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The type III secretion (T3S) injectisome is a specialized protein nanomachine that is critical for the pathogenicity of many Gram-negative bacteria, including purveyors of plague, typhoid fever, whooping cough, sexually transmitted infections and major nosocomial infections. This syringe-shaped 3.5-MDa macromolecular assembly spans both bacterial membranes and that of the infected host cell. The internal channel formed by the injectisome allows for the direct delivery of partially unfolded virulence effectors into the host cytoplasm. The structural foundation of the injectisome is the basal body, a molecular lock-nut structure composed predominantly of three proteins that form highly oligomerized concentric rings spanning the inner and outer membranes. Here we present the structure of the prototypical Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium pathogenicity island 1 basal body, determined using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy, with the inner-membrane-ring and outer-membrane-ring oligomers defined at 4.3 Å and 3.6 Å resolution, respectively. This work presents the first, to our knowledge, high-resolution structural characterization of the major components of the basal body in the assembled state, including that of the widespread class of outer-membrane portals known as secretins.

In regolith-dominated terrains, the nature of contemporary processes and the surface distribution of regolith materials may be a poor guide to the character and history of regolith materials at depth. The nature of regolith materials at depth is often critical to unravelling the development of a landscape. Conventional mapping aids such as air photos, multispectral remote sensing and airborne radiometrics are not wholly adequate in this context, as they penetrate limited depths (<0.4 m). Airborne electromagnetics (AEM) on the other hand, has the potential to map regolith materials to considerable depths (>100m).

This study aimed to compare the prevalence of hearing impairment, disability and handicap in the elderly living in residential care with those living in the community, and to examine the relationship between impairment, disability and handicap in both groups. Fifty community-based and 129 residential subjects were assessed using pure-tone audiometry as a measure of impairment, and a self-assessment questionnaire as a measure of disability and handicap. Community-based subjects were also assessed using a test of speech discrimination as an objective measure of disability. Results indicated 95% of residential subjects and 70% of community-based subjects were hearing-impaired, while 27% of residential subjects and 42% of community-based subjects demonstrated significant disability/handicap. Significant correlations were obtained between impairment, disability and handicap in both subject groups. The implications of the findings for the aural rehabilitation of the elderly are discussed.

