The First Large Absorption Survey in H i (FLASH) is a large-area radio survey for neutral hydrogen in and around galaxies in the intermediate redshift range $0.4\lt z\lt1.0$, using the 21-cm H i absorption line as a probe of cold neutral gas. The survey uses the ASKAP radio telescope and will cover 24,000 deg$^2$ of sky over the next five years. FLASH breaks new ground in two ways – it is the first large H i absorption survey to be carried out without any optical preselection of targets, and we use an automated Bayesian line-finding tool to search through large datasets and assign a statistical significance to potential line detections. Two Pilot Surveys, covering around 3000 deg$^2$ of sky, were carried out in 2019-22 to test and verify the strategy for the full FLASH survey. The processed data products from these Pilot Surveys (spectral-line cubes, continuum images, and catalogues) are public and available online. In this paper, we describe the FLASH spectral-line and continuum data products and discuss the quality of the H i spectra and the completeness of our automated line search. Finally, we present a set of 30 new H i absorption lines that were robustly detected in the Pilot Surveys, almost doubling the number of known H i absorption systems at $0.4\lt z\lt1$. The detected lines span a wide range in H i optical depth, including three lines with a peak optical depth $\tau\gt1$, and appear to be a mixture of intervening and associated systems. Interestingly, around two-thirds of the lines found in this untargeted sample are detected against sources with a peaked-spectrum radio continuum, which are only a minor (5–20%) fraction of the overall radio-source population. The detection rate for H i absorption lines in the Pilot Surveys (0.3 to 0.5 lines per 40 deg$^2$ ASKAP field) is a factor of two below the expected value. One possible reason for this is the presence of a range of spectral-line artefacts in the Pilot Survey data that have now been mitigated and are not expected to recur in the full FLASH survey. A future paper in this series will discuss the host galaxies of the H i absorption systems identified here.

We present the first results from a new backend on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, the Commensal Realtime ASKAP Fast Transient COherent (CRACO) upgrade. CRACO records millisecond time resolution visibility data, and searches for dispersed fast transient signals including fast radio bursts (FRB), pulsars, and ultra-long period objects (ULPO). With the visibility data, CRACO can localise the transient events to arcsecond-level precision after the detection. Here, we describe the CRACO system and report the result from a sky survey carried out by CRACO at 110-ms resolution during its commissioning phase. During the survey, CRACO detected two FRBs (including one discovered solely with CRACO, FRB 20231027A), reported more precise localisations for four pulsars, discovered two new RRATs, and detected one known ULPO, GPM J1839 $-$10, through its sub-pulse structure. We present a sensitivity calibration of CRACO, finding that it achieves the expected sensitivity of 11.6 Jy ms to bursts of 110 ms duration or less. CRACO is currently running at a 13.8 ms time resolution and aims at a 1.7 ms time resolution before the end of 2024. The planned CRACO has an expected sensitivity of 1.5 Jy ms to bursts of 1.7 ms duration or less and can detect $10\times$ more FRBs than the current CRAFT incoherent sum system (i.e. 0.5 $-$2 localised FRBs per day), enabling us to better constrain the models for FRBs and use them as cosmological probes.

The Students Participating as Ambassadors for Research in Kentucky (SPARK) program provides novel health equity research training and targeted mentorship for undergraduates, particularly those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral research and workforce. SPARK aims to address inadequate diversity in the medical and scientific research fields by providing comprehensive research mentorship and skill-building. Unlike most existing research training programs that are brief, focus on laboratory research, or are limited to graduate students and junior faculty, SPARK delivers a 16-month intensive behavioral and population health science training, equipping students with needed tools to conceptualize, plan, execute, and analyze their own health equity research study. Trainees complete didactic coursework on health equity, study design and proposal development, data analysis, and ethics. Students receive a stipend and research expenses, and multiple mentors guide them in creating original research projects for which they serve as Principal Investigator. Students disseminate their findings annually at an academic research conference as a capstone. Evaluation data from the first three cohorts suggest SPARK has been pivotal in preparing students for graduate studies and research careers in health equity and behavioral and population health sciences, providing strong support for further investments in similar undergraduate research training models.

Daily sodium intake in England is ∼3.3 g/day(1), with government and scientific advice to reduce intake for cardiovascular health purposes having varying success(2). Eccrine sweat is produced during exercise or exposure to warm environments to maintain body temperature through evaporative cooling. Sweat is primarily water, but also contains appreciable amounts of electrolytes, particularly sodium, meaning sweat sodium losses could reduce daily sodium balance without the need for dietary manipulation. However, the effects of sweat sodium losses on 24-h sodium balance are unclear.

Fourteen active participants (10 males, 4 females; 23±2 years, 45±9 mL/kg/min) completed a preliminary trial and two 24-h randomised, counterbalanced experimental trials. Participants arrived fasted for baseline (0-h) measures (blood/urine samples, blood pressure, nude body mass) followed by breakfast and low-intensity intermittent cycling in the heat (∼36⁰C, ∼50% humidity) to turnover ∼2.5% body mass in sweat (EX), or the same duration of room temperature seated rest (REST). Further blood samples were collected post-EX/REST (1.5-3 h post-baseline). During EX, sweat was collected from 5 sites and water consumed to fully replace sweat losses. During REST, participants drank 100 mL/h. Food intake was individually standardised over the 24-h, with bottled water available ad-libitum. Participants collected all urine produced over the 24-h and returned the following morning to repeat baseline measures fasted (24-h). Sodium balance was estimated over the 24-h using sweat/urine losses and dietary intake. Data were analysed using 2-way ANOVA followed by Shapiro-Wilk and paired t-tests/Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Data are mean (standard deviation).

