bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The development of reading tests for use in a regularly spelled language
Authors: ALCOCK K. J. , NOKES K. , NGOWI F. , MUSABI C. , MBISE A. , MANDALI R. , BUNDY D. , BADDELEY A.
Published: July 2002

Data are presented on the development of tests of reading skill for primary school pupils in
rural Tanzania. Instruction in these schools is in Kiswahili, a regularly spelled language. Using a
translation of a standard reading test, children can read aloud all words once they have learned the
sound– letter correspondences, regardless of comprehension. In addition, children can pass
traditional comprehension tasks by decoding only some of the words. Three graded tests were
developed to test children who had only some letter knowledge, could read single words, or were
proficient readers. The tests required children both to decode and to understand the reading
material in order to achieve high scores. The tests correlated well with scores on other
educational achievement tests and showed age and school grade differences. It is suggested that
these tests are useful measures of reading development in a regularly spelled language. Their
adaptation to English and validation against standardized instruments are planned.
Almost all $S$-integer dynamical systems have many periodic points
Authors: WARD T. B.
Published: July 2002

We show that for almost every ergodic $S$-integer dynamical system the radius of convergence of the dynamical zeta function is no larger than $\exp(-\frac{1}{2}h_{\rm top})<1$. In the arithmetic case almost every zeta function is irrational.

We conjecture that for almost every ergodic $S$-integer dynamical system the radius of convergence of the zeta function is exactly $\exp(-h_{\rm top})<1$ and the zeta function is irrational.

In an important geometric case (the $S$-integer systems corresponding to isometric extensions of the full $p$-shift or, more generally, linear algebraic cellular automata on the full $p$-shift) we show that the conjecture holds with the possible exception of at most two primes $p$.

Finally, we explicitly describe the structure of $S$-integer dynamical systems as isometric extensions of (quasi-)hyperbolic dynamical systems.
Measures supported on the set of uniquely ergodic directions of an arbitrary holomorphic 1-form
Authors: VEECH WILLIAM A.
Published: July 2002

We introduce a set, $Q({\bf T})$, of Borel probability measures on the circle such that each $\mu\in Q({\bf T})$ obeys the conclusion of the Kerckhoff–Masur–Smillie theorem [3]: if $q$ is a meromorphic quadratic differential with at worst simple poles on a closed Riemann surface, then for each $\mu\in Q({\bf T})$ and $\mu$-a.e. $\zeta\in{\bf T}$, $\zeta q$ has uniquely ergodic vertical foliation. As an example, the normalized Cantor–Lebesgue measure belongs to $Q({\bf T})$. The analysis also yields an analogue, for the Teichmüller horocycle flow, of a theorem of Dani: every locally finite ergodic invariant measure for the Teichmüller horocycle flow is finite.
School Accountability – An Elusive Policy Solution: The Israeli Experience in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Schwartz Robert
Published: July 2002

Politics of accountability theory contends that policymakers are unlikely to adopt external accountability policies. Contrary to the theory, many countries have adopted external school accountability policies, while Israel has not. The disequilibrium theory of policy selection is used to analyze differences among countries in school accountability policymaking. I find that the symbolic potency of policies helps to explain these differences. The symbolic potency of external school accountability depends on the extent to which school performance is perceived as a problem, the degree to which powerful stakeholders are affected by the problem and some broader political and administrative factors. Where client stakeholders are stirred out of their apathy, the education policy subsystem will adopt school accountability policies. However, preliminary evidence reveals implementation obstacles that may render these policies ineffective.
The Governance of Competition: the interplay of technology, economics, and politics in European Union electricity and telecom regimes
Authors: Levi-Faur David
Published: July 2002

This study raises two basic questions. How is competition in telecom and electricity governed? What explains the considerable differences in their governance regimes? To answer these questions the study compares the economic and technological characteristics of the sectors; deconstructs the telecom sector into two micro-regimes (terminal type-approval and networks interconnection) and the electricity sector into three (generation, transmission, distribution); defines intergovernmentalism, supranationalism, liberalism, and étatism for each of the five segments of the sectors; distinguishes three different kinds of competition – deregulated competition, regulation-of-competion, and regulation-for-competition; and deconstructs the European policy game into three different games (sectorial, national, and union). The European Union's policy choices are: supranational governance in telecom and intergovernmental governance in electricity. The introduction of competition as an administrative process leaves considerable room for entrepreneurship and political choice by European nation-states and strengthens their regulation capacities. Differences in the governance regime for telecom and electricity are explained by a state-centered multi-level approach.
PROBLEMS AND POTENTIALS OF SHELTERED HOUSING
Authors: Clapham David
Published: July 2002

Alex Marsh and Moyra Riseborough, Making Ends Meet: Older
People, Housing Association Costs and the Affordability of Rented Housing,
National Federation of Housing Associations, London, 1995, 93 pp.,
no price, ISBN 0 862 97307 4.

Anthea Tinker, Fay Wright and Hannah Zeilig, Difficult to Let
Sheltered Housing, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1995,
174 pp., £17.50, ISBN 0 113 21964 4.

Moyra Riseborough (ed.), Opening-up the Resources of Sheltered Housing
to the Wider Community, Anchor Studies 3, Anchor Housing
Association, Oxford, 1995, 32 pp., £7.50, ISBN 0 906 17827 4.

