Vehicle speed is one of the main risk factors for road traffic safety. To increase the level of road safety, especially in urban areas, measures must be implemented to reduce vehicle speed. The installation of calming measures on a road network is systematically planned way to reduce driving speeds. This paper studies the effectiveness in terms of speed reduction of three types of traffic calming measures: 1) speed table, 2) chicane, and 3) road narrowing. The speed analyses regard a series of traffic calming measures located in urban contexts of Catania Province (Italy). For each of these traffic calming measures, experimental investigations were carried out relating to the measurement of speed. The study has shown that the speed tables represent the measure of traffic calming that guarantees the greatest conditioning on speed (it is also possible to halve the average speed). Even the chicanes have a significant impact on reducing speed, as well as the speed tables (average speed is reduced by up to 50%), while road narrowing allows maximum reductions in average speed of around 35%. Furthermore, all three traffic calming measures have resulted in a reduction of accidents always greater than 30%. In the case of speed tables, the reduction in accidents exceeds even 40%. The consequences of road accidents are also mitigated thanks to the traffic calming interventions considered. The reduction of injured people is between 32% (road narrowing) and 50% (chicane). The speed tables involve a reduction of almost 40% of injured people while fatal accidents are completely eliminated. Finally, it has been observed that the reduction in pedestrian injuries is between 33% (road narrowing) and 50% (speed tables). In the case of the chicane the reduction of injured pedestrians is 40%. The pedestrian fatal accidents in the road section in which the speed tables were subsequently installed have been reduced to zero.

Background: Two sequelae of pediatric COVID-19 have been identified, the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and the long COVID. Long COVID is much less precisely defined and includes all the persistent or new clinical manifestations evidenced in subjects previously infected by SARS-CoV-2 beyond the period of the acute infection and that cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis. In this Intersociety Consensus, present knowledge on pediatric long COVID as well as how to identify and manage children with long COVID are discussed.Main findings: Although the true prevalence of long COVID in pediatrics is not exactly determined, it seems appropriate to recommend evaluating the presence of symptoms suggestive of long COVID near the end of the acute phase of the disease, between 4 and 12 weeks from this. Long COVID in children and adolescents should be suspected in presence of persistent headache and fatigue, sleep disturbance, difficulty in concentrating, abdominal pain, myalgia or arthralgia. Persistent chest pain, stomach pain, diarrhea, heart palpitations, and skin lesions should be considered as possible symptoms of long COVID. It is recommended that the primary care pediatrician visits all subjects with a suspected or a proven diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection after 4 weeks to check for the presence of symptoms of previously unknown disease. In any case, a further check-up by the primary care pediatrician should be scheduled 3 months after the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection to confirm normality or to address emerging problems. The subjects who present symptoms of any organic problem must undergo a thorough evaluation of the same, with a possible request for clinical, laboratory and / or radiological in-depth analysis in case of need. Children and adolescents with clear symptoms of mental stress will need to be followed up by existing local services for problems of this type.Conclusions: Pediatric long COVID is a relevant problem that involve a considerable proportion of children and adolescents. Prognosis of these cases is generally good as in most of them symptoms disappear spontaneously. The few children with significant medical problems should be early identified after the acute phase of the infection and adequately managed to assure complete resolution. A relevant psychological support for all the children during COVID-19 pandemic must be organized by health authorities and government that have to treat this as a public health issue.

In the context of urban sustainability, promoting pedestrian travel is fundamental. Residents’ needs are critical to creating truly pedestrian-friendly streets. The objective of this study was to answer the following questions: What aspects most increase the willingness of citizens to walk? Is the extent to which these aspects are prioritized related to the context in which citizens move on a daily basis? Two linked surveys, conducted through the institutional website of the Department of Civil Engineering and Architectural of the University of Catania, allowed the inclusion of more than 1000 respondents residing in the metropolitan areas of eastern Sicily. The large database was first reduced using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and then statistically processed using Path Analysis. Thus, it was found that in the residential areas of the respondents that were not very “pedestrian friendly”, the macro factors of “safety”, “comfort”, and “quality” of pedestrian infrastructures were equally desirable for citizens to adapt to the existing pedestrian routes and thus promote walking. On the other hand, the “attractiveness” of the urban environment as a whole was a non-statistically significant variable for residents’ decision to walk. These results are not valid for every urban context, but the method used is generalizable and applicable in any urban setting. If the quality, safety, and comfort of pedestrian infrastructure results are important, urban planning should prioritize the provision of safe and accessible sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian streets. Furthermore, if the attractiveness of a neighborhood result is significant, urban design and planning should go beyond functional requirements and also focus on creating a vibrant and livable urban environment.

Urban mobility and sustainable transportation are fundamental for the European Union’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The EU encourages national governments to prioritize zero-emission urban transport systems that emphasize safety, accessibility, and inclusiveness. Promoting walking plays a fundamental role in sustainable urban mobility, offering advantages such as emission reduction, better air quality, and enhanced public health. Recent research underscores the importance of creating appealing and safe pedestrian environments to encourage walking. These efforts align with the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 sustainability goals, particularly Objective 11, which aims to build inclusive, safe, and sustainable cities and communities. This paper explores the factors influencing pedestrians’ willingness to walk and categorizes them into basic factors, performance factors, and excitement factors, on the basis of the three factors theory. Significantly, the study reveals that the importance of these factors varies based on demographics, mainly the age of the users. Understanding these factors and their relative significance for pedestrian satisfaction is crucial for shaping effective policies and urban planning strategies aimed at promoting sustainable mobility. By prioritizing pedestrian satisfaction and addressing the specific needs and preferences of diverse groups, cities can create more walkable and environmentally friendly urban environments. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and urban planners working toward EU climate-neutral objectives and enhancing the well-being of citizens.

In recent years, numerous turbo-roundabouts have been built in many European countries. To date, there are no turbo-roundabouts in Italy and even the regulations do not provide for their implementation. Turbo-roundabouts are considered the ideal alternative to multi-lane roundabouts as they have numerous advantages. However, they offer better operational performance only for specific traffic flow distributions. This research used the case study of an important and complex urban arterial road in eastern Sicily, Italy, to compare the operational and safety performance between multi-lane roundabouts and turbo-roundabouts. The evaluations were carried out with two simulation software: (1) AIMSUN Next 20.0.1 (operational performance); (2) SSAM 3.0 (safety performance). The results show that at medium/low traffic volumes, multi-lane roundabouts are significantly superior to turbo-roundabouts in terms of operational performance. At high traffic volumes, the operational performance of turbo-roundabouts improves significantly. As regards the safety parameters, for turbo-roundabouts there is always an increase in the TTC and PET, a reduction in maximum speeds and decelerations. There is also a significant decrease in conflict points. Ultimately, the safety and efficiency performance of turbo-roundabouts should: (1) Encourage administrations to replace the multi-lane roundabouts (illegal in Italy) with turbo-roundabouts; (2) encourage Italian legislators to revise intersection design legislation to include turbo-roundabouts among possible design solutions.