bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Teaching of Additional Languages in Israel
Authors: Hallel Michael , Spolsky Bernard
Published: October 2009

There is a slowly growing number of countries like Australia (Lo Bianco 1987) which have a formally developed national language policy, or like the Netherlands (van Els 1992a) which have fully articulated foreign language teaching policies. Other countries, like New Zealand (Waite 1992) and Finland (Takala 1992), are now attempting to develop such policies. In most countries, however, it is commonly the case that the foreign language policy has grown haphazardly and can be found only implicitly in a complex set of uncoordinated policies and practices. This latter description is true of Israel.
Second Language Instruction in the Workplace*
Authors: McGroarty Mary
Published: October 2009

The American economy is changing and, according to popular wisdom and policy-level discussions, so is the skill profile of successful workers (see, for example, Naisbitt and Aburdene 1990, Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce [CSAW] 1990, Hudson Institute 1987). A hallmark of most discussions of the skills needed by workers is the emphasis on communication, including abilities to ask questions, clarify concerns, and solve problems cooperatively through discussion with others (Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO] 1991: 21, CSAW 1990: 69).
Cooperative Language Learning in School Contexts
Authors: Fathman Ann K. , Kessler Carolyn
Published: October 2009

Cooperative learning is designed to engage learners actively in the learning process. Through inquiry and interaction with peers in small groups, learners work together towards a common goal. As a major movement within the broad context of the educational mainstream, cooperative learning has specific relevance for literacy and language learning. Communicative approaches to second/foreign language teaching can effectively draw on the principles and characteristics of cooperative learning to make language teaching and learning more effective. This joining of communicative instructional approaches with cooperative learning should be effective whether applied to the second/foreign language classroom or to the sheltered classroom integrating language learning with content-area learning.
Research on Second Language Learning Strategies
Authors: Oxford Rebecca L.
Published: October 2009

Second language (L2) learning strategies are specific actions, behaviors, steps, or techniques that students employ—often consciously—to improve their own progress in internalizing, storing, retrieving, and using the L2 (Oxford 1990b, after Rigney 1978). Strategies are the tools for active, self-directed involvement that is necessary for developing L2 communicative ability (O'Malley and Chamot 1990, Wenden 1991, Wenden and Rubin 1987). Hundreds of L2 learning strategies exist and many are well recognized and used regularly by students. In a given class of students, for example, Lázló will seek out conversation partners. Iike will group words to be learned and then label each group. Marijke will give herself encouragement through positive self-talk before getting up to give a speech in the target language.
Second Language Research on Individual Differences
Authors: Oxford Rebecca L. , Ehrman Madeline
Published: October 2009

To provide the most effective instruction possible, teachers of a second language (L2) should learn to identify and comprehend significant individual differences in their students. Many excellent teachers have learned to do some of this intuitively, but explicit understanding of individual-difference dimensions can enhance the work of all teachers. Among the most important such variations are differences associated with nine factors: aptitude, motivation, anxiety, selfesteem, tolerance of ambiguity, risk-taking, language learning styles, age, and gender. All of these variables and many more have been shown to be related to L2 learning in various ways. In fact, Gradman and Hanania (1991) identify 22 individual-difference variables that can affect success in learning a new language.
Innovation in Teacher Development
Authors: Widdowson H. G.
Published: October 2009

All of the issues dealt with in the preceding sections of this volume clearly carry with them implications for language teaching and call for a reconsideration of the teacher role, the nature of pedagogic competence which such a role requires, and how people might be most effectively prepared to enact it. In the case of national curricula, as discussed in Section 1 of this volume, whatever proposals are made at the macro-level of educational policy depend for their effectiveness on the interpretation by teachers at a micro-level of pedagogic practice and their abilities to carry out the proposals. So whatever is proposed for language education as policy carries clear implications for language teacher education as well. This might seem to be all too self-evident, but it is easy to cite instances where policy decisions have been made and proposals imposed without taking such implications into account.
Language Contact
Authors: Nelde Peter Hans
Published: October 2009

Regardless of one's gastronomic persuasion, the point of the questions above have nothing to do with food; rather, they have to do with language. Even if a person speaks no German, French or Italian, words like wienerschnitzel, vinaigrette, and cappucino are very likely part of his or her vocabulary, the result of contact between speakers of English and those of other languages, leading to the introduction of foreign words into English. Although this little culinary example is not by itself significant, it does represent a phenomenon that is extremely widespread throughout the world, since contact between speakers of different languages is the rule rather than the exception. Thus, language contact and its consequences constitute a very rich area of linguistic inquiry.
Crosslinguistic Influence: Transfer to Nowhere?
Authors: Kellerman Eric
Published: October 2009

The literature oncrosslinguistic influence(Sharwood Smith and Kellerman 1986) ortransfer, as it has been traditionally called, is by now quite extensive, as befits a topic which has been wreathed in controversy ever since the fledgling days of second language acquisition (SLA). Perhaps few other research interests have been so affected by shifts of paradigm or fashion; yet whether we consider its importance primary or peripheral, an understanding of the part played by knowledge of one's first or other languages in the acquisition of a second remains an essential goal of SLA theory.
Language Policy and Planning: Fundamental Issues
Authors: Kaplan Robert B.
Published: October 2009

