This study examined whether supplementation with collagen peptides (CP) affects appetite and post-exercise energy intake in healthy active females.

In this randomised, double-blind crossover study, 15 healthy females (23 ± 3 y) consumed 15 g/day of CP or a taste matched non-energy control (CON) for 7 days. On day 7, participants cycled for 45 min at ∼55% Wmax, before consuming the final supplement. Sixty min post supplementation an ad libitum meal was provided, and energy intake recorded. Subjective appetite sensations were measured daily for 6 days (pre- and 30 min post-supplement), and pre (0 min) to 280 min post-exercise on day 7. Blood glucose and hormone concentrations (total ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and peptide YY (PYY), cholecystokinin (CCK), dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (sDPP4), leptin, and insulin, were measured fasted at baseline (day 0), then pre-breakfast (0 min), post-exercise (100 min), post-supplement (115, 130, 145, 160 min) and post-meal (220, 280 min) on day 7.

Ad-libitum energy intake was ∼10% (∼41kcal) lower in the CP trial (P=0.037). There was no difference in gastrointestinal symptoms or subjective appetite sensations throughout the trial (P≥0.412). Total plasma GLP-1 (area under the curve, CON: 6369±2330; CP: 9064±3021 pmol/L; P<0.001) and insulin (+80% at peak) were higher after CP (P<0.001). Plasma ghrelin and leptin were lower in CP (condition effect; P≤0.032). PYY, CCK, sDPP4 and glucose were not different between CP and placebo (P≥0.100).

CP supplementation following exercise increased GLP-1 and insulin concentrations and reduced ad libitum energy intake at a subsequent meal in physically active females.

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.

Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is associated with impairments in cognitive functioning, but the neuropsychological correlates of early grief in older adults are poorly understood. This preliminary study cross-sectionally examined neuropsychological functioning in bereaved adults with high and low grief symptoms and a non-bereaved comparison sample and further explored the relationship between multidomain cognitive measures and grief severity. A total of ninety-three nondemented older adults (high grief: n = 44; low grief: n = 49) within 12 months post-bereavement and non-bereaved comparison participants (n = 43) completed neuropsychological battery including global and multiple domain-specific cognitive functioning. Linear regression models were used to analyze differences in multidomain cognitive measures between the groups and specifically examine the associations between cognitive performance and grief severity in the bereaved, after covariate adjustment, including depressive symptoms. Bereaved older adults with higher grief symptoms performed worse than those with lower symptoms and non-bereaved participants on executive functioning and attention and processing speed measures. In the bereaved, poorer executive functioning, attention and processing speed correlated with higher grief severity. Attention/processing speed–grief severity correlation was seen in those with time since loss ≤ 6 months, but not > 6 months. Intense early grief is characterised by poorer executive functioning, attention, and processing speed, resembling findings in PGD. The putative role of poorer cognitive functioning during early grief on the transition to integrated grief or the development of PGD remains to be elucidated.

Oxygen isotopic compositions were determined for coexisting mixed-layer serpentine-chlorite (Sp-Ch) and illite-smectite (I-S) from 5 Tuscaloosa Formation sandstone cores sampled between 1937 and 5470 m burial depth. High gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) was used to concentrate Sp-Ch and I-S from the <0.5 μm fraction of each core sample into fractions with a range in the Sp-Ch: I-S ratio, and end-member δ18O compositions were determined by extrapolation. The Sp-Ch δ18O values range from + 10.4 to 13.7% and increase with burial between 3509 and 5470 m. The only exception is Sp-Ch from 1937 m, which has an anomalously high δ18O value of +12.6‰ The I-S δ18O values range from +16.1 to 17.3% and do not change significantly between 3509 and 5470 m burial depth.

Pore water δ18O compositions calculated from Sp-Ch and I-S values and measured borehole temperatures range from −2.6 to +10.3‰ The isotopically light values indicate that Sp-Ch formed at shallow burial depths in the presence of brackish to marine water and/or meteoric water. The depth-related increase in δ18O of Sp-Ch is attributed to oxygen exchange between mineral and pore water during diagenetic mineral reactions. Increasing δ18O values, in conjunction with XRD and SEM data, indicate that transformation of serpentine layers to chlorite layers and Ibb polytype layers to Iaa polytype layers occurred on a layer-by-layer basis when individual layers dissolved and recrystallized within the confines of coherent crystals. Possible explanations for the variation in I-S δ18O values include depth-related differences in pore water δ18O values present at the time of I-S crystallization, contamination by detrital 2M, mica and 1M polytype rotations that facilitated oxygen exchange.

