Targeted metabolomics as an advanced tool for the detection of pomegranate juice adulteration

Η οικονομικά παρακινούμενη νοθεία (Economically Motivated Adulteration, EMA) των τροφίμων, γνωστή και ως απάτη τροφίμων, είναι η σκόπιμη νοθεία των τροφίμων με στόχο το κέρδος. Μια κοινή μορφή EMA είναι η αδήλωτη υποκατάσταση με εναλλακτικά συστατικά, γεγονός που μπορεί επίσης να αποτελέσει κίνδυνο για την υγεία των καταναλωτών λόγω πιθανών αλλεργικών αντιδράσεων. Οι χυμοί φρούτων βρίσκονται στις κορυφαίες 7 τροφές που αναφέρθηκαν από το 1980 έως το 2010 ως οι πιο συνηθισμένοι στόχοι για νοθεία. Αρκετοί χυμοί φρούτων, και ιδιαίτερα χυμοί ροδιού, έχουν γίνει δημοφιλείς στην αγορά όσον αφορά τα υψηλά επίπεδα αντιοξειδωτικών, που θεωρείται ότι σχετίζονται με θετικές επιδράσεις στην υγεία. Όπως και άλλα τρόφιμα υψηλής διατροφικής αξίας που χαρακτηρίζονται από αυξημένη τιμή αγοράς, οι χυμού ροδιού κατατάσσονται στους πιο πιθανούς στόχους για νοθεία και απάτη. Μια από τις πιο συχνές απάτες που βασίζονται στο κέρδος είναι η μερική υποκατάσταση του αυθεντικού χυμού με φθηνότερες εναλλακτικές λύσεις (συνήθως νοθεύονται με χυμούς που λαμβάνονται από μήλα, σταφύλια και άλλα). Κατά συνέπεια, υπάρχει ουσιαστική ανάγκη για αποτελεσματικά συστήματα ελέγχου των τροφίμων για την προστασία των καταναλωτών από νοθευμένα προϊόντα διατροφής. Στην παρούσα μελέτη, ο κύριος στόχος ήταν να διερευνηθεί η σκοπιμότητα της χρήσης στοχευμένης ανάλυσης με μια μεταβολομική προσέγγιση. Για το σκοπό αυτό χρησιμοποιήθηκε υγροχρωματογραφία αντίστροφης φάσης συζευγμένη με φασματομετρία μαζών με υβριδικό τετραπολικό-αναλυτή χρόνου πτήσης (RPLC-QToF-MS) χρησιμοποιώντας τη λειτουργία bbCID, η οποία παρείχε πληροφορίες για τα πρόδρομα ιόντα και τα θραύσματα, χωρίς προεπιλογή των αναλυτών και με μία ανάλυση, για τη διάκριση αυθεντικών αλλά και νοθευμένων χυμών φρούτων. Τα δεδομένα που αντιστοιχούν στη φαινολική σύνθεση των χυμών φρούτων και στο LC-HRMS μεταβολικό τους αποτύπωμα θεωρήθηκαν ως πηγή δυνητικών βιοδεικτών για την ταξινόμηση των χυμών και την ανίχνευση της νοθείας. Το σύνολο δεδομένων υποβλήθηκε σε επεξεργασία χρησιμοποιώντας προηγμένες τεχνικές χημειομετρίας, προκειμένου να εντοπιστούν πιθανοί δείκτες. Τέλος, χυμοί ροδιού νοθεύτηκαν επί τούτου με διαφορετικές ποσότητες (1-20%) χυμού σταφυλιών και μήλων και το φαινολικό προφίλ και τα δεδομένα αξιολογήθηκαν με σκοπό την ανάδειξη της αυθεντικότητας.Economically motivated adulteration (EMA) of food, also known as food fraud, is the intentional adulteration of food for financial advantage. A common form of EMA is the undeclared substitution with alternative ingredients and could also pose a health risk to consumers due to potential allergic reactions. Fruit juices have been in the top-7 foods reported from 1980 to 2010 as the most common targets for adulteration. Several fruit juices, and especially pomegranate juice, have become popular with regard to high levels of antioxidants, presumed to be associated with positive health effects. Similarly to other highly prized food commodities, the economic value and large-scale production of these valuable fruit juices have made them a likely target for adulteration and fraud. One of the most frequent profit-driven fraudulent procedures is the extension of authentic juice with cheaper alternatives (typically juices obtained from apples, grapes and others). Consequently, there is a substantial need for effective food control systems to protect consumers from adulterated food products. In the present study, the main objective was to explore the feasibility of using targeted analysis under a metabolomics approach. For this reason, a reversed-phase liquid-chromatography coupled to quadruple-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (RPLC-QToF-MS) was used and the data were acquired through broad-band Collision Induced Dissociation (bbCID), which provided information on parent and fragment ions without pre-selection of analytes in one run, in order to discriminate authentic and adulterated fruit juices. Data corresponding to the phenolic composition of fruit juices and their LC-HRMS metabolic fingerprint were considered as a source of potential descriptors for the classification of juices and detection of adulteration. The data set was treated using advanced chemometric techniques in order to identify possible markers. Finally, pomerganate-fruit extracts were adulterated with different amounts (1–20%) of grape and apple juice and the phenolic profile and mass spectrometric fingerprinting was evaluated for authentication purposes

Comparative Evaluation of Different Targeted and Untargeted Analytical Approaches to Assess Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil Quality and Authentication

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a key component of the Mediterranean diet, with several health benefits derived from its consumption. Moreover, due to its eminent market position, EVOO has been thoroughly studied over the last several years, aiming at its authentication, but also to reveal the chemical profile inherent to its beneficial properties. In the present work, a comparative study was conducted to assess Greek EVOOs’ quality and authentication utilizing different analytical approaches, both targeted and untargeted. 173 monovarietal EVOOs from three emblematic Greek cultivars (Koroneiki, Kolovi and Adramytiani), obtained during the harvesting years of 2018–2020, were analyzed and quantified as per their fatty acids methyl esters (FAMEs) composition via the official method (EEC) No 2568/91, as well as their bioactive content through liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) methodology. In addition to FAMEs analysis, EVOO samples were also analyzed via HRMS-untargeted metabolomics and optical spectroscopy techniques (visible absorption, fluorescence and Raman). The data retrieved from all applied techniques were analyzed with Machine Learning methods for the authentication of the EVOOs’ variety. The models’ predictive performance was calculated through test samples, while for further evaluation 30 commercially available EVOO samples were also examined in terms of variety. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study where different techniques from the fields of standard analysis, spectrometry and optical spectroscopy are applied to the same EVOO samples, providing strong insight into EVOOs chemical profile and a comparative evaluation through the different platforms

Crescita, morfologia e risposta elettronica dei transistor organici a effetto di campo in stato solido e in elettrolita

