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.

The relative abundance of the six copepodite stages (CI-CVI) of Calanus helgolandicus Claus (Copepoda: Calanoida) and Pseudocalanus elongatus Boeck (Copepoda: Calanoida) was recorded at a station in the English Channel throughout 1989. There was a pronounced seasonal variation in the abundance of the early stages. Increased recruitment from the nauplii corresponded in both species to rising primary production early in the year, producing small CI abundance peaks in March. The major period of naupliar development occurred after the April/May spring bloom. During seasonal peaks the CI and CII stages typically formed 40% of the copepodites of these species but were scarce at other times. The body carbon weight of Calanus and Pseudocalanus CIs decreased by 38% and 21% respectively from May to August, indicating an increase in food limitation for the nauplii. Summer was passed predominantly in the CIV and CV stage at low abundances.

This paper describes the diffusion of computer use among jobs in Britain, and shows that the technology is having notable effects on the labour market. By 2006 three in four jobs entailed job-holders using computers, while for two in four jobs computer use was essential. Computing skills have a significant impact on pay but, in 2006, much of this effect is interactive with what we term ‘influence skills’. The average effect of a unit increase in the Computing Skills index (which ranges from 0 to 4) is to raise pay by an estimated 5.3 per cent and 6.0 per cent for men and women respectively. For men there is an additional 19.2 per cent boost to pay in establishments where at least three quarters of workers are working with computers, compared to establishments where no one uses computers. These effects are greater for those people in jobs with above-average influence skills requirements. Our estimates allow for education, a large number of other generic skills and other conventional controls, which makes them more robust to the critique that they are overestimates because they might suffer from omitted skill bias. IV estimates show only small differences from the OLS estimates. We also find that the direct and interactive effects of computer skills and influence skills have risen over the decade, indicating increased scarcity.

We dicuss new Galactic ISM results and progress towards low-frequency spectroscopy

Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) are an important subclass of radio quiet AGN having extreme optical and X-ray spectroscopic properties. Their relationship to other types of Seyferts remains unclear. NLS1s exhibit many characteristics of Seyfert 1 AGN, but their optical spectra show narrow permitted lines, and some high ionization species. This may result from us viewing them close to ‘pole-on' orientation with respect to an inner torus geometry. We present comparisons of the radio and X-ray properties of NLS1s with those of the 12μm and CfA Seyfert samples.

We have observed a dozen bright Seyfert 2's selected by their [OIII]λ5007 emission line flux (Ueno et al 1996, Awaki et al 1996). We chose this to be a flux-limited sample free from X-ray selection effects such as intrinsic absorbing columns (N H) and differences in viewing angle (Mulchaey et al 1994). Is it genuinely free from these selection effects? To investigate this, we compare the [OIII] luminosity of various Seyfert 2 galaxies. For this paper, we assume the Hubble constant to be H 0 = 50km s−1 Mpc−1.

Antimicrobial resistance results in increased morbidity, mortality, and costs of health care. Prevention of the emergence of resistance and the dissemination of resistant microorganisms will reduce these adverse effects and their attendant costs. Appropriate antimicrobial stewardship that includes optimal selection, dose, and duration of treatment, as well as control of antibiotic use, will prevent or slow the emergence of resistance among microorganisms. A comprehensively applied infection control program will interdict the dissemination of resistant strains

We summarise the first year of operation of the Medium Deep Survey - a key project of the HST. Two fields in the LMC are discussed and some preliminary scientific results presented. We also comment on image deconvolution for the extragalactic fields observed as part of the Medium Deep Survey.