X-ray diffraction studies of the pore-lining chloritic mineral from the Tuscaloosa Formation disclose a marked pattern of odd-order line broadening for the 001 to the 00,16 reflections. The odd-order peaks are approximately twice as broad as the even orders after correction for instrumental broadening effects. These results are consistent with a randomly interstratified 7-Å/14-Å structure, which is most likely serpentine/chlorite. Quantitative analysis of line broadening and model calculations indicate that the serpentine/chlorite contains 7% serpentine layers.

A simplified method is proposed for quantifying randomly interstratified serpentine/chlorite. Residual line broadening (βr) is obtained from the half-height widths of uncorrected diffraction profiles for the 004 and 005 “chlorite” reflections by means of the following:

${\beta }_r=({\beta }_{005}^{1.25}-{\beta }_{004}^{1.25}{)}^{\frac{1}{1.25}}.$

$\mathrm{\%}S=-0.51+24.27{\beta }_r,$

We investigate the diversity in the sizes and average surface densities of the neutral atomic hydrogen (H i) gas discs in $\sim$280 nearby galaxies detected by the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind Survey (WALLABY). We combine the uniformly observed, interferometric H i data from pilot observations of the Hydra cluster and NGC 4636 group fields with photometry measured from ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared imaging surveys to investigate the interplay between stellar structure, star formation, and H i structural parameters. We quantify the H i structure by the size of the H i relative to the optical disc and the average H i surface density measured using effective and isodensity radii. For galaxies resolved by $>$$1.3$ beams, we find that galaxies with higher stellar masses and stellar surface densities tend to have less extended H i discs and lower H i surface densities: the isodensity H i structural parameters show a weak negative dependence on stellar mass and stellar mass surface density. These trends strengthen when we limit our sample to galaxies resolved by $>$2 beams. We find that galaxies with higher H i surface densities and more extended H i discs tend to be more star forming: the isodensity H i structural parameters have stronger correlations with star formation. Normalising the H i disc size by the optical effective radius (instead of the isophotal radius) produces positive correlations with stellar masses and stellar surface densities and removes the correlations with star formation. This is due to the effective and isodensity H i radii increasing with mass at similar rates while, in the optical, the effective radius increases slower than the isophotal radius. Our results are in qualitative agreement with previous studies and demonstrate that with WALLABY we can begin to bridge the gap between small galaxy samples with high spatial resolution H i data and large, statistical studies using spatially unresolved, single-dish data.

We present the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY (WALLABY) Pilot Phase I Hi kinematic models. This first data release consists of Hi observations of three fields in the direction of the Hydra and Norma clusters, and the NGC 4636 galaxy group. In this paper, we describe how we generate and publicly release flat-disk tilted-ring kinematic models for 109/592 unique Hi detections in these fields. The modelling method adopted here—which we call the WALLABY Kinematic Analysis Proto-Pipeline (WKAPP) and for which the corresponding scripts are also publicly available—consists of combining results from the homogeneous application of the FAT and 3DBarolo algorithms to the subset of 209 detections with sufficient resolution and $S/N$ in order to generate optimised model parameters and uncertainties. The 109 models presented here tend to be gas rich detections resolved by at least 3–4 synthesised beams across their major axes, but there is no obvious environmental bias in the modelling. The data release described here is the first step towards the derivation of similar products for thousands of spatially resolved WALLABY detections via a dedicated kinematic pipeline. Such a large publicly available and homogeneously analysed dataset will be a powerful legacy product that that will enable a wide range of scientific studies.

