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Universities are unique settings with large populations, congregate housing, and frequent attendance of events in large groups. However, the current prevalence of previous COVID-19 infection in university students, including symptomatic and asymptomatic disease, is unknown. Our goal therefore was to determine the prevalence of previous infection, risk factors for infection, and the prevalence of persistent symptoms following infection among university students.This was a cross-sectional study set in a large public university between January 22 and March 22, 2021. We surveyed students about demographics, risk factors, and symptoms, and simultaneously tested their saliva for IgA antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. To estimate the prevalence of previous infection we adjusted our intentional sample of a diverse student population for year in school and age to resemble the composition of the entire student body and adjusted for the imperfect sensitivity and specificity of the antibody test. Univariate and multiple regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors for infection, and the proportion of students with persistent symptoms following acute infection was determined.A total of 488 students completed the survey, 432 had a valid antibody result, and 428 had both. The estimated prevalence of previous infection for 432 participants with valid antibody results was 41%. Of 145 students in our sample with a positive antibody test, 41.4% denied having a previous positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2 and presumably had an asymptomatic infection; in our adjusted analysis we estimate that approximately 2-thirds of students had asymptomatic infections. Independent risk factors for infection included male sex, having a roommate with a known symptomatic infection, and having two or fewer roommates. More frequent attendance of parties and bars was a univariate risk factor, but not in the multiple regression analysis. Of 122 students reporting a previous symptomatic infection, 14 (11.4%) reported persistent symptoms consistent with postacute COVID-19 a median of 132 days later.Previous COVID-19 infection, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, was common at a large university. Measures that could prevent resurgence of the infection when students return to campus include mandatory vaccination policies, mass surveillance testing, and testing of sewage for antigen to SARS-CoV-2.

During the late nineteenth century North American bison underwent a significant population bottleneck resulting in a reduction in population size of over 99% and a species-level near-extinction event. Factors responsible for this destruction included indiscriminate killing, loss of access to suitable habitat, and diseases. At the nadir of this population crash, very few wild plains bison survived and were restricted to Yellowstone National Park, USA and a small number of wild wood bison remained in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada. However, most surviving bison in the late 1800’s were maintained by cattle ranchers in private herds where hybridization between bison with various breeds of domestic cattle was often encouraged. Over the last 20 years, the legacy of this introgression has been identified using mitochondrial DNA and limited nuclear microsatellite analyses. However, no genome-wide assessment has been performed, and some herds were believed to be free of introgression based on current genetic testing strategies. Herein, we report detailed analyses using whole genome sequencing from nineteen modern and six historical bison, chosen to represent the major lineages of bison, to identify and quantitate signatures of nuclear introgression in their recent (within 200 years) history. Both low and high coverage genomes provided evidence for recent introgression, including animals from Yellowstone, Wind Cave, and Elk Island National Parks which were previously thought to be free from hybridization with domestic cattle. We employed multiple approaches, including one developed for this work, to identify putative cattle haplotypes in each bison genome. These regions vary greatly in size and frequency by sample and herd, though we detected domestic cattle introgression in all bison genomes tested. Since our sampling strategy spanned across the diversity of modern bison populations, these finding are best explained by multiple historical hybridization events between these two species with significant genetic recombination over the last 200 years. Our results demonstrate that whole genome sequencing approaches are required to accurately quantitate cattle introgression in bison.

There is limited knowledge on durability of neutralization capacity and antibody affinity maturation generated following two versus three doses of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines in naïve versus convalescent individuals (hybrid immunity) against the highly transmissible Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and BA.3 subvariants. Virus neutralization titers against the vaccine-homologous strain (WA1) and Omicron sublineages are measured in a pseudovirus neutralization assay (PsVNA). In addition, antibody binding and antibody affinity against spike proteins from WA1, BA.1, and BA.2 is determined using surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The convalescent individuals who after SARS-CoV-2 infection got vaccinated develop hybrid immunity that shows broader neutralization activity and cross-reactive antibody affinity maturation against the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 after either second or third vaccination compared with naïve individuals. Neutralization activity correlates with antibody affinity against Omicron subvariants BA.1 and BA.2 spikes. Importantly, at four months post-third vaccination the neutralization activity and antibody affinity against the Omicron subvariants is maintained and trended higher for the individuals with hybrid immunity compared with naïve adults. These findings about hybrid immunity resulting in superior immune kinetics, breadth, and durable high affinity antibodies support the need for booster vaccinations to provide effective protection from emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants like the rapidly spreading Omicron subvariants.

