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Little is known about the genetic prehistory of Sardinia because of the scarcity of pre-Neolithic human remains. From a genetic perspective, modern Sardinians are known as genetic outliers in Europe, showing unusually high levels of internal diversity and a close relationship to early European Neolithic farmers. However, how far this peculiar genetic structure extends and how it originated was to date impossible to test. Here we present the first and oldest complete mitochondrial sequences from Sardinia, dated back to 10,000 yBP. These two individuals, while confirming a Mesolithic occupation of the island, belong to rare mtDNA lineages, which have never been found before in Mesolithic samples and that are currently present at low frequencies not only in Sardinia, but in the whole Europe. Preliminary Approximate Bayesian Computations, restricted by biased reference samples for Mesolithic Sardinia (the two typed samples) and Neolithic Europe (limited to central and north European sequences), suggest that the first inhabitants of the island have had a small or negligible contribution to the present-day Sardinian population, which mainly derives its genetic diversity from continental migration into the island by Neolithic times.

It is unclear whether Indo-European languages in Europe spread from the Pontic steppes in the late Neolithic, or from Anatolia in the Early Neolithic. Under the former hypothesis, people of the Globular Amphorae culture (GAC) would be descended from Eastern ancestors, likely representing the Yamnaya culture. However, nuclear (six individuals typed for 597 573 SNPs) and mitochondrial (11 complete sequences) DNA from the GAC appear closer to those of earlier Neolithic groups than to the DNA of all other populations related to the Pontic steppe migration. Explicit comparisons of alternative demographic models via approximate Bayesian computation confirmed this pattern. These results are not in contrast to Late Neolithic gene flow from the Pontic steppes into Central Europe. However, they add nuance to this model, showing that the eastern affinities of the GAC in the archaeological record reflect cultural influences from other groups from the East, rather than the movement of people.

From the first century AD, Europe has been interested by population movements, commonly known as Barbarian migrations. Among these processes, the one involving the Longobard culture interested a vast region, but its dynamics and demographic impact remains largely unknown. Here we report 87 new complete mitochondrial sequences coming from nine early-medieval cemeteries located along the area interested by the Longobard migration (Czech Republic, Hungary and Italy). From the same areas, we sampled necropoleis characterized by cultural markers associated with the Longobard culture (LC) and coeval burials where no such markers were found, or with a chronology slightly preceding the presumed arrival of the Longobards in that region (NLC). Population genetics analysis and demographic modeling highlighted a similarity between LC individuals, as reflected by the sharing of quite rare haplogroups and by the degree of genetic resemblance between Hungarian and Italian LC necropoleis estimated via a Bayesian approach, ABC. The demographic model receiving the strongest statistical support also postulates a contact between LC and NLC communities, thus indicating a complex dynamics of admixture in medieval Europe.

Being at the western fringe of Europe, Iberia had a peculiar prehistory and a complex pattern of Neolithization. A few studies, all based on modern populations, reported the presence of DNA of likely African origin in this region, generally concluding it was the result of recent gene flow, probably during the Islamic period. Here, we provide evidence of much older gene flow from Africa to Iberia by sequencing whole genomes from four human remains from northern Portugal and southern Spain dated around 4000 years BP (from the Middle Neolithic to the Bronze Age). We found one of them to carry an unequivocal sub-Saharan mitogenome of most probably West or West-Central African origin, to our knowledge never reported before in prehistoric remains outside Africa. Our analyses of ancient nuclear genomes show small but significant levels of sub-Saharan African affinity in several ancient Iberian samples, which indicates that what we detected was not an occasional individual phenomenon, but an admixture event recognizable at the population level. We interpret this result as evidence of an early migration process from Africa into the Iberian Peninsula through a western route, possibly across the Strait of Gibraltar.

