bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Discourse Analysis in Stylistics and Literature Instruction
Authors: Short Mick
Published: October 2009

The termsdiscourse analysisandstylistic analysismean different thing to different people. Most narrowly defined, discourse analysis has only to do with the structure of spoken discourse. Such a definition separates discourse analysis from literany stylistics and pragmatics—the study of how people understand language in context. At the other end of the spectrum, discourse analysis can be carried out on spoken and written texts, and can include matters like textual coherence and cohesion, and the inferencing of meaning by readers or listeners. In this case, it includes pragmatics and much of stylistics within its bounds. Similarly, stylistics can apply just to literary texts or not, and be restricted to the study of style or, on the other hand, include the study of meaning. For the purposes of this review, relatively wide definitions of both areas have been assumed in order to make what follows reasonably comprehensive. The main restriction assumed is that the works discussed will be relevant to the examination of literature in some way. The section on literature instruction will include matters relevant to both native and non-native learners of English, and will also make reference to the integration of literary and language study.
L2 Literacy and Biliteracy: Linguistic Consequences
Authors: Pugh Stefan M.
Published: October 2009

Literacy studies can frequently be characterized asprogrammaticand/orevaluative: They focus on the need for literacy programs, on the social consequences of illiteracy, on ways in which the literacy level of a particular population group can be increased, or on the results of various programs already implemented. A glance at a bibliographic resource such as Hladczuk, et al. (1989) reveals that the majority of entries are devoted to “literacy campaigns” and “literacy programs,” “computers and literacy,” “functional literacy,” “history of literacy,” and “libraries and literacy.” Before the 1980s, questions of a linguistic nature were infrequently addressed because emphasis was traditionally placed on thepsychological aspectsof literacy (Bendor-Samuel 1984:5).
Literacy in the U. S.
Authors: Weber Rose-Marie
Published: October 2009

In recent years the term “literacy” has rapidly expanded its space in the lexicon. Only a short time ago it was an abstract and rarely used noun, usually referring to the state of communities or societies. It was not in the vocabulary of American schooling, along with reading, writing, language arts, or English. The related terms literate and illiterate, if applied to individuals, were limited to adults and to either highly refined or very rudimentary knowledge of written language. Now the word literacy has been extended on the American scene to express knowledge of other domains in such phrases as computer literacy and scientific literacy, and it is even being pluralized as literacies. It is also being used more and more, along with literate (but not illiterate), as an over-arching term for knowledge and activities that were until recently designated separately as reading and writing in discussions of theory, research, and practice. This use of the term reflects a more unified, holistic view of reading and writing as linguistic enterprises situated in social and intellectual contexts, a view that has been expanding with marked consequences.
Literacy in Somali: Linguistic Consequences
Authors: Biber Douglas , Hared Mohamed
Published: October 2009

Some of the ways in which the range of discourse characteristics in Somali was extended due to the addition of written registers in 1973 have been examined. These discourse characteristics were operationalized by five major dimensions of variation in which each dimension represents a set of co-occurring linguistic features. With respect to three of these dimensions, the addition of written registers greatly extended the linguistic patterns previously in use: structural elaboration features along Dimension 1, lexical elaboration features along Dimension 2, and directive interaction features along Dimension 5.
Issues in Second Language Curriculum Development: Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei
Authors: Pakir Anne
Published: October 2009

This paper summarizes current theoretical and practical issues of second language learning and teaching in the national curricula of three countries—Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam. One unifying feature of these three countries in ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is the fact that they are multilingual communities with a vast range of complex linguistic and cultural traditions. A second is that they represent parallel cases of countries in which English has played an internal role historically. A third is that these countries all have Malay as the national language (albeit, in Singapore, with a large Chinese majority and with English as an important working language—Malay is not as widely used). A fourth is that bilingualism is a language policy, whether publicly advocated or implicitly sanctioned.
The National L2 Curriculum in Hungary
Authors: Medgyes Péter
Published: October 2009

Hungary is a small landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over ten million. The official language, and the mother tongue of the vast majority of the population, is Hungarian. Belonging to the Uralic language family, Hungarian is unrelated to any other European language except Finnish. In order to minimize the effects of their linguistic isolation, Hungarians have always attached great importance to the learning of foreign languages.
Bilingualism and Second Language Learning
Authors: Cummins Jim
Published: October 2009

Interest in the phenomena of bilingualism and second language learning among both researchers and policy-makers has continued to grow during the past five years. The continued salience of these phenomena is due in part to the rapid growth in cultural and linguistic diversity in industrialized societies brought about by increased immigration and refugee resettlement programs. Policy-makers are naturally concerned to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of programs that teach the dominant societal language(s) to both children and adults.
Second Language Learning in Magnet School Contexts
Authors: Met Myriam
Published: October 2009