For much of the 20th century, language policy and planning has been essentially overlooked except as an academic enterprise, being of serious interest largely only to a small coterie of specialists scattered thinly around the world. Still, at present, only a handful of universities in the world offers anything more than a random course in language policy/planning or simply subsumes the entire field in a couple of lectures in the introductory course in sociolinguistics. In the last decade of the 20th century, real-world events have thrust language policy and planning into prominence. The collapse of the former Soviet Union and the powerful resurgence of language loyalties in various Eastern European polities, the rapid economic unification of a multilingual Europe, changing global patterns of immigration, and global economic difficulties have coalesced to create new linguistic conditions and focus attention on long existing linguistic inequities. These conditions have brought into serious question the western notion of an idealized identity betweennationandnational language. This volume of theAnnual Review of Applied Linguisticshas attempted to draw together various emerging perspectives on language policy and planning and to examine emerging circumstances in a selected set of illustrative areas:
Language-in-Education Policy and Planning
Authors: Paulston Christina Bratt , McLaughlin Susanne
Published: October 2009

This chapter provides a descriptive review of research on language-ineducation policy and planning. We intend no theoretical generalizations but rather a descriptive summary of present research (1990–1993). With various interpretations of language-in-education policy available in the literature, it is first necessary to establish the perspective which guides this review. Ingram (1990), for example, confines language-in-education to second or foreign language teaching and learning although he mentions literacy and bilingual education as topics in language-in-education.
[Unplanned] Language Policy and Planning
Authors: Baldauf Richard B.
Published: October 2009

Naturally enough, the field of language planning, as its name suggests, has concentrated its efforts on the description and practice of planned language development. This is after all its raison d'être, to provide future oriented, problem-solving language-change strategies to meet particular language needs. This orientation means that language planning is one of the key descriptive topics in applied linguistics, bringing together as it does theory from a variety of disciplines and putting that into practice. Grabe and Kaplan (1992) estimate that the applied linguistics aspects of language policy and planning make up one of four categories that accounts for about 45 percent of the items published in this field.
Language Policy and Planning in Canada
Authors: Edwards John
Published: October 2009

It is an especially opportune time to reflect upon Canadian language issues, since the recent constitutional crises-still unresolved-have at once brought them into sharp focus and demonstrated how closely language, culture, and politics may be intertwined. The official policies of bilingualism and multiculturalism, in particular, have been receiving considerable attention. The players-the French and English “charter groups,” the aboriginal populations, and non-indigenous non-English/non-French groups (the “allophones,” who possess “heritage” languages)-have, consequently, been presenting themselves and their agendas with rather more force and acerbity than usual. Full accounts of the political upheavals, and the ramifications for language policy are now becoming available (e.g., Edwards in press a; in press b; in press c).
Language Policy and Planning in Australia
Authors: Eggington William
Published: October 2009

Australian federal and state government language policy and planning efforts have had a remarkable effect on Australian educational and non-educational life during the past twenty years. This effort has resulted in strong international recognition of the Australian language policy experience. For example, Romaine, in the introduction to her anthology focusing on the languages of Australia states that “the movement to set up a national language policy is so far unprecedented in the major Anglophone countries” (Romaine 1991:8).
Language Policy and Planning in New Zealand
Authors: Kaplan Robert B.
Published: October 2009

In 1992, the author of this paper was invited to New Zealand to work within the Ministry of Education on the development of a New Zealand National Languages Policy. Prior to the arrival of the author, Waite (1992a) had prepared a comprehensive document laying out the language issues in New Zealand (see also Peddie 1991). A search of the documentation available in New Zealand (see, e.g., Kaplan 1981, National Language Policy Secretariat 1989) suggests that the notion of a National Languages Policy has been under discussion in New Zealand for more than a quarter of a century. Largely, that discussion has produced a great number of seminars, retreats, symposia, colloquia, and other meetings, and a plethora of reports, most now overtaken by time.
Language Policy and Planning in Hong Kong
Authors: Johnson Robert Keith
Published: October 2009

Hong Kong has a population of 5,902,100 people crowded into its land area of 1076 sq. kms. In broad terms, 98 percent of its population are Chinese.1 They speak Cantonese among themselves and English in dealing with expatriates. The expatriate community, once predominantly British, now reflects the full range of national and multinational commercial and banking interests, including those of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan. Luke and Richards (1982) described Hong Kong as having diglossia without bilingualism.
Language Policy and Planning in South Africa
Authors: Webb Vic
Published: October 2009

