Radiographic pulmonary description of bilateral multifocal patchy with groundglass opacifications needs careful evaluation in the Era of SARS-CoV-2

In the COVID-19 Era, multilobe ground-glass opacities (GGOs) and septal thickening on chest Computed Tomography (CT) have been recognized as a radiological finding highly suggestive for SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. However, these findings can be misleading. Here, we report about an 81-year-old woman, evaluated in the Emergency Room (ER) for a traumatic hip fracture, who, despite negative molecular testing on the nasopharyngeal sample for SARS-CoV-2, was admitted to a COVID-Unit because of flu-like symptoms with GGOs and interlobular septal thickening on the chest CT. During the hospital stay, focusing on the patient’s medical history, the interstitial lung disease was defined to be a chronic complication of long-term use of Amiodarone and rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, especially during SARS global pandemic, CT pathological findings suggestive for interstitial pneumopathy should be critically analyzed considering patient history. They can reflect, in fact, other pathological conditions different from SARS-CoV-2 infection as other viral and non-viral infections or chronic inflammatory diseases. © by Società Italiana di Gerontologia e Geriatria (SIGG).

CLIMATE-NEUTRAL and SMART CITIES: A EUROPEAN POLICIES' OVERVIEW

Cities are increasingly defined as one of the most important actors in the transition to a climate-neutral Europe. The reasons are multiple, and some of them are the increasing number of inhabitants and the demographic trends;the percentage of emissions produced by the urban areas;the innovation potential, thanks to the concentration of creativity and knowledge;the political dimension that helps in involving the citizens;the economical role and the fact that cities and towns are transport networks' hubs. Recognizing this crucial role, the European Union is updating its own policies on the matter, promoting challenging strategies as the Horizon Europe Mission on "Climate-neutral and Smart Cities". This article analyses the European policies and strategies aimed at tackling the climate change in the urban areas. They are making the cities the forefront where to speed up the transition and promote flagship actions able to pave the way for reaching the European Green Deal goals. Moving from the main policies, this article investigates the overall ratio behind them and presents the tools and the actions promoted by the European Commission to support the local authorities in recognizing and facing the challenge, which is at the very core of the New Generation EU programme and a key enabler in designing the post-Covid Europe. On the other hand, this article briefly presents the main activities that cities are expected to develop in the next decade in order to fully contribute to the European ambition to be the first carbon-neutral continent on the planet by 2050. © 2021 WITPress. All rights reserved.

The challenge of Italian cancer patient support associations in the era of social distancing, Quarantenee, and isolation: Social media networking to be. Far but near

Background: Unprecendented emergency measures applied in Italy due to coronavirus pandemic have determined the development of new strategies to support oncological patients. In this context, social networking has represented a privileged tool. The objective of this study is to evaluate how the national cancer patient support associations have used facebook to support oncological patients during lockdown period in Italy. Material and Methods: Data have been obtained by the analysis of posts inserted on Facebook pages by the Italian cancer patient associations between 31 January 2020 (first cases reported in Italy in Rome) and 4 May 2020 (start up phase II after lockdown).The search of associations was conducted on Facebook and web search engines. Results: A total of 64 pages of cancer patient associations, primarly residents in the Northern regions (50%), 26% in the center of Italy and 20% in the Southern regions, have been analyzed. A large proportion of the association (42.5%) deal with all tumor pathologies, 20.3% are specially dedicated to breast cancer and 7.4% to melanoma. Ten associations have not updated their pages in the referred period. Published posts in all examined pages are in total 931 and mainly referred to services and initiatives promoted by the associations (psychological support, streaming events, home care: 21,1%);information about the COVID-19 and indications to prevent trasmission (17.4%);update on cancer treatments (17.3%);surveys, vademecum and guidelines for oncological patients (13%);fundraising (6.4%) to donate medical devices for COVID-19 emergency;information about the activation of new clinical trials during the pandemic (5%). The most frequent hashtags have been: #covid19, #coronavirus, #iorestoacasa, #stopcoronavirus. Most liked post, promoting a fundraising to support cancer patients during lockdown period, has obtained 1800 like and 527 emoji heart. A new Care reaction, a virtual HUG launched in late April by Facebook to show support during the COVID-19 crisis has been used 38 times in the different posts. Moreover, several initiatives have been carried out on Facebook such as: home concerts, tutorials, webinar, to share emotions, support and spend time together. Conclusions: The use of Facebook during COVID-19 lockdown has represented for cancer patient associations a new virtual space of meeting and supporting and a tool to reduce distances and the concerns related not only to cancer, but also to the danger of COVID-19.