Bill Randall, Staying Put: The Best Move I'll Never Make, Anchor
Housing Association, Oxford, 1995, unpaginated, £5.99,
ISBN 0 906 17829 0.

For the last twenty years sheltered housing has dominated debates about
housing and old age in Britain. There have recently been signs that its pre-eminent position may be threatened by the wider agenda stimulated by the
community care reforms. But just when we thought the whole debate had run
out of steam, back comes sheltered housing to dominate the policy debate and
to re-capture the attention of housing officers. The nature of the debate now
differs: gone are the heated discussions over whether sheltered housing is the
answer to all our problems; rather, the key question is what to do with the
increasing number of ‘difficult-to-let’ sheltered housing
flats. Does this mean
that the sceptics (including myself) were right all along and that sheltered
housing really was ill-thought out and over-provided? After all, the main
defence against these charges was that it was popular. Have older people
turned against it too?
(Im)possible universalism: reading human rights in world politics
Authors: PIN-FAT VÉRONIQUE
Published: July 2002

Tony Evans (ed.), Human Rights Fifty Years On: A Reappraisal (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998)

Robin Holt, Wittgenstein, Politics and Human Rights (London: LSE/Routledge, 1997)

Peter Van Ness (ed.), Debating Human Rights: Critical Essays from the United States and Asia (London: Routledge, 1999)

Questions concerning the linkage, or lack of it, between theory and practice are perennial in International Relations (IR). This is particularly acute in the case of studies of universal human rights in world politics. Problems associated with universal human rights are familiar; what are their foundations?, what are their origins?, do they exist in all cultures?, why, when it comes to implementation, do we see such failure and inconsistency across the globe and the persistence of human wrongs?, why does power seem to play such a large role in stifling ‘progress’? All these questions appear in one form or another in the books under review here and readers will, perhaps, take comfort from their familiarity as old, difficult friends.
Forum: Really existing communities
Authors: ELSHTAIN JEAN BETHKE
Published: July 2002

It seems almost churlish to criticize a book as well-intentioned and clearly argued as The Transformation of Political Community. There is much in the volume to admire and to endorse. But there are also problems—there always are—and I will move to address these shortly. First, however, I want to point to some of the book's undeniable strengths. Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of Linklater's argument is the manner in which he takes on board a number of the perduring vexations of political and moral theory and addresses these within the context of international relations. For too long political theory and ‘IR’ have occupied separate niches, as if these two enterprises had little to do with one another. The result of the separation has been an impoverishment of both realms. ‘IR’ could move along as if questions of war and peace, security, order, power, engagement, citizen and soldier were not inescapably political and ethical issues impossible to deal with adequately in a manner that models sophisticatedly but falls flat conceptually. Too many underlying presuppositions in such undertakings are not brought to the surface and dealt with as is painfully evident in rational choice accounts with their impoverished views of what makes human beings tick.
Dynamic modeling of structurally-flexible planar parallel manipulator
Authors: Kang Bongsoo , Mills James K.
Published: July 2002

This paper presents a dynamic model of a planar parallel manipulator including structural flexibility of several linkages. The equations of motion are formulated using the Lagrangian equations of the first type and Lagrangian multipliers are introduced to represent the geometry of multiple closed loop chains. Then, an active damping approach using a PZT actuator is described to attenuate structural vibration of the linkages. Overall dynamic behavior of the manipulator, induced from structural flexibility of the linkage, is well illustrated through simulations. This analysis will be used to develop a prototype parallel manipulator.
A reliable parts-picking system with an active and multi-sensor visual system
Authors: Okada Nobuhiro , Nagata Tadashi , Hasegawa Tsutomu
Published: July 2002

We constructed a high reliability parts-picking device with
an active and multi-sensor visual system, that picks up a part from
randomly stacked parts. The system determines the orders in which to
pick up the parts. To determine the order, we introduce concepts of
risks of collapsing a stack by picking, and the ease of manipulator
operations. The system examines if the risks exist and estimates the
ease. We show that the parts-picking system can achieve high reliability
by determining the orders, using the effects of the examination and the
estimation. We also give some experimental results.
Trajectory generation for a four wheel steering tractor-trailer system: a
two-step method
Authors: Wang Yongji , Cartmell M. P.
Published: July 2002

A basic problem in the development of an intelligent vehicle/highway system (IVHS), or an autonomous mobile robot system (AMRS) is to find suitable input controls which can be used to drive the vehicle between any two configurations. In this paper a trajectory
generation problem for a four-wheel-steering tractor/semi-trailer system is investigated, and it is shown that this nonholonomic constraint problem can be converted into one of finding fitting-functions satisfying certain necessary boundary conditions. Proposals for control laws are presented and simulation results for a lane change manoeuvre are given.
Composing, performing and audience-listening as indicators of musical understanding
Authors: Swanwick Keith , Cavalieri Franca Cecilia
Published: July 2002

