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.

Gravitational waves from coalescing neutron stars encode information about nuclear matter at extreme densities, inaccessible by laboratory experiments. The late inspiral is influenced by the presence of tides, which depend on the neutron star equation of state. Neutron star mergers are expected to often produce rapidly rotating remnant neutron stars that emit gravitational waves. These will provide clues to the extremely hot post-merger environment. This signature of nuclear matter in gravitational waves contains most information in the 2–4 kHz frequency band, which is outside of the most sensitive band of current detectors. We present the design concept and science case for a Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory (NEMO): a gravitational-wave interferometer optimised to study nuclear physics with merging neutron stars. The concept uses high-circulating laser power, quantum squeezing, and a detector topology specifically designed to achieve the high-frequency sensitivity necessary to probe nuclear matter using gravitational waves. Above 1 kHz, the proposed strain sensitivity is comparable to full third-generation detectors at a fraction of the cost. Such sensitivity changes expected event rates for detection of post-merger remnants from approximately one per few decades with two A+ detectors to a few per year and potentially allow for the first gravitational-wave observations of supernovae, isolated neutron stars, and other exotica.

We are developing a purely commensal survey experiment for fast (<5 s) transient radio sources. Short-timescale transients are associated with the most energetic and brightest single events in the Universe. Our objective is to cover the enormous volume of transients parameter space made available by ASKAP, with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and field of view. Fast timescale transients open new vistas on the physics of high brightness temperature emission, extreme states of matter and the physics of strong gravitational fields. In addition, the detection of extragalactic objects affords us an entirely new and extremely sensitive probe on the huge reservoir of baryons present in the IGM. We outline here our approach to the considerable challenge involved in detecting fast transients, particularly the development of hardware fast enough to dedisperse and search the ASKAP data stream at or near real-time rates. Through CRAFT, ASKAP will provide the testbed of many of the key technologies and survey modes proposed for high time resolution science with the SKA.

Mierofilariae of Litomosoides carinii and Dipetalonema viteae absorbed about ten times as much diethylcarbamazine (DEC) as did their adults, but bound much less. The higher uptake of DEC by the microfilariae might be related to the fact that DEC is microfilariae Binding of DEC: with the parasites supports the view that the microfilarcidal action begins with the fixation of the drug to the microfilariae.

The filarial parasites Litomosoides carinii and Dipetalonema viteae both show transcuticular uptake of adenosine 3′, 5′-cyclic monophosphate but isoproterenol is taken up by D. viteae only. The importance of this difference is discussed from the point of view of metabolic regulation. Inhibition of uptake by lectins indicates the involvement of surface sugar moieties in the transport processes.

Distribution of 9-O-acetylated sialic acids (9-O-AcSA) on Leishmania donovani has been previously reported. Considering their role in recognition, the differential distribution of sialic acids especially 9-O-acetylated sialic acids in avirulent (UR6) versus virulent (AG83 and GE1) promastigotes of Leishmania donovani and its role in entry into macrophages was explored. Fluorimetric-HPLC, fluorimetric determination and ELISA revealed 14-, 8- and 5-fold lower sialic acids in UR6 as compared to AG83. Interestingly, on UR6, flow cytometry indicated lower (α2→6)-linked sialoglycoproteins along with minimal 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoproteins by Scatchard analysis. Further, UR6 demonstrated a 9- and 14·5-fold lower infectivity and phagocytic index than AG83. Additionally, de-O-acetylation and de-sialylation of AG83 demonstrated a 3- and 1·5-fold reduced phagocytic index. The role of 9-O-AcSA in entry was further confirmed by pre-blocking the macrophage surface with a cocktail of sugars followed by microscopic quantification. The phagocytic index of AG83 exclusively through 9-O-AcSA was significantly high. Interestingly, AG83 produced higher metacyclic promastigotes containing increased 9-O-AcSA as compared to avirulent UR6 supporting its virulent nature. Taken together; our results conclusively demonstrate the increased presence of 9-O-acetylated sialic acid on promastigotes of virulent Leishmania donovani as compared to avirulent UR6 and their subsequent role in entry within macrophages.

