We present a broadband radio study of the transient jets ejected from the black hole candidate X-ray binary MAXI J1535–571, which underwent a prolonged outburst beginning on 2017 September 2. We monitored MAXI J1535–571 with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) at frequencies from 119 to 186 MHz over six epochs from 2017 September 20 to 2017 October 14. The source was quasi-simultaneously observed over the frequency range 0.84–19 GHz by UTMOST (the Upgraded Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope) the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), and the Australian Long Baseline Array (LBA). Using the LBA observations from 2017 September 23, we measured the source size to be $34\pm1$ mas. During the brightest radio flare on 2017 September 21, the source was detected down to 119 MHz by the MWA, and the radio spectrum indicates a turnover between 250 and 500 MHz, which is most likely due to synchrotron self-absorption (SSA). By fitting the radio spectrum with a SSA model and using the LBA size measurement, we determined various physical parameters of the jet knot (identified in ATCA data), including the jet opening angle ( $\phi_{\rm op} = 4.5\pm1.2^{\circ}$ ) and the magnetic field strength ( $B_{\rm s} = 104^{+80}_{-78}$ mG). Our fitted magnetic field strength agrees reasonably well with that inferred from the standard equipartition approach, suggesting the jet knot to be close to equipartition. Our study highlights the capabilities of the Australian suite of radio telescopes to jointly probe radio jets in black hole X-ray binaries via simultaneous observations over a broad frequency range, and with differing angular resolutions. This suite allows us to determine the physical properties of X-ray binary jets. Finally, our study emphasises the potential contributions that can be made by the low-frequency part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA-Low) in the study of black hole X-ray binaries.

Adult socioeconomic status (SES) has been consistently associated with body mass index (BMI), but it is unclear whether it is linked to BMI independently of childhood SES or other potentially confounding factors. Twin studies can address this issue by implicitly controlling for childhood SES and unmeasured confounders. This co-twin control study used cross-sectional data from Twins Research Australia’s Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire (N = 1918 twin pairs). We investigated whether adult SES, as measured by both the Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage (IRSD) and the Australian Socioeconomic Index 2006 (AUSEI06), was associated with BMI after controlling for factors shared by twins within a pair. The primary analysis was a linear mixed-effects model that estimated effects both within and between pairs. Between pairs, a 10-unit increase in AUSEI06 was associated with a 0.29 kg/m2 decrease in BMI (95% CI [−.42, −.17], p < .001), and a 1-decile increase in IRSD was associated with a 0.26 kg/m2 decrease in BMI (95% CI [−.35, −.17], p < .001). No association was observed within pairs. In conclusion, higher adult SES was associated with lower BMI between pairs, but no association was observed within pairs. Thus, the link between adult SES and BMI may be due to confounding factors common to twins within a pair.

The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is an open access telescope dedicated to studying the low-frequency (80–300 MHz) southern sky. Since beginning operations in mid-2013, the MWA has opened a new observational window in the southern hemisphere enabling many science areas. The driving science objectives of the original design were to observe 21 cm radiation from the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR), explore the radio time domain, perform Galactic and extragalactic surveys, and monitor solar, heliospheric, and ionospheric phenomena. All together $60+$ programs recorded 20 000 h producing 146 papers to date. In 2016, the telescope underwent a major upgrade resulting in alternating compact and extended configurations. Other upgrades, including digital back-ends and a rapid-response triggering system, have been developed since the original array was commissioned. In this paper, we review the major results from the prior operation of the MWA and then discuss the new science paths enabled by the improved capabilities. We group these science opportunities by the four original science themes but also include ideas for directions outside these categories.

Breakthrough Listen is a 10-yr initiative to search for signatures of technologies created by extraterrestrial civilisations at radio and optical wavelengths. Here, we detail the digital data recording system deployed for Breakthrough Listen observations at the 64-m aperture CSIRO Parkes Telescope in New South Wales, Australia. The recording system currently implements two modes: a dual-polarisation, 1.125-GHz bandwidth mode for single-beam observations, and a 26-input, 308-MHz bandwidth mode for the 21-cm multibeam receiver. The system is also designed to support a 3-GHz single-beam mode for the forthcoming Parkes ultra-wideband feed. In this paper, we present details of the system architecture, provide an overview of hardware and software, and present initial performance results.

We present low-frequency spectral energy distributions of 60 known radio pulsars observed with the Murchison Widefield Array telescope. We searched the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array survey images for 200-MHz continuum radio emission at the position of all pulsars in the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) pulsar catalogue. For the 60 confirmed detections, we have measured flux densities in 20 × 8 MHz bands between 72 and 231 MHz. We compare our results to existing measurements and show that the Murchison Widefield Array flux densities are in good agreement.

