Optical Thin Films in Space Environment: Investigation of Proton Irradiation Damage.

The present work reports a systematic study of the potential degradation of metals and dielectric thin films in different space environments. The mono- and bilayers selected are made of materials commonly used for the realization of optical components, such as reflective mirrors or building blocks of interferential filters. More than 400 samples were fabricated and irradiated with protons at different energies on ground-based facilities.

Swarm of lightsail nanosatellites for Solar System exploration.

This paper presents a study for the realization of a space mission which employs nanosatellites driven by an external laser source impinging on an optimized lightsail, as a valuable technology to launch swarms of spacecrafts into the Solar System. Nanosatellites propelled by laser can be useful for heliosphere exploration and for planetary observation, if suitably equipped with sensors, or be adopted for the establishment of network systems when placed into specific orbits. By varying the area-to-mass ratio (i.

Sentinel lymph node mapping: current applications and future perspectives in thyroid carcinoma.

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping is a standard, minimally-invasive diagnostic method in the surgical treatment of many solid tumors, as for example melanoma and breast cancer, for detecting the presence of regional nodal metastases. A negative SLN accurately indicates the absence of metastases in the other regional lymph nodes (LN), thus avoiding unnecessary lymph nodal dissection. Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common type of thyroid carcinoma (TC) with cervical LN metastases at diagnosis in 20-90%, and nodal involvement correlates with local persistence/recurrence.

Medullary thyroid carcinoma.

Introduction: Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) constitutes approximately 5-10% of all thyroid cancers. Although the tumor forms in the thyroid, it doesn't originate from thyroid cells, but from the C cells or parafollicular cells which produce and release a hormone called calcitonin (CT). Starting from the second half of the 1900s, MTC was progressively studied and defined.

Solar ultraviolet light collector for germicidal irradiation on the moon.

Prolonged human-crewed missions on the Moon are foreseen as a gateway for Mars and asteroid colonisation in the next decades. Health risks related to long-time permanence in space have been partially investigated. Hazards due to airborne biological contaminants represent a relevant problem in space missions.

Optical Hydrogen Sensing Properties of e-Beam WO Films Decorated with Gold Nanoparticles.

Tungsten oxide thin films with different thicknesses, crystallinity and morphology were synthesized by e-beam deposition followed by thermal treatment and acid boiling. The films with different surface morphologies were coated with gold nanoparticles and tested as optical sensing materials towards hydrogen. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, ellipsometry and UV-VIS spectroscopy were employed to characterize the structural, morphological and optical properties of the film.

Electrical Properties of Aluminum Nitride Thick Films Magnetron Sputtered on Aluminum Substrates.

The realization of a c-axis oriented aluminum nitride thick film on aluminum substrates is a promising step in the development of transducers for applications with a working temperature up to about 600 °C. The present paper deals with the realization of AlN thick films by means of reactive magnetron sputtering with a pulsed DC power supply, operating in continuous mode for 50 h. Two values (0.

Dependence of the damage in optical metal/dielectric coatings on the energy of ions in irradiation experiments for space qualification.

Terrestrial accelerator facilities can generate ion beams which enable the testing of the resistance of materials and thin film coatings to be used in the space environment. In this work, a [Formula: see text]/Al bi-layer coating has been irradiated with a [Formula: see text] beam at three different energies. The same flux and dose have been used in order to investigate the damage dependence on the energy.

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy targeting the cutaneous lymphocyte antigen for mycosis fungoides.

: Mycosis fungoides (MF) is a low-grade T-cell lymphoma with primary cutaneous involvement accounting for more than half of all primary cutaneous lymphomas. The treatment of MF is very challenging due to the limited therapies available. Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a newly developed and highly selective cancer treatment that employs a monoclonal antibody conjugated to a photo-absorber dye, the hydrophilic phthalocyanine IRdye 700DX® (IR700), and near infrared light.

A hybrid metal-dielectric zero mode waveguide for enhanced single molecule detection.

We fabricated hybrid metal-dielectric nanoslots and measured their optical response at three different wavelengths. The nanostructure is fabricated on a bilayer film formed by the sequential deposition of silicon and gold on a transparent substrate. The optical characterization is done via fluorescence spectroscopy measurements.

Rad-hard properties of the optical glass adopted for the PLATO space telescope refractive components.

PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) is a medium sized mission (M3) selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) for launch in 2026. The PLATO payload includes 26 telescopes all based on a six-element refractive optical scheme. Some components will be eventually manufactured by S-FPL51, N-KZFS11 and S-FTM16 glass whose radiation resistance is partially or totally unknown.