In this study, cDNA microarray analysis of a closely related species, Leishmania major, was used as a screening tool to compare antimonial-resistant and susceptible clinical isolates of Leishmania donovani in order to to identify candidate genes on the basis of antimony resistance. Clinically confirmed resistant isolate 39 and sensitive isolate 2001 were used in this study. Many differentially regulated genes were identified whose expression levels differ in sodium antimony gluconate (SAG)-treated patients. Interestingly, genes on the array, showing changes in expression of over 2-fold revealed the identity of ABC transporters, which are known determinants of drug resistance in laboratory mutants. The functionality of the transporters was validated by flow cytometry which, being biologically informative, provides direct clues to gene function. The results suggest that isolate 39 could have developed resistance by an increased multidrug resistance protein (MRP)-like pump. This study provides preliminary clues to the role of a thiol-dependent efflux system in antimonial resistant clinical isolates of Leishmania donovani.

One hundred and sixty-six shigellae strains, isolated from stool samples of paediatric patients (<5 years old) at a Childrens' Hospital in Kolkata, India during the period of 1995–2000 were examined for serotyping, drug resistance pattern and plasmid profiles. Sh. flexneri (58%) was found to be commonest isolate of total shigellae, followed by Sh. sonnei (28%), Sh. boydii (9%) and Sh. dysenteriae (5%). This profile of species was in sharp contrast to the picture obtained before 1995, when Sh. dysenteriae 1 predominated over Sh. flexneri. In Sh. flexneri strains, Sh. flexneri 2a (35%) was the most prevalent serotype, following Sh. flexneri 3a (31%), Sh. flexneri 6 (14%), Sh. flexneri 2b (11%) and Sh. flexneri 4 (9%). Resistance patterns of the strains to 12 commonly used antimicrobial agents and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the antibiotics were also tested. All strains were found uniformly susceptible to norfloxacin, but more than 90% strains were resistant to tetracycline, co-trimoxazole and 67% strains were resistant to ampicillin. Resistance to amoxicillin, chloramphenicol and nalidixic acid was found in 55% (range 45–74%), 46% (range 40–60%) and 29% (range 15–40%) strains respectively. Overall, shigellae strains showed statistically significant increase in resistance against tetracycline, nalidixic acid and furazolidone (P<0.05) over the years of this study. This indicates decreased efficacy of furazolidone, cotrimoxazole and nalidixic acid for the empirical treatment of shigellosis in Kolkata. Although a few strains showed intermediate susceptibility to ciprofloxacin (4%) and cefotaxime (10%) by disk diffusion test, but the MICs of those antibiotics were within the normal limits. Almost 57% of the strains were resistant to four or more drugs with high MICs of the antibiotics. Plasmid profile analysis revealed presence of large plasmid of 220 kb in majority of the strains except in Sh. sonnei and a correlation between presence of smaller plasmids and shigellae serotypes. Hence this study reports epidemiological change of shigellae species in Kolkata, India with regard to serotypes and antibiotic resistance patterns.

Humoral immune responses of the Indian leaf monkey (Presbytis entellus) experimentally infected with Brugia malayi and exhibiting disease manifestations were studied. Microfilaraemia, filaria-specific IgG and circulating immune complexes (CICs) were determined in the monkeys at different time-points after inoculation of B. malayi 3rd-stage larvae. Sera were analysed for recognition pattern of adult parasite antigen molecules by immunoblotting. More than 60% of the infected monkeys developed episodic or persistent limb oedema with or without fever and with low or no microfilaraemia. While both CIC and filaria specific IgG levels were comparable in animals showing no disease symptoms (asymptomatics) and some animals showing symptoms (symptomatics), IgG levels peaked during pre-patent stage in symptomatics and during latent stage in asymptomatic animals. However, some of the symptomatic animals showed a low level of filaria-specific IgG as compared to asymptomatic and other symptomatic animals. The immunoblot analysis showed non-reactivity of 17 and 55 kDa antigens with sera of symptomatic animals. The results thus suggest that humoral immune responses as measured in the present study do not precede the development of the manifestations. However, 2 non-reactive antigen molecules identified by symptomatic sera need further study to establish their possible involvement, if any, in the development of acute disease manifestations in this model.

