Westerwald Stoneware at Kelmscott Manor : Morris, pottery and the politics of production

Kelmscott Manor, the country home of William Morris, houses a remarkable collection of ceramics bearing a singular relationship to one of the most influential figures in Victorian cultural history. This study of Kelmscott’s collection of German stoneware reveals new interpretations of its production history and fascinating insights into its significance for the cultural context of Morris’s work. Based on a complete catalogue, the paper examines the ensemble of c30 pieces of 18th–19th-century Westerwald stoneware, or grès de Flandres , as it was known to Morris and his contemporaries. The Kelmscott group is the largest collection of this material known from an English historic house and has a composite and well-documented provenance. Supplementary material provided as an online appendix contains a fully illustrated, descriptive catalogue.Westerwald pottery of the 17th century and earlier has been extensively studied, but its ceramics of the late 18th–19th centuries have received little attention. Most accounts stress the simplification of vessel forms and ‘degeneration’ of decorative designs during this period, leading towards mass production c1900. This paper re-assesses later Westerwald output, drawing attention to a vernacular pottery tradition of significant interest in its own right. This paper suggests it was this continuing tradition of vernacular production and its naturalistic, decorative schemes that attracted the interest of Morris throughout his adult life, from the Red House experiment to the heyday of Morris & Co. Examining his writing on creativity, the minor arts and labour, the paper interprets grès de Flandres as an expression of Morris' idealisation of the relationship between labour and craft production

Excavations and the afterlife of a professional football stadium, Peel Park, Accrington, Lancashire: towards an archaeology of football

Association football is now a multi-billion dollar global industry whose emergence spans the post-medieval to the modern world. With its professional roots in late 19th-century industrial Lancashire, stadiums built for the professionalization of football first appear in frequency in the North of England. While many historians of sport focus on consumerism and ‘topophilia’ (attachment to place) regarding these local football grounds, archaeological research that has been conducted on the spectator experience suggests status differentiation within them. Our excavations at Peel Park confirm this impression while also showing a significant afterlife to this stadium, particularly through children’s play

Antimicrobial octapeptin C4 analogues active against Cryptococcus species

Resistance to antimicrobials is a growing problem in both developed and developing countries. In nations where AIDS is most prevalent, the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans is a significant contributor to mortality, and its growing resistance to current antifungals an ever-expanding threat. We investigated octapeptin C4, from the cationic cyclic lipopeptide class of antimicrobials, as a potential new antifungal. Octapeptin C4 was a potent, selective inhibitor of this fungal pathogen with minimum inhibitory concentration of 1.56 μg/mL. Further testing of octapeptin C4 against 40 clinical isolates of C. neoformans var. grubii or neoformans showed MIC 1.56-3.13 μg/mL while 20 clinical isolates of C. neoformans var. gattii had MIC 0.78-12.5 μg/mL. In each case MIC values for octapeptin C4 were equivalent to, or better than, current antifungal drugs fluconazole and amphotericin B. The negatively charged polysaccharide capsule of C. neoformans influences the pathogens sensitivity to octapeptin C4 while degree of melanisation had little effect. Testing synthetic octapeptin C4 derivatives provided insight into the structure activity relationships, revealing that the lipophilic amino acid moieties are more important to the activity than the cationic diaminobutyric acid groups. Octapeptins have promising potential for development as anticryptococcal therapeutic agents

Rapid prenatal diagnosis using targeted exome sequencing: a cohort study to assess feasibility and potential impact on prenatal counseling and pregnancy management.

Purpose Unexpected fetal abnormalities occur in 2-5% of pregnancies. While traditional cytogenetic and microarray approaches achieve diagnosis in around 40% of cases, lack of diagnosis in others impedes parental counseling, informed decision making, and pregnancy management. Postnatally exome sequencing yields high diagnostic rates, but relies on careful phenotyping to interpret genotype results. Here we used a multidisciplinary approach to explore the utility of rapid fetal exome sequencing for prenatal diagnosis using skeletal dysplasias as an exemplar. Methods Parents in pregnancies undergoing invasive testing because of sonographic fetal abnormalities, where multidisciplinary review considered skeletal dysplasia a likely etiology, were consented for exome trio sequencing (both parents and fetus). Variant interpretation focused on a virtual panel of 240 genes known to cause skeletal dysplasias. Results Definitive molecular diagnosis was made in 13/16 (81%) cases. In some cases, fetal ultrasound findings alone were of sufficient severity for parents to opt for termination. In others, molecular diagnosis informed accurate prediction of outcome, improved parental counseling, and enabled parents to terminate or continue the pregnancy with certainty. Conclusion Trio sequencing with expert multidisciplinary review for case selection and data interpretation yields timely, high diagnostic rates in fetuses presenting with unexpected skeletal abnormalities. This improves parental counseling and pregnancy management.Genetics in Medicine advance online publication, 29 March 2018; doi:10.1038/gim.2018.30

The Welsh study of mothers and babies: protocol for a population-based cohort study to investigate the clinical significance of defined ultrasound findings of uncertain significance

