The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS) is the first large-area survey to be conducted with the full 36-antenna Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope. RACS will provide a shallow model of the ASKAP sky that will aid the calibration of future deep ASKAP surveys. RACS will cover the whole sky visible from the ASKAP site in Western Australia and will cover the full ASKAP band of 700–1800 MHz. The RACS images are generally deeper than the existing NRAO VLA Sky Survey and Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey radio surveys and have better spatial resolution. All RACS survey products will be public, including radio images (with $\sim$ 15 arcsec resolution) and catalogues of about three million source components with spectral index and polarisation information. In this paper, we present a description of the RACS survey and the first data release of 903 images covering the sky south of declination $+41^\circ$ made over a 288-MHz band centred at 887.5 MHz.

Knowledge of the effects of burial depth and burial duration on seed viability and, consequently, seedbank persistence of Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Watson) and waterhemp [Amaranthus tuberculatus (Moq.) J. D. Sauer] ecotypes can be used for the development of efficient weed management programs. This is of particular interest, given the great fecundity of both species and, consequently, their high seedbank replenishment potential. Seeds of both species collected from five different locations across the United States were investigated in seven states (sites) with different soil and climatic conditions. Seeds were placed at two depths (0 and 15 cm) for 3 yr. Each year, seeds were retrieved, and seed damage (shrunken, malformed, or broken) plus losses (deteriorated and futile germination) and viability were evaluated. Greater seed damage plus loss averaged across seed origin, burial depth, and year was recorded for lots tested at Illinois (51.3% and 51.8%) followed by Tennessee (40.5% and 45.1%) and Missouri (39.2% and 42%) for A. palmeri and A. tuberculatus, respectively. The site differences for seed persistence were probably due to higher volumetric water content at these sites. Rates of seed demise were directly proportional to burial depth (α=0.001), whereas the percentage of viable seeds recovered after 36 mo on the soil surface ranged from 4.1% to 4.3% compared with 5% to 5.3% at the 15-cm depth for A. palmeri and A. tuberculatus, respectively. Seed viability loss was greater in the seeds placed on the soil surface compared with the buried seeds. The greatest influences on seed viability were burial conditions and time and site-specific soil conditions, more so than geographical location. Thus, management of these weed species should focus on reducing seed shattering, enhancing seed removal from the soil surface, or adjusting tillage systems.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Insufficient endogenous expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) with subsequent over-activation of its target, the transcription factor STAT3, has been associated with tumorigenesis and cancer development in the lung and other organs. We have observed that a “backup” source of SOCS3 in the lung, namely that secreted in microvesicles (MVs) by alveolar macrophages, is reduced in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of KRAS mutant mice harboring lung tumors. Here we sought to evaluate levels of SOCS3 in BALF of a cohort of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and to test the effects of vesicular SOCS3 administration on tumor cell transformation and function as potential therapeutic strategy. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: In total, 22 BALF samples were obtained from healthy volunteers (n=11) as well as patients undergoing diagnostic bronchoscopies for suspected lung cancer (n=11). SOCS3 levels in the BALF were determined by ELISA after brief sonication to disrupt vesicles. In vitro experiments utilized the human adenocarcinoma cell line (A549) or human G12V mutant KRAS-expressing rat lung epithelial cells (RLE-G12V). Proliferation, Fas ligand (FasL)-induced apoptosis, and chemical transformation with N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) or cigarette smoke extract (CSE) were assessed by CyQuant assay, annexin V staining, and soft agar assay, respectively. For SOCS3 rescue, epithelial cells were treated with natural alveolar macrophages-derived MVs (isolated via ultracentrifugation) or synthetic unilamellar liposomes containing human recombinant SOCS3 for at least 1 hour before assay. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: SOCS3 levels were significantly reduced in BALF samples of patients determined to have NSCLC as compared with healthy volunteers (186.6±26.74 vs. 395.6±74.31 pg/mL, p=0.015, n=11). Addition of exogenous SOCS3-containing liposomes had the capacity to significantly inhibit MNNG and cigarette smoke extract-induced transformation and colony formation in soft agar. Exogenous SOCS3 provided in liposomes or in natural MVs significantly induced apoptosis (both in the presence and absence of FasL) and inhibited basal proliferation of A549 cells. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: These data identified a novel dysregulation of immune surveillance in the form of decreased SOCS3 secretion in the tumor-bearing lung that may contribute to tumorigenesis via sustained STAT3 activation. Future studies will focus on the mechanism underlying this defect and whether rescuing SOCS3 secretion can inhibit cancer progression in vivo.

BACKGROUND: IGTS is a rare phenomenon of paradoxical germ cell tumor (GCT) growth during or following treatment despite normalization of tumor markers. We sought to evaluate the frequency, clinical characteristics and outcome of IGTS in patients in 21 North-American and Australian institutions. METHODS: Patients with IGTS diagnosed from 2000-2017 were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: Out of 739 GCT diagnoses, IGTS was identified in 33 patients (4.5%). IGTS occurred in 9/191 (4.7%) mixed-malignant GCTs, 4/22 (18.2%) immature teratomas (ITs), 3/472 (0.6%) germinomas/germinomas with mature teratoma, and in 17 secreting non-biopsied tumours. Median age at GCT diagnosis was 10.9 years (range 1.8-19.4). Male gender (84%) and pineal location (88%) predominated. Of 27 patients with elevated markers, median serum AFP and Beta-HCG were 70 ng/mL (range 9.2-932) and 44 IU/L (range 4.2-493), respectively. IGTS occurred at a median time of 2 months (range 0.5-32) from diagnosis, during chemotherapy in 85%, radiation in 3%, and after treatment completion in 12%. Surgical resection was attempted in all, leading to gross total resection in 76%. Most patients (79%) resumed GCT chemotherapy/radiation after surgery. At a median follow-up of 5.3 years (range 0.3-12), all but 2 patients are alive (1 succumbed to progressive disease, 1 to malignant transformation of GCT). CONCLUSION: IGTS occurred in less than 5% of patients with GCT and most commonly after initiation of chemotherapy. IGTS was more common in patients with IT-only on biopsy than with mixed-malignant GCT. Surgical resection is a principal treatment modality. Survival outcomes for patients who developed IGTS are favourable.