Dietary sodium intake was 2.3 (0.3) g and participants lost 2.8 (0.3) % body mass in sweat (containing 2.5 (0.9) g sodium). Sodium balance was lower for EX (-2.0 (1.6) g vs -1.0 (1.6) g; P = 0.022), despite lower 24-h urine sodium losses in EX (1.8 (1.2) g vs 3.3 (1.7) g; P = 0.001). PostEX/REST blood sodium concentration was lower in EX (137.6 (2.3) mmol/L vs 139.9 (1.0) mmol/L; P = 0.002) but did not differ at 0-h (P = 0.906) or 24-h (P = 0.118). There was no difference in plasma volume change (P = 0.423), urine specific gravity (P = 0.495), systolic (P = 0.324) or diastolic (P = 0.274) blood pressure between trials over the 24-h. Body mass change over 24-h was not different between trials (REST +0.25 (1.10) %; EX +0.40 (0.68) %; P = 0.663).

Sweat loss through low-intensity exercise resulted in a lower sodium balance compared to rest. Although urine sodium output reduced with EX, it was not sufficient to offset exercise-induced sodium losses. Despite this, body mass, plasma volume and blood sodium concentration were not different between trials, suggesting sodium may have been lost from non-osmotic sodium stores. This suggests sweat sodium losses could be used to reduce sodium balance, although longer studies are required to confirm this thesis.

According to International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines, all species must be assessed against all criteria during the Red Listing process. For organismal groups that are diverse and understudied, assessors face considerable challenges in assembling evidence due to difficulty in applying definitions of key terms used in the guidelines. Challenges also arise because of uncertainty in population sizes (Criteria A, C, D) and distributions (Criteria A2/3/4c, B). Lichens, which are often small, difficult to identify, or overlooked during biodiversity inventories, are one such group for which specific difficulties arise in applying Red List criteria. Here, we offer approaches and examples that address challenges in completing Red List assessments for lichens in a rapidly changing arena of data availability and analysis strategies. While assessors still contend with far from perfect information about individual species, we propose practical solutions for completing robust assessments given the currently available knowledge of individual lichen life-histories.

In this retrospective cohort study of military trainees, symptomatic-only coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) arrival antigen testing decreased isolation requirements without increasing secondary cases compared to universal antigen testing. Symptomatic-only arrival antigen testing is a feasible alternative for individuals entering a congregant setting with a high risk of COVID-19 transmission.

The terminal Ediacaran Period is signaled worldwide by the first appearance of skeletonizing tubular metazoan fossils, e.g., Cloudina Germs, 1972 and Sinotubulites Chen, Chen, and Qian, 1981. Although recent efforts have focused on evaluating the taxic composition and preservation of such assemblages from the southwestern United States, comparable forms reported in the 1980s from Mexico remain to be re-examined. Here, we reassess the latest Ediacaran skeletal materials from the La Ciénega Formation of the Caborca region in Sonora, Mexico, using a combination of analytical methods: optical microscopy of extracted fossils, thin-section petrography, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray tomographic microscopy. From our examination, we conclude that the La Ciénega hosts a polytaxic assemblage of latest Ediacaran tubular organisms that have been preserved through two taphonomic pathways: coarse silicification and calcareous recrystallization preserving finer details. Further, these fossils show signs that their shells might not have been inflexible or completely mineralized in vivo, and that they might also record tentatively interpreted predation traces in the form of drill holes or puncture marks. This work, along with ongoing efforts around the world, helps to provide a framework for biostratigraphic correlation and possible subdivision of the Ediacaran Period, and further shapes our view of metazoan evolution and ecology in the interval directly preceding the Cambrian explosion.

5wPatients with end stage kidney disease (ESKD) who receive in-center hemodialysis are disproportionately vulnerable to extreme weather events, including hurricanes and heat waves, that may disrupt access to healthcare providers, and life-sustaining treatments. This current era of climate-driven compounding disasters is progressively elevating the level of threat to the health and well-being of patients with ESKD. This analysis brings together multi-disciplinary expertise to explore the contours of this increasingly complex risk landscape. Despite the challenges, important advances have been made for safeguarding this medically high-risk patient population. Hemodialysis services providers have devised innovative systems for preparing their patients and sustaining, or rapidly reestablishing, hemodialysis services in the aftermath of a disaster, and maintaining open lines of communication with their caseloads of ESKD patients throughout all phases of the event. A description of lessons learned along the path towards improved patient support in disasters, is provided. The article concludes with a detailed case example, describing dialysis providers’ effective response throughout Hurricane Ian’s passage across the State of Florida in 2022. Based on lessons learned, this analysis outlines strategies for protecting patients with ESKD that may be adapted for future climate-potentiated disaster scenarios.

This article presents a framework of ethical analysis for anticipatory evaluation of advanced biopreservation technologies and employs the framework illustratively in three domains. The framework features four clusters of general ethical considerations: (1) Producing Benefits, Minimizing Harms, Balancing Benefits, Risk, and Costs; (2) Justice, Fairness, Equity; (3) Respect for Autonomy; and (4) Transparency, Trustworthiness, and Public Trust.

Advanced biopreservation technologies using subzero approaches such as supercooling, partial freezing, and vitrification with reanimating techniques including nanoparticle infusion and laser rewarming are rapidly emerging as technologies with potential to radically disrupt biomedicine, research, aquaculture, and conservation. These technologies could pause biological time and facilitate large-scale banking of biomedical products including organs, tissues, and cell therapies.