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Changes in glass consumption in Pergamon (Turkey) from Hellenistic to late Byzantine and Islamic times

We present compositional data for nearly 100 glass samples from Pergamon, western Turkey, spanning 1500 years from the Hellenistic to Late Byzantine and Islamic periods. The data shows the use of already-known Roman glass groups during the first half of the time frame, for imported vessels as well as locally worked glass. No compositional change is seen related to the introduction of glass blowing for either of the glass groups in use during this time. During the first half of the 1st millennium AD, two previously little-known boron- and alumina-rich compositional groups emerge. These glass groups, thought to be regionally produced, dominate glass compositions in Pergamon during the mid-to late Byzantine and Islamic periods, indicating a major shift in glass supply and a fragmentation of the economy into more regional units. Plant-ash glass, from the 9th century AD replacing mineral natron glass in the Levant, plays only a minor role in Byzantine and Islamic Pergamon

Context in Functional Discourse Grammar

An important and admirable characteristic of the FDG framework is that it takes very seriously the fact that utterances are produced and understood in context. Given this fact, the aim of the present paper is to articulate, in more detail than hitherto, how context may be treated and described within FDG, and to provide FDG with a more comprehensive contextual framework than has previously been available. At the beginning of the paper some general principles of context are established. It is then shown how context may be internally categorised, to reveal a complex multidimensional structure. In the light of this, a modified version of the FDG framework is proposed. The proposed model is then applied to the functional description of some aspects of Modern English, with a view to showing how the application of the framework enables a more analytical and perspicuous description of the pragmatics involved. The areas illustrated are constituent order, fragmentary text, clauses with unexpressed elements, and the inferencing of information. It is concluded that the framework makes possible a more exact and detailed treatment of the role played by context in language-use than would otherwise be feasible

Immunopathological characterisation of infectious diseases of the koala and the platypus

This study characterised the pathological and immunopathological features of selected infectious diseases in the koala and the platypus. Originally, lymphosarcoma, cryptococcosis and chlamydiosis in the koala were chosen. Lymphosarcoma was included because of the putative retroviral involvement. Another infectious disease of Australian wildlife, mucormycosis of the platypus, was also included in the study. One hundred and ten koalas were necropsied throughout the study to determine the main cause of death, other pathological conditions present and to provide a source of case material. Fifty-six koala lymphoid neoplasia cases were obtained and the clinical features and clinical pathology were described. Cases were classified according to the tissues affected and the morphology of the neoplastic cells. The technique of immunohistochemistry was successfully applied to immunophenotype koala lymphoid neoplasms. Approximately half the cases were of the T cell immunophenotype, one quarter of B cell immunophenotype and one quarter did not stain. Multiple organ involvement and/or lymphoid leukaemia were common, probably reflecting presentation of koalas at advanced stages of disease. In order to improve understanding of the dynamics of progression from asymptomatic carriage of Cryptococcus neoformans to cryptococcosis, a preliminary study was undertaken to determine the prevalence, extent, biotype and seasonality of nasal and skin colonisation in the koala by Cryptococcus neoformans. Over a 22-month period, sequential nasal and skin swabs were obtained from 52 healthy captive koalas from the Sydney region. Prevalence of nasal colonisation varied seasonally from 12 to 38%. Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii was cultured from 37, var. neoformans from 22 and both varieties from 5 nasal swabs. One case of cryptococcosis in a captive koala was diagnosed, and the treatment and response to therapy was described. The applicability of a streptavidin biotin-horseradish peroxidase immunohistological staining method to determine the variety and serotype of Cryptococcus neoformans in histological sections of infected koala tissues was assessed. A preliminary study was undertaken to assess the proliferative responses of koala lymphocytes to various mitogens and to chlamydial and cryptococcal antigen in infected and non-infected koalas. The proliferative response of cultured koala lymphocytes varied with the individual animal, the mitogen or antigen used and its concentration, but were invariably greater with separated peripheral blood mononuclear cells than with whole blood. Prior to investigating the immunopathogenesis of mucormycosis in the platypus, the use of various immunomarkers was validated using normal platypus lymphoid tissue. The gross structure and histology of lymphoid tissues obtained from 15 platypuses was described; including spleen, thymus, lymphoid nodules, gut-associated lymphoid tissue and bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue. With the exception of lymphoid nodules, the lymphoid tissue of the platypus was comparable in histological structure to that of therian mammals. Cross-reactive and specific antiplatypus antibodies were successfully applied to histological sections of platypus lymphoid tissue. The immunohistological appearance of the lymphoid tissues in the platypus was similar to that of eutherian and metatherian mammals, except for the detection of fewer B lymphocytes. In order to improve understanding of the pathogenesis of Mucor amphibiorum infection in the platypus, the gross, histological and immunohistological features of cutaneous lesions from 14 platypuses were described. For comparative purposes, normal platypus skin was also examined histologically and immunohistologically. Cases of mucormycosis were confirmed by cytology, histology, mycology and/or ELISA. Skin lesions varied in size, and ranged from raised red nodules or plaques, to ulcerated lesions. Lesions could be either granulomatous or pyogranulomatous, and were commonly diffuse. T cells were the predominant infiltrating lymphoid cell in the lesions and few B cells were observed in all cases. Presumptive plasma cells were observed in about half the cases

