As we age, there are characteristic changes in our thinking, reasoning and memory skills (referred to as cognitive ageing). However, variation between people in the timing and degree of change experienced suggests that a range of factors determine individual cognitive ageing trajectories. This narrative review considers some of the lifestyle factors that might promote (or harm) cognitive health. The focus on lifestyle factors is because these are potentially modifiable by individuals or may be the targets of behavioural or societal interventions. To support that, the review briefly considers people's beliefs and attitudes about cognitive ageing; the nature and timing of cognitive changes across the lifespan; and the genetic contributions to cognitive ability level and change. In introducing potentially modifiable determinants, a framing that draws evidence derived from epidemiological studies of dementia is provided, before an overview of lifestyle and behavioural predictors of cognitive health, including education and occupation, diet and activity.

To inform the efficient allocation of testing resources, we evaluated the characteristics of those tested for COVID-19 to determine predictors of a positive test. Recent travel and exposure to a confirmed case were both highly predictive of positive testing. Symptom-based screening strategies alone may be inadequate to control the ongoing pandemic.

Selective pressure exerted by the widespread use of antibacterial drugs is accelerating the development of resistant bacterial populations. The purpose of this scoping review was to summarise the range of studies that use dynamic models to analyse the problem of bacterial resistance in relation to antibacterial use in human and animal populations. A comprehensive search of the peer-reviewed literature was performed and non-duplicate articles (n = 1486) were screened in several stages. Charting questions were used to extract information from the articles included in the final subset (n = 81). Most studies (86%) represent the system of interest with an aggregate model; individual-based models are constructed in only seven articles. There are few examples of inter-host models outside of human healthcare (41%) and community settings (38%). Resistance is modelled for a non-specific bacterial organism and/or antibiotic in 40% and 74% of the included articles, respectively. Interventions with implications for antibacterial use were investigated in 67 articles and included changes to total antibiotic consumption, strategies for drug management and shifts in category/class use. The quality of documentation related to model assumptions and uncertainty varies considerably across this subset of articles. There is substantial room to improve the transparency of reporting in the antibacterial resistance modelling literature as is recommended by best practice guidelines.

Large, simply supported beams of temperate lake ice generally yield significantly higher f1exural strengths than the same beams tested in the cantilever mode. Data support the view that a significant stress concentration may exist at the fixed corners of the cantilever beams. Maximum effects are experienced with beams of cold, brittle ice substantially free of structural imperfections; the stress concentration factor may exceed 2.0 in this kind of ice. In ice that has undergone extensive thermal degradation the stress concentration effect may be eliminated entirely. Simply supported beams generally test stronger when the top surface is placed in tension. This behavior is attributed to differences in ice type; the fine-grained, crack-free top layer of snow-ice usually reacting more strongly in tension than the coarse-grained bottom lake ice which is prone to cracking.

Potentially fatal arrhythmias add to the mental health challenges of adolescence. This systematic review sought to summarise current knowledge regarding the mental health of adolescents and pre-adolescents diagnosed with inherited arrhythmia syndromes. Searches combining psychological problems with inherited cardiac arrhythmia diagnoses identified 16 studies with paediatric (<18 years) inherited arrhythmia patients. All studies were cross-sectional; 8/16 required an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. Methods were quantitative (n=11), qualitative (n=4), or mixed (n=1), with 14–100% of participants having an inherited arrhythmia syndrome. Mean/median age in 13/16 studies was 12–16 years. Patients and parents reported lower quality of life, particularly in relation to physical function, social relationships, restriction of peer activities, bodily pain, and mental and emotional health. Self-perceptions and behaviour were similar to healthy populations. Rates of anxiety and depression (15–33% of these patients) were not increased in these studies where patients were assessed 2+ years after diagnosis. Higher mental health risk occurred among patients who have a diagnosed sibling, those with cardiomyopathy, and those who report decreased quality of life. Mental health research among youth with inherited arrhythmias is extremely limited and of low quality. Data, primarily from patients 2–4 years after diagnosis or treatment with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, indicate that quality of life may be decreased and 15–33% experience mental health issues. Future research is required to examine the mental health and quality of life of paediatric patients with inherited arrhythmia syndromes, whether or not they have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, from time of diagnosis.

