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In the past decade, modular scaffolds prepared by assembling biocompatible and biodegradable building blocks (e.g. microspheres) have found promising applications in tissue engineering (TE) towards the repair/regeneration of damaged and impaired tissues. Nevertheless, to date this approach has failed to be transferred to the clinic due to technological limitations regarding microspheres patterning, a crucial issue for the control of scaffold strength, vascularization and integration in vivo. In this work, we propose a robust and reliable approach to address this issue through the fabrication of polycaprolactone (PCL) microsphere-based scaffolds with in-silico designed microarchitectures and high compression moduli. The scaffold fabrication technique consists of four main steps, starting with the manufacture of uniform PCL microspheres by fluidic emulsion technique. In the second step, patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) moulds were prepared by soft lithography. Then, layers of 500 µm PCL microspheres with geometrically inspired patterns were obtained by casting the microspheres onto PDMS moulds followed by their thermal sintering. Finally, three-dimensional porous scaffolds were built by the alignment, stacking and sintering of multiple (up to six) layers. The so prepared scaffolds showed excellent morphological and microstructural fidelity with respect to the in-silico models, and mechanical compression properties suitable for load bearing TE applications. Designed porosity and pore size features enabled in vitro human endothelial cells adhesion and growth as well as tissue integration and blood vessels invasion in vivo. Our results highlighted the strong impact of spatial patterning of microspheres on modular scaffolds response, and pay the way about the possibility to fabricate in silico-designed structures featuring biomimetic composition and architectures for specific TE purposes.

We analysed our one-year surgical activity in a spoke 'COVID-19 free' centre during the pandemic in South Italy.From Feb 2020 to Feb 2021 we performed 800 operations (40% in emergency and 60% of major surgery). We applied restrictive measures for the access of patients in our department from 15/2/2020 after several cases of unclear fever. Visitors were not allowed to stay in the ward.In the first period of lockdown, from March to June 2020, in our Region, biomolecular test was indicated only for symptomatic people. We organized the hospitalization with a sealed compartment system (that we defined "boing system") in which the patient stationed in an 'isolation room' for at least 48 hours upon the entry. From July 2020 molecular test were made to all patients before hospitalization. The boing system remains for emergency recovery.In the first phase of pandemia we chose to subject patients to serological examination based on the IgM assay to consider them negative. We organized the hospitalization with a sealed compartment system (that we defined "boing system") CONCLUSION: In the first phase of the pandemic the serological examination has shown high specificity in identifying positive patients for COVID 19. In that period we supposed that patients with negative serology could be considered non-contagious Neither patients or staff has been resulted positive to SarS CoV2 test.Covid 19, Emercency Surgery, Spoke Center, Pandemia, Serological Tests.Abbiamo analizzato la nostra attività chirurgica nell’arco dell’anno pandemico dal Febbraio 2020 al Febbraio 2021. In questo lasso di tempo il nostro Presidio Ospedaliero, il ‘D Camberlingo’ di Francavilla Fontana – ASL Brindisi, era stato designato, ed è tuttora, centro ‘Covid- 19 free’. Nonostante le restrizioni alla nostra attività elettiva abbiamo eseguito 800 interventi, il 40% dei quali in regime d’urgenza con un 60 % di interventi di chirurgia maggiore. Dal 15/2/2020 dopo aver notato diversi casi di febbre poco chiara abbiamo applicato misure più restrittive per l’accesso dei pazienti nel nostro reparto di degenza. Ai visitatori non è stato più permesso di rimanere nel reparto. Nel primo periodo di lockdown, da marzo a giugno 2020, nella nostra Regione, il test biomolecolare è stato suggerito solo per le persone sintomatiche. In questa fase fase della pandemia abbiamo scelto di sottoporre i pazienti ad esame sierologico basato sul dosaggio delle IgM. L’assenza di tali anticorpi ci permetteva di considerarli negativi. Abbiamo organizzato il ricovero con un sistema a compartimenti stagni, definito “sistema boing”, in cui il paziente stazionava in una “stanza di isolamento” per almeno 48 ore dal momento dell’ingresso. Da luglio 2020 sono stati effettuati test molecolari a tutti i pazienti prima del ricovero. Il ‘sistema boing’ è rimasto tuttora per i pazienti ricoverati in regime d’urgenza. Questi ultimi infatti restano in stanza di isolamento in attesa dell’esito del tampone molecolare a cui vengono sottoposti. Nella prima fase della pandemia l’esame sierologico ha mostrato un’elevata specificità nell’individuare pazienti positivi al Sars-CoV2. Grazie a questo sistema di compartimenti stagni, al tempestivo ricorso al test sierologico e/o molecolare in caso di sintomi sospetti e all’utilizzo della laparoscopia con trocar con sistemi di aspirazione incorporata non abbiamo registrato positività al nuovo coronavirus né tra il personale né tra i ricoverati.

