ON A COLLECTION OF RATS AND SHREWS FROM THE DUTCH EAST INDIAN ISLANDS

ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABL

XII.— On two new squirrels of the Funisciurus pyrrhopus group

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XXXIV.— New Species of Macroscelides and Glauconycteris

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Immuno-antibiotics: Targeting microbial metabolic pathways sensed by unconventional T cells

Human Vγ9/Vδ2 T cells, mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells and other unconventional T cells are specialised in detecting microbial metabolic pathway intermediates that are absent in humans. The recognition by such semi-invariant innate-like T cells of compounds like (E)-4-hydroxy-3-methyl-but-2-enyl pyrophosphate (HMB-PP), the penultimate metabolite in the MEP isoprenoid biosynthesis pathway, and intermediates of the riboflavin biosynthesis pathway and their metabolites allows the immune system to rapidly sense pathogen-associated molecular patterns that are shared by a wide range of micro-organisms. Given the essential nature of these metabolic pathways for microbial viability, they have emerged as promising targets for the development of novel antibiotics. Here, we review recent findings that link enzymatic inhibition of microbial metabolism with alterations in the levels of unconventional T cell ligands produced by treated micro-organisms that have given rise to the concept of ‘immuno-antibiotics’: combining direct antimicrobial activity with an immunotherapeutic effect via modulation of unconventional T cell responses

Oxygen-17 Cross-Polarization NMR Spectroscopy of Inorganic Solids*

We have obtained I70 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of a variety of '70-labeled solids (Mg(OH)z, Ca(OH)*, boehmite (AlO(C talc (Mg3Si.,0,,(OH)2), (C6H,),SiOH, and amorphous Si02) using high-field static and "magioangle" sample spinning techniques, together with 'H cross polarization and dipolar decoupling. Our results show that large cross-polarization enhancements can be obtained and that reliable second-order quatipolar powder lineshapes can be observed under cross-polarization conditions. We have also investigated the dynamics of cross polarization for several samples, including measurements of cross-relaxation rates and 'H and I70 rotating-frame spin-lattice relaxation times. We show that rapid I70 rotating-frame spin-lattice relaxation reduces the cross-polarization enhancement in some cases and that differences in cross-relaxation rates can be used to "edit" spectra by selectively enhancing protonated oxygen resonances (in general, hydroxide versus oxide ions, in inorganic solids). When applied to high surface area metal oxides such as amorphous silica, this selectivity enables the observation of resonances from surface hydroxyl groups that are difficult to detect by conventional "0 NMR. Overall, the crosspolarization approach appears to have considerable utility for aiding in the interpretation of "0 NMR spectra of complex inorganic solids. 0 1988 Academic PBS, Inc

A prehistoric Egyptian mummy: Evidence for an ‘embalming recipe’ and the evolution of early formative funerary treatments

Interdisciplinary scientific investigations utilising chemical analysis, shotgun metagenomics, textile analysis and radiocarbon dating have been applied to the study of an intact prehistoric Egyptian mummy, allowing insights into when this individual lived and died, and the funerary treatments employed in the preparation of the body. Here we present the first evidence for an extant prehistoric mummy that has undergone treatment with notably similar formative complex ‘balms’ that would later constitute the classic embalming recipes employed at the height of pharaonic mummification some 2500 years later. Making the informed assumption that the provenance of the Turin body was Gebelein, Qena or Luxor (Thebes), the findings offer the first indication that this type of funerary recipe was likely to have been employed over a wider geographical area at a time when the concept of a pan-Egyptian identity was supposedly still developing

Evidence for prehistoric origins of Egyptian mummification in Late Neolithic burials

Traditional theories on ancient Egyptian mummification postulate that in the prehistoric period (i.e. the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, 5(th) and 4(th) millennia B.C.) bodies were naturally desiccated through the action of the hot, dry desert sand. Although molding of the body with resin-impregnated linen is believed to be an early Pharaonic forerunner to more complex processes, scientific evidence for the early use of resins in artificial mummification has until now been limited to isolated occurrences during the late Old Kingdom (c. 2200 B.C.), their use becoming more apparent during the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1600 BC). We examined linen wrappings from bodies in securely provenanced tombs (pit graves) in the earliest recorded ancient Egyptian cemeteries at Mostagedda in the Badari region (Upper Egypt). Our investigations of these prehistoric funerary wrappings using a combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and thermal desorption/pyrolysis (TD/Py)-GC-MS have identified a pine resin, an aromatic plant extract, a plant gum/sugar, a natural petroleum source, and a plant oil/animal fat in directly AMS-dated funerary wrappings. Predating the earliest scientific evidence by more than a millennium, these embalming agents constitute complex, processed recipes of the same natural products, in similar proportions, as those utilized at the zenith of Pharaonic mummification some 3,000 years later. The antibacterial properties of some of these ingredients and the localized soft-tissue preservation that they would have afforded lead us to conclude that these represent the very beginnings of experimentation that would evolve into the famous mummification practice of the Pharaonic period

Preoperative amygdala fMRI in temporal lobe epilepsy

Purpose: Anterior temporal lobe resections (ATLR) benefit 70% of patients with refractory mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), but may be complicated by emotional disturbances. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the role of the amygdala in processing emotions in TLE and whether this may be a potential preoperative predictive marker for emotional disturbances following surgery. Methods: We studied 54 patients with refractory mesial TLE due to hippocampal sclerosis (28 right, 26 left) and 21 healthy controls using a memory encoding fMRI paradigm, which included viewing fearful and neutral faces. Twenty-one TLE patients (10 left, 11 right) subsequently underwent ATLR. Anxiety and depression were assessed preoperatively and 4 months postoperatively using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: On viewing fearful faces, healthy controls demonstrated left lateralized, while right TLE patients showed bilateral amygdala activation. Left TLE patients had significantly reduced activation in left and right amygdalae compared to controls and right TLE patients. In right TLE patients, left and right amygdala activation was significantly related to preoperative anxiety and depression levels, and preoperative right amygdala activation correlated significantly with postoperative change of anxiety and depression scores, characterized by greater increases in anxiety and depression in patients with greater preoperative activation. No such correlations were seen for left TLE patients. Discussion: The fearful face fMRI paradigm is a reliable method for visualizing amygdala activation in controls and patients with mesial TLE. Activation of the right amygdala preoperatively was predictive of emotional disturbances following right ATLR