As of March 2022, there have been over 450 million reported SARS-CoV-2 cases worldwide, and more than 4 billion people have received their primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine. In order to longitudinally track SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in people after vaccination or infection, a large-scale COVID-19 sero-surveillance progam entitled SPARTA (SeroPrevalence and Respiratory Tract Assessment) was established early in the pandemic. Anti-RBD antibody levels were tracked in more than 1,000 people. There was no significant decrease in antibody levels during the first 14 months after infection in unvaccinated participants, however, significant waning of antibody levels was observed following vaccination, regardless of previous infection status. Moreover, participants who were pre-immune to SARS-CoV-2 prior to vaccination seroconverted to significantly higher antibody levels, and antibodies were maintained at significantly higher levels than in previously infected, unvaccinated participants. This pattern was entirely due to differences in the magnitude of the initial seroconversion event, and the rate of antibody waning was not significantly different based on the pre-immune status. Participants who received a third (booster) dose of an mRNA vaccine not only increased their anti-RBD antibody levels ∼14-fold, but they also had ∼3 times more anti-RBD antibodies compared to the peak of their antibody levels after receiving their primary vaccine series. In order to ascertain whether the presence of serum antibodies is important for long-term seroprotection, PBMCs from 13 participants who lost all detectable circulating antibodies after vaccination or infection were differentiated into memory cells in vitro. There was a significant recall of memory B cells in the absence of serum antibodies in 70% of the vaccinated participants, but not in any of the infected participants. Therefore, there is a strong connection between anti-RBD antibody levels and the effectiveness of memory B cell recall.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the authorization of vaccines for emergency use has been crucial in slowing down the rate of infection and transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. In order to investigate the longitudinal serological responses to SARS-CoV-2 natural infection and vaccination, a large-scale, multi-year serosurveillance program entitled SPARTA (SARS SeroPrevalence and Respiratory Tract Assessment) was initiated at 4 locations in the U.S. The serological assay presented here measuring IgG binding to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) detected antibodies elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination with a 95.5% sensitivity and a 95.9% specificity. We used this assay to screen more than 3100 participants and selected 20 previously infected pre-immune and 32 immunologically naïve participants to analyze their antibody binding to RBD and viral neutralization (VN) responses following vaccination with two doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 or the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine. Vaccination not only elicited a more robust immune reaction than natural infection, but the level of neutralizing and anti-RBD antibody binding after vaccination is also significantly higher in pre-immune participants compared to immunologically naïve participants (pp=0.69). However, ~46% of the immunologically naïve participants required both vaccinations to seroconvert.