Magnet schools have had a significant influence on second language learning in the last two decades. Designed to reduce racial isolation by attracting students to a desegregated setting, magnet schools offer an attractive option for parents willing to consider alternatives to their neighborhood school. Since the 1970s and continuing through today, school systems have found that second language programs are an effective means of drawing parents and their children to new school settings. As a result, language magnets have proliferated and have had a profound impact on language instruction throughout the U.S.
Language and the Media
Authors: Bell Allan
Published: October 2009

Media language has always attracted the attention of linguists, particularly applied linguists and sociolinguists. There are four practical and principled reasons for this interest. First, the media provide an easily accessible source of language data for research and teaching purposes. Second, the media are important linguistic institutions. Their output makes up a large proportion of the language that people hear and read every day. Media usage reflects and shapes both language use and attitudes in a speech community. For second language learners, the media may function as the primary—or even the sole—source of native-speaker models. Third, the ways in which the media use language are interesting linguistically in their own right; these include how different dialects and languages are used in advertising, how tabloid newspapers use language in a projection of their assumed readers' speech, or how radio personalities use language—and only language–to construct their own images and their relationships to an unseen, unknown audience. Fourth, the media are important social institutions. They are crucial presenters of culture, politics, and social life, shaping as well as reflecting how these are formed and expressed. Media ‘discourse’ is important both for what it reveals about a society and for what it contributes to the character of society.
Translation and Interpretation
Authors: Nicholson Nancy Schweda
Published: October 2009

With increasing frequency, the distinction between “translation” (written product) and “interpretation” (oral product) is being recognized by those outside the profession. Interpreters especially are heartened when they see “Voice of Interpreter” flash on the screen during a newscast instead of “Voice of Translator.” Many scholars and practitioners (the terms are not mutually exclusive), however, choose the generic “translation” to include both oral and written product, some referring more specifically to “interpretation” as “oral translation” and to “simultaneous interpretation” as “simultaneous translation.”
Phonetics, Phonology, and Applied Linguistics
Authors: Nádasdy Adam
Published: October 2009

The relationship between phonetics, phonology, and applied linguistics continues to be a paradoxical one. On the one hand, these fields of linguistics lend themselves more readily to applicationthan others since they deal with something more tangible and material than morphology, syntax, semantics, or historical research. On the other hand, there is something esoteric in phonetics and phonology: The objects they handle–sounds, articulatory features, acoustic spectra, stress degrees or melodies–are more elusive and hard to observe for the non-specialist than, say, suffixes, word order, or even meanings. Their terminology is rich and often forbidding, and they may sometimes seem to insist on pedantic distinctions or irrelevant detail (Dieling 1992). The validity of the phonetics–phonology dichotomy itself may be questioned when it comes to their application; however, the two fields continue to develop separately and grow further apart. Thus the application of the “sound sciences”, phonetics and phonology, is partly more advanced and partly more rudimentary than that of other linguistic branches. The purpose of the present survey is to demonstrate the importance of phonology and its applications in TEFL. To do so, this survey will examine current development in both phonetics and phonology, and then suggest implications for instructional contexts.
Generative Research on Second Language Acquisition
Authors: Eubank Lynn
Published: October 2009

A defining moment in the history of generative research on language acquisition was the advent of the Principles and Parameters (P&P) approach (Chomsky 1981). Generative research on second-language (L2) acquisition was no different in this regard, but there was a distinct twist: The L2 research agenda has also often been informed by the possibility that the L2 learner may not have “access” to the innate linguistic endowment described by Chomsky and others (Bley-Vroman 1990, Clahsen and Muysken 1986). It was thus perhaps inevitable that one might find a volume like Point Counterpoint (Eubank 1991), in which researchers with generally opposing viewpoints addressed this possibility. However, while the issue will likely be examined again in future volumes, an appraisal of more recent L2 research suggests that the “access” question no longer dominates the L2 research agenda. Instead, more recent work suggests an agenda in which “access” to UG is presupposed. The purpose of this review is thus not only to review research on the L2 “access” thesis from the 1980s and 1990s, but, more importantly, to provide an overview of more recent L2 research that is not fundamentally constrained by this issue.
Foreign Language Attrition
Authors: de Bot Kees , Weltens Bert
Published: October 2009

Compared to research on language acquisition, research on the maintenance and loss of language skills is a relatively recent development. There is, of course, a longstanding sociolinguistic tradition of research on language shift, but work in the field of attrition really started in the US in the late 1970s (Lambert and Freed 1982). Since then, research on language attrition has grown rapidly in different countries, as is witnessed by special issues devoted to the topic in the journalsApplied Psycholinguisticsin 1986,ITL-Review of Applied Linguisticsin 1989 andStudies in Second Language Acquisitionin 1989, as well as by three recent volumes: Weltens, de Bot and van Els (1986), Weltens (1989), and Seliger and Vago (1991).
Developments in Language Testing
Authors: Douglas Dan
Published: October 2009

