Yeast expressed recombinant Hemagglutinin protein of Novel H1N1 elicits neutralising antibodies in rabbits and mice

Currently available vaccines for the pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 produced in chicken eggs have serious impediments viz limited availability, risk of allergic reactions and the possible selection of sub-populations differing from the naturally occurring virus, whereas the cell culture derived vaccines are time consuming and may not meet the demands of rapid global vaccination required to combat the present/future pandemic. Hemagglutinin (HA) based subunit vaccine for H1N1 requires the HA protein in glycosylated form, which is impossible with the commonly used bacterial expression platform. Additionally, bacterial derived protein requires extensive purification and refolding steps for vaccine applications. For these reasons an alternative heterologous system for rapid, easy and economical production of Hemagglutinin protein in its glycosylated form is required. The HA gene of novel H1N1 A/California/04/2009 was engineered for expression in Pichia pastoris as a soluble secreted protein. The full length HA- synthetic gene having α-secretory tag was integrated into P. pastoris genome through homologous recombination. The resultant Pichia clones having multiple copy integrants of the transgene expressed full length HA protein in the culture supernatant. The Recombinant yeast derived H1N1 HA protein elicited neutralising antibodies both in mice and rabbits. The sera from immunised animals also exhibited Hemagglutination Inhibition (HI) activity. Considering the safety, reliability and also economic potential of Pichia expression platform, our preliminary data indicates the feasibility of using this system as an alternative for large-scale production of recombinant influenza HA protein in the face of influenza pandemic threat

Turbulent ‘stopping plumes’ and plume pinch-off in uniform surroundings

Observations of turbulent convection in the environment are of variously sus- tained plume-like flows or intermittent thermal-like flows. At different times of the day the prevailing conditions may change and consequently the observed flow regimes may change. Understanding the link between these flows is of practical importance meteorologically, and here we focus our interest upon plume-like regimes that break up to form thermal-like regimes. It has been shown that when a plume rises from a boundary with low conductivity, such as arable land, the inability to maintain a rapid enough supply of buoyancy to the plume source can result in the turbulent base of the plume separating and rising away from the source. This plume ‘pinch-off’ marks the onset of the intermittent thermal-like behavior. The dynamics of turbulent plumes in a uniform environment are explored in order to investigate the phenomenon of plume pinch-off. The special case of a turbulent plume having its source completely removed, a ‘stopping plume’, is considered in particular. The effects of forcing a plume to pinch-off, by rapidly reducing the source buoyancy flux to zero, are shown experi- mentally. We release saline solution into a tank filled with fresh water generating downward propagating steady turbulent plumes. By rapidly closing the plume nozzle, the plumes are forced to pinch-off. The plumes are then observed to detach from the source and descend into the ambient. The unsteady buoyant region produced after pinch-off, cannot be described by the power-law behavior of either classical plumes or thermals, and so the terminology ‘stopping plume’ (analogous to a ‘starting plume’) is adopted for this type of flow. The propagation of the stopping plume is shown to be approximately linearly dependent on time, and we speculate therefore that the closure of the nozzle introduces some vorticity into the ambient, that may roll up to form a vortex ring dominating the dynamics of the base of a stopping plume

Sonorous memory in Jonathan Perel’s El predio (2010) and Los murales (2011)

Throughout his filmic production, Argentine director Jonathan Perel has demonstrated strict adherence to a unique aesthetic programme in which human agents appear to have only a minimal role. Each film contains only diegetic sounds and consists of fixed shots of architectural spaces and objects closely associated with the most recent Argentine military dictatorship (1976–1983) and recent attempts to memorialise the atrocities they committed. Through the close analysis of Perel’s first two films – El predio (2010) and Los murales (2011) – this article focusses on Perel’s highly distinctive use of environmental sound and argues that they are, in fact, uniquely musical works. Drawing on the work of John Cage, Michel Chion, Deleuze and Guattari, and Doreen Massey, the article proposes that Perel manipulates sound in order to situate debates over the memorialisation of recent atrocities in a perpetual present and thus critique contemporary abuses of power in Argentina

Eddy formation behind the tropical island of Aldabra

Oceanic eddy formation behind the tropical island of Aldabra is examined with a one-layer reduced gravity model. Thresholds for flow separation, eddy formation, eddy shedding, and wake instabilities are determined and compared with theory, observations and results of laboratory experiments for both rotating and non-rotating flows. It is shown that non-rotating fluid theory and the Reynolds number are appropriate for describing the occurrence of eddy shedding. For islands at higher lalitudes, thresholds move nearer those found in rotating laboratory experiments Strouhal numbers calculated from the model results agree with those predicted theoretically, confirming that the frequency of eddy shedding does not increase indefinitely with Reynolds number. Both the model results and data from the CZCS archive suggest that eddy shedding and the associated enhanced biological activity (and thus CO2 uptake) are common phenomena for Aldabra and by implication, other oceanic islands

A simple 'tally sheet' system for collecting information on the paediatric utilisation of a Western Cape day hospital

CITATION: Scorer, J., Schaaf, H. S. & Donald, P. R. 1992. A simple 'tally sheet' system for collecting information on the paediatric utilisation of a Western Cape day hospital. South African Medical Journal, 82:415-417.The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.zaThis paper describes a simple 'tally sheet' system for collecting information on the paediatric utilisation of Bishop Lavis Day Hospital. Of 2053 children seen over a 7-week period in August and September 1988, the details of 1971 (96%) were entered on the tally sheets; age and weight were documented in 1915 (97%) cases. Only 19 patients (1%) were neonates, 370 (19%) were aged under 1 year, 1092 (57%) 1-6 years and 453 (24%) 6-13 years. One hundred and ninety-eight children (10%) had a weight for age less than the 3rd percentile and 646 (34%) a weight between the 3rd and 25th percentiles; 505 (26%) were between the 25th and 50th percentiles and 566 (30%) above the 50th percentile. Nursing personnel alone saw and treated 1067 (52%) of the children and the commonest conditions treated were upper respiratory tract infections (31%) and infective and non-infective skin conditions (18%). A similar system could be used to evaluate other aspects of health care.Publisher’s versio