Analysis of an ice sample with an estimated age of 125 years, from the Antarctic Peninsula, using a scanning electron microscope with a cold stage and an X-ray micro-analysis facility, shows that H2SO4 occurs mainly at triple junctions. Sea salts show no such localization. The different behaviour may be due to the freezing-point behaviour of each chemical substance, and to the effect this has both in the atmosphere and during recrystallization in the ice sheet. If this finding applies generally to other parts of the Antarctic ice sheet, it has major implications for many of the physical properties of Antarctic ice. In particular, it leads to a better understanding of the d.c. electrical conductivity of such ice.

This study examined the response of forage crops to composted dairy waste (compost) applied at low rates and investigated effects on soil health. The evenness of spreading compost by commercial machinery was also assessed. An experiment was established on a commercial dairy farm with target rates of compost up to 5 t ha−1 applied to a field containing millet [Echinochloa esculenta (A. Braun) H. Scholz] and Pasja leafy turnip (Brassica hybrid). A pot experiment was also conducted to monitor the response of a legume forage crop (vetch; Vicia sativa L.) on three soils with equivalent rates of compost up to 20 t ha−1 with and without ‘additive blends’ comprising gypsum, lime or other soil treatments. Few significant increases in forage biomass were observed with the application of low rates of compost in either the field or pot experiment. In the field experiment, compost had little impact on crop herbage mineral composition, soil chemical attributes or soil fungal and bacterial biomass. However, small but significant increases were observed in gravimetric water content resulting in up to 22.4 mm of additional plant available water calculated in the surface 0.45 m of soil, 2 years after compost was applied in the field at 6 t ha−1 dried (7.2 t ha−1 undried), compared with the nil control. In the pot experiment, where the soil was homogenized and compost incorporated into the soil prior to sowing, there were significant differences in mineral composition in herbage and in soil. A response in biomass yield to compost was only observed on the sandier and lower fertility soil type, and yields only exceeded that of the conventional fertilizer treatment where rates equivalent to 20 t ha−1 were applied. With few yield responses observed, the justification for applying low rates of compost to forage crops and pastures seems uncertain. Our collective experience from the field and the glasshouse suggests that farmers might increase the response to compost by: (i) increasing compost application rates; (ii) applying it prior to sowing a crop; (iii) incorporating the compost into the soil; (iv) applying only to responsive soil types; (v) growing only responsive crops; and (vi) reducing weed burdens in crops following application. Commercial machinery incorporating a centrifugal twin disc mechanism was shown to deliver double the quantity of compost in the area immediately behind the spreader compared with the edges of the spreading swathe. Spatial variability in the delivery of compost could be reduced but not eliminated by increased overlapping, but this might represent a potential 20% increase in spreading costs.

GRB 110715A had a bright afterglow that was obscured in the optical by a high Galactic extinction. We discovered the submillimeter counterpart with APEX and followed it in radio with ATCA for over 2 months. Additional submm observations were performed with ALMA as a test of the ToO procedures during commissioning, becoming the first GRB afterglow to be detected by the observatory. UV, optical and NIR observations were performed with Swift/UVOT and 2.2 m/GROND in La Silla and X-ray data were obtained by Swift/XRT. The dataset is complemented with spectroscopic data from the VLT/X-shooter spectrograph. The absorption features present in the intermediate resolution optical/nIR spectra reveal a redshift of 0.8224 and a host galaxy environment with low ionization. We fit in the host galaxy absorption features two velocity components separated by 30 km/s, implying a host galaxy with low dynamical activity.

We report on the long term X-ray monitoring with Swift, RXTE, Suzaku, Chandra, and XMM-Newton of the outburst of the newly discovered magnetar Swift J1822.3–1606 (SGR 1822-1606), from the first observations soon after the detection of the short X-ray bursts which led to its discovery (July 2011), through the first stages of its outburst decay (April 2012). Our X-ray timing analysis finds the source rotating with a period of P = 8.43772016(2) s and a period derivative Ṗ = 8.3(2) × 10−14 ss−1, which entails an inferred dipolar surface magnetic field of B ≃ 2.7 × 1013 G at the equator. This measurement makes Swift J1822.3–1606 the second lowest magnetic field magnetar (after SGR 0418+5729; Rea et al. 2010). Following the flux and spectral evolution from the beginning of the outburst, we find that the flux decreased by about an order of magnitude, with a subtle softening of the spectrum, both typical of the outburst decay of magnetars. By modeling the secular thermal evolution of Swift J1822.3–1606, we find that the observed timing properties of the source, as well as its quiescent X-ray luminosity, can be reproduced if it was born with a poloidal and crustal toroidal fields of Bp ~ 1.5 × 1014 G and Btor ~ 7 × 1014 G, respectively, and if its current age is ~550 kyr (Rea et al. 2012).