A study is described which examined the efficacy of group intervention programmes using trained volunteers as agents of intervention with elderly nursing home residents with communication impairments. A series of intervention programmes, which consisted of six weekly sessions, was designed. Sessions were a combination of information giving, discussion and practical components where residents could practice newly acquired skills. Sessions covered a number of core components- the communication process, comprehension, expression and pragmatics, as well as information that was specific to the communication impairment. Volunteers were trained to administer the programme. Four groups of communicatively impaired elderly people were included in the study- a group of hearing-impaired residents, those with communication impairment subsequent to Parkinson's disease, those with communication impairment subsequent to cerebrovascular accident and those in varying stages of dementia. Results indicated that, although the residents studied responded very individually to the intervention strategies, with several subjects failing to demonstrate any gains in communicative competence from pre-to post-intervention, positive gains in communication skills and self-management of communicative impairment were observed for a number of subjects. Complicating factors such as general health and well-being are considered as uncontrollable variables in the measurement of performance in the elderly.Il s'agil de la description d'une étude sur I'efficacité de programmes d'intervention de groupe utilisant des volontaires entrainés comme agents d'intervention pour s'occuper des résidents de maisons de retraite âgés qui souffrent de baisses de capacityés de communication. L'on a commencé par établir une série de programmes d'intervention consistant en six sessions hebdomadaires et qui comportaient un ensemble de renseignements, de discussions, et de modules pratiques pendant lesquels les residents pouvaient pratiquer leurs capacityés nouvellement acquises. Les sessions recouvraienl un certain nombre de modules de base: procédé de communication, comprehension, expression et pragmatique, de meme que des renseignements en rapport direct avec la nature de chaque déficience de communication. C'est ce programme que les volontaires ont été entrainés à administrer. Quatre groupes de vieillards souffrant de déficiences communicatives ont été inclus dans I'étude: un groupe de résidents atteints de surdité, un autre souffrant des conséquences du parkinsonisme, un troisiéme des conséquences d'accidents cérébrovasculars et un quatriéme regroupant divers stades de démence sénile. Les résultats ont montré que, si les résidents ont répondu de manière très inégale aux stratégies d'intervention et si plusieurs sujets se sonl montrés incapables d'améliorer en aucune façon leur compétence communicative entre les périodes précédant et suivant I'intervention, chez un certain nombre de sujets des progrès sont apparus en ce qui concernait les capacityés communicatives et I'auto-gestion des déficiences communicatives. II faut tenir compte de facteurs comme I'état général de santé et de bien-être général qui viennent compliquer de manière incontrôlée la mesure des performances chez les vieillards.In dieser Studie wurde die Wirksamkeit von Interventionsprogrammen mit ausgebildeten Freiwilligen bei Gruppen von kommunikalionsgestörten alien Pflegeheimbewohnern untersucht. Eine Serie von Eingreifprogrammen wurde entworfen, die aus sechs wöchentlichen Sitzungen bestand. Die Sitzungen warden als Kombination aus Informationsangebot, Diskussion und praktischen Übungen für neuerworhene Fühigkeiten gestaltet. In den Sitzimgen wurde eine Anzuhl von Kernkomponenlen angeboten - Kommunikationsproze β. Verstehen, Ausdruck, Pragmatik - aber es warden aueh Informational geboten, die für die jeweilige Kommunikationsstörung spezifisch waren. Freiwillige warden ausgebildet, um das Programm durchzuführen. Vier Gruppen von kommunikationsgestörten βlteren Menschen nahmen an der Studie led - Hörbehinderte. Parkinsonkranke mil Kommunikationsstörungen, Kommunikationsgestörte nach Schlaganfall und eine Gruppe in verschiedenen Stadien von Altersdementia. Die Ergebnisse zeigten Fortschritte bei einigen Gruppenteilnehmern in ihrem Kommunikationsvermögen und in ihrer Bewältigung der durch die Kommunikationsstärung entstehenden Probleme. Die einzelnen Menschen reagierten jedoch sehr verschieden auf die Interventionsstrategien, und mehrere Teilnehmer wiesen keinerlei postinterventionären Zugewinn an Kommunikationsvermögen auf. Faktoren wie allgemeiner Gesundheitszustand und Wohlbefinden werden als verkomplizierende und nicht kontrollierbare Variablen bei der Untersuchung des Verhaltens älterer Menschen betrachtet.

Regional Policy at the Crossroads: European Perspectives, L. ALBRECHTS, F. MOULAERT, P. ROBERTS and E. SWYNGEDOUW; Kingsley, London (1989). 208 pp. £15.00 (hbk). £7.95 (pbk). ISBN 1 85302 021 4 (hbk). ISBN 1 85302 024 9 (pbk).Regional Development in Europe: Recent Initiatives and Experiences, Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Science Parks and Innovation Centres, Berlin, November 12-13, 1987, J. ALLESCH, de Gruyter, Berlin (1989). xi+368 pp. DM138. ISBN 3 11 011815 7.Services and Regions in Europe, S. ILLERIS, Avebury Aldershot, Hants. (1989). xiv+222 pp. £25.00 (hbk) ISBN 0 566 05722 0.Transport Policy in the EEC, J. WHITELEGG, Routledge, London (1989). xvi+233 pp. £35.00 (hbk). ISBN 0415 01258 9.Territory and Administration in Europe, R. BENNETT, Frances Pinter, London (1989). viii+316 pp. £27.50 (hbk). ISBN 0 86187 991 0 (hbk).Technology and Competition in the International Telecommunications Industry, D. CHARLES, P. MONK and E. SCIBBERAS, Frances Pinter, London (1989). xi+178 pp. £27.50 (hbk). ISBN 0 86187 9937.Services and Uneven Development, J. N. MARSHALL, Oxford University Press, Oxford (1988). xiv+307 pp. £32.50 (hbk). ISBN 0 19 823285 3.Combating Long-Term Unemployment: Local/EC Relations, K. DYSON, Routledge, London (1989). x+252 pp. £35.00 (hbk). ISBN 0 415 03127 3.Labour Markets in Distress: The Denial of Choice, R. MACKAY and JONES, Avebury, Aldershot, Hants. (1989). xii+172 pp. £23.50 (hbk). ISBN 0 556 05700 X.Urban Decline, D. CLARK, Routledge, London (1988) x+161 pp. £25.00 (hbk). ISBN 0 415 03031 5.Uneven Re-Development: Cities and Regions in Trasition, D. MASSEY and J. ALLEN, Hodder & Stoughton, London (1988). vi+280 pp. £7.50 (pbk). ISBN 0 340 49393 3.Contaminated Communities: The Social and Psychological Impacts of Residential Toxic Exposure, M. R. EDELSTEIN, Westview, London (1988). xviii+217 pp. £29.95 (hbk). ISBN 0 8133 7447 2.Plant Scale and Manufacturing Policies for Peripheral Regions: An Intercultural Analysis of Israel, Brazil and Belgium, B. A. KIPNIS, Avebury, Aldvershot, Hants. (1989). xiii+148 pp. £21.00 (hbk). ISBN 0 566 05760 3.Colonising Egypt, T. MITCHELL, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1988). x+218 pp. £27.50. US$42.50 (hbk). ISBN 0 521 33448 9.

