Variable DOAC effects can be explained by different effects on dRVVT screen and confirm clotting time. Adding synthetic phospholipids to samples containing rivaroxaban resulted in greatly reduced screen clotting times and thereby lower calculated dRVVT ratios. CONCLUSIONS There is a great variability in the dRVVT test result with different DOACs. The dRVVT ratios are unaffected for some reagents and this can be explained by an equal dose-dependent effect on both screen and confirm assays. The phospholipid type and content of the different reagents may contribute to the observed differences. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Mesotherapy is sometimes responsible for dermal and subcutaneous infections caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria. Mycobacterium chelonae, M. abscessus and M. fortuitum are usually involved. We present two cases of deep skin infections caused by M. chelonae following mesotherapy. A review of the literature is included. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.We read with interest the study published by Tang and coll.1 in a recent issue of the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. In this retrospective analysis, conducted at the Tongji Hospital of Wuhan, China, it is reported that heparin treatment reduces mortality in subjects affected by severe COVID-19 who have „sepsis-induced coagulopathy”. The definition of severe COVID-19 was the presence of at least one of following respiratory rate ≥30 breaths /min; arterial oxygen saturation ≤93% at rest; PaO2/FiO2 ≤300 mmHg. The Authors of this study also reported that, among subjects not treated with heparin, mortality raised according with D-dimer levels. Of note, patients that received heparin in this study were mostly treated with enoxaparin, at the thromboprophylactic dose of 40-60 mg/day, for at least 7 days. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.BACKGROUND Previous studies on hepatitis C cascade of care have been mainly focused on diagnosis and treatment rate, while less attention has been given to patients lost to follow-up (LTFU) after diagnosis. Analyses of this latter issue on population level are missing. AIMS In this nationwide study of people with HCV, we aimed to estimate the proportion LTFU after HCV diagnosis, characterize them, and analyze their other healthcare contacts. METHODS Patients diagnosed with chronic HCV in the Swedish National Patient register during 2001-2011 and still alive December 31, 2013, were included. The number of cured patients without need of follow-up was estimated. Visits to HCV specialist care during 2012-2013 were analysed. For those LTFU, other specialist care contacts were studied. RESULTS In total 29,217 patients were included, with 24,733 with need of HCV care. 61% (n=15,007) of them were LTFU from HCV care in 2012-2013 and 58% did not attend HCV care during the second year after HCV diagnosis. The departments of surgery/orthopedic or psychiatry/dependency were the most common other non-primary healthcare contacts. Predictors for LTFU were young age, male sex, low education, presence of psychiatric/dependency diagnosis, unmarried, and longer duration since diagnosis of HCV. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that almost two-thirds of patients were LTFU after HCV diagnosis, with frequent occurrence early after diagnosis. Efforts to link patients back to HCV care, in combination with early and easy access to HCV treatment and harm reduction, are necessary to reach the HCV elimination goal. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.BACKGROUND Kidney transplantation in HIV-infected patients is characterized by a concerning high rate of allograft rejections. The etiological mechanisms leading to this increased immunoreactivity are still unknown. Maraviroc is a new antiretroviral agent that has been associated with immunomodulatory proprieties; therefore, its use may be a promising strategy to minimize the rate of rejections in HIV-infected kidney transplant (KT) recipients. METHODS We conducted a retrospective study in our cohort of HIV- KT recipients with the aim to explore the effects of maraviroc in reducing the risk of graft rejection. RESULTS Twenty-two HIV-infected KT recipients predominantly of Caucasian origin (86%) and with a median age of 49 (IQR, 51.9-42.2) years were evaluated. Ten HIV-infected patients were treated with maraviroc and 12 with a maraviroc-free antiretroviral regimen. After a median follow-up of 3.01 years, half of the maraviroc-treated patients (n=5) developed seven episodes of graft rejection, most of them were T-cell mediated rejections (85.7%) Five episodes were recorded in the maraviroc-free group. The difference in the rate of graft rejections was not statistically significant (P=0.23). CONCLUSIONS The administration of maraviroc was ineffective in preventing graft rejections in our cohort of patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Enzyme engineering has made impressive progress in the past decades, paving the way for the widespread use of enzymes for various purposes. In contrast to „classical” enzyme engineering, which focuses on optimizing specific properties of natural enzymes, a more recent trend towards the creation of artificial enzymes that catalyze fundamentally distinct, new-to-nature reactions is observable. While approaches to create such enzymes differ significantly, they share the common goal of enabling biocatalytic novelty to broaden the range of applications for enzymes. Although most artificial enzymes reported to date are only moderately active and barely function in vivo , they bear the potential to endow cells with capabilities that were previously out of reach and thus herald a new wave of „functional xenobiology”. Herein, we highlight recent developments in the field of artificial enzymes with a particular focus on challenges and opportunities for their use in xenobiology. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.We read with great interest the study by YF Zhang et al [1] . The authors found that abnormalities of liver function tests are common in COVID-19 patients, but the clinically significant liver dysfunction in COVID-19 was not a prominent feature of this illness and also may not have serious clinical consequences. This study is important and interesting; however, we still have some concerns about it. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.We have read with great interest the article by Radi et al. which reported the measures applied in order to limit the spread of coronavirus-infection in their dermatological clinic. Particularly they described all the exceptional precautionary measures adopted in order to face COVID-19-emergency and to reduce the spread of infection. Herein we report the experience of our dermatologic Clinic (University of Naples Federico II) which has a very large catchment area and a high number of annually visits (59000 visits in the 2019). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.BACKGROUND The prognosis of unresectable cutaneous squamous-cell carcinomas is very poor. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of panitumumab alone or in association with radiotherapy in the treatment of unresectable cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma. METHODS This was a monocentre retrospective study of all consecutive patients having received at least two courses of panitumumab, alone or in association with radiotherapy, between 2016 and 2019. The primary endpoint was the rate of best overall response, evaluated according to the RECIST 1.1 criteria. The secondary endpoints were the response and disease control rates at 6 weeks and 6 months, progression-free survival, overall survival and safety. RESULTS 25 patients were included; their median age was 86 years, and 17 (86%) had a WHO performance status over 2. The best overall response rate was 52%, including 4 complete responses (16%) and 9 partial responses (36%). All patients with complete response and 5 out of 9 patients with partial response hadicle is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.BACKGROUND Asthma and molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) are common diseases among children and have been suspected to be associated with each other. AIM To examine the association between asthma or the use of asthma drugs and the prevalence of MIH. DESIGN In a population-based cross-sectional study, we recorded MIH in 9 year-old children in Aalborg Municipality, Denmark, born in year 2000. We used a unique 10-digit civil personal number (CPR) to link data on MIH to population-based medical register data. The exposure was inhaled asthma medication from birth date until date of dental examination. The outcome was the overall prevalence of MIH according to use of asthma medication. Odds ratios (OR) of having MIH were adjusted for gender, use of antibiotics and amoxicillin, maternal smoking, pre- and perinatal complication, and hospital admissions. RESULTS We examined 1,837 children, of which 542 (29.5%) had one or more molar(s) with MIH. The adjusted odds ratio of having MIH was 0.95 (95% C.I. 0.60 – 1.51) among children with prescriptions of inhaled asthma medication. CONCLUSION In the present study, where the results have been adjusted for confounding, we found no association between use of inhaled asthma medication and the prevalence of MIH. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Demodex mites are microscopic arachnids found in the normal skin of many mammals. In humans, it is well established that Demodex mite density is higher in patients with the skin condition rosacea, and treatment with acaricidal agents is effective in resolving symptoms. However, pathophysiology of rosacea is complex and multifactorial. In dogs, demodicosis is a significant veterinary issue, particularly the generalised form of the disease which can be fatal if untreated. In each species, clinical and molecular studies have shown that the host’s immunological interactions with Demodex mites are an important, but not fully understood, aspect of how Demodex can live in the skin either as a harmless commensal organism or as a pathogenic agent. This review outlines the role of Demodex mites in humans and dogs, considering morphology, prevalence, symptoms, diagnosis, histology treatment, and pathogenesis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.BACKGROUND Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is particularly suitable for the study of skin aging because it provides nearly histologic information in vivo and non-invasively. However, there are no studies that evaluated RCM skin features of a large population older than 70 years. OBJECTIVES The aim of our investigation was to study age-related skin changes of an elderly population by RCM and to evaluate their topographical and gender differences. METHODS We obtained RCM images of photoprotected (volar arm) and chronic (face) and intermittently photoexposed (dorsal forearm) body sites of 209 volunteers (105 women and 104 men, mean age 77.5, range 74-81 years). 15 previously reported and new RCM parameters related to skin aging were assessed. RESULTS Photoexposed sites had thicker suprapapillary epidermis, more linear, distant and thin furrows, higher presence of mottled pigmentation, polycyclic papillae and coarse and huddled collagen and lower presence of dermal papillae than the photoprotected site. Irregular honeycomb pattern was not higher in photoexposed sites, indicating that it is probably more dependent on intrinsic aging.