Erratum: Addendum: Engineered extracellular vesicles from human periodontal-ligament stem cells increase VEGF/VEGFR2 expression during bone regeneration.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.

Flow Cytometry Analysis of Circulating Extracellular Vesicle Subtypes from Fresh Peripheral Blood Samples.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released by shedding during different physiological processes and are increasingly thought to be new potential biomarkers. However, the impact of pre-analytical processing phases on the final measurement is not predictable and for this reason, the translation of basic research into clinical practice has been precluded. Here we have optimized a simple procedure in combination with polychromatic flow cytometry (PFC), to identify, classify, enumerate, and separate circulating EVs from different cell origins.

Synthesis of green fluorescent carbon dots from carbon nano-onions and graphene oxide.

In recent years, carbon dots (CDs) have triggered considerable interest due to their intriguing tunable photoluminescence properties. In this work, we report the synthesis of green-emitting CDs from two different carbon sources, namely carbon nano-onions and graphene oxide. We also investigate the effects of the two starting materials on the physico-chemical properties of the as-synthesised CDs.

Osteoblastic Differentiation on Graphene Oxide-Functionalized Titanium Surfaces: An In Vitro Study.

Background: Titanium implant surfaces are continuously modified to improve biocompatibility and to promote osteointegration. Graphene oxide (GO) has been successfully used to ameliorate biomaterial performances, in terms of implant integration with host tissue. The aim of this study is to evaluate the Dental Pulp Stem Cells (DPSCs) viability, cytotoxic response, and osteogenic differentiation capability in the presence of GO-coated titanium surfaces.

Optimization by response surface methodology of a dispersive magnetic solid phase extraction exploiting magnetic graphene nanocomposite coupled with UHPLC-PDA for simultaneous determination of new oral anticoagulants (NAOs) in human plasma.

In this paper a dispersive magnetic-solid phase extraction (MSPE) using a graphene nanocomposite (rG/FeO) followed by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection has been developed for the simultaneous analysis of new class of oral anticoagulants (NOAs) in human plasma. The performance of the nanocomposite graphene@FeO on the magnetic solid phase extraction of apixaban, rivaroxaban and dabigatran has been optimized using a Box-Behnken design of experiment. The amount of graphene nanocomposite, the sample pH and the adsorption time were the investigated parameters as a function of the extraction recovery.

Engineered Extracellular Vesicles From Human Periodontal-Ligament Stem Cells Increase VEGF/VEGFR2 Expression During Bone Regeneration.

Bone regeneration represents still a challenge, in particular for calvarium defects. Recently, the development of biomaterials with the addiction of stem cells is giving promising results for the treatment of bone defects. In particular, it was demonstrated that scaffolds enriched with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and/or their derivatives, such as conditioned medium (CM) and extracellular vesicles (EVs), may improve bone regeneration.

Covalent Decoration of Cortical Membranes with Graphene Oxide as a Substrate for Dental Pulp Stem Cells.

(1) Background: The aim of this study was to optimize, through a cheap and facile protocol, the covalent functionalization of graphene oxide (GO)-decorated cortical membrane (Lamina) in order to promote the adhesion, the growth and the osteogenic differentiation of DPSCs (Dental Pulp Stem Cells); (2) Methods: GO-coated Laminas were fully characterized by Scannsion Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) analyses. In vitro analyses of viability, membrane integrity and calcium phosphate deposition were performed; (3) Results: The GO-decorated Laminas demonstrated an increase in the roughness of Laminas, a reduction in toxicity and did not affect membrane integrity of DPSCs; and (4) Conclusions: The GO covalent functionalization of Laminas was effective and relatively easy to obtain. The homogeneous GO coating obtained favored the proliferation rate of DPSCs and the deposition of calcium phosphate.

Graphene Oxide Foils as an Osteoinductive Stem Cell Substrate.

The hydrophilic graphene derivative, graphene oxide (GO), is used to synthesize free-standing GO foils characterized by cross-linked GO sheets with enhanced mechanical properties and no tendency to release GO flakes in aqueous solution. These GO foils do not evidence cytotoxic effects toward dental pulp stem cells (DPSC). Rather, DPSC viability is significantly increased for cells grown on GO foil and SEM analyses evidence the synthesis of a consistent extracellular matrix by DPSCs with respect to cells grown on polystyrene.

Aflatoxin contamination in nuts marketed in Italy: preliminary results.

