Distribution of surnames and linguistic-cultural identities in Western Slovenia

The following study compares the distribution of surnames in the populations of Western Slovenian municipalities, which were part of the Italian state until the end of the Second World War. The analyses have been carried out firstly by assessing the similarity of different populations to one another so as to verify possible aggregations; secondly, by figuring these relationships of similarity in a representation through unrooted tree (NJ); finally, by applying spatial autocorrelation to the distribution of surnames in the territory so as to highlight possible processes in the diffusion of people in the area under examination. On the whole, it seems likely that the population living in the area is geographically quite stable, although some differences may be noted depending both on the geography of the territory, particularly in the northern part, and on peculiar historical and socioeconomic conditions, which at the same time have characterized and modified the demographic structure of some of these municipalities.     

The ethnic minorities of southern Italy and Sicily: relationships through surnames

Surnames of grandparents were collected from children in the primary schools of the Albanian-Italian, Croat-Italian and Greek-Italian villages of southern Italy and Sicily. The coefficients of relationships by isonymy show almost no relationship with ethnicity. Ethnolinguistic minorities of southern Italy and Sicily are geographically subdivided into two main clusters: the first cluster comprises the Albanian, Croat and Greek communities of the Adriatic area; and the second cluster comprises the Albanian and Greek communities of the Ionian, Thirrenian and Sicilian areas.     

In the name of the father: surnames and genetics

Hereditary surnames contain information about relatedness within populations. They have been used as crude indicators of population structure and migration events, and to subdivide samples for epidemiological purposes. In societies that use patrilineal surnames, a surname should correlate with a type of Y chromosome, provided certain assumptions are met. Recent studies involving Y-chromosomal haplotyping and surname analysis are promising and indicate that genealogists of the future could be turning to records written in DNA, as well as in paper archives, to solve their problems.     

Y-chromosomes and the extent of patrilineal ancestry in Irish surnames

Ireland has one of the oldest systems of patrilineal hereditary surnames in the world. Using the paternal co-inheritance of Y-chromosome DNA and Irish surnames, we examined the extent to which modern surname groups share a common male-line ancestor and the general applicability of Y-chromosomes in uncovering surname origins and histories. DNA samples were collected from 1,125 men, bearing 43 different surnames, and each was genotyped for 17 Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (STR) loci. A highly significant proportion of the observed Y-chromosome diversity was found between surnames demonstrating their demarcation of real and recent patrilineal kinship. On average, a man has a 30-fold increased chance of sharing a 17 STR Y-chromosome haplotype with another man of the same surname but the extent of congruence between the surname and haplotype varies widely between surnames and we attributed this to differences in the number of early founders. Some surnames such as O’Sullivan and Ryan have a single major ancestor, whereas others like Murphy and Kelly have numerous founders probably explaining their high frequency today. Notwithstanding differences in their early origins, all surnames have been extensively affected by later male introgession. None examined showed more than about half of current bearers still descended from one original founder indicating dynamic and continuously evolving kinship groupings. Precisely because of this otherwise cryptic complexity there is a substantial role for the Y-chromosome and a molecular genealogical approach to complement and expand existing sources.     

Distribution patterns of bacterioplankton and chlorophyll-a in the German Wadden Sea

 In a first synoptic evaluation, the temporal and spatial distribution of bacterioplankton and chlorophyll-a were determined in the German Wadden Sea. Three surveys were undertaken in winter, spring, and summer of 1994 using up to eight ships simultaneously between the river Ems and Sylt island. Despite intensive hydrodynamic mixing of the Wadden Sea water, spatial gradients were obvious. The abundance of bacterioplankton ranged from 0.4 to 26×10⁵ ml^–1 and chlorophyll-a varied between <0.1 and 79 μg l^–1. In winter, relatively homogeneous distribution patterns of both parameters with small gradients were found. Highest chlorophyll-a values connected with a highly patchy structure were observed in spring, while in summer both total chlorophyll-a values and the complexity of the distribution pattern had decreased. In contrast, bacterial numbers increased steadily from January to July with the highest bacterial densities and greatest patchiness observed in summer. Moreover, in some regions of the Wadden Sea, a trophic succession of algae as carbon producers and bacteria as consumers was evident. Correlation analysis verified the relationship between bacteria and chlorophyll a, indicating bottom-up control of bacterial abundance in the northern part of the German Wadden Sea. Since the observed regression slope is remarkably low (0.12–0.46) compared to literature values (0.5–0.8), we suggest that the link between phytoplankton and bacteria found here is a special characteristic of the Wadden Sea as a transition zone between the coastal region and the outer North Sea. Received: 26 May 1998 / Accepted:12 November 1998     

Bivalve borings in Lower Jurassic Lithiotis fauna from northeastern Italy and its palaeoecological interpretation

Random shell sections of the Pliensbachian (Early Jurassic) larger bivalve Opisoma from columns within the Main Post Office building of Ferrara, northern Italy, have been discovered to bear neat clavate-shape boreholes. These boreholes belong to the ichnogenus Gastrochaenolites Leymerie and represent bivalve borings. Opisoma is a subordinate component of the Lithiotis fauna characterised by aberrant shells thriving in tropical lagoonal settings which were widespread throughout the Tethyan and Panthalassa coasts. Although the Lithiotis fauna is well known in the palaeontological literature, no bivalve boring have been so far been formally described. The uniqueness of the morphology, size and substrate of these borings merits the designation of the new species Gastrochaenolites messisbugi ichnosp. nov. which thereby represents the first ichnospecies described from this fauna. The morphology of the boreholes and the included bivalves allows the boring activity to be ascribed to a mytilid bivalve. Palaeoecological and taphonomic analyses allowed the presence of the boreholes to be correlated to the Opisoma mode of life (epifaunal, free-living form) as well as to generally low sedimentation rates and seasonal mesotrophic conditions during an overall oligotrophic regime.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CCF77B32-D459-4305-BC86-93F228852E50     