ImportanceUniversities are unique settings with large populations, congregate housing, and frequent attendance of events in large groups. However, the prevalence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2 in university students, including symptomatic and asymptomatic disease, is unknown.ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of previous infection, risk factors for infection, and the prevalence of persistent symptoms following infection among university students.DesignThis was a cross-sectional study that surveyed students about demographics, risk factors, and symptoms, and simultaneously tested their saliva for IgA antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. To estimate the prevalence of previous infection we adjusted our intentional sample of a diverse student population for year in school and age to resemble the composition of the entire student body, and adjusted for the imperfect sensitivity and specificity of the antibody test. Univariate and multivariate analysis was used to identify independent risk factors for infection.SettingA large public university in Athens, Georgia between January 22 and March 22, 2021.ParticipantsUndergraduate and graduate students; 488 completed the survey, 432 had a valid antibody result. and 428 had both.ExposurePrevious infection with SARS-CoV-2 based on measurement of IgA antibodies in saliva and adjustment for sample characteristics and test accuracy.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe primary outcome was the estimated prevalence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2. Secondary outcomes were independent risk factors for infection, and the prevalence of persistent symptoms among persons reporting a previous symptomatic infection.ResultsThe estimated prevalence of previous infection for 432 participants with valid antibody results was between 41% and 42%. Independent risk factors for infection included male sex, having a roommate with a known symptomatic infection, and having 2 or fewer roommates. More frequent attendance of parties and bars was a univariate risk factor, but not in the multivariate analysis. Of 122 students reporting a previous symptomatic infection, 14 (11.4%) reported persistent symptoms a median of 132 days later.Conclusions and RelevancePrevious infection with SARS-CoV-2, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, was common at a large university. Measures that could prevent resurgence of the infection when students return to campus include mandatory vaccination policies, mass surveillance testing, and testing of sewage for antigen to SARS-CoV-2.Key PointsQuestionWhat is the prevalence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the prevalence of persistent symptoms in university students?FindingsIn this sample of 432 students who provided saliva for IgA antibodies, we estimate that 41% to 42% had evidence of previous infection. Of 122 reporting a previous symptomatic infection, 14 (11%) were still symptomatic a median of 132 days later.MeaningSymptomatic and asymptomatic infections with SARS-CoV-2 are common among university students, and a significant percentage had persistent symptoms over a long duration.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the authorization of vaccines for emergency use has been crucial in slowing down the rate of infection and transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. In order to investigate the longitudinal serological responses to SARS-CoV-2 natural infection and vaccination, a large-scale, multi-year serosurveillance program entitled SPARTA (SARS SeroPrevalence and Respiratory Tract Assessment) was initiated at 4 locations in the U.S. The serological assay presented here measuring IgG binding to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) detected antibodies elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination with a 95.5% sensitivity and a 95.9% specificity. We used this assay to screen more than 3100 participants and selected 20 previously infected pre-immune and 32 immunologically naïve participants to analyze their antibody binding to RBD and viral neutralization (VN) responses following vaccination with two doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 or the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine. Vaccination not only elicited a more robust immune reaction than natural infection, but the level of neutralizing and anti-RBD antibody binding after vaccination is also significantly higher in pre-immune participants compared to immunologically naïve participants (pp=0.69). However, ~46% of the immunologically naïve participants required both vaccinations to seroconvert.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the vaccination effort that is ongoing has created an unmet need for accessible, affordable, flexible and precise platforms for monitoring the induction, specificity and maintenance of virus-specific immune responses. Herein we validate a multiplex (Luminex-based) assay capable of detecting SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies irrespective of host species, antibody isotype, and specimen type (e.g. plasma, serum, saliva or blood spots). The well-established precision of Luminex-based assays provides the ability to follow changes in antibody levels over time to many antigens, including multiple permutations of the most common SARS-CoV-2 antigens. This platform can easily measure antibodies known to correlate with neutralization activity as well as multiple non-SARS-CoV-2 antigens such as vaccines (e.g. Tetanus toxoid) or those from frequently encountered agents (influenza), which serve as stable reference points for quantifying the changing SARS-specific responses. All of the antigens utilized in our study can be made in-house, many in E. coli using readily available plasmids. Commercially sourced antigens may also be incorporated and newly available antigen variants can be rapidly produced and integrated, making the platform adaptable to the evolving viral strains in this pandemic., Brief Summary A multi-antigen assay for monitoring SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies irrespective of host species, antibody isotype, and specimen type was developed.

The development of a safe and effective vaccine is a key requirement to overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. Recombinant proteins represent the most reliable and safe vaccine approach but generally require a suitable adjuvant for robust and durable immunity. We used the SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequence and in silico structural modelling to design a recombinant spike protein vaccine (Covax-19™). A synthetic gene encoding the spike extracellular domain (ECD) was inserted into a baculovirus backbone to express the protein in insect cell cultures. The spike ECD was formulated with Advax-SM adjuvant and first tested for immunogenicity in C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice. The Advax-SM adjuvanted vaccine induced high titers of binding antibody against spike protein that were able to neutralise the original wildtype virus on which the vaccine was based as well as the variant B.1.1.7 lineage virus. The Covax-19 vaccine also induced potent spike-specific CD4+ and CD8+ memory T-cells with a dominant Th1 phenotype, and this was shown to be associated with cytotoxic T lymphocyte killing of spike labelled target cells in vivo. Ferrets immunised with Covax-19 vaccine intramuscularly twice 2 weeks apart made spike receptor binding domain (RBD) IgG and were protected against an intranasal challenge with SARS-CoV-2 virus 2 weeks after the second immunisation. Notably, ferrets that received two 25 or 50μg doses of Covax-19 vaccine had no detectable virus in their lungs or in nasal washes at day 3 post-challenge, suggesting the possibility that Covax-19 vaccine may in addition to protection against lung infection also have the potential to block virus transmission. This data supports advancement of Covax-19 vaccine into human clinical trials.