Background: Aflatoxins (AFs) are one of the main groups of mycotoxins produced by molds. Nuts, although recognized as a food with health benefits, are frequently contaminated by AFs.

Study Design: In this preliminary study we evaluated the contamination by total AFs and AFB1 in different types of nuts from different countries marketed in Apulia.

Geographical origin discrimination of lentils (Lens culinaris Medik.) using H NMR fingerprinting and multivariate statistical analyses.

Lentil samples coming from two different countries, i.e. Italy and Canada, were analysed using untargeted H NMR fingerprinting in combination with chemometrics in order to build models able to classify them according to their geographical origin.

The Problem of Borderline Hemoglobin A2 Levels in the Screening for β-Thalassemia Carriers in Sardinia.

Background: The increase in HbA2 is the most important parameter for the identification of thalassemia carriers. However, in routine screening for hemoglobinopathies, some cases are difficult to classify because the level of HbA2 is not typically elevated. In this work, we report the results of a molecular investigation on a cohort of subjects with borderline HbA2.

Rose Bengal-photosensitized oxidation of 4-thiothymidine in aqueous medium: evidence for the reaction of the nucleoside with singlet state oxygen.

The photoreactivity of 4-thiothymidine (S(4)TdR) under visible light in the presence of Rose Bengal (RB), acting as a photosensitizer, was investigated in aqueous solutions at pH 7 and 12, using UV-vis, FTIR-ATR and (1)H-NMR spectroscopic techniques, time resolved absorption spectroscopy and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Evidence for the generation of thymidine (TdR) as the main product, after one hour of irradiation, was obtained from UV-Vis data, that suggested 4-thiothymidine photodegradation to be faster at basic pH, and confirmed by FTIR-ATR and (1)H-NMR data. Clues for the presence of a further product, likely corresponding to a dimeric form of S(4)TdR, were obtained from the latter techniques.

The effect of in-amphorae aging on oenological parameters, phenolic profile and volatile composition of Minutolo white wine.

A wine was obtained from cryomacerated Minutolo grapes under reductive conditions and aged for 12months in glass container and in 3 types of amphorae. After aging, wines in glass containers showed the highest alcohol content, volatile acidity, dissolved oxygen, concentrations of aromatics, alcohols, and esters and by the lowest contents of enols and terpenes. They also showed the highest decrease of flavonoids, hydroxycinnamoyl tartaric acids, and procyanidins.

Electronic nose and isotope ratio mass spectrometry in combination with chemometrics for the characterization of the geographical origin of Italian sweet cherries.

Sweet cherries from two Italian regions, Apulia and Emilia Romagna, were analysed using electronic nose (EN) and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), with the aim of distinguishing them according to their geographic origin. The data were elaborated by statistical techniques, examining the EN and IRMS datasets both separately and in combination. Preliminary exploratory overviews were performed and then linear discriminant analyses (LDA) were used for classification.

Photosystem II based multilayers obtained by electrostatic layer-by-layer assembly on quartz substrates.

Photosystem II (PSII) proteins from spinach leaves were immobilized onto quartz substrates according to the Layer-by-Layer (LbL) procedure, alternating protein to polyethylenimine (PEI) layers by exploiting electrostatic interactions. The effects of several factors, such as storage conditions, ageing of the PSII-modified substrates, as well as PSII concentration in buffer, on the quality of the prepared multilayers, were investigated by UV-vis Absorption Spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). A number of 13 layers was found to be optimal to guarantee intense PSII optical signals with homogeneous morphological distributions of proteins.

Non-targeted 1H NMR fingerprinting and multivariate statistical analyses for the characterisation of the geographical origin of Italian sweet cherries.

In this study, non-targeted (1)H NMR fingerprinting was used in combination with multivariate statistical techniques for the classification of Italian sweet cherries based on their different geographical origins (Emilia Romagna and Puglia). As classification techniques, Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy (SIMCA), Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) were carried out and the results were compared. For LDA, before performing a refined selection of the number/combination of variables, two different strategies for a preliminary reduction of the variable number were tested.

Effects of different vinification technologies on physical and chemical characteristics of Sauvignon blanc wines.