I dispositivi elettronici organici, come i diodi a emissione di luminosa (OLED), i transistor ad effetto di campo (OFET) e le celle solari (OPV) hanno raggiunto una maturità tecnologica e, nel caso di OLED e OPV, anche la produzione industriale. I progressi significativi nella sintesi chimica, nella lavorazione dei materiali e nell'ingegneria dei dispositivi ne hanno migliorato le prestazioni e l'affidabilità. Tuttavia, diverse domande riguardanti il meccanismo di funzionamento dei dispositivi sono ancora irrisolte, specialmente negli OFET. Il trasporto di carica nei semiconduttori organici coinvolge diverse interfacce dei materiali e una delle domande principali che i ricercatori stanno cercando di risolvere, è come la morfologia del dispositivo influenzi il meccanismo di trasporto della carica attraverso il dispositivo. Infatti, la morfologia, il disordine molecolare, energetico e i difetti superficiali possono facilmente influenzare le prestazioni dei semiconduttori. C'è una ricerca impellente atta alla comprensione degli aspetti meccanici della nucleazione e della crescita dei film sottili organici su test pattern reali nell’ottica di comprenderne la morfologia. L'obiettivo principale di questo lavoro è stata la comprensione della correlazione tra i diversi modi di crescita, la morfologia e la risposta elettrica degli OFET in stato solido e in un ambiente elettrolitico. Per questa tesi abbiamo utilizzato come semiconduttore organico il pentacene. La motivazione di questa scelta ricade nella volontà di comprendere la fisica dei transistor a base di pentacene, in funzione dello spessore del canale del semiconduttore. Quest’ultimo, infatti, è stato il nucleo del progetto Marie Curie Sklodowska SPM 2.0, che ha supportato il mio lavoro di ricerca. Il risultato principale di questa tesi è stato aver individuato caratterizzato una nuova crescita anomala dei film sottili di pentacene rispetto all'aumento dello spessore, vale a dire, la massa nel canale del semiconduttore organico. In questa nuova modalità di crescita, vi è una variazione rispetto alla modalità di crescita solitamente osservata in caso di rapido incremento della rugosità, in cui una crescita strato su strato nelle fasi iniziali, si evolve improvvisamente in un modo auto affine caratterizzato da isole in crescita costituite da blocchi a terrazze. Abbiamo osservato questa crescita a temperature di deposizione più basse, ma abbiamo scoperto che in un intervallo preciso di temperatura e velocità di deposizione, vale a dire, 80 ° C e 0,1 A / s, questo modo di crescita non avviene. Abbiamo infatti osservato che invece si verifica un’iterazione della transizione di wetting/dewetting all'aumentare dello spessore. Le sue caratteristiche peculiari consistono nel fatto che la morfologia delle isole come terrazze monomolecolari, viene mantenuta. Tuttavia, i parametri morfologici, come le lunghezze di correlazione e la rugosità, che estraiamo dalle immagini della microscopia a forza atomica (AFM), mostrano oscillazioni anomale con periodo che aumenta con lo spessore. Per spiegare l'andamento dei parametri, abbiamo ideato un'equazione empirica, che comprende sia la crescita 3D auto affine sia le oscillazioni tipiche della transizione di wetting/dewetting, come nei fenomeni dello spinodal dewetting. Abbiamo quindi analizzato le caratteristiche elettriche dell'OFET operante allo stato solido e in ambiente elettrolitico. È stata quindi analizzata la correlazione dei parametri del transistor con la morfologia. Gli esperimenti che sono stati condotti utilizzando la AFM bimodale, ci hanno permesso di studiare le proprietà meccaniche di film sottili di conduttori e semiconduttori. Quest'ultima attività è stata svolta presso il CSIC-ICMM di Madrid durante il mio periodo di studio presso il laboratorio del Prof. Ricardo Garcia.Organic electronic devices, such as light emitting diodes (OLEDs), field effect transistors (OFETs) and solar cells (OPVs) have reached a technological maturity and, in the case of OLEDs and OPVs, industrial production. Significant advancements in chemical synthesis, materials processing and device engineering have boosted the device performance and reliability. However, several concepts regarding the mechanism of the device operations are still unresolved, especially in OFETs. Charge transport in the organic semiconductors involves different interfaces of the materials and one of the most important questions that people tries to address is how the morphology of the device affects the mechanism of charge transport across the device. Indeed, morphology, molecular and energy disorder, and surface defects can easily influence their performance. There is a compelling quest for understanding the mechanical aspects of the organic thin film nucleation and growth on real test patterns in order to understand the morphology. The main goal of this thesis was to understand the correlation between different growth modes, morphology, and the electrical response of OFETs in solid state operation as well as in an electrolytic environment. Pentacene is the workhorse organic semiconductor that we used throughout this thesis. The motivation is understanding the physics of the pentacene transistors as a function of the semiconductor channel thickness, and it was the core of the EC-Marie Curie project SPM 2.0 that supported my research work. As a new important finding out of this thesis, we discovered and assessed a new anomalous growth of Pentacene thin films vs increase of the thickness, viz. the mass of organic semiconductor in the OFET channel. In this novel growth mode, there is a breakdown to the usually observed growth mode upon rapid roughening, where a layer-by-layer growth at the early stages suddenly evolves into a self-affine mode characterized by growing islands made of terrace stacks. We observed this mode at the lower deposition temperatures, but we discovered that at a precise range of deposition temperature and rate, viz. 80°C and 0.1 A/s, this growth mode is not observed, instead an iteration of wetting/dewetting transition occurs as thickness increases. Its peculiar features consist of the fact that the morphology of the islands as stacks of monomolecular terraces, is retained. However, the morphological parameters, such as correlation lengths and roughness, that we extract from atomic force microscopy (AFM) images exhibit anomalous oscillations with period increasing with thickness. In order to explain the trend of the parameters, we devised an empirical equation that encompasses both self-affine 3D growth and the oscillations typical of wetting/dewetting transition as in the spinodal dewetting phenomena. We then analyzed the electrical characteristics of the OFET operated as solid-state device as well as electrolyte gated devices. The correlation of the transistor parameters with the morphology were analyzed. Experiments using bimodal AFM allowed us to investigate the mechanical properties of conductive and semiconductive thin films. The latter activity was carried out at CSIC-ICMM in Madrid during the secondment at the laboratory of Professor Ricardo Garcia

Development of advanced high-resolution mass spectrometry methods for the thorough characterization of olive oil

Ο χαρακτηρισμός της σύστασης και της ποιότητας του ελαιολάδου έχει αποκτήσει μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον, ειδικά μετά τον ισχυρισμό υγείας EU 432/2012 που κατέδειξε τα οφέλη για την υγεία που σχετίζονται με τις βιοδραστικές ενώσεις του ελαιολάδου. Επιπλέον, λόγω της εξέχουσας θέσης του ελαιολάδου στην αγορά και λόγω της προστιθέμενης αξίας του, είναι ένα από τα προϊόντα διατροφής που υφίστανται τις περισσότερες απόπειρες απάτης, που αφορούν κυρίως λανθασμένη σήμανση ποικιλίας, γεωγραφικής προέλευσης καθώς και νοθεία με κατώτερα έλαια. Αρχικά, παρουσιάζεται μια εισαγωγή στα βιοδραστικά συστατικά του ελαιολάδου, η μεταβολομική προσέγγιση και το ισχύον νομοθετικό πλαίσιο για την αυθεντικότητα. Αναφέρονται οι τρέχουσες μεθοδολογίες HRMS σε συνδυασμό με χημειομετρικά εργαλεία για την αξιολόγηση της αυθεντικότητας του ελαιολάδου, ενώ εισάγεται μια διεξοδική έρευνα για την φασματομετρία ιοντικής ευκινησίας παγίδευσης ιόντων που ενσωματώνεται στις τρέχουσες μεθοδολογίες HRMS. Το πειραματικό τμήμα της παρούσας διατριβής αποτελείται από τα ακόλουθα τέσσερα μέρη: (i) Στοχευμένη και μη στοχευμένη μεταβολομική για τον χαρακτηρισμό, ταξινόμηση και χαρτογράφηση του έξτρα παρθένου ελαιολάδου με χρήση LC-HRMS (Κεφάλαιο 3), (ii) Διαχωρισμός και ταυτοποίηση ισομερών ενώσεων που απαντώνται στο ελαιόλαδο χρησιμοποιώντας φασματομετρία ιοντικής ευκινησίας παγίδευσης ιόντων (Κεφάλαιο 4), (iii) Φασματομετρία ιοντικής ευκινησίας παγίδευσης ιόντων ενσωματωμένη στις ροές εργασίας LC-HRMS για την αξιολόγηση της αυθεντικότητας του έξτρα παρθένου ελαιολάδου για τη διάκριση ποικιλίας και γεωγραφικής προέλευσης (Κεφάλαιο 5) και iv) Μη στοχευμένη 4D-μεταβολομική μελέτη νοθείας έξτρα παρθένου ελαιολάδου με ελαιόλαδα χαμηλότερης ποιότητας χρησιμοποιώντας LC-TIMS-HRMS. Είναι πεποίθησή μας πως η εκτενής και βαθιά ανάλυση των ροών εργασίας HRMS, που παρουσιάζεται μέσω αυτής της διατριβής, με στόχο τον εντοπισμό και την ποσοτικοποίηση των χημικών ενώσεων που είναι υπεύθυνες για την αυθεντικότητα του ελαιολάδου, θα συμβάλει στην καλύτερη κατανόηση του πολύπλοκου αναλυτικού τοπίου του ελαιολάδου.The characterization of olive oil composition and quality has gained wide interest, especially after the health claim EU 432/2012 establishment that highlighted the health benefits related to olive oil’s bioactive compounds. Moreover, due to olive oil eminent marketplace and added value, it is one of the food products most suffering fraud attempts, mainly involving mislabeling of variety, geographical origin as well as the adulteration with inferior oils. Initially, an introduction on olive oil’s bioactive constituents, metabolomics approach and the current legislative framework on authenticity are presented. The current HRMS methodologies combined with chemometrics for the olive oil authenticity assessment are reported, while a thorough investigation on the state of the art trapped ion mobility spectrometry incorporated in the current HRMS methodologies is being introduced. The experimental section of this thesis is constituted of the following four parts: (i) Targeted and untargeted metabolomics for the characterization, classification and mapping of extra virgin olive oil using LC-HRMS (Chapter 3), (ii) Separation and identification of isomeric compounds found in olive oil using Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry (Chapter 4), (iii) Trapped Ion Mobility incorporated in LC-HRMS workflows for the authenticity assessment of extra virgin olive oil in the cases of variety and geographical origin discrimination (Chapter 5) and iv) Untargeted 4D-metabolomics in extra virgin olive oil adulteration study with lower-quality olive oils using LC-TIMS-HRMS. It is our strong belief that the extensive and deep analysis of the HRMS workflows, presented through this thesis, aiming to the identification and quantification of the chemical compounds responsible for olive oil authenticity will contribute to a better comprehension of the complex analytical landscape of olive oil

