Re-inventing protection in a post-pandemic world: A new aerodynamic endonasal filtration technology.

Is there a "missing device" for respiratory personal protection? Does it exist an easy-to-use device, allowing extensive use in everyday settings by the population, maximizing tolerability and low visual and physical invasiveness protecting from a wide range of threats including airborne pathogens, hence including the particle range of fine and ultrafine particles? Looking at the recent past, in the urgency of finding ready-to-use solutions for the respiratory protection of the population during the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, devices for occupational safety have been used, such as filtering face masks. These are devices intended for workers operating during work shifts in environments characterized by potential high risk, known a priori, often directly sensible; this makes wearers motivated to tolerate discomfort for a given period to face a localized risk, and safety managers determined to supervise compliance with usage specifications. Their use by general population has implied known shortcomings, such as weak compatibility with relational work and activities, low tolerability during prolonged use, low compliance with the proper use of the device, all of this lessening actual protection. The need for a new perspective has emerged, targeting effectiveness in whole daily life, rather than punctual efficacy. Nasal filters are promising candidates to protect individuals throughout the day during the most varied activities, but they lack a systematic definition as a device and as a product; it follows that the high complexity needed to reach an effective performance envelop is generally underestimated. By reviewing available literature, the present paper draws on the experience from the pandemic and infers systematic product specifications and characterization methods for a new, effective personal respiratory protection device; these specifications are compared with the stringent constraints associated with the endonasal applications and, based on air filtration state of the art, quantifies the need for technology disruption and outlining possible new development paths.

Epidemiological and clinical analysis of exposure-related factors in non-melanoma skin cancer: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) increased over last decades, probably due to environmental concerns or to the increase of frail patients with age related comorbidities. Currently, the relationship of increasing global skin cancer rates with increased ultraviolet radiations (UVRs) resulting from stratospheric ozone depletion, global warming, and air pollution from fossil-fuel combustion. AIMS: We conducted a retrospective epidemiological study including 546 NMSC patients managed at the Dermatology Unit of the Tor Vergata Hospital to highlight different trends of sun exposure or different comorbidities. METHODS: Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed to evidence differences between continous variable and Spearman rank test for dicotomical variables. Charlson Comorbidity Index was calculated to obtain the 10-years survival rate in order to identify the mean comorbidity burden of our patients. RESULTS: Considering patients with comorbidities (73.81%), actinic keratoses (AKs) was the most frequent lesion. In patients with a history of previous melanoma, basal cell carcinoma (BCC) was predominant (ANOVA test, p < 0.05) with a statistically significant correlation (rho = 0.453; p < 0.01). Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) showed a higher rate in arterial hypertension patients, followed by the chronic heart failure and hematologic neoplasms (60%, 29.7% and 32.1%, respectively) groups. Men were more affected than women, representing 61.54% of patients. Chronic sun exposure is directly correlated with SCC rho = 0.561; p < 0.01), whereas BCC correlated with a history of sunburns (rho = 0.312; p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: History of photo-exposition had an important role on NMSC development especially for work or recreational reasons. Sex, age, and presence of comorbidities influenced different NMSC types. BCC was more frequent in younger patients, associated with melanoma and sunburns. The presence of SCC is associated with older patients and the hypertension group. AKs were diagnosed predominantly in oldest men, with a chronic sun-exposure history, and hematologic neoplasms group.

Scientific evidence supporting the newly developed one-health labeling tool "Med-Index": an umbrella systematic review on health benefits of mediterranean diet principles and adherence in a planeterranean perspective.