Sub-basaltic sediments in the Mt Royal Range area, studied with a view to testing models of the evolution of the Eastern Highlands, have yielded a palynoflora ascribed to the Paleocene Lygistepollenites balmei Zone. The palynofloras come from a core sampling sediment which accumulated when a stream was dammed by basalt. This is the first reported occurrence of a definite Paleocene flora in the Eastern Highlands region. Basalt in the vicinity of the core gave a K-Ar age of 54.1 ± 0.3 Ma. The discrepancy between the pollen age and the K-Ar date is considered to be relatively minor.

Telford is a new town in the West Midlands Region of the United Kingdom. Since designation in 1968 considerable physical, economic, and social change has taken place. Four information systems have been developed to monitor this change. It is argued that information systems must be flexible, comprehensive, capable of integration, and phased so that nascent problems can be identified. It is also argued that the development of a time-series information base is essential for effective strategic planning. Rather than describe the characteristics of the local information systems in isolation from their operational context, two areas of policy-related research which have been supported by the information base are described in this paper. Information systems are inherently descriptive and must be fitted into an analytical framework if they are to contribute more effectively to our understanding of urban processes. In this paper Telford's information systems are examined by describing their contribution to policy formulation, strategic planning, and to our understanding of the urban system.

Design criteria for urban and regional information systems are outlined. An attempt is made to evaluate the nationally available statistical series in the United Kingdom in the context of those design criteria and some of the systems developed in British local government to counter the deficiencies of an inadequate national data system are reviewed, Various systems for collecting local data have been instituted by particular local authorities, although the problems of using such data are often as problematic as the lack of those data in the first place. However, the New Town of Telford (Shropshire, England) has pioneered various local data-collection methods and an integrated information system which has been designed to monitor the demographic, economic, and social development has been built. This system is described, and it is suggested that, before such systems are generally possible, the quality and availability of data as well as their relevant usage within the planning process must be addressed.

The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is frequently used to assess for word-retrieval difficulties, but its use outside North America is restricted by items such as 'beaver' and 'pretzel'. A total of 136 older Australians were tested on the BNT. Those items which frequently produced naming errors were identified and alternative items trialled. Age, years of schooling, visual acuity and forward and backward digit span assessments were correlated with BNT scores, and errors were analysed. The mean BNT score for Australian subjects was two to five items below the reported mean scores of North American subjects. Percentages correct for 'beaver' and 'pretzel' were greater than two standard deviations below the mean BNT score, and alternative items are proposed. Age, years of schooling, visual acuity and backward digit span were all found to be significantly correlated with BNT scores, and semantically related errors were the most frequent type of error followed by 'don't-know' responses. This study suggests that examiners need to be cautious when interpreting BNT scores of Australian and possibly other non-American subjects. Cut-off scores need to take into account word-frequency differences between cultures, and examiners need to be aware of the effects of age, educational level, visual acuity and memory.