In many ways, the year 1990 represented a watershed in language testing. In that year, the 12th annual Language Testing Research Colloquium took as its theme “A new decade of language testing research: Collaboration and cooperation.” The 1990 Colloquium was also dedicated to the memory of Michael Canale, whose work during the previous decade laid the groundwork for much of that of the 1990s. In 1990, a seminar sponsored by the Regional Language Centre in Singapore, on Language Testing and Programme Evaluation, focused on many of the problems in the field of language testing that militated against the hoped for progress of the 1980s. At both of these meetings, and at others involving language testing that year, discussions were held concerning the formation of an international professional association of language testers. The result was the formation of the International Language Testing Association in 1992. Also in 1990, a language testing computer “bulletin board,” LTEST-L, was established on Listserv, so that the international community of language testing researchers and practitioners could hold electronic “conferences” and share information and data on a world-wide basis. Finally, a number of important books on language testing were published in 1990, including works by Bachman, Davies, Heaton, and Weir, which have already had an influence on language testing research and development in the first half of the decade.
Performance Assessment in Language Testing
Authors: Shohamy Elana
Published: October 2009

In the past two decades, there has been a major shift in language testing towards the development and use of performance tests. The basis for this shift is the expectation that such tests would assess a more valid construct of what it really means to know a language. The purpose of this chapter is to review th topic of performance testing by focusing on its definitions, theory, development, and research. The chapter will begin with a review of the different definitions of performance testing and provide examples of the types of performance tests that have been developed and used. The chapter will then examine the extent to which performance tests have drawn upon the theoretical discussions of competence and performance. The next section will describe the research that has been carried out on performance tests. The chapter will end with an agenda for development and research on the manyu unanswered questions concerning performance testing.
Approaches to Alternative Assessment
Authors: Hamayan Else V.
Published: October 2009

Current trends in assessment, no longer based on the view that language learning entails a passive accumulation of skills, have led to the increasingly more common use of assessment procedures that differ quite drastically from standardized norm-referenced measures of language proficiency (Calfee and Hiebert 1991, Calfee and Perfumo 1993, Gifford and O'Connor 1991). Increasing criticism of standardized tests, especially in light of current educational reform movements, has also brought into question the value of other indirect approaches to assessment (Clay 1990, Cohen 1994, Damico 1992, Haladyana 1992, Oller 1992, Pikulski 1990, Worthen 1993). Additionally, interest groups representing both linguistically and culturally diverse students and students with special education needs have called for a change in our approaches to assessment. The goal is to ensure equity in educational opportunities and to strive toward educational excellence for all students (Council of Chief State School Officers 1992, Fradd, McGee and Wilen 1994, Hamayan and Damico 1991, LaCelle-Peterson and Rivera 1994). Although some researchers suggest that it is false to assume that alternative assessment approaches automatically ensure equity for diverse populations (Darling-Hammond 1994), these approaches nonetheless provide a wealth of information which must minimally serve as a context for a more valid interpretation of all standardized test results. In a more central capacity, information from these alternative assessment procedures can constitute the sole basis for much educational and instructional decision-making (Damico 1992).
Language Program Evaluation: Decisions, Problems and Solutions
Authors: Brown James Dean
Published: October 2009

In referring to evaluation, this chapter is not describing the testing that is done in language programs. As Alderson put it, “evaluation is the process of seeking to establish the value of something for some purpose, a test is an instrument for gauging learning outcomes” (1986:5, emphasis added). The use of the word testing will refer only to the instruments. The term evaluation will be used to include all of the instruments and processes involved in gathering information to make judgements about the value of an educational program. More precisely, language program evaluation will be understood as the systematic collection and analysis of information necessary to improve a curriculum, assess its effectiveness and efficiency, and determine participants' attitudes within the context of a particular institution (Brown 1989; 1995).
Language Maintenance and Revival
Authors: Marshall David F.
Published: October 2009

Johann Gottfreid Herder illustrated how problematic language maintenance predictions can be with his prediction in his essay,On the Origin of Languages, stating that Hungarian would briefly disappear from the surface of the earth as if it had never existed. With over 10 million speakers today in Hungary, another 4 million outside the nation, and a growing population (Hungarians in the Outside World1993), Herder's prediction remains hyperbolic, yet it illustrates how dangerous such predictions about language maintenance can be. Hungarian, as with other languages, has been maintained because of forces operating in the unique history of the nation.
Language Policy and Planning: Political Perspectives
Authors: Coulmas Florian
Published: October 2009

