Clinical Enterobacteriacae isolates with a colistin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≥4 mg/L from a United States hospital were screened for the mcr-1 gene using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and confirmed by whole-genome sequencing. Four colistin-resistant Escherichia coli isolates contained mcr-1. Two isolates belonged to the same sequence type (ST-632). All subjects had prior international travel and antimicrobial exposure.

Advancement of ion acceleration by intense laser pulses is studied with ultra-thin nanometer-thick diamond like carbon and micrometer-thick Titanium target foils. Both investigations aim at optimizing the electron density distribution which is the key for efficient laser driven ion acceleration. While recently found maximum ion energies achieved with ultra-thin foils mark record values micrometer thick foils are flexible in terms of atomic constituents. Electron recirculation is one prerequisite for the validity of a very simple model that can approximate the dependence of ion energies of nanometer-thick targets when all electrons of the irradiated target area interact coherently with the laser pulse and Coherent Acceleration of Ions by Laser pulses (CAIL) becomes dominant. Complementary experiments, an analytical model and particle in cell computer simulations show, that with regard to ultra-short laser pulses (duration ~45 fs at intensities up to 5 × 1019 W/cm2) and a micrometer-thick target foil with higher atomic number a close to linear increase of ion energies manifests in a certain range of laser intensities.

In this paper we report on an experimental study of high harmonic radiation generated in nanometer-scale foil targets irradiated under normal incidence. The experiments constitute the first unambiguous observation of odd-numbered relativistic harmonics generated by the v × B component of the Lorentz force verifying a long predicted property of solid target harmonics. Simultaneously the observed harmonic spectra allow in-situ extraction of the target density in an experimental scenario which is of utmost interest for applications such as ion acceleration by the radiation pressure of an ultraintense laser.

Experiments on ion acceleration by irradiation of ultra-thin diamond-like carbon (DLC) foils, with thicknesses well below the skin depth, irradiated with laser pulses of ultra-high contrast and linear polarization, are presented. A maximum energy of 13 MeV for protons and 71 MeV for carbon ions is observed with a conversion efficiency of ~10%. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations reveal that the increase in ion energies can be attributed to a dominantly collective rather than thermal motion of the foil electrons, when the target becomes transparent for the incident laser pulse.

The rings and coins described below were found in a field adjacent to the presumed Iron Age earthwork in Rampier Copse, immediately to the south-west of the walled town of Calleva Atrebatum and about ioo m south of the road to Sorviodunum (FIG. 1). They were discovered by Mr J. Young and two colleagues using metal detectors after the field had been ploughed in the winter of 1986–7. In the autumn of 1985 a single gold ring (FIG. 2, No. 5) and four silver coins had been recovered from the same area and it was suggested that they had once formed part of a hoard. At the Coroner's inquest in December 1987 it was reported that the new finds were widely scattered and it was for this reason that the court decided that they were not treasure-trove. However, given the rarity of single finds of such coins and rings as opposed to the instances where they have been found in association with each other, it would be perverse to suppose that they did not originate from at least one hoard. Indeed, after the discovery had been reported, one of us visited the field in the spring of 1987 and noted that the area of greatest disturbance was confined to a small area adjacent to the field boundary and the tail of the counterscarp bank of the earthwork at SU 63486212 (FIG. 1). It is likely that both sets of finds derive from the same hoard and it is on the assumption of a common origin that the new finds are reported here.

In a recent paper the late Dorothy Charlesworth published a valuable survey and gazetteer of finds entitled ‘Roman Carlisle’. This was the first attempt to bring together and summarize all the available evidence for Luguvalium, Rome's most north-westerly town and civitas capital. The paper dealt with both finds recovered during the previous century, many of which lack a secure provenance in the city centre, and with the results of observations and very small-scale excavations undertaken since the Second World War. At the time the article was written no major area excavations had been completed on Roman deposits and the first, Blackfriars Street, was still in progress. Since 1977, Carlisle Archaeological Unit has completed work on Blackfriars Street and is currently excavating in The Lanes, Castle Street, and Annetwell Street. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to discoveries, mainly in the Lanes area, in advance of the first publication which is not anticipated before the late 1980's. The paper is divided into two sections of which the first (by M. McCarthy) outlines salient structural features, whilst the second (by T. G. Padley, Finds Assistant with the Unit, and Dr M. Henig, Institute of Archaeology, Oxford) deals with finds. It should be borne in mind that further work on all aspects of the site for final publication may result in the modification of some conclusions.