Though funding is an important issue, factors including lack of success and psychological stress play a greater role in influencing the decision to discontinue treatment. Better information and support are needed to improve the continuation rates.

Abstract:In situ cosmogenic 10 Be exposure dating, radiocarbon determinations, salt and sediment geochemistry, and rock weathering observations indicate that parts of Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica have been subaerially exposed throughout much of the last glacial cycle, with the last glaciation occurring prior to 100 ka BP. Salt-enhanced subaerial weathering, coupled with a paucity of glacial erratics, made exposure age dating challenging. Rapid subaerial surface lowering in some places means that some exposure ages may underestimate the true age of deglaciation. Despite this uncertainty, the data are consistent with the absence of overriding by a thick ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum ,20-18 ka BP.

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A Pliocene (2.6-3.5 Ma) age is determined from glacial sediments studied in a 20 m long, 4 m deep trench excavated in Heidemann Valley, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. The age determination is based on a combined study of amino acid racemization, diatoms, foraminifera, and magnetic polarity, and supports earlier estimates of the age of the sedimentary section; all are beyond 14 C range. Four till units are recognized and documented, and 16 subunits are identified. All are ascribed to deposition during a Late Pliocene glaciation that was probably the last time the entire Vestfold Hills was covered by an enlarged East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). Evidence for other more recent glacial events of the 'Vestfold Glaciation' may have been due to lateral expansion of the Sørsdal Glacier and limited expansion of the icesheet margin during the Last Glacial Maximum rather than a major expansion of the EAIS. The deposit appears to correlate with a marine deposition event recorded in Ocean Drilling Program Site 1166 in Prydz Bay, possibly with the Bardin Bluffs Formation of the Prince Charles Mountains and with part of the time represented in the ANDRILL AND-1B core in the Ross Sea.

The presence of glacial sediments across the Rauer Group indicates that the East Antarctic ice sheet formerly covered the entire archipelago and has since retreated at least 15 km from its maximum extent. The degree of weathering of these glacial sediments suggests that ice retreat from this maximum position occurred sometime during the latter half of the last glacial cycle. Following this phase of retreat, the ice sheet margin has not expanded more than ∼ 1 km seaward of its present position. This pattern of ice sheet change matches that recorded in Vestfold Hills, providing further evidence that the diminutive Marine Isotope Stage 2 ice sheet advance in the nearby Larsemann Hills may have been influenced by local factors rather than a regional ice-sheet response to climate and sea-level change.

Bemfola is a recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) used during infertility treatment. One main differentiator between FSH products is their delivery device; consisting of multi-dose pens (Gonal-f), vials or multi-dose preparations (Menopur), or adjustable daily disposable dose pens (Bemfola). To determine the potential impact of delivery device on drug wastage during infertility treatment this study retrospectively analysed Gonal-f and Menopur prescription and usage data from five UK clinics. Incurred drug wastage was then compared to potential Bemfola drug wastage. Data collected included: (i) number of treatment cycles; (ii) daily FSH dose; (iii) length of treatment; (iv) dose adjustment following ultrasound scan; (v) FSH formulation(s) prescribed and (vi) agonist/antagonist protocol used. Treatment with Gonal-f (4078 cycles) and Menopur (646 cycles) resulted in an average drug wastage of 160 and 294 IU per treatment cycle. Use of Bemfola instead of Gonal-f and Menopur may reduce the wastage to 104 and 61 IU per cycle, respectively. The use of Bemfola, across all 4724 cycles, could result in a drug wastage reduction of up to 376,800 IUs with an associated cost saving of £100,011. Bemfola is a viable alternative to Gonal-f and Menopur with its drug delivery system potentially reducing drug wastage and associated costs during infertility treatment.

ABSTRACT. Historical records, recent observations, and geomorphological evidence indicate that rates of retreat and downwasting of the tidewater Stephenson Glacier, and concurrent expansion of ice-marginal melt-lakes, has increased by an order of magnitude since 1987. Melt-lake expansion is partly the product of greatly accelerated ablation of older, ice-cored twentieth-century moraines. The timing of these changes broadly coincides with reported increases in atmospheric and sea-surface temperatures around other sub-Antarctic islands, but correlates less well with changes along the northern Antarctic Peninsula, where warming has been more rapid. These recent changes in landscape character and geomorphological processes have implications for geodiversity, biodiversity, and cultural heritage values in this World Heritage Area. If the causal climatic warming is anthropogenic, it reinforces the fact that even the most remote and little visited nature conservation reserves may be compromised by off-site human impacts, confronting management authorities with difficult philosophical and practical issues.

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