Quantum field theory predicts a nonlinear response of the vacuum to strong electromagnetic fields of macroscopic extent. This fundamental tenet has remained experimentally challenging and is yet to be tested in the laboratory. A particularly distinct signature of the resulting optical activity of the quantum vacuum is vacuum birefringence. This offers an excellent opportunity for a precision test of nonlinear quantum electrodynamics in an uncharted parameter regime. Recently, the operation of the high-intensity Relativistic Laser at the X-ray Free Electron Laser provided by the Helmholtz International Beamline for Extreme Fields has been inaugurated at the High Energy Density scientific instrument of the European X-ray Free Electron Laser. We make the case that this worldwide unique combination of an X-ray free-electron laser and an ultra-intense near-infrared laser together with recent advances in high-precision X-ray polarimetry, refinements of prospective discovery scenarios and progress in their accurate theoretical modelling have set the stage for performing an actual discovery experiment of quantum vacuum nonlinearity.

The Maser Monitoring Parkes Project (M2P2) is an ongoing project to observe masers towards high-mass star-forming regions (HMSFRs) using the 64 m CSIRO Parkes radio telescope, Murriyang. In this paper, we outline the project and introduce Stokes-I data from the first two years of observations. For the 63 sightlines observed in this project we identify a total of 1 514 individual maser features: 14.4% of these (203) towards 27 sightlines show significant variability. Most of these (160/203) are seen in the main-line transitions of OH at 1665 and 1667 MHz, but this data set also includes a significant number of variable features in the satellite lines at 1 612 and 1 720 MHz (33 and 10, respectively), most of which (24 and 9, respectively) appear to be associated with the HMSFRs. We divide these features into 4 broad categories based on the behaviour of their intensity over time: flares (6%), periodic (11%), long-term trends (33%), and ‘other’ (50%). Variable masers provide a unique laboratory for the modelling of local environmental conditions of HMSFRs, and follow-up publications will delve into this in more detail.

We describe the performance of the Boolardy Engineering Test Array, the prototype for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope. Boolardy Engineering Test Array is the first aperture synthesis radio telescope to use phased array feed technology, giving it the ability to electronically form up to nine dual-polarisation beams. We report the methods developed for forming and measuring the beams, and the adaptations that have been made to the traditional calibration and imaging procedures in order to allow BETA to function as a multi-beam aperture synthesis telescope. We describe the commissioning of the instrument and present details of Boolardy Engineering Test Array’s performance: sensitivity, beam characteristics, polarimetric properties, and image quality. We summarise the astronomical science that it has produced and draw lessons from operating Boolardy Engineering Test Array that will be relevant to the commissioning and operation of the final Australian Square Kilometre Array Path telescope.

The overarching aim of biomimetic approaches to materials synthesis is to mimic simultaneously the structure and function of a natural material, in such a way that these functional properties can be systematically tailored and optimized. In the case of synthetic spider silk fibers, to date functionalities have largely focused on mechanical properties. A rapidly expanding body of literature documents this work, building on the emerging knowledge of structure–function relationships in native spider silks, and the spinning processes used to create them. Here, we describe some of the benchmark achievements reported until now, with a focus on the last five years. Progress in protein synthesis, notably the expression on full-size spidroins, has driven substantial improvements in synthetic spider silk performance. Spinning technology, however, lags behind and is a major limiting factor in biomimetic production. We also discuss applications for synthetic silk that primarily capitalize on its nonmechanical attributes, and that exploit the remarkable range of structures that can be formed from a synthetic silk feedstock.

This paper describes the system architecture of a newly constructed radio telescope – the Boolardy engineering test array, which is a prototype of the Australian square kilometre array pathfinder telescope. Phased array feed technology is used to form multiple simultaneous beams per antenna, providing astronomers with unprecedented survey speed. The test array described here is a six-antenna interferometer, fitted with prototype signal processing hardware capable of forming at least nine dual-polarisation beams simultaneously, allowing several square degrees to be imaged in a single pointed observation. The main purpose of the test array is to develop beamforming and wide-field calibration methods for use with the full telescope, but it will also be capable of limited early science demonstrations.