Distribution of echinococcosis/hydatidosis in Italy

Results of an epidemiological survey carried out in 88 slaughterhouses in Italy from 1979 to 1983 are reported. Data have been compared to national surveys previously conducted in 1955 and from 1968 to 1978. Analysis of various factors affecting the incidence of the disease in different areas of the country are reported.     

The invader,the enemy within and they-who-must-not-be-named: how police talk about minorities in Italy,the Netherlands and France

How people talk about ethnic minorities is a sensitive subject, especially in law enforcement. We know little about it as far as continental Europe is concerned. This article is about how police officers talk about minorities in France, in Italy and in the Netherlands. How do speech norms (‘political correctness’) apply outside the anglophone world? Is there a relation between speech norms and practices? This exploratory study is based on interviews with fifty-five police officers from France, Italy and the Netherlands. In these countries, police officers are aware that displaying overt racism is not socially desirable. Interviews show that there are vastly different speech norms governing decent race talk in the three countries. Specifically, we compare: how police use ethnic categories; how police anticipate accusations of discrimination; and how police theorize the over-representation of ethnic minorities in crime. French respondents respect much stricter speech norms than Dutch or Italian ones.     

Norms in the politics of housing for minorities: Evidence from a French,a German and a US metropolitan area

Throughout Western societies, policy‐makers who address the problems of disadvantaged ethnic and immigrant minorities confront norms that prescribe equal or preferential treatment for these groups. Variations in these norms make significant differences in policy‐making. Based on evidence from housing and planning policies and a standardized survey of local élites in comparable German, French and US metropolitan areas, this article analyses how these norms altered logics of policy‐making. Normative differences help to explain why policies to house minorities proved more successful in the German setting than in the French. Contrasts in central‐local relations, in local government, in political parties and in the social and economic background of policy‐making fail to account for the difference that these norms make. In the American setting normative ambiguities combined with institutional, social and spatial differences to render parallel norms comparatively ineffective.     

Y-STR genetic structure of the most common surnames in Korea

The genetic pattern of the Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (Y-STR) haplotypes of 542 unrelated males having the five most common surnames was analyzed to evaluate their usefulness for Korean forensic science and to provide the basic information for Korean genetic genealogy. We identified 439 Y-STR haplotypes, with 385 (87.7%) being found once. Each of the most common Korean surnames examined here showed high haplotype diversity (>0.9949), indicating that Y-STR haplotypes are very heterogeneous within each surname. Population genetic analysis showed that there are little genetic difference among five surnames due to the genetic heterogeneity within each surname and the various kinds of non surname-specific haplotypes (33.6%: 182/542) distributed among five surnames. Surname prediction may not be adequate for narrowing down the suspect list in Korean forensic science, and additional Y-STR haplotype data of thebon-gwans are needed.     

Similarities in the surnames of island and continental populations of the north-western Mediterranean area

This paper compares the structures of the surnames of 75 municipal populations living in six north-western Mediterranean regions. Its purpose is to unravel the relations between the local populations in Corsica and Sardinia and the links between these populations and those living in the Italian and French continental territory. On the basis of the matrix of similarity of surnames, some topological representations have been drafted showing the above-mentioned relations between populations under the light of their geographical position, their recent history and studies of genetic analysis. Corsica has an eterogeneous surname structure and evident similarity of the north with Tuscany and some centres of continental France. When only the populations of Sardinia were taken into consideration, it emerged that they differ among each other in relation to their geographical position and their history; when, instead, they were considered in relation to other populations outside the island, it was possible to observe that they form a highly different cluster. This study also identified many differences in the analysed geographical areas of Sardinia. In the minor islands - Elba, Giglio, Capraia - the structure of the surnames has a Tuscan origin as well as some similarity with other geographically distant areas, as in the case of the island of Giglio, if compared with some communities of Liguria.     

Comparative field study to evaluate the performance of three different traps for collecting sand flies in northeastern Italy

Three standard methods for collecting sand flies (sticky trap, CDC light trap, and CO₂ trap) were compared in a field study conducted from June to October, 2012, at a site located in the center of a newly established autochthonous focus of canine leishmaniasis in northeastern Italy. Six traps (two sticky traps, two CDC light traps, and two CO₂ traps) were activated at the same time for a single night every two weeks during the season of sand fly activity. A total of 5,667 sand flies were collected and 2,213 identified, of which 82.1% were Phlebotomus perniciosus, 17.4% P. neglectus, 0.3% Sergentomya minuta, and 0.2% P. mascitti. The performances of all traps were influenced by their position inside the site, increasing with proximity to the animal shelters. CO₂ traps were more attractive for females of P. perniciosus and P. neglectus. CDC light traps showed an intermediate efficiency and were more attractive for P. neglectus, compared to other two traps. Results suggest that in northern Italy the CO₂ trap is a suitable sampling method for sand fly monitoring programs that include transmitted pathogen surveillance.