For decades antimonials were the drugs of choice for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), but the recent emergence of resistance has made them redundant as first-line therapy in the endemic VL region in the Indian subcontinent. The application of other drugs has been limited due to adverse effects, perceived high cost, need for parenteral administration and increasing rate of treatment failures. Liposomal amphotericin B (AmB) and miltefosine (MIL) have been positioned as the effective first-line treatments; however, the number of monotherapy MIL-failures has increased after a decade of use. Since no validated molecular resistance markers are yet available, monitoring and surveillance of changes in drug sensitivity and resistance still depends on standard phenotypic in vitro promastigote or amastigote susceptibility assays. Clinical isolates displaying defined MIL- or AmB-resistance are still fairly scarce and fundamental and applied research on resistance mechanisms and dynamics remains largely dependent on laboratory-generated drug resistant strains. This review addresses the various challenges associated with drug susceptibility and -resistance monitoring in VL, with particular emphasis on the choice of strains, susceptibility model selection and standardization of procedures with specific read-out parameters and well-defined threshold criteria. The latter are essential to support surveillance systems and safeguard the limited number of currently available antileishmanial drugs.

Wepresent and evaluate several strategies to search for prompt, low-frequency radio emission associated with gravitational wave transients using the Murchison Widefield Array. As we are able to repoint the Murchison Widefield Array on timescales of tens of seconds, we can search for the dispersed radio signal that has been predicted to originate along with or shortly after a neutron star-neutron star merger. We find that given the large, 600 deg2 instantaneous field of view of the Murchison Widefield Array, we can cover a significant fraction of the predicted gravitational wave error region, although due to the complicated geometry of the latter, we only cover > 50% of the error region for approximately 5% of events, and roughly 15% of events will be located < 10° from the Murchison Widefield Array pointing centre such that they will be covered in the radio images. For optimal conditions, our limiting flux density for a 10-s long transient would be 0.1 Jy, increasing to about 1 Jy for a wider range of events. This corresponds to luminosity limits of 1038−39 erg s−1 based on expectations for the distances of the gravitational wave transients, which should be sufficient to detect or significantly constrain a range of models for prompt emission.

Population decline resulting from agricultural intensification led to contraction of the range of the cirl bunting Emberiza cirlus in the UK to a small area of south Devon. As part of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan for the species, a project to re-establish a population in suitable habitat in Cornwall was undertaken during 2006–2011, in which chicks were removed from the nest in Devon, hand-reared and then delayed-released. The survival of the birds to four time points in the year after release was analysed in relation to the effect of rearing factors, using a multivariable logistic regression model. Individuals with higher body weight at capture were more likely to survive to 1 January and 1 May in the year following release, and individuals released in June and July were more likely to survive than those released in August. Individuals released in 2006 and 2011 had a higher survival rate than those released during 2007–2010. Timing of capture, time spent at each stage in captivity, medication and the detection of parasites in the brood had no significant effect. Immunosuppressive disease, weather factors and predator activity may have led to some of the observed differences in survival. This analysis provides evidence with which to plan future translocation projects for cirl buntings and other passerine birds.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is characterised by oxidative stress, but little is known about the associations between antioxidant status and all-cause mortality in adults with this disease. The objective of the present study was to examine the prospective associations between concentrations of α- and β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein/zeaxanthin, lycopene, Se, vitamin C and α-tocopherol and all-cause mortality among US adults with obstructive lung function. Data collected from 1492 adults aged 20–79 years with obstructive lung function in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988–94) were used. Through 2006, 629 deaths were identified during a median follow-up period of 14 years. After adjustment for demographic variables, the concentrations of the following antioxidants modelled as continuous variables were found to be inversely associated with all-cause mortality among adults with obstructive lung function: α-carotene (P= 0·037); β-carotene (P= 0·022); cryptoxanthin (P= 0·022); lutein/zeaxanthin (P= 0·004); total carotenoids (P= 0·001); vitamin C (P< 0·001). In maximally adjusted models, only the concentrations of lycopene (P= 0·013) and vitamin C (P= 0·046) were found to be significantly and inversely associated with all-cause mortality. No effect modification by sex was detected, but the association between lutein/zeaxanthin concentrations and all-cause mortality varied by smoking status (Pinteraction= 0·048). The concentrations of lycopene and vitamin C were inversely associated with all-cause mortality in this cohort of adults with obstructive lung function.

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) will give us an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the transient sky at radio wavelengths. In this paper we present VAST, an ASKAP survey for Variables and Slow Transients. VAST will exploit the wide-field survey capabilities of ASKAP to enable the discovery and investigation of variable and transient phenomena from the local to the cosmological, including flare stars, intermittent pulsars, X-ray binaries, magnetars, extreme scattering events, interstellar scintillation, radio supernovae, and orphan afterglows of gamma-ray bursts. In addition, it will allow us to probe unexplored regions of parameter space where new classes of transient sources may be detected. In this paper we review the known radio transient and variable populations and the current results from blind radio surveys. We outline a comprehensive program based on a multi-tiered survey strategy to characterise the radio transient sky through detection and monitoring of transient and variable sources on the ASKAP imaging timescales of 5 s and greater. We also present an analysis of the expected source populations that we will be able to detect with VAST.