Tissue engineering (TE) pursues the ambitious goal to heal damaged tissues. One of the most successful TE approaches relies on the use of scaffolds specifically designed and fabricated to promote tissue growth. During regeneration the guidance of biological events may be essential to sustain vasculature neoformation inside the engineered scaffold. In this context, one of the most effective strategies includes the incorporation of vasculature forming cells, namely endothelial cells (EC), into engineered constructs. However, the most common EC sources currently available, intended as primary cells, are affected by several limitations that make them inappropriate to personalized medicine. Human induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSC), since the time of their discovery, represent an unprecedented opportunity for regenerative medicine applications. Unfortunately, human induced Pluripotent Stem Cells-Endothelial Cells (hiPSC-ECs) still display significant safety issues. In this work, we reviewed the most effective protocols to induce pluripotency, to generate cells displaying the endothelial phenotype and to perform an efficient and safe cell selection. We also provide noteworthy examples of both in vitro and in vivo applications of hiPSC-ECs in order to highlight their ability to form functional blood vessels. In conclusion, we propose hiPSC-ECs as the preferred source of endothelial cells currently available in the field of personalized regenerative medicine.

The effects of an exposure to cadmium chloride 0.47 μM for 150 days were studied in kidneys of juveniles Sparus aurata by a multidisciplinary approach so to correlate uptake and detoxification potential to changes in brush border and glycocalyx sugar composition. Results demonstrated that cadmium concentration in kidney significantly increased from day 30 reaching a plateau on day 120 while metallothioneins reached a peak on day 90 and by day 120 were already decreasing to control values. Cytological damage was extensive on day 90, clearly detectable at both structural and ultrastructural levels, in tubular cells and brush-border. Staining with a panel of four lectins revealed a significant increase in N-Ac-Gal and a decrease in mannose in the glycocalyx and the tubular basal membranes. From day 120, when cadmium concentration was high and metallothionein concentration decreasing, a clear recovery was observed in tubular cells morphology and sugar composition. Possible significance of these apparently contrasting data are discussed.

Visible Light Communication technology has the potential to become a leading actor in the future 5G network, thanks to features such as efficient “re-use of re-sources”, native privacy security and human safeness (compared to radio-frequency applications). Among the several configurations achievable to realize a VLC link, the use of innovative photovoltaic devices as receiver, based on organic-inorganic printable semiconductors (hybrid perovskite materials), has the potential to pave the way to new scenario applications, thanks to the inherent cheaper costs of fabrication via roll-to-roll solution-based processes, possibly on flexible substrates. In this context, we have fabricated photo-detectors with three different types of perovskite, and used with a commercial cool-white LED to realize a prototype of visible light communication data link. Using a single-stage transimpedance amplifier for the perovskite photodetector, we have reached a remarkable frequency bandwidth close to ∼800 KHz.

In this work we show some experimental approaches regarding slicing procedures in a wide geographical network test bed. We show how traffic forwarding based on VPLS and PBB-TE techniques allows us to achieve different logical network partitions with suitable characteristics in terms of latency and throughput for services to be used in future 5G networks.

Erbium-doped organic emitters are promising active materials for Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) due to their emission shown at 1550 nm combined to the potential low cost processing. In particular, Erbium Quinoline (ErQ) gained a strong interest in the last decade for the good emission efficiency. This contribution reports the results derived from the application of ErQ as active core material within a buried optical waveguide, following the development of a purposed optical process to control the refractive index of ErQ and then to define a patterned structure from a single thin film deposition step. The reported results show the potential of Er-doped organic materials for low cost processing and application to planar PICs.