In order to longitudinally track SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels after vaccination or infection, we assessed anti-RBD antibody levels in over 1000 people and found no significant decrease in antibody levels during the first 14 months after infection in unvaccinated participants, however, a significant waning of antibody levels was observed following vaccination. Participants who were pre-immune to SARS-CoV-2 prior to vaccination seroconverted to higher antibody levels, which were maintained at higher levels than in previously infected, unvaccinated participants. Older participants exhibited lower level of antibodies after vaccination, but a higher level after infection than younger people. The rate of antibody waning was not affected by pre-immunity or age. Participants who received a third dose of an mRNA vaccine not only increased their antibody levels ~14-fold, but also had ~3 times more antibodies compared to when they received their primary vaccine series. PBMC-derived memory B cells from 13 participants who lost all circulating antibodies were differentiated into antibody secreting cells (ASCs). There was a significant recall of memory B cell ASCs in the absence of serum antibodies in 5–8 of the 10 vaccinated participants, but not in any of the 3 infected participants, suggesting a strong connection between antibody levels and the effectiveness of memory B cell recall.

Genomic technologies have been increasingly applied in livestock production due to their utility in production management and animal genetic improvement. The current project aimed to develop genomic resources for the Canadian bison industry, specifically a parentage verification tool and a subspecies composition tool. Both products stand to help with building and maintaining purebred and crossbred bison populations, and in turn bison conservation and production. The development of this genomic toolkit proceeded in two stages. In the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery and selection stage, raw sequence information from 41 bison samples was analyzed, and approximately 52.5 million candidate biallelic SNPs were discovered from 21 samples with high sequence quality. A set of 19,954 SNPs (2,928 for parentage verification and 17,026 for subspecies composition) were then selected for inclusion on an Axiom myDesign custom array. In the refinement and validation stage, 480 bison were genotyped using the custom SNP panel, and the resulting genotypes were analyzed to further filter SNPs and assess tool performance. In various tests using real and simulated genotypes, the two genomic tools showed excellent performance for their respective tasks. Final SNP sets consisting of 191 SNPs for parentage and 17,018 SNPs for subspecies composition are described. As the first SNP-based genomic toolkit designed for the Canadian bison industry, our results may provide a new opportunity in improving the competitiveness and profitability of the industry in a sustainable manner.

David Forgacs’ chapter deals with the dark side of Italian military history: the mass killing of civilians. He examines two massacres in places Italy claimed as its colonial possessions: the first in 1911 in Tripoli, the second in 1937 in Addis Ababa. Both were reported at the time by foreign media but denied by the Italian authorities. Forgacs briefly reconstructs the context of each massacre and considers the possible motives of its perpetrators. He then proceeds to ask whether such massacres were believed to be excusable, even though known to be unlawful, within the military culture of the colonial powers. Finally, Forgacs offers insights about why those responsible for the massacres were never brought to trial and why neither massacre, although well-known to some historians, has entered the collective memory of Italians. This contribution highlights the widely criticized aspects of the military—the lack of transparency, violence, and corruption—and ponders on the toll that such moments take on advancing cohesion and tolerance within Italian society.

Background: Limited knowledge exists regarding antibody affinity maturation following mRNA vaccination in naïve vs. COVID-19 recovered individuals and potential sex differences. Methods: We elucidated post-vaccination antibody profiles of 69 naïve and 17 COVID-19 convalescent adults using pseudovirus neutralization assay (PsVNA) covering SARS-CoV-2 WA-1, variants of concern (VOCs) and variants of interest (VOIs). Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) was used to measure antibody affinity against prefusion spike and receptor binding domain (RBD) and RBD mutants. Findings: Higher neutralizing antibodies were observed in convalescent vs. naïve adults against, WA-1, VOCs, and VOIs. Antibody binding to RBD and RBD mutants showed lower binding of post-vaccination sera from naïve compared with convalescent individuals. Moreover, we observed early antibody affinity maturation in convalescent individuals after one vaccine dose and higher antibody affinity after two doses compared with the naïve group. Among the naïve participants, antibody affinity against the SARS-CoV-2 prefusion spike was significantly higher for males than females even though there were no difference in neutralization titers between sexes. Interpretation: This study demonstrates the impact of prior infection on vaccine-induced antibody affinity maturation and difference in antibody affinity between males and females. Further studies are needed to determine whether antibody affinity may contribute to correlates of protection against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Funding: The antibody characterization work described in this manuscript was supported by FDA's Medical Countermeasures Initiative (MCMi) grant #OCET 2021-1565 to S.K and intramural FDA-CBER COVID-19 supplemental funds. The SPARTA program was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services contract 75N93019C00052, and the University of Georgia (US) grant UGA-001. T.M.R is also supported by the Georgia Research Alliance (US) grant GRA-001. The CTRU was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number UL1TR002378.