Ανάπτυξη προηγμένων μεθόδων φασματομετρίας μάζας υψηλής διακριτικής ικανότητας για τον ενδελεχή χαρακτηρισμό του ελαιολάδου

The characterization of olive oil composition and quality has gained wide interest, especially after the health claim EU 432/2012 establishment that highlighted the health benefits related to olive oil’s bioactive compounds. Moreover, due to olive oil eminent marketplace and added value, it is one of the food products most suffering fraud attempts, mainly involving mislabeling of variety, geographical origin as well as the adulteration with inferior oils. Initially, an introduction on olive oil’s bioactive constituents, metabolomics approach and the current legislative framework on authenticity are presented. The current HRMS methodologies combined with chemometrics for the olive oil authenticity assessment are reported, while a thorough investigation on the state of the art trapped ion mobility spectrometry incorporated in the current HRMS methodologies is being introduced. The experimental section of this thesis is constituted of the following four parts: (i) Targeted and untargeted metabolomics for the characterization, classification and mapping of extra virgin olive oil using LC-HRMS (Chapter 3), (ii) Separation and identification of isomeric compounds found in olive oil using Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry (Chapter 4), (iii) Trapped Ion Mobility incorporated in LC-HRMS workflows for the authenticity assessment of extra virgin olive oil in the cases of variety and geographical origin discrimination (Chapter 5) and iv) Untargeted 4D-metabolomics in extra virgin olive oil adulteration study with lower-quality olive oils using LC-TIMS-HRMS.It is our strong belief that the extensive and deep analysis of the HRMS workflows, presented through this thesis, aiming to the identification and quantification of the chemical compounds responsible for olive oil authenticity will contribute to a better comprehension of the complex analytical landscape of olive oil.Ο χαρακτηρισμός της σύστασης και της ποιότητας του ελαιολάδου έχει αποκτήσει μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον, ειδικά μετά τον ισχυρισμό υγείας EU 432/2012 που κατέδειξε τα οφέλη για την υγεία που σχετίζονται με τις βιοδραστικές ενώσεις του ελαιολάδου. Επιπλέον, λόγω της εξέχουσας θέσης του ελαιολάδου στην αγορά και λόγω της προστιθέμενης αξίας του, είναι ένα από τα προϊόντα διατροφής που υφίστανται τις περισσότερες απόπειρες απάτης, που αφορούν κυρίως λανθασμένη σήμανση ποικιλίας, γεωγραφικής προέλευσης καθώς και νοθεία με κατώτερα έλαια.Αρχικά, παρουσιάζεται μια εισαγωγή στα βιοδραστικά συστατικά του ελαιολάδου, η μεταβολομική προσέγγιση και το ισχύον νομοθετικό πλαίσιο για την αυθεντικότητα. Αναφέρονται οι τρέχουσες μεθοδολογίες HRMS σε συνδυασμό με χημειομετρικά εργαλεία για την αξιολόγηση της αυθεντικότητας του ελαιολάδου, ενώ εισάγεται μια διεξοδική έρευνα για την φασματομετρία ιοντικής ευκινησίας παγίδευσης ιόντων που ενσωματώνεται στις τρέχουσες μεθοδολογίες HRMS. Το πειραματικό τμήμα της παρούσας διατριβής αποτελείται από τα ακόλουθα τέσσερα μέρη: (i) Στοχευμένη και μη στοχευμένη μεταβολομική για τον χαρακτηρισμό, ταξινόμηση και χαρτογράφηση του έξτρα παρθένου ελαιολάδου με χρήση LC-HRMS (Κεφάλαιο 3), (ii) Διαχωρισμός και ταυτοποίηση ισομερών ενώσεων που απαντώνται στο ελαιόλαδο χρησιμοποιώντας φασματομετρία ιοντικής ευκινησίας παγίδευσης ιόντων (Κεφάλαιο 4), (iii) Φασματομετρία ιοντικής ευκινησίας παγίδευσης ιόντων ενσωματωμένη στις ροές εργασίας LC-HRMS για την αξιολόγηση της αυθεντικότητας του έξτρα παρθένου ελαιολάδου για τη διάκριση ποικιλίας και γεωγραφικής προέλευσης (Κεφάλαιο 5) και iv) Μη στοχευμένη 4D-μεταβολομική μελέτη νοθείας έξτρα παρθένου ελαιολάδου με ελαιόλαδα χαμηλότερης ποιότητας χρησιμοποιώντας LC-TIMS-HRMS.Είναι πεποίθησή μας πως η εκτενής και βαθιά ανάλυση των ροών εργασίας HRMS, που παρουσιάζεται μέσω αυτής της διατριβής, με στόχο τον εντοπισμό και την ποσοτικοποίηση των χημικών ενώσεων που είναι υπεύθυνες για την αυθεντικότητα του ελαιολάδου, θα συμβάλει στην καλύτερη κατανόηση του πολύπλοκου αναλυτικού τοπίου του ελαιολάδου