A newly identified cytokine, osteoprotegerin (OPG) appears to be involved in the regulation of bone remodeling. In vitro studies suggest that OPG, a soluble member of the TNF receptor family of proteins, inhibits osteoclastogenesis by interrupting the intercellular signaling between osteoblastic stromal cells and osteoclast progenitors. As patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) often have renal osteodystrophy (ROD), we investigated the role of osteoprotegerin (OPG) in ROD, and investigated whether there was any relationship between serum OPG, intact parathyroid (PTH) (iPTH), vitamin D, and trabecular bone. Serum OPG combined with iPTH might be a useful tool in the noninvasive diagnosis of ROD, at least in cases in which the range of PTH values compromises reliable diagnosis. Thirty-six patients on maintenance hemodiafiltration (HDF) and a control group of 36 age and sex matched healthy subjects with no known metabolic bone disease were studied. The following assays were made on serum: iPTH, osteocalcin (BGP), bone alkaline phosphatase, 25(OH)-cholecalciferol, calcium, phosphate, OPG, IGF-1, estradiol, and free testosterone. Serum Ca++, P, B-ALP, BGP, IGF-1, iPTH, and OPG levels were significantly higher in HDF patients than in controls, while DXA measurements and quantitative ultrasound (QUS) parameters were significantly lower. On grouping patients according to their mean OPG levels, we observed significantly lower serum IGF-1, vitamin D3 concentrations, and lumbar spine and hip bone mineral density in the high OPG groups. No correlation was found between OPG and bone turnover markers, whereas a negative correlation was found between serum OPG and IGF-1 levels (r=-0.64, p=0.032). Serum iPTH concentrations were positively correlated with bone alkaline phosphatase (B-ALP) (r=0.69, p=0.038) and BGP (r=0.92, p

In this paper we report the results obtained from an optical experimental set-up including a FSO link in a PON scenario. The impact of FSO link on the providing of multiple services (TV, Data) is analyzed.

Interleukin-16 (IL-16), also named lymphocytic chemoattractant factor, is produced mainly by CD8+ peripheral blood lymphocytes but also by CD4+ T cells, eosinophils, mast cells, and bronchial epith...

Rare earth-doped organic materials represent a promising alternative to play the role of active materials for Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs), meeting the requirement of low cost integration. In particular, Erbium Quinolinolates (ErQ) attracted a strong interest in the last decade for their good efficiency of emission in the C band of the optical communications centered at 1550 nm. In this paper, a resume of the application of ErQ for processing of photonic devices is presented. Results deriving from the optical characterization of the ErQ materials and their application as active materials into optical waveguides and light emitting devices are reported. Finally, the results of the improvement of the ErQs via a purposed chemical synthesis towards more efficient and lower cost solution processed devices are presented.

Osteoporosis represents an important cause of morbidity in adult thalassemic patients, and its pathogenesis has not, as yet, been completely clarified. In our study, we observed that thalassemic patients showed a significantly lower OPG/RANKL ratio than normal subjects. These data are extremely important for the possible therapeutic use of RANKL antagonists such as OPG in thalassemia-induced osteoporosis. Introduction: Osteoporosis represents an important cause of morbidity in adult thalassemic patients who display increased fracture risk. The etiology of this bone disease is multifactorial, but it is thought that the main role is played by hypogonadism. The mechanisms by which the skeletal effects of sex steroids are mediated are still not fully understood. Recently, two new cytokines, osteoprotegerin (OPG) and RANKL, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of postmenopausal osteoporosis and other metabolic bone diseases. Thus, the aim of this study was to characterize the possible role of the OPG/RANKL system in thalassemia-related bone loss. Materials and Methods: We measured, in 30 thalassemic patients and in 20 healthy control subjects, serum OPG and RANKL levels, and determined their correlations with bone turnover markers, BMD, sex steroid levels, erythropoietin, and hemoglobin. Results: Thalassemic patients had an unbalanced bone turnover with an increased resorption phase (shown by high levels of pyridinium cross-links) and a decreased neoformation phase (shown by the slightly low levels of osteocalcin). Moreover, they displayed lower BMD values than controls both at the lumbar and femoral level. As far as the OPG/RANKL system is concerned, thalassemic patients showed no differences in plasma levels of OPG compared with controls, and significantly higher plasma levels of RANKL, with a consequent significantly lower OPG/RANKL ratio. Conclusions: Our data suggest that, in thalassemic patients, an altered modulation of the OPG/RANKL system, resulting in increased expression of RANKL by stromal or osteoblastic cells, could contribute to the enhanced osteoclastic bone resorption and bone loss characteristic of these patients.

