We published last year two articles dealing with the aims and relevance of the so-called 'new archaeology': thefirst was by Professor Richard Watson (1972, and the second by A. C . Hogarth (I972, 3OI-4). We also published a review by David Clarke of 'Explanation in archaeology' by P . J: Watson, S. A. LeBlanc and C . L. Redman (Ig72, 237-9). Here, Dr David Clarke, Fellow and Tutor of Peterhouse, Cambridge, sets out his considered views on the name and nature of archaeology, some of which he has already discussed in his book 'Analytical archaeology'.The loss of disciplinary innocence is the price of expanding consciousness ; certainly the price is high but the loss is irreversible and the prize substantial.Although the loss of disciplinary innocence is a continuous process we can nevertheless distinguish significant thresholds in the transitions from consciousness through self-consciousness to critical self-consciousness and beyond. Consciousness is perhaps achieved when the discipline is named and largely defined by specifying its raw material and by pragmatic practice-archaeology is what archaeologists do. Thenceforth, the practitioners are linked within an arbitrary but common partition of reality, sharing intuitive procedures and tacit understandings whilst teaching by imitation and correction in the craft style (Alexander, 1964, 1-60).Gradually consciousness develops into selfconsciousness and sophistication erodes the paradigms of innocence. Self-consciousness dawns with explicit attempts at self-knowledge -the contentious efforts to cope with the growing quantity of archaeological observations by explicit but debated procedures and the querulous definition of concepts and classifications. The discipline emerges as a restless body of observations upon particular classes of data, between a certain range of scales, held together by a network of changing methodology and implicit theory. Teaching, now formalized in academies and universities, attempts to condense experience within general principles and explicit rules; it is no longer possible either to teach or to learn the vast body of data and complex procedures by rote. Instead, classes of data and approaches are treated in terms of alternative models and rival paradigms; inevitably, the comparison of cIasses introduces counting and measuring which in turn entails a modest amount of mathematical and statistical methods and concepts.This process is also marked by the emergence of competitive individualism and authority, since the individual's living depends on the reputation he achieves as a focus in the media or by innovation and intensive work in a specialist field. The politics and sociology of the disciplinary environment increasingly develop this 'authoritarian' state in which each expert has a specialist territory such that criticisms of territorial observations are treated as attacks upon personalities. This gradually becomes a seriously counterproductive vestige of a formerly valuable disciplinary adaptation by means of which authorities mutually repe...

The basidiomycetous yeast Cryptococcus neoformans is an important human fungal pathogen. Two varieties, C. neoformans var. neoformans and C. neoformans var. gattii, have been identified. Both are heterothallic with two mating types, MATa and MAT␣. Some rare isolates are self-fertile and are considered occasional diploid or aneuploid strains. In the present study, 133 isolates, mostly from Italian patients, were investigated to detect the presence of diploid strains in the Igiene Università Milano culture collection. All of the diploid isolates were further investigated by different methods to elucidate their origins. Forty-nine diploid strains were identified by flow cytometry. PCR fingerprinting using the (GACA) 4 primer showed that the diploid state was associated with two specific genotypes identified as VN3 and VN4. Determination of mating type on V8 juice medium confirmed that the majority of the strains were sterile. PCR and dot blotting using the two pheromone genes (MFa and MF␣) as probes identified 36 of the 49 diploid isolates as MATa/␣. The results of pheromone gene sequencing showed that two allelic MF␣ genes exist and are distinct for serotypes A and D. In contrast, the MFa gene sequence was conserved in both serotype alleles. Amplification of serotype-specific STE20 alleles demonstrated that the diploid strains contained one mating locus inherited from a serotype A parent and one inherited from a serotype D parent. The present results suggest that diploid isolates may be common among the C. neoformans population and that in Italy and other European countries serotype A and D populations are not genetically isolated but are able to recombine by sexual reproduction.The basidiomycetous yeast Cryptococcus neoformans is an important pathogen that causes meningitis in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. At present two varieties have been recognized: C. neoformans var. neoformans (serotypes A, D, and AD) and C. neoformans var. gattii (serotypes B and C). Serotype A has recently been proposed to be separated from C. neoformans var. neoformans into a new distinct variety named C. neoformans var. grubii (3). This classification, however, has not been completely agreed upon among mycologists and needs further investigation.Both varieties of C. neoformans are heterothallic with two mating types, MATa and MAT␣. Mating type ␣ was found to be more frequent than MATa among clinical as well as environmental isolates (6). In addition, some rare isolates were identified as MATa/␣ and were considered occasional diploid or aneuploid strains (7,8). Later, a self-fertile progeny obtained by crossing two haploid strains was demonstrated to be diploid by fluorescence microscopy (18). More recently, a serotype A strain and a serotype D strain were crossed and serotype AD progeny were recovered (13). All of the serotype AD strains isolated were shown to be diploid by flow cytometry analysis, and some of them were self-fertile. Previously, the same group reported a high incidence of diploidy in Japanese natur...