Since World War II, the political order that divided the world into nationstates has been remarkably stable. The balance of terror during the Cold War prevented major changes in the world system. With minor exceptions, such as the emergence of Singapore as an independent polity shortly after the foundation of Malaysia and the breakup of highly artificial geographically divided Pakistan into two separate states, even most of the countries that had come into existence as the result of decolonization did not change their borders. However, while the bi-polar system of the political and military stand-off of the two superpowers continued, a triangular world system developed on the economic plane. During the 1970s Japan became a major economic force, while the integration of the European Economic Community continued. Since the end of World War II, the United States has had close economic ties with both of the economic powers.
Language Policy and Planning in the United States
Authors: Ruiz Richard
Published: October 2009

While the United States has never declared a national official language, the primacy of English in public affairs has been well-established since the time of the earliest colonies (Crawford 1992a, Ruiz 1988). This is so in spite of the reluctance on the part of the British colonial authorities and, later, leaders of the early republic, to legislate matters of language—considered traditionally one of the most fundamental freedoms of civilized societies (Heath 1992). English even at that time was considered a language of political, economic, and social power and prestige; its preeminence in the United States, as elsewhere, has been reinforced in recent times by its establishment as a language of technology.
Language Policy and Planning in Independent Namibia
Authors: Haacke Wilfrid
Published: October 2009

An advantage of Namibia's late attainment of independence is that it can benefit from the experience of other African countries that achieved independence some thirty years earlier. Hence Namibia is unique in that it is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa that at the time of attaining independence already provided for constitutional rights for its local languages. The major policy document of the then liberation movement SWAPO, Toward a language policy for an independent Namibia (United Nations Institute for Namibia 1981), which was published in Lusaka by the institute (UNIN) as proceedings of a seminar held in 1980, essentially set the trend for the policies pursued since independence in 1990.
Introduction
Authors: Kaplan Robert B.
Published: October 2009

The sixth volume of the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (ARAL) concerns itself with international bilingual communities, and specifically with the linguistic and educational issues associated with such communities. The objective of this collection of articles is to identify multilingual communities by profile and to deal with such issues as the functional allocation of linguistic repertoires, the implications for education of the existence of multilingual communities, and the implications for the professions resulting from the allocation of linguistic repertoires. The volume aims to survey both field research and linguistic description and to cover as much of the world as it is possible to do in such a limited volume. In fact, contributions covering Australia, Canada, Ghana, Great Britain, the Philippines, South Asia, and Southeast Asia were received, while a number of other areas which had been solicited were not completed in time for publication. In addition, the material covers such concerns as the bilingual's creativity, cognitive development, education, and the media. The several studies raise a number of important questions in addition to supplying extensive annotated and unannotated bibliographies.
Toward Multilingualism as an International Desideratum in Government, Business, and the Professions
Authors: Fishman Joshua A.
Published: October 2009

The term “multilingualism,” or any of its partial synonyms and correlates (such as “bilingualism” or “bilingual education”), refers to so complex a field of phenomena that it should really be no surprise that it is defined or clarified in much the same way as are the constituent items of a projective test: more in accord with the latent internal dynamics of whatever “moves” the definer than in accord with the manifest external characteristics of the defined. Not only is this true if we move from culture to culture and seek to discover the dominant views about “multilingualism” in a variety of ethnocultural traditions, but it is also true if we focus on any one context, particularly one that is highly exposed to the assets and debits of rapid social change, such as the one we are in presently in the United States, and we seek to discover the dominant view about “multilingualism” from one period of time to another. Under both types of contrastive circumstances we quickly discover that “multilingualism is a sometime thing”; i.e., it is a variable rather than a constant. It is interpreted and reinterpreted, by all segments of society, in accord with larger issues, more pressing priorities that shape these segments, that move them, worry them, force them to alter their priorities. Yes, “multilingualism is a Zeitgeist thing” and “the times, they are a-changing,” particularly in the U.S.A. and the rest of the Western Democratic world.
Bilingualism as a Resource in the United States
Authors: Jernudd Björn H. , Jo Sung-Hwan
Published: October 2009

This paper specifies characteristics of language as a resource and demonstrates that it is possible from the perspective of economics to make a case for government involvement in foreign language learning and maintenance of skills in the U.S.A. Market solutions based on private incentives to learn and maintain language skills alone fail to provide nationally optimal solutions to international communication needs. What is required is an alternative system which combines market with non-market incentives to foreign language learning and use.
Bilingualism and Bilingual Education (1984-1985)
Authors: Trueba Henry T.
Published: October 2009

I want to go beyond the narrower definition of applied linguistics as the application of theoretical linguistics to the acquisition of second, third, and fourth languages, to the broader notion proposed by Trudgill as "the application of linguistic research to the solution of practical, educational and social problems of all types" (Trudgill 1984:1, see also Kaplan 1980).
The Republic of Ghana: an Example of African Multilingualism
Authors: Boahene-Agbo Kwaku
Published: October 2009