Although it is often suggested that there are important connections between composing, performing and audience-listening, there is little evidence as to the nature of this relationship. In this paper we report research into the extent that musical understanding is symmetrically revealed and developed across the three activities. Our theory of musical understanding is based on the work of Swanwick, and assessment criteria derived from the work of Swanwick and Tillman (1986) made it possible to compare levels of musical cognition whatever the specific activity. A study of the musical work of twenty children in a music school in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, suggests that performance usually elicits lower levels of musical understanding, significantly different from either composing or audience-listening. It seems that performance can be problematic within the music curriculum unless students are able to work at a technical level where they are able to exercise interpretative judgement and make musical decisions. The findings support the claims for an integrated music curriculum comprising all three activities.
THE VARIANCE OF AN INTEGRATED PROCESS NEED NOT DIVERGE
TO INFINITY, AND RELATED RESULTS ON PARTIAL SUMS OF STATIONARY
PROCESSES
Authors: Leeb Hannes , Pötscher Benedikt M.
Published: July 2002

For a process with stationary first differences a necessary
and sufficient condition for the variance of the process
to be unbounded is given. An example shows that the variance
of an integrated process—although unbounded—need
not diverge to infinity. Sufficient conditions for the
variance of an integrated process to diverge to infinity
are provided.
Foraging patterns of capybaras in a seasonally flooded savanna of Venezuela
Authors: BARRETO GUILLERMO R. , HERRERA EMILIO A.
Published: July 2002

The foraging behaviour of capybaras (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) was assessed in relation to habitat and season in a flooded savanna of Venezuela from February (dry season) 1993 to June (rainy season) 1994. Direct observations were carried out to record group movements and foraging activities of individual capybaras when feeding on specific plant species. The time devoted to feeding upon some species was recorded in relation to total foraging time (feeding + searching). Capybaras spent similar times feeding on reed (Eleocharis interstincta; Cyperaceae) and Paratheria prostrata (Poaceae) patches during the dry season though plant quality was different. During the rainy season, reeds were almost ignored by the animals which fed mainly on Hymenachne amplexicaulis, a grass with a significantly higher content of energy and protein. Capybaras fed for longer time during the dry season but more selectively during the rainy season. Capybaras were the dominant grazers in this flood savanna as inferred from the comparative effects they produced in the height, biomass and quality of the pasture in relation to those effects produced by other vertebrate herbivores, namely, cattle, feral horses and asses.
Review Article: Household, family and
welfare: past, present and future
Authors: HARRIS BERNARD
Published: July 2002

J. Robin, From childhood to middle age: cohort analysis in Colyton,
1851–1891. (Cambridge: Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social
Structure, Working Paper Series, no. 1, n.d.). Pages
iv+83. £2.50.

H. Cunningham and P. P. Viazzo (eds.), Child labour in historical
perspective, 1800–1985: case studies from Europe, Japan and Colombia.
(Florence: United Nations Children's Fund, International Child
Development Centre, 1996.) Pages 105. US$9.00.

L. Marks, Metropolitan maternity: maternal and infant welfare services in
early-twentieth century London. (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1996.) Pages
xxii+344.

A. Walker (ed.), The new generational contract: intergenerational relations,
old age and welfare. (London: UCL Press, 1996). Pages xiii+241.

These four publications vary significantly in their geographical coverage
and general subject matter, but it is still possible to identify a number of
common themes. They are particularly important for what they reveal
about the links between formal welfare provision, protective legislation,
family care, and the standard of living. They also yield many individual
insights into such matters as family reconstitution, migration, child
labour, working conditions, municipal welfare services, the decline of
infant and maternal mortality, and the possible existence of a demographic
threat to the viability of modern welfare states.
ON THE NUMBER OF REFUSALS IN A BUSY PERIOD
Authors: Peköz Erol A.
Published: July 2002

Formulas are derived for moments of the number
of refused customers in a busy period for the
M/GI/1/n and the
GI/M/1/n queueing
systems. As an interesting special case for the
M/GI/1/n system, we note that
the mean number is 1 when the mean interarrival time equals
the mean service time. This provides a more direct argument
for a result given in Abramov [1].
ON A CONJECTURE OF FILL AND HOLST INVOLVING THE MOVE-TO-FRONT
RULE AND CACHE FAULTS
Authors: Hildebrand Martin
Published: July 2002

Fill and Holst conjectured for the move-to-front rule that
the probability that the search time is greater than c
will be Schur concave in the stationary distribution for any value
of c. This paper disproves the conjecture but proves
some conclusions that would be implied by the conjecture.
THE EMERGENCE OF LANGUAGE. Brian MacWhinney (Ed.).
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1999. Pp. xvii + 500. $99.95 cloth, $45.00 paper.
Authors: Bolotin Naomi
Published: July 2002

This book contains 16 papers that were presented at the 28th Carnegie Mellon Symposium
on Cognition in 1997, entitled “Emergentist Approaches to Language
Acquisition.” Emergentism assumes that linguistic properties arise from the interaction of
general-purpose cognitive processes with environmental data, rather than from prewired,
language-specific constraints.
GESTURE AS A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY IN SECOND LANGUAGE
DISCOURSE: A STUDY OF LEARNERS OF FRENCH AND SWEDISH.Marianne
Gullberg. Lund, Sweden: Lund University Press, 1998. Pp. 253.
Authors: Jungheim Nicholas O.
Published: July 2002

Nonverbal behavior has received little serious attention among second language acquisition
researchers until now. Its importance is acknowledged with token attention in communicative
competence frameworks and taxonomies of communication strategies, but empirical studies are
few and far between. Marianne Gullberg's study of second language learners' use of
gesture as a communication strategy is a welcome attempt to fill this gap.
NOTES AND DISCUSSION Is regularization determined by semantics, or grammar, or
both? Comments on Kim, Marcus, Pinker, Hollander & Coppola (1994)
Authors: SHIRAI YASUHIRO
Published: July 2002