Peaks in northern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon ampullatus, strandings are found between August and September in the UK and August and November in The Netherlands, consistent with a hypothesized southward migration. However, results on diet suggest that several whales stranded during these months were not travelling from northern latitudes prior to stranding. We analysed the stomach contents of ten whales stranded in the north-east Atlantic (Scotland, N = 6, England, N = 1, Ireland, N = 2 and The Netherlands, N = 1). All but one of the analysed whales (live-stranded in the River Thames in January 2006) stranded between August and October. Food remains consisted almost entirely of cephalopod mandibles. Twenty-one cephalopod species (16 families) were recorded, the most abundant taxa being Gonatus spp., Teuthowenia spp. and Taonius pavo. No fish and few crustacean remains were found. Small amounts of cephalopod flesh were found in three of the stomachs and none in the others. Given that cephalopod beaks can remain within the stomach for several days, and that there was no evidence of inshore feeding (no coastal species were present among the prey), the whales may not have fed for several days prior to stranding. Three whales had remains of warm-temperate water cephalopods (e.g. Vampyroteuthis infernalis, Heteroteuthis sp.) in their stomachs, while three individuals showed a high diversity of prey in their stomachs, suggesting that several of the whales could have been either travelling north or consistently feeding in temperate latitudes prior to stranding. As previously recorded in other deep diving teuthophagous cetaceans, two animals had ingested small amounts of plastic debris.

Information on the incidence of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is essential for models of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of screening programmes. We developed two independent estimates of CT incidence in women in England: one based on an incidence study, with estimates ‘recalibrated’ to the general population using data on setting-specific relative risks, and allowing for clearance and re-infection during follow-up; the second based on UK prevalence data, and information on the duration of CT infection. The consistency of independent sources of data on incidence, prevalence and duration, validates estimates of these parameters. Pooled estimates of the annual incidence rate in women aged 16–24 and 16–44 years for 2001–2005 using all these data were 0·05 [95% credible interval (CrI) 0·035–0·071] and 0·021 (95% CrI 0·015–0·028), respectively. Although, the estimates apply to England, similar methods could be used in other countries. The methods could be extended to dynamic models to synthesize, and assess the consistency of data on contact and transmission rates.

During an investigation into the importance of fungal disease as a factor in the control of orchard pests throughout the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, the haemocoele of large numbers of Macrosiphum pisi (Kaltenbach) was found to be infected with a fungal growth that resulted in death. This fungus was identified from mounted specimens as Empusa (= Entomophthora) aphidis Hoffman.

Records of diseases of Cerambycidae have appeared very infrequently in the literature. Crawshay (1907) described an unidentified disease of larvae of Tetropium gabrieli Weise. Garman (1921) and MacLeod (1954a) reported a fungus, Beauveria globulifera, a strain of Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill., from adults of Cyllene robiniae (Forst.) and a larva of Acanthocinus aedilis (L.) respectively. Duffy (1953) recorded the fungi lsaria sp. on adults of Phryneta spinator (Fab.), and Entomophthora grylli on larvae of Saperda carcharias (L.). A wilt disease, suspected of being caused by a virus, was reported by Beeson (1931) in larvae of Celosterna scabrator Fab.) reared in glass tubes.

An epizootic of Entomophtora sp. was observed in a population of Cinara curvipes Patch. of an exceptional density in a young stand of Abies balsamea L. (Mill.). The presence of Entomophtora and the epizootic were determined in the field by observing resting spores with a portable mini-microscope and by estimating the number of dead or liquefied aphids.

The fungus attacked most of the aphids. Among the few living females observed in October, only those that did not contain resting spores were able to reach the ground for protection. Observations conducted in the same stand the following year indicated that the epizootic of Entomophtora sp. was responsible for the reduction of C. curvipes in the observed stand.

During a study on the life history and ecology of the woolly pine needle aphid, Schizolachnus pini-radiatae (Davidson), in a seven-year-old pine stand in Kirkwood township, Ontario, during the summer of 1960 (Grobler, 1962), a number of dead aphids were found the first week in September. These aphids, mummified in appearance, were shown to be infected by the fungus Empusa (= Entomophthora) aphidis Hoffman.

