In situ synchrotron X-ray micro-tomography study of pitting corrosion in stainless steel

Pitting corrosion of stainless steel has been investigated with high-resolution in situ X-ray microtomography. The growth of pits at the tip of stainless steel pins has been observed with 3D microtomography under different conditions of applied current and cell potential. The results demonstrate how pits evolve in stainless steel, forming a characteristic “lacy” cover of perforated metal. In addition, it is shown how the shape of pits becomes modified by MnS inclusions.     

δ18O of Ethanol in Wine and Spirits for Authentication Purposes

Since 1986 the European Union has established official isotopic analysis methods for detecting the illegal addition of sugar and water to wine and to enable geographical traceability. In this paper we investigate the possibility of using analysis of the ¹⁸O/¹⁶O stable isotope ratio (expressed as δ¹⁸O) of ethanol to improve detection of the watering of wine and to determine the origin of ethanol. Sixty‐nine authentic wine samples from all over Italy, 59 spirits from fruit and cereals, 5 chemically synthesized ethanols, one concentrated and rectified must, one beet and one cane sugar, one fresh must, and 6 waters with increasing δ¹⁸O values were considered. Ethanol was recovered by distillation, using a Cadiot spinning band column, following the official OIV methods. The residual water was trapped by storing the distillate for at least 24 h on a molecular sieve. The ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratio was measured using a pyrolyser interfaced with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The δ^‐18O of ethanol is significantly related to the δ¹⁸O of the fermentation water and can be considered as a reliable internal reference. The values ranged from +24‰ to +36‰ in wine (years 2008 to 2012), +10‰ to +26‰ in fruit and cereal distillates, and from –2‰ to +12‰ in synthetic ethanol. The method was shown to be effective in improving detection of the watering of wine and determining the origin of ethanol (from grapes, other fruit, or synthesis), but not in detecting the addition of cane or beet sugar to wine.     

Radical Scavenging,Total Antioxidant Capacity,and Antiproliferative Activity of Phenolic Extracts from Extra Virgin Olive Oil by Cultivar ‘Frantoio’

The beneficial health effects of extra virgin olive oil are due to both its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids and its high content of phenolic compounds, which have recently attracted research interest. In this context, the aim of this work was to examine the in vitro antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of the phenolic extract obtained from extra virgin olive oil from O. europea cultivar ‘Frantoio’ (samples 1–4), one of the main varieties cultivated in Italy. The total phenolic content was determined by Folin–Ciocalteu method and instead the phenolic profile was obtained by HPLC coupled to a diode array detector and mass spectrometry. Extra virgin olive oil extracts exhibited high antioxidant activity through different mechanisms of action and these activities are related to the phenolic content. Sample 3 demonstrated the strongest free radical scavenging activity with IC₅₀ value of 56.5 μg/mL. The reducing ability measured with FRAP assay revealed that samples ranged from 91.3 to 156 μM Fe(II)/g. The same interesting trend was observed with Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity value. Moreover, the virgin olive oils showed a good oxidative stability ranging between 19 to 32 h. Antiproliferative activity evaluated by SRB assay revealed that phenolic extracts from the cultivar ‘Frantoio’ showed a strong antiproliferative activity against CORL-23 cell line with an IC₅₀ value of 14.5 and 55.9 μg/mL for samples 3 and 1, respectively, and these results are comparable to the positive control vinblastine. Overall, these results showed that extra virgin olive oils from the cultivar ‘Frantoio’, may represent an interesting source of phenolic compounds as functional components that could be consumed in diets and/or used for the elaboration of functional food and pharmaceutical industries.     

Diode Laser Cure of Serigraphic Ink

Laser polymerization of serigraphic ink was performed by diode laser (DL). Experimental tests were carried out by depositing a commercial solvent-based ink on a polyvinylchloride (PVC) sheet. Ink cure was obtained using a 940 nm emission wavelength DL with an almost rectangular spot. We considered different values for laser power, scanning rate and focalization distance and several behaviors were observed depending on the laser fluence, from the uncured ink state to substrate warpage and degradation. Both ink thickness measurement and scratch tests were conducted on laser-processed samples. Analysis of experimental results shows that the full cure can occur within an extremely short time and at very low power values.     

Highly porous polycaprolactone-45S5 Bioglass® scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

Highly porous biocompatible composites made of polycaprolactone (PCL) and 45S5 Bioglass® (BG) were prepared by a solid–liquid phase separation method (SLPS). The composites were obtained with BG weight contents varying in the range 0–50%, using either dimethylcarbonate (DMC) or dioxane (DIOX) as solvent, and ethanol as extracting medium. The porosity of the scaffolds was estimated to be about 88–92%. Mechanical properties showed a dependence on the amount of BG in the composites, but also on the kind of solvent used for preparation, composites prepared with DIOX showing enhanced stress at deformation with respect to composites prepared with DMC (stress at 60% of deformation being as high as 214 ± 17 kPa for DIOX-prepared composites and 98 ± 24 kPa for DMC-prepared ones, with 50 wt/wt_PCL% of glass), as well as higher elastic modulus (whose value was 251 ± 32 kPa for DIOX-prepared scaffolds and 156 ± 36 kPa for DMC-prepared ones, always with 50 wt/wt_PCL% of glass). The ability of the composites to induce precipitation of hydroxyapatite was positively evaluated by means of immersion in simulated body fluid and the best results were achieved with high glass amounts (50 wt/wt_PCL%). In vitro tests of cytotoxicity and osteoblast proliferation showed that, even if the scaffolds are to be considered non-cytotoxic, cells suffer from the scarce wettability of the composites.     

Effects of biomaterials for Lab-on-a-chip production on cell growth and expression of differentiated functions of leukemic cell lines

The rapid increase of the applications for Lab-on-a-chip devices has attracted the interest of researchers and engineers on standard process of the electronics industry for low production costs and large scale development, necessary for disposable applications. The printed circuit board technology could be used for this purpose, in particular for the wide range of materials available. In this paper, assays on biocompatibility of materials used for Lab-on-a-chip fabrication has been carried out using two tumor cell lines growing in suspension, the human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cell line, able to undergo erythroid differentiation when cultured with chemical inducers, and the lymphoblastoid cell line (LCL), extensively used for screening of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs). We have demonstrated that some materials strongly inhibit cell proliferation of both the two cell lines to an extent higher that 70–75%, but only after a prolonged exposure of 3–6 days (Copper, Gold over Nickel, Aramid fiber filled epoxy uncured, b-stage epoxy die attach film, Tesa 4985 adhesive tape, Pyralux uncured, Copper + 1-octodecanethiol). However, when experiments were performed with short incubation time (1 h), only Aramid fiber filled epoxy uncured was cytotoxic. Variation of the results concerning the other materials was appreciable when the experiments performed on two cell lines were compared together. Furthermore, the effects of the materials on erythroid differentiation and CTL-mediated LCL lysis confirmed, in most of the cases, the data obtained in cytotoxic and antiproliferative tests.     

Immune parameters in female workers exposed to urban pollutants

Urban outside workers, such as traffic police, are daily exposed to air pollutants and psychosocial stressors: for these workers, the working environment corresponds to the living environment of the general population. Studies in the literature have shown that immune parameters could be affected by chronic exposure to various chemical pollutants. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether occupational exposure to urban pollutants can cause alterations in NK, IL-2, IFN-gamma and C3 plasma levels in female traffic police compared to a control group. After excluding subjects with the principal confounding factors, 86 female traffic police and 87 controls were matched by age, years of police work and habitual alcohol consumption. The distribution of NK values in female traffic police and controls was significantly different (p=0.000); NK values above the upper limit of the normal laboratory range were observed in 23 female traffic police and in 2 controls (p=0.000). IL-2 mean levels were higher in traffic police compared to controls, but the difference was not significant. The mean and the distribution of IFN-gamma values in female traffic police and controls were not different. C3 mean levels were higher in female traffic police versus controls, but the difference was not significant. Considering that the subjects with the principal confounding factors were excluded from the study and that female traffic police and controls were matched by the above-mentioned variables, our results suggest that chronic occupational exposure to low doses of chemical stressors, which may interact with and add to psychosocial ones, can affect both innate and adaptative immunity.     

Microwave-Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Zirconia Powders

Nanosized zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) powders were prepared by adding NaOH to a zirconyl chloride aqueous solution under microwave-hydrothermal conditions. The obtained results showed that the tetragonal polymorph increased with increasing NaOH concentration in the starting solution and reached the maximum value by using 1 M ZrOCl₂. The microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis is expected to be able to process continuously, and may lead to energy savings because of rapid heating to temperature and increased kinetics of crystallization. This method is very simple and can lead to powders with desirable characteristics such as very fine size, narrow size distribution, and good chemical homogeneity.     

Cytokines from Bench to Bedside: A Retrospective Study Identifies a Definite Panel of Biomarkers to Early Assess the Risk of Negative Outcome in COVID-19 Patients

The main aim of this study was to identify the most relevant cytokines which, when assessed in the earliest stages from hospital admission, may help to select COVID-19 patients with worse prognosis. A retrospective observational study was conducted in 415 COVID-19 patients (272 males; mean age 68 ± 14 years) hospitalized between May 2020 and March 2021. Within the first 72 h from hospital admission, patients were tested for a large panel of biomarkers, including C-reactive protein (CRP), Mid-regional proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM), Interferon-γ, interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-1β, IL-8, IL-10, soluble IL2-receptor-α (sIL2Rα), IP10 and TNFα. Extensive statistical analyses were performed (correlations, t-tests, ranking tests and tree modeling). The mortality rate was 65/415 (15.7%) and a negative outcome (death and/or orotracheal intubation) affected 98/415 (23.6%) of cases. Univariate tests showed the majority of biomarkers increased in severe patients, but ranking tests helped to select the best variables to put on decisional tree modeling which identified IL-6 as the first dichotomic marker with a cut-off of 114 pg/mL. Then, a good synergy was found between IL-10, MR-proADM, sIL2Rα, IP10 and CRP in increasing the predictive value in classifying patients at risk or not for a negative outcome. In conclusion, beside IL-6, a panel of other cytokines representing the degree of immunoparalysis and the anti-inflammatory response (IP10, sIL2Rα and IL-10) showed synergic role when combined to biomarkers of systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction (CRP, MR-proADM) and may also better explain disease pathogenesis and suggests targeted intervention.