Pressure induced structural phase transformation in nanocluster assembled GaAs is studied using parallel molecular dynamics simulations in the isothermal-isobaric ensemble. In this system the spatial stress distribution is found to be inhomogeneous. As a result structural transformation initiates in the high stress regions at the interface between clusters. Structural and dynamical correlations in the nanophase system are characterized by calculating the spatially resolved bond angle and pair distribution functions and phonon density of states and comparing them with those for a single cluster and bulk crystalline and amorphous systems.

A thyroid-hormonal evaluation of thirty-five women consuming commercially packed milk containing thiocyanate was carried out. The mean serum thiocyanate concentration, which was measured by the FeCl3 colour test, was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that of control subjects. Serum thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations of exposed women were compared with those of thirty-five control subjects. Thiocyanate ingestion was associated with lower levels of T4 (P <0.01) and higher levels of TSH (P < 0.01) compared with the control subjects. T3 was found to be higher in the women consuming thiocyanate-containing milk but the difference was not significant. The serum T4 level was found to be negatively correlated (r −0.359, P <0.05) while the TSH level was positively correlated (r 0.354, P < 0.05) with thiocyanate concentration in the exposed group. From this study, it appears that ingestion of milk with added thiocyanate impairs thyroid function.

Detailed Fourier line shape analyses considering x-ray diffraction profiles from fault unaffected 10.0, 00.2, 11.0, 20.0, 11.2, and 00.4 reflections and fault affected 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 20.1, 20.2, 10.4, and 20.3 reflections have been performed on three magnesium base hexagonal alloys used extensively in the aircraft industry. The first of the three alloys (Mg–Al–Mn, Alloy I) had the nominal composition in wt.% of Al-8.3, Mn-0.35, Si-0.2, Cu-0.12, Fe-0.2, and other 0.01; the second alloy (Mg–Zn–Mn, Alloy II) had the nominal composition in wt.% of Zn-4.0, Mn-0.15, Si-0.01, Cu-0.03, Fe-0.01, Zr-0.70, and rare earth elements-1.50; and the last of the alloys (Mg–Zn–Al, Alloy III) had the nominal composition in wt.% of Zn-4.3, Al-0.15, Mn-0.01, Si-0.03, Cu-0.01, Ni-0.005, Zr-0.6, and rare earth-1.4. The microstructural parameters determined in these analyses indicated the average domain size in alloys I, II, and III as 208 Å, 314 Å, and 400 Å, respectively. The deformation fault densities, α, in these alloy systems (∼54 ⊠ 10−3, 35 ⊠ 10−3, and 28 ⊠ 10−3, respectively, in alloys I, II, and III) were found to be appreciably high compared to the earlier work on pure magnesium (0.63 ⊠ 10−3). The deformation twin fault density, β, which was found to be negligible in pure magnesium (∼0.21 ⊠ 10−3), was found to be negative here, also indicating the negligible presence of twin faults in these alloys. These results establish that on cold work the solutes introduce deformation stacking faults in an appreciable quantity in magnesium which is not normally susceptible to faulting when in pure form. Of these three alloys, however, Alloy I (Mg–Al–Mn) was found to be the most prone to deformation faulting.

MOSFETs built in a thin layer of as-deposited, small-grain LPCVD polysilicon offer an attractive alternative to the beam recrystallized SOI MOSFETs because of its simple process and low cost. The inherently inferior performance of polysilicon MOSFET can be improved by the grain boundary passivation in hydrogen plasma. The device characteristics of n-channel and p-channel polysilicon MOSFETs are compared before and after the hydrogen passivation. Dramatic improve-ment of drive current and curtailment of leakage current has been observed after the passivation. The anomalous leakage current has been observed and is attributed to the soft breakdown of the drain junction.