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

Monitoring of threatened plants in the ‘Sentina’ Natural Reserve (Marche, Italy).

Among the plants of conservation interest in the ‘Sentina’ Natural Reserve, monitoring was carried out based on the red lists, the plant rarity, and the importance of their habitat. The following taxa were chosen for the monitoring from 2007 to 2012: Ranunculus peltatus subsp. baudotii, Euphorbia terracina, Carex extensa, Rumex palustris, Elytrigia juncea subsp. juncea, Spartina versicolor, Eryngium maritimum, Artemisia caerulescens subsp. caerulescens, Medicago marina, Salicornia perennans subsp. perennans, Crypsis schoenoides, Crypsis aculeata, and Halimione portulacoides. Following this monitoring, management activities that will be useful for the conservation of the flora of the Natural Reserve are here proposed

Flora della Riserva Naturale Regionale Sentina . Atlante fotografico delle piante vascolari.

Viene presentata la Flora vascolare della Riserva Naturale Regionale Sentina (Marche

Land-cover changes in a remote area of central Apennines (Italy) and management directions

In the Mediterranean mountains and hills spontaneous reforestation occurred in the last fifty years at the expenses of open habitats. This process was triggered by depopulation and cessation of traditional farming. In this paper we investigate landscape changes in one such area in central Apennines (Italy), which is currently almost uninhabited after centuries of human presence; we give a quantitative description of the changes that occurred between 1955 and 2006, and we discuss their management implications in a multidisciplinary context. To do this, we used aerial photos and field surveys to map land-use/land-cover classes in 1955, 1978 and 2006; we then employed a transition matrix model based on Markov chains, together with landscape and class metrics, to analyze gains and losses of each class over time. Our results show that almost all classes were replaced directly by woodlands: no “shrub stage” was observed and a surprisingly brief interval of about 25 years was sufficient for canopy closure on abandoned open lands; furthermore, some classes increased their transformation rate from period 1 (1955–1978) to period 2 (1978–2006), while others did not. Metrics show that reforestation is accompanied by simplification and homogenization of the original mosaic, with no intermediate fragmentation process. We discuss current management plans and propose strategies that take into account the presence of endangered species: management should exploit the spontaneous reforestation and promote the creation and preservation of mature forests; concurrently, it should plan to maintain the last “islands” of grasslands, even if small

A new subspecies of Corydalis densiflora (Papaveraceae) from the Apennines (Italy)

A morphometric study of populations from the central-southern Apennines and Sicily of the Italian endemic Corydalis densiflora has been undertaken, based on herbarium specimens and field research. A new subspecies, C. densiflora subsp. apennina, is described from the central Apennines. It differs from C. densiflora s.str. by its more divided leaves and bracts, basal leaf with more numerous and narrower leaflets, longer middle and lateral lobes of middle and upper bracts, narrower lower petal wing, shorter inner petals and shorter upper stamen

Chelonia mydas (Green Sea Turtle). Habitat and pollution impact

No abstract availabl

Analysis of the spread of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus in an urban area, using GIS techniques: a study case in Central Italy

The spread of the red palm weevil is now a very severe problem on a global scale. In this paper, we investigate its spread during the 2007–2013 period in a coastal urban area characterized by a high density of palm trees, and discuss the application of a new approach to data collection and processing. While most works on the spread of the red palm weevil are based upon geo-referenced traps, we focused on the health of each palm, considering the surrounding territorial context. To this end, we used historical aerial photos, freely available remote sensing images and field surveys, integrated in a GIS environment to analyze the extent and mode of pest spread over time. Our results show that the exponential increase of new cases for each new year is regulated by this spatial spread model: at the early stage of infestation the red weevil tends to occupy as much space as possible, within the limitations of the distance it can fly; in the following stage, its infestation density increases in recently colonized areas. We discuss current local management of palm trees and the pests, and propose strategies that take into account both the ecology of the red weevil and the territorial context. Finally, we encourage the provision of more resources for early detection and prevention measures, as well as replacement of the dead Phoenix canariensis palms with a greater variety of species, as a varied composition would be less prone to pest-caused depopulation