Kim, Marcus, Pinker, Hollander & Coppola (1994) argue that the
preference children and adults show for regular inflection for verbs and
nouns with novel meanings (e.g. The batter *flew/flied out to centre
field) should be attributed to their grammatically based sensitivity to the
derivations of these verbs and nouns. However, it could also be that
speakers avoid the use of irregular forms to avoid conveying the
conventional meaning associated with the irregular form, such as
literally flying to centre field. This paper, in reply to Kim et al. (1994),
reinterprets their findings and argues for a semantic/functional account,
without resorting to a grammatical account.
An intersection property of Sylow 2-subgroups in non-solvable groups
Authors: FELDMAN ARNOLD D. , DASGUPTA AMIL
Published: July 2002

Let Sylp(G)
denote the set of Sylow p-subgroups of a finite group G. We say
that
G has Property Ip if, for any
S∈Sylp(G) and
U, V[les ]G,
S∩U∈Sylp(U)
and
S∩V∈Sylp(V)
implies
S∩U∩V∈Sylp
(U∩V). Below, every group is assumed to be finite.
Home Fires: Creating a Pacific Theatre in the Diaspora
Authors: Balme Christopher , Carstensen Astrid
Published: July 2002

Theatre created by Pacific Islanders is perhaps the most recent significant development in New Zealand theatre of the 1990s. Exploring this new phenomenon within a concept of diaspora, productions, producers and themes are linked to notions of displacement, home, and disruption on several levels. Three recent plays and productions are examined: Think of a Garden by the Samoan-American John Kneubuhl, which explores memory as the basis of diasporic identity; Home Fires, a collaborative production between Pacific Island and Ma°ori artists in which a new kind of syncretic theatrical style transcending specific cultural codes was developed; and Tatau – Rites of Passage, a performance created by the Christchurch-based group Pacific Underground and the Australian community theatre group Zeal Theatre which explores the notion of ritual reincorporation – involving actual tattooing on stage – as a means of transcending diaspora and repairing the ruptures caused by it.
Biodiversity in fresh waters – an issue of species preservation or system functioning?
Authors: MOSS BRIAN
Published: July 2002

Fresh waters offer intricate diversity, from small hot springs to huge floodplain systems, from temporary pools to big lakes, each containing significant proportions of the world's stock of inland water. In this collection is a great diversity of organisms, and of interesting relationships amongst them and with traditional peoples. There is thus every reason to value the diversity of freshwater systems and reasons for conserving them, from the ethical to the economic, can be listed no less than for terrestrial systems.

The approaches currently used to conserve the diversity of terrestrial systems, however, may be counter-productive for the conservation of freshwater systems. These approaches include emphasis on individual, often charismatic species, or on areas of high quality that can be boundaried and protected (fortress conservation) and rest on arguments that all species must be maintained for the system to function. The current decline in world biodiversity under our increasing impact suggests that these are failing approaches even for terrestrial systems. They may be disastrous for freshwater ones.
Comparative assessment of stakeholder management in traditional Fijian fishing-grounds
Authors: COOKE ANDREW J. , POLUNIN NICHOLAS V.C. , MOCE KOLINIO
Published: July 2002

The customary tenure of reef areas in many parts of the South Pacific offers an obvious context within which fishery resources might be managed cooperatively between customary-rights owners and fisheries personnel in government, yet the local foundations for such co-management have received little critical attention. Seven customary fishing rights areas (CFRAs) in Fiji were the focus of the present study, the objective being to compare management of CFRAs subject to differing levels of fishing access and ascertain those factors most influential to local management practices. The intensity of access (‘access pressure’) was measured as the number of licences issued per CFRA and per unit area, while management was assessed as an index, based on evidence of five aspects of management (management structure, marshalling of information for management, approach to goodwill payments, management measures and patrolling and enforcement) derived from questionnaires. Management varied amongst the CFRAs, one of the seven being essentially unmanaged because of a breakdown in succession between chiefs. There was little evidence for management responding uniformly to access pressure; rather, two CFRAs evinced a certain management aptitude regardless of this pressure, and two other CFRAs evinced relatively little management although pressure was high. A simple survey technique can indicate useful contrasts amongst CFRAs in functional local management, and thus be useful for guiding decisions about where to make investments in local management or co-management.
Using GIS to identify under-represented ecosystems in the National Wilderness Preservation System in the USA
Authors: LOOMIS JOHN , ECHOHAWK J. CHRIS
Published: July 2002

Wilderness designation continues to be a contentious effort and must be fully justified even in wealthy countries such as the USA. An important consideration in setting priorities for additional designations of Wilderness is to ensure that under-represented ecosystems are protected. The utility of Geographic Information Systems in performing this task is illustrated using data on ecoregions and areas in the National Wilderness Preservation System to determine the relative protection currently afforded to different ecoregions in the continental USA. We find that 23 of the 35 ecoregions have less than 1% of their land area protected as Wilderness, and 7 of the 35 have no land protected as Wilderness whatsoever. While much of the land with little protection is in areas dominated by private land ownership in the mid-west and southeast, a surprisingly large amount of land in the Intermountain states of Nevada and Utah, which is in public ownership, is substantially under-represented in the National Wilderness Preservation System as well. The implications of this analysis for wilderness allocation strategies are detailed. The technique illustrated in this paper is a useful aid in designing protected area strategies in countries throughout the world.
Variations in the prevalence of antibody to brucella infection in

cattle by farm, area and district in Kenya
Authors: KADOHIRA M. , McDERMOTT J. J. , SHOUKRI M. M. , KYULE M. N.
Published: July 2002

Variations in the sero-prevalence of antibody to brucella

infection by cow, farm and area factors were investigated for three

contrasting districts in Kenya: Samburu, an arid and pastoral

area; Kiambu, a tropical highland area; and Kilifi, a typical

tropical coastal area. Cattle were selected by a two-stage cluster

sampling procedure and visited once between August 1991 and 1992.