Background The collection and analysis of fecal DNA is a common practice, especially when dealing with wildlife species that are difficult to track or capture. While fecal DNA is known to be lower quality than traditional sources of DNA, such as blood or other tissues, few investigations have verified fecal samples as a valid source of DNA by directly comparing the results to high quality DNA samples from the same individuals. Our goal was to compare DNA from fecal and blood samples from the same 50 American plains bison (Bison bison) from Yellowstone National Park, analyze 35 short tandem repeat (STR) loci for genotyping efficiency, and compare heterozygosity estimates. Results We discovered that some of the fecal-derived genotypes obtained were significantly different from the blood-derived genotypes from the same bison. We also found that fecal-derived DNA samples often underestimated heterozygosity values, in some cases by over 20%. Conclusions These findings highlight a potential shortcoming inherent in previous wildlife studies that relied solely on a multi-tube approach, using exclusively low quality fecal DNA samples with no quality control to account for false alleles and allelic dropout. Herein, we present a rigorous marker selection protocol that is applicable for a wide range of species and report a set of 15 STR markers for use in future bison studies that yielded consistent results from both fecal and blood-derived DNA. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12863-019-0722-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Recent advances in high-throughput single cell sequencing have opened up new avenues into the investigation of B cell receptor (BCR) repertoires. In this study, PBMCs were collected from 17 human participants vaccinated with the split-inactivated influenza virus vaccine during the 2016–2017 influenza season. A combination of Immune Repertoire Capture (IRCTM) technology and IgG sequencing was performed on ~7,800 plasmablast (PB) cells and preferential IgG heavy-light chain pairings were investigated. In some participants, a single expanded clonotype accounted for ~22% of their PB BCR repertoire. Approximately 60% (10/17) of participants experienced convergent evolution, possessing public PBs that were elicited independently in multiple participants. Binding profiles of one private and three public PBs confirmed they were all subtype-specific, cross-reactive hemagglutinin (HA) head-directed antibodies. Collectively, this high-resolution antibody repertoire analysis demonstrated the impact evolution can have on BCRs in response to influenza virus vaccination, which can guide future universal influenza prophylactic approaches.

Most books by or about Antonio Gramsci reproduce on their covers the same studio photograph dating from the early 1920s. It is a head and shoulders portrait showing Gramsci with longish hair, dark coat buttoned at the neck, unsmiling and looking into the camera through wire-rimmed glasses. This was also the image of him most commonly displayed in Communist Party branches all over Italy from the late 1940s to 1991. Yet if we compare it with other extant photographs of Gramsci, as well as with those of other revolutionary leaders adopted as iconic in the communist movement, we can see it differs from the former and resembles the latter in several ways. The most striking difference is the erasure of any sign of Gramsci’s bodily impairment: the curvature of the spine and short stature resulting from the spinal tuberculosis he had as a child. The article examines the history of this photograph and the way it became adopted as the approved image of Gramsci and considers what was at stake in removing from official memory a condition of disability that was central to his own personal and political identity.

As tick-borne diseases continue to emerge across the United States, there is need for a better understanding of the tick and pathogen communities in the southern states and of habitat features that influence transmission risk. We surveyed questing and on-host ticks in pine-dominated forests with various fire management regimes in the Sam Houston National Forest, a popular recreation area near Houston, Texas. Four linear transects were established- two with a history of controlled burns, and two unburned. Systematic drag sampling yielded 112 ticks from two species, Ixodes scapularis (n=73) and Amblyomma americanum (n=39), with an additional 106 questing ticks collected opportunistically from drag cloth operators. There was a significant difference in systematically-collected questing tick density between unburned (15 and 18 ticks/1000 m2) and burned (2 and 4 ticks/1000 m2) transects. We captured 106 rodents and found 74 ticks on the rodents, predominantly Dermacentor variabilis. One unburned transect had significantly more ticks per mammal than any of the other three transects. DNA of Rickettsia species was detected in 146/292 on and off-host ticks, including the 'Rickettsial endosymbiont of I. scapularis' and Rickettsia amblyommatis, which are of uncertain pathogenicity to humans. Borrelia lonestari was detected in one A. americanum, while Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the agent of Lyme disease, was not detected in any tick samples. Neither Borrelia nor Rickettsia spp. were detected in any of the mammal ear biopsies (n=64) or blood samples (n=100) tested via PCR. This study documents a high prevalence in ticks of Rickettsia spp. thought to be endosymbionts, a low prevalence of relapsing fever group Borrelia in ticks, and a lack of detection of Lyme disease-group Borrelia in both ticks and mammals in an east Texas forested recreation area. Additionally, we observed low questing tick density in areas with a history of controlled burns. These results expand knowledge of tick-borne disease ecology in east Texas which can aid in directing future investigative, modeling, and management efforts.

The outbreak and transmission of disease-causing pathogens are contributing to the unprecedented rate of biodiversity decline. Recent advances in genomics have coalesced into powerful tools to monitor, detect, and reconstruct the role of pathogens impacting wildlife populations. Wildlife researchers are thus uniquely positioned to merge ecological and evolutionary studies with genomic technologies to exploit unprecedented “Big Data” tools in disease research; however, many researchers lack the training and expertise required to use these computationally intensive methodologies. To address this disparity, the inaugural “Genomics of Disease in Wildlife” workshop assembled early to mid-career professionals with expertise across scientific disciplines (e.g., genomics, wildlife biology, veterinary sciences, and conservation management) for training in the application of genomic tools to wildlife disease research. A horizon scanning-like exercise, an activity to identify forthcoming trends and challenges, performed by the workshop participants identified and discussed 5 themes considered to be the most pressing to the application of genomics in wildlife disease research: 1) “Improving communication,” 2) “Methodological and analytical advancements,” 3) “Translation into practice,” 4) “Integrating landscape ecology and genomics,” and 5) “Emerging new questions.” Wide-ranging solutions from the horizon scan were international in scope, itemized both deficiencies and strengths in wildlife genomic initiatives, promoted the use of genomic technologies to unite wildlife and human disease research, and advocated best practices for optimal use of genomic tools in wildlife disease projects. The results offer a glimpse of the potential revolution in human and wildlife disease research possible through multi-disciplinary collaborations at local, regional, and global scales.

This is the first issue ofModern Italyto focus on disability. We want to thank the general editors of the journal, Philip Cooke and John Foot, for having welcomed our proposal for it. The original nucleus was the panel ‘Disabilities' at the conference ‘Language, Space and Otherness in Italy since 1860’, which David Forgacs organised at the British School at Rome on 24-25 June 2010. The decision to include a panel on that topic was influenced, in turn, by Rachele Tardi's experience in 2009–2010 of managing a project in Ethiopia, funded by the Italian Foreign Ministry, for the NGO Comitato Collaborazione Medica, which worked with local partners on community-based rehabilitation (CBR) of people with disabilities. Our discussions of CBR at that time stimulated our interest in looking more closely at the contemporary situation of disability rights in Italy. Our main objective in editing this issue has been to offer readers a representative sample of writing both by Italian disability activists and researchers and by non-Italian scholars working on Italian disability issues. We deliberately sought a mix of academic writing and writing by people actively engaged in work for disability rights. Giampiero Griffo, who was the discussant at the conference panel and is one of the authors included here, was a willing mediator for other articles, and we would like to thank him for his support and help in making this issue happen. We also thank Franco Baldasso for his hard work assisting the editorial process, our peer reviewers for their invaluable input, and our translators, Bryan Brazeau, Kristin Szostek Chertoff, Brian DeGrazia and Stuart Oglethorpe. We should also like to thank Pier Vittorio Barbieri, Claudia Bertolè, Flavia Monceri and Antonio Pascale.

The article reflects on the ‘absent connection’ between the fictional Watussi of the Italian hit song of 1963 and the real Tutsi, many of whom had fled Rwanda at that time to escape violence from the ascendant Hutu majority in the last years of Belgian rule. It considers the song's long afterlife and the stubborn persistence, decades later, of comic stereotypes of ‘Africans’ in Italian popular culture despite the growing number of African migrants and their children in Italian society.