Palmer amaranth and waterhemp have become increasingly troublesome weeds throughout the United States. Both species are highly adaptable and emerge continuously throughout the summer months, presenting the need for a residual PRE application in soybean. To improve season-long control of Amaranthus spp., 19 PRE treatments were evaluated on glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth in 2013 and 2014 at locations in Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska, Illinois, and Tennessee; and on glyphosate-resistant waterhemp at locations in Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska. The two Amaranthus species were analyzed separately; data for each species were pooled across site-years, and site-year was included as a random variable in the analyses. The dissipation of weed control throughout the course of the experiments was compared among treatments with the use of regression analysis where percent weed control was described as a function of time (the number of weeks after treatment [WAT]). At the mean (i.e., average) WAT (4.3 and 3.2 WAT for Palmer amaranth and waterhemp, respectively) isoxaflutole + S-metolachlor + metribuzin had the highest predicted control of Palmer amaranth (98%) and waterhemp (99%). Isoxaflutole + S-metolachlor + metribuzin, S-metolachlor + mesotrione, and flumioxazin + pyroxasulfone had a predicted control ≥ 97% and similar model parameter estimates, indicating control declined at similar rates for these treatments. Dicamba and 2,4-D provided some, short-lived residual control of Amaranthus spp. When dicamba was added to metribuzin or S-metolachlor, control increased compared to dicamba alone. Flumioxazin + pyroxasulfone, a currently labeled PRE, performed similarly to treatments containing isoxaflutole or mesotrione. Additional sites of action will provide soybean growers more opportunities to control these weeds and reduce the potential for herbicide resistance.

Modal decompositions of unperturbed and acoustically driven injector flows from shear coaxial jets are implemented using dynamic-mode decomposition, which is a natural approach in the search for collective oscillatory behaviour in nonlinear systems. Previous studies using proper orthogonal decomposition had revealed the most energetic pairs of coherent structures in injector flows. One of the difficulties in extracting lower-energy coherent structures follows from the need to differentiate robust flow constituents from noise and other irregular facets of a flow. The identification of robust features is critical for applications such as flow control as well, since only they can be used for the tasks. A dynamic-mode decomposition based algorithm for this differentiation is introduced and used to identify different classes of robust dynamic modes. They include (1) background modes located outside the injector flow that decay rapidly, (2) injector modes – including those presented in earlier studies – located in the vicinity of the flow, (3) modes that persist under acoustic driving, (4) modes responding linearly to the driving and, most interestingly, (5) a mode whose density exhibits antiphase oscillatory behaviour in the observation plane and that appears only when $J$, the outer-to-inner-jet momentum flux ratio, is sufficiently large; we infer that this is a projection of a mode rotating about the symmetry axis and born via a spontaneous symmetry breaking. Each of these classes of modes is analysed as $J$ is increased, and their consequences for the flow patterns are discussed.

Herbicide-resistant Amaranthus spp. continue to cause management difficulties in soybean. New soybean technologies under development, including resistance to various combinations of glyphosate, glufosinate, dicamba, 2,4-D, isoxaflutole, and mesotrione, will make possible the use of additional herbicide sites of action in soybean than is currently available. When this research was conducted, these soybean traits were still regulated and testing herbicide programs with the appropriate soybean genetics in a single experiment was not feasible. Therefore, the effectiveness of various herbicide programs (PRE herbicides followed by POST herbicides) was evaluated in bare-ground experiments on glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth and glyphosate-resistant waterhemp (both tall and common) at locations in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, and Tennessee. Twenty-five herbicide programs were evaluated; 5 of which were PRE herbicides only, 10 were PRE herbicides followed by POST herbicides 3 to 4 wks after (WA) the PRE application (EPOST), and 10 were PRE herbicides followed by POST herbicides 6 to 7 WA the PRE application (LPOST). Programs with EPOST herbicides provided 94% or greater control of Palmer amaranth and waterhemp at 3 to 4 WA the EPOST. Overall, programs with LPOST herbicides resulted in a period of weed emergence in which weeds would typically compete with a crop. Weeds were not completely controlled with the LPOST herbicides because weed sizes were larger (≥ 15 cm) compared with their sizes at the EPOST application (≤ 7 cm). Most programs with LPOST herbicides provided 80 to 95% control at 3 to 4 WA applied LPOST. Based on an orthogonal contrast, using a synthetic-auxin herbicide LPOST improves control of Palmer amaranth and waterhemp over programs not containing a synthetic-auxin LPOST. These results show herbicides that can be used in soybean and that contain auxinic- or HPPD-resistant traits will provide growers with an opportunity for better control of glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth and waterhemp over a wide range of geographies and environments.