Vitamin D: A Bridge between Kidney and Heart.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are highly prevalent conditions, each significantly contributing to the global burden of morbidity and mortality. CVD and CKD share a great number of common risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and smoking, among others. Their relationship extends beyond these factors, encompassing intricate interplay between the two systems.

Nurses quality of life, sleep disturbance, and intention to leave critical care units: A cross-sectional moderated mediation analysis.

Objectives: This study aims to explore the complex relationships between personal and demographic factors, intermediary factors such as quality of life (depression, anxiety, stress, burnout), and the mediating impact of sleep disturbance on nurses' intention to leave critical care units.

Design: Cross-sectional quantitative survey.

Setting: Data were collected from registered nurses at a major university hospital in southern Italy.

Krebs von den Lungen 6 (KL-6) levels in COVID-19 ICU patients are associated with mortality.

Background: Krebs von den Lungen 6 (KL-6) is a high-molecular-weight mucin-like glycoprotein, which is also known as MUC1. KL-6 is mainly produced by type 2 pneumocytes and bronchial epithelial cells, and, therefore, elevated circulating KL-6 levels may denote disorders of the alveolar epithelial lining. The objective of this study is to verify if KL-6 serum level might support ICU physicians in predicting mortality, risk stratifying and triaging severe COVID-19 patients.

ESPGHAN Position Paper on Management and Follow-up of Children and Adolescents With Celiac Disease.

Objectives: To gather the current evidence and to offer recommendations for follow-up and management.

Methods: The Special Interest Group on Celiac Diseases of the European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition formulated ten questions considered to be essential for follow-up care. A literature search (January 2010-March 2020) was performed in PubMed or Medline.

Follow-up practices for children and adolescents with celiac disease: results of an international survey.

Adequate follow-up in celiac disease is important to improve dietary compliance and treat disease-related symptoms and possible complications. However, data on the follow-up of celiac children is scarce. We aimed to assess current pediatric celiac follow-up practices across Europe.

Effectiveness and Safety of Topical Chlorhexidine and Vitamin E TPGS in the Treatment of Keratitis: A Survey on 29 Cases.

This study aimed to test the effectiveness of a solution of chlorhexidine (CHX) and D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate (Vitamin E TPGS or TPGS) in the treatment of keratitis (AK) via a prospective, interventional case series study. Twenty-nine consecutive patients with AK were enrolled. At baseline, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), slit lamp examination, confocal microscopy, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed.

Skin Architecture, Kidney Transplantation, and Their Relationship to Basal and Squamous Cell Carcinomas.

Background/aim: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is highly prevalent in kidney transplant patients (KT). It is characterized by the presence of an inflammatory infiltrate. In this study, we examined the presence of similar infiltrates in intact skin, which could be regarded as a precancerous step.

Kidney Transplant Modifies the Architecture and Microenvironment of Basal Cell Carcinomas.

Background/aims: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a frequent type of nonmelanoma skin cancer, which shows a greater prevalence in kidney-transplanted (KT) patients than in the general population. The study of this tumor in KT patients may allow us to understand the influence of the tumor inflammatory microenvironment on cancer behavior, and to design new image analysis methods to determine prognosis and apply personalized medicine. The major hypothesis of the present work is that antirejection drugs, by modifying the B-cell/T-cell balance, induce measurable differences in tumoral cell microarchitecture and in the inflammatory microenvironment in KT patients compared to nontransplanted controls.

Surgery in COVID-19 patients: operational directives.

The current COVID-19 pandemic underlines the importance of a mindful utilization of financial and human resources. Preserving resources and manpower is paramount in healthcare. It is important to ensure the ability of surgeons and specialized professionals to function through the pandemic.

Reply to the Letter of Terracini B. et al. "Comment on Piscitelli et al. Hospitalizations in Pediatric and Adult Patients for All Cancer Type in Italy: The EPIKIT Study under the E.U. COHEIRS Project on Environment and Health". Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 495.

A letter to the IJERPH Editor was submitted by Terracini B. et al. as a comment to our latest paper "Hospitalizations in Pediatric and Adult Patients for all Cancer Type in Italy:[.

Hospitalizations in Pediatric and Adult Patients for All Cancer Type in Italy: The EPIKIT Study under the E.U. COHEIRS Project on Environment and Health.

: Cancer Registries (CRs) remain the gold standard for providing official epidemiological estimations. However, due to CRs' partial population coverage, hospitalization records might represent a valuable tool to provide additional information on cancer occurrence and expenditures at national/regional level for research purposes. The Epidemiology of Cancer in Italy (EPIKIT) study group has been built up, within the framework of the Civic Observers for Health and Environment: Initiative of Responsibility and Sustainability (COHEIRS) project under the auspices of the Europe for Citizens Program, to assess population health indicators.

Customized Corneal Cross-Linking-A Mathematical Model.

Purpose: To improve the safety, reproducibility, and depth of effect of corneal cross-linking with the ultraviolet A (UV-A) exposure time and fluence customized according to the corneal thickness.

Methods: Twelve human corneas were used for the experimental protocol. They were soaked using a transepithelial (EPI-ON) technique using riboflavin with the permeation enhancer vitamin E-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate.

Corneal Cross-Linking: Evaluating the Potential for a Lower Power, Shorter Duration Treatment.

Purpose: To determine the cross-linking effect of a riboflavin ultraviolet-A (UV-A) corneal cross-linking treatment that is both shorter and has lower energy than the Dresden protocol.

Methods: In a first experiment, 12 human corneas were presoaked with riboflavin and then irradiated with UV-A at 3 mW/cm after clearing the surface of riboflavin, with no added riboflavin during irradiation. Percent UV-A transmission through the corneas was measured at intervals up to 30 minutes.

Transepithelial Corneal Cross-Linking With Vitamin E-Enhanced Riboflavin Solution and Abbreviated, Low-Dose UV-A: 24-Month Clinical Outcomes.

Purpose: To report the clinical outcomes with 24-month follow-up of transepithelial cross-linking using a combination of a D-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene-glycol 1000 succinate (vitamin E-TPGS)-enhanced riboflavin solution and abbreviated low fluence UV-A treatment.

Methods: In a nonrandomized clinical trial, 25 corneas of 19 patients with topographically proven, progressive, mild to moderate keratoconus over the previous 6 months were cross-linked, and all patients were examined at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. The treatments were performed using a patented solution of riboflavin and vitamin E-TPGS, topically applied for 15 minutes, followed by two 5-minute UV-A treatments with separate doses both at fluence below 3 mW/cm(2) that were based on preoperative central pachymetry.