Academic involvement in language policy and planning in South Africa must be seen within the context of the country's sociolinguistic complexity and the relationship between language and a number of serious problems in the country. South Africa's sociolinguistic complexity (see Appendix) is a function of a number of factors: 1) a multiplicity of languages and cultures; 2) the overlapping demographical and geographical distribution of the country's major languages; and 3) the politicization of these languages and cultures due to both the colonial past and the policy of apartheid, and the differentiated linguistic manifestation of their politicization.
Concluding Thoughts: Language Planning Issues for the Coming Decade
Authors: Tucker G. Richard
Published: October 2009

As the review articles commissioned for this volume clearly indicate, the past two years (1992 and 1993) have been particularly rich ones for scholars concerned with language policy and language planning issues. As I reviewed these contributions, I was struck by the salience of five cross-cutting themes which seemed to underpin many of the articles-and indeed much of the current work by the profession. I propose to identify and comment briefly on each of these themes, and then to conclude by alluding to two relatively neglected areas of potential future concern. The five somewhat interrelated themes include: the role(s) of language policy or planning activities in foreshadowing or marking major world (political) events; the growing concern with ethnic revitalization; the correlates and consequences of continuing migration and mobility; the differential perceptions of the role of the mother tongue in primary education; and the potential contributions of language planning to educational and national development.
Bilingualism and Cognitive Development
Authors: Hakuta Kenji , Suben Judith
Published: October 2009

The study of the relationship between bilingualism and cognitive development has struggled with the dual definitional problems of the key component concepts. Bilingualism has been defined at various levels of functional definition. These include linguistic, cognitive, and social-psychological characteristics of individuals, as well as societal characteristics such as ethnicity and other sociodemographic variables. Failure to distinguish between these various definitions of bilingualism has led to confusion in deciphering the relationship of this elusive concept with cognitive development.
Bilingual Communities: National/Regional Profiles and Verbal Repertoires
Authors: Gonzales FSC Andrew
Published: October 2009

The 1980 Census of the Philippines (National Census and Statistics Office 1983) shows a multi-ethnic population speaking various Austronesian languages of the West Indonesian branch, which are not mutally intelligible but are clearly related to each other under various sub-groupings. The clearest divisions are the Northern Group and the Central Group, with the Northern Group situated in Northern and Central Luzon, and the Central Group located in Central and Southern Luzon, the Visayas, and parts of Mindanao (Zorc 1984). Smaller groups may be found in Eastern Mindanao (Eastern Mindanao Group), Southern Mindanao and Sulu (Sama-Bajaw Group), the area around Lake Lanao (Danao language group), Central Mindanao (the Manobo Group), and the islands of Palawan (the Palawanese Group) (cf., Pallesen 1985).
Bilingualism in South Asia (India): National/Regional Profiles And Verbal Repertoires
Authors: Sridhar Kamal K.
Published: October 2009

Anyone who undertakes to do an overview of so large an area as studies on “the South Asian bilingual's verbal repertoire and the functional allocation of languages” within so small a space as permitted by this review deserves her predicament. The problem lies in the complexity and diversity of the situation, and the danger of inanity resulting from oversimplification. However, since the alternative is to wait for book-length treatments which have yet to be written, and in the meanwhile, suffer the omission of a prime example of a multilingual region from a volume devoted to multilingualism, I shall compromise by treating only the broadly representative situations and trends and ignoring the (sometimes more interesting) particularities of a given language or an individual contact situation.
Bilingual Communities: England/National Profiles and Verbal Repertoires
Authors: Reid Euan
Published: October 2009

The scope of this brief review, and of the bibliographies which follow, has been restricted to England itself, and includes only passing reference to the Celtic languages in general (Durkacz 1983, Price 1984, Trudgill 1984), or to Scottish Gaelic and Welsh in particular (McKinnon 1977, Murray and Morrison 1984, Price and Dodson 1978). The decision to limit the scope in this way was made essentially because of the very extensive existing literature on the sociolinguistic situation of the Celtic languages in Britain, and on related educational questions. It also seemed more useful at the present time to use the limited space available to focus on the much less explored field of bilingualism and educational debate about bilingualism in England itself.
Bilingual Communities: U. S. National /Regional Profiles and Verbal Repertoires
Authors: Teschner Richard V.
Published: October 2009

From the vantage point of August 1, 1985, the past three years are better characterized by what has failed to happen, politically, in realms directly affecting the concerns of applied linguistics in the United States than by what actually has happened. Despite 55 months of the Reagan Revolution, the Department of Education is still intact, and, with it, the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA). Bilingual education continues to receive federal funding, though predictably at levels that satisfy neither its advocates (too low) nor its detractors (too high).
Minority Language Rights
Authors: Riagáin Pádraig Ó , Shuibhne Niamh Nic
Published: October 2009

