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Background Most COVID-19-related deaths have occurred in older persons with comorbidities. Specific patterns of comorbidities related to COVID-19 deaths have not been investigated. Methods A random sample of 6085 individuals in Italy who died in-hospital with confirmed COVID-19 between February and December 2020 were included. Observed to expected (O/E) ratios of disease pairs were computed and logistic regression models were used to determine the association between disease pairs with O/E values ≥ 1.5. Results Six pairs of diseases exhibited O/E values ≥ 1.5 and statistically significant higher odds of co-occurrence in the crude and adjusted analyses: (1) ischemic heart disease and atrial fibrillation, (2) atrial fibrillation and heart failure, (3) atrial fibrillation and stroke, (4) heart failure and COPD, (5) stroke and dementia, and (6) type 2 diabetes and obesity. Conclusion In those deceased in-hospital due to COVID-19 in Italy, disease combinations defined by multiple cardio-respiratory, metabolic, and neuropsychiatric diseases occur more frequently than expected. This finding indicates a need to investigate the possible role of these clinical profiles in the chain of events that lead to death in individuals who have contracted SARS-CoV-2.

Introduction We aimed at exploring the proportion of patients dying with COVID‐19 and concomitant dementia in Italy, as well as their clinical characteristics and trajectories of care. Methods The proportion of COVID‐19‐related deaths occurring in people with dementia and the clinical characteristics of deceased individuals according to their dementia status were explored by considering the medical charts of a representative sample of patients deceased in Italian hospitals (n = 2621). Results A total of 415 individuals with dementia were identified in the study population, accounting for 15.8% of overall COVID‐19‐related deaths. Patients with dementia less frequently presented with cough, had lower chance of receiving supportive therapies and intensive care approaches, and showed a faster clinical worsening as compared with individuals with intact cognition. Discussion Dementia confers a relevant risk of adverse outcomes in case of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and influences the clinical presentation, course and management of affected individuals.

Background Among the unknowns posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the role of biological sex to explain disease susceptibility and progression is still a matter of debate, with limited sex-disaggregated data available. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed to assess if sex differences exist in the clinical manifestations and transitions of care among hospitalized individuals dying with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in Italy (February 27–June 11, 2020). Clinical characteristics and the times from symptoms’ onset to admission, nasopharyngeal swab, and death were compared between sexes. Adjusted multivariate analysis was performed to identify the clinical features associated with male sex. Results Of the 32,938 COVID-19-related deaths that occurred in Italy, 3517 hospitalized and deceased individuals with COVID-19 (mean 78 ± 12 years, 33% women) were analyzed. At admission, men had a higher prevalence of ischemic heart disease (adj-OR = 1.76, 95% CI 1.39–2.23), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (adj-OR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.29–2.27), and chronic kidney disease (adj-OR = 1.48, 95% CI 1.13–1.96), while women were older and more likely to have dementia (adj-OR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.55–0.95) and autoimmune diseases (adj-OR = 0.40, 95% CI 0.25–0.63), yet both sexes had a high level of multimorbidity. The times from symptoms’ onset to admission and nasopharyngeal swab were slightly longer in men despite a typical acute respiratory illness with more frequent fever at the onset. Men received more often experimental therapy (adj-OR = 2.89, 95% CI 1.45–5.74) and experienced more likely acute kidney injury (adj-OR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.13–1.90). Conclusions Men and women dying with COVID-19 had different clinical manifestations and transitions of care. Identifying sex-specific features in individuals with COVID-19 and fatal outcome might inform preventive strategies.

L’Italia, al pari del resto del mondo, ha affrontato nel corso degli ultimi dieci anni una crisi economica e finanziaria di enorme portata. In Italia la crisi finanziaria si è sovrapposta, aggravandola, a quella reale. In particolare, alla generalizzata contrazione nell’erogazione e al peggioramento delle condizioni di accesso al credito si è osservata una maggiore selettività dei clienti da parte delle banche. La crisi bancaria ha causato una drastica riduzione del credito soprattutto verso le PMI che, in misura relativamente maggiore rispetto ad imprese di maggiori dimensioni, dipendono dalla possibilità di accedere ai prestiti bancari. In questo quadro, che solo recentemente vede l’economia italiana avviata verso un sentiero di ripresa, un ruolo importante nell’accesso ai finanziamenti bancari è stato svolto dagli organismi di garanzia collettiva meglio noti come Confidi., Argomenti, N. 9 (2018): gennaio-aprile

This paper reports results from a study of location, ownership, and acquisitions of automated teller machines (ATMs) by a sample of large Italian banks between 1991 and 1995. The sample banks had 85% of Italian banking assets. Data are collected at the provincial level for each bank. The underlying model is recursive; a bank is presumed to make branching decisions (analyzed in a separate paper) and then, conditional on branching decisions, decisions about ATMs. Several sets of cross-sectional data are studied using OLS and Tobit models yielding the following results: 1) The logarithm of ATMs in a province is related positively to the logarithms of interest-bearing deposits and GDP and negatively to the logarithm of population, as was predicted from a variation of Baumol's transactions demand for cash model; 2) The number of a bank's ATMs in a province is related positively to the numbers of its branches and deposit accounts, a province's per capita GDP, the bank's deposits, and the bank's number of employees per branch in the province and negatively to the bank's share of a province's branches; 3) Changes in a bank's ATMs in a province are positively related to changes in the number of its branches and those of competitors; and 4) Concentration indices of ATMs, branches, deposits, and loans decreased at the provincial level between 1991 and 1995.

The present work deals with the feasibility of a system that can extract BKG through platform dynamometry and thus estimate the cardiac output through reverse modelling. 10 subjects underwent quiet stance trials with simultaneous recording of ECG signals. Cardiac activity force, and the estimation of the cardiac output were extracted through averaging and reverse modelling. Estimated values for cardiac parameters are consistent with the regression with anthropometrical factors, such as body surface area, and confirm the feasibility of a non invasive technique based on dynamometry to provide information on cardiac function.

At present the approach to atrial fibrillation treatment is based on the electrophysiological patterns of atrial fibrillation (on the basis of multiple intra-atrial recordings or sophisticated new mapping techniques) only in a restricted minority of patients, those who are candidate to ablation of the substrate and/or of the triggers. Atrial fibrillation has a broad spectrum of clinical presentations and a heterogeneous electrophysiological pattern. The treatment of this arrhythmia, both with drugs and non pharmacological treatments, has been based, classically, on empirical basis and on a clinically-guided staged-approach. The limitations of pharmacological treatment led in recent years to the development of a wide spectrum of non pharmacological treatments. This implies a change in the approach to atrial fibrillation and the need to identify potentially ideal candidates to complex and expensive treatments. In this view it is currently under investigation the possibility to identify potential responders to a definitive treatment or a combination of treatments (both pharmacological and non-pharmacological) on the basis of the electrophysiological pattern.