MHz. The surveyed sky area covers all declinations δ ⩽ 0°. To analyse compact sources, the survey data have been re-processed to produce a set of 107 Stokes I maps with 10.75 arcmin resolution and the large scale emission contribution filtered out. In this paper, we use these Stokes I images to create a total intensity southern-sky extragalactic source catalogue at 2.3 GHz. The source catalogue contains 23 389 sources and covers a sky area of 16 600 deg2, excluding the Galactic plane for latitudes |b| < 10°. Approximately, 8% of catalogued sources are resolved. S-band Polarisation All-Sky Survey source positions are typically accurate to within 35 arcsec. At a flux density of 225 mJy, the S-band Polarisation All-Sky Survey source catalogue is more than 95% complete, and ~ 94% of S-band Polarisation All-Sky Survey sources brighter than 500 mJy beam−1 have a counterpart at lower frequencies.

In the lead-up to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, several next-generation radio telescopes and upgrades are already being built around the world. These include APERTIF (The Netherlands), ASKAP (Australia), e-MERLIN (UK), VLA (USA), e-EVN (based in Europe), LOFAR (The Netherlands), MeerKAT (South Africa), and the Murchison Widefield Array. Each of these new instruments has different strengths, and coordination of surveys between them can help maximise the science from each of them. A radio continuum survey is being planned on each of them with the primary science objective of understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies over cosmic time, and the cosmological parameters and large-scale structures which drive it. In pursuit of this objective, the different teams are developing a variety of new techniques, and refining existing ones. To achieve these exciting scientific goals, many technical challenges must be addressed by the survey instruments. Given the limited resources of the global radio-astronomical community, it is essential that we pool our skills and knowledge. We do not have sufficient resources to enjoy the luxury of re-inventing wheels. We face significant challenges in calibration, imaging, source extraction and measurement, classification and cross-identification, redshift determination, stacking, and data-intensive research. As these instruments extend the observational parameters, we will face further unexpected challenges in calibration, imaging, and interpretation. If we are to realise the full scientific potential of these expensive instruments, it is essential that we devote enough resources and careful study to understanding the instrumental effects and how they will affect the data. We have established an SKA Radio Continuum Survey working group, whose prime role is to maximise science from these instruments by ensuring we share resources and expertise across the projects. Here we describe these projects, their science goals, and the technical challenges which are being addressed to maximise the science return.

The future of centimetre and metre-wave astronomy lies with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a telescope under development by a consortium of 17 countries that will be 50 times more sensitive than any existing radio facility. Most of the key science for the SKA will be addressed through large-area imaging of the Universe at frequencies from a few hundred MHz to a few GHz. The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) is a technology demonstrator aimed in the mid-frequency range, and achieves instantaneous wide-area imaging through the development and deployment of phased-array feed systems on parabolic reflectors. The large field-of-view makes ASKAP an unprecedented synoptic telescope that will make substantial advances in SKA key science. ASKAP will be located at the Murchison Radio Observatory in inland Western Australia, one of the most radio-quiet locations on the Earth and one of two sites selected by the international community as a potential location for the SKA. In this paper, we outline an ambitious science program for ASKAP, examining key science such as understanding the evolution, formation and population of galaxies including our own, understanding the magnetic Universe, revealing the transient radio sky and searching for gravitational waves.

We present a study of the Milky Way halo magnetic field, determined from observations of Faraday rotation measure (RM) of extragalactic radio sources (EGS) in Galactic longitude range 100°–117° within 30° of the Galactic plane. We find negative median RMs in both the northern and southern Galactic hemispheres for |b|>15°, outside the latitude range where the disk field dominates. This suggest that the halo magnetic field towards the outer Galaxy does not reverse direction across the mid-plane. An azimuthal magnetic field at heights 0.8−2 kpc above/below the Galactic plane between the local and the Perseus spiral arm can reproduce the observed trend of RM against Galactic latitude. We propose that the Milky Way could have a halo magnetic field similar to that observed in M51.

Interstellar magnetic fields play a major role in the ionized gas away from the Galactic disk, but their strength and direction is still unclear. Radio spectro-polarimetry and rotation measure synthesis, for example used in the Parkes Galactic Meridian Survey and a number of all (southern and northern) sky surveys, enable determination of the properties of magnetic fields in the Galactic halo and their role in the disk-halo interaction.

An estimate for the source of coagulase-negative staphylococci in blood cultures is presented and its use illustrated in two populations. The method estimates the probability that a positive blood culture is positive due to contamination and the probability of it being positive due to bacteraemia. The effect of changes in efficiency of the blood culture technique on these estimates is demonstrated. One of the illustrative populations consists of 537 sample pairs from 273 patients, taken after open-heart surgery in 1978–80. The other consists of 500 consecutive sample pairs taken in one of two hospitals in 1983–4.

During a 6-month period an epidemiological survey of the carriage of Klebsiella was conducted in a hospital ward where no outbreak of nosocomial infection occurred. In this endemic situation the regular sampling of several sites on patients, members of the nursing staff, and the environment, and the biotyping of Klebsiella made it possible to analyse the patterns of transmission between sites. There was abundant evidence for striking transmission of Klebsiella between the throat, hands, and faeces of patients. Transmission between patients seemed to be mainly through hands. The role of nurses' hands in transmission was not evident from this survey, probably due to the relatively long interval (a week) between samplings. Through the hands of patients, wash stands and the surrounding floor were contaminated with Klebsiella. The biotyping of Klebsiella facilitated the epidemiological analysis of the results.

The colonization of patients by Klebsiella and several other gram-negative bacteria was studied in a hospital urological ward over a period of six months. Before and during the survey there was no evidence of an outbreak of nosocomial infection and multi-drug resistant strains of Klebsiella were not isolated.

Klebsiella were biotyped by nine biochemical tests, which led to the detection of 66 biotypes spread uniformly throughout the survey period. This method of biotyping proved a useful epidemiological tool. The colonization rate of throats, hands, and faeces of patients increased after admission to the ward, especially when antibiotics were used. The effect of systemic antibiotics was greater than that of urinary antibiotics especially on throat and faeces carrier rates. Carrier rates for Klebsiella increased also after catheterization and operation – relationships which could well be multifactorial.

During the first two weeks after admission the proportion of antibiotic resistant strains of Klebsiella in carriers increased. The proportion of resistant strains amongst isolations from clinical infections was always greater than among strains isolated routinely from sites of carriage.

The Global Magneto-Ionic Medium Survey (GMIMS) is a project to map the diffuse polarized emission over the entire sky, Northern and Southern hemispheres, from 300 MHz to 1.8 GHz. With an angular resolution of 30–60 arcmin and a frequency resolution of 1 MHz or better, GMIMS will provide the first spectro-polarimetric data set of the large-scale polarized emission over the entire sky, observed with single-dish telescopes. GMIMS will provide an invaluable resource for studies of the magneto-ionic medium of the Galaxy in the local disk, halo, and its transition.