Results of analyses of snow annual accumulation variability, density and crystal growth measurements in firn and ice cores recovered from the upper layers of the West Antarctic ice sheet during the US component of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) are presented. Annual-layer structure was analyzed on the basis of the visible stratigraphy and electrical conductivity measurement record in each core. Annual accumulation varied appreciably between core sites and within cores at individual sites where undulating surface topography appears to be exerting a significant impact on the magnitude of snow deposition. All density profiles except one exhibited densification that was normal with respect to snow annual accumulation and 10 m firn temperatures. Snow annual accumulation was determined stratigraphically, and 10m firn temperatures were either measured in the holes drilled for cores or inferred using elevation changes relative to Byrd Station, the 10m temperature at Byrd Station and an assumed lapse rate. Measurements at the one exceptional location indicated that the firn had undergone extremely rapid densification to ice, with the transition to ice occurring at 35–36m depth. Furthermore, thin-section measurements of grain-size show that the growth of crystals accelerated below the firn–ice transition. The behavior at this one site is attributed to localized deformation in the upper layers of firn and ice. Enhanced crystal growth was also observed at another site. At all other locations where grain-sizes were measured, the rates of crystal growth were in accord with age–temperature relationships observed by other researchers in Antarctica and Greenland. Profiles illustrating pore–crystal structure changes with increasing depth of burial are also presented.

Shallow ice cores were obtained from widely distributed sites across the West Antarctic ice sheet, as part of the United States portion of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (US ITASE) program. The US ITASE cores have been dated by annual-layer counting, primarily through the identification of summer peaks in non-sea-salt sulfate (nssSO4 2–) concentration. Absolute dating accuracy of better than 2 years and relative dating accuracy better than 1 year is demonstrated by the identification of multiple volcanic marker horizons in each of the cores, Tambora, Indonesia (1815), being the most prominent. Independent validation is provided by the tracing of isochronal layers from site to site using high-frequency ice-penetrating radar observations, and by the timing of mid-winter warming events in stable-isotope ratios, which demonstrate significantly better than 1 year accuracy in the last 20 years. Dating precision to ±1 month is demonstrated by the occurrence of summer nitrate peaks and stable-isotope ratios in phase with nssSO4 2–, and winter-time sea-salt peaks out of phase, with phase variation of <1 month. Dating precision and accuracy are uniform with depth, for at least the last 100 years.

The Holocene portion of the Siple Dome (Antarctica) ice core was dated by interpreting the electrical, visual and chemical properties of the core. The data were interpreted manually and with a computer algorithm. The algorithm interpretation was adjusted to be consistent with atmospheric methane stratigraphic ties to the GISP2 (Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2) ice core, 10Be stratigraphic ties to the dendrochronology 14 C record and the dated volcanic stratigraphy. The algorithm interpretation is more consistent and better quantified than the tedious and subjective manual interpretation.

The quality of the ice core from Siple Dome, West Antarctica, varied widely, with significant fracturing below 400 m. Bubbly ice persisted to the ice–rock interface at 1004 m and constituted the brittle zone. The core has undergone minimal relaxation and has remained brittle and prone to fracturing more than 5 years after it was drilled. This behavior is attributed to unrelieved stresses from Kamb and Bindschadler Ice Streams (former Ice Streams C and D) flanking the dome. Melt layers were identified sporadically throughout the core, as were inclined layers tilted at angles that occasionally exceeded 10°. Structurally, the ice was characterized by extensive recrystallization including grain-size changes from 0.074 cm2 at 59 m to >50 cm2 at 992 m, and major transitions in c-axis fabrics. Unusual fabrics included vertical c-axis clusters superimposed on vertical girdles that may reflect vertical compression acting in conjunction with horizontal tension. The sudden appearance of a shear-type fabric at 700–800 m appears closely linked to the occurrence of abundant tephra particles embedded in the ice. The occurrence of dispersed sediment in the bottom 2 m is attributed to freeze-on of basal meltwater.

