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A recent revision in the division of words in the long Etruscan text known as "Cippus Perusinus" helps to refine our knowledge of its content. At present, Etruscan epigraphic evidence seems to suggest that landed property in Etruscan cities was, at least theoretically, reserved only for citizens; non-citizens willing to acquire estates were subject to complex procedures involving the intervention of some public authority. The Cippus Perusinus records some kind of deal between the Perusian family Vel?ina and the Clusine family Afuna; the latter seems to have been particularly active in expanding its estates outside the Clusine territory.

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.

Etruscan alphabet was created following a path that was consistently different from what happened in similar instances in the ancient Mediterranean. Past research has often missed these peculiarities; the rare attempts to explain them have usually involved the elaboration of not always satisfying theoretical models. The paper aims to explain the circumstances surrounding the creation of the Etruscan alphabet by putting it in the proper social and historical context. When the Etruscan alphabet first appeared, Southern Etruscan cities where multilingual communities, including their upper classes. Parallels with writing systems employed elsewhere seem to suggest that the peculiarities of the Etruscan alphabet in its initial stages can be best explained as an attempt to create a writing system which could be used for all these languages at the same time.

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.

This study is the second of a series of seven, and\ud belongs to the second Italian systematic replication of\ud findings from two previous series (Widdowson 2012a,\ud 2012b, 2012c, 2013; Benelli, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c) that\ud investigated the effectiveness of a manualised\ud transactional analysis treatment for depression through\ud Hermeneutic Single-Case Efficacy Design. The therapist\ud was a white Italian woman with 10 years of clinical\ud experience and the client, Caterina, was a 28-year old\ud white Italian woman who attended 16 sessions of\ud transactional analysis psychotherapy. Caterina satisfied\ud DSM-5 criteria for major depressive disorder with\ud generalized anxiety disorder. The conclusion of the\ud judges was that this was an outstanding good-outcome\ud case: the depressive symptoms showed an early clinical\ud and reliable improvement, maintained till the 6 months\ud follow-up, accompanied by reductions in anxiety\ud symptoms, global distress and severity of personal\ud problems. Adherence to the manualised treatment for\ud depression appears good to excellent. In this case study,\ud transactional analysis treatment for depression has\ud proven its efficacy in treating major depressive disorder\ud in comorbidity with anxiety disorder.

This study is the third of a series of seven, and belongs\ud to the second Italian systematic replication of findings\ud from two previous series (Widdowson 2012a, 2012b,\ud 2012c, 2013; Benelli, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c) that\ud investigated the effectiveness of a manualised\ud transactional analysis treatment for depression through\ud Hermeneutic Single-Case Efficacy Design (HSCED).\ud Major Depression and Subthreshold Depression are\ud often in comorbidity with Anxiety disorders in childhood\ud and adolescence and represent a risk factor for ongoing\ud mental health problems in adulthood. The therapist was\ud a white Italian woman with 15 years of clinical experience\ud and the client, Deborah, was a 15-year old white Italian\ud female adoloscent who attended sixteen sessions of\ud transactional analysis psychotherapy. The conclusion of\ud the judges was that this was a good-outcome case: the\ud depressive and anxious symptomatology clinically and\ud reliably improved over the course of the therapy and\ud these improvements were maintained throughout the\ud duration of the follow-up intervals. Furthermore, the client\ud reported significant change in her post-treatment\ud interview and these changes were directly attributed to\ud the therapy. In this case study, the transactional analysis\ud manualised treatment for depression in adulthood has\ud demonstrated its effectiveness also in treating\ud depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescence.

This study is the first of a series of seven, and belongs to\ud the second Italian systematic replication of findings from\ud two previous series (Widdowson 2012a, 2012b, 2012c,\ud 2013; Benelli, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c) that investigated the\ud effectiveness of a manualised transactional analysis\ud treatment for depression through Hermeneutic Single-\ud Case Efficacy Design (HSCED). The therapist was a\ud white Italian woman with 8 years of clinical experience\ud and the client, Anna, was a 33-year old white Italian\ud woman who attended 16 sessions of transactional\ud analysis psychotherapy. Anna satisfied DSM-5 criteria\ud for mild persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) with\ud anxious distress. The conclusion of the judges was that\ud this was a good-outcome case: the dysthymic symptoms\ud improved over the course of the therapy and were\ud maintained in the ‘healthy’ range at the 6-month followup,\ud the client reported a positive experience of the\ud therapy and described important changes in intrapsychic\ud and interpersonal patterns. In this case study,\ud transactional analysis treatment for depression has\ud proven its efficacy in treating persistent depressive\ud disorder.

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