Health-related quality of life in patients treated with en bloc resection for primary tumors of the spine.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the functional outcomes and the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients undergoing en bloc resection of spinal tumor.

Summary Of Background Data: En bloc resection in the spine is a surgical procedure designed to completely remove a tumor in one piece, with wide margins preserved, in order to reduce the risk of local recurrences.

Prolonged operative time significantly impacts on the incidence of complications in spinal surgery.

Background: In spinal surgery adverse events (AE) and surgical complications (SC) significantly affect patient's outcome and quality of life. The duration of surgery has been investigated in different surgical field as risk factor for complications. The aim of this study is to analyze the correlation between operative time and adverse events in spinal surgery.

An Intraoperative Method to Minimize Leg Length Discrepancy in Anterior Minimally Invasive Total Hip Arthroplasty-A Prospective Study.

While several intraoperative devices have been described in the literature for assessing leg length discrepancy (LLD), none have been utilized during total hip arthroplasty (THA) performed via the Anterior Minimally Invasive Surgery (AMIS) approach. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the efficacy and accuracy of a compass device in assessing leg length during THA performed using the AMIS technique. A prospective study was conducted involving 35 patients who consecutively underwent unilateral primary THA using the AMIS technique at our department from September 2017 to December 2018.

Metal-Halide Perovskite Submicrometer-Thick Films for Ultra-Stable Self-Powered Direct X-Ray Detectors.

Metal-halide perovskites are revolutionizing the world of X-ray detectors, due to the development of sensitive, fast, and cost-effective devices. Self-powered operation, ensuring portability and low power consumption, has also been recently demonstrated in both bulk materials and thin films. However, the signal stability and repeatability under continuous X-ray exposure has only been tested up to a few hours, often reporting degradation of the detection performance.

Inferring networks from time series: A neural approach.

Network structures underlie the dynamics of many complex phenomena, from gene regulation and foodwebs to power grids and social media. Yet, as they often cannot be observed directly, their connectivities must be inferred from observations of the dynamics to which they give rise. In this work, we present a powerful computational method to infer large network adjacency matrices from time series data using a neural network, in order to provide uncertainty quantification on the prediction in a manner that reflects both the degree to which the inference problem is underdetermined as well as the noise on the data.

Bluetooth dataset for proximity detection in indoor environments collected with smartphones.

This paper describes a data collection experiment and the resulting dataset based on Bluetooth beacon messages collected in an indoor museum. The goal of this dataset is to study algorithms and techniques for proximity detection between people and points of interest (POI). To this purpose, we release the data we collected during 32 museum's visits, in which we vary the adopted smartphones and the visiting paths.

Factors associated with increased length of stay and risk of complications in 336 patients submitted to spine surgery. The role of a validated capture system (SAVES v2) as a first-line tool to properly face the problem.

Purpose: In this study, we analyzed the use of a validated capture system (Spinal Adverse Events Severity system, SAVES V2) as a first non-technical skill to properly face the relevant problem of surgical complications (SCs) and adverse events (AEs) in spinal surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively collected AEs occurring in a tertiary referral center for spine surgery from January 2017 to January 2018 and classified them according to SAVES V2 system. We compared this collection of AEs with a prospective collection performed without any classification system.

A readout system for highly sensitive diamond detectors for FLASH dosimetry.

Accurate dosimetry of ultra-high dose-rate beams using diamond detectors remains challenging, primarily due to the elevated photocurrent peaks exceeding the input dynamics of precision electrometers. This work aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness of compact gated-integration electronics in conditioning the current peaks (>20 mA) generated by a highly sensitive ( ≃ 26 nC/Gy) custom-made diamond photoconductor under electron FLASH irradiation, as well as in real-time monitoring of beam dose and dose-rate. For the emerging FLASH technology, this study provided a new perspective on using commercially available diamond dosimeters with high sensitivity, currently employed in conventional radiotherapy.

Structural and Photoelectronic Properties of κ-GaO Thin Films Grown on Polycrystalline Diamond Substrates.

Orthorhombic κ-GaO thin films were grown for the first time on polycrystalline diamond free-standing substrates by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy at a temperature of 650 °C. Structural, morphological, electrical, and photoelectronic properties of the obtained heterostructures were evaluated by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, current-voltage measurements, and spectral photoconductivity, respectively. Results show that a very slow cooling, performed at low pressure (100 mbar) under a controlled He flow soon after the growth process, is mandatory to improve the quality of the κ-GaO epitaxial thin film, ensuring a good adhesion to the diamond substrate, an optimal morphology, and a lower density of electrically active defects.

Management of symptomatic spine metastases: A multidisciplinary approach based flow-chart.

We described an algorithm for the management of spinal metastases in which the importance of single parameters varies depending on when they are contemplated. Each patient follows his own «personal» sequential process which does not necessarily consider all the parameters each time as some may be irrelevant for the purpose of choosing the type of treatment for that single individual. For instance, a patient in general poor condition with a high ASA score is usually not a candidate for surgery, regardless of the primary tumor nature or the number of metastases.

