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Background and Objectives. A relatively small number of studies have investigated the characteristics, comorbidities and laboratory measures associated with prognosis in patients with COVID-19, admitted to Internal Medicine Units (IMU) in Italy. Therefore, we performed a retrospective multicentre study to identify baseline features, predisposing to severe disease and poor outcomes, in adult individuals with SARS-CoV2 infection, hospitalized in 5 IMUs in the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy). Materials and Methods. We included 129 consecutive patients (male 75, median age 68 years) from 1st March 2020 to 31st October 2021. Patients’ baseline characteristics, comorbidities, laboratory measures, and outcomes were collected. Results. At admission, the factors significantly associated with a higher risk of in-hospital mortality included: age (median 68 vs. 83 years in survived vs. dead patients, P=0.000), diabetes [Odds Ratio (OR) 4.00, P=0.016], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR 4.60, P=0.022), cancer (OR 5.81, P=0.021), acute- (OR 9.88, P=0.000) and chronicrenal failure (OR 6.76, P=0.004). During the study period, 16 individuals died (12.4%), all over 70 years old. In deceased vs. non-deceased patients were detected: i) more elevated white blood cells and neutrophils-counts and lower lymphocytes count; ii) higher levels of total/direct bilirubin, creatinine, C-reactive-protein, lactate-dehydrogenase, ferritin, but only a slight Interleukin-6 increase; iii) a trend of lower vitamin D values. Conclusions. We proposed a new I index, a modified form of the Age-Adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index, by considering pO2/FiO2 ratio, to better characterize the severity of COVID-19. Furthermore, we critically discuss our results with the current assumption which considers COVID-19 as a pathological condition associated with cytokine storm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Oligocene represents an important time period from a wide range of perspectives and includes significant climatic and eustatic variations. The pelagic succession of the Umbria-Marche Apennines (central Italy) includes a complete and continuous sequence of marly limestones and marls, with volcaniclastic layers that enable us to construct an integrated stratigraphic framework for this time period. We present here a synthesis of detailed biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic, and chemostratigraphic studies, along with geochronologic results from several biotite-rich volcaniclastic layers, which provide the means for an accurate and precise radiometric calibration of the Oligocene time scale. From this study, the interpolated ages for the Rupelian/Chattian stage boundary, located in the upper half of Chron 10n at meter level 188 in the Monte Cagnero section, and corresponding to the 04/05 planktonic foraminiferal zonal boundary, are 28.36Ma (paleomagnetic interpolation), 28.27 [+ or -] 0.1 Ma (direct radioisotopic dating), and 27.99 Ma (astrochronological interpolation). These ages appear to be slightly younger than those reported in recent chronostratigraphic time scale compilations. The Monte Cagnero section is a potential candidate for defining the Chattian Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) and some reliable criteria are here proposed for marking the Rupelian/Chattian boundary according to International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) recommendations. Keywords: Integrated stratigraphy, Oligocene, Rupelian/Chattian boundary, Umbria-Marche Apennines, central Italy.

