Fig. 4

Correlation among the UCB characteristics and seasonal and geographical data. One-way ANOVA analysis (using Tukey Method post hoc test) showed that CBU volume collected in winter and autumn are more abundant than those collected in spring. No significant differences were observed between UCB collected in summer and those collected in other months (A). CBU collected in central-southern Italy showed higher volumes (B) and higher TNC/CD34+ content (C, D) than those of northern Italy. For CBU collected in italian islands we did not observe any significant difference as compared to the rest of the country in terms of volume and TNC/CD34+. All reported values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (**p < 0.005; ***p < 0.001)