BACKGROUND: Med-Index is a one-health front-of-pack (FOP) label, based on Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) principles, developed to summarize information about the nutritional properties and related-health benefits of any food as well as its sustainable production processes, and the associated food company's social responsibility parameters in a new "Planeterranean" perspective. Thus, Med-Index can be adopted in and by any European region and authority as well as worldwide; this is achieved by consumption and cooking of locally available and sourced foods that respect MedDiet principles, both in terms of healthy nutrition and sustainable production. The huge body of scientific evidence about the health benefits of the MedDiet model and principles requires a comprehensive framework to encompass the scientific reliability and robustness of this tool. A systematic review was carried out to examine the association between human health and adherence to MedDiet patterns upon which the "Med-Index" tool was subsequently developed. METHODS: MEDLINE and PubMed databases were searched for eligible publications from 1990 to April 2023. Systematic literature reviews, with or without meta-analysis, of clinical trials and observational studies were screened by two independent investigators for eligibility, data extraction, and quality assessment. English language and the time interval 1990-2023 were applied. A registry code CRD42023464807 was generated on PROSPERO and approved for this search protocol. The corrected covered area (CCA), calculated to quantify the degree of overlap between reviews, gave a slight overlap (CCA = 4%). RESULTS: A total of 84 systematic reviews out of 6681 screened records were selected. Eligible reviews included studies with predominantly observational designs (61/84, 72.6%%), of which 26/61 referenced studies of mixed observational and RCT designs, while 23/84 (27.4%) were RCT-only systematic reviews. Seventy-nine different entries were identified for health outcomes, clustered into 10 macro-categories, each reporting a statistically significant association with exposure to the MedDiet. Adherence to MedDiet was found to strongly benefit age-related chronic diseases (21.5%), neurological disorders (19%), and obesity-related metabolic features (12.65), followed by CVDs (11.4%), cancer (10.1%), diabetes (7.5%), liver health (6.3%), inflammation (5%), mortality (5%), and renal health (1.2%). The quality of the studies was moderate to high. CONCLUSION: In the context of a "Planeterranean" framework and perspective that can be adopted in any European region and worldwide, MedDiet represents a healthy and sustainable lifestyle model, able to prevent several diseases and reduce premature mortality. In addition, the availability of a FOP, such as Med-Index, might foster more conscious food choices among consumers, paying attention both to human and planetary health.

COVID-19 epidemic spread and green areas Italy and Spain between 2020 and 2021: An observational multi-country retrospective study.

Several studies have proposed that environmental factors influencing human wellbeing, such as chronic exposures to high levels of particulate matter, could indirectly or even directly affect also the severity of COVID-19 disease in case of infection by novel coronavirus SARS-COV2. This study has investigated the association between COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations or deaths and the extension of public green areas (km2 per 100,000 based on OECD data of 2014), an indicator that has been chosen as independent endpoint variable to test the research hypothesis in 10 Italian and 8 Spanish Provinces with more than 500.000 inhabitants, including capitals (Rome and Madrid) and bigger cities (Bologna, Catania, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Turin and Venice for Italy; Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Malaga, Las Palmas and Bilbao for Spain). Two different methodologies have been applied: a bottom-up approach was applied to Spanish institutional data concerning contagions/hospitalizations/deaths and the extent of public green areas for each responder to an official questionnaire in the frame of a nationwide survey (with detailed data granularity per province) containing specific georeferenced information; a top-down approach was used for Italy, starting from the official figures of contagions/hospitalizations/deaths of each province and linking them to the OECD statistics about the extension of public green areas in the different areas. Linear and generalized models were used for statistical analyses including also PM2.5 in a multivariate approach (with annual average concentrations from official air quality monitoring stations) and were able to adjust for the different number inhabitants living in each province, in order to take into account the difference in contagion dynamics related to the different density of population. The results obtained for Spain are consistent with those observed for Italy, as for both countries, it has clearly emerged a statistically significant association between COVID-19 clinical features (contagions, hospitalizations, and deaths) and the extension of public green areas, as well as the annual average concentrations of PM2.5 (with this latter variable loosing statistical significance in some province). Therefore, the extension of public green areas and air pollution seem to have a high correlation with COVID-19 severity.

A topic models analysis of the news coverage of the Omicron variant in the United Kingdom press.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused numerous casualties, overloaded hospitals, reduced the wellbeing of many and had a substantial negative economic impact globally. As the population of the United Kingdom was preparing for recovery, the uncertainty relating to the discovery of the new Omicron variant on November 24 2021 threatened those plans. There was thus an important need for sensemaking, which could be provided, partly, through diffusion of information in the press, which we here examine. METHOD: We used topic modeling, to extract 50 topics from close to 1,500 UK press articles published during a period of approximately one month from the appearance of Omicron. We performed ANOVAs in order to compare topics between full weeks, starting on week 48 of 2021. RESULTS: The three topics documenting the new variant (Omicron origins, Virus mutations, News of a new variant) as well as mentions of vaccination excluding booster, Scotlands First minister statement (Communications) travel bans and mask wearing (Restrictions) and the impact of market and investing (Domains and events) decreased through time (all ps < .01). Some topics featured lower representation at week two or three with higher values before and after: Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies recommendations (Communications), Situation in the US, Situation in Europe (Other countries and regions), all ps < .01. Several topics referring to symptoms and cases-e.g., rises of infections, hospitalisations, the pandemic the holidays, mild symptoms and care; restrictions and measures-e.g., financial help, Christmas and Plan B, restrictions and New Year; and domains of consequences and events-e.g., such as politics, NHS and patients, retail sales and airlines, featured increasing representation, (all ps < .01). Other topics featured less regular or non-significant patterns. CONCLUSION: Changes in sensemaking in the press closely matched the changes in the official discourse relating to Omicron and reflects the trajectory of the infection and its local consequences.

Use of official municipal demographics for the estimation of mortality in cities suffering from heavy environmental pollution: Results of the first study on all the neighborhoods of Taranto from 2011 to 2020.

BACKGROUND: In cities suffering from heavy environmental pressure or pollution, it is extremely important to rapidly access municipal demographics that can be used as indicators of population health status. Among those, mortality rates represent the most reliable data as they are officially retained and available to municipality with high level of details, thus allowing epidemiological comparison between different neighborhoods of the city across several years. Our study was aimed at validating and propose as universally applicable approach the use of municipal demographics as first-line tool to rapidly assess population health and drive health policies or urban planning in cities characterized by heavy environmental pressure. The case study of Taranto has been chosen due to the presence of the biggest European steel plant since 1960s resulting in heavy burden on environment and population health. METHODS: We have performed an ecological study on general mortality data due to all causes, specific by gender, age groups and disaggregated at sub-municipal level (highest data granularity) into neighborhoods from 2011 to 2020 by using official demographics related to all people living in Taranto available at General Registry Office of the municipality. A preliminary analysis comparing data available at Municipality and those provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) was performed and confirmed the high level of reliability of the municipal source of data. For comparative analyses, we used Regional demographics and mortality from ISTAT. Indirect age-standardized mortality ratios (SMR; CI 90% and 95%), specific for gender and neighborhoods, were calculated in reference to the city of Taranto and Apulia Region; direct age-standardized and neighborhoods mortality rates were computed on city population. RESULTS: The city of Taranto shows relevant inequalities in terms of mortality between the northern neighborhoods, closest to the industrial area (Paolo VI, Tamburi and Città Vecchia-Borgo), with excess mortality highlighted across 10 years described by SMRs always higher than those of the entire Apulia region, with peaks exceeding 50% between 2015 and 2017 both in women and men. The significant excesses of mortality have increased from 2011 to 2020 and progressively extended across several neighborhoods of Taranto city. Compared to the Apulia region, in the 3 Northern neighborhoods of the city (Paolo VI, Tamburi and Città Vecchia-Borgo) a total of 1020 excess deaths were recorded from 2011 to 2019 in both males and females (showing statistical significance), with a peak of 68% mortality excess in 2019 for men living in Paolo VI district. CONCLUSION: The use of official mortality data allows a timely, reliable and costless assessment of population health in cities heavily impacted by environmental pollution like Taranto.

Multivariate data driven prediction of COVID-19 dynamics: Towards new results with temperature, humidity and air quality data.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic many studies investigated the correlation between climate variables such as air quality, humidity and temperature and the lethality of COVID-19 around the world. In this work we investigate the use of climate variables, as additional features to train a data-driven multivariate forecast model to predict the short-term expected number of COVID-19 deaths in Brazilian states and major cities. The main idea is that by adding these climate features as inputs to the training of data-driven models, the predictive performance improves when compared to equivalent single input models. We use a Stacked LSTM as the network architecture for both the multivariate and univariate model. We compare both approaches by training forecast models for the COVID-19 deaths time series of the city of São Paulo. In addition, we present a previous analysis based on grouping K-means on AQI curves. The results produced will allow achieving the application of transfer learning, once a locality is eventually added to the task, regressing out using a model based on the cluster of similarities in the AQI curve. The experiments show that the best multivariate model is more skilled than the best standard data-driven univariate model that we could find, using as evaluation metrics the average fitting error, average forecast error, and the profile of the accumulated deaths for the forecast. These results show that by adding more useful features as input to a multivariate approach could further improve the quality of the prediction models.

The role of outdoor and indoor air quality in the spread of SARS-CoV-2: Overview and recommendations by the research group on COVID-19 and particulate matter (RESCOP commission).

There are important questions surrounding the potential contribution of outdoor and indoor air quality in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and perpetuation of COVID-19 epidemic waves. Environmental health may be a critical component of COVID-19 prevention. The public health community and health agencies should consider the evolving evidence in their recommendations and statements, and work to issue occupational guidelines. Evidence coming from the current epidemiological and experimental research is expected to add knowledge about virus diffusion, COVID-19 severity in most polluted areas, inter-personal distance requirements and need for wearing face masks in indoor or outdoor environments. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for maintaining particulate matter concentrations at low levels for multiple health-related reasons, which may also include the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Indoor environments represent even a more crucial challenge to cope with, as it is easier for the SARS-COV2 to spread, remain vital and infect other subjects in closed spaces in the presence of already infected asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic people. The potential merits of preventive measures, such as CO2 monitoring associated with natural or controlled mechanical ventilation and air purification, for schools, indoor public places (restaurants, offices, hotels, museums, theatres/cinemas etc.) and transportations need to be carefully considered. Hospital settings and nursing/retirement homes as well as emergency rooms, infectious diseases divisions and ambulances represent higher risk indoor environments and may require additional monitoring and specific decontamination strategies based on mechanical ventilation or air purification.

LOCO: The 88-million-word language of conspiracy corpus.

The spread of online conspiracy theories represents a serious threat to society. To understand the content of conspiracies, here we present the language of conspiracy (LOCO) corpus. LOCO is an 88-million-token corpus composed of topic-matched conspiracy (N = 23,937) and mainstream (N = 72,806) documents harvested from 150 websites. Mimicking internet user behavior, documents were identified using Google by crossing a set of seed phrases with a set of websites. LOCO is hierarchically structured, meaning that each document is cross-nested within websites (N = 150) and topics (N = 600, on three different resolutions). A rich set of linguistic features (N = 287) and metadata includes upload date, measures of social media engagement, measures of website popularity, size, and traffic, as well as political bias and factual reporting annotations. We explored LOCO's features from different perspectives showing that documents track important societal events through time (e.g., Princess Diana's death, Sandy Hook school shooting, coronavirus outbreaks), while patterns of lexical features (e.g., deception, power, dominance) overlap with those extracted from online social media communities dedicated to conspiracy theories. By computing within-subcorpus cosine similarity, we derived a subset of the most representative conspiracy documents (N = 4,227), which, compared to other conspiracy documents, display prototypical and exaggerated conspiratorial language and are more frequently shared on Facebook. We also show that conspiracy website users navigate to websites via more direct means than mainstream users, suggesting confirmation bias. LOCO and related datasets are freely available at https://osf.io/snpcg/ .

The role of air conditioning in the diffusion of Sars-CoV-2 in indoor environments: A first computational fluid dynamic model, based on investigations performed at the Vatican State Children's hospital.