Contests over human rights as claims or entitlements to state assistance are how a major, if relatively recent, feature of the socio-political processes and institutions, of modern societies (Turner 1993). Within this wider debate about human rights, the subject of minority rights has long been of concern (Dinstein and Tabory 1992, Sigler 1983). A widely held, but not unanimous, view has emerged which argues that minorities have group or collective rights which cannot be reduced to their human rights as individuals. Linguistic and cultural rights are seen by many scholars as two such overlapping dimensions of collective minority rights (de Varennes 1996, Kymlicka 1995a, Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas 1995). In a world of multicultural and multilingual states, so the argument runs, these collective rights can only be guaranteed by the active involvement of states in the implementation of policies which support linguistic and cultural rights, just as in the case of more universally recognized and accepted social and economic rights (Stavenhagen 1990).
Acculturation and Communicative Mobility among Former Soviet Nationalities
Authors: Haarmann Harald , Holman Eugene
Published: October 2009

As elements of interethnic relations, multilingualism and language contact have always played important roles. Only in recent years, however, have problems of multilingualism come to the attention of the wider public and state authorities. This attention is due partly to the spread of information about multilingual affairs and partly to the demands, expressed increasingly vocally by speakers of minority languages, that their status be safeguarded. The majority of the countries in the world have a multinational and multilingual population (Mackey 1976: 68 ff., Grimes 1992:10 ff.), and the major industrialized states are no exception. The United States of America, India, China, Britain, Spain and the former Soviet Union are commonly known to be multilingual states, but the fact that France, Germany, and Japan also fall into this category, is not as commonly known.
Multilingualism in Israel
Authors: Spolsky Bernard
Published: October 2009

Israel's geographical position as a land bridge connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa, its resulting long history of conquest and reconquest, and its status as the point of focus of four major world religions (the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity, and significant to Islam and Baha'i), all assure it a long tradition of complex and ever-changing multilingualism. By the beginning of the Common Era two thousand years ago, a pattern of triglossia had emerged, with Hebrew, Judeo-Aramaic, and Greek all playing meaningful roles (Spolsky 1983). This model of language organization became the norm for the Jewish people during most of their dispersion, with separate defined functions for three languages. Hebrew (actually Hebrew and Talmudic Aramaic) was used for religious and literacy purposes; a Jewish language like Yiddish, Judeo-French, Ladino, or Judeo-Arabic was used for most other community and home functions (Rabin 1981); and one or more “co-territorial vernaculars” was used for communication with non-Jews (Weinreich 1980).
Multilingualism in England
Authors: Rampton Ben , Harris Roxy , Leung Constant
Published: October 2009

A great deal has happened in the study and understanding of multilingualism in England since it was last considered inARAL(Reid 1985). To examine these changes, this review will concentrate on the dynamic and contested relationships among 1) educational policy, 2) academic discourse, and 3) everyday sociolinguistic practice. Our account is limited to England and to its newer heritage languages; due to limitations of space, it also does not provide any detailed discussion of particular languages. For fuller sociolinguistic discussion of thirty one of these, we refer the reader to Alladina and Edwards (1991), a major step forwards in the documentation of linguistic diversity in the British Isles which provides an idea of the wide but uneven spread of multilingualism across a range of institutional sites (including, for example, press and broadcasting as well as education).
Multilingualism in the United States
Authors: Lee McKay Sandra
Published: October 2009

The scope of this paper is limited to an overview of mutilingualism in the U.S. from 1980 to the present. During this period, discussions of language diversity in the U.S. have been largely dominated by an effort to exert the hegemony of English. This effort has been brought on by changes in the demographic makeup of the U.S. population and supported by a commonly held belief that the economic strength of the U.S. in the international sphere is declining. A dramatic increase in the number of immigrants from Central and South America and the Pacific Rim, coupled with increasing economic competition from industrialized European and Asian nations, has resulted in widespread support for the exclusive use of English in the U.S. This emphasis on English is seen as a way to minimize the threat of the “foreign” influences that are believed to be undermining both the internal unity of the U.S., and its economic world dominance. Whereas nativism is nothing new in the U.S., its current intensity has been fueled by global aspects of migration and economic trade.
Epidemiological complexity of hospital aeromonas infections revealed by electrophoretic typing of esterases
Authors: Picard B. , Goullet Ph.
Published: October 2009

An epidemiology analysis of a series of 12Aeromonas hydrophilainfections, including six of septicaemia, which occurred on several wards of one hospital during the summer of 1982 is presented. The hypothesis that the hospital water could be the source of these infections was supported by the isolation of 1–10 motile aeromonads per ml in most of the water samples collected from various points on the hospital water system. Electrophoretic esterase typing was used as an epidemiological screening method to determine the relationship between bacterial strains isolated from the patients and those from water samples. The epidemiology ofA. hydrophilainfection in the hospital was found to be complex. Amongst the 15 strains ofA. hydrophilaisolated from patients were 8 zymotypes, while amongst the 126 strains from the water samples there were 37. In some cases, several zymotypes were isolated simultaneously from the same tap water. On one ward, the same zymotype was found in 2 patients and in 2 water samples. The prophylactic measures taken in 1982–5 to avoid oral contamination of immunocompromised patients with infected hospital water have significantly reduced the number of cases of septicaemia. This success has constituted additional retrospective evidence for the water-borne origin of these infections.
Common respiratory and gastrointestinal illness in paediatric student nurses and medical technology students
Authors: Gerth H.-J. , Grüner Ch. , Müller R. , Dietz K.
Published: October 2009