Background Improvement in ultrasound imaging has led to the identification of subtle non-structural markers during the 18 – 20 week fetal anomaly scan, such as echogenic bowel, mild cerebral ventriculomegaly, renal pelvicalyceal dilatation, and nuchal thickening. These markers are estimated to occur in between 0.6% and 4.3% of pregnancies. Their clinical significance, for pregnancy outcomes or childhood morbidity, is largely unknown. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of seven markers in the general obstetric population and establish a cohort of children for longer terms follow-up to assess the clinical significance of these markers. Methods/Design All women receiving antenatal care within six of seven Welsh Health Boards who had an 18 to 20 week ultrasound scan in Welsh NHS Trusts between July 2008 and March 2011 were eligible for inclusion. Data were collected on seven markers (echogenic bowel, cerebral ventriculomegaly, renal pelvicalyceal dilatation, nuchal thickening, cardiac echogenic foci, choroid plexus cysts, and short femur) at the time of 18 – 20 week fetal anomaly scan. Ultrasound records were linked to routinely collected data on pregnancy outcomes (work completed during 2012 and 2013). Images were stored and reviewed by an expert panel. The prevalence of each marker (reported and validated) will be estimated. A projected sample size of 23,000 will allow the prevalence of each marker to be estimated with the following precision: a marker with 0.50% prevalence to within 0.10%; a marker with 1.00% prevalence to within 0.13%; and a marker with 4.50% prevalence to within 0.27%. The relative risk of major congenital abnormalities, stillbirths, pre-term birth and small for gestational age, given the presence of a validated marker, will be reported. Discussion This is a large, prospective study designed to estimate the prevalence of markers in a population-based cohort of pregnant women and to investigate associations with adverse pregnancy outcomes. The study will also establish a cohort of children that can be followed-up to explore associations between specific markers and longer-term health and social outcomes

Monogenic conditions and central nervous system anomalies:A prospective study, systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives: Determine the incremental diagnostic yield of prenatal exome sequencing (pES) over chromosome microarray (CMA) or G-banding karyotype in fetuses with central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities.Methods: Data were collected via electronic searches from January 2010 to April 2022 in MEDLINE, Cochrane, Web of Science and EMBASE. The NHS England prenatal exome cohort was also included. Incremental yield was calculated as a pooled value using a random-effects model. Results: Thirty studies were included (n = 1583 cases). The incremental yield with pES for any CNS anomaly was 32% [95%CI 27%–36%; I2 = 72%]. Subgroup analysis revealed apparent incremental yields in; (a) isolated CNS anomalies; 27% [95%CI 19%–34%; I2 = 74%]; (b) single CNS anomaly; 16% [95% CI 10%–23%; I2 = 41%]; (c) more than one CNS anomaly; 31% [95% Cl 21%–40%; I2 = 56%]; and (d) the anatomical subtype with the most optimal yield was Type 1 malformation of cortical development, related to abnormal cell proliferation or apoptosis, incorporating microcephalies, megalencephalies and dysplasia; 40% (22%–57%; I2 = 68%). The commonest syndromes in isolated cases were Lissencephaly 3 and X-linked hydrocephalus. Conclusions: Prenatal exome sequencing provides a high incremental diagnostic yield in fetuses with CNS abnormalities with optimal yields in cases with multiple CNS anomalies, particularly those affecting the midline, posterior fossa and cortex.</p

DNA barcoding of oomycetes with cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and internal transcribed spacer

Oomycete species occupy many different environments and many ecological niches. The genera Phytophthora and Pythium for example, contain many plant pathogens which cause enormous damage to a wide range of plant species. Proper identification to the species level is a critical first step in any investigation of oomycetes, whether it is research driven or compelled by the need for rapid and accurate diagnostics during a pathogen outbreak. The use of DNA for oomycete species identification is well established, but DNA barcoding with cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) is a relatively new approach that has yet to be assessed over a significant sample of oomycete genera. In this study we have sequenced COI, from 1205 isolates representing 23 genera. A comparison to internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences from the same isolates showed that COI identification is a practical option; complementary because it uses the mitochondrial genome instead of nuclear DNA. In some cases COI was more discriminative than ITS at the species level. This is in contrast to the large ribosomal subunit, which showed poor species resolution when sequenced from a subset of the isolates used in this study. The results described in this paper indicate that COI sequencing and the dataset generated are a valuable addition to the currently available oomycete taxonomy resources, and that both COI, the default DNA barcode supported by GenBank, and ITS, the de facto barcode accepted by the oomycete and mycology community, are acceptable and complementary DNA barcodes to be used for identification of oomycetes

