Introduction: Toward an Engaged Feminist Heritage Praxis

We advocate a feminist approach to archaeological heritage work in order to transform heritage practice and the production of archaeological knowledge. We use an engaged feminist standpoint and situate intersubjectivity and intersectionality as critical components of this practice. An engaged feminist approach to heritage work allows the discipline to consider women’s, men’s, and gender non-conforming persons’ positions in the field, to reveal their contributions, to develop critical pedagogical approaches, and to rethink forms of representation. Throughout, we emphasize the intellectual labor of women of color, queer and gender non-conforming persons, and early white feminists in archaeology

Surveillance of feral swine for Trichinella spp. and Toxoplasmagondii in the USA and host-related factors associatedwith infection

Trichinella spp. and Toxoplasma gondii are important zoonotic parasites that infect warmblooded animals and humans worldwide. Among domesticated food animals, pigs are themain host for Trichinella spiralis. Pigs, chickens, sheep, and goats are known to be infectedwith T. gondii at varying rates, depending on husbandry. Infections in wildlife with theseparasites are generally higher than in domesticated species. Feral swine act as reservoirsof infection in the sylvatic ecosystem for Trichinella spp. and T. gondii, acting as sourcesof infection for peridomestic carnivores whose home ranges overlap with domestic pigs.Feral swine can have direct contact with non-biosecure domestic pigs, presenting oppor-tunity for direct disease transmission through cannibalistic behavior. Determination of theprevalence of Trichinella spp. and T. gondii infection in feral swine is needed to understandthe risk of transmission of these parasites to domestic pigs. A cross-sectional serologi-cal survey was conducted between 2006 and 2010 to estimate the antibody prevalenceof Trichinella spp. and T. gondii and risk factors associated with infection in feral swinein the USA. Serum samples were tested from 3247 feral pigs from 32 states; results arereported from 26 states. Maximum entropy ecological niche modeling and spatial scanstatistic were utilized to predict the geographic range and to examine clusters of infectionof Trichinella spp. and T. gondii in feral pigs. The seroprevalence of antibodies to Trichinella spp. and T. gondii was 3.0% and 17.7%, respectively. Species distribution modeling indicatedthat the most probable distribution areas for both parasites was similar, concentrated pri-marily in the South and the Midwest regions of the USA. A follow up survey conductedduring 2012–2013 revealed that 2.9% of 984 sampled feral swine were seropositive for Trichinella spp., and 28.4% were seropositive for T. gondii. Three hundred and thirty (330)tongues were collected from the 984 sampled animals during 2012–2013; 1.81% were tissuepositive for T. spiralis muscle larvae; no other genotypes were found. The potential existsfor introduction of these pathogens into domestic herds of non-biosecure domestic pigs asa result of increasing overlap of the range of feral pigs with non-biosecure domestic pigsproduction facilities in the USA

Group B Streptococcal Serine-Rich Repeat Proteins Promote Interaction With Fibrinogen and Vaginal Colonization

Group B streptococcus (GBS) can cause severe disease in susceptible hosts, including newborns, pregnant women, and the elderly. GBS serine-rich repeat (Srr) surface glycoproteins are important adhesins/invasins in multiple host tissues, including the vagina. However, exact molecular mechanisms contributing to their importance in colonization are unknown. We have recently determined that Srr proteins contain a fibrinogen-binding region (BR) and hypothesize that Srr-mediated fibrinogen binding may contribute to GBS cervicovaginal colonization. In this study, we observed that fibrinogen enhanced wild-type GBS attachment to cervical and vaginal epithelium, and that this was dependent on Srr1. Moreover, purified Srr1-BR peptide bound directly to host cells, and peptide administration in vivo reduced GBS recovery from the vaginal tract. Furthermore, a GBS mutant strain lacking only the Srr1 “latching” domain exhibited decreased adherence in vitro and decreased persistence in a mouse model of GBS vaginal colonization, suggesting the importance of Srr–fibrinogen interactions in the female reproductive tract