The aim of this study was to establish the risk of acquiring common respiratory and gastrointestinal illness for paediatric nurses. Using self-administered questionnaires, student nurses at two children's hospitals and students at one school of medical technology reported biweekly the number of minor illnesses, symptoms, and indicators of severity of infection over a 3-year period (1975–8). Although a systematic bias was evident with some symptoms, others appeared to be quite reliable. The following four syndromes were defined to estimate the risk: upper respiratory syndrome (URS), lower respiratory syndrome (LRS), respiratory and gastrointestinal syndrome (RGS), and gastrointestinal syndrome (GS). Surveillance days were allocated to groups with high- or low-intensity contact with children. The incidence of all illnesses was 2·9 per person-year in the low-intensity contact group and 4·4 per person-year in the high-intensity contact group. The reported incidence of LRS and RGS in the high-intensity contact group was 1·55 times higher than in the low-intensity group (P < 0·001). LRS and RGS incidence was similar in nurses at both schools. During low contact periods it corresponded to that of the medical technologists.
Predisposition toTrichuris trichiurainfection in humans
Authors: Bundy D. A. P. , Cooper E. S. , Thompson D. E. , Didier J. M. , Anderson R. M. , Simmons I.
Published: October 2009

The study examines the distribution ofTrichuris trichiurainfection in a village community in St Lucia, West Indies. The infection intensity of the same age-stratified population was assessed (by drug expelled worm burden and faecal egg count) at the initiation of the study, and after 17 months of reinfection following treatment. The frequency distribution of worm numbers per person was similar at both periods of sampling. There was a significant correlation between the initial infection intensity of an individual, and the intensity acquired by the same individual following the 17 month period of reinfection. This relationship was observed in a broad range of host age classes. The study provides firm evidence that individuals are predisposed to heavy (or light)T. trichiurainfection.
Clinical conditions associated with positive complement fixation serology forChlamydiae
Authors: Puolakkainen Mirja , Kousa Merja , Saikku Pekka
Published: October 2009

The hospital records of 242 patients with diagnostic chlamydial complement fixation (CF) titres (seroconversion and/or titre ≥ 64) found among 60000 patients screened for suspected viral illnesses were reviewed to study the clinical conditions associated with positive CF serology forChlamydiae. After excluding typical genitalC. trachomatisinfections, the majority of the remainder were considered to representC. psittaciinfections. Respiratory symptoms were the most common clinical manifestations of chlamydial infections detectable by CF, but the majority (58%) of the patients did not have pneumonia. Abdominal, neurological as well as urinary tract symptoms were common. Cutaneous, joint, cardiac, genital and ocular manifestations were also noted. Fever (≥ 38·5 °C) was present in 62% of the patients. The ESR was raised (≥ 20 mm/h) in the majority of the patients (83%), but the leucocyte count was usually (86%) within normal limits. Because the clinical spectrum ofC. psittaciinfections is apparently broad, serological tests for detecting antibodies toC. psittaci(e.g. CF) should be used widely in various clinical conditions and not for patients with pneumonia alone.
Plasmid analysis as an epidemiological tool in neurosurgical infections with coagulase-negative staphylococci
Authors: Örtqvist Åke , Ransjö Ulrika , Wretlind Bengt
Published: October 2009

Coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from blood or spinal fluid during a period of 1 year in a department of neurosurgery, were analysed by biotyping, antibiotic resistance pattern and plasmid profiles. Altogether 41 isolates from 19 patients were studied. About 90% of the isolates wereStaphylococcus epidermidis. The antibiotic resistance pattern seemed to be closely related to antibiotic usage in the unit. Most common was resistance to penicillin (63%), trimethoprimsulphamethoxazole (49%) and cloxacillin (39%) while resistance to gentamicin was seen in only one strain.

In several cases species and antibiograms were identical in isolates from different patients. Plasmid pattern analysis could then be used for identification of different strains. In one instance, plasmid pattern and restriction enzyme analysis confirmed that two patients probably were infected by the same strain.
Restriction enzyme fingerprinting of trimethoprim resistance plasmids
Authors: Kraft C. A. , Timbury M. C. , Platt D. J.
Published: October 2009

Restriction enzyme fingerprinting was applied to 72 transferable trimethoprim resistance plasmids to examine aspects of their epidemiology and molecular relatedness.

These plasmids had previously been divided into 25 groups according to differences in mol. wts and in antimicrobial resistance determinants. Restriction enzyme fingerprinting allowed the plasmids to be further divided into 44 different groups. The groups based on molecular weight and resistance patterns often, but not invariably, corresponded with those based on restriction enzyme fingerprints. Some plasmids with the same mol. wt and resistance pattern had different digest fingerprints and conversely, although more rarely, plasmids which differed in molecular weight by as much as 10 MDa or in resistance pattern by one resistance marker, had indistinguishable fingerprints.

The plasmids were initially divided into three broad categories according to which restriction enzymes gave fingerprints of 6–20 fragments. These categories differed in the molecular weights of the plasmids contained, the numbers of resistance markers, and the proportions of the plasmids which carried transposon Tn7.

Some plasmids were more widespread and persistent than others with the same mol. wt and resistance pattern but with a different restriction enzyme fingerprint.

Thus, application of this technique has shown the trimethoprim resistance plasmids studied to be more diverse than was indicated by determination of mol. wt and resistance pattern, and has indicated changes in the plasmid pool over the 3 years during which they were collected.
Occurrence of multiple antibiotic resistance and R-plasmids in gram-negative bacteria isolated from faecally contaminated fresh-water streams in Hong Kong
Authors: French G. L. , Ling J. , Chow K. L. , Mark K. K.
Published: October 2009

The bacterial populations of six freshwater streams in populated areas of the Hong Kong New Territories were studied. There is considerable faecal contamination of these streams, with coliform counts as high as 105c.f.u./ml and the contaminating organisms show a high prevalence of antibiotic resistance and multiple resistance. With direct plating of water samples onto antibioticcontaining media, an average of 49% of the gram-negative bacteria were ampicillinresistant, 3% chloramphenicol-resistant and 1% gentamicin-resistant. At individual sites resistance to these three drugs was as high as 98%, 8% and 3% respectively. More than 70% of strains were resistant to two or more antibiotics, 29% to five or more and 2% to eight or more. A total of 98 patterns of antibiotic resistance were detected with no one pattern predominating. Twenty-eight gram-negative bacterial species were identified as stream contaminants.Escherichia coliwas the commonest bacterial species isolated and other frequent isolates wereEnterobactersp.,Klebsiellasp. andCitrobactersp., but no enteric pathogens were detected. The greatest prevalence of resistance and multiple resistance was associated with the heaviest contamination byE. coli.Analysis of selected stream isolates revealed multiple plasmid bands arranged in many different patterns, but multiple antibiotic resistances were shown to be commonly mediated by single transferable plasmids. Faecally-contaminated freshwater streams in Hong Kong may be reservoirs of antibiotic resistance plasmids for clinically-important bacteria.
Inhibition of colonization of the chicken alimentary tract with Salmonella typhimurium gram-negative facultatively anaerobic bacteria
Authors: Barrow P. A. , Tucker J. F. , Simpson J. M.
Published: October 2009

Oral administration of strains of food poisoning salmonellas to day-old chickens produced a profound inhibition in the subsequent colonization of the caeca by a strain of Salmonella typhimurium given one day later. Closely related genera were unable to produce a similar inhibition. The inhibition was not the result of bacteriophages produced by the first strain. Neither was it the result of an immunological response by the host induced by the first strain. In additional experiments in day-old chickens, inhibition of an Escherichia coli Nalr strain and of a Citrobacter sp. Nalr strain was produced by the antibiotic-sensitive forms of the homologous strains while strains from other genera did not produce any inhibition. When an avirulent mutant of S. typhimurium was used for pre-treatment a statistically significant reduction in the excretion of the super-infecting S. typhimurium Nalr strain over several weeks was produced. A genus specific inhibition was reproduced in vitro by mixed culture experiments. Live cultures were necessary for in vitro inhibition. Killed cells or a culture supernatant produced no inhibition.
Antibiotic sensitivity and mutation rates to antibiotic resistance inMycoplasma mycoidesssp.mycoides
Authors: Lee D. H. , Miles R. J. , Inal J. R. M.
Published: October 2009

The antibiotic resistance ofMycoplasma mycoidesssp.mycoidesstrain T1was investigated. This strain was resistant to high levels ( > 100 μg ml−1) of rifampicin and nalidixic acid. It was sensitive to streptomycin, spectinomycin and novobiocin; however, single step mutants with high levels of resistance ( > 100 μg ml−1) were readily isolated. With erythromycin and tylosin for which the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the parent strain was < 0·1 μg ml−1, mutants resistant to > 100 μg ml−1were obtained in two and three steps respectively. The MIC of tetracycline in single step resistant mutants (0·6 μg ml−1) was tenfold higher than the parent strain, but could not be increased further. There was only a twofold increase in resistance to chloramphenicol in single step mutants. The frequency of resistant mutants varied with the antibiotic and was between 4× 10minuss;6and 2× 10−8. The mutation rate to antibiotic resistance to streptomycin, spectinomycin, novobiocin, erythromycin and tylosin was between 3× 10−8and 5× 10−9per cell per generation. There was a fivefold decrease in mutation rate to resistance to 60 μg ml−1streptomycin compared to that to 20 μg ml−1.
The status of CMV as a human pathogen
Authors: Griffiths P. D. , Grundy J. E.
Published: October 2009

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common infectious agent which is well adapted to its host. Following primary infection, which is almost always asymptomatic in people with normal immunity, the virus establishes latency at sites which are unknown. The virus is probably maintained in this latent state by immune surveillance mechanisms since immunosuppression frequently leads to reactivation of virus.