An Unusual Case of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma and A Revision of Current Literature.

Background: Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) accounts for 5% of all thyroid cancers and occurs either sporadically or in a hereditary pattern. Routine calcitonin (CT) measurement is suggested for MTC screening in patients with nodular thyroid disease.

Patient Findings: A 45 years-old woman incidentally discovered, with neck ultrasound, the presence of thyroid micronodules.

Extreme Ultraviolet Multilayer Nanostructures and Their Application to Solar Plasma Observations: A Review.

The advent of nanoscale multilayer (ML) technology has led to great breakthroughs in many scientific and technological fields such as nano-manufacturing, bio-imaging, atto-physics, matter physics and solar physics. ML nanostructures are an enabling technology for the development of mirrors and reflective gratings having high efficiency at normal incidence in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range, a spectral region where conventional coatings show a negligible reflectance. In solar physics, ML mirrors have proved to be key elements for both imaging and spectroscopy space instruments, as they allow to make observations of EUV solar plasma emissions with spatial and spectral resolutions never reached before.

Morphological and Functional Modifications of Optical Thin Films for Space Applications Irradiated with Low-Energy Helium Ions.

Future space missions will operate in increasingly hostile environments, such as those in low-perihelion solar orbits and Jovian magnetosphere. This exploration involves the selection of optical materials and components resistant to the environmental agents. The conditions in space are reproduced on ground through the use of ion accelerators.

Specifying the molecular pattern of sporadic parathyroid tumorigenesis-The Y282D variant of the GCM2 gene.

Sporadic carcinoma of the parathyroid glands is a rare malignant neoplasia. The GCM2 gene encodes a transcription factor that is crucial to embryonic parathyroid development. The Y282D variant of GCM2 exhibits increased transcriptional activity, and the presence of this variant is significantly associated with a higher prevalence of primitive hyperparathyroidism.

Aberrant right subclavian artery ("arteria lusoria") without the known associated nerve anomaly: an "anomaly of the anomaly"? A clinical case and review of the literature.

The "non-recurrent" course of the inferior laryngeal nerve (ILN) is an anatomical variant which must be borne in mind during thyroid surgery. The "non-recurrent" course of the ILN on the right side is associated with the aberrant right subclavian artery (arteria lusoria), and, on the left, is described in situs viscerum inversus. We present a case in which the "arteria lusoria" was not associated with the non-recurrent right ILN.

Estrogen and thyroid cancer is a stem affair: A preliminary study.

Gender influences Papillary Thyroid Cancer (PTC) with an incidence of 3:1 when comparing women to men with different aggressiveness. This gender discrepancy suggests some role of sex hormones in favoring the malignant progression of thyroid tissue to cancer. Estrogens are known to promote Stem Cell self-renewal and, therefore, may be involved in tumor initiation.

Thyroid Paraganglioma: Our Experience and Systematic Review of the Literature on a Rare Tumor.

Introduction: Primary paraganglioma (PG) of the thyroid gland is an extremely rare neuroendocrine tumor with potential for misdiagnosis. We describe 2 cases of thyroid PG, suggest a possible diagnostic and therapeutic management strategy, and present a systematic review of the literature.

Case Reports: Two 67-year-old women presented similarly with asymptomatic but rapidly growing thyroid nodules in which malignancy was suspected after fine needle aspiration biopsy, "THY 4" according to the 2014 SIAPEC classification, both undergoing total thyroidectomy.

Surgical treatment of thyroid follicular neoplasms: results of a retrospective analysis of a large clinical series.

The most appropriate surgical management of "follicular neoplasm/suspicious for follicular neoplasm" lesions (FN), considering their low definitive malignancy rate and the limited predictive power of preoperative clinic-diagnostic factors, is still controversial. On behalf of the Italian Association of Endocrine Surgery Units (U.E.

Diagnostic, therapeutic and health-care management protocol in thyroid surgery: a position statement of the Italian Association of Endocrine Surgery Units (U.E.C. CLUB).

Purpose: The diagnostic, therapeutic and health-care management protocol (Protocollo Gestionale Diagnostico-Terapeutico-Assistenziale, PDTA) by the Association of the Italian Endocrine Surgery Units (U.E.C.

BRAF analysis before surgery for papillary thyroid carcinoma: correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis in a single-institution prospective experience.

Background: Risk stratification in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) currently relies on postoperative parameters. Testing for BRAF mutations preoperatively may serve as a novel tool for identifying PTC patients at risk of persistence/recurrence after surgery.

Methods: The study involved 185 consecutive patients with a histological diagnosis of PTC and BRAF analysis performed on thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB).