British Sikhs in complementary schooling: the role of heritage language proficiency and ‘culture learning’ in ethnic identity and bicultural adaptation

While the debate regarding bilingual benefits persists within the cognitive sciences, education research has documented various functions that heritage languages (HL) serve their speakers through bicultural adaptation. The present study adopted a mixed-methods approach to gauge HL proficiency and use, cultural participation and ethnic and mainstream identities, and to examine multiple perspectives on HL learning with complementary schooling (CS) among British Sikhs. Seventy-four 6- to 15-year-olds completed scales for perceived oral and literate abilities, language use across contexts, British and Sikh identifications, and participation in cultural activities. Children filled in open-ended items, while parents and teachers discussed in interviews and focus groups, their motivations for HL learning and CS experiences. The majority of children self-reported ‘good’ proficiency, which differed between generations as impacted by home use and was associated with cultural participation and Sikh identification. Most children referred to practical utility while most parents regarded culture retention as the dominant motivation for HL learning. Teachers discussed how teaching beyond the second generation and language shifts presented both challenges and opportunities. Still, all parties corroborated on the pertinence of HL maintenance as facilitated by CS through ‘culture learning’ towards a strong ethnic identity and bicultural adaptation

Correction to: Minimum Quality Threshold in Pre-Clinical Sepsis Studies (MQTiPSS): an international expert consensus initiative for improvement of animal modeling in sepsis (Infection, (2018), 10.1007/s15010-018-1183-8)

© 2018, The Author(s). The original version of this article unfortunately contained mistakes

Enhancement of electronic and charge transport properties of NiPc by potassium-tetrasulpho group

a b s t r a c t We report significant enhancement in the electronic properties of nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc) by attaching a potassium-tetrasulpho functional group to synthesize its water soluble derivative nickel (II)4,4 0 ,4 00 ,4' 00 potassium-tetrasulphophthalocyanine (K 4 NiTSPc). To study the potential of this organic compound for electronics applications, Au/K4NiTSPc/Ag diodes have been fabricated and their electronic parameters have been calculated. The mobility and conductivity of the device have been found to be 1.5 Â 10 À 4 cm 2 V À 2 S À 1 and 2.5 Â 10 NiTSPc has shown much better electronic properties as compared to NiPc reported in the literature, which makes it a promising candidate for its potential use in electronics applications

In vaginal fluid, bacteria associated with bacterial vaginosis can be suppressed with lactic acid but not hydrogen peroxide

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) produced by vaginal lactobacilli is generally believed to protect against bacteria associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV), and strains of lactobacilli that can produce H₂O₂are being developed as vaginal probiotics. However, evidence that led to this belief was based in part on non-physiological conditions, antioxidant-free aerobic conditions selected to maximize both production and microbicidal activity of H₂O₂. Here we used conditions more like those <it>in vivo </it>to compare the effects of physiologically plausible concentrations of H₂O₂and lactic acid on a broad range of BV-associated bacteria and vaginal lactobacilli.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Anaerobic cultures of seventeen species of BV-associated bacteria and four species of vaginal lactobacilli were exposed to H₂O₂, lactic acid, or acetic acid at pH 7.0 and pH 4.5. After two hours, the remaining viable bacteria were enumerated by growth on agar media plates. The effect of vaginal fluid (VF) on the microbicidal activities of H₂O₂and lactic acid was also measured.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Physiological concentrations of H₂O₂(< 100 μM) failed to inactivate any of the BV-associated bacteria tested, even in the presence of human myeloperoxidase (MPO) that increases the microbicidal activity of H₂O₂. At 10 mM, H₂O₂inactivated all four species of vaginal lactobacilli but only one of seventeen species of BV-associated bacteria. Moreover, the addition of just 1% vaginal fluid (VF) blocked the microbicidal activity of 1 M H₂O₂. In contrast, lactic acid at physiological concentrations (55-111 mM) and pH (4.5) inactivated all the BV-associated bacteria tested, and had no detectable effect on the vaginal lactobacilli. Also, the addition of 10% VF did not block the microbicidal activity of lactic acid.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Under optimal, anaerobic growth conditions, physiological concentrations of lactic acid inactivated BV-associated bacteria without affecting vaginal lactobacilli, whereas physiological concentrations of H₂O₂produced no detectable inactivation of either BV-associated bacteria or vaginal lactobacilli. Moreover, at very high concentrations, H₂O₂was more toxic to vaginal lactobacilli than to BV-associated bacteria. On the basis of these <it>in vitro </it>observations, we conclude that lactic acid, not H₂O₂, is likely to suppress BV-associated bacteria <it>in vivo</it>.</p

Identification of Novel Linear Megaplasmids Carrying a ß-Lactamase Gene in Neurotoxigenic Clostridium butyricum Type E Strains

Since the first isolation of type E botulinum toxin-producing Clostridium butyricum from two infant botulism cases in Italy in 1984, this peculiar microorganism has been implicated in different forms of botulism worldwide. By applying particular pulsed-field gel electrophoresis run conditions, we were able to show for the first time that ten neurotoxigenic C. butyricum type E strains originated from Italy and China have linear megaplasmids in their genomes. At least four different megaplasmid sizes were identified among the ten neurotoxigenic C. butyricum type E strains. Each isolate displayed a single sized megaplasmid that was shown to possess a linear structure by ATP-dependent exonuclease digestion. Some of the neurotoxigenic C. butyricum type E strains possessed additional smaller circular plasmids. In order to investigate the genetic content of the newly identified megaplasmids, selected gene probes were designed and used in Southern hybridization experiments. Our results revealed that the type E botulinum neurotoxin gene was chromosome-located in all neurotoxigenic C. butyricum type E strains. Similar results were obtained with the 16S rRNA, the tetracycline tet(P) and the lincomycin resistance protein lmrB gene probes. A specific mobA gene probe only hybridized to the smaller plasmids of the Italian C. butyricum type E strains. Of note, a ß-lactamase gene probe hybridized to the megaplasmids of eight neurotoxigenic C. butyricum type E strains, of which seven from clinical sources and the remaining one from a food implicated in foodborne botulism, whereas this ß-lactam antibiotic resistance gene was absent form the megaplasmids of the two soil strains examined. The widespread occurrence among C. butyricum type E strains associated to human disease of linear megaplasmids harboring an antibiotic resistance gene strongly suggests that the megaplasmids could have played an important role in the emergence of C. butyricum type E as a human pathogen

Two cases of "cannabis acute psychosis" following the administration of oral cannabis

BACKGROUND: Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug and its therapeutic aspects have a growing interest. Short-term psychotic reactions have been described but not clearly with synthetic oral THC, especially in occasional users. CASE PRESENTATIONS: We report two cases of healthy subjects who were occasional but regular cannabis users without psychiatric history who developed transient psychotic symptoms (depersonalization, paranoid feelings and derealisation) following oral administration of cannabis. In contrast to most other case reports where circumstances and blood concentrations are unknown, the two cases reported here happened under experimental conditions with all subjects negative for cannabis, opiates, amphetamines, cocaine, benzodiazepines and alcohol, and therefore the ingested dose, the time-events of effects on behavior and performance as well as the cannabinoid blood levels were documented. CONCLUSION: While the oral route of administration achieves only limited blood concentrations, significant psychotic reactions may occur