Schall's algorithm, a statistical model suitable for

multi-level analysis was used. Using this model, older age, free

grazing and large herd size ([ges ] 31) were associated with higher

seroprevalence. Also, significant farm-to-farm, area-to-area and

district-to-district variations were estimated. The patterns of high

risk districts and areas seen were consistent with known animal

husbandry and movement risk factors, but the larger than expected

farm-to-farm variation within high risk areas and districts could not

be explained. Thus, a multi-level method provided additional

information beyond conventional analyses of sero-prevalence data.
The kinetics of serum antibody responses to natural infections

with Mycobacterium bovis in one badger social group
Authors: NEWELL D. G. , CLIFTON-HADLEY R. S. , CHEESEMAN C. L.
Published: July 2002

Bovine tuberculosis remains a significant problem in some parts
of Great

Britain and Ireland

largely because of a reservoir of infection in badgers. Little is currently

known about the

immunopathology of Mycobacterium bovis infection in the badger.
Badgers,

from 31 social

groups, in a study area of the Cotswold escarpment, have been trapped and
sampled

from 1981 to 1995. Serum antibody responses directed against the 25 kDa
antigen

(MPB83) of M.

bovis have been studied in detail in a selected social group (JM)
which

has endemic infection.

Sequential sera from 44 badgers were studied and results compared with
culture

from faeces,

urine, tracheal aspirates, bite wound swabs and at post mortem. The results

indicate that some

badgers (about 10%) remain uninfected despite exposure to endemic M.

bovis infection within

the social group. In culture-positive animals active excretion of organisms
is

not necessarily

concomitant with seropositivity. Conversely, seropositivity is not an indicator

that culture

positivity is present or imminent. This is particularly true in cubs when
a

transient

seropositivity can occur within the first 6–8 months of life but
these

animals can remain

culture-negative for up to 5 years. Western blotting confirms that at least

some of these

antibodies, detectable by ELISA in the culture-negative cubs, are directed
against

the 25 kDa

M. bovis antigen. In contrast antibodies detectable in the

culture-positive animals do not

Western blot prior to a positive culture. Thus, differential reactivity
in

Western blotting may

distinguish between serum antibodies indicative of potentially culture-positive

animals and animals which will remain culture-negative.
Origin and characteristics of enteroinvasive strains of
Escherichia coli (EIEC) isolated in Germany
Authors: BEUTIN L. , GLEIER K. , KONTNY I. , ECHEVERRIA P. , SCHEUTZ F.
Published: July 2002

Thirty-five E. coli strains belonging to O-serogroups
associated with enteroinvasive types of
Escherichia coli (EIEC) isolated in Germany between 1989 and
1995 were investigated for
invasivity-associated DNA sequences. Only 11 strains were positive for
ipaH and thus
confirmed as EIEC. All 11 EIEC isolates originated from human infections which were
imported to Germany from Eastern Europe. EIEC O124 were most frequent and originated
from asymptomatic Romanians arriving at Rostock, Germany in 1992 and
1993. In January
1993, EIEC O124 were isolated from faeces of a laboratory technician
with diarrhoea working
at the enteric pathogen department of the Institute of Hygiene in
Rostock. By comparing her
E. coli O124 isolate with recently imported O124 strains for
Xba I restriction fragment length
polymorphisms (RFLP) the probable source of infection could be determined.
Four major
RFLP patterns were found in the group of O124 strains. O124 strains
with identical RFLP
patterns were found in the group of O124 strains. O124 strains with
identical RFLP patterns
were isolated from people who were in close contact to each other.
Human Escherichia coli O157[ratio ]H7 infection associated
with

the consumption of unpasteurized goat's milk
Authors: BIELASZEWSKA M. , JANDA J. , BLÁHOVÁ K. , MINAŘÍKOVÁ H. , JÍKOVÁ E. , KARMALI M. A. , LAUBOVÁ J. , šIKULOVÁ J. , PRESTON M. A. , KHAKHRIA R. , KARCH H. , KLAZAROVÁ H. , NYČ O.
Published: July 2002