Throughout the entire recorded history of Africa, from the days of early missionaries until the present, the question of language constantly recurs. This is not surprising in view of the existence of a plethora of indigenous languages which cut across national borders and the added aggravation brought on by the introduction of the widely spoken and prestigious languages of the colonial powers. Finding answers to questions such as the most appropriate language, the medium for training citizens to meet their responsibilities, or the vehicle for conducting business has by no means been an easy task, given this sociolinguistic complexity, coupled with the fragile unification of African states.
Multilingualism in the Canadian Context
Authors: d'Anglejan Alison
Published: October 2009

One of the most salient characteristics of the Canadian federation is its linguistic, cultural, and geographic diversity. The second largest country in the world, Canada's population of 24,343,180 (Statistics Canada 1981) is irregularly dispersed, with enclaves of high density in the industrial areas along the United States border and vast sparsely inhabited areas in the central prairies and northern regions. These geographic facts, coupled with a high level of cultural heterogeneity, are reflected in a tendency toward the decentralization of political powers and in regional distinctiveness and autonomy.
World Englishes and English-Using Communities
Authors: Kachru Braj B.
Published: October 2009

This survey includes studies published mainly—but not exclusively—during the 1990s and focuses on literature that brings to the debate on world Englishes theoretical, conceptual, descriptive, ideological, and power-related concerns. The concept “world Englishes”—its genesis and its theoretical, contextual, and pedagogical implications and appropriateness—has been discussed during the past two decades in several programmatic studies and conference presentations (see B. Kachru 1994a). The concept, though not necessarily the term “world Englishes,” gradually evolved during the post-colonial period after the 1960s. It refers to the recognition of a unique linguistic phenomenon, and particularly to the changing contexts of the post-1940s. It was during this period that post-Imperial Englishes were being gradually institutionalized in the language policies of the changed political, educational, and ideological contexts of what were earlier the colonies of the UK and the USA. The earlier tradition of cross-cultural and cross-linguistic acquisition of English, its teaching, and its transformations were being reevaluated by some researchers. The major concerns of this reevaluation include the implications of pluricentricity (Clyne 1992), the new and emerging norms of performance, and the acceptance of the bilingual's creativity as a manifestation of the contextual and formal hybridity of Englishes. In other words, a critical evaluation of earlier paradigms was slowly initiated.
Multilingualism in the Successor States of the Soviet Union
Authors: Kreindler Isabelle
Published: October 2009

The Soviet Union was a country with one of the most complex language situations in the world. Over one hundred nationalities were listed in its last 1989 census, ranging in size from 145 million Russians (50.8 percent of the population) to the ‘26 Peoples of the North’ who together numbered only 184,448. For most of these nationalities, the majority claimed that their national language was their mother tongue. However, knowledge of Russian as first or second language was claimed by about 62 percent of the non-Russians. Only 4.2 percent of the Russians reported fluency in one of the national languages, though among the Russians living outside the Russian Federation, bilingualism was about 19 percent (Anderson and Silver 1990, Arutiunian,et al.1992, Goskomstat 1991, Haarmann 1992).
Migration and Multilingualism in Western Europe: A Case Study of the Netherlands
Authors: Extra Guus , Vallen Ton
Published: October 2009

In this survey, the demographic and linguistic consequences of recent processes of migration and minorization in Western Europe are reviewed, and a case study of the Netherlands is presented to illustrate and detail the effects of these processes on an individual European Union country. After a discussion of demographic data and criteria in a European context, linguistic issues are addressed in terms of L1 and L2 studies on immigrant and ethnic minority groups. Major demographic trends in Dutch society and education derived from these cross-national perspectives is then outlined. Specific attention is given to research and policy in the domains of Dutch as a second language and ethnic minority languages within the context of primary education.
Multilingualism in Southern Africa
Authors: Peirce Bonny Norton , Ridge Stanley G.M.
Published: October 2009

In his keynote address to the 1994 conference of the Southern African Association of Applied Linguistics, Adegbija (1994a) identified three problems faced by applied linguists in the African multilingual context. First, apart from the vibrant work in South Africa, there is very little focus on applied linguistic research in Africa, and what there is tends to focus on the ex-colonial languages rather than the indigenous languages. Second, applied linguists in African countries other than South Africa tend to have very limited research facilities. In some cases, teachers struggle to acquire the most basic resources such as typewriters and stationery. Third, political, social, and economic instability in many parts of Africa seriously undermines the work of applied linguists: A program of work begun in one political era can be summarily cut off in another.
Multilingualism in Australia
Authors: Clyne Michael
Published: October 2009

Although English fulfills many of the functions of an official language in Australia, the Australian Constitution does not declare it to be the official language. Instead, it serves as the lingua franca of a culturally and linguistic diverse population. It is the language of Parliament and Administration, and the language in which official records are kept. Only on one occasion was a federal government bill passed multilingually, the Report and Recommendations of the Review of Programs and Services for Migrants (in 1978), which was written in ten languages other than English.
The prevalence of human isolates of Salmonella subspecies II in southern Africa
Authors: Schrire L. , Crisp S. , Bear N. , McStay G. , Koornhof H. J. , Le Minor L.
Published: October 2009

The Salmonella Reference Centre in Johannesburg received 14059 strains of human origin between 1979 and 1984. A significant proportion (6·3%) proved to belong to subspecies II. The majority were cultured from faecal material, usually associated with symptoms related to the gastrointestinal tract. They comprised 884 isolates, represented by 203 serotypes, of which 45 were new serotypes.

