This was a large multi-function room capable of seating the bulk of the population of the house. The family would sit at the head table on a raised dais, with the rest of the population arrayed in order of diminishing rank away from them. Tables in the great hall would tend to be long trestle tables with benches.
Protozoan Cyst is a defense mechanism in the Protozoan family. It takes this form according to the conditions of the host. A change in pH, a change in oxygen supplies, anything that trigers the genetic mechanism. The cyst is evacuated trough the sediment. You could say that Cyst are a defense mechanism.
The soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines, is a plant-parasitic nematode and a devastating pest of the soybean (Glycine max) worldwide. The nematode infects the roots of soybean, and the female nematode eventually becomes a cyst. Infection causes various symptoms that may include chlorosis of the leaves and stems, root necrosis, loss in seed yield and suppression of root and shoot growth.