Approximately 300 volcanic ash and dust layers were observed in the Siple Dome (Antarctica) ice core. Most of this tephra, deposited between 700 and 800 m depth, consisted primarily of glass shards with varying amounts of crystalline material and groundmass fragments. The pattern of distribution of tephra fallout closely replicates that found in the Byrd ice core, indicative of contemporaneous deposition at both locations. Peak fallout occurred approximately 19 500 years ago, based on methane tie points in the Siple Dome and Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) ice cores. Mount Berlin was identified as a potential source of tephra, although other volcanoes in West and East Antarctica appear to have contributed ash and dust. Ice between 697 and 730 m, in which fine-grained tephra is concentrated, has undergone enhanced thinning compared to ice with a similar concentration of tephra deposited contemporaneously between 1300 and 1540 m at Byrd. It is speculated that this thinning has occurred in response to dynamic interaction between ice at Siple Dome and the two ice streams flanking it. A dramatic change to a shear fabric appears to be directly related to the higher concentration of volcanic particles in the ice between 700 and 800 m.

Temperature, inclination, and closure have been measured in a 309 m. deep drill hole at Byrd Station, Antarctica. The results of five series of measurements taken yearly since February 1958 show that temperatures below 70 m. have remained constant since December 1958, that the closure rate has accelerated, and that the hole has undergone negligible inclination from the vertical. Anomalous temperatures in the upper levels of the drill hole are attributed to the steel casing that was permanently emplaced to a depth of 36 m. during drilling in 1957–58. A positive temperature gradient was observed in the casing, but negative gradients exist below the casing and a constant gradient profile is developed below 170 m. Both ice motion and climatic changes at Byrd Station are thought to have contributed to the formation of the observed negative temperature gradients. Insignificant bending of the drill hole would imply negligible differential motion in the upper 300 m. of the 2,400 m. thick ice sheet at Byrd Station. The rate of hole closure has accelerated throughout the 4 yr. period of observations, except at the bottom of the drill hole, where the most recent measurements (February 1962) show that some constraint is now developing. Deformation rates throughout the drill hole are not proportional to some constant power of the stress; instead the value of the power has been found to increase with both increasing stress and time of application of stress. This behavior is attributed to some process of continuous deformational recrystallization of ice in the walls of the drill hole. A recoring of the deformed drill hole to investigate such effects is advocated.

The size of firn crystals as a function of age has been investigated in thin sections to a depth of 49 m at the South Pole. Grain cross-sections increased in size from 0.24 mm2 at 0.1 m depth to 0.63 mm2 at 10 m. Crystals, as distinct from grains, increased in size from 0.18 to 0.43 mm2 over the same interval, implying that grains are generally composed of just one or two crystals rather than several as is frequently contended. The mean crystal cross-section increased linearly with the age of the firn at a rate of 0.0006 mm2 year−1; in 388 year old firn at 49 m the crystal size measured 0.63 mm2. Analysis of crystal-growth data from other locations in Antarctica and Greenland also revealed a strong linear relationship between the mean cross-sectional arcas (D 2) of crystals (in mm2) and their ages in years (t), i.e. . The fact that the temperature dependence of the crystal growth rate K can be expressed very satisfactorily in an equation of the form K = K 0 exp (E/RT) confirms predictions that crystal growth in firn is essentially analogous to grain growth in metallic and ceramic sinters. An extrapolation of available data indicates that crystal growth rates in dry firn could be expected to vary by two orders of magnitude (0.0003 to 0.03 mm2 year−1) over the temperature range −60° to −15°C. A method of utilizing crystal growth-mean annual temperature data to determine accumulation rates in snow is demonstrated.

Field studies at a particular place at the margin of the Greenland ice sheet have provided information about the ice sheet. Ice temperatures were measured in five drill holes, two of which reached the unfrozen area of basal melting. Surface water entered these two bore holes, reaching the base in one, but remaining 59 m above the base in the other. The existence of this water conduit or fracture at 240 m depth, the calculated temperature profiles, and the local bedrock configuration suggest an area of stationary ice overridden by the ice sheet. This situation suggests creep rupture at depth in the ice sheet. Ice-fabric analysis made above 240 m depth shows patterns similar to fabrics elsewhere near the margin in zones of low deviatoric stress. Unfortunately no cores were obtained below that depth where stationary ice may exist.