From the first century AD, Europe has been interested by population movements, commonly known as Barbarian migrations. Among these processes, the one involving the Longobard culture interested a vast region, but its dynamics and demographic impact remains largely unknown. Here we report 87 new complete mitochondrial sequences coming from nine early-medieval cemeteries located along the area interested by the Longobard migration (Czech Republic, Hungary and Italy). From the same locations, we sampled necropolises characterized by cultural markers associated with the Longobard culture (LC) and coeval burials where no such markers were found (NLC). Population genetics analysis and ABC modeling highlighted a similarity between LC individuals, as reflected by a certain degree of genetic continuity between these groups, that reached 70% among Hungary and Italy. Models postulating a contact between LC and NLC communities received also high support, indicating a complex dynamics of admixture in medieval Europe.

BackgroundSARS- CoV-2 virus has had dramatic consequences worldwide being able to cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), massive thrombosis and pulmonary embolism and, finally, patients’ death. In COVID-19 infection, platelets have a procoagulant phenotype that can cause thrombosis in the pulmonary and systemic vascular network. Aspirin is a well-known anti-platelet drug widely used for the prevention of cardiovascular events and systematic reviews suggest a possible benefit of low-dose aspirin (LDA) use in the prevention and treatment of ARDS in patients with COVID-19 infection. However, several studies are available in the literature which do not support any benefits and no association with the patients’ outcome. Therefore, currently available data are inconclusive.Materials and patientsData from the nationwide cohort multicenter study of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine (SIMI) were analyzed. We conducted a propensity score-matched cohort analysis to investigate the impact of chronic assumption of LDA on mortality of adult COVID-19 patients admitted in Internal Medicine Units (IMU). Data from 3044 COVID-19 patients who referred to 41 Italian hospitals between February 3rd to May 8th 2020 were analyzed. A propensity score-matched analysis was conducted using the following variables: age, sex, hypertension, hyperlipidemia diabetes, atrial fibrillation, cerebrovascular disease, COPD, CKD and stratified upon LDA usage, excluding anticoagulant treatment. After matching, 380 patients were included in the final analysis (190 in LDA group and 190 in no-LDA group).Results66.2% were male, median age was 77 [70–83]. 34.8% of the population died during the hospitalization. Cardiovascular diseases were not significantly different between the groups. After comparison of LDA and no-LDA subgroups, we didn’t record a significant difference in mortality rate (35.7% vs 33.7%) duration of hospital stay and ICU admission. In a logistic regression model, age (OR 1.05; 95% CI 1.01–1.09), FiO2 (OR 1.024; 95% CI 1.03–1.04) and days between symptoms onset and hospitalization (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.87–0.99) were the only variables independently associated with death.

Over the past few years, COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a high toll worldwide, with a high burden of morbidity and mortality. Healthcare practitioners (HCPs) have been in the frontline since the beginning of the outbreak, and the high level of stress have affected their physical and mental status, as well as their relationships. We aimed at exploring the self-reported changes in comprehensive well-being in a cohort of Italian physicians. An online-based survey was administered to the members of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine (SIMI) between March and June 2021. The survey was based on 32 multiple-choice questions exploring self-reported physical and mental well-being, as well as changes in workloads, work-related feelings and physicians’ relationship with patients, colleagues and families. 228 physicians (mean age: 35.7 ± 9.8 years) participated in the survey; 120 (52.6%) were residents, 196 (86.0%) worked in COVID-19 units and 65 (28.5%) had COVID-19 during the pandemic. A significant proportion of respondents reported to have experience onset or worsening of physical and mental symptoms, with insomnia/sleep disorders (58.3%) and mood swings (47.8%) being the most common, respectively. The burden of physical and mental consequences was broadly higher among residents compared to specialists, with the former reporting more frequently an increase in the number of worked hours (p = 0.020) and being more frequently infected with COVID-19 (35.0% vs. 21.3, p = 0.032). Moreover, familiar and doctor–patient relationships were also considerably affected. Physicians have been suffering a wide spectrum of physical, mental and relational consequences during COVID-19 pandemic, with youngest doctors being more likely to present several physical and mental health symptoms. Further studies are needed to evaluate long-term consequences of COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of HCPs, and potential preventive strategies.