Hybrid neuroelectronics: towards a solution-centric way of thinking about complexproblems in neurostimulation tools

Responsive neuromodulation is increasingly being used to treat patients withneuropsychiatric diseases. Yet, inefficient bridges between traditional and newmaterials and technological innovations impede advancements inneurostimulation tools. Signaling in the brain is accomplished predominantlyby ionflux rather than the movement of electrons. However, thestatusquofor the acquisition of neural signals is using materials, such as noble metals, thatcan only interact with electrons. As a result, ions accumulate at the biotic/abioticinterface, creating a double-layer capacitance that increases impedance andnegatively impacts the efficiency of neural interrogation. Alternative materials,such as conducting polymers, allow ion penetration in the matrix, creating avolumetric capacitor (two orders of magnitude larger than an area-dependentcapacitor) that lowers the impedance and increases the spatiotemporal resolutionof the recording/stimulation. On the other hand, the increased development andintegration capabilities of CMOS-based back-end electronics have enabled thecreation of increasingly powerful and energy-efficient microchips. These includestimulation and recording systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) with up to tens of thousandsof channels, fully integrated circuitry for stimulation, signal conditioning,digitation, wireless power and data telemetry, and on-chip signal processing.Here, we aim to compile information on the best component for each buildingblock and try to strengthen the vision that bridges the gap among various materialsand technologies in an effort to advance neurostimulation tools and promote asolution-centric way of considering their complex problem

Hybrid neuroelectronics: towards a solution-centric way of thinking about complex problems in neurostimulation tools

Responsive neuromodulation is increasingly being used to treat patients with neuropsychiatric diseases. Yet, inefficient bridges between traditional and new materials and technological innovations impede advancements in neurostimulation tools. Signaling in the brain is accomplished predominantly by ion flux rather than the movement of electrons. However, the status quo for the acquisition of neural signals is using materials, such as noble metals, that can only interact with electrons. As a result, ions accumulate at the biotic/abiotic interface, creating a double-layer capacitance that increases impedance and negatively impacts the efficiency of neural interrogation. Alternative materials, such as conducting polymers, allow ion penetration in the matrix, creating a volumetric capacitor (two orders of magnitude larger than an area-dependent capacitor) that lowers the impedance and increases the spatiotemporal resolution of the recording/stimulation. On the other hand, the increased development and integration capabilities of CMOS-based back-end electronics have enabled the creation of increasingly powerful and energy-efficient microchips. These include stimulation and recording systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) with up to tens of thousands of channels, fully integrated circuitry for stimulation, signal conditioning, digitation, wireless power and data telemetry, and on-chip signal processing. Here, we aim to compile information on the best component for each building block and try to strengthen the vision that bridges the gap among various materials and technologies in an effort to advance neurostimulation tools and promote a solution-centric way of considering their complex problems.Bio-Electronic