Correlation Between Sagittal Balance and Mechanical Distal Junctional Failure in Degenerative Pathology of the Spine: A Retrospective Analysis.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the failure of the caudal end of lumbar posterior fixation in terms of pre-operative and post-operative spinopelvic parameters, correction performed, demographic and clinical data.

Methods: The lumbar, thoraco-lumbar and lumbo-sacral posterior fixations performed with pedicle screws and rods in 2017-2019 were retrospectively analyzed.

Carbon Fiber-Reinforced PolyEtherEtherKetone (CFR-PEEK) Instrumentation in Degenerative Disease of Lumbar Spine: A Pilot Study.

CFR-PEEK is gaining popularity in spinal oncological applications due to its reduction of imaging artifacts and radiation scattering compared with titanium, which allows for better oncological follow-up and efficacy of radiotherapy. We evaluated the use of these materials for the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases (DDs) and considered the biomechanical potential of the carbon fiber in relation to its modulus of elasticity being similar to that of bone. Twenty-eight patients with DDs were treated using CRF-PEEK instrumentation.

Indications and Limits of Surgery for Spinal Metastases Derived from Lung Cancer: A Single-Center Experience.

Lung cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in the world, and surgery is an integral part of the treatment for spinal metastases. The aims of this retrospective study were to assess the overall survival of surgically treated patients affected by lung cancer spinal metastases and identify any factors related to a better survival rate. We recruited 56 consecutive patients (34 male and 22 female) surgically treated for metastatic lung cancer in the spine from 2009 to 2019.

Management of symptomatic spine metastases: A multidisciplinary approach based flow-chart.

We described an algorithm for the management of spinal metastases in which the importance of single parameters varies depending on when they are contemplated. Each patient follows his own "personal" sequential process which does not necessarily consider all the parameters each time as some may be irrelevant for the purpose of choosing the type of treatment for that single individual. For instance, a patient in general poor condition with a high "ASA" score is usually not a candidate for surgery, regardless of the primary tumor nature or the number of metastases.

Neural parameter calibration for large-scale multiagent models.

Computational models have become a powerful tool in the quantitative sciences to understand the behavior of complex systems that evolve in time. However, they often contain a potentially large number of free parameters whose values cannot be obtained from theory but need to be inferred from data. This is especially the case for models in the social sciences, economics, or computational epidemiology.

Clinical and multi-segment kinematic analysis of a modified Grice arthrodesis to correct type II adult-acquired flat-foot.

Background: Adult acquired flat foot (AAFF) is a symptomatic postural alteration of the foot due to modifications in bony structures and/or soft tissues supporting the medial longitudinal arch. For the most severe cases, when orthotic solutions do not provide enough pain relief, surgery may be necessary.

Research Question: Is it possible to restore a normal medial longitudinal arch and to correct the static and dynamic frontal plane alignment of the rearfoot via a modified Grice surgical procedure in AAFF patients?

Methods: Eleven patients with stage II AAFF were recruited in the study and underwent the Grice procedure.

Frenkel-Poole Mechanism Unveils Black Diamond as Quasi-Epsilon-Near-Zero Surface.

A recent innovation in diamond technology has been the development of the "black diamond" (BD), a material with very high optical absorption generated by processing the diamond surface with a femtosecond laser. In this work, we investigate the optical behavior of the BD samples to prove a near to zero dielectric permittivity in the high electric field condition, where the Frenkel-Poole (FP) effect takes place. Zero-epsilon materials (ENZ), which represent a singularity in optical materials, are expected to lead to remarkable developments in the fields of integrated photonic devices and optical interconnections.

A Highly Versatile X-ray and Electron Beam Diamond Dosimeter for Radiation Therapy and Protection.

Radiotherapy is now recognized as a pillar in the fight against cancer. Two different types are currently used in clinical practice: (1) external beam radiotherapy, using high-energy X-rays or electron beams, both in the MeV-range, and (2) intraoperative radiotherapy, using low-energy X-rays (up to 50 keV) and MeV-range electron beams. Versatile detectors able to measure the radiation dose independently from the radiation nature and energy are therefore extremely appealing to medical physicists.

A high-resolution neutron spectroscopic camera for the SPARC tokamak based on the Jet European Torus deuterium-tritium experience.

Dedicated nuclear diagnostics have been designed, developed, and built within EUROFUSION enhancement programs in the last ten years for installation at the Joint European Torus and capable of operation in high power Deuterium-Tritium (DT) plasmas. The recent DT Experiment campaign, called DTE2, has been successfully carried out in the second half of 2021 and provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the performance of the new nuclear diagnostics and for an understanding of their behavior in the record high 14 MeV neutron yields (up to 4.7 × 10 n/s) and total number of neutrons (up to 2 × 10 n) achieved on a tokamak.