Bose-Einstein condensation in quantum glasses

The role of geometrical frustration in strongly interacting bosonic systems is studied with a combined numerical and analytical approach. We demonstrate the existence of a novel quantum phase featuring both Bose-Einstein condensation and spin-glass behaviour. The differences between such a phase and the otherwise insulating "Bose glasses" are elucidated

A Novel Ex Vivo Approach Based on Proteomics and Biomarkers to Evaluate the Effects of Chrysene, MEHP, and PBDE-47 on Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta)

The principal aim of the present study was to develop and apply novel ex vivo tests as an alternative to cell cultures able to evaluate the possible effects of emerging and legacy contaminants in Caretta caretta. To this end, we performed ex vivo experiments on non-invasively collected whole-blood and skin-biopsy slices treated with chrysene, MEHP, or PBDE-47. Blood samples were tested by oxidative stress (TAS), immune system (respiratory burst, lysozyme, and complement system), and genotoxicity (ENA assay) biomarkers, and genotoxic and immune system effects were observed. Skin slices were analyzed by applying a 2D-PAGE/MS proteomic approach, and specific contaminant signatures were delineated on the skin proteomic profile. These reflect biochemical effects induced by each treatment and allowed to identify glutathione S-transferase P, peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase A, mimecan, and protein S100-A6 as potential biomarkers of the health-threatening impact the texted toxicants have on C. caretta. Obtained results confirm the suitability of the ex vivo system and indicate the potential risk the loggerhead sea turtle is undergoing in the natural environment. In conclusion, this work proved the relevance that the applied ex vivo models may have in testing the toxicity of other compounds and mixtures and in biomarker discovery

Application of Artificial Neural Network to Preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT for Predicting Pathological Nodal Involvement in Non-small-cell Lung Cancer Patients

Purpose: To evaluate the performance of artificial neural networks (aNN) applied to preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT for predicting nodal involvement in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 540 clinically resectable NSCLC patients (333 M; 67.4 \ub1 9 years) undergone preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT and pulmonary resection with hilo-mediastinal lymphadenectomy. A 3-layers NN model was applied (dataset randomly splitted into 2/3 training and 1/3 testing). Using histopathological reference standard, NN performance for nodal involvement (N0/N+ patient) was calculated by ROC analysis in terms of: area under the curve (AUC), accuracy (ACC), sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV). Diagnostic performance of PET visual analysis (N+ patient: at least one node with uptake mediastinal blood-pool) and of logistic regression (LR) was evaluated. Results: Histology proved 108/540 (20%) nodal-metastatic patients. Among all collected data, relevant features selected as input parameters were: patients\u2019 age, tumor parameters (size, PET visual and semiquantitative features, histotype, grading), PET visual nodal result (patient-based, as N0/N+ and N0/N1/N2). Training and testing NN performance (AUC = 0.849, 0.769): ACC = 80 and 77%; SE = 72 and 58%; SP = 81 and 81%; PPV = 50 and 44%; NPV = 92 and 89%, respectively. Visual PET performance: ACC = 82%, SE = 32%, SP = 94%; PPV = 57%, NPV = 85%. Training and testing LR performance (AUC = 0.795, 0.763): ACC = 75 and 77%; SE = 68 and 55%; SP = 77 and 82%; PPV = 43 and 43%; NPV = 90 and 88%, respectively..Conclusions: aNN application to preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT provides overall good performance for predicting nodal involvement in NSCLC patients candidate to surgery, especially for ruling out nodal metastases, being NPV the best diagnostic result; a high NPV was also reached by PET qualitative assessment. Moreover, in such population with low a priori nodal involvement probability, aNN better identify the relatively few and unexpected nodal-metastatic patients than PET analysis, so supporting the additional aNN use in case of PET-negative images

Post-intubation tracheal lacerations: Risk-stratification and treatment protocol according to morphological classification

BackgroundPost-intubation tracheal laceration (PITL) is a rare condition (0.005% of intubations). The treatment of choice has traditionally been surgical repair. Following our first report in 2010 of treatment protocol tailored to a risk-stratified morphological classification there is now clear evidence that conservative therapy represents the gold standard in the majority of patients. In this paper we aim to validate our risk-stratified treatment protocol through the largest ever reported series of patients. MethodsThis retrospective analysis is based on a prospectively collected series (2003-2020) of 62 patients with PITL, staged and treated according to our revised morphological classification. ResultsFifty-five patients with Level I (#8), II (#36) and IIIA (#11) PITL were successfully treated conservatively. Six patients with Level IIIB injury and 1 patient with Level IV underwent a surgical repair of the trachea. No mortality was reported. Bronchoscopy confirmed complete healing in all patients by day 30. Statistical analysis showed age only to be a risk factor for PITL severity. ConclusionsOur previously proposed risk-stratified morphological classification has been validated as the major tool for defining the type of treatment in PITL

