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In spite of decades of research developing a model of language and context, there is little consensus in systemic functional linguistics (SFL) about how context should be modelled and how language and context are related. In this paper, we review recent work in SFL which focuses on modelling register as a resource – reconceiving field as a resource for construing phenomena, tenor as a resource for negotiating social relations, and mode as a resource for composing texture. This work has a number of implications for SFL’s conception of realisation (as strata of abstraction), instantiation (as a cline of generalisation), and individuation (as a scale of belonging). For realisation it bears critically on the issue of whether or not to adopt a stratified model of context (as register and genre) and the relationship between extrinsic functionality (field, tenor, and mode) and intrinsic functionality (ideational, interpersonal, and textual metafunctions). For instantiation, it bears critically on our modelling of principles for coupling (co-selecting and arranging choices within and across languages and related modalities of communication) – for example mass, presence, and association. And for individuation, it bears critically on the perspectives of allocation (i.e. how access to meanings and their uptake is distributed across communities) and affiliation (i.e. how meanings are used to collaborate and struggle, within and between social groups). Our basic aim in this paper is to suggest a model for improving traction as far as SFL work on language in context is concerned, fully embracing a multimodal perspective on language and related modalities of communication as resources for meaning.

Abstract The composition and quantity of insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) can be species-specific as well as sexually dimorphic within species. CHC analysis has been previously used for identification and ageing purposes for several insect orders including true flies (Diptera). Here, we analysed the CHC chemical profiles of adult males and females of eleven species of flesh flies belonging to the genus Sarcophaga Meigen (Sarcophagidae), namely Sarcophaga africa (Wiedemann), S. agnata Rondani, S. argyrostoma Robineau-Desvoidy, S. carnaria (Linnaeus), S. crassipalpis Macquart, S. melanura Meigen, S. pumila Meigen, S. teretirostris Pandellé, S. subvicina Rohdendorf, S. vagans Meigen and S. variegata (Scopoli). Cuticular hydrocarbons extracted from pinned specimens from the collections of the Natural History Museum, London using a customised extraction technique were analysed using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry. Time of preservation prior to extraction ranged between a few weeks to over one hundred years. CHC profiles (1) allowed reliable identification of a large majority of specimens, (2) differed between males and females of the same species, (3) reliably associated males and females of the same species, provided sufficient replicates (up to 10) of each sex were analysed, and (4) identified specimens preserved for up to over one hundred years prior to extraction.

Research is a vital component of all forensic sciences and is often stimulated by casework, which identifies gaps in our knowledge. In such a niche area of forensic science as entomology there should be a close and mutually beneficial relationship between research and casework: to some extent there is a continuum between the two and many forensic entomologists are involved in both to a greater or lesser degree. However, research and casework involve quite differing challenges, from the replicated, highly controlled, sometimes esoteric aspects of research to the very individual, sometimes chaotic and disruptive, but highly applied aspects of casework. Ideally casework will include the full involvement of a forensic entomologist, who will collect the insect and climate evidence at the scene and produce a robust expert witness statement based on a full analysis of this data. Unfortunately, it can also include situations where samples, if collected at all, are poorly preserved, not representative of the full cadaver fauna available and presented to the entomologist months or years after the event, without local temperature data. While research is recognised through publications and their citation indices, casework and its associated expert witness statements often receive no credit in an academic workplace, although they do have a positive societal impact and many other benefits of teaching and public engagement value. This manuscript examines the relationship between research and casework from a UK perspective, to raise awareness of the need to create an environment that values the contribution of both, for future generations to flourish in both areas.

The dramatic metamorphosis from larva to adult of insect orders such as Diptera cannot usually be witnessed because it occurs within an opaque structure. For the cyclorrhaphous dipterans, such as blow flies, this structure is the puparium, formed from the larval cuticle. Here, we reveal metamorphosis within the puparium of a blow fly at higher temporal resolution than previously possible with two-dimensional time-lapse videos created using the X-ray within a micro-computed tomography scanner, imaging development at 1 min and 2 min intervals. Our studies confirm that the most profound morphological changes occur during just 0.5% of the intrapuparial period (approx. equivalent to 1.25 h at 24°C) and demonstrate the significant potential of this technique to complement other methods for the study of developmental changes, such as hormone control and gene expression. We hope this will stimulate a renewed interest among students and researchers in the study of morphology and its astonishing transformation engendered by metamorphosis.

Zone refining, as the currently most common industrial process to attain ultrapure metals, is influenced by a variety of factors. One of these parameters, the so-called “zone length”, affects not only the ultimate concentration distribution of impurities, but also the rate at which this distribution is approached. This important parameter has however neither been investigated experimentally, nor ever varied for the purpose of optimization. This lack of detections may be due to the difficult temperature measurement of a moving molten area in a vacuum system, of which the zone refining methodology is comprised. Up to now, numerical simulation as a combination of complex mathematical calculations, as well as many assumptions has been the only way to reveal it. This paper aims to propose an experimental method to accurately measure the molten zone length and to extract helpful information on the thermal gradient, temperature profile and real growth rate in the zone refining of an exemplary metal, in this case aluminum. This thermographic method is based on the measurement of the molten surface temperature via an infrared camera, as well as further data analysis through the mathematical software MATLAB. The obtained results show great correlation with the visual observations of zone length and provide helpful information to determine the thermal gradient and real growth rate during the whole process. The investigations in this paper approved the application of an infrared camera for this purpose as a promising technique to automatically control the zone length during a zone refining process.

Oestrid flies (Diptera: Oestridae) are obligate parasites of mammals during their larval stage and show anatomical adaptations for the infestation of host tissues. Unlike the species that parasitize domestic mammals, those oestrid species that infest wild mammal hosts remain poorly known. With the use of x‐ray micro‐computed tomography, we describe for the first time the anatomy of the digestive and excretory systems of the second and third larval instars of Pharyngomyia picta (Meigen), a parasite of cervids that, like other species within the subfamily Oestrinae, causes nasopharyngeal myiasis. Both larval instars of P. picta show a pair of remarkably large salivary glands arranged in a characteristic 'glandular band', a convoluted and thickly uniform midgut and a greatly enlarged distal region of the anterior pair of Malpighian tubules. These anatomical features also have been described in other species within the subfamily Oestrinae, whereas they differ from the observations in other oestrid subfamilies. We discuss the potential functional significance of the anatomy of the digestive and excretory systems of Oestrinae larvae as specific adaptations to parasitize the nasopharyngeal cavities of mammal hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]