The poor hygienic conditions found in many rural areas, together with possible contamination of food and water by wild animals, may contribute to the greater frequency of human S.II infections and the widespread occurrence of unusual serotypes in man in this geographic region.
Poultry waste associated type C botulism in cattle
Authors: Smart J. L. , Jones T. O. , Clegg F. G. , McMurtry M. J.
Published: October 2009

Botulism in UK cattle has been confirmed by demonstrating type C botulinum toxin in sera from affected animals. Evidence is presented indicating the source of intoxication to be poultry carcasses containing type C Clostridium botulinum and its toxin. The organism was also found in poultry litter and in alimentary tract samples from slaughtered animals. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Bacteriological status of beef carcasses at a commercial abattoir before and after slaughterline improvements
Authors: Hudson W. R. , Roberts T. A. , Whelehan O. P.
Published: October 2009

The bacteriological status of beef carcasses was monitored at a commercial abattoir before and after two stages of modernization to the beef slaughterline which included changing from cradle dressing to dressing on an overhead rail, and the introduction of hot water spray cleaning of carcasses. Although small significant (P< 0·05) differences in bacterial count occurred among carcass sites within modernization stages, significant visit within stage variation and stage × site interactions prevented any significant change in overall count being observed among stages and carcass sites. Principal components analysis revealed small changes in the distribution of bacterial numbers on the sites sampled.
Epidemiological studies on leptospirosis in Chiang Mai (Thailand)
Authors: Arimitsu Y. , Kobayashi S. , Matuhasi T. , Suzuki H. , Yamaji Y. , Suprasert S. , Supawadee J.
Published: October 2009

A total of 270 serum samples collected in Chiang Mai province were examined for antibodies against leptospira using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Four of 40 serum specimens from patients who visited the hospital with the common cold, were positive with a titre of 20. Twelve (10·4%) of the 115 samples in the Doi Saket district showed a positive reaction. Only 2 of 115 sera of school children in Chiang Mai city had antibodies.

Specific serovars detected wereLeptospira hebdomadis(5),L. australis(3),L. icterohaemorrhagiae(2),L. bataviae(2), and one each ofL. canicola, L. javanicaandL. pyrogenes. One case of mixed infection withL. hebdomadisandL. javanica, andL. auhnnnalisandL. australiswere observed.
Application of three typing schemes (Penner, Lior, Preston) to strains ofCampylobacterspp. isolated from three outbreaks
Authors: Hutchinson D. N. , Bolton F. J. , Jones D. M. , Sutcliffe E. M. , Abbott J. D.
Published: October 2009

Campylobacters isolated from human, animal and environmental sources during the investigation of a milk-borne outbreak, an incident involving goats' milk and an outbreak associated with puppies were serotyped using the Penner and Lior schemes and biotyped using the Preston scheme. Application of these three methods to the incident strains demonstrated that heterogenicity amongst similar strains exists. This study has confirmed the need to use at least two typing methods when investigating epidemiologically-related strains and we suggest that a combination of a serotyping scheme and an extended biotyping scheme is the most useful.
Human infection withStreptococcus zooepidemicus(Lancefield group C): three case reports
Authors: Barnham Michael , Ljunggren Ake , McIntyre Michael
Published: October 2009

Three unrelated severe infections withStreptococcus zooepidemicusoccurred in England in 1985. The first patient developed septic arthritis, which has not been recorded before with this organism. The second died with septicaemia, pneumonia and post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, the only record so far of nephritis following sporadicS. zooepidemicusinfection and of nephritis and systemic sepsis in the same patient. The third patient experienced septicaemia during pregnancy but recovered without complications. A likely animal source of infection was found in only one case.
Experimental infection of monkeys withLeptospira interrogansserovarhardjo
Authors: Palmer M. F. , Waitkins Sheena A. , Fitzgeorge R. B. , Baskerville A.
Published: October 2009

Grivet monkeys experimentally infected with two different strains ofLeptospira interrogansserovarhardjoshowed no signs of severe clinical disease. There were no significant macroscopic lesions in any of the tissues examined, but the organisms were demonstrated in various tissues by immunofluorescent technique and were isolated from the blood and urine of two monkeys and the kidney of one. Abraded skin was shown to be a viable route of infection in non-human primates.
A comparison of the distribution of pneumococcal types in systemic disease and the upper respiratory tract in adults and children
Authors: Smart L. E. , Platt D. J. , Timbury M. C.
Published: October 2009

The serotype distribution of 874 strains ofStreptococcus pneumoniaewas determined in relation to patients' age and to frequency of isolation from systemic disease. Types 14 and 18, in pre-school children, and types 1, 4, 7, 8 and 12 in patients over 5 years of age were significantly associated with systemic disease whereas type 23 in pre-school children, and type 6 in older patients was associated with upper respiratory tract carriage. No significant difference was found in the incidence of other types in systemic disease compared to upper respiratory tract carriage.