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Real-time pair-feeding of animals

Automatic pair-feeding system was developed which immediately dispenses same amount of food to control animal as has been consumed by experimental animal that has free access to food. System consists of: master feeding system; slave feeding station; and control mechanism. Technique performs real time pair-feeding without attendant time lag

Alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes generated in the presence of viral- derived peptides show exquisite peptide and MHC specificity

The nature of alloreactivity to MHC molecules has been enigmatic, primarily because of the observation that allogeneic responses are considerably stronger than syngeneic responses. To better determine the specificity potential of allogeneic responses, we have generated alloreactive CTL specific for exogenous, viral-derived peptide ligands. This approach allowed us to critically evaluate both the peptide- and MHC-specificity of these alloreactive T cells. Exploiting the accessibility of the H-2Ld class I molecule for exogenous peptide ligands, alloreactive CTL were generated that are specific for either murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) or lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) peptides bound by Ld alloantigens. Peptide specificity was initially observed in bulk cultures of alloreactive CTL only when tested on peptide-sensitized T2.Ld target cells that have defective presentation of endogenous peptides. Subsequent cloning of bulk alloreactive CTL lines generated to MCMV yielded CTL clones that had exquisitely specific MCMV peptide recognition requirement. All of the MCMV/Ld alloreactive CTL clones were also exquisitely MHC-specific in that none of the CTL clones lysed targets expressing MCMV/Lq complexes, even though Lq differs from Ld by only six amino acid residues and Lq also binds the MCMV peptide. This observation clearly demonstrates that alloreactive CTL are capable of the same degree of specificity for target cell recognition as are syngeneic CTL in MHC-restricted responses

The extraordinary mid-infrared spectral properties of FeLoBAL Quasars

We present mid-infrared spectra of six FeLoBAL QSOs at 1<z<1.8, taken with the Spitzer space telescope. The spectra span a range of shapes, from hot dust dominated AGN with silicate emission at 9.7 microns, to moderately obscured starbursts with strong Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) emission. The spectrum of one object, SDSS 1214-0001, shows the most prominent PAHs yet seen in any QSO at any redshift, implying that the starburst dominates the mid-IR emission with an associated star formation rate of order 2700 solar masses per year. With the caveats that our sample is small and not robustly selected, we combine our mid-IR spectral diagnostics with previous observations to propose that FeLoBAL QSOs are at least largely comprised of systems in which (a) a merger driven starburst is ending, (b) a luminous AGN is in the last stages of burning through its surrounding dust, and (c) which we may be viewing over a restricted line of sight range.Comment: ApJ, accepte