From Northern Ireland to Afghanistan: half a century of blast injuries.

Introduction: Throughout the last half century, blast injuries have been a common occurrence to UK military personnel during combat operations. This study investigates casualty data from three different military operations to determine whether survivability from blast injuries has improved over time and whether the tactics used could have influenced the injuries sustained.

Methods: Casualty data from operations in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan were reviewed and found to contain a total of 2629 casualties injured by improvised explosive devices.

Forensic reconstruction of two military combat related shooting incidents using an anatomically correct synthetic skull with a surrogate skin/soft tissue layer.

Six synthetic head models wearing ballistic protective helmets were used to recreate two military combat-related shooting incidents (three per incident, designated 'Incident 1' and 'Incident 2'). Data on the events including engagement distances, weapon and ammunition types was collated by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. The models were shot with 7.

Identifying stabilizers of plasmid DNA for pharmaceutical use.

To better address the need for developing stable formulations of plasmid DNA-based biopharmaceuticals, 37 compounds from a generally regarded as safe library were examined for their potential use as stabilizers. A plasmid DNA-based therapeutic vaccine, BHT-DNA, was used as a model system. Initial studies were performed to compare the biophysical properties of BHT-DNA plasmid from bulk drug substance and finished drug product.

Melanin in the extracellular matrix of germlings of Botrytis cinerea.

Previous work on the composition of the extracellular matrix of germlings of the plant pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea demonstrated the presence of carbohydrate, protein, and simple lipids; which, together, comprised 50-60% of the dry weight. Here we show that most of the remaining mass of the extracellular matrix consists of a chemically inert dark pigment with the electron paramagnetic resonance characteristics of a melanin. Scanning electron micrographs of the purified pigment, and transmission electron micrographs of thin sections made using the pigment indicate that it has a filamentous structure.