Crop Updates - 2003 Weeds

This session covers Thirty four papers from different authors INTRODUCTION INTEGRATED WEED MANAGEMENT IWM system studies/demonstration sites Six years of IWM investigation – what does it tell us? Bill Roy, Agricultural Consulting and Research Services Pty Ltd Long term herbicide resistance site, the final chapter, Peter Newman and Glen Adam, Department of Agriculture Management of skeleton weed (chondrilla juncea) in a cropping rotation in Western Australia, J. R. Peirce and B. J. Rayner, Department of Agriculture WEED BIOLOGY AND COMPETITION Annual ryegrass seedbanks: The good, the bad and the ugly, Kathryn J. Steadman1, Amanda J. Ellery2 and Sally C. Peltzer3 , 1WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative, UWA, 2CSIRO Plant Industry, 3 Department of Agriculture Annual ryegrass seeds after-ripen faster during a hot summer, Kathryn J. Steadman1, Gavin P. Bignell1 and Amanda J. Ellery2, 1WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative, UWA, 2CSIRO Plant Industry Predicting annual ryegrass dormancy from climatic variables, Amanda Ellery, Andrew Moore, Sandy Nedelkos, Ross Chapman, CSIRO Plant Industry Removing dormancy in annual ryegrass seeds for early herbicide resistance testing, Kathryn J. Steadman and Mechelle J. Owen, WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative, UWA Annual ryegrass germination responds to nitrogen, Amanda Ellery1, Simone Dudley1 and Robert Gallagher2, 1CSIRO Plant Industry, 2Washington State University The agro-ecology of Malva parviflora (small flowered mallow), Pippa J. Michael, Kathryn J. Steadman and Julie A. Plummer, Western Australia Herbicide Resistance Initiative, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia The looming threat of wild radish, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture IWM TOOLS Double knock, how close can we go? Peter Newman and Glen Adam, Department of Agriculture Double knock herbicide effect on annual ryegrass, Catherine Borger, Abul Hashem and Nerys Wilkins, Department of Agriculture Tactical techniques for managing Annual Ryegrass, Sally Peltzer1, Alex Douglas1, Fran Hoyle1, Paul Matson1 and Michael Walsh2 Department of Agriculture and 2Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative. Weed control through soil inversion, Sally Peltzer, Alex Douglas and Paul Matson, Department of Agriculture The burning issues of annual ryegrass seed control, Darren Chitty and Michael Walsh, Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, UWA No sign of chaff-cart resistant ryegrass! David Ferris, WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative UWA PACKAGES AND MODELLING Conserving glyphosate susceptibility – modelling past, present and future us. Paul Neve1, Art Diggle2, Patrick Smith3 and Stephen Powles1 ,1Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 2Department of Agriculture, 3CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems WEEDEM: A program for predicting weed emergence in Western Australia, Michael Walsh,1 David Archer2, James Eklund2 and Frank Forcella2, 1Western Australia Herbicide Resistance Initiative, UWA, 2USDA-Agricultural Research Service, 803 Iowa Avenue, Morris, MN 56267, USA Weed and herbicide management for long term profit: A workshop, Alister Draper1 and Rick Llewellyn12, 1WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative, 2School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia HERBICIDE RESISTANCE Alternative herbicides for control of triazine and diflufenican multiple resistant wild radish, Aik Cheam1, Siew Lee1, David Nicholson1 and Mike Clarke2 1Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, 2Bayer CropScience Resistance of wild mustard biotype to ALS-inhibiting herbicides in WA Wheatbelt, Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture Glyphosate-resistant ryegrass biotypes in the WA wheatbelt, Abul Hashem, Catherine Borger and Nerys Wilkins, Department of Agriculture Implications of herbicide rates for resistance management, Paul Neve, Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, University of Western Australia Putting a price on herbicide resistance, Rick Llewellyn, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics/WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative, University of Western Australia Herbicide resistance from over the fence: Mobility and management, Debbie Allena, Rick Llewellynb, aUniversity of Western Australia, 4th year student, 2002. Mingenew-Irwin Group, bSchool of Agricultural and Resource Economics/Western Australia Herbicide Resistance Initiative, University of Western Australia HERBICIDE TOLERANCE Herbicide tolerance of new barley varieties, Harmohinder S. Dhammu and Terry Piper, Department of Agriculture Herbicide tolerance of new lupins, Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and David Nicholson, Department of Agriculture Herbicide tolerance of new field pea varieties, Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and David Nicholson, Department of Agriculture Herbicide tolerance of new lentil varieties, H.S. Dhammu, T.J. Piper and L.E. Young, Department of Agriculture HERBICIDES – NEW PRODUCTS/PRODUCT USES; USE Kill half leaf ryegrass with Spray.Seed® at night, Peter Newman and Glenn Adam, Department of Agriculture CLEARFIELD™ wheat to control hard-to-kill weeds, Abul Hashem, Catherine Borger and Nerys Wilkins, Department of Agriculture Diuron, a possible alternative to simazine pre-emergent in lupins, Peter Newman and Glenn Adam, Department of Agriculture Dual Gold® soft on barley, soft on weeds in dry conditions, Peter Newman and Glenn Adam, Department of Agriculture Dual Gold® soft on lupins, soft on ryegrass in dry conditions, Peter Newman and Glenn Adam, Department of Agricultur