In order to investigate the effects of cryomaceration and reductive vinification on chemical and physical indices and on antioxidant compounds of Sauvignon blanc wines, four wine-making procedures were applied: traditional white vinification, skin cryomaceration, vinification in a reductive environment, and a combination of the last two procedures. Significant differences were highlighted by both conventional analyses and NMR spectroscopy. The strongest changes were for organic acid concentrations (tartaric, in particular) and phenolic content.

Prevalence and tracking of weight disorders in Italian primary school students: a three-year follow-up.

Obesity has been widely described as the latest epidemic, and in some areas obesity co-exists with undernutrition. The purpose of this study was to assess the variability of weight status of a cohort of 279 Italian primary school students followed longitudinally for three years. Overweight was the most common weight status disorder in both sexes and generally prevailed in females.

Instrumental and multivariate statistical analyses for the characterisation of the geographical origin of Apulian virgin olive oils.

In this paper, virgin olive oils (VOOs) coming from three different geographic origins of Apulia, were analysed for free acidity, peroxide value, spectrophotometric indexes, chlorophyll content, sterol, fatty acid, and triacylglycerol compositions. In order to predict the geographical origin of VOOs, different multivariate approaches were applied. By performing principal component analysis (PCA) a modest natural grouping of the VOOs was observed on the basis of their origin, and consequently three supervised techniques, i.

Biomaterials based on photosynthetic membranes as potential sensors for herbicides.

In this study, ultrathin film multilayers of Photosystem II-enriched photosynthetic membranes (BBY) were prepared and immobilized on quartz substrates by means of a Layer by Layer procedure exploiting electrostatic interactions with poly(ethylenimine) as polyelectrolyte. The biomaterials thus obtained were characterized by means of optical techniques and Atomic Force Microscopy, highlighting the fact that the Layer by Layer approach allowed the BBYs to be immobilized with satisfactory results. The activity of these hybrid materials was evaluated by means of optical assays based on the Hill Reaction, indicating that the biosamples, which preserved about 65% of their original activity even ten weeks after preparation, were both stable and active.

Herbicides affect fluorescence and electron transfer activity of spinach chloroplasts, thylakoid membranes and isolated Photosystem II.

In this work, studies on the effects produced by atrazine, terbutryn or diuron onto spinach photosynthetic materials were performed by observing changes in fluorescence emission and in electron transfer activities of the bio-samples in the presence of such herbicides; chloroplasts, thylakoids, Photosystem II-enriched thylakoids (BBYs) and isolated Photosystem II (PSII) were employed. This approach evidenced differences in the herbicide-photosynthetic material interactions going up-down from chloroplasts to proteins. Rapid emission increments were detected for chloroplasts and thylakoids, in particular in the presence of terbutryn; no remarkable emission increment was recorded when BBYs or PSII were used for this assay.

Molecular identification and functional characterization of Arabidopsis thaliana mitochondrial and chloroplastic NAD+ carrier proteins.

The Arabidopsis thaliana L. genome contains 58 membrane proteins belonging to the mitochondrial carrier family. Two mitochondrial carrier family members, here named AtNDT1 and AtNDT2, exhibit high structural similarities to the mitochondrial nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) carrier ScNDT1 from bakers' yeast.

Interactions between heavy metals and photosynthetic materials studied by optical techniques.

In this work studies on rapid inhibitory interactions between heavy metals and photosynthetic materials at different organization levels were carried out by optical assay techniques, investigating the possibility of applications in the heavy metal detection field. Spinach chloroplasts, thylakoids and Photosystem II proteins were employed as biotools in combination with colorimetric assays based on dichlorophenol indophenole (DCIP) photoreduction and on fluorescence emission techniques. It was found that copper and mercury demonstrated a strong and rapid photosynthetic activity inhibition, that varied from proteins to membranes, while other metals like nickel, cobalt and manganese produced only slight inhibition effects on all tested photosynthetic materials.

Somatotype in 6-11-year-old Italian and Estonian schoolchildren.

The study of somatotypes can contribute to the understanding of variability in human body build. The aim of this study was to compare the somatotypes of Italian and Estonian schoolchildren in order to evaluate factors that might lead to variability in somatotypes. The sample consisted of 762 Italian and 366 Estonian children aged 6-11 years.

Leaping ability and body composition in rhythmic gymnasts for talent identification.

Aim: Aim of this study was to investigate leaping ability and morphological characteristics in rhythmic gymnastics, in order to verify which parameters are useful indicators for the talent identification.

Methods: Twenty-five national gymnasts of international level (age 14.7+/-2.