Fifteen diagnostic pneumococcal antisera (to types 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 22 and 23) sufficed for typing 87% of strains.
Q fever in the Netherlands: a sero-epidemiological survey among human population groups from 1968 to 1983
Authors: Richardus J. H. , Donkers A. , Dumas A. M. , Schaap G. J. P. , Akkermans J. P. W. M. , Huisman J. , Valkenburg H. A.
Published: October 2009

A sero-epidemiological survey, using an indirect immunofluorescence test for IgG against Coxiella burnetii (phase II), was carried out in the Netherlands. Serum samples taken in 1968, 1975, 1979 and 1983 were tested. Occupational groups with a supposedly high risk of infection (veterinarians, residents of dairy farms and taxidermists) showed a significantly higher percentage of seropositives than defined controls. The percentage of seropositive amateur wool spinners was significantly higher than that of the controls from the same region. Since 1968 there has been no increase in the percentage of infected persons, indicating that, contrary to earlier assumptions, Q fever has been endemic in The Netherlands for a long time already. The increase in numbers of notified cases of overt Q fever is considered to be the result of the recent introduction of a sensitive indirect immunofluorescence test for IgM antibodies against C. burnetii. Antibody percentages in all age classes between 1 and 64 years were much alike, suggesting that most infections occur in early childhood. This is in accordance with the finding that 35% of our patients are younger than 3 years. The possibility of infection related to childbirth and lactation is discussed.
Escherichia coliflagellar serotyping is as reliable as it has always been!
Authors: Ørskov Frits , Ørskov Ida , Bettelheim K. A.
Published: October 2009

In a recent paper in this Journal by Marshallet al.(1985), which described the bacterial endonuclease DNA analysis (BRENDA) of severalEscherichia coli0126 strains, the following statement was found in the summary: ‘The isolates from the outbreak produced indistinguishable DNA electrophoretic patterns in spite of their assignment to seven different H serotypes… These results support the epidemiological evidence that a single-strain outbreak had occurred, and they cast doubt on the value of H typing for this particular investigation.’ The same 0126 strains that were enterotoxigenic (ST) were treated in two earlier papers (Bettelheim & Reeve, 1982; Bettelheim, 1984) and also on these two earlier occasions the authors raised doubt about the stability ofE. coliH typing results.
The carrier food-handler and non-typhoid salmonellosis
Authors: Cruickshank J. G. , Humphrey T. J.
Published: October 2009

The number of reported cases of food poisoning and food-borne disease continues to increase in most countries. The published figures are recognized as being only a small fraction of the true total and the problem is clearly both very large and international.

Of the variety of micro-organisms responsible for outbreaks,Salmonellaspp. are by far the most frequently incriminated and in the United Kingdom these organisms cause over 90% of cases (Epidemiology, 1986). The almost universal presence of these organisms in certain common foods, their ability to grow in a wide variety of foodstuffs over a substantial temperature range, the ease with which dissemination occurs from person to person and the prolonged period of excretion following recovery are the properties which, taken together, distinguishSalmonellaspp. from other food-poisoning organisms. It is because of these characteristics that salmonellas are really the only food-poisoning organisms in which human beings as carriers pose potential problems as sources of outbreaks. This review is, therefore, confined to a consideration of the practical significance of the faecal carriage of salmonellas by asymptomatic food handlers, to an evaluation of the degree of risk, if any, that such a person may pose and to an assessment as to whether the time and money devoted to the investigation and exclusion of such persons is well spent.
A comparative study of strains of salmonella isolated from irrigation waters, vegetables and human infections
Authors: Ruiz B. Garcia-Villanova , Espinar A. Cueto , Carmona M. J. Bolaños
Published: October 2009

A total of 181 samples of irrigation water from the farmlands of Granada were examined for the presence ofSalmonellaspp. At the same time 849 samples of the crops from these farmlands and of vegetables sold in city market-places were studied. Sampling was done regularly over the period of study which ran from March 1981 to February 1983. Isolates from these sources were compared with 93 salmonellas isolated from human pathological material at various hospitals of the city of Granada from 1979–80, and again from 1981–3.