Catamenial pneumothorax: Not only VATS diagnosis

BackgroundCatamenial pneumothorax (CP) is a rare type of spontaneous, recurring pneumothorax occurring in women, from the day before menstruation until 72 hours after its beginning. Conservative treatment is generally associated with recurrence of CP. Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) approach allows not only to obtain diagnosis but also to guide definitive treatment of causing lesions, such as ectopic endometrial implants or diaphragmatic defects and fenestrations. We report our experience in VATS management of CP to focus on its role in CP.Materials and methodsIn this retrospective observational study, we collected data from women referred to our center for CP, from January 2019 to April 2022. All patients underwent VATS approach, with muscle-sparing thoracotomy when diaphragmatic fenestrations were detected, to perform selective diaphragmatic plication and/or partial diaphragmatic resection. Results were analyzed in terms of pneumothorax recurrence after surgical treatment. All patients were referred to gynecologists for medical therapy.ResultsEight women (median age 36 years, range: 21–45), all with right side CP, were included; three already had pelvic endometriosis and two had already undergone lung apicectomy at other institutions. VATS allowed us to detect diaphragmatic fenestrations in seven patients (87.5%) and apical bullae in five (62.5%). Apicectomy was performed in five cases (62.5%), selective diaphragmatic plication in two (25%), and partial diaphragmatic resection in five (62.5%). Chemical pleurodesis with talc was performed in all to minimize the risk of recurrence. Pathological diagnosis of endometriosis on the resected diaphragm was achieved in five patients (62.5%). No recurrence occurred, except for one woman who stopped medical treatment for endometriosis.ConclusionsIn the management of patients with CP, VATS should be recommended not only to obtain an explorative diagnosis of ectopic endometrial implants or diaphragmatic fenestrations but also to allow the most appropriate surgical treatment and obtain pathological specimens for confirmation and definitive diagnosis of thoracic endometriosis. Medical therapy to achieve ovarian rest is mandatory in the postoperative period and should not be discontinued

Erratum to nodal management and upstaging of disease. Initial results from the Italian VATS Lobectomy Registry

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.21037/jtd.2017.06.12.]

Five carbon- and nitrogen-bearing species in a hot giant planet's atmosphere

The atmospheres of gaseous giant exoplanets orbiting close to their parent stars (hot Jupiters) have been probed for nearly two decades. They allow us to investigate the chemical and physical properties of planetary atmospheres under extreme irradiation conditions. Previous observations of hot Jupiters as they transit in front of their host stars have revealed the frequent presence of water vapour and carbon monoxide in their atmospheres; this has been studied in terms of scaled solar composition under the usual assumption of chemical equilibrium. Both molecules as well as hydrogen cyanide were found in the atmosphere of HD 209458b, a well studied hot Jupiter (with equilibrium temperature around 1,500 kelvin), whereas ammonia was tentatively detected there and subsequently refuted. Here we report observations of HD 209458b that indicate the presence of water (H2O), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3) and acetylene (C2H2), with statistical significance of 5.3 to 9.9 standard deviations per molecule. Atmospheric models in radiative and chemical equilibrium that account for the detected species indicate a carbon-rich chemistry with a carbon-to-oxygen ratio close to or greater than 1, higher than the solar value (0.55). According to existing models relating the atmospheric chemistry to planet formation and migration scenarios, this would suggest that HD 209458b formed far from its present location and subsequently migrated inwards. Other hot Jupiters may also show a richer chemistry than has been previously found, which would bring into question the frequently made assumption that they have solar-like and oxygen-rich compositions.Comment: As part of the Springer Nature Content Sharing Initiative, it is possible to access a view-only version of this paper by using the following SharedIt link: https://rdcu.be/cifr

The GAPS Programme with HARPS-N at TNG. XV. A substellar companion around a K giant star identified with quasi-simultaneous HARPS-N and GIANO measurements

Context. Identification of planetary companions of giant stars is made difficult because of the astrophysical noise, that may produce radial velocity variations similar to those induced by a companion. On the other hand any stellar signal is wavelength dependent, while signals due to a companion are achromatic. Aims: Our goal is to determine the origin of the Doppler periodic variations observed in the thick disk K giant star TYC 4282-605-1 by HARPS-N at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) and verify if they can be due to the presence of a substellar companion. Methods: Several methods have been used to exclude the stellar origin of the observed signal including a detailed analysis of activity indicators and bisector and the analysis of the photometric light curve. Finally, we have conducted an observational campaign to monitor the near-infrared (NIR) radial velocity with GIANO at the TNG in order to verify whether the NIR amplitude variations are comparable with those observed in the visible. Results: Both optical and NIR radial velocities show consistent variations with a period at 101 days and similar amplitude, pointing to the presence of a companion orbiting the target. The main orbital properties obtained for our giant star with a derived mass of M = 0.97 ± 0.03M☉ are M_Psini = 10.78 ± 0.12M_J; P = 101.54 ± 0.05 days; e = 0.28 ± 0.01 and a = 0.422 ± 0.009 AU. The chemical analysis shows a significant enrichment in the abundance of Na I, Mg I, Al I, and Si I while the rest of the analyzed elements are consistent with the solar value demonstrating that the chemical composition corresponds with an old K giant (age = 10.1 Gyr) belonging to local thick disk. Conclusