Carducci e «La guerra»

Chi ritorni a sfogliare l’ultima raccolta di Carducci può imbattersi, come a me è avvenuto quasi per caso, in un verso (e mezzo) davvero, per me, fulminante: «(Colà dove mummie) / Dormono inutili Faraoni...». La poesia, ahimè, che è La guerra (1891), di fulminante non ha invece nulla, e non mi meraviglio di non averci fatto caso ai tempi in cui leggevo Carducci con partecipazione, né di non averla citata nel mio manuale di metrica.Qui (essendo la metrica altra cosa dalla poesia) avrebbe potuto trovare un posto come ode alcaica il cui decasillabo non ha mai l’accento sulla sesta sillaba, come, nelle stesse Rime e ritmi di cui fa parte, la prima e la terza parte di Cadore, diversamente dall’odicina Nel chiostro del Santo, il cui decasillabo ha sempre terza e sesta toniche: forse perché la prima soluzione era sentita come più solenne? Si può solo dire che quando Carducci riesce nella migliore delle alcaiche, Alla stazione, a mettere in tensione e a rendere poeticamente necessario un linguaggio tra arcaico e straniato, il decasillabo ha sempre terza e sesta toniche («Tu pur pensosa, Lidia, la tessera / al secco taglio dài de la guardia, / e al tempo incalzante i begli anni / dài, gl’istanti gioiti e i ricordi»). Una semplice occhiata ai manoscritti mostra però il fatto curioso che a Carducci per il quarto verso tendeva a scappare l’endecasillabo: nella prima versione delle prime due strofe, «E l’uomo surse sbadigliando guerra » (destossi annotato sopra surse), «E truce rise sul percosso Abele»; e in un’ulteriore strofa che si trova nel primo foglietto manoscritto, e di cui non si rimpiangerà che non sia poi rimasto quasi nulla, un assai dubbio «Ad acuire la lucente selce» (ma si sa che i poeti dell’Ottocento per il sillabismo interno di parola – dieresi e sineresi – non esitavano quasi di fronte a niente)

A genome-wide association study for survival from a multi-centre European study identified variants associated with COVID-19 risk of death

The clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection vary widely among patients, from asymptomatic to life-threatening. Host genetics is one of the factors that contributes to this variability as previously reported by the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (HGI), which identified sixteen loci associated with COVID-19 severity. Herein, we investigated the genetic determinants of COVID-19 mortality, by performing a case-only genome-wide survival analysis, 60 days after infection, of 3904 COVID-19 patients from the GEN-COVID and other European series (EGAS00001005304 study of the COVID-19 HGI). Using imputed genotype data, we carried out a survival analysis using the Cox model adjusted for age, age2, sex, series, time of infection, and the first ten principal components. We observed a genome-wide significant (P-value < 5.0 × 10−8) association of the rs117011822 variant, on chromosome 11, of rs7208524 on chromosome 17, approaching the genome-wide threshold (P-value = 5.19 × 10−8). A total of 113 variants were associated with survival at P-value < 1.0 × 10−5 and most of them regulated the expression of genes involved in immune response (e.g., CD300 and KLR genes), or in lung repair and function (e.g., FGF19 and CDH13). Overall, our results suggest that germline variants may modulate COVID-19 risk of death, possibly through the regulation of gene expression in immune response and lung function pathways

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients