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Simple Summary: This work addressed the age-old problem of buffalo brucellosis in the province of Caserta; this infection has repercussions both on public health (disease transmissible to humans) and on the economy of the DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) buffalo mozzarella dairy supply chain. This disease has persisted for years in the Caserta area, and numerous resources have been invested but to no avail. The aim of the work was to identify the main causes of the persistence of the contagion in order to act on them and improve the use of public funds. The study showed that the infection persists in the same companies and that it has most likely never moved away from them and is always present in the same areas where the companies are close to each other, and the disease has spread from one company to another due to the absence of disease surveillance and quarantine measures. In fact, companies that have had a previous history of infection and/or are close to other infected companies have a greater probability of contracting the infection. Bovine and bubaline brucellosis is still present in some regions of Italy. Although control and eradication measures have been implemented for several years, the brucellosis situation remains problematic in the Campania region. The infection is present in the provinces of Salerno and Caserta, with the latter experiencing a drastic increase in the prevalence and incidence of infection in buffalo species (Bubalus bubalis) in recent years. The brucellosis eradication plan in Italy is subject to the European co-financing system, and failure to achieve the objectives of the plan has resulted in economic cuts for the Campania Region for years. This study aimed to evaluate the possible risk factors associated with the spread and persistence of brucellosis infection on buffalo farms in the Province of Caserta. The results of official controls carried out from 2015 to 2020 on the buffalo farms of the Province were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed by means of the R software (version 4.1.0) on a final dataset consisting of 4583 observations. The possible association between covariates and outcome (presence/absence of infection) was evaluated (T-Fisher and Wilcoxon). A logistic regression model with mixed effects was carried out. The study shows that the risk of infection is statistically associated with the density of farms per square km and previous notifications of abortions on the same farms. Furthermore, animal movements constitute a risk factor for the permanence of infection over time (OR > 1), and herds already infected prior to 2015 were seen to have an almost three-fold higher risk of developing the disease (OR = 3.35). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esta nota se propone comentar el catálogo de la exposición de los cartones y tapices de la colección Storie di Don Chisciotte, que Carlos de Borbón proyectó para los apartamentos del Palacio de Caserta (Nápoles 19/05/2022 - 10/01/2023). Las nuevas obras tenían que integrar los episodios de los doce Gobelins sobre el Quijote que Carlos había comprado. A su ejecución colaboraron los mejores pintores de la corte y el maestro tapicero Duranti. Vanvitelli, el arquitecto del palacio de Caserta, nunca fue favorable a la voluntad de Carlos y, de hecho, los tapices no se expusieron nunca en los apartamentos del Palacio de Caserta. Los excelentes estudios efectuados han permitido reconstruir los dos siglos de las aventuras que sufrieron las obras hasta parar definitivamente entre el Palacio Real de Nápoles y el Quirinal de Roma.

The essay explores the origins and the many transformations of palazzo de Gregorio, located in Caserta behind the gardens of the Bourbon royal palace. Built by Charles of Bourbon, at his own expense, in 1754 for the Marquis of Squillace Leopoldo de Gregorio by the royal architect Luigi Vanvitelli, it was purchased by Ferdinand IV in 1796 to house the kingdom’s first Flanders linen factory. Later transformed into a cotton mill by Luigi Vallin in the French Decade, it continued to be used as a factory even after the return of the Bourbons. The palace later passed to the military in 1851, at the behest of Ferdinand II, who strengthened the defensive functions of S. Maria Capua Vetere and Caserta in support of Capua and was finally sold to private individuals at the end of the 19th century. After World War II, it was requisitioned by the Housing Commission and granted to the homeless to solve housing problems. In tracing its many ‘lives’, the essay, in its conclusions, will also try to touch on some aspects which are more directly related to its protection, since the current state of conservation of the building solicits questions concerning the relationship between history, memory, identity and what materially survives of it, all of which no longer reflect what it has represented at individual moments in its long history.

In the last few decades, the remarkable increase in the number of people living in urban areas around the world has posed new challenges for urban planning. The environmental, economic, and social issues of urban sprawl are well-known also in several metropolitan areas of Italy. In this paper, we consider a southern city of Italy (Campania Region), Caserta and its surroundings. We use several satellite images with different spatial and spectral resolutions (Landsat, Sentinel, and KH-9 Hexagon) within the Google Earth Engine platform, to map the main land use changes of Caserta conurbation from the 1980s till 2021. The results highlight the great land consumption and, at the same time, the relevant urban infill that occurred in this area in this short period, both on topographic and local scale (referring, in this last case, only to the town of Caserta). While at an early stage, the increase in artificial areas responds to a specific demand related to the increase in the resident population, the urban growth of the last two decades has more complex answers. Systematic delays in land use planning and a biased perspective (usually focusing only on the municipal scale) to solve the problems of a significantly larger area means insufficient services to the citizens in their daily lives (mainly in relation to local public transport and the actual availability of urban green areas). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bovine and bubaline brucellosis is still present in some regions of Italy. Although control and eradication measures have been implemented for several years, the brucellosis situation remains problematic in the Campania region. The infection is present in the provinces of Salerno and Caserta, with the latter experiencing a drastic increase in the prevalence and incidence of infection in buffalo species (Bubalus bubalis) in recent years. The brucellosis eradication plan in Italy is subject to the European co-financing system, and failure to achieve the objectives of the plan has resulted in economic cuts for the Campania Region for years. This study aimed to evaluate the possible risk factors associated with the spread and persistence of brucellosis infection on buffalo farms in the Province of Caserta. The results of official controls carried out from 2015 to 2020 on the buffalo farms of the Province were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed by means of the R software (version 4.1.0) on a final dataset consisting of 4583 observations. The possible association between covariates and outcome (presence/absence of infection) was evaluated (T-Fisher and Wilcoxon). A logistic regression model with mixed effects was carried out. The study shows that the risk of infection is statistically associated with the density of farms per square km and previous notifications of abortions on the same farms. Furthermore, animal movements constitute a risk factor for the permanence of infection over time (OR > 1), and herds already infected prior to 2015 were seen to have an almost three-fold higher risk of developing the disease (OR = 3.35).

From the end of the eighteenth century to the present day it has been the practice to refer to such and such a royal palace in Italy as ‘the Italian Versailles’. Today, this expression is essentially used for what could be described as marketing ends. The aim is to glorify the residence in question, to compare it to the Sun King’s palace, in order to highlight its unique value and character. It is in fact a slogan. And this slogan is frequently used in a campanilismo spirit in order to assert the superiority of the royal palace of one former Italian state over the royal palace of another former state: Caserta against Monza, for example. This approach is linked, for the most part, to sometimes vigorous municipal debates, often stoked by contemporary Italian politics. But this has not always been the case: in the nineteenth century, the expression ‘the Italian Versailles’ had a highly negative political signification. Indeed, several historians and progressive politicians used the expression to condemn the Ancien Régime, of which the French palace was, in their eyes, the most complete symbol. Thus, in the poem Versaglia written by Giosuè Carducci in 1871, the description of the palace and the gardens was above all a pretext for celebrating the death of the Ancien Régime. The present essay aims to analyse the political use of the expression ‘the Italian Versailles’ during the period 1780–1918 and to reconstruct the place that the Sun King’s palace left in the Italian political imagination between the end of the Ancien Régime and Unification.

The passage of Luigi Vanvitelli from Rome to Naples took place in 1750, when, after the peace, the balance between the Pope and the King of Naples had again been put at risk because the events related to neapolitan masonry. This essay aims to highlight the role of the eclectic and skilled diplomat cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, in the transfer of Vanvitelli, architect from the reforming climate in Rome, to the service of Carlo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Per contribuire all’individuazione di un possibile nesso epidemiologico tra consumo di mozzarella di bufala preparata con latte crudo (non trattato al calore) e casi di brucellosi umana, sono stati analizzati, per ricerca di Brucella spp., 80 campioni di latte bufalino crudo e 315 campioni di mozzarella. Gli alimenti esaminati sono stati prelevati in caseifici della provincia di Caserta dove è presente la più alta concentrazione di allevamenti bufalini sierologicamente positivi alla brucellosi in Campania, regione che, nel periodo 2000-2005, ha registrato il 96,02% dei casi di brucellosi umana notificati in Italia. Al fine de valutare possibili variazioni stagionali, i campioni sono stati acquistati in 72 rivendite associate a caseifici nel periodo febbraio 2006-marzo 2007. La ricerca di Brucella spp. è stata effettuata utilizzando polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ed eseguendo contemporaneamente l’isolamento microbiologico. I campioni esaminati sono risultati negativi alla ricerca di Brucella con entrambi i metodi utilizzati. Sono stati, inoltre, definiti i parametri di sensibilità, specificità, ripetibilità, riproducibilità e il limite di rilevazione del metodo molecolare, esaminando campioni artificialmente contaminati, sia con metodo PCR sia con isolamento microbiologico classico. Il limite di rilevazione è risultato inferiore a 1 UFC/g, ripetibiltà e riproducibilità sono stati pari a 100% (p=0,95), sensibilità a 96,7% (p=0,95) e specificità a 100% (p=0,95).

To help identify an epidemiological link between the consumption of buffalo mozzarella prepared with raw milk (not heat-treated) and cases of human brucellosis, 80 samples of raw buffalo milk and 315 samples of mozzarella were tested for the presence of Brucella spp. Samples originated from Caserta, the province with the highest number of Brucella-positive buffalo herds in Campania, the region in which 96.02% of all cases of human brucellosis reported in 2000-2005 were recorded. To take into account possible seasonal variations, between February 2006 and March 2007, samples were purchased directly from 72 dairy outlets that were representative of the province. Samples were tested for Brucella spp. using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and bacterial isolation. Samples tested negative for Brucella using both methods. Spiked samples were then prepared and tested by PCR and bacterial isolation and the sensitivity, specificity, repeatability, reproducibility and limit of detection were determined. The PCR limit of detection was below 1 colony-forming unit (cfu)/g. The repeatability and reproducibility of the method were 100% (p = 0.95), the sensitivity was 96.7% (p = 0.95) and the specificity was 100% (p = 0.95).

This study attempts to assess the aquifer vulnerability in the northeastern sector of the Campania Plain (southern Italy). The area is a highly populated region with anthropic impacts caused by rapid urban growth, quarrying, agricultural and industrial activities and uncontrolled waste storage. The main geologic feature of this plain is the alternation of alluvial/transitional and volcaniclastic deposits of Late Pleistocene-Holocene age. The study was performed integrating different sets of geologic and environmental data to restore the stratigraphic architecture and to assess anthropic impacts on subsoil. The reconstruction of stratigraphic subsurface architecture was based on remarkable geodatabase, concerning well log stratigraphies. Specific insights have been delineated on the volcaniclastic lithofacies heteropies across the entire area of study to highlight the differences in lithification degree and permeability. The contribution of pedogenesis on the reconstruction of the stratigraphic setting was also considered for the relative implications on groundwater quality concerns, as paleosols are usually regarded as aquitards. All of this information has been managed into a GIS project to produce a detailed 3D geological reconstruction, integrated with hydrogeological information to provide a model of the aquifer under study, highlighting sites of greater vulnerability to pollution. The anthropic impacts on subsoil were assessed by evaluating land-uses and overlaying the ANHI (Agricultural Nitrate Hazard Index) Map. The integration of the above datasets has allowed to check the reliability of the previsional empirical model with respect to the hydrostratigraphic model based on a thorough stratigraphic model and to verify the real potential of contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The representation of a place is becoming one of the most important research issues in the Geographic Information System (GIS) and in the participatory cartography (Hobel, Fogliaroni and Frank, 2016). As well known, in behavioural geography a mental map represents the personal perception of the surrounding geographical space (Lynch, 1960; Gould and White, 1974). Usually, these maps are very simple, so everyone can create them. The recent rise of internet and the advent of Web2.0 may mean, among others, the possibility for everyone to map. This is a sort of "revolution" in the cartography production, so now the geospatial data are often collected by people taking part in the generation of Volunteered Geographic Information, well known also as VGI (Goodchild, 2007). OpenStreetMap (OSM) is probably the most famous of these cartographic projects. Started in the UK in the early 2000s, now it provides free topographic maps at global scale (Ramm et al., 2011). Thus, in just a few decades, we have gone from mental maps to being able to collaborate on participative maps online (Panek, 2016). However, how much could knowledge of our living region affects the results of our online mapping activities? Namely, how much is important the personal perception of surrounding space in participatory cartography? This research focuses on cultural heritage to recognize its important role in both local community identity (as "common identity heritage") and the tourism industry. In a region particularly rich in such unique features such as Campania Region (South Italy), awareness of its own identity heritage is sometimes lacking, leading to its degradation and neglect. The aim of this research is to investigate about the differences between the VGI of OSM and an official cartography of cultural heritage in the historical centre of Caserta, an important urban area of the Campania. This town is best known in Italy and abroad for its Royal Palace, a former royal residence built in the XVIII Century by the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and now one of the most visited monuments in Italy. Our sources of data are the cultural heritage risk map realized by the "Istituto Centrale per il Restauro del Ministero della cultura" (ICR) (High Institute for Conservation and Restoration, Ministry of Culture) and the PostgreSQL database of OSM. The first is a GIS project about Italian cultural heritage to assess the risk due to their state of preservation and the characteristics of the territory within they are (Bartolomucci, Cacace, 2008). Since the end of 2020, the General Directorate for Security of the Ministry of Culture manages the project. Currently the webGIS of the ICR map is freely available on http://www.cartadelrischio.beniculturali.it The OSM database, instead, is resulting from activities of VGI mapping geoinformation such as points or lines and polygons. The key component of OSM is its main database, which contains tables for each element type, where the attribute information of each object is referred to as a 'tag' (Ramm et al., 2011). Starting from the recent municipal urban plan of Caserta (Bottaro et al., 2017), we defined the border of the historical center of this town. We use this area to automatically extract the georeferenced data from ICR map and from the OMS database. In this last case, we use a QGIS plugin - QuickOSM plugin - to set up queries on the OSM database about buildings, areas, sites, monuments, churches and fountains. Then we compare our results to outline main differences between the official map (ICR map) and the crowdsourcing data of OSM. In detail, we examined the spatial distribution of cultural heritage in the study area and what is mapped by VGI. The results put in evidence a great difference between the two selected sources of data: the ICR identifies 115 points, while OSM detects 22 points and 27 polygons. Considering the type of cultural good, the first map highlights a set very rich and heterogeneous: in the centre of Caserta there are 57 historical buildings, 13 churches, 8 chapels, 6 fountains, 3 theatres, 3 historical houses and other 21 elements. On the other side, the geographical information of OSM is a little more multi-faceted: it reports 7 historical palaces (all polygons), 16 ancient churches (15 polygons and 1 point, classified as chapel), 9 ancient and modern fountains (5 polygons and 4 points) and 17 "monuments" (all points, comprehensive of figures, commemorative plaques, artistic statues, etc.). Regarding their spatial distribution, the ICR map includes items within all the study area, even if their main concentration is close to the Royal Palace (fig. 1A). Concerning the OSM map, some areas of Caserta's historic centre are not even mapped in detail; they are mainly the historical neighbourhoods farthest from the Royal Palace, such as Ercole or Sala. Consequently, also the cultural heritage of OSM map is mostly located close to the Royal Palace or within its park (fig. 1B). As a conclusion, we can shortly report that the cultural heritage mapped by VGI of OSM is overall quite significant (about the 40% of total assets mapped by ICR). However, the results strictly depend on their typology: in our case, for instance, they are better for churches, but worse for historic palaces. Furthermore, the resulting OSM map is strongly influenced by the "bulky" presence in this city of such an important monument as the Royal Palace, as VGI mapped what is directly related or otherwise spatially close. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]