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.

Field experiments were conducted across the north-central United States to determine the benefits of various weed control strategies in corn. Weed control, corn yield, and economic return increased when a preemergence (PRE) broad-spectrum herbicide was followed by (fb) postemergence (POST) herbicides. Weed control decisions based on field scouting after a PRE broad-spectrum herbicide application increased weed control and economic return. Application of a PRE grass herbicide fb a POST herbicide based on field scouting resulted in less control of velvetleaf and morningglory species, corn yield, and economic return compared with a PRE broad-spectrum herbicide application fb scouting. Cultivation after a PRE broad-spectrum herbicide application increased weed control and corn yield compared with the herbicide applied alone, but economic return was not increased. An early-postemergence herbicide application fb cultivation resulted in the highest level of broadleaf weed control, the highest corn yield, and the greatest economic return compared with all other strategies. Weed control based on scouting proved to be useful in reducing the effect of weed escapes on corn yield and increased economic return compared with PRE herbicide application alone. However, economic return was not greater than the PRE fb planned POST or total POST strategies.

Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using porous thin films of TiO2. These films were deposited by electron beam evaporation and an advanced substrate motion technique called PhiSweep. PhiSweep, an extension of glancing angle deposition (GLAD), allows for greater control over the surface area of nanostructured thin films than is possible with traditional GLAD. The as-deposited films were amorphous, so the films were annealed to improve their crystal structure. The films were sensitized with a photoactive dye and implemented into a DSSC configuration as the electron collecting electrode. It was expected that the higher surface area of the films produced using the PhiSweep method would improve the cell performance compared with cells made using traditional GLAD films of TiO2. However, the performance of the cells prepared using PhiSweep films was likely hindered by higher internal resistance of the films compared to the films prepared by traditional GLAD. The highest photoelectric conversion efficiency of the dye sensitized solar cells produced using the PhiSweep method was 1.5%.

The mechanism underlying acute changes in secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) remains to be determined. In this experiment, sIgA and cardiovascular activity were monitored at rest and while participants performed a mental arithmetic task, cold pressor, and submaximal cycle exercise following placebo or 1 mg of the alpha-adrenergic blocker, doxazosin. Under placebo, the tasks produced patterns of cardiovascular activity indicative of combined alpha- and beta-adrenergic, alpha-adrenergic, and beta-adrenergic activation, respectively. Doxazosin was associated with reduced blood pressure during cold pressor, but not during arithmetic or exercise. Mental arithmetic elicited increases in sIgA concentration and exercise produced increases in both sIgA concentration and secretion rate; these changes were unaffected by alpha blockade. In contrast, the cold pressor was associated with decreases in both sIgA concentration and secretion rate, which were blocked by doxazosin. These data suggest that acute decreases, but not increases, in sIgA are mediated by alpha-adrenergic mechanisms.

The Institute of Medicine's report, “Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life,” the American Medical Association's “Education for Physicians on End-of-Life Care” project, the Open Society Institute's “Project on Death in America,” and the “Last Acts” initiative sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have focused attention on improving the care of dying patients. These efforts include advance care planning and the use of written advance directives (ADs). Although previous studies have provided quantitative descriptions of patient preferences for life-sustaining treatment, including those documented in written ADs, to our knowledge open-ended written preferences have not been studied. Studies of these open-ended preferences could highlight issues with respect to quality end-of-life care. The purpose of this study was to explore the open-ended proxy, health, and personal care preferences of people with HIV as expressed in a written AD form.