Background Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are secreted membranous particles intensively studied for their potential cargo of diagnostic markers. Efficient and cost-effective isolation methods need to be established for the reproducible and high-throughput study of EVs in the clinical practice. Methods We designed the nickel-based isolation (NBI) to rapidly isolate EVs and combined it with newly-designed amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay or digital PCR to detect biomarkers of clinical utility. Findings From plasma of 46 healthy donors, we systematically recovered small EV (~250 nm of mean diameter; ~3 × 10 10 /ml) and large EV (~560 nm of mean diameter; ~5 × 10 8 /ml) lineages ranging from 50 to 700 nm, which displayed hematopoietic/endothelial cell markers that were also used in spike-in experiments using EVs from tumor cell lines. In retrospective studies, we detected picomolar concentrations of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) in fractions of EVs isolated from the plasma of prostate cancer patients, discriminating them from control subjects. Directly from oil-encapsulated EVs for digital PCR, we identified somatic BRAF and KRAS mutations circulating in the plasma of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, matching 100% of concordance with tissue diagnostics. Importantly, with higher sensitivity and specificity compared with immuno-isolated EVs, we revealed additional somatic alterations in 7% of wild-type CRC cases that were subsequently validated by further inspections in the matched tissue biopsies. Interpretation We propose NBI-combined approaches as simple, fast, and robust strategies to probe the tumor heterogeneity and contribute to the development of EV-based liquid biopsy studies. Fund Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC), Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio Trento e Rovereto (CARITRO), and the Italian Ministero Istruzione, Università e Ricerca (Miur).

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We show with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy that a new energy band appears in the electronic structure of electron doped hydrogenated monolayer graphene (H-graphene). Its occupation can be controlled with the hydrogen amount and allows for tuning of graphene's doping level. Our calculations of the electronic structure of H-graphene suggest that this state is largely composed from hydrogen 1s orbitals and remains extended for low H coverages despite the random chemisorption of H. Further evidence for the existence of a hydrogen state is provided by X-ray absorption studies of undoped H-graphene which are clearly showing the emergence of an additional state in the vicinity of the π * -resonance.

The modifications to the vibrational spectra produced by inclusion into cyclodextrins on the vibrational spectra of of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen, by inclusion into cyclodextrins have been investigated by means of Raman scattering and numerical simulation. These changes are discussed and explained by comparison with the theoretical vibrational wavenumbersfrequencies and Raman intensities obtained by quantum and classical numerical simulations, disentangling the effects directly related to the complexation process, from those to be ascribed to non-covalent dimerization of ibuprofen due to hydrogen bonding.

Due to increasing attention to environmental problems, the conversion of methane and carbon dioxide into more useful chemicals represents an attractive goal. The present work reports on the formation of a liquid (20% in weight) during the dry reforming of methane in a dielectric barrier discharge at atmospheric pressure. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy allows to define the Methyl Branching Index, which estimates the amount of branching in the liquid material. The latter consists of a wide distribution of highly methyl‐branched, medium sized (15–25 carbon atoms) hydrocarbon molecules. Oxygenated compounds, mainly alcohols and ketones, are also present in the liquid sample.

We have investigated CN(B 2 + → X 2 + ) violet system emission and laser induced fluorescence in an atmospheric pressure pulsed dielectric barrier discharge and found a high degree of vibrational non-equilibrium in both CN(B, v) and CN(X, v ). The vibrational distributions depend strongly on the gas feed composition and on the discharge/post-discharge regime. Analysis of the time resolved laser and emission spectroscopy measurements leads to the conclusion that two main chemi-luminescent mechanisms are active in the CN(B) excitation. One is the C + N + M → CN(A, B) + M recombination, that is dominant in the post-discharge; the other one, active in the discharge, is probably the reaction N + CH → CN(A, B) + H. Both reactions give intense emission when the discharge is operated in a pure N 2 gas feed in the presence of the surface deposit produced by a N 2 -CH 4 mixture discharge. C and CH must then be produced starting from some intermediate species coming from the surface. When CH 4 is added to the gas feed, the recombination reaction is strongly inhibited, while CH can be produced more easily from the methane contained in the gas phase. It is also likely that CN(X) is produced by the same reactions after radiative cascade from CN(A, B) states.

Silicon is a promising material for tissue engineering since it allows to produce micropatterned scaffolding structures resembling biological tissues. Using specific fabrication methods, it is possible to build aligned 3D network-like structures. In the present study, we exploited vertically-aligned silicon micropillar arrays as culture systems for human iPSC-derived cortical progenitors. In particular, our aim was to mimic the radially-oriented cortical radial glia fibres that during embryonic development play key roles in controlling the expansion, radial migration and differentiation of cortical progenitors, which are, in turn, pivotal to the establishment of the correct multilayered cerebral cortex structure. Here we show that silicon vertical micropillar arrays efficiently promote expansion and stemness preservation of human cortical progenitors when compared to standard monolayer growth conditions. Furthermore, the vertically-oriented micropillars allow the radial migration distinctive of cortical progenitors in vivo. These results indicate that vertical silicon micropillar arrays can offer an optimal system for human cortical progenitors' growth and migration. Furthermore, similar structures present an attractive platform for cortical tissue engineering.

In this paper, we present the first multi‐diagnostic investigation of the chemical processes occurring in nitrogen–benzene plasmas at atmospheric pressure. Plasma treatment results in extended deposit formation on the reactor surfaces. In our experiment, the composition of the deposit has been investigated by several well established analytical techniques (NMR, FT‐IR, and GC‐MS). The most abundant molecule synthesized in the plasma turns out to be biphenyl, while the polymeric, tholin‐like, fraction of the deposit show the presence of CN, NH and NH2 functions. To get further insights on the characteristics of the discharge, optical emission spectra have also been recorded and studied.