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Over the past three years or more, the authors have been examining the impact of technology interventions on students and teachers — from cultures where English is a second language. It is their hypothesis that students and teachers from nonEnglish speaking nations suffer severe disadvantages when technological interventions are superimposed on existing traditional pedagogical models. This paper is the latest in a series that examines extent pedagogies, primarily in Asia, and the pressures of having to re-conceptualize what has been a tradition for centuries. It traces significant educational origins to their cultural roots and examines contemporary initiatives that, if implemented, may well disrupt. It offers possible solutions that, if approached with reconciliation as its focus, might offset catastrophic results and, in fact, achieve pedagogical symbiosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is a lack of surveillance data on resistance to fusidic acid (FA) in Asia, and no reviews of FA usage for the treatment of orthopaedic infections have been conducted since the year 2000. In this study, we present a systemic literature review of FA resistance in Asia and the clinical use of FA for the treatment of bone and joint infections (BJIs). The in vitro activity of FA against meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates remains good, with low (<10%) resistance rates in most Asian countries. FA in Asia appears to be a better oral anti-MRSA agent than trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and clindamycin. More than 80 cases of FA use for BJI have been reported since 2000 and the recurrence or failure rate is <10%. There is much evidence supporting the use of FA in combination with other antibiotics (e.g. rifampicin) as an oral treatment following intravenous glycopeptide treatment for BJIs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background/purpose: The emergence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) OXA-142 gene (bla OXA-142 ) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been reported in Bulgaria and other European countries, but rarely in Asia., Methods: From January 2009 to December 2012, 90 P. aeruginosa isolates with reduced susceptibility or resistance to ceftazidime (minimum inhibitory concentration ≥ 8 mg/L) were screened for ESBL and other broad-spectrum β-lactamase genes by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Clonal relationship of the isolates was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis., Results: Three isolates were positive for ESBL production, exhibited resistance to ceftazidime, and carried the bla OXA-142 gene. The bla OXA-142 gene was integrated into class 1 integron. Using Southern blot analysis, bla OXA-142 -containing integron was found to be located on a plasmid in all three isolates. Eleven strains of P. aeruginosa carrying bla OXA-17 gene were found. The oprD mutation was found in all the 21 ESBL strains of P. aeruginosa., Conclusions: This study confirmed the presence of bla OXA-142 -positive P. aeruginosa isolates in Taiwan., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.)