Preoperative planning programme in minimally invasive lung surgery reduces intraoperative adverse events.

Objectives: While minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is the preferred approach in patients with early-stage lung cancer, intraoperative adverse events (IOAE) may still occur. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a dedicated preoperative planning program on adverse event occurrence.

Methods: A single-centre cross-sectional comparative study was conducted, including all patients with proven/suspected lung cancer undergoing curative MIS, prior (September 2021-October 2022) and after (November 2022-January 2024) the implementation of a preoperative planning program.

A pilot quality improvement initiative for lymph node dissection during lung cancer surgery.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a quality improvement initiative on intraoperative lymph node (LN) dissection adequacy.

Methods: A single-centre cohort of 781 naïve patients who underwent resection of non-small cell lung cancer with pathological LN involvement and survived beyond 90 days was reviewed. LN dissection metrics were compared before and after the implementation of a quality improvement initiative.

Multicentre retrospective analysis on pulmonary metastasectomy: an European perspective.

Objectives: To assess the current practice of pulmonary metastasectomy at 15 European Centres. Short- and long-term outcomes were analysed.

Methods: Retrospective analysis on patients ≥18 years who underwent curative-intent pulmonary metastasectomy (January 2010 to December 2018).

A tunable clamshell cavity for wavelike dark matter searches.

Here, we present a frequency tuning mechanism for microwave cavities designed for axion dark matter searches and show that it provides a range of at least 200 MHz for the fundamental mode TM010 resonant at ∼10 GHz. The apparatus is based on a clamshell cavity, with the two semi-cells held together at a fixed joint while the other side opens to tune the frequency of the resonant modes. Measurements of the cavity frequencies and quality factor were taken at liquid helium temperature as the aperture was increased incrementally to ∼2°.

Peripheral location of lung cancer is associated with higher local disease recurrence.

Objectives: Our goal was to evaluate the association between the distance of the tumour to the visceral pleura and the rate of local recurrence in patients surgically treated for stage pI lung cancer.

Methods: We conducted a single-centre retrospective review of 578 consecutive patients with clinical stage IA lung cancer who underwent a lobectomy or segmentectomy from January 2010 to December 2019. We excluded 107 patients with positive margins, previous lung cancer, neoadjuvant treatment and pathological stage II or higher status or for whom preoperative computed tomography (CT) scans were not available at the time of the study.

Thymomectomy plus total thymectomy versus simple thymomectomy for early-stage thymoma without myasthenia gravis: a European Society of Thoracic Surgeons Thymic Working Group Study.

Objectives: Resection of thymic tumours including the removal of both the tumour and the thymus gland (thymothymectomy; TT) is the procedure of choice and is recommended in most relevant articles in the literature. Nevertheless, in recent years, some authors have suggested that resection of the tumour (simple thymomectomy; ST) may suffice from an oncological standpoint in patients with early-stage thymoma who do not have myasthenia gravis (MG) (non-MG). The goal of our study was to compare the short- and long-term outcomes of ST versus TT in non-MG early-stage thymomas using the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons thymic database.

High quality factor photonic cavity for dark matter axion searches.

Searches for dark matter axions involve the use of microwave resonant cavities operating in a strong magnetic field. Detector sensitivity is directly related to the cavity quality factor, which is limited, until recently, to the use of non-superconducting metals by the presence of the external magnetic field. In this paper, we present a cavity of novel design whose quality factor is not affected by a magnetic field.

Multiple primary malignancies involving lung cancer: a single-center experience.

Objective: Currently, unlike earlier years, patients affected by multiple primary malignancies (MPM) are significantly increased, thus representing a clinical-pathologic category worthy of attention. Their clinical features and prognosis still need to be studied thoroughly, and this is the aim of our study.

Methods: Patients with MPM involving lung cancer admitted in our center between January 2006 and December 2016 were considered.

Axion Search with a Quantum-Limited Ferromagnetic Haloscope.

A ferromagnetic axion haloscope searches for dark matter in the form of axions by exploiting their interaction with electronic spins. It is composed of an axion-to-electromagnetic field transducer coupled to a sensitive rf detector. The former is a photon-magnon hybrid system, and the latter is based on a quantum-limited Josephson parametric amplifier.

Spatial architecture of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes as a prognostic parameter in resected non-small-cell lung cancer.

Objectives: Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are critically implicated in the clinical outcome and response to immunotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The functional competence of lymphocyte subpopulations is strongly conditioned by their spatial arrangement within the tumour immune microenvironment. The aim of this study was to determine whether the tissue localization of specific TIL subpopulations might have an impact on the risk of recurrence in surgically resected NSCLC.

Linezolid-induced black hairy tongue.