Comparative Evaluation of Different Targeted and Untargeted Analytical Approaches to Assess Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil Quality and Authentication

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a key component of the Mediterranean diet, with several health benefits derived from its consumption. Moreover, due to its eminent market position, EVOO has been thoroughly studied over the last several years, aiming at its authentication, but also to reveal the chemical profile inherent to its beneficial properties. In the present work, a comparative study was conducted to assess Greek EVOOs’ quality and authentication utilizing different analytical approaches, both targeted and untargeted. 173 monovarietal EVOOs from three emblematic Greek cultivars (Koroneiki, Kolovi and Adramytiani), obtained during the harvesting years of 2018–2020, were analyzed and quantified as per their fatty acids methyl esters (FAMEs) composition via the official method (EEC) No 2568/91, as well as their bioactive content through liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) methodology. In addition to FAMEs analysis, EVOO samples were also analyzed via HRMS-untargeted metabolomics and optical spectroscopy techniques (visible absorption, fluorescence and Raman). The data retrieved from all applied techniques were analyzed with Machine Learning methods for the authentication of the EVOOs’ variety. The models’ predictive performance was calculated through test samples, while for further evaluation 30 commercially available EVOO samples were also examined in terms of variety. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study where different techniques from the fields of standard analysis, spectrometry and optical spectroscopy are applied to the same EVOO samples, providing strong insight into EVOOs chemical profile and a comparative evaluation through the different platforms

EUSeaMap 2023, A European broad-scale seabed habitat map, Technical Report

EUSeaMap 2023 is the sixth iteration of EUSeaMap. All versions have been produced as part of the EMODnet Seabed Habitats project, which is one of several thematic lots in EMODnet. The project has brought together a European consortium of specialists in benthic ecology and seabed habitat mapping. The partners first worked together in EMODnet Phase 1 (2009-2012) to develop a prototype predictive seabed habitat map in four test basins (Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas, Baltic Sea, Western Mediterranean). This predictive model was named EUSeaMap (Cameron and Askew, 2011). In EMODnet Phase 2 (2012-2016), the consortium extended the spatial coverage of EUSeaMap to all European regions (Populus el al., 2017). In Phase 3 (2017-2021), a first version (2019) extended the spatial coverage further north to include the Barents Sea, incorporated improved environmental data, and dramatically improved the spatial detail. In 2021 EUSeaMap was improved with new seabed substrate data and was published in new classifications, including the new version of the marine section of EUNIS, called EUNIS 2019. In this new version, called EUSeaMap 2023, EUSeaMap has been extended to the Caribbean Sea and the Caspian Sea. In Continental Europe, Macaronesia, Iceland and the Arctic, progress has been made in integrating new data on seabed substrate, bathymetry, wave energy and the probability of the occurrence of the halocline at the bottom of the Baltic Sea

CoCoNet: Towards coast to coast networks of marine protected areas (From the shore to the high and deep sea), coupled with sea-based wind energy potential

This volume contains the main results of the EC FP7 "The Ocean of Tomorrow" Project CoCoNet, divided in two sections: 1) a set of guidelines to design networks of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas; 2) a smart wind chart that will allow evaluating the possibility of installing Offshore Wind Farms in both seas. The concept of Cells of Ecosystem Functioning, based on connectivity, is introduced to define natural units of management and conservation. The definition of Good Environmental Status, as defined in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, is fully embraced to set the objectives of the project, by adopting a holistic approach that integrates a full set of disciplines, ranging from physics to bio-ecology, economics, engineering and many sub-disciplines. The CoCoNet Consortium involved scientist sfrom 22 states, based in Africa, Asia, and Europe, contributing to build a coherent scientific community