Deep cores from Byrd Station were used to calibrate an ultrasonic technique of evaluating crystal anisotropy in the Antarctic ice sheet. Velocities measured parallel (V p ↓) and perpendicular (V p →) to the vertical axis of the cores yielded data in excellent agreement with the observed c-axis fabric profile and with the in-situ P-wave velocity profile measured parallel to the bore-hole axis by Bentley. Velocity differences ΔV (ΔV = V p ↓ – V p→) in excess of 140 m s−1 for cores from below 1300 m attest to the tight clustering of c-axes of crystals about the vertical, especially in the zone 1 300-1800 m. A small but significant decline in V p ↓ with ageing of the core, as deduced from Bentley’s down-hole data, is attributed to the formation of oriented cracks that occur in the ice cores as they relax from environmental stresses. This investigation of cores from the 2164 m thick ice sheet at Byrd Station establishes the ultrasonic technique as a viable method of monitoring relaxation characteristics of drilled cores and for determining the gross trends of c-axis orientation in ice sheets. The Byrd Station data, in conjunction with Barkov’s investigation of deep cores from Vostok, East Antarctica, also indicate that crystal anisotropy in the Antarctic ice sheet is dominated by a clustering of c-axes about a vertical symmetry axis.

Art examination of bullet crystals in precipitation at the South Pole indicates that combinations of bullets originate as primary growth structures and that individual bullets are formed as a result of the disintegration of these primary growth forms rather than by independent crystallization of pyramidally terminated columns.

During March-May 1976, a combination of laser and radar ranging systems was used to study the motion of both the fast ice and the pack ice near Narwhal and Cross Islands, two barrier islands located 16 and 21 km offshore in the vicinity of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Laser measurements of targets on the fast ice near Narwhal Island indicate small net displacements of approximately 1 m over the period of study (71 d) with short-term displacements of up to 40 cm occurring over 3 d periods. The main motion was outward normal to the coast and was believed to be the result of thermal expansion of the ice. The radar records of fast-ice sites farther offshore show a systematic increase in the standard deviation of the displacements as measured parallel to the coast, reaching a value of ±6.6 m at 31 km. The farthest fast-ice sites show short-term displacements of up to 12 m. There are also trends in the records that are believed to be the result of the general warming of the fast ice with time.

Radar targets located on the pack ice showed large short-term displacements (up to 2.7 km) but negligible net ice drift along the coast. There was no significant correlation between the movement of the pack and the local wind, suggesting that coastal ice prediction models can only succeed if handled as part of a regional model which incorporates stress transfer through the pack. The apparent fast-ice-pack-ice boundary in the study area was located in 30-35 m of water.

Application of the gas law to fourth-place density measurements of ice samples from two deep drill holes at “Byrd” station and “Little America V”, Antarctica, shows that virtually all density increase beyond the pore close-off density (0.830 g cm−3) can be attributed to compression of the entrapped bubbles of air. Data from “Byrd” station also indicate that the lag between overburden pressure and bubble pressure, initially 4–5 kg cm−2 at pore close-off, diminishes to less than 1.0 kg cm−2 at about 200 m depth. By substituting the overburden pressure for the bubble pressure in the pressure-density relationship based on the gas law, one can determine ice densities below 200 m more accurately than they can be measured per se on cores, because of the relaxation that occurs in samples recovered from high confining pressures. This relaxation, resulting in a progressive increase in the bulk volume of the ice with time, is generally attributed to decompression of the entrapped air bubbles following removal of the ice from high confining pressures. However. calculations of the stress in ice due to bubble pressure, together with measurements of bubble sizes in cores from various depths at “Byrd” station, both tend to indicate that there has been negligible decompression of the inclosed bubbles. It is suggested that most of this relaxation may be due to the formation of micro-cracks in the ice. Anomalous bubble pressure–density relations at “Little America V” tend to confirm abundant petrographic evidence of the existence of considerable deformation in the upper part of the Ross Ice Shelf.

Studies of crystal–bubble relations at “Byrd” station revealed that the concentration of bubbles in ice remains remarkably constant at approximately 220 bubbles/cm3. Bubbles and crystals were found to be present in approximately equal numbers at pore close-off at 64 m depth, at which level the average bubble diameter was 0·95 mm, decreasing to 0.49 mm at 116 m and to 0·33 mm at 279 m. Despite a ten-fold increase in the size of crystals between 64 and 279 m, the bubbles showed no tendency to migrate to grain boundaries during recrystallization of the ice. The observation that most of the bubbles had assumed substantially spherical shapes by 120 m depth points to essentially hydrostatic conditions in the upper layers of the ice sheet at “Byrd” station.

Recent measurements of snow accumulation on undulating surfaces around “Byrd station”, Antarctica indicate that the undulations are tending to be filled in. These results are discussed in the light of current knowledge of the origin and migration of such features.