BACKGROUND: About 15 million people worldwide were affected by the Sars-Cov-2 infection, which already caused 600,000 deaths. This virus is mainly transmitted through exhalations from the airways of infected persons, so that Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems might play a role in increasing or reducing the spreading of the infection in indoor environments. METHODS: We modeled the role of HVAC systems in the diffusion of the contagion through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of cough at the "Bambino Gesù" Vatican State Children's Hospital. Both waiting and hospital rooms were modeled as indoor scenarios. A specific Infection-Index (η) parameter was used to estimate the amount of contaminated air inhaled by each person present in the simulated indoor scenarios. The potential role of exhaust air ventilation systems placed above the coughing patient's mouth was also assessed. RESULTS: Our CFD-based simulations of the waiting room show that HVAC air-flow remarkably enhances infected droplets diffusion in the whole indoor environment within 25 s from the cough event, despite the observed dilution of saliva particles containing the virus. At the same time also their number is reduced due to removal through the HVAC system or deposition on the surfaces. The proper use of Local Exhaust Ventilation systems (LEV) simulated in the hospital room was associated to a complete reduction of infected droplets spreading from the patient's mouth in the first 0.5 s following the cough event. In the hospital room, the use of LEV system completely reduced the η index computed for the patient hospitalized at the bed next to the spreader, with a decreased possibility of contagion. CONCLUSIONS: CFD-based simulations for indoor environment can be useful to optimize air conditioning flow and to predict the contagion risk both in hospitals/ambulatories and in other public/private settings.

Heat waves and adaptation strategies in a mediterranean urban context.

BACKGROUND: Heat waves can be considered as an emerging challenge among the potential health risks generated by urbanization and climate changes. Heat waves are becoming more frequent, long and intense, and can be defined as meteorological extreme events consisting in prolonged time of extremely high temperatures in a particular region. The following paper addresses health threats due to heat waves presenting the case study of Lecce, a city located in Southern Italy; the Mediterranean area is already recognized in international literature as a hot-spot for climate changes. This work assesses the potential impact of two different adaptation strategies. METHODS: We have tested the effectiveness of cool surfaces and urban forestry as adaptation approaches to cope with heat waves. The microclimate computer-based model "ENVI-met" was adopted to predict thermal scenarios arising from the two proposed interventions. The parameters analysed consisted in temperature and relative humidity. RESULTS: Urban forestry approach seem to lower temperature (that represents the major cause of urban overheating) better than cool surfaces strategy, but relative humidity produced by the evapotranspiration processes of urban forestry has also negative influences on temperature perceived by pedestrians (thermal discomfort). CONCLUSION: Vegetation represents both an adaptation and a mitigation strategy to climate changes that guarantees an improvement of air quality, with consequent psychological and physical benefits. Wide campaigns aimed at planting trees and increasing the urban green coverage should be systematically planned and fostered by national, regional and local institutions preferably with the involvement of research departments, schools and citizens' associations.

CO2 concentration monitoring inside educational buildings as a strategic tool to reduce the risk of Sars-CoV-2 airborne transmission.

In order to avoid SARS-CoV-2 transmission inside educational buildings and promote the safe reopening of schools, the Italian Government, in line with the other European countries and in accordance with the WHO recommendations, adopted a contingency plan including actions able to guarantee adequate air ventilation in classrooms. Therefore, in this pilot study, a surveillance activity based on the real-time monitoring of CO2 levels as a proxy of SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk, was conducted inside 9 schools (11 classrooms) located in Apulia Region (South of Italy) during the reopening of schools after the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, monitoring activities and data treatment were conducted to evaluate the initial scenario inside the classrooms (first stage of evaluation) and the potential improvements obtained by applying a detailed operating protocol of air ventilation based on specific actions and the simultaneous real time visualization of CO2 levels by non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensors (second stage of evaluation). Although, during the first evaluation stage, air ventilation through the opening of windows and doors was guaranteed, 6 (54%) classrooms showed mean values of CO2 higher than 1000 ppm and all classrooms exceeded the recommended CO2 concentration limit value of 700 ppm. The development and implementation of tailored ventilation protocol including the real time visualization of CO2 levels allowed to depict better scenariosAn overall improvement of CO2 levels was indeed registered for all classrooms where teachers were compliant and helpful in the management of the air ventilation strategy. Therefore, this study reports the first evidence-based measures demonstrating that, with the exception of few environments affected by structural limits, the real-time visualization and monitoring of CO2 concentrations allowes effective air exchanges to be implemented and contributes to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Moreover, on the basis of the monitoring outcomes and in order to ensure adequate air ventilation in educational buildings, a 4 level-risk classification including specific corrective actions for each level was provided.