The central part of the Piave River valley in the Venetian pre-Alps of NE Italy exposes an expanded and continuous marine sediment succession that encompasses the Paleocene series and the Paleocene to Eocene transition. The Paleocene through lowermost Eocene succession is >100 m thick and was deposited at middle to lower bathyal depths in a hemipelagic, near-continental setting in the central western Tethys. In the Forada section, the Paleocene succession of limestone-marl couplets is sharply interrupted by an ~3.30m-thick unit of clays and marls (clay marl unit). The very base of this unit represents the biostratigraphic Paleocene-Eocene boundary, and the entire unit coincides with the main carbon isotope excursion of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum event. Concentrations of hematite and biogenic carbonate, [delta]13C measurements, and abundance of radiolarians, all oscillate in a cyclical fashion and are interpreted to represent precession cycles. The main excursion interval spans five complete cycles, that is, 105 [+ or-] 10 k.y. The overlying carbon isotope recovery interval, which is composed of six distinct limestone-marl couplets, is interpreted to represent six precessional cycles with a duration of 126 [+ or -] 12 k.y. The entire carbon isotope excursion interval in Forada has a total duration of ~231 [+ or -] 22 k.y., which is 5%-10% longer than previous estimates derived from open ocean sites (210-220 k.y.). Geochemical proxies for redox conditions indicate oxygenated conditions before, during, and after the carbon isotope excursion event. The Forada section exhibits a nonstepped sharp decrease in [[delta]sup.13]C (-2.35[per thousand]) at the base of the clay marl unit. The hemipelagic, near-continental depositional setting of Forada and the sharply elevated sedimentation rates throughout the clay marl unit argue for continuous rather than interrupted deposition and show that the initial nonstepped carbon isotope shift was not caused by a hiatus. A single sample at the base of the unit lacks biogenic carbonate. Preservation of carbonate thereafter improves progressively up-section in the clay marl unit, which is consistent with a prodigiously abrupt and rapid acidification of the oceans followed by a slower, successive deepening of the carbonate compensation depth. Increased sedimentation rates through the clay marl unit (approximately the main interval of the carbon isotope excursion) are consistent with an intensified hydrological cycle driven by supergreenhouse conditions and enhanced weathering and transport of terrigenous material to this near-continental, hemipelagic environment in the central western Tethys. The sharp transition in lithology from the clay marl unit to the overlying limestonemarl couplets in the recovery interval and the coincident shift toward heavier [[delta[sup.13]C values suggest that the silicate pump and continental weathering, the cause of the enhanced terrigenous flux to Forada, stopped abruptly. This implies that the source of the light C[O.sub.2] ceased to be added to the ocean-atmosphere system at the top of the clay marl unit. Keywords: Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum, carbon isotope record, central western Tethys, stratigraphy, geochemistry, mineralogy, chronology, silicate pump.

This work proposed a novel method to elucidate the controls of As mobility in complex aquifers based on an unsupervised machine learning algorithm, Self‐Organizing Map (SOM), and process‐based geochemical modeling. The approach is tested in the shallow aquifers of the Venetian Alluvial Plain (VAP) near Venice, Italy, where As concentrations seasonally and locally exceed recommended drinking water limits. SOM was fed using information from two geochemical surveys on eight VAP boreholes, and continuous reading of hourly groundwater head levels and weekly geochemical analyses from three VAP boreholes between mid‐October 2017 and end of January 2018. The SOM analysis is consistent with redox‐controlled dissolution‐precipitation hydrous ferric oxides (HFOs) as a key control of As mobility in the aquifer. Dissolved As is positively correlated to Fe and NHþ 4 and negatively to the oxidizing‐reducing potential (ORP). Negative correlation between As and groundwater head levels suggests a redox control by rainfall‐driven recharge, which adds oxidants to the aquifer while progressively attenuating As. This mechanism is tested using process‐based geochemical modeling, which simulates different transport modalities of oxidants entering the aquifer. Starting from reducing aquifer conditions, the model reproduces correctly the observed ORP and the trends in As and Fe, when the function describing the occurrence of oxidizing events scales according to the temporal occurrence of rainfall events. Heterogeneity can strongly control the local‐scale effectiveness of recharge as a natural As attenuating factor, requiring a different model analysis to be properly assessed and to be developed in a follow‐up study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Incidence and prevalence trends of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Province of Padua, North-East Italy, suggest that environmental factors may be associated with increased MS risk. Objective: To investigate the association of PM2.5 with MS prevalence in one of the most polluted geographical area of Italy. Methods: In total, 1435 Italian MS patients residing in the Province of Padua were enrolled. The province surface was classified into urban areas, isolated villages, industrialized places, and countryside. Satellite-derived dust-free and sea salt-free PM2.5 concentrations (annual average 1998–2015, μg/m3) allowed the identification of 18 classes of territorial sections with statistically evaluable numbers of inhabitants. Possible correlations between residential locality types, PM2.5 concentrations, and MS prevalence were investigated. Results: MS prevalence was significantly (p < 0.0001) higher in urban areas (ranging from 219 in Padua City to 169/100,000 in other urban areas) compared to isolated villages (116/100,000) or rural domains (109/100,000) and strongly correlated with the annual average concentration of PM2.5 (r = 0.81, p < 0.001). Regression analysis further associated MS cases with PM.2.5 average concentration (β = 0.11, p < 0.001). Conclusion: In the Province of Padua, MS prevalence is strongly associated with PM2.5 exposure suggesting that air pollutants may be one of the possible environmental risk factors for MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]