A cluster of papers in this month’s Bulletin describes the facets of maternal and congenital syphilis and lists the current barriers to effective control and treatment. Bidia Deperthes et al. (pp. 410–416) describe antenatal syphilis control programmes in Bolivia, Kenya and South Africa, and outline ways to improve the effectiveness of these programmes. Sarah Hawkes et al. (pp. 417–423) take a ...

A high intake of fruit and vegetables (FV) has been shown to be associated with reduced risk of a number of chronic diseases, including CVD. This review aims to provide an overview of the evidence that increased FV intake reduces risk of CVD, focusing on studies examining total FV intake. This evidence so far available is largely based on prospective cohort studies, with meta-analyses demonstra...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-system inflammatory disease where genetic susceptibility coupled with largely undefined environmental factors is reported to underlie the aetiology of the disease. One such factor is low vitamin D status. The primary source of vitamin D is endogenous synthesis following exposure of the skin to UVB light. Photosensitivity, sunlight avoidance and the ...

Manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 Oscillatory techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398 Sustained traction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 Sinuvertebral nerve block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 Bed rest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 Surgery: removal of protruded discs . . . . . . . . 399 Prevention of recurrence . . . . . . . . . . . ...

Human cytochromes P450 (P450s) play a major role in the biotransformation of drugs. The generated metabolites are important for pharmaceutical, medical, and biotechnological applications and can be used for derivatization or toxicological studies. The availability of human drug metabolites is restricted and alternative ways of production are requested. For this, microbial P450s turned out to be...

It is not every day that a ‘law of nature’ is challenged by empirical data, but on page 457 of this issue we find just that. Peter Reich and colleagues offer convincing evidence that refutes the idea that Kleiber’s law — the all-encompassing prediction that metabolic rate should scale as the 3/4 power of size across animals — can be extended to vascular plants (Fig. 1). Their findings question ...