SummaryPartial sequence analysis of the Cryptococcus neoformans MATa mating type locus revealed the presence of a gene with substantial sequence similarity to other fungal mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) genes. The C. neoformans gene, designated STE11a, showed the highest degree of similarity to the Neurospora crassa nrc-1, Schizosaccharomyces pombe byr2 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae STE11 genes. A polymerase chain reaction-mediated sib-selection technique was successfully adapted for the purpose of disrupting STE11a. C. neoformans ste11aD mutants were found to be sterile, consistent with the phenotypes of ste11 and byr2 mutants in S. cerevisiae and S. pombe respectively. Haploid ste11aD mutants were also found to be unable to produce hyphae, suggesting that the C. neoformans gene is functionally conserved when compared with its S. cerevisiae MAPKKK counterpart. Comparison of the wild-type STE11a strain with a ste11aD disruptant for virulence using the mouse model showed that the ste11aD strain was less virulent, but the difference was only minor. In spite of some of the conserved functions of STE11a , linkage analysis showed that STE11a is only found in mating type a strains. These results demonstrate that, although functionally conserved, the mating pathway in C. neoformans has a unique organization.

In this study we investigated the relationship between the MAT␣ locus of Cryptococcus neoformans and several MAT␣-specific mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase signal transduction cascade genes, including STE12␣, STE11␣, and STE20␣. To resolve the location of the genes, we screened a cosmid library of the MAT␣ strain B-4500 (JEC21), which was chosen for the C. neoformans genome project. We isolated several overlapping cosmids spanning a region of about 71 kb covering the entire MAT␣ locus. It was found that STE12␣, STE11␣, and STE20␣ are imbedded within the locus rather than closely linked to the locus. Furthermore, three copies of MF␣, the mating type ␣-pheromone gene, a MAT␣-specific myosin gene, and a pheromone receptor (CPR␣) were identified within the locus. We created a physical map, based on the restriction enzyme BamHI, and identified both borders of the MAT␣ locus. The MAT␣ locus of C. neoformans is approximately 50 kb in size and is one of the largest mating type loci reported among fungi with a one-locus, two-allele mating system.

While positively connoted tangible cultural heritage is widely recognized as an asset to states in their exercise of soft power, the value of sites of 'dark heritage' in the context of soft power strategies has not yet been fully explored. This article offers a theoretical framework for the analysis of the multiple soft power potentialities inherent in the management and presentation of sites of past violence and atrocity, demonstrating how the value of these sites can be developed in terms of place branding, cultural diplomacy and state-level diplomacy. The relationship between dark heritage, soft power and the search for 'ontological security' is also explored, highlighting how difficult pasts can be mobilized in order to frame positive contemporary roles for states in the international system. Drawing on this theoretical framework, the article offers an analysis of the case of the Soča valley in Slovenia and the presentation of the site of the First World War battle of Kobarid in a dedicated museum. Through this case study, the article underlines the particular role of dark heritage for the national self-projection of a new and small state in the context of European integration.

No abstract

Cultural diplomacy continues to attract significant interest as a potential means for states to exercise 'soft power.' However, policymakers and academics who assert the efficacy of cultural diplomacy in terms of influencing foreign publics and states rarely consider how cultural products are actually received abroad. This article proposes that this process of reception can be better understood with reference to the theoretical approaches of Cultural Studies, which encourage us to recognise the extent to which audiences are implicated in processes of meaning-making, processes which are closely associated with the articulation of identity. By applying these approaches to cultural diplomacy, policymakers and researchers could shift their focus to an exploration of realities of the reception cultural products abroad, which would better inform their assumptions about how to achieve successful cultural diplomacy.

No abstract