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In advanced chronic kidney disease, obesity may bring a survival advantage, but many transplant centres demand weight loss before wait-listing for kidney graft. The case here described regards a 71-year-old man, with obesity-related glomerulopathy; referral data were: weight 110 kg, Body Mass Index (BMI) 37 kg/m², serum creatinine (sCr) 5 mg/dL, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 23 mL/min, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) 75 mg/dL, proteinuria 2.3 g/day. A moderately restricted, low-protein diet allowed reduction in BUN (45-55 mg/dL) and good metabolic and kidney function stability, with a weight increase of 6 kg. Therefore, he asked to be enrolled in a weight-loss program to be wait-listed (the two nearest transplant centres required a BMI below 30 or 35 kg/m²). Since previous low-calorie diets were not successful and he was against a surgical approach, we chose a qualitative, ad libitum coach-assisted diet, freely available in our unit. In the first phase, the diet is dissociated; he lost 16 kg in 2 months, without need for dialysis. In the second maintenance phase, in which foods are progressively combined, he lost 4 kg in 5 months, allowing wait-listing. Dialysis started one year later, and was followed by weight gain of about 5 kg. He resumed the maintenance diet, and his current body weight, 35 months after the start of the diet, is 94 kg, with a BMI of 31.7 kg/m², without clinical or biochemical signs of malnutrition. This case suggests that our patients can benefit from the same options available to non-CKD (chronic kidney disease) individuals, provided that strict multidisciplinary surveillance is assured., Competing Interests: Luigi Teta works for as consultant for the Bioimis Accademia Alimentatre; Irene Capizzi received and unrestricted grant from the Bioimis Accademia Alimentare, through the University of Torino, under the responsibility of Giorgina B Piccoli. None of the other Authors had any conflict of interst.

Unlabelled: Obesity is a growing problem on dialysis. The best approach to weight loss has not been established. The risks of malnutrition may offset the advantages of weight loss. Personalized hemodialysis schedules, with an incremental approach, are gaining interest; to date, no studies have explored its potential in allowing weight loss. This case series reports on combining flexible, incremental hemodialysis, and intensive weight loss., Setting: a small Dialysis Unit, following incremental personalized schedules (2-6 sessions/week, depending on residual function), tailored to an equivalent renal clearance >12 mL/min. Four obese and two overweigh patients (5 male, 1 female; age: 40-63 years; body mass index [BMI] 31.1 kg/m(2)) were enrolled in a coach-assisted weight loss program, with an "ad libitum" approach (3-6 foods/day chosen on the basis of their glycemic index and glycemic load). The diet consists of 8 weeks of rapid weight loss followed by 8-12 weeks of maintenance; both phases can be repeated. This study measures weight loss, side effects, and patients' opinions. Over 12-30 months, all patients lost weight (median -10.3 kg [5.7-20], median ΔBMI-3.2). Serum albumin (pre-diet 3.78; post-diet 3.83 g/dL), hemoglobin (pre-diet 11; post-diet 11.2 g/dL), and acid-base balance (HCO(3) pre-diet: 23.3; post-diet: 23.4 mmol/L) remained stable, with decreasing needs for erythropoietin and citrate or bicarbonate supplements. Calcium-phosphate-parathyroid hormone (PTH) balance improved (PTH-pre 576; post 286 pg/mL). Three out of 4 hypertensive patients discontinued, 1 decreased antihypertensives. None experienced severe side effects. Patient satisfaction was high (9 on a 0-10 analog scale). Personalized, incremental hemodialysis schedules allow patient enrollment in intensive personalized weight loss programs, with promising results., (© 2014 International Society for Hemodialysis.)

The preparation of commercial products able to protect the skin against damage from solar radiation requires safe and photo-stable stable UV-absorbing molecules with high extinction coefficients, prepared with solvents of the appropriate polarities and polarizabilities in formulas which allow the uniform spreading of the UV-absorbing substances. The products should also maintain the ingredients on the top of the skin and provide efficient scavenging activities against singlet oxygen and other directly or indirectly generated reactive oxygen species. Because of the high doses of UV used to test high SPF, simple and reproducible methods are needed to estimate the protection afforded by the product before risking the induction of severe burns to the volunteers, as can occur when the value of the product's SPF is smaller than the expected one. This paper describes several aspects of the preparation of commercial sunscreens. It also points out several of the hidden hypotheses which, when not tested, might lead to the overestimation of the protection factor of a product.

In the bottling departments of a beverage processing plant, exposure to hydrogen peroxide was below TLV from 1995 to 2001. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume 1st second (FEV1), and FEV1/FVC were compared between exposed and unexposed workers. Using sparse data collected from 1993 to 2002, changes over time (slope) were calculated for each functional index in each subject. The slope was the dependent variable at multiple regression analysis with exposure and smoking as predictive variables. Using complete data collected from 2000 to 2002 in fewer subjects, the longitudinal changes were assessed by repeated measures analysis of variance. Both methods provide same results: with respect to unexposed, in exposed workers FVC increased, FEV1/was unchanged and FEV1/FVC decreased; the latter difference was no more significant when FVC slope was added as covariate to the model. In conclusion, the findings seem to support the current TLV for hydrogen peroxide. There were no similar studies in the literature.