I have now recorded full-length commentaries for four ‘classic’ Italian films: Ossessione (Luchino Visconti, 1943), Il Gattopardo (Luchino Visconti, 1963), Il deserto rosso (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964), and Il conformista (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970). Although these credentials hardly make me an expert on the subject, I have learned some lessons about audio commentaries that I think are worth sharing. First lesson: do not risk going into a studio to record a commentary without a script of some kind. It is true that many audio commentaries — usually those done by the film’s director — are unscripted and perhaps even recorded in a single take. Occasionally these are good, but more often they have long sections where the director cannot think of anything interesting to say or just tells background anecdotes. However, this is the person who made the film, so even if they have nothing much to say about it we forgive them for it. Film scholars cannot crave the same indulgence from listeners. I can think of only one case of a really good scholarly commentary on an Italian film that is not closely scripted, and that is Robert Gordon’s on the Arrow Films dual-format edition (2011) of Ladri di biciclette (Vittorio De Sica, 1948). I, however, have increasingly come to use more and more detailed scripts for my commentaries, timed right down to the second. I may want to draw attention to a shot that is on screen for just one or two seconds and it comes in right at the beginning of a scene. I have to find a way of commenting on it either just before it appears, or while it is on screen, or just after, but I cannot place my remarks too much on either side, otherwise listeners may not understand which shot I am talking about. For me, therefore, repeated rehearsal and exact timing — in other words, a pre-written script — are essential if I want to be sure I cover a certain number of points about a film. The first time I did a commentary I had not anticipated these problems. It was the commentary on Ossessione, which I did together with Lesley Caldwell, whose first time it also was. Lesley and I had several meetings beforehand, going through the film sequence by sequence, deciding what we would say and which of us would say it. It was an enjoyable process and we thought that was all there was to it. But The Italianist, 33. 2, 183–189, June 2013

Starting out from Jurgen Habermas's definition of the public sphere, and from the criticisms subsequently made of it by various scholars, this article considers whether the concept may be appropriately applied to Italy in the modern era. Is it correct to limit the public sphere to its ‘classic’ liberal form or to understand it in a normative sense rather than a more neutral, descriptive one? Can one, for example, speak of a fascist public sphere? Is the public sphere always fatally undermined by the mass media or can it harness some of the media to its own ends? If there is still a critical public sphere in Italy today, where is it to be found and what forms does it take?

Yellowstone National Park is home to one of the only plains bison populations that have continuously existed on their present landscape since prehistoric times without evidence of domestic cattle introgression. Previous studies characterized the relatively high levels of nuclear genetic diversity in these bison, but little is known about their mitochondrial haplotype diversity. This study assessed mitochondrial genomes from 25 randomly selected Yellowstone bison and found 10 different mitochondrial haplotypes with a haplotype diversity of 0.78 (± 0.06). Spatial analysis of these mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes did not detect geographic population subdivision (FST = -0.06, p = 0.76). However, we identified two independent and historically important lineages in Yellowstone bison by combining data from 65 bison (defined by 120 polymorphic sites) from across North America representing a total of 30 different mitochondrial DNA haplotypes. Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes from one of the Yellowstone lineages represent descendants of the 22 indigenous bison remaining in central Yellowstone in 1902. The other mitochondrial DNA lineage represents descendants of the 18 females introduced from northern Montana in 1902 to supplement the indigenous bison population and develop a new breeding herd in the northern region of the park. Comparing modern and historical mitochondrial DNA diversity in Yellowstone bison helps uncover a historical context of park restoration efforts during the early 1900s, provides evidence against a hypothesized mitochondrial disease in bison, and reveals the signature of recent hybridization between American plains bison (Bison bison bison) and Canadian wood bison (B. b. athabascae). Our study demonstrates how mitochondrial DNA can be applied to delineate the history of wildlife species and inform future conservation actions.