Black hairy tongue (BHT) is a self-limiting disorder characterized by abnormal hypertrophy and elongation of filiform papillae on the surface of the tongue. The exact mechanism of drug-induced BHT is unknown. Several factors have been implicated and included smoking or chewing tobacco, drinking alcohol, poor oral hygiene and antibiotics such as tetracyclines and penicillins.

Experimental setup for the growth of solid crystals of inert gases for particle detection.

Low energy threshold detectors are necessary in many frontier fields of the experimental physics. In this work, we present a novel detection approach based on pure or doped matrices of inert gases solidified at cryogenic temperatures. The small energy release of the incident particle can be transferred directly (in pure crystals) or through a laser-driven ionization (in doped materials) to the electrons of the medium that are then converted into free electrons.

Axion dark matter detection by laser induced fluorescence in rare-earth doped materials.

We present a detection scheme to search for QCD axion dark matter, that is based on a direct interaction between axions and electrons explicitly predicted by DFSZ axion models. The local axion dark matter field shall drive transitions between Zeeman-split atomic levels separated by the axion rest mass energy m c . Axion-related excitations are then detected with an upconversion scheme involving a pump laser that converts the absorbed axion energy (~hundreds of μeV) to visible or infrared photons, where single photon detection is an established technique.

Pulmonary metastasectomy for colorectal cancer: analysis of prognostic factors affecting survival.

Background: Pulmonary metastasectomy is considered a standard procedure in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). Different prognostic factors including multiple metastatic nodules, the presence of extra-pulmonary metastases and BRAF mutation status have been associated with poor survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate which factors influenced survival in CRC patients undergoing pulmonary metastasectomy by studying primary tumors and pulmonary metastases.

Optical Manipulation of a Magnon-Photon Hybrid System.

We demonstrate an all-optical method for manipulating the magnetization in a 1-mm yttrium-iron-garnet (YIG) sphere placed in a ∼0.17  T uniform magnetic field. A harmonic of the frequency comb delivered by a multi-GHz infrared laser source is tuned to the Larmor frequency of the YIG sphere to drive magnetization oscillations, which in turn give rise to a radiation field used to thoroughly investigate the phenomenon.

Optomechanical Rydberg-atom excitation via dynamic Casimir-Polder coupling.

We study the optomechanical coupling of a oscillating effective mirror with a Rydberg atomic gas, mediated by the dynamical atom-mirror Casimir-Polder force. This coupling may produce a near-field resonant atomic excitation whose probability scales as ∝(d(2)an(4)t)(2)/z(0)(8), where z(0) is the average atom-surface distance, d the atomic dipole moment, a the mirror's effective oscillation amplitude, n the initial principal quantum number, and t the time. We propose an experimental configuration to realize this system with a cold atom gas trapped at a distance ∼2×10  μm from a semiconductor substrate whose dielectric constant is periodically driven by an external laser pulse, hence realizing an effective mechanical mirror motion due to the periodic change of the substrate from transparent to reflecting.

A contactless microwave-based diagnostic tool for high repetition rate laser systems.

We report on a novel electro-optic device for the diagnostics of high repetition rate laser systems. It is composed of a microwave receiver and of a second order nonlinear crystal, whose irradiation with a train of short laser pulses produces a time-dependent polarization in the crystal itself as a consequence of optical rectification. This process gives rise to the emission of microwave radiation that is detected by a receiver and is analyzed to infer the repetition rate and intensity of the pulses.

Generation of microwave radiation by nonlinear interaction of a high-power, high-repetition rate, 1064 nm laser in KTiOPO4 crystals.

We report measurements of microwave (RF) generation in the centimeter band accomplished by irradiating a nonlinear KTiOPO4 crystal with a home-made, infrared laser at 1064 nm as a result of optical rectification. The laser delivers pulse trains of duration up to 1 μs. Each train consists of several high-intensity pulses at an adjustable repetition rate of approximately 4.

A laser system for the parametric amplification of electromagnetic fields in a microwave cavity.

We describe recent improvements in the development of the high power laser system used in the motion induced radiation (MIR) experiment to amplify electromagnetic fields inside a microwave cavity. The improvements made on the oscillator stabilization, the pulse train shaping device, and the spatial beam uniformity are reported.

High-gain diode-pumped amplifier for generation of microjoule-level picosecond pulses.

A diode-pumped single-pass amplifier system relying on two grazing-incidence Nd:YVO(4) slabs was developed to increase the energy of low-repetition-rate pulses from a decimated low-power cw mode-locked oscillator. Single-pass unsaturated gain up to 1.3x10(5) was achieved, and amplified pulses of 10-muJ energy and 8.