Evidence for competitive deplacement of Panonychus ulmi (ERM) from apple trees via Aculus schlechtendali (ARM) by what is thought to be a foliage conditioning mechanism is presented. Previous feeding of ARMs at high and moderate density levels near or below the economic threshold for this phytophagous mite on apple reduced the build-up of the ERM in 3 years of field experiments on Red Delicious trees and during a single season on McIntosh apple foliage. Comparative tests measuring oviposition rates of the ERM on excised apple leaves which had sustained high and low levels of previous rust mite feeding gave results similar to field experiments. The applied aspect of how this interspecific relationship can be managed in the context of an integrated mite management program for apples is discussed.

A population-based record linkage case cohort of 239,995 births, to 119,214 women, born in Western Australia from 1980 to 2001 inclusive, was used to measure the recording of selected indicators of maternal health (current and prior) during pregnancy. We compared records of women with singleton pregnancies with that in twin pregnancies Mothers of first- and second-born singletons (n = 117,647) were compared with women with a first-born singleton followed by twins (n = 1,567). Binary indicators were used to calculate population prevalence of medical conditions, pregnancy complications and birth outcomes. Infant outcomes included stillbirth, low birthweight, preterm birth and birth defects. Women with twins were significantly older and taller, with similar rates of medical conditions and pregnancy complications during first singleton pregnancies compared with women with two consecutive singletons. However, during their second pregnancy, women with twins had significantly higher rates of essential hypertension, pre-eclampsia, threatened abortion, premature rupture of the membranes and ante partum hemorrhage with abruption than women with singletons. For both groups, maternal conditions in the first pregnancy were underreported in the second pregnancy, including diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, chronic renal dysfunction and essential hypertension. At the second birth, twins were 3 times more likely to be stillborn, 17 times more likely to be low birthweight and 4 times more likely to be delivered preterm compared with singletons. This research demonstrates the importance for epidemiologists and others, of having access to a complete maternal medical history for analyses of risks associated with maternal, infant and childhood morbidity.

Least squares regression is commonly used in metrology for calibration and estimation. In regression relating a response y to a predictor x, the predictor x is often measured with error that is ignored in analysis. Practitioners wondering how to proceed when x has non-negligible error face a daunting literature, with a wide range of notation, assumptions, and approaches. For the model ytrue = β0 + β1   xtrue, we provide simple expressions for errors in predictors (EIP) estimators \hbox{$\Hat{{\beta }}_{0, {\rm EIP}} $}β̂0, EIP for β0 and \hbox{$\Hat{{\beta }}_{1, {\rm EIP}} $}β̂1, EIP for β1 and for an approximation to covariance (\hbox{$\Hat{{\beta }}_{0, {\rm EIP}} $}β̂0, EIP, \hbox{$\Hat{{\beta }}_{1, {\rm EIP}} $}β̂1, EIP). It is assumed that there are measured data x = xtrue + ex, and y = ytrue + ey with errors ex in x and ey in y and the variances of the errors ex and ey are allowed to depend on xtrue and ytrue, respectively. This paper also investigates the accuracy of the estimated cov(\hbox{$\Hat{{\beta }}_{0, {\rm EIP}} $}β̂0, EIP, \hbox{$\Hat{{\beta }}_{1, {\rm EIP}} $}β̂1, EIP) and provides a numerical Bayesian alternative using Markov Chain Monte Carlo, which is recommended particularly for small sample sizes where the approximate expression is shown to have lower accuracy than desired.

Increasing evidence suggests that vitamin D benefits both innate and adaptive immunity, thereby eliciting an anti-inflammatory effect and reducing the risk of infectious disease. The present study examined the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and the risk of chronic bronchitis among US adults. We analysed data from 6872 US adults aged ≥ 20 years who participated in the 2003–6 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Prevalence and OR with 95 % CI of having self-reported chronic bronchitis were estimated by quintiles of 25(OH)D or vitamin D-deficiency status after adjustment for potential confounders. The results showed that the adjusted prevalence of chronic bronchitis ranged from 2·4 (95 % CI 1·4, 3·3) % among adults in the highest quintile of 25(OH)D ( ≥ 30 ng/ml) to 4·1 (95 % CI 2·5, 5·6) % among adults in the lowest quintile ( < 15 ng/ml; P for trend < 0·01). The adjusted OR for chronic bronchitis was 1·85 (95 % CI 1·06, 3·24) in adults with < 15 ng/ml 25(OH)D and 1·77 (95 % CI 1·19, 2·65) in those with 15 to < 20 ng/ml 25(OH)D compared with adults with ≥ 30 ng/ml 25(OH)D. Additionally, the adjusted OR for chronic bronchitis was 1·52 (95 % CI 1·03, 2·26) among adults with vitamin D deficiency ( < 20 ng/ml 25(OH)D) compared with those with ≥ 20 ng/ml 25(OH)D. For every 1 ng/ml increase in 25(OH)D, the likelihood of having chronic bronchitis fell by 2·6 % (P = 0·016). In conclusion, low serum 25(OH)D levels are associated with the increased risk of chronic bronchitis among US adults. The present results provide support for continuing research on the role of vitamin D in lung diseases.