The most commonly isolated serotypes of human origin wereS. typhimuriumandS. enteritidis. In irrigation waters and in crops,S. typhimurium, S. kapemba, S. londonandS. blockleywere found to be the most common. The results indicate a close relationship between the isolates from the irrigation waters and those from the vegetables, but their relationship to prevalent human infections is less clear.
Comparative evaluation of the immediate and sustained antibacterial action of two regimens, based on triclosan- and chlorhexidine-containing handwash preparations, on volunteers
Authors: Bartzokas C. A. , Corkill J. E. , Makin T. , Parry E.
Published: October 2009

The degerming effect of a 3 min handwash with 2% triclosan, or 4% chlorhexidine, in detergent and enhanced efficacy of either antiseptic in isopropyl alcohol, was evaluated in volunteers. Handwashing with either antiseptic preparation reduced the normal flora by a factor of 10; alcohol rubbing by approximately a factor of 1000. Both regimens eliminatedMicrococcus roseus, artificially inoculated before every procedure. The sustained action of the same detergent preparations was further studied in gloved and ungloved hands by the Vinson's ‘finger imprint test’. In the gloved hand both antiseptics inhibitedStaphylococcus epidermidisfor 4 h. In the ungloved hand however, triclosan remained active longer than chlorhexidine. Whilst the activity of chlorhexidine was short-lived against a clinical isolate ofS. aureus, particularly in the ungloved hand, the sustained effect of triclosan against the same strain persisted for 4 h on either hand.
Prevalence and significance ofMycoplasma hominisandUreaplasma urealyticumin the urines of a non-venereal disease population
Authors: Furr Patricia M. , Taylor-Robinson D.
Published: October 2009

Ureaplasma urealyticumorganisms (ureaplasmas) andMycoplasma hominisorganisms (mycoplasmas) were sought in mid-stream urines collected from 200 men and 200 women attending hospital with conditions of a non-venereal nature. In addition, the urines from 100 male and 100 female healthy volunteers were examined. Overall, ureaplasmas were isolated four times more often than mycoplasmas. In individuals less than 50 years of age, the organisms were found in about 20 % of men and about 40 % of women. In individuals 50 years or older, they were found about one-third to one-half as frequently. Centrifugation of urine and examination of the resuspended deposit did not increase the isolation rates. In men, the numbers of organisms in the urine were usually small (< 103c.c.u./ml) with less than tenfold more in the urine of women. The occurrence of 51– > 1000 leucocytes per mm3in some of the urines was not associated with either the presence or an increased number of ureaplasmas/mycoplasmas, whereas they were associated with the presence of 105or more bacteria/ml. The significance of these findings in the context of defining the role of ureaplasmas/mycoplasmas in genital-tract disease is discussed.
The extent of surface contamination of retailed chickens withCampylobacter jejuniserogroups
Authors: Hood A. M. , Pearson A. D. , Shahamat M.
Published: October 2009

Eighty-two chickens purchased at 11 retailers (supplied by 12 wholesalers) in the south of England were cultured forCampylobacter jejuniby a method involving total immersion. The organism was isolated from 22 (48%) of 46 fresh birds, 12 of 12 uneviscerated (New York dressed) birds, but only 1 of 24 frozen birds. Viable counts of up to 1·5 × 106/chicken were obtained from fresh birds and 2·4 × 107/chicken from uneviscerated birds. Surface swabbing of breasts, thighs, wings and vents of fresh chickens showed that contamination was generally distributed over the carcasses. Salmonellas were found in only 2 of 69 of the fresh chickens.

The prevalence of several Lior and PennerC. jejuniserogroups was similar in chickens and sporadic human cases of enteritis. Penner serogroup 4 (mostly of Lior serogroup 1) was found in 26% of human isolates and 14% of chicken isolates.

The rising incidence of campylobacter enteritis during the last 6 years could well be a reflection of the increasing proportion of fresh chickens consumed over that period (32% higher in 1986 than in 1981).
Experimental colonization of broiler chicks withCampylobacter jejuni
Authors: Shanker S. , Lee A. , Sorrell T. C.
Published: October 2009

Minimal colonization inocula for two broiler strains ofCampylobacter jejuniwere determined in broiler chicks aged 2–3 days and 2 weeks. Individually housed chicks were exposed to a single oral or cloacal challenge. Diarrhoeal symptoms were absent in all 380 chicks included in the study. Chick susceptibility to the twoC. jejunistrains varied. Colonization was effected by < 102−104colony forming units (c.f.u.) via cloacal challenge and 104–106c.f.u. via the oral route. Colonization inocula for 2-to 3-day and 2-week-old chicks were similar. Treatment of 1-day-old chicks with fresh adult caecal flora or an anaerobic broth culture of adult caecal flora did not inhibit colonization after challenge with low-doseC. jejuni. Susceptible chicks were colonized rapidly.C. jejuniwas detected in 167 of 189 (88%) colonized chicks within 3 days of challenge and persisted during the 2-week monitoring period. Our data suggest that colonization of broiler chicks withC. jejuniis effected more easily by the cloacal than the oral route and is independent of age.