The impact of atmospheric pollution on outdoor cultural heritage: an analytic methodology for the characterization of the carbonaceous fraction in black crusts present on stone surfaces.

COVID-19 has reduced tourism in both museums and historical sites with negative economic effect. The wellbeing and good preservation of monuments is a key factor to encourage again tourism. Historical monuments exposed to outdoor pollution are subjected to well known degradation phenomenon including the formation on their surface of black crusts (BCs) causing blackening and deterioration of the monuments and, as a consequence, a worst fruition by the visitors. The aim of this research is the development and validation of a novel method to characterize and quantify the various components present in the black crusts. SO2 together with the carbonaceous fraction (i.e. OC, organic carbon, and EC, elemental carbon) represent the main atmospheric pollutants involved in the process of BCs formation which consists in the partial transformation of the carbonate substrate into gypsum where black particles are embedded. A new methodology based on the use of TGA/DSC (Thermogravimetric Analysis/Differential scanning calorimetry) and CHN (Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen) analysis was set up allowing to determine organic carbon and elemental carbon together with other components such as gypsum. Four standard mixtures simulating BCs composition were prepared and analysed by the set-up methodology. The new procedure was subsequently applied to study real BCs samples taken from monuments and historical buildings placed in cities heavily affected by atmospheric pollution and by PCA (principal component analysis) their main features, from the point of view of carbonaceous fraction, were highlighted.

Improving indoor air quality through an air purifier able to reduce aerosol particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs): Experimental results.

The adverse effects of fine particulate matter (PM) and many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on human health are well known. Fine particles are, in fact, those most capable of penetrating in depth into the respiratory system. People spend most of their time indoors where concentrations of some pollutants are sometimes higher than outdoors. Therefore, there is the need to ensure a healthy indoor environment and for this purpose the use of an air purifier can be a valuable aid especially now since it was demonstrated that indoor air quality has a high impact on spreading of viral infections such as that due to SARS-COVID19. In this study, we tested a commercial system that can be used as an air purifier. In particular it was verified its efficiency in reducing concentrations of PM10 (particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 µm), PM2.5 (particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm), PM1 (particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 1 µm), and particles number in the range 0.3 µm-10 µm. Furthermore, its capacity in reducing VOCs concentration was also checked. PM measurements were carried out by means of a portable optical particle counter (OPC) instrument simulating the working conditions typical of a household environment. In particular we showed that the tested air purifier significantly reduced both PM10 and PM2.5 by 16.8 and 7.25 times respectively that corresponds to a reduction of about 90% and 80%. A clear reduction of VOCs concentrations was also observed since a decrease of over 50% of these gaseous substances was achieved.

SARS-Cov-2RNA found on particulate matter of Bergamo in Northern Italy: First evidence.

BACKGROUND: The burden of COVID-19 was extremely severe in Northern Italy, an area characterized by high concentrations of particulate matter (PM), which is known to negatively affect human health. Consistently with evidence already available for other viruses, we initially hypothesized the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 presence on PM, and we performed a first experiment specifically aimed at confirming or excluding this research hyphotesys. METHODS: We have collected 34 PM10 samples in Bergamo area (the epicenter of the Italian COVID-19 epidemic) by using two air samplers over a continuous 3-weeks period. Filters were properly stored and underwent RNA extraction and amplification according to WHO protocols in two parallel blind analyses performed by two different authorized laboratories. Up to three highly specific molecular marker genes (E, N, and RdRP) were used to test the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA on particulate matter. RESULTS: The first test showed positive results for gene E in 15 out of 16 samples, simultaneously displaying positivity also for RdRP gene in 4 samples. The second blind test got 5 additional positive results for at least one of the three marker genes. Overall, we tested 34 RNA extractions for the E, N and RdRP genes, reporting 20 positive results for at least one of the three marker genes, with positivity separately confirmed for all the three markers. Control tests to exclude false positivities were successfully accomplished. CONCLUSION: This is the first evidence that SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be present on PM, thus suggesting a possible use as indicator of epidemic recurrence.

