Relationship Between Short-Term Blood Pressure Variability and Choroidal-Retinal Thicknesses Assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography in Hypertensive Subjects.

The complications of hypertension depend not only on the mean blood pressure (BP) but also on its variability (BPV). Recent studies suggest that the choroid may serve as an indicator of systemic vascular damage. These studies have been made possible by the increased availability of optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Light emitting diodes for the improvement of postharvest quality of wild rocket in soilless and soil-bound cultivation systems.

Wild rocket ( (L.) DC cv. Dallas) is a leafy green vegetable appreciated for its pungent taste and healthy properties, often consumed as a ready-to-eat product.

Donor-derived mold infections in lung transplant recipients: The importance of active surveillance.

Unexpected donor-derived fungal infections represent a rare but potentially fatal complication in lung transplant (Tx) recipients. Timely communication of the results of donor cultures and prompt treatment of recipients are crucial to mitigate the consequences of donor-derived transmissions. In this prospective cohort study, all consecutive patients who underwent lung transplantation from 2015 to 2022 were included.

May Measure Month 2022 in Italy: A Focus on Fixed-dose Combination, Therapeutic Adherence, and Medical Inertia in a Nationwide Survey.

Introduction: Hypertension is the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Notably, only about half of hypertensive patients manage to achieve the recommended blood pressure (BP) control. Main reasons for the persistence of uncontrolled BP during treatment are lack of compliance on the patients' side, and therapeutic inertia on physicians' side.

Performance evaluation of a self-administered point-of-care test for anal HPV screening in PrEP users: data from a community-based PrEP service.

Objectives: In this study, we compared the performance of a self-administered point-of-care test (POCT) for anal human papillomavirus (HPV) screening with laboratory gold-standard test in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) users and evaluated its feasibility.

Methods: We enrolled PrEP users from a local community-based PrEP service. Each participant self-collected an anal swab to test anal HPV with a PCR POCT capable of detecting 14 high-risk HPV genotypes.

DypB peroxidase for aflatoxin removal: New insights into the toxin degradation process.

Aflatoxin B (AFB) is one of the most potent carcinogens and a widespread food and feed contaminant. As for other toxins, many efforts are devoted to find efficient and environmentally-friendly methods to degrade AFB, such as enzymatic treatments, thus improving the safety of food and feed products. In this regard, the dye decolorizing peroxidase of type B (DypB) can efficiently degrade AFB.

Evaluation of the prevalence of dental agenesis through the use of orthopantomography in a sample of subjects residing in Lombardy and Piedmont regions.

Aim: Dental agenesis is one of the most frequent dental anomalies, with a prevalence varying from 1.6% to 36.5%, depending on the populations studied.

Aflatoxin B Degradation by Ery4 Laccase: From In Vitro to Contaminated Corn.

Aflatoxins (AFs) are toxic secondary metabolites produced by spp. and are found in food and feed as contaminants worldwide. Due to climate change, AFs occurrence is expected to increase also in western Europe.

Characterization of Dextran Produced by the Food-Related Strain C43-11 and of the Relevant Gene.

A metabolic feature of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is the production of exopolysaccharides (EPSs), which have technological and functional properties of interest to the food sector. The present study focused on the characterization of the strain C43-11, a high EPS producer in the presence of sucrose, in comparison with a low-producing strain (C2-32), and on possible genetic regulatory elements responsible for the modulation of () genes expression. NMR analysis of the polymeric material produced by the C43-11 strain indicated the presence of dextran consisting mainly of a linear scaffold formed by α-(1-6) glycosidic linkages and a smaller amounts of branches derived from α-(1-2), α-(1-3), and α-(1-4) linkages.

Identification and Characterisation of pST1023 A Mosaic, Multidrug-Resistant and Mobilisable IncR Plasmid.

We report the identification and characterisation of a mosaic, multidrug-resistant and mobilisable IncR plasmid (pST1023) detected in ST1023, a monophasic variant 4,[5],12:i: strain of widespread pandemic lineage, reported as a Southern European clone. pST1023 contains exogenous DNA regions, principally gained from pSLT-derivatives and IncI1 plasmids. Acquisition from IncI1 included and and these conferred the ability to be mobilisable in the presence of a helper plasmid, as we demonstrated with the conjugative plasmids pST1007-1D (IncFII) or pVC1035 (IncC).

The Impact of Epithelial Remodeling on Surgical Techniques Used in Topography-guided Surface Ablation in Irregular Corneas.

Purpose: To analyze the optical consequences of epithelial remodeling in irregular corneas and their impact on the choice of different surface ablation techniques.

Methods: Anterior corneal and stromal surface topographies and epithelial thickness maps were analyzed in 24 eyes with irregular corneal optics. On two of the eyes, four different surface ablation techniques were simulated: (1) conventional anterior topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), (2) transepithelial phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK), (3) transepithelial anterior topography-guided PRK, and (4) stromal topography-guided PRK.

Arterial Hypertension and the Hidden Disease of the Eye: Diagnostic Tools and Therapeutic Strategies.

Hypertension is a major cardiovascular risk factor that is responsible for a heavy burden of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A critical aspect of cardiovascular risk estimation in hypertensive patients depends on the assessment of hypertension-mediated organ damage (HMOD), namely the generalized structural and functional changes in major organs induced by persistently elevated blood pressure values. The vasculature of the eye shares several common structural, functional, and embryological features with that of the heart, brain, and kidney.

Real World Estimate of Vaccination Protection in Individuals Hospitalized for COVID-19.

Whether vaccination confers a protective effect against progression after hospital admission for COVID-19 remains to be elucidated. Observational study including all the patients admitted to San Paolo Hospital in Milan for COVID-19 in 2021. Previous vaccination was categorized as: none, one dose, full vaccination (two or three doses >14 days before symptoms onset).

World Hypertension Day 2021 in Italy: Results of a Nationwide Survey.

Introduction: Hypertension is the biggest contributor to the global burden of cardiovascular diseases and related death, but the rates of hypertension awareness, treatment, and control remain largely perfectible.

Methods: During the XVII World Hypertension Day (May 17th, 2021), a nationwide cross-sectional opportunistic study endorsed by the Italian Society of Hypertension was conducted on volunteer adults ≥ 18 years to raise awareness of high blood pressure (BP). A questionnaire on major demographic/clinical features (sex, age, employment, education, BP status awareness, hypertension family/personal history, antihypertensive medications use) and BP measurement habits (≥1 BP measurement in the previous month/week) was administered.

Female gender is associated with long COVID syndrome: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: We explored the association between female gender and long COVID syndrome, defined as persistence of physical and/or psychological symptoms for more than 4 weeks after recovery from acute COVID-19 disease. The secondary aim was to identify predictors of long COVID syndrome by multivariable logistic regression analysis.

Methods: This was a single-centre prospective cohort study conducted at San Paolo Hospital in Milan, Italy.

Three case reports of West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease: lessons from real-life clinical practice.

Background: Despite being an uncommon cause of meningoencephalitis, West Nile virus (WNV) recently provoked significant outbreaks throughout Europe. West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in older and compromised individuals, while its diagnosis may be demanding for the clinician. Here discussed are three cases of WNND with a focus on the diagnostic challenges they presented due to atypical clinical presentation and laboratory findings.

Declining Mortality Rate of Hospitalised Patients in the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Epidemics in Italy: Risk Factors and the Age-Specific Patterns.

Background: Mortality rate from COVID-19 in Italy is among the world's highest. We aimed to ascertain whether there was any reduction of in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 in the second-wave period (October 2020-January 2021) compared to the first one (February-May 2020); further, we verified whether there were clusters of hospitalised patients who particularly benefitted from reduced mortality rate.

Methods: Data collected related to in-patients' demographics, clinical, laboratory, therapies and outcome.

Resistive index of ophthalmic artery as an imaging biomarker of hypertension-related vascular and kidney damage.

Resistive index of ophthalmic artery (RI-OA) is associated with atherosclerotic diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of RI-OA and hypertension-related vascular and kidney damage. Two-hundred and eighty hypertensive patients underwent evaluation of RI-OA, carotid atherosclerosis and level of 24 h albuminuria.

May Measurement Month 2019: an analysis of blood pressure screening results from Italy.

Cardiovascular (CV) diseases are burdened by high mortality and morbidity, being responsible for half of the deaths in Europe. Although hypertension is recognized as the most important CV risk factor, hypertension awareness, and blood pressure (BP) control are still unsatisfactory. In 2017 and 2018, respectively >10 000 and >5000 individuals took part in the May Measurement Month (MMM) campaign in Italy, of whom 30.

A Quantitative Estimate of the Expected Shortening of the Median Isolation Period of Patients With COVID-19 After the Adoption of a Symptom-Based Strategy.

A long period of isolation was observed in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in Milan over March-September 2020 (45; IQR: 37-54 days). A significantly shorter period would have been observed by the application of May-WHO (22, IQR: 17-30 days, < 0.001) and October-Italian (26, IQR: 21-34 days, < 0.