White spruce, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, is a major commercial tree species used in reforestation programs throughout Canada, and seed requirements cannot be met in some years because of insect damage and the periodic nature of cone crops. The spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.), feeds on buds and cones of its hosts, causing a pronounced decrease in cone production (Schooley 1978). A current outbreak in northeastern Ontario poses a serious threat to white spruce seed supply from high value, managed seed production areas. Therefore, in 1979, we began an experiment to determine whether carbofuran, a systemic insecticide, could be used to protect buds and cones when applied to soil. We chose carbofuran because it has proved successful for control of some insects in seed orchards in the southeastern United States (DeBarr 1978)

Two fungi, Entomophthora sphaerosperma and E. egressa, were collected and identified from larvae of the eastern hemlock looper, Lambdina f. fiscellaria (Guen.), in Newfoundland. These two fungi appear to play the most important role in the decline of looper infestations. Field trials indicate that the disease can be transmitted from laboratory-reared larvae artificially infected with the protoplast stage of E. egressa, to uninfected larvae. This suggests that infection may be established artificially within a population of the looper prior to the ’natural’ occurrence of the epizootic.

Entomophthora phytonomi Arthur, a pathogen recognized for many years under the name Entomophthora sphaerosperma Fres. as an important natural control agent in populations of the clover leaf weevil, Hypera punctata (Gyll.), has now been identified from the alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyll.). Both conidial and resting spore stages are described.

Early in the summer of 1973, the fungus was responsible for an epizootic in populations of the alfalfa weevil throughout much of east-central Ontario. In three study plots, mortality levels in larvae and cocoons ranged from 65–90% and 42–53%, respectively. This suggests that the fungus is capable of playing a significant role in the dynamics of weevil populations.

Fungi and bacteria each play a role in the natural control of many sawflies, including P. erichsonii. Parasitic fungi, for example, have been isolated from species in the following genera: Anoplonyx, Arge, Monoctenus, Neodiprion, Trichiosoma, Hemichroa, Pikonema, and Pristiphora. The isolates include species from Cephalosporium, Sorosporella, Isaria, Beauveria, Spicaria, Hirsutella, and Empusa (MacLeod, unpub.). The last five fungus genera have been isolated from larch sawfly collections made in various parts of Canada and the United States.

Since its initial introduction into North America (Saunders 1916) the European skipper Thymelicus lineola (Ochs.) has been found attacking timothy grass throughout much of eastern Canada and the United States reaching pest status in Ontario (Arthur 1966), Prince Edward Island (Thompson 1977), and Quebec (Doyle and Richard 1971; McNeil et al. 1975). Bucher and Arthur (1961) examined skipper larvae, collected near Princeville, Ontario, for naturally occurring pathogens and reported the presence of a nuclear polyhedrosis virus, a cytoplasmic polyhedrosis gut virus, and a spore forming bacterium. They stated that such pathogens represented a possible means of biological control if the skipper became economically important. An epizootic caused by an NPV in dense skipper populations near Normandin, Quebec (Smirnoff 1974), led to a series of experiments evaluating its efficacy as a microbial insecticide (Smirnoff et al. 1976; Duchesne 1980), its long term impact on the population dynamics of T. lineola (Duchesne 1980), and its possible effects on non-target organisms (Smirnoff et al. 1979).

A positive relationship between the number of locations where a species occurs and the average density of individuals across those locations has been found in a wide variety of taxa and has been described as one of the most general and widespread relationships in macro-ecology. However, exceptions to this general rule have been found and this study tested whether abundance–occupancy relationships exist within the cetacean community of the west coast of Scotland. Data were collected in 2003–2006 and occupancy rates were calculated and compared to two density indices (relative density of groups per km2 surveyed and relative density of individuals per km2 surveyed) for four cetacean species (harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin and minke whale). Significant positive intraspecific abundance–occupancy relationships were found for both relative density of groups per km2 and relative density of individuals per km2 for two out of the four cetacean species tested (harbour porpoise and minke whale). When the relationships between the different species were compared, all four were found to conform to the same interspecific relationship when relative density of groups was used as the density index. However, some species were found to conform to different relationships when relative density of individuals was used as the density index, potentially due to differences in social structure between cetacean species. These relationships mean that when cetaceans are at a higher density within an area, they also occupy a greater number of locations and vice versa. The existence of positive abundance–occupancy relationships in cetaceans has a number of potential implications for their conservation and management. In particular, it means that when a potential impact is likely to positively or negatively affect the size of the range of a species or population, such as noise pollution or climate change, it is likely to also affect the species' or population's abundance in the same direction. It also has implications for the design and extent of protected areas, such as marine protected areas; as such relationships could be used to determine the area required to maintain a viable population size.