We present WALLABY pilot data release 1, the first public release of H i pilot survey data from the Wide-field ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind Survey (WALLABY) on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. Phase 1 of the WALLABY pilot survey targeted three $60\,\mathrm{deg}^{2}$ regions on the sky in the direction of the Hydra and Norma galaxy clusters and the NGC 4636 galaxy group, covering the redshift range of $z \lesssim 0.08$. The source catalogue, images and spectra of nearly 600 extragalactic H i detections and kinematic models for 109 spatially resolved galaxies are available. As the pilot survey targeted regions containing nearby group and cluster environments, the median redshift of the sample of $z \approx 0.014$ is relatively low compared to the full WALLABY survey. The median galaxy H i mass is $2.3 \times 10^{9}\,{\rm M}_{{\odot}}$. The target noise level of $1.6\,\mathrm{mJy}$ per 30′′ beam and $18.5\,\mathrm{kHz}$ channel translates into a $5 \sigma$ H i mass sensitivity for point sources of about $5.2 \times 10^{8} \, (D_{\rm L} / \mathrm{100\,Mpc})^{2} \, {\rm M}_{{\odot}}$ across 50 spectral channels (${\approx} 200\,\mathrm{km \, s}^{-1}$) and a $5 \sigma$ H i column density sensitivity of about $8.6 \times 10^{19} \, (1 + z)^{4}\,\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ across 5 channels (${\approx} 20\,\mathrm{km \, s}^{-1}$) for emission filling the 30′′ beam. As expected for a pilot survey, several technical issues and artefacts are still affecting the data quality. Most notably, there are systematic flux errors of up to several 10% caused by uncertainties about the exact size and shape of each of the primary beams as well as the presence of sidelobes due to the finite deconvolution threshold. In addition, artefacts such as residual continuum emission and bandpass ripples have affected some of the data. The pilot survey has been highly successful in uncovering such technical problems, most of which are expected to be addressed and rectified before the start of the full WALLABY survey.

Communicating evidence that a policy is effective can increase public support although the effects are small. In the context of policies to increase healthier eating in out-of-home restaurants, we investigate two ways of presenting evidence for a policy's effectiveness: (i) visualising and (ii) re-expressing evidence into a more interpretable form. We conducted an online experiment in which participants were randomly allocated to one of five groups. We used a 2 (text only vs visualisation) × 2 (no re-expression vs re-expression) design with one control group. Participants (n = 4500) representative of the English population were recruited. The primary outcome was perceived effectiveness and the secondary outcome was public support. Evidence of effectiveness increased perceptions of effectiveness (d = 0.14, p < 0.001). There was no evidence that visualising, or re-expressing, changed perceptions of effectiveness (respectively, d = 0.02, p = 0.605; d = −0.02, p = 0.507). Policy support increased with evidence but this was not statistically significant after Bonferroni adjustment (d = 0.08, p = 0.034, α = 0.006). In conclusion, communicating evidence of policy effectiveness increased perceptions that the policy was effective. Neither visualising nor re-expressing evidence increased perceived effectiveness of policies more than merely stating in text that the policy was effective.

In this paper, we describe the system design and capabilities of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope at the conclusion of its construction project and commencement of science operations. ASKAP is one of the first radio telescopes to deploy phased array feed (PAF) technology on a large scale, giving it an instantaneous field of view that covers $31\,\textrm{deg}^{2}$ at $800\,\textrm{MHz}$. As a two-dimensional array of 36$\times$12 m antennas, with baselines ranging from 22 m to 6 km, ASKAP also has excellent snapshot imaging capability and 10 arcsec resolution. This, combined with 288 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth and a unique third axis of rotation on each antenna, gives ASKAP the capability to create high dynamic range images of large sky areas very quickly. It is an excellent telescope for surveys between 700 and $1800\,\textrm{MHz}$ and is expected to facilitate great advances in our understanding of galaxy formation, cosmology, and radio transients while opening new parameter space for discovery of the unknown.

The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS) is the first large-area survey to be conducted with the full 36-antenna Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope. RACS will provide a shallow model of the ASKAP sky that will aid the calibration of future deep ASKAP surveys. RACS will cover the whole sky visible from the ASKAP site in Western Australia and will cover the full ASKAP band of 700–1800 MHz. The RACS images are generally deeper than the existing NRAO VLA Sky Survey and Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey radio surveys and have better spatial resolution. All RACS survey products will be public, including radio images (with $\sim$ 15 arcsec resolution) and catalogues of about three million source components with spectral index and polarisation information. In this paper, we present a description of the RACS survey and the first data release of 903 images covering the sky south of declination $+41^\circ$ made over a 288-MHz band centred at 887.5 MHz.