Aims: To obtain an estimate of dietary fibre and fluid intake in Australian men undergoing prostate radiotherapy and to establish feasibility and patient compliance with recording normal diet without intervention during the radical course of radiotherapy.

Methods: Eleven participants were enrolled and treated with 74–78 Gray (Gy) to the prostate over 8 weeks. Participants were instructed to record a diary of their food and fluid intake and bowel motions for the duration of treatment. Treating radiation therapists were instructed to initial the diet diary daily. Diet diaries were assessed for compliance by analysing the number of days over the treatment period and the number of diary pages submitted. The diet diaries were analysed for nutrient intake of fibre and fluids.

Results: A total of 10 of 11 participants submitted a diet record for the full duration of treatment with a median compliance of 100% (range 90.4–100%) of days recorded. The mean (standard deviation) of fibre and fluids recorded in the diets were 21.5 g (5.5) and 2227.1 g (733.1), respectively.

Conclusions: It is feasible for patients to record a diet diary over a radical course of prostate radiotherapy. In this study, most patients were highly compliant with submitting a diet record for each day during treatment.

Vasopressin was administered in the form of a nasal spray to a group of 7 head-injured patients and compared with placebo in its effects on intellectual functioning, each patient serving as his own control. No significant differences in performance were found during the conditions of placebo and the active agent.

Improved accuracy in measurement of the gravitational time delay of electromagnetic waves passing by the sun may be achieved with two drag-free spacecraft, one with a stable clock and laser transmitter and one with a high-stability transponder. We consider one spacecraft near the Earth-Sun L1 point with an advanced optical clock, and the transponder on a second satellite, which has a 2 year period orbit and eccentricity e = 0.37. Superior conjunctions will occur at aphelion 1, 3, and 5 years after launch of the second spacecraft. The measurements can be made using carrier phase comparisons on the laser beam that would be sent to the distant spacecraft and then transponded back. Recent development of clocks based on optical transitions in cooled and trapped ions or atoms indicate that a noise spectral amplitude of about 5 × 10−15/ at frequencies down to at least 1 microhertz can be achieved in space-borne clocks. An attractive candidate is a clock based on a single laser-cooled Yb+ trapped ion. Both spacecraft can be drag-free at a level of 1×10−13m/s2/ at frequencies down to at least 1 microhertz. The corresponding requirement for the LISA gravitational wave mission is 3 × 10−15m/s2/ at frequencies down to 10−4 Hz, and Gravitational Reference Sensors have been developed to meet this goal. They will be tested in the LISA Pathfinder mission, planned by ESA for flight in 2011. The requirements to extend the performance to longer times are mainly thermal. The achievable accuracy for determining the PPN parameter γ is about 1 × 10−8.

Small-angle neutron studies have been performed on samples of continuous inhomogeneous magnetic recording media. This has allowed the local magnetic structure to be probed at a sub-nanometre resolution, revealing some interesting information about the size and shape of the magnetic grains and their relation to the physical grains.

There is much literature on the effects on the developing brain of adverse events in pregnancy and the sensitive period postpartum, both in humans and in animals (Perry & Pollard, 1998). The study published by O'Connor et a l (2002, this issue) contributes to this by suggesting that maternal antenatal anxiety increases the risk of behavioural problems in early childhood. They suggest that this could be due to the direct effect of maternal anxiety and stress on foetal brain development. This study also contributes to the longstanding and increasing evidence base that suggests that maternal mental ill health is related to childhood difficulties (Murray et al, 1996).

An outbreak of E. coli O157 infection occurred in the Highland Region of Scotland in the summer of 1999. The source of the outbreak was traced to an untreated private water supply. All six cases identified arose in visitors to the area, and most had very limited exposure to the contaminated water. Permanent residents on the same supply were unaffected. The E. coli O157 isolates from the water, sheep faeces collected from around the source and the human stool samples were indistinguishable using pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Previously reported outbreaks of E. coli O157 linked to potable water supplies have resulted from structural or treatment failures, which allowed faecal contamination of source water. Here, contamination of the water supply and subsequent human infection was due to the use of an untreated, unprotected private water source in a rural area where animals grazed freely.