Background From February 21, the day of hospitalisation in ICU of the first diagnosed case of Covid-19, the social situation and the hospitals' organisation throughout Italy dramatically changed. Methods The CIO (Club Italiano dell'Osteosintesi) is an Italian society devoted to the study of traumatology that counts members spread in public and private hospitals throughout the country. Fifteen members of the CIO, Chairmen of 15 Orthopaedic and Trauma Units of level 1 or 2 trauma centres in Italy, have been involved in the study. They were asked to record data about surgical, outpatients clinics and ER activity from the 23rd of February to the 4th of April 2020. The data collected were compared with the data of the same timeframe of the previous year (2019). Results Comparing with last year, overall outpatient activity reduced up to 75%, overall Emergency Room (ER) trauma consultations up to 71%, elective surgical activity reduced up to 100% within two weeks and trauma surgery excluding femoral neck fractures up to 50%. The surgical treatment of femoral neck fractures showed a stable reduction from 15 to 20% without a significant variation during the timeframe. Conclusions Covid-19 outbreak showed a tremendous impact on all orthopaedic trauma activities throughout the country except for the surgical treatment of femoral neck fractures, which, although reduced, did not change in percentage within the analysed timeframe.

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IntroductionThe selective breeding of Roman High‐ (RHA) and Low‐Avoidance (RLA) rats for, respectively, rapid versus poor acquisition of the active avoidance response has generated two distinct phenotypes differing in many behavioral traits, including coping strategies to aversive conditions. Thus, RLA rats are considered as a genetic model of vulnerability to stress‐induced depression whereas RHA rats are a model of resilience to that trait. Besides the monoamine hypothesis of depression, there is evidence that alterations in neuronal plasticity in the hippocampus and other brain areas are critically involved in the pathophysiology of mood disorders.Materials and MethodsWestern blot (WB) and immunohistochemistry were used to investigate the basal immunochemical occurrence of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its high‐affinity tyrosine‐kinase receptor trkB in the dorsal and ventral hippocampus of adult RHA and RLA rats.Results WB analysis indicated that the optical density of BDNF‐ and trkB‐positive bands in the dorsal hippocampus is, respectively, 48% and 25% lower in RLA versus RHA rats. Densitometric analysis of BDNF‐ and trkB‐like immunoreactivity (LI) in brain sections showed that BDNF‐LI is 24% to 34% lower in the different sectors of the Ammon's horn of RLA versus RHA rats, whereas line‐related differences are observed in the dentate gyrus (DG) only in the ventral hippocampus. As for trkB‐LI, significant differences are observed only in the dorsal hippocampus, where density is 23% lower in the DG of RLA versus RHA rats, while no differences across lines occur in the Ammon's horn.ConclusionThese findings support the hypothesis that a reduced BDNF/trkB signaling in the hippocampus of RLA versus RHA rats may contribute to their more pronounced vulnerability to stress‐induced depression.

In our study cohort, liver disease was stable or improving in most of the patients, and development of progressive hepatic symptoms while under treatment was a rare event. The development of new symptoms while under treatment or progression of pre-existing symptoms was more often recorded for neurological than for hepatic symptoms.