For life insurers in the United Kingdom (UK), the risk margin is one of the most controversial aspects of the Solvency II regime which came into force in 2016.

The risk margin is the difference between the technical provisions and the best estimate liabilities. The technical provisions are intended to be market-consistent, and so are defined as the amount required to be paid to transfer the business to another undertaking. In practice, the technical provisions cannot be directly calculated, and so the risk margin must be determined using a proxy method; the method chosen for Solvency II is known as the cost-of-capital method.

Following the implementation of Solvency II, the risk margin came under considerable criticism for being too large and too sensitive to interest rate movements. These criticisms are particularly valid for annuity business in the UK – such business is of great significance to the system for retirement provision. A further criticism is that mitigation of the impact of the risk margin has led to an increase in reinsurance of longevity risks, particularly to overseas reinsurers.

This criticism has led to political interest, and the risk margin was a major element of the Treasury Committee inquiry into EU Insurance Regulation.

The working party was set up in response to this criticism. Our brief is to consider both the overall purpose of the risk margin for life insurers and solutions to the current problems, having regard to the possibility of post-Brexit flexibility.

We have concluded that a risk margin in some form is necessary, although its size depends on the level of security desired, and so is primarily a political question.

We have reviewed possible alternatives to the current risk margin, both within the existing cost-of-capital methodology and considering a wide range of alternatives.

We believe that requirements for the risk margin will depend on future circumstances, in particular relating to Brexit, and we have identified a number of possible changes to methodology which should be considered, depending on circumstances.

Glucose intolerance during pregnancy – a major driver of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) – has significant short- and long-term health consequences for both the mother and child. As GDM prevalence continues to escalate, there is growing need for preventative strategies. There is limited but suggestive evidence that myo-inositol (MI) and probiotics (PB) could improve glucose tolerance during pregnancy. The present study tested the hypothesis that MI and/or PB supplementation would reduce the risk of glucose intolerance during pregnancy. Female C57BL/6 mice were randomised to receive either no treatment, MI, PB (Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis) or both (MIPB) for 5 weeks. They were then provided with a high-fat diet for 1 week before mating commenced and throughout mating/gestation, while remaining on their respective treatments. An oral glucose tolerance test occurred at gestational day (GD) 16·5 and tissue collection at GD 18·5. Neither MI nor PB, separately or combined, improved glucose tolerance. However, MI and PB both independently increased adipose tissue expression of Ir, Irs1, Akt2 and Pck1, and PB also increased Pparγ. MI was associated with reduced gestational weight gain, whilst PB was associated with increased maternal fasting glucose, total cholesterol and pancreas weight. These results suggest that MI and PB may improve insulin intracellular signalling in adipose tissue but this did not translate to meaningful differences in glucose tolerance. The absence of fasting hyperglycaemia or insulin resistance suggests this is a very mild model of GDM, which may have affected our ability to assess the impact of these nutrients.

The use of cover crops in soybean production systems has increased in recent years. There are many questions surrounding cover crops—specifically about benefits to crop production and most effective herbicides for spring termination. No studies evaluating cover crop termination have been conducted across a wide geographic area, to our knowledge. Therefore, field experiments were conducted in 2016 and 2017 in Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Wisconsin for spring termination of regionally specific cover crops. Glyphosate-, glufosinate-, and paraquat-containing treatments were applied between April 15 and April 29 in 2016 and April 10 and April 20 in 2017. Visible control of cover crops was determined 28 days after treatment. Glyphosate-containing herbicide treatments were more effective than paraquat- and glufosinate-containing treatments, providing 71% to 97% control across all site years. Specifically, glyphosate at 1.12 kg ha−1 applied alone or with 2,4-D at 0.56 kg ha−1, saflufenacil at 0.025 kg ha−1, or clethodim at 0.56 kg ha−1 provided the most effective control on all grass cover crop species. Glyphosate-, paraquat-, or glufosinate-containing treatments were generally most effective on broadleaf cover crop species when applied with 2,4-D or dicamba. Results from this research indicate that proper herbicide selection is crucial to successfully terminate cover crops in the spring.