The legume pod borer,Maruca vitrata, is an endemic insect pest that causes significant yield loss to the cowpea crop in West Africa. The application of population genetic tools is important in the management of insect pests but such data onM. vitratais lacking. We applied a set of six microsatellite markers to assess the population structure ofM. vitratacollected at five sites from Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria. Observed polymorphisms ranged from one (marker 3393) to eight (marker 32008) alleles per locus. Observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.0 to 0.8 and 0.0 to 0.6, respectively. Three of the loci in samples from Nigeria and Burkina Faso deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE), whereas no loci deviated significantly in samples from Niger. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that 67.3% level of the genetic variation was within individuals compared to 17.3% among populations. A global estimate ofFST=0.1 (ENA correctedFST=0.1) was significant (P⩽0.05) and corroborated by pairwiseFSTvalues that were significant among all possible comparisons. A significant correlation was predicted between genetic divergence and geographic distance between subpopulations (R2=0.6,P=0.04), and cluster analysis by the program STRUCTURE predicted that co-ancestry of genotypes were indicative of three distinct populations. The spatial genetic variance amongM. vitratain West Africa may be due to limited gene flow, south-north seasonal movement pattern or other reproductive barriers. This information is important for the cultural, chemical and biological control strategies for managingM. vitrata.

A survey of Roberto Rossellini's filmmaking career with particular emphasis on the continuities and differences between the World War II films of his early career and the later dramatization of an older scientific, religious, and political history.

On the coast between Brindisi and Otranto on the Salente peninsula the heel of Italy lies the small town of San Foca di Melendugno. On the seafront road is a large building, surrounded by a wire fence, called the Casa Regina Pacis. Until recently its director was Don Cesare Lodeserto, former private secretary to the archbishop of Lecce, Cosmo Francesco Ruppl. Since 2003, Don Cesare and other staff at the Casa Regina Pacis have been involved in a series of dramatic court cases. These have been reported by some Italian newspapers, but they have not had a high media profile and are virtually unknown outside Italy. The trials have been an unusual, and striking, instance of poor and marginalized people foreigners from developing countries, with little or no knowledge of the local language making accusations against those in positions of authority, and being not only listened to, but defended and vindicated by the Italian legal system. One of these cases involved a group of Muslim migrants from northern Africa; another centred on young Romanian women resident at Regina Pacis. In the three-year research project I am carrying out at the British School at Rome I am looking at these and other examples of the intertwining of language, space and power in Italy from the early nineteenth century to the present. My perspective is that of a cultural and social historian, not of a linguist; and my interest is in how languages come to be used as a medium for transactions of power and influence, how they become an arena where various groups assert their rights and interests, or the interests of others on whose behalf they claim to speak. I use the word 'language' here, and in my project, in two senses of the word in English, which correspond to two different Italian words: lingua and

This essay describes a number of facilities and institutions in Rome, including the film festival, film school, exhibition circuit, and key production center Cinecittà.

Why did Saadi Yacef decide to go to Italy in 1964 to find a director to make a film based on his memoirs of the Battle of Algiers? How far was the resulting film shaped by its Algerian producer and how far by the Italians who worked on it – director Gillo Pontecorvo and screenwriter Franco Solinas, but also cinematographer Marcello Gatti, editor Mario Morra and composer Ennio Morricone? How far did it differ on the one hand from Yacef's original story idea and on the other from the film called Para that Pontecorvo and Solinas had originally intended to make in Algiers and for which they already had a complete script ready? This article looks at the making of The Battle of Algiers and considers these questions in relation to the film's politics, its narrative construction and its style. It also considers some parallels between the film and the work of Rossellini, in particular Rome Open City.

Due to an increasing diversity of bacterial pathogens known to be transmitted by hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in North America, a comprehensive assay is needed to detect and differentiate among these numerous tick-borne pathogens. We describe an expanded protocol using a combination of multiplex polymerase chain reaction and reverse line blot hybridization to detect a greater diversity of infectious agents than were previously detectable. Ten novel oligonucleotide probes, either individually or in concert, enabled or enhanced identification of six Borrelia species, three Rickettsia species, and one Ehrlichia species. Simultaneous detection of these numerous tick-borne pathogens can advance surveillance efforts and improve accuracy of detection and, thus, reporting.

Italy's Margins explores how certain places and social groups in Italy have been defined as marginal or peripheral since unification. This marginalization involves not only concrete policies but also ways of perceiving people and places as outside society's centre. The author looks closely at how photography and writing have supported political and social exclusion and, conversely, how they have been enlisted to challenge it. Five cases are examined: the peripheries of Italy's major cities after unification; its East African colonies in the 1930s; the less developed areas of its south in the 1950s; its psychiatric hospitals before the reforms of the late 1970s; and its 'nomad camps' after 2000. Each chapter takes its lead from a symptomatic photograph and is followed by other pictures and extracts from written texts. These allow the reader to examine how social marginalization is discursively performed by cultural products.