Reply to Wei Qi's letter to the editor about "Preoperative proteinuria correlates with renal function after partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma".

In this Letter, we respond to Wei Qi's Letter to the editor regarding our paper, "Preoperative proteinuria correlates with renal function after partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma" (World Journal of Urology, 2024), addressing the concerns raised with the aim of clarifying the potential benefits of our findings in clinical practice.

Preoperative proteinuria correlates with renal function after partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma.

Purpose: Preoperative proteinuria is a prognostic factor of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We assessed the association between preoperative proteinuria and postoperative renal function after partial nephrectomy (PN).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our records of patients with a single malignant renal mass who underwent PN between 2000 and 2021.

Adjunctive use of oral MAF is associated with no disease progression or mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia: The single-arm COral-MAF1 prospective trial.

Based on a growing body of evidence that a dysregulated innate immune response mediated by monocytes/macrophages plays a key role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19, a clinical trial was conducted to investigate the therapeutic potential and safety of oral macrophage activating factor (MAF) plus standard of care (SoC) in the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Ninety-seven hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia were treated with oral MAF and a vitamin D3 supplement, in combination with SoC, in a single-arm, open label, multicentre, phase II clinical trial. The primary outcome measure was a reduction in an intensive care unit transfer rate below 13% after MAF administration.

Internal Modifications to Optimize Pollution and Emissions of Internal Combustion Engines through Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making and Artificial Neural Networks.

The present work proposes several modifications to optimize both emissions and consumption in a commercial marine diesel engine. A numerical model was carried out to characterize the emissions and consumption of the engine under several performance parameters. Particularly, five internal modifications were analyzed: water addition; exhaust gas recirculation; and modification of the intake valve closing, overlap timing, and cooling water temperature.

Diagnostic issues faced by a rare disease healthcare network during Covid-19 outbreak: data from the Campania Rare Disease Registry.

Background: The aims of this study were: to investigate the capacity of the rare disease healthcare network in Campania to diagnose patients with rare diseases during the outbreak of Covid-19; and to shed light on problematic diagnoses during this period.

Methods: To describe the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of patients with rare diseases, a retrospective analysis of the Campania Region Rare Disease Registry was performed. A tailored questionnaire was sent to rare disease experts to investigate major issues during the emergency period.

Dalbavancin for infective endocarditis: a single centre experience.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a life-threatening disease, mostly caused by gram-positive cocci, needing a 4-6 weeks antibiotic course. Dalbavancin is a lipoglycopeptide active on gram-positive microorganisms, with a unique pharmacokinetic profile. We describe our experience with dalbavancin to complete the intravenous antibiotic regimen for difficult-to-treat IE cases due to gram-positive bacteria.