Astrophysics Telescope for Large Area Spectroscopy Probe is a concept for a National Aeronautics and Space Administration probe-class space mission that will achieve ground-breaking science in the fields of galaxy evolution, cosmology, Milky Way, and the Solar System. It is the follow-up space mission to Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), boosting its scientific return by obtaining deep 1–4 μm slit spectroscopy for ∼70% of all galaxies imaged by the ∼2 000 deg2 WFIRST High Latitude Survey at z > 0.5. Astrophysics Telescope for Large Area Spectroscopy will measure accurate and precise redshifts for ∼200 M galaxies out to z < 7, and deliver spectra that enable a wide range of diagnostic studies of the physical properties of galaxies over most of cosmic history. Astrophysics Telescope for Large Area Spectroscopy Probe and WFIRST together will produce a 3D map of the Universe over 2 000 deg2, the definitive data sets for studying galaxy evolution, probing dark matter, dark energy and modifications of General Relativity, and quantifying the 3D structure and stellar content of the Milky Way. Astrophysics Telescope for Large Area Spectroscopy Probe science spans four broad categories: (1) Revolutionising galaxy evolution studies by tracing the relation between galaxies and dark matter from galaxy groups to cosmic voids and filaments, from the epoch of reionisation through the peak era of galaxy assembly; (2) Opening a new window into the dark Universe by weighing the dark matter filaments using 3D weak lensing with spectroscopic redshifts, and obtaining definitive measurements of dark energy and modification of General Relativity using galaxy clustering; (3) Probing the Milky Way’s dust-enshrouded regions, reaching the far side of our Galaxy; and (4) Exploring the formation history of the outer Solar System by characterising Kuiper Belt Objects. Astrophysics Telescope for Large Area Spectroscopy Probe is a 1.5 m telescope with a field of view of 0.4 deg2, and uses digital micro-mirror devices as slit selectors. It has a spectroscopic resolution of R = 1 000, and a wavelength range of 1–4 μm. The lack of slit spectroscopy from space over a wide field of view is the obvious gap in current and planned future space missions; Astrophysics Telescope for Large Area Spectroscopy fills this big gap with an unprecedented spectroscopic capability based on digital micro-mirror devices (with an estimated spectroscopic multiplex factor greater than 5 000). Astrophysics Telescope for Large Area Spectroscopy is designed to fit within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration probe-class space mission cost envelope; it has a single instrument, a telescope aperture that allows for a lighter launch vehicle, and mature technology (we have identified a path for digital micro-mirror devices to reach Technology Readiness Level 6 within 2 yr). Astrophysics Telescope for Large Area Spectroscopy Probe will lead to transformative science over the entire range of astrophysics: from galaxy evolution to the dark Universe, from Solar System objects to the dusty regions of the Milky Way.

Hill (Twin Research and Human Genetics, Vol. 21, 2018, 84–88) presented a critique of our recently published paper in Cell Reports entitled ‘Large-Scale Cognitive GWAS Meta-Analysis Reveals Tissue-Specific Neural Expression and Potential Nootropic Drug Targets’ (Lam et al., Cell Reports, Vol. 21, 2017, 2597–2613). Specifically, Hill offered several interrelated comments suggesting potential problems with our use of a new analytic method called Multi-Trait Analysis of GWAS (MTAG) (Turley et al., Nature Genetics, Vol. 50, 2018, 229–237). In this brief article, we respond to each of these concerns. Using empirical data, we conclude that our MTAG results do not suffer from ‘inflation in the FDR [false discovery rate]’, as suggested by Hill (Twin Research and Human Genetics, Vol. 21, 2018, 84–88), and are not ‘more relevant to the genetic contributions to education than they are to the genetic contributions to intelligence’.

Epidemiology formed the basis of ‘the Barker hypothesis’, the concept of ‘developmental programming’ and today’s discipline of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). Animal experimentation provided proof of the underlying concepts, and continues to generate knowledge of underlying mechanisms. Interventions in humans, based on DOHaD principles, will be informed by experiments in animals. As knowledge in this discipline has accumulated, from studies of humans and other animals, the complexity of interactions between genome, environment and epigenetics, has been revealed. The vast nature of programming stimuli and breadth of effects is becoming known. As a result of our accumulating knowledge we now appreciate the impact of many variables that contribute to programmed outcomes. To guide further animal research in this field, the Australia and New Zealand DOHaD society (ANZ DOHaD) Animals Models of DOHaD Research Working Group convened at the 2nd Annual ANZ DOHaD Congress in Melbourne, Australia in April 2015. This review summarizes the contributions of animal research to the understanding of DOHaD, and makes recommendations for the design and conduct of animal experiments to maximize relevance, reproducibility and translation of knowledge into improving health and well-being.

