Influence of high titers of maternal antibody on the serologic response of infants to diphtheria vaccination at three, five and twelve months of age

Diphtheria antitoxin was determined in serum from 44 pregnant women, of whom 26 had received one injection of diphtheria toxoid during pregnancy. Their infants were vaccinated with a combined diphtheria-tetanus vaccine at 3, 5 and 12 months of age. This vaccination schedule has been used in Sweden since 1986, replacing the old schedule of vaccination at 3, 4.5 and 6 months of age originally designed for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, which had not been used after cessation of general vaccination against pertussis in 1979. Serum samples from the infants were obtained at 3, 7 and 18 months of age. After 2 injections infants of mothers with high antitoxin titers, > or = 0.1 IU/ml, tended to have lower antitoxin titers than infants of mothers with low antitoxin concentrations (P = 0.067). All children had, however, antitoxin above the minimum protective level of 0.01 IU/ml. Median antitoxin titers were 1.6 IU/ml in both groups after the third booster injection. Four infants of mothers who had been vaccinated during pregnancy and who had titers of > or = 0.4 IU/ml did not reach the 0.1 IU/ml level after 2 injections: all 4 responded with high antitoxin titers after the third dose. Thus all infants were primed by 2 doses of vaccine, irrespective of maternal antibody concentration. The repressive effect of maternal antibody on titers noted after 2 doses was no longer observed after the third, booster dose.     

The relationship between coffee consumption and serum cholesterol under consideration of smoking history

To provide insight into the stream of Medicare payments over time, a sixteen-year longitudinal study examines three age cohorts of beneficiaries, looking separately at beneficiaries who died during the study period and those who survived. The common wisdom that a small minority of the population accounts for a large majority of health care expenditures is tempered when health care use is examined over an extended period of time. By putting high average costs in the final years of life in the context of a cohort's total lifetime experience, the study shows a leveling of spending over time, resulting in a lower concentration of health care resources on a small fraction of the population.     

Calculation methods for comparing the performance of pure and mixed working fluids in heat pump applications

Three methods for comparing cycle performance of working fluids, pure as well as non-azeotropic mixtures, are investigated for two applications and for two mixture pairs, HCFC22-CFC114 and HCFC22-HCFC142b, and their pure components. The methods differ in the way of calculating the heat exchange processes. They assume, respectively, equal minimum approach temperatures, equal mean temperature differences and equal heat transfer areas. Changes of coefficient of performance (COP) with composition are explained for all methods. It is shown that transport properties must be taken into account when making rigorous comparisons between working fluids. To predict the relations between fluids with high accuracy, one must use the method with equal heat transfer areas. By the method with equal mean temperature differences, the COP can be estimated with the same accuracy for mixtures as for pure fluids, and can be used for rough estimations of the COP level with different fluids. The method of equal minimum approach temperatures should be avoided for non-azeotropic mixtures.     

Research in object-oriented manufacturing simulations:an assessment of the state of the art

Object-oriented programming (OOP) has been revolutionizing software development and maintenance. When applied to simulation of manufacturing systems, OOP also provides an opportunity for developing new ways of thinking and modeling. In this paper, we identify existing large-scale, persistent OOP-based research efforts focusing on manufacturing system simulation, and present an integrating framework for discussing the associated modeling abstractions, implementation strategies, common themes, and distinctive features. The goal is to identify the fundamental research and application issues, assess the current state of the art, and identify key research needs.     

Opposite-channel-based charge injection in SOI MOSFET's under hotcarrier stress

By operating one channel of a typical SOI MOSFET in avalanche while keeping the opposite channel accumulated, charge injection into the opposite gate takes place. Three independent experiments are described that demonstrate the occurrence of this opposite-channel based charge injection. The experimental results are in agreement with PISCES numerical simulations     

Cast bulk ZrTiAlCuNi amorphous alloys

Cylindrical bulk amorphous samples with diameters up to 10 mm have been prepared by casting ZrTiAlCuNi alloys in a copper mould. In order to rank glass-forming ability as a function of alloy composition, alloys were also cast into wedge-shaped moulds; to a first approximation, the thickness of the amorphous region obtained can be taken as an indication of glass-forming ability. The compositions which lead to the production of bulk glasses all have reduced glass transition temperatures in excess of 0.65 and the extremely high glass-forming ability of these compositions is discussed. We suggest that both the Al and Ti contents are determining factors for the production of bulk amorphous samples and these are believed to reduce the driving force for, and hence the rate of, crystallisation. These amorphous alloys have been found to display high thermal stability and can be annealed for several minutes in the supercooled liquid region. They are ductile at room temperature and have a high value of yield stress.