This study assessed hemostatic effects of an HMC-CoA reductase inhibitor, atorvastatin, on different parameters in 32 hypercholesterolemic patients of both sexes. In the patients and in 25 control subjects, plasma levels of tissue-type plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), D-dimer, prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 + 2), total cholesterol, triglycerides and fibrinogen had been measured. All these parameters were evaluated in patients after 6 and 12 months of treatment with atorvastatin at a dosage of 20 mg/day. This treatment significantly lowered the total cholesterol level in all patients. Moreover, after 6 months of atorvastatin treatment, PAI-1 and F1 + 2, which were both increased at baseline, were significantly reduced. This reduction continued after 12 months. The present results show that a reduction of hemostatic abnormalities, which exist in hypercholesterolemia, may be another important effect of the atorvastatin therapy.

All currently available and approved therapies for osteoporosis inhibit bone resorption. But, despite their great value, antiresorptive agents are generally not associated with dramatic increases in bone mass. In light of these data, the aim of our prospective, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial, with a 3-year follow up, was to examine the effects of cyclic intravenous pamidronate and fluoride in combination, versus pamidronate alone, on bone mineral density (BMD) at vertebral and femoral levels, biochemical markers of bone turnover, IGF-1 serum levels, and safety and tolerability in 40 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. During the treatment period, pamidronate alone reduced both markers of bone formation and bone resorption, resulting in an increase of BMD, after 3 years, of 7.07% at the lumbar level and of 6.76% at the femoral level. In the group treated with pamidronate and fluoride, markers of bone turnover had a different trend: after 3 years, there was a lower reduction of bone resorption and an increase of bone formation markers, with a concomitant increase in IGF-1 levels. This resulted, after 3 years of treatment, in a marked variation of BMD at the lumbar level (+12.74%) and a reduced, but still significant, increase at the femoral level (3.89%). Spine radiography and clinical evaluation did not reveal any vertebral fractures in either treatment group. In conclusion, the combined use of pamidronate and fluoride produced somewhat larger, continuous increases in BMD, at the lumbar level, than pamidronate alone.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystemic disease characterized by proliferation and swelling of endothelial cells and other disorders. Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is a disturbance, with unknown pathogenesis, that may be a precursor to SSc. The aim of this study was to investigate possible alterations in the haemostatic system and to examine whether there is a circadian variation in haemostatic variables at the initial stage of SSc.In 20 patients with RP (in all patients secondary to SSc) and in 10 controls the levels of thrombomodulin (TM), beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG), D-dimer (DD), tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator-inhibitor (PAI-1) were measured in venous plasma samples taken at 9.00 and 14.00.Only TM levels were found to be higher in patients than in controls. Moreover the PAI-I levels, in the patient group, showed a significant circadian rhythm (with peak values at 9.00). No significant circadian variations for the other parameters were detected.These data seem to indicate that in patients with RP there is an endothelial damage reflected by a significant elevation of the TM plasma level and a circadian variation in plasma PAI-1, which was higher in the morning. This observation may be an area worth exploring for its importance potential in the knowledge of Raynaud's phenomenon.

In this study the action of a prostaglandin, PGE1, was studied in a group of patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD).In 16 patients (14 men and 2 women, aged 47-70 years, mean 57 +/- 7) with PAOD, Fontaine stage IIb and III in critical ischemia, the effects on two indexes of thrombin generation and action of the endovenous administration (2 hours) of 60 micrograms of Alprostadil-PGE1 for four weeks were evaluated. In all artheriopathic patients, before and after pharmacological treatment, the following haemostatic parameters were evaluated: the prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 + 2) and the fibrinopeptide A(FPA).The patients showed plasma levels of FPA significantly decreased at the end of the treatment. On the other hand, no significant difference in plasma F1 + 2 levels was observed after treatment.These results seem to indicate that plasma F1 + 2 levels are significantly elevated, as a marker of thrombosis status, in patients with PAOD before and after treatment with PGE1.