Cytomegalovirus has been identified in most anatomical areas of the human body. The aim of this article is to define criteria for pathogenicity so that clinical and experimental data can be reviewed to determine if CMV is likely to cause disease at these various clinical sites. Thus, patients have been shown to die frequentlywithCMV but do they diefromit?
Bacterial adhesion to intravenous cannulae: influence of implantation in the rabbit and of enzyme treatments
Authors: Barrett S. P.
Published: October 2009

Comparison was made of the adhesion ofStaphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella aerogenesandPseudomonas aeruginosato six types of intravascular cannula material. Adhesion to materials removed from rabbit tissues did not differ significantly between types of material or between bacterial species. In contrast, major differences were found when unimplanted materials were examined; the overall rank order of adhesiveness of bacteria to unimplanted materials (S. epidermidis > P. aeruginosa > S. aureus≫K. aerogenes > E. coli) was highly significant (F= 13·0,P< 0·0005), and although no single material was consistently least attractive to all micro-organisms, FEP-Teflon and PTFE-Teflon showed significantly lower overall affinity for bacteria than other materials (P < 0·001); all species showed a significant preference for a silicone polymer (P < 0·0005). The nature of the bacterial surface structures responsible for adhesion were investigated by the actions of pronase and mixed glycosidase, which produced significant respective decreases and increases in adhesion of staphylococci to unimplanted materials; their effects on the Gramnegative bacilli were less consistent.
Red-cell IgM-antibody capture assay for the detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae-specific IgM
Authors: Coombs R. R. A. , Easter Gwen , Matejtschuk P. , Wreghitt T. G.
Published: October 2009

A red-cell IgM-antibody capture assay has been developed for detecting Mycoplasma pneumoniae-specific IgM, which is based on the adsorption or ‘capture’ of IgM from patients' sera onto so-called ‘inagglutinable’ bovine red cells, chemically linked with anti-human μ When M. pneumoniae antigen is added to the system, the red cells agglutinate in the presence of M. pneumoniae-specific IgM.

The test was compared with the μ-capture ELISA described by Wreghitt & Sillis (1985), and was found to give comparable results. The two tests had similar sensitivity and specificity and could detect M. pneumoniae-spcific IgM for a similar time (up to 6 months) after proven M. pneumoniae infection.

However, the red-cell antibody capture assay is a much more simple and rapid test, taking only 1 h to perform (compared to 24 h for μ-capture ELISA). The redcell IgM-antibody capture assay is therefore amenable to rapid diagnosis of M. pneumoniae infection and the institution of early appropriate antibiotic therapy.
Measles in developing countries Part I. Epidemiological parameters and patterns
Authors: McLean A. R. , Anderson R. M.
Published: October 2009

This paper presents a review of published data concerning the epidemiology of measles in developing countries. Simple mathematical models provide a framework for data analysis and interpretation. The analyses highlight differences and similarities in the patterns of transmission of the measles virus in developed and developing countries. Whilst the rate of loss of maternally derived immunity to measles is broadly similar, the average age at infection is much lower, and case fatality rates are much higher in developing countries. Data analysis also serves to illustrate inter-relationships between different kinds of epidemiological data. Thus, for example, in order to correctly interpret an age stratified serological profile from a developing country it is necessary to have information on the rate of decay of maternal antibodies and age specific case fatality rates. To determine the probable impact of a given vaccination programme, information on the birth rate in the community concerned is also required. A discussion is given of the epidemiological data required in order to effectively design a community based vaccination programme aimed at the eradication of measles.
Enteric pathogens in tropical aquaria
Authors: Sanyal D. , Burge S. H. , Hutchings P. G.
Published: October 2009

A total of 100 tropical aquaria from six pet shops were sampled for the presence ofSalmonella, CampylobacterandAeromonasspecies. Eight fish tanks contained unusual serotypes of salmonella. None had been used to house terrapins. One hundred and three isolates ofAeromonasspecies were obtained from 98 tanks. One tank containedPlesiomonas shigelloides.NoCampylobacterspecies were isolated. It is suggested that a tropical aquarium may constitute an infection hazard.
Cross-reactivity amongLegionellaspecies and serogroups
Authors: Pelaz Carmen , Albert Luis García , Bourgon Cecilia Martin
Published: October 2009

Cross-reactions of 17 members of the family Legionellaceae were studied by four different serological techniques: immunofluorescence (IF), slide agglutination (SA), microagglutination (MA) and immunodiffusion (ID), using antigens and rabbit antisera prepared in our laboratory. Results obtained corresponded closely with those described by other authors, especially for IF and SA.