A cluster of four cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome in children

occurred in Northern

Bohemia, Czech Republic, between 15 June and 7 July, 1995. All the cases

had significantly

elevated titres of anti-O157 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antibodies as detected

by the indirect

haemagglutination assay. All but one of them had drunk unpasteurized

goat's milk from the

same farm within the week before the disease. Evidence of E. coli

O157 infection was

subsequently found in 5 of 15 regular drinkers of the farm's raw

goat's milk; four of them

were asymptomatic, 1 had mild diarrhoea at the end of June. Verocytotoxin

2-producing E. coli

O157[ratio ]H7 strains of phage type 2 and of identical pulsed-field gel

electrophoresis patterns were

isolated from 1 of 2 farm goats and from 1 of the asymptomatic goat's
milk

drinkers. The

frequency of anti-O157 LPS antibodies found among regular drinkers of the

farm's raw goat's

milk (33%; 5 of 15) was significantly higher than that found in control

population (0%; none

of 45) (P=0·0005; Fisher's exact test). Our findings

indicate that goats may be a reservoir of

E. coli O157[ratio ]H7 and a source of the infection for humans;

raw goat's milk may serve as a vehicle of the pathogen transmission.
The prevalence of antibody to the viruses of bovine virus
diarrhoea, bovine herpes virus 1, rift valley fever, ephemeral
fever and bluetongue and to Leptospira sp in free-ranging
wildlife in Zimbabwe
Authors: ANDERSON E. C. , ROWE L. W.
Published: July 2002

The prevalence of antibody to the viruses of bovine virus
diarrhoea (BVD), bovine herpes virus
type1 (BHV1), rift valley fever (RVF), bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) and
bluetongue (BT) and
to Leptospira sp. was determined in wildlife populations
in Zimbabwe. Evidence of infection
with BVD virus was found in 14 of the 16 species examined but was greatest
in eland
Taurotragus oryx, nyala Tragelaphus angasi and
bushbuck Tragelaphus scriptus. Persistent
infection with BVD virus was found in 1 of 303 antibody-free eland but
not in the smaller
sample of 102 antibody-free buffalo Syncerus caffer.
Antibody to BHV1 was widespread, being
found in 10 of 16 species with the highest prevalence being in buffalo
and eland. Antibody to
RVF was most prevalent in black rhino Diceros bicornis and
white rhino Ceratotherium simum,
buffalo and waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus. Both BEF and BT were
widespread in all the
species examined. Evidence of infection with Leptospira sp.
was found in 7 species. Infections were due to up to 3 of 8 different serovars.
Cohort study of serum total cholesterol and in-hospital
incidence of infectious diseases
Authors: IRIBARREN C. , JACOBS D. R. , SIDNEY S. , CLAXTON A. J. , FEINGOLD K. R.
Published: July 2002

A multiethnic cohort of adult members of the Kaiser Permanente
Medical Care Program
(55300 men and 65271 women) was followed for 15 years (1979–93) to
assess the association
between total cholesterol and risk of infections (other than respiratory
and HIV) diagnosed in
the in-patient setting. Using multivariate Cox regression, total cholesterol
was inversely and
significantly related to urinary tract, venereal, musculo-skeletal, and
all infections among men;
and to urinary tract, all genito-urinary, septicaemia or bacteraemia, miscellaneous
viral site
unspecified, and all infections among women. The reduction of risk of all
infections associated
with a 1 s.d. increase in total cholesterol was
8% in both men (95% CI, 4–12%) and women
(95% CI, 5–11%). For urinary tract infections among men, as for septicaemia
or bacteraemia
and nervous system infections among women, the risk relation was restricted
to persons aged
55–89 years. Nervous system infections were positively related to
total cholesterol among
women aged 25–54. In both genders, the significant inverse association
with all infections
persisted after excluding the first 5 years of follow-up. Collectively,

these data are suggestive of
an inverse association, although not entirely consistent, between
total cholesterol and incidence
of infections either requiring hospitalization or acquired in the hospital.
Further research is
needed to elucidate whether these associations are biologically plausible
or represent
uncontrolled confounding by unmeasured risk factors.
Acute hepatitis B infection in England and Wales: 1985–96
Authors: BALOGUN M. A. , RAMSAY M. E. , FAIRLEY C. K. , COLLINS M. , HEPTONSTALL J.
Published: July 2002

Confirmed acute hepatitis B infections are reported to the Public
Health Laboratory Service
Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre by laboratories in England and
Wales. These
reports have been used to monitor trends in the incidence of hepatitis
B virus (HBV) infection
over time, and between exposure categories and age groups. Between 1985
and 1996 a total of
9252 cases of acute HBV infection were reported; the number of reports
fell from 1761 in 1985
to 581 in 1996. Most infections were reported in adults aged 15–44
years [n=7365 (80%)],
and infections were more commonly reported in males [n=6490
(70%)] than females
[n=2658 (29%)]. The probable means of acquisiiton was
known for just over half of all adult
cases [4827/8956 (54%)]. Injecting drug use was the most
common exposure [n=1901 (21%)],
followed by sex between men and women [n=1140 (13%)]
and sex between men [n=1025
(11%)]. The number of infections in injecting drug users fell in the
late 1980s, but increased
again from 1991 onwards. In children aged under 15 years, infections acquired
by mother to
baby transmission accounted for 35/170 (21%) of the total. Surveillance
indicates that the
incidence of acute hepatitis B infection fell in the late 1980s, probably
reflecting changed
behaviour in injecting drug users. An increase in the number of infections
in injecting drug
users since 1993 may indicate ongoing transmission that has not been contained
by the
introduction of needle exchange schemes or by selective vaccination.
Influenza A among community-dwelling elderly persons in
Leicestershire during winter 1993–4; cigarette smoking as a
risk factor and the efficacy of influenza vaccination
Authors: NICHOLSON K. G. , KENT J. , HAMMERSLEY V.
Published: July 2002

In a prospective study of community-dwelling people 60–90 years of age, we examined the
coverage of influenza vaccine during 1992–3 and 1993–4, the efficacy of vaccination in reducing
serologically-confirmed clinical episodes of influenza A during 1993, and the effect of cigarette
smoking. During 1992 and 1993, influenza vaccine was given to 106/215 (49%) and 120/204
(59%) people with risk conditions, and 84/225 (37%) and 103/235 (44%) without risk
conditions. Influenza vaccination and general practitioner consultations during 1992 were
independent predictors of vaccination in 1993, but current smoking was a negative predictor.
Of 209 unimmunized people, 8/35 (23%) smokers had clinical influenza as compared with
11/174 (6 %) non-smokers (OR 4·4, 95% CI 1·6 to 11·9). Of 371 non-smokers, 1/197 (0·5%)
vaccinees had influenza as compared with 11/174 (6 %) non-vaccinees (OR 0·075, 95% CI
0·587 to 0·009). No cases of influenza occurred among 21 current smokers who were
vaccinated.
Implications of hypoxia for the brain size and gill morphometry of mormyrid fishes
Authors: Chapman Lauren J. , Hulen Kevin G.
Published: July 2002

The mormyrids are well known for their remarkable electrogenic and electrolocation capabilities and exceptionally large cerebellum that may account for much of their total oxygen consumption. Mormyrids living in oxygen‐deficient waters may use oxygen efficiently, protecting the brain from hypoxia damage; and/or brain size may be reduced. This study compares the TFL, gill lamellar density, gill lamellar area, total gill surface area, and brain size of two species of mormyrids from extremely hypoxic waters in Uganda (Gnathonemus victoriae and Petrocephalus catostoma) to two open‐water species (Mormyrus kannume and Gnathonemus longibarbis) from the same region. In addition, interdemic variation was considered by comparing swamp populations of G. victoriae and P. catostoma to open‐water populations of the same species. Total gill surface area of all species fell within the upper range for freshwater fishes. However, there were both intraspecific and interspecific differences in gill characters. Interdemic comparisons showed larger gill size in swamp‐dwelling populations. Brain size varied among species; larger brains were characteristic of species from well‐oxygenated waters. Large gill surface area may permit survival of mormyrids in oxygen‐stressed environments; however, mechanisms compensating for hypoxia seem to be inadequate to support a brain size as large as that seen in fish from well‐oxygenated waters.
Facts and fiction about long‐term survival in tardigrades
Authors: Jönsson K. Ingemar , Bertolani Roberto
Published: July 2002

Tardigrades have achieved a widespread reputation for an ability to survive more than a century in an inactive, ametabolic state called cryptobiosis. However, a closer look at the empirical evidence provides little support for the claim that tardigrades are capable of century‐long survival. Instead, current evidence suggests that a decade may more realistically represent the upper limit of cryptobiotic survival in the most resistant tardigrades.
Effects of piscivory on the fatty acid profiles and antioxidants of avian yolk: studies on eggs of the gannet, skua, pelican and cormorant
Authors: Surai Peter F. , Bortolotti Gary R. , Fidgett Andrea L. , Blount Jonathan D. , Speake Brian K.
Published: July 2002

Piscivorous birds consume diets which are rich in highly‐polyunsaturated n‐3 fatty acids; these play vital roles in embryonic development but are very susceptible to oxidative damage. The effects of such diets on the fatty acid composition and antioxidant content of the yolk were investigated in the northern gannet Morus bassanus, the great skua Catharacta skua, the American white pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos and the double‐crested cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus. The phospholipid fraction of the eggs of these four species contained high proportions of the n‐3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid, which formed 7.5–11.3% (w/w) of the fatty acids of this fraction. The presence of eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acids also contributed to the total n‐3 content of the phospholipid. The n‐6 polyunsaturate, arachidonic acid, formed between 8% and 19% (w/w) of the phospholipid fatty acids. For the pelican and cormorant, this is consistent with the consumption of freshwater fishes in which arachidonic acid may be a significant acyl constituent. This finding is, however, more difficult to explain for the gannet and skua which largely consume marine fish with a low arachidonic acid content. The yolks of all four species contained relatively high concentrations of vitamin E (90.2–302.3 μg g−1 wet yolk) which was mainly present as α‐tocopherol. The eggs of the pelican and cormorant were especially enriched in carotenoids (150.9 and 115.7 μg g−1 wet yolk, respectively).
The execution of arbitrary procedures by children with autism
Authors: BÍRÓ SZILVIA , RUSSELL JAMES
Published: July 2002

Executive tasks typically contain a prepotent lure. In addition, they require individuals either
to (a) follow arbitrary procedures or (b) update their model of the physical world. Recent research
suggests that children with autism may be challenged only by executive tasks of the former kind
(containing arbitrary rules). We asked whether this continues to be true when there is no prepotent lure, comparing performance on (a) a task with arbitrariness but without prepotency with (b) a task with both features and (c) a task with neither. The participants with
autism performed at a lower level than comparison groups on the first and second task but not on
the third task. This outcome is consistent with the view that autism is associated with difficulties
in following arbitrary procedures per se. We try to locate difficulties with acting on the basis
arbitrary rules in relation to more mainstream ideas about autistic executive dysfunction.
Parent–infant interactions among families with alcoholic fathers
Authors: EIDEN RINA DAS , CHAVEZ FELIPA , LEONARD KENNETH E.
Published: July 2002

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between fathers' alcoholism
and the quality of parent–infant interactions during free play. A related goal was to study
the potential mediating or moderating role of comorbid parental psychopathology, such as
depression and antisocial behavior, difficult infant temperament, and parental aggression. The
sample consisted of 204 families with 12-month-old infants (104 alcoholic and 100 control
families), recruited from New York State birth records. Results indicated that fathers'
alcoholism was associated with a number of other risk factors (depression, antisocial behavior,
and family aggression). Fathers' alcoholism was also associated with more negative
father–infant interactions as indicated by lower paternal sensitivity, positive affect,
verbalizations, higher negative affect, and lower infant responsiveness among alcoholic fathers.
As expected, fathers' depression mediated the relationship between fathers'
alcoholism and sensitivity, while maternal depression mediated the association between maternal
alcohol problems and maternal sensitivity. Parents' psychopathology did not moderate the
association between alcoholism and parent-infant interactions. The results from the present study
suggest that the origins of risk for later maladjustment among children of alcoholic fathers are
apparent as early as infancy and highlight the role of comorbid parental risk factors.
HOLCF = HOL + LCF
Authors: MÜLLER OLAF , NIPKOW TOBIAS , VON OHEIMB DAVID , SLOTOSCH OSCAR
Published: July 2002

HOLCF is the definitional extension of Church's Higher-Order Logic with Scott's Logic
for Computable Functions that has been implemented in the theorem prover Isabelle. This
results in a flexible setup for reasoning about functional programs. HOLCF supports standard
domain theory (in particular fixpoint reasoning and recursive domain equations), but also
coinductive arguments about lazy datatypes. This paper describes in detail how domain theory
is embedded in HOL, and presents applications from functional programming, concurrency
and denotational semantics.
A NEW SPECIES OF AMOMUM ROXB. (ZINGIBERACEAE) FROM MEGHALAYA, NE INDIA
Authors: TRIPATHI S. , PRAKASH V.
Published: July 2002

A new species, Amomum vermanum from NE India, is described and illustrated.
Some Narrative Methodologies for Clinical Ethics
Authors: ELLOS WILLIAM J.
Published: July 2002

The increasing role played by medical ethicists
in the clinical setting both as teachers and consultants
has brought with it a demand for new methodologies that
speak more precisely to the multiple problems encountered
in actual attempts at case resolution. Some of these moves
have to do with a revival of the truly classic case study
approach to ethics, casuistry. This approach is anchored
in the revelatory text of Jonsen and Toulmin, The Abuse
of Casuistry. A fine example of this methodology
is an article in The Journal of Clinical Ethics,
“Gathering Information and Casuistic Analysis.”
Conjoined to this approach is a renewed interest in virtue
ethics. The groundwork for this was laid by MacIntyre's
masterful history of its demise in After Virtue.
A clear and concise application of this ancient but always
new approach is given in Pellegrino and Thomasma's
book The Virtues in Medical Practice.
This way of doing ethics is particularly congenial to the
practice of healthcare ethics in that it understands that
virtue is just a rather fancy name for a good habit or
skill. Since the practice of clinical medicine is quintessentially
the learning and application of a range of often highly
complex patterns of professional abilities and skills,
a virtue ethics approach will allow for the concomitant
development of a whole set of ethical skills. But both
casuistry and virtue ethics may well be seen to be operative
in a larger context now known as narrative ethics.
Function Learning from Interpolation
Authors: ANTHONY MARTIN , BARTLETT PETER L.
Published: July 2002

In this paper, we study a statistical property of classes of real-valued functions that we call
approximation from interpolated examples. We derive a characterization of function classes
that have this property, in terms of their ‘fat-shattering function’, a notion that has proved
useful in computational learning theory. The property is central to a problem of learning
real-valued functions from random examples in which we require satisfactory performance
from every algorithm that returns a function which approximately interpolates the training
examples.
A Remark on the Szarek–Talagrand Theorem
Authors: ALESKER S.
Published: July 2002

A sharper form of the Szarek–Talagrand ‘isomorphic’

version of the Sauer–Shelah lemma

is proved. Also we prove an analogous ‘isomorphic’ version
of

the Karpovsky–Milman

lemma, which is a generalization of that due to Sauer and Shelah.
Spanning Subgraphs of Random Graphs
Authors: RIORDAN OLIVER
Published: July 2002

Let Gp be a random graph on
2d vertices where edges are selected independently with
a fixed probability p > ¼, and let H be the
d-dimensional hypercube Qd. We answer a
question of Bollobás by showing that, as d → ∞,
Gp almost surely has a spanning subgraph
isomorphic to H. In fact we prove a stronger result which implies that the number of
d-cubes in G ∈ [Gscr ](n, M)
is asymptotically normally distributed for M in a certain range.
The result proved can be applied to many other graphs, also improving previous results
for the lattice, that is, the 2-dimensional square grid. The proof uses the second moment
method – writing X for the number of subgraphs of G
isomorphic to H, where G is a suitable random graph, we expand
the variance of X as a sum over all subgraphs of H
itself. As the subgraphs of H may be quite complicated, most of the
work is in estimating the various terms of this sum.