Do Childhood Vaccines Have Non-Specific Effects on Mortality

A recent article by Kristensen et al. suggested that measles vaccine and bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine might\ud reduce mortality beyond what is expected simply from protection against measles and tuberculosis. Previous reviews of the potential effects of childhood vaccines on mortality have not considered methodological features of reviewed studies. Methodological considerations play an especially important role in observational assessments, in which selection factors for vaccination may be difficult to ascertain. We reviewed 782 English language articles on vaccines and childhood mortality and found only a few whose design met the criteria for methodological rigor. The data reviewed suggest that measles vaccine delivers its promised reduction in mortality, but there is insufficient evidence to suggest a mortality benefit above that caused by its effect on measles disease and its sequelae. Our review of the available data in the literature reinforces how difficult answering these considerations has been and how important study design will be in determining the effect of specific vaccines on all-cause mortality.\u

Seasonal variations of gravity wave activity in the lower stratosphere over an Antarctic Peninsula station

An 8 year series of 965 high-resolution radiosonde soundings over Rothera (67 degrees S, 68 degrees W) on the Antarctic Peninsula are used to study gravity wave characteristics in the lower stratosphere. The gravity wave energy is shown to have a seasonal variation with peaks at the equinoxes; the largest peak is around the spring equinox. During the winter months and extending into the spring, there is both an enhancement in the downward propagating wave activity and a reduction in the amount of critical-level filtering of upward propagating mountain waves. The horizontal propagation directions of the gravity waves were determined using hodographs. It was found that there is a predisposition toward northward and westward propagating waves above Rothera. This is in agreement with previous observations of gravity wave momentum flux in the wintertime mesosphere over Rothera. These results are consistent with a scenario whereby the stratospheric gravity wavefield above Rothera is determined by a combination of wind flow over topography-generating waves from below, and sources such as the edge of the polar stratospheric vortex-generating waves from above, especially during winter and spring

The impact of resources on decision making

Decision making is a significant activity within industry and although much attention has been paid to the manner in which goals impact on how decision making is executed, there has been less focus on the impact decision making resources can have. This article describes an experiment that sought to provide greater insight into the impact that resources can have on how decision making is executed. Investigated variables included the experience levels of decision makers and the quality and availability of information resources. The experiment provided insights into the variety of impacts that resources can have upon decision making, manifested through the evolution of the approaches, methods, and processes used within it. The findings illustrated that there could be an impact on the decision-making process but not on the method or approach, the method and process but not the approach, or the approach, method, and process. In addition, resources were observed to have multiple impacts, which can emerge in different timescales. Given these findings, research is suggested into the development of resource-impact models that would describe the relationships existing between the decision-making activity and resources, together with the development of techniques for reasoning using these models. This would enhance the development of systems that could offer improved levels of decision support through managing the impact of resources on decision making

Identification and characterization of an irreversible inhibitor of CDK2

Irreversible inhibitors that modify cysteine or lysine residues within a protein kinase ATP binding site offer, through their distinctive mode of action, an alternative to ATP-competitive agents. 4-((6-(Cyclohexylmethoxy)- 9H-purin-2-yl)amino)benzenesulfonamide (NU6102) is a potent and selective ATP-competitive inhibitor of CDK2 in which the sulfonamide moiety is positioned close to a pair of lysine residues. Guided by the CDK2/NU6102 structure, we designed 6-(cyclohexylmethoxy)-N-(4-(vinylsulfonyl)phenyl)-9H-purin-2-amine (NU6300), which binds covalently to CDK2 as shown by a co-complex crystal structure. Acute incubation with NU6300 produced a durable inhibition of Rb phosphorylation in SKUT-1B cells, consistent with it acting as an irreversible CDK2 inhibitor. NU6300 is the first covalent CDK2 inhibitor to be described, and illustrates the potential of vinyl sulfones for the design of more potent and selective compounds

Residual strength of equine bone is not reduced by intense fatigue loading: Implications for stress fracture

Fatigue or stress fractures are an important clinical problem in humans as well as racehorses. An important question in this context is, when a bone experiences. fa!igue damage ~uring e~treme use, how much is it weakened compared to its original state? Since there are very ltmtted data on thts quesuon and stress fractures are common in racehorses, we sought to determine the effect of fatigue loading on the monotonic l:trength of equine cortical bone. Beams were machined from the dorsal, medial and lateral cortices of the third metacarpal bones of six thoroughbred racehorses. Beams from left and right bones were assigned to control and fatigue groups. respectively (N- 18 each). The fatigue group was cyclicully loaded in three-point bending at 2Hz for 100,000 cycles at 0- 5000 microstrain while submerged in saline at 37°C. These beams. as well as those in the control group. were then monotonically loaded to failure in three-point bending. The monotonic load-deflection curves were analyzed for differences using three-factor (fatigue loading, ~natotni~ region. and horse)_ analysis o_f variance .. The mean failure load was 3% less in the fatigue group, but thts reduction was only margmally stgmficant. Netther elastic modulus nor yield strength was significantly affected by the fatigue loading. The principal effects of fatigue loading were on post-yield behavior (yield being based on a 0.02% offset criter!on). The work don~ and the load increase between yield and failure were both significantly reduced. All the vanables except post-yteld deflecuon were significantly affected by anatomic region. In summary, loading equivalent to a lifetime of racing does not significantly weaken equine cortical bone ex vivo. The clinical implication of this may be that the biological repair of fatigue damage can actually contribute to stress fracture if pressed too far