The 17 antigens were further tested by IF with a panel of sera previously diagnosed as positive for legionella. A high number of positive reactions with several of the antigens tested were found, half of them being positive forLegionella pneumophilaserogroup 1, usually in combination with other serogroups or species. The remaining sera presented a great variety of patterns combining different antigens.
Plasmid content, auxotype and protein-I serovar of gonococci isolated in the Gambia
Authors: Johnson A. P. , Abeck D. , Wall R. A. , Mabey D. C. W. , Taylor-Robinson D.
Published: October 2009

Twenty-nine strains of penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG) and 30 non-penicillinase-producing strains, all isolated in the Gambia, were characterized in terms of their plasmid content, auxotype and protein-I serovar. Sixty-two per cent of the PPNG strains contained the 3·2 MDa penicillinasecoding plasmid, and 38% had the 4·4 MDa plasmid. All the PPNG strains contained the 2·6 MDa cryptic plasmid but lacked the 24·4 MDa conjugative plasmid. In contrast, 46·7% of the non-PPNG strains harboured only the cryptic plasmid while 16·7% contained both the cryptic and conjugative plasmids. Seventeen per cent of the non-PPNG strains contained the conjugative plasmid only and 20% lacked plasmids.

The PPNG and non-PPNG strains also differed in terms of their protein-I serovar. Eighty-six per cent of the PPNG strains belonged to serogroup 1A, whereas the majority (60%) of non-PPNG strains belonged to serogroup IB. There was no significant difference in the auxotypes of the PPNG and non-PPNG strains, with both groups consisting predominantly of prototrophic and prolinerequiring strains, with a minority of strains requiring arginine. When the 59 strains were each characterized in terms of their combined plasmid profile, auxotype and serovar, 39 different combinations were noted, which indicates the heterogeneous nature of the gonococcal population found in the Gambia.
The changing incidence of human hydatid disease in England and Wales
Authors: Palmer S. R. , Biffin Anne H. B.
Published: October 2009

The incidence of hospital-diagnosed human hydatid disease acquired in the UK was estimated from a survey based on Hospital Activity Analysis data for the period 1974–83. The average annual incidence in Wales was 0·4 per 100000 population compared with 0·02 per 100000 in England. Within Wales, Powys, and particularly Brecknock, had the highest incidence (7 per 100000 per year). Compared with the period 1953–62, the average annual incidence for Wales fell by half (from 0·8 to 0·4 per 100000 per year), but in Powys the incidence did not decline, and in Brecknock and Montgomery there was a marginal increase. In comparison with 1953–62, the age-specific incidence in Wales and Powys decreased in each age group with the notable exception of children < 15 years of age. This finding emphasizes that transmission of Echinococcus granulosus to humans is still occurring at hyper-endemic levels in parts of England and Wales and that control efforts should be intensified.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of antibodies against foot-and-mouth disease virus: III. Evaluation of antibodies after infection and vaccination
Authors: Hamblin C. , Kitching R. P. , Donaldson A. I. , Crowther J. R. , Barnett I. T. R.
Published: October 2009

Investigations using a liquid-phase blocking sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the measurement of antibodies against foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in sera from sheep and from cattle are reported, and results compared with those obtained by virus neutralization (VN) tests.

Serum antibody titres in sheep after primary vaccination and in cattle challenged with a natural aerosol after vaccination were similar by ELISA and VN. However, the antibody levels detected in sera of cattle during early infection and of vaccinated cattle after intradermolingual challenge were clearly greater by ELISA than by VN.

The ELISA titres in cattle sera following synthetic peptide vaccination indicated some relationship to protection and were clearly different from those recorded by VN. On the other hand, the antibody levels following conventional vaccination showed that ELISA and VN titres in cattle sera were related to protection. Although there was a good agreement between the ELISA antibody titre and protection for the four vaccines used, by VN the titre which afforded protection varied depending on the vaccine used.

The ELISA was considered therefore to be more reliable than the VN and may prove useful for evaluating the immunological response of animals following infection and following vaccination.
The epidemiology of mumps in the UK: a preliminary study of virus transmission, herd immunity and the potential impact of immunization
Authors: Anderson R. M. , Crombie J. A. , Grenfell B. T.
Published: October 2009

Mathematical models and statistical analyses of epidemiological data are employed to assess the potential impact of mass vaccination on the incidences of cases of mumps infection and cases of mumps related complications. The analyses reveal that in the United Kingdom the average age at infection with the mumps virus is currently between 6–7 years and that the inter-epidemic period of the infection is approximately 3 years. The critical level of vaccine uptake to eliminate mumps virus transmission is predicted to be approximately 85% of each cohort of boys and girls by the age of 2 years. Analyses of published data show that the risk of complication arising from mumps infection is markedly age- and sex-related. Model predictions suggest that the incidence of orchitis will be increased, over the level pertaining prior to mass vaccination, by levels of vaccine uptake (by 2 years of age) that are less than 70% of each yearly cohort of boys and girls. Moderate (over 00%) to high (75%) levels of vaccine uptake, however, are predicted to reduce the overall incidence of cases of mumps related complications (especially those with CNS involvement).