This note describes brief tests made to check a proposed extension to the Royal Aeronautical Society Stressed Skin Data Sheets on stresses and deflections in flat panels subjected to normal pressure. Simple modifications to the test rig, which greatly improved the edge fixing, are also included.

The evidence underpinning the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) is overwhelming. As the emphasis shifts more towards interventions and the translational strategies for disease prevention, it is important to capitalize on collaboration and knowledge sharing to maximize opportunities for discovery and replication. DOHaD meetings are facilitating this interaction. However, strategies to perpetuate focussed discussions and collaborations around and between conferences are more likely to facilitate the development of DOHaD research. For this reason, the DOHaD Society of Australia and New Zealand (DOHaD ANZ) has initiated themed Working Groups, which convened at the 2014–2015 conferences. This report introduces the DOHaD ANZ Working Groups and summarizes their plans and activities. One of the first Working Groups to form was the ActEarly birth cohort group, which is moving towards more translational goals. Reflecting growing emphasis on the impact of early life biodiversity – even before birth – we also have a Working Group titled Infection, inflammation and the microbiome. We have several Working Groups exploring other major non-cancerous disease outcomes over the lifespan, including Brain, behaviour and development and Obesity, cardiovascular and metabolic health. The Epigenetics and Animal Models Working Groups cut across all these areas and seeks to ensure interaction between researchers. Finally, we have a group focussed on ‘Translation, policy and communication’ which focusses on how we can best take the evidence we produce into the community to effect change. By coordinating and perpetuating DOHaD discussions in this way we aim to enhance DOHaD research in our region.

A K-band (18-25 GHz) reflected-wave ruby maser (Moore and Clauss 1979) has been borrowed from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory for radio astronomy use on the NASA 64-m antenna of the Deep Space Network at the Tidbinbilla Tracking Station, near Canberra. The purpose of the installation is to provide additional sensitive spectral line, continuum, and VLBI capabilities in the southern hemisphere. Previous measurements at 22.3 GHz (λ = 13.5 mm) determined that the Tidbinbilla 64-m antenna has a peak aperture efficiency of ˜22%, a well-behaved beam shape and consistent pointing (Fourikis and Jauncey 1979). Before installing the maser on the antenna a cooled (circulator) switch was added to provide a beam-switching capability, and a spectral line receiver following the maser was incorporated. The system was assembled and tested at JPL in late 1980 and installed at Tidbinbilla early in 1981. We give here a brief description and present some of the first line observations made in February and March 1981. Extensive line and continuum observations are planned with the present system and a program is under way to determine the telescope pointing characteristics.

Groups of student volunteers were immunized with one of five different inactivated influenza virus vaccines. The concentration of virus in the various vaccines differed by both the international unitage test and by the concentration of haemagglutinin, as measured by the single radial diffusion test; the results of the two methods of standardization showed no correlation. The serum HI response to immunization was variable; volunteers given A/England/72 showed a 16·6-fold increase in homologous serum antibody titre whilst volunteers given A/Hong Kong/68 vaccine showed a 4·2-fold increase. The variable response of volunteers to immunization could not be explained by the varied concentration of virus in the vaccines, as measured by either test, the titres of serum HI antibody present before immunization, or a combination of these two factors.

The ability to infect volunteers with WRL 105 virus 4 weeks after immunization with heterologous, inactivated virus vaccine was directly related to the degree of cross-reactivity between the haemagglutinins of this vaccine virus and WRL 105 virus. Thus, the greatest number of infections by the challenge virus were seen in volunteers given A/Hong Kong/68 vaccine, less were observed in volunteers given A/England/72 vaccine, and least were found in groups given A/Port Chalmers/73 or A/Scotland/74 vaccine. However, compared with the incidence of infection in volunteers given B/Hong Kong/73 vaccine, all the heterologous influenza A vaccine gave some immunity to challenge infection.

