Randomised Controlled Study on Measures to Increase Vaccination Rates among German Armed Forces Soldiers.

Vaccination is one of the most effective medical measures for preventing infectious diseases. Even though there are recommendations for specific occupational groups that have an increased risk of infection, e.g.

Vaccination coverage rates of military personnel worldwide: a systematic review of the literature.

Objectives: Due to the professionally specific risk of infection in the armed forces, recommendations for vaccination are usually adapted for soldiers and are subject to special regulations. Little data is available on scientifically measured vaccination coverage of soldiers.

Methods: A systematic literature research was carried out in the PubMed database using the search terms "army" or "military" or "Bundeswehr" and "vaccination" or "vaccine".

Molecular chains under tension: Thermal and mechanical activation of statistically interacting extension and contraction particles.

This work introduces a methodology for the statistical mechanical analysis of polymeric chains under tension controlled by optical or magnetic tweezers at thermal equilibrium with an embedding fluid medium. The response of single bonds between monomers or of entire groups of monomers to tension is governed by the activation of statistically interacting particles representing quanta of extension or contraction. This method of analysis is capable of describing thermal unbending of the freely jointed or wormlike chain kind, linear or nonlinear contour elasticity, and structural transformations including effects of cooperativity.

Workplace-related risk of tick bites in military personnel stationed in Northern Germany.

Purpose: There are more than 500,000 employees in Germany alone who are at risk of being bitten by a tick at their workplace and thus also at risk of being infected with Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. or the tick-borne meningoencephalitis virus.

Modelling Filler Dispersion in Elastomers: Relating Filler Morphology to Interface Free Energies via SAXS and TEM Simulation Studies.

The properties of rubber are strongly influenced by the distribution of filler within the polymer matrix. Here, we introduce a Monte Carlo-based morphology generator. The basic elements of our model are cubic cells, which, in the current version, can be either silica filler particles or rubber volume elements in adjustable proportion.