Investigating the igneous petrogenesis of Martian volcanic rocks using augite quantitative textural analysis of the Yamato nakhlites

To better understand volcanism on planetary bodies other than the Earth, the quantification of physical processes is needed. Here, the petrogenesis of the achondrite Martian Yamato (Y) nakhlites (Y 000593, Y 000749, and Y 000802) is reinvestigated via quantitative analysis of augite (high-Ca clinopyroxene) phenocrysts: crystal size distribution (CSD), spatial distribution patterns (SDP), and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Results from CSD and EBSD quantitative data sets show augite to have continuous uninterrupted growth resulting in calculated minimum magma chamber residence times of either 88–117 ± 6 yr or 9–12 yr. All samples exhibit low-intensity S-LS type crystallographic preferred orientation. Directional strain is observed across all samples with intracrystalline misorientation patterns indicative of (100)[001]:(001)[100] (Y 000593 and Y 000802) and {110}<001>or {110}1/2<110> (Y 000749) slip systems. SDP results indicate phenocryst-bearing crystal-clustered rock signatures. Combined findings from this work show that the Yamato nakhlites formed on Mars as individual low-viscosity lava flows or sills. This study shows that through combining these different quantitative techniques over multiple samples, one can more effectively compare and interpret resulting data to gain a more robust, geologically contextualized petrogenetic understanding of the rock suite being studied. The techniques used in this study should be equally applicable to igneous achondrites from other parent bodies

Analysis of clogging in constructed wetlands using magnetic resonance

In this work we demonstrate the potential of permanent magnet based magnetic resonance sensors to monitor and assess the extent of pore clogging in water filtration systems. The performance of the sensor was tested on artificially clogged gravel substrates and on gravel bed samples from constructed wetlands used to treat wastewater. Data indicate that the spin lattice relaxation time is linearly related to the hydraulic conductivity in such systems. In addition, within biologically active filters we demonstrate the ability to determine the relative ratio of biomass to abiotic solids, a measurement which is not possible using alternative techniques

Calcium buffering is required to maintain bone stiffness in saline solution

This work determined whether mineral dissolution due to prolonged testing or storage of bone s~\u27imens in normal salint: would alter Lheir elastic modulus. In one experiment, small pieces of equine third metacarpal bone were soaked in normal saline supplemented with varying amounts of CaCI1. Changing Ca ion concentrations in the bath were monitored and the equilibrium concentration was determined. In a second experiment, the elastic moduli of twenty 4 x 10 x 100 mm equine third metacarpal beams were determined non-destructively in four-point bending. Half the beams were then soaked for 10 days in normal saline, and the other half in saline buffered to the bone mineral equilibrium point with Ca ions. Modulus measurements were repeated at 6 and 10 days. The oquilibrium Ca ion con.centration for bone specimens was found to be 57.5 mgl - •. The modulus of bone specimens soaked in normal saline significantly diminished 2.4%, whereas the modulus of those soaked in calcium-buffered saline did not change significantly

Equivalence of Kinetic Theories of Bose-Einstein Condensation

We discuss the equivalence of two non-equilibrium kinetic theories that describe the evolution of a dilute, Bose-Einstein condensed atomic gas in a harmonic trap. The second-order kinetic equations of Walser et al. [PRA 63, 013607 (2001)] reduce to the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and the quantum Boltzmann equation in the low and high temperature limits, respectively. These kinetic equations can thus describe the system in equilibrium (finite temperature) as well as in non-equilibrium (real time). We have found this theory to be equivalent to the non-equilibrium Green's function approach originally proposed by Kadanoff and Baym and more recently applied to inhomogeneous trapped systems by M. Imamovi\'c-Tomasovi\'c and A. Griffin [arXiv:cond-mat/9911402].Comment: REVTeX3, 6 pages, 2 eps figures, published version, minor change

Mycobacterium bovis shedding patterns from experimentally infected calves and the effect of concurrent infection with bovine viral diarrhoea virus

Concurrent infection of cattle with bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) and Mycobacterium bovis is considered to be a possible risk factor for onward transmission of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in infected cattle and is known to compromise diagnostic tests. A comparison is made here of M. bovis shedding (i.e. release) characteristics from 12 calves, six experimentally co-infected with BVDV and six infected with M. bovis alone, using simple models of bacterial replication. These statistical and mathematical models account for the intermittent or episodic nature of shedding, the dynamics of within-host bacterial proliferation and the sampling distribution from a given shedding episode. We show that while there are distinct differences among the shedding patterns of calves given the same infecting dose, there is no statistically significant difference between the two groups of calves. Such differences as there are, can be explained solely in terms of the shedding frequency, but with all calves potentially excreting the same amount of bacteria in a given shedding episode post-infection. The model can be thought of as a process of the bacteria becoming established in a number of discrete foci of colonization, rather than as a more generalized infection of the respiratory tract. In this case, the variability in the shedding patterns of the infected calves can be explained solely by differences in the number of foci established and shedding being from individual foci over time. Should maximum exposure on a particular occasion be a critical consideration for cattle-to-cattle transmission of BTB, cattle that shed only intermittently may still make an important contribution to the spread and persistence of the disease