Objectives: To assess the volume and range of diagnosis in new patients referred to paediatric cardiac outpatient clinics. Methods: Data was collected prospectively, using a proforma completed at all outpatient clinics over a period of three months. Results: There were 526 new referrals, representing an increase of almost one-fifth compared to 5 years ago. Of the referrals, 78 percent came from hospital doctors, and 22 percent from general practitioners, with 221 of those referred being infants. A heart murmur was the most common reason for referral, representing almost two-thirds of cases. In 372 patients referred (71 percent), the heart was discovered to be structurally normal. The proportion of patients with normal hearts referred by general practitioners and hospital doctors were 81 percent, and 68 percent, respectively (p less than 0.004). There was considerable variation in the pattern of referral between doctors working in different hospitals. Conclusion: New referrals to centres dealing with congenital cardiac malformations are increasing alarmingly, with the majority of the children referred having normal hearts. This increase in demand for specialist services has important implications for resources and training.

Exposing wide-bandgap ionic materials to UV and IR photons can produce ion emissions with kinetic energies of several eV, well in excess of the photon energy. Electron emissions are also observed. This implies that these materials possess occupied electronic defect states within the band gap. We have investigated the consequences of a variety of defect-generating stimuli (electron irradiation, laser irradiation, mechanical treatments, and heating) on electron and ion emission from inorganic ionic crystals. These stimuli generate defects that strongly interact with the probe laser on a wide variety of ionic crystals, and dramatically decrease the probe laser intensities required for ion and neutral emissions, laser damage, and plume formation.

We employ salt particles deposited on soda lime glass substrates as a model system for particle detachment in chemically active environments. The chemical activity is provided by water vapor, and detachment is performed with the tip of a scanning force microscope. The later force required to detach nanometer-scale salt particles is a strong function of particle size and relative humidity. The peak lateral force at detachment divided by the nominal particle area yields an effective interfacial shear strength. The variation of shear strength with particle size and humidity is described in terms of chemically assisted crack growth along the salt-glass interface.

The energy distributions of positive ions produced by exposing single-crystal MgO to pulsed 248 nm excimer laser light at fluences of 200-1200 mJ/cm2 were determined by combined quadrupole mass spectrometry and time-of-flight techniques. the dominant ionic species is Mg+, although small amounts of Mg2+, MgO+, and Mg2O+ are also observed. IN particular, the

Mg+ and Mg2+ energy distributions each show two broad peaks, with the energies of the Mg2+ peaks at significantly higher energies. Ion trajectory simulations (accounting for Coulomb forces only and assuming no surface relaxation) suggest that Mg2+ adsorbed at sites directly atop surface F-centers (oxygen vacancies with two trapped electrons) would be ejected upon photo-ionization of the F-center. the experimentally observed Mg2+ kinetic energies agree well with the energies predicted by the simulation.

Although MgO is much more resistant to radiolysis by 248-nm photons than NaNO3, the ion emission processes at low fluence have much in common: both materials yield high energy ions (> 5 eV kinetic energy) with a strongly nonlinear fluence dependence. We report time-of-flight measurements of quadrupole mass-selected Mg+ from polished, single crystal MgO and Na+ from cleaved, single crystal NaNO3. At fluences between 10 and 1000 mJ/cm2, the Mg+ intensities show a strongly nonlinear fluence dependence which decreases to roughly second order behavior at fluences above 100 mJ/cm2. The Na+ intensities display third or fourth order emission kinetics throughout the experimental range of fluences. We attribute these emissions to cations adsorbed atop surface electron traps where the cation is ejected when the underlying trap is photo-ionized. The potential energy of this defect configuration accounts for the observed ion kinetic energies. However, the direct photo-ionization of surface vacancy/adsorbed ion defects with 5 eV photons should not be possible. Thus we propose that emission requires the photo-ionization of nearby electron traps, followed by photo-induced charge transfer to the empty traps. We show that a sequence of single-photon absorption events [involving photo-ionization, charge transfer, and electron retrapping] accounts for the strongly nonlinear fluence dependence.

During the peel of a ductile material from a rigid substrate, a number of instabilities can arise in the shape and motion of the peel front. For instance, void formation, viscous fingering, and fibril formation and bifurcation can modulate the local rate of detachment between the two materials. These fluctuations affect the rate of energy dissipation and depend directly on the micromechanics of the detachment zone. Exploiting the consequences of contact charging between dissimilar materials, we have developed sensitive methods for detecting fluctuations during interfacial failure. We have also developed a sensitive probe of ductile deformation in reactive metals and use these measurements to probe energy dissipation during interfacial failure. We present examples of chaotic behavior and discuss the relation between these results with our current understanding of energy dissipation during interfacial crack growth.

When polycarbonate is loaded in tension at room temperature to failure, a certain percentage of the chains are believed to undergo cleavage due to the constraints of entanglements. We present direct evidence that accompanying fracture of polycarbonate, CO molecules are released due to bond scissions.

The near-EF electronic structure and Fermi surface of Bi2212 has been mapped out with ARPES. A key feature of our measured bandstructure is the existence of an extended region of flat CuO2-derived bands at EF. Comparative analysis of this data with that from NdCeCuO and YBCO7 suggests that many of the anomalous (normal) physical properties of Bi2212 and YBCO7 (NdCeCuO) may be related to the existence (absence) of such bands at EF. Superconducting gap anisotropy at least an order of magnitude larger than that of the conventional superconductors has been observed in the a-b plane of Bi2212 in ARPES. For samples with Tc of 88K, the gap size reaches a maximum of approximately 20 meV along the Cu-O bond direction, and a minimum of much smaller or vanishing magnitude 45° away. The experimental data is discussed within the context of various theoretical models. In particular, a detailed comparison with what is expected from a superconductor with a dx2-y2 order parameter is carried out, yielding a consistent picture.

In tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), extensive variation can be observed in genes conditioning many plant functions including disease resistance, plant development, and fruit, leaf and hypocotyl pigmentation. Genes exist that confer resistance to viruses, nematodes, bacteria and fungi. There is great value in developing a facile system for isolating such genes, and we are attempting to create a tomato gene isolation system based on insertional mutagenesis with the maize transposon Ac. Our chosen target genes (Cf-2, Cf-4, Cf-5 and Cf-9) confer resistance to specific races of the fungus Cladosporium fulvum Cooke, the causal agent of leaf mould. We have used classical and molecular techniques to map three of these genes, correcting errors in previous reports. Ac-carrying T-DNA constructs have been developed to facilitate monitoring of Ac activity in tomato, where Ac is extremely active. These constructs have been used in plant transformation experiments, and over 100 tomato lines carrying Ac have been created. More than 20 T-DNAs carrying Ac have been localised on the tomato genetic map by testing linkage to RFLP loci. This was carried out to exploit the preference of Ac for transposition to linked sites in our tagging strategy.

Laser ablation has important applications in surface modification, materials analysis, and thin film deposition. We have been examining the details of processes that lead to the emission and formation of particles (atomic/molecular ground state neutrals, excited neutrals, tions, electrons) when wide band gap materials are irradiated with pulsed UV laser light. Etching and deposition of wide bandgap materials is of particular interest due to their excellent insulating and optical properties. Our studies bear directly on achieving control of emission intensities and particle characteristics for use in film deposition and materials analysis. In model wide bandgap materials such as single crystal alkali halides and MgO (nominally transparent materials), exposure to repeated pulses of 248 nm excimer laser radiation of a few J/cm2 results in substantial interaction including extensive biaxial deformation and cleavage. Significant surface heating also occurs, consistent with strong free-carrier/laser interactions. We present strong evidence that achieving intense emission of atomic, molecular, and ionic particles actually depends on point defect production by laser-induced deformation and fracture. Defect production via dislocation motion yields orders of magnitude increases in laser vaporization of these wide bandgap materials, including cluster ion formation. The dependence of the laser-material interaction on dislocation density and mobility, as well as point defect density, suggests several novel strategies for the enhancing the ablative response or preventing laser damage.

The ablation of single crystal MgO irradiated with 248 nm excimer laser light is studied by means of time resolved spectroscopy and quadrupole mass spectrometry. Luminescence spectra and SEM observations indicate that repeated laser bombardment gradually increases the density of potentially absorbing defects. In polished samples, this progressive growth is preceded by an initial clean-up (reduction) of surface damage. Unlike many wide band gap materials, defect production in MgO by electronic mechanisms is not likely. Chemical etch techniques indicate the presence of high dislocation densities in regions etched by the laser, suggesting that point defect production by dislocation motion is important. The ablation plume is composed of charged particles, including cluster ions, as well as a high density of excited neutrals. The growth of the plume with repeated bombardment correlates with defect formation as indicated by luminescence intensities.