The effectiveness and safety of vaccines against human anthrax: a systematic review

We report on the results of a systematic review of existing controlled clinical trials undertaken to assess the effectiveness and safety of vaccines against human anthrax in relation to disease incidence and side-effects. Two articles retrieved by electronic and hand search fulfilling some of the inclusion criteria underwent a quality assessment by a group of reviewers. Data synthesized from the two trials showed that estimates of overall effectiveness and safety favour treatment (overall odds ratio 0.16; 95% confidence interval 0.07-0.34). The route of inoculation appears to make little difference to the effectiveness of the vaccines; however, one study shows that the incidence and severity of side-effects are significantly higher with the killed vaccine than with the alum-based placebo (overall odds ratio 0.16; 95% confidence interval 2.38-27.17).     

Control of phase separation and voiding in oil-filled polypropylene

The physical properties, morphologies, and fracture characteristics of samples injection molded from blends of polypropylene and a low-viscosity hydrocarbon oil are described. Unexpectedly large improvements in mechanical and optical properties are found to occur on the addition of a nucleating agent (copper phthalocyanine). Both the ultimate tensile strength and the elongation of unnucleated samples are doubled by incorporation of as little as 0.01% of the nucleant. Similar increases in the properties of unnucleated blends are observed when the barrel temperature of the molding machine is reduced. In both cases, marked improvements in visual uniformity occur. It is shown that these gains can be correlated with improved dispersion of the oil as spherulite size is reduced.     

Problems associated with rabies preexposure prophylaxis

With the rabies vaccine presently available for preexposure prophylaxis, 20% of all individuals do not have seroconversion following routine immunizations, and 5% are allergic to this vaccine. Two experimental rabies vaccines of cell culture origin offering greater purity and potency were evaluated by means of a double-blind experiment. Thirty-one volunteers who did not have seroconversion or who were allergic to duck embryo rabies vaccine received rabies vaccine produced in either human diploid cell culture (WI-38), or hamster kidney-cell culture. All volunteers had seroconversion within 14 days of receiving a single injection of other experimental vaccine. Clinical side effects were only minor.     

Bremsstrahlung energy spectra from electrons of kinetic energy 1 keV ≤ T1 ≤ 2000 keV incident on neutral atoms 2 ≤ Z ≤ 92

A tabulation is presented of theoretical predictions for the electron bremsstrahlung energy spectrum from neutral atoms as a function of atomic number Z, incident electron kinetic energy T₁, and fraction of energy radiated $\text{k}\text{T}{}_1$. Tabulated values were obtained by interpolation from a smaller set of calculated data points. These calculated points were obtained by describing bremsstrahlung as a single-electron transition in a relativistic self-consistent screened potential and, after expansions in partial waves, by performing a numerical evaluation for radial wavefunctions and matrix elements.     

Standards and Performance Issues in the Workstation Market

Are high performance and adherence to standards mutually exclusive? Here is how one company managed to balance these apparently opposing factors.     

A pair-wise interaction model of the sigma phase I—thermodynamic properties

The composition dependence of the thermodynamic properties of binary sigma phases is examined on the basis of a simple pair-wise interaction model. The structure is considered in terms of its five sublattices, characterised by sites identified with Kasper-Frank surrounding co-ordinated polyhedra of 12, 12, 14, 14 and 15 respectively. It is assumed that the smallest (CN12) and the largest (CN15) sites are each preferentially occupied by different single alloy components while the intermediate size (CN14) sites are subject to random occupation. The numbers of substitutional defects on the ordered sub-lattices are defined by two independent disorder parameters and the variation of defect concentration and thermodynamic properties with composition is computed. Application of the model is illustrated by reference to thermodynamic and structural data for sigma phases in the V-Fe, V-Co, Cr-Fe, Cr-Co and Mo-Co alloy systems.     

Young children's active and passive graphing

Abstract This paper reports on the graphing work of children, aged 8 and 9 years, who have immediate and continuous access to portable computers across the whole curriculum. They have been using their computers to generate graphs and charts from experimental data. The unit of analysis is a learning sequence in which the progress of a small group of children on a specific coherent task was recorded over a period of several weeks. The paper describes two such learning sequences to illustrate two types of graphing, which can occur in computer-rich environments. In one sequence, the children collected data after which they explored the graphing facilities on the computer whereas in the other learning sequence graphing is used iteratively as an integral part of the ongoing task.     

The neuronal growth-associated protein GAP-43 interacts with rabaptin-5 and participates in endocytosis

Structural plasticity of nerve cells is a requirement for activity-dependent changes in the brain. The growth-associated protein GAP-43 is thought to be one determinant of such plasticity, although the molecular mechanism by which it mediates dynamic structural alterations at the synapse is not known. GAP-43 is bound by calmodulin when Ca2+ levels are low, and releases the calmodulin when Ca2+ levels rise, suggesting that calmodulin may act as a negative regulator of GAP-43 during periods of low activity in the neurons. To identify the function of GAP-43 during activity-dependent increases in Ca2+ levels, when it is not bound to calmodulin, we sought proteins with which GAP-43 interacts in the presence of Ca2+. We show here that rabaptin-5, an effector of the small GTPase Rab5 that mediates membrane fusion in endocytosis, is one such protein. We demonstrate that GAP-43 regulates endocytosis and synaptic vesicle recycling. Modulation of endocytosis by GAP-43, in association with rabaptin-5, may constitute a common molecular mechanism by which GAP-43 regulates membrane dynamics during its known roles in activity-dependent neurotransmitter release and neurite outgrowth.