Updated incidence and costs of hip fractures in elderly Italian population.

PURPOSE: We aimed at updating our previous researches about the burden of hip fractures in elderly Italian population. METHODS: We analyzed national hospitalizations records from 2000 to 2014 to compute age- and sex-specific standardized rates. RESULTS: 1,335,375 hospitalizations were recorded in people ≥ 65 (1,031,816 women: 77.27% and 303,559 men: 22.73%) over 15 years, passing from 73,493 in year 2000 to 94,525 in 2014, with an overall increase of 28.62% over the 15-year period (females: + 25.1%; males: + 41.2%). About 84.9% of total hip fractures were suffered by patients aged ≥ 75 years old. Direct hospitalization costs and rehabilitation costs increased from 343 to 457 million Euros and from 392 to 504 million Euros from year 2000 to 2014, respectively. Overall costs of hip fractures raised from 735 to 961 million Euros (+ 30.74% from 2000 to 2014). CONCLUSION: The number of hip fractures and related hospitalizations costs in Italian elderly population is still increasing due to the absolute number of fractures occurring in people ≥ 65 years old and particularly over 75 years old.

Neuropeptide Y and religious commitment in healthy young women.

OBJECTIVE: The present study explores the relationship between neuroactive hormones and religious commitment. We hypothesised that religious commitment is mediated by neuropeptide Y and oxytocin. These neurohormones have a well-established role in general well-being, anxiety regulation, stress-resilience, social affiliation and spirituality. METHODS: Sixty healthy women (median age 21) participated in the study and completed the Religious Commitment Inventory and other psychometric surveys. Blood was sampled from each participant and serum levels of neuropeptide Y were measured using radioimmunoassay. Oxytocin, stress and sex hormones were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Correlations were tested using non-parametric statistical methods. RESULTS: We found a positive correlation between serum neuropeptide Y levels and religious commitment, but not between oxytocin and religious commitment. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides preliminary evidence that neuropeptide Y is a biological correlate of religious commitment.

Predicting psychogenic non-epileptic seizures from serum levels of neuropeptide Y and adrenocorticotropic hormone.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) may present with convulsive events that are not accompanied by epileptiform brain activity. Video-electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring is the gold standard for diagnosis, yet not all patients experience convulsive episodes during video-EEG sessions. Hence, we aimed to construct a predictive model in order to detect PNES from serum hormone levels, detached from an evaluation of patients' convulsive episodes. METHODS: Fifteen female patients with PNES and 60 healthy female controls participated in the study, providing blood samples for hormone analysis. A binomial logistic regression model and the leave-one-out cross-validation were employed. RESULTS: We found that levels of neuropeptide Y and adrenocorticotropic hormone were the optimal combination of predictors, with over 90% accuracy (area under the curve=0.980). CONCLUSIONS: The ability to diagnose PNES irrespective of convulsive events would represent an important step considering its feasibility and affordability in daily clinical practice.

Vulnerability to psychogenic non-epileptic seizures is linked to low neuropeptide Y levels.

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) is a conversion disorder that reflects underlying psychological distress. Female patients with PNES often present with a history of prolonged stressors, especially sexual abuse. In the current study, we studied the relationship between neuropeptide Y (NPY) and PNES symptoms in women with a history of sexual abuse. NPY has been associated with resilience to stress and we hypothesized that low levels would increase the extent and severity of PNES symptoms in this patient population. Serum levels of NPY, and related hormones were measured in fifteen female PNES patients and sixty female controls. PNES patients reported more severe abuse histories, feeling of abandonment, and decreased perception of quality of life than controls. Importantly, they also had lower NPY levels. Our analysis indicates that low levels of NPY in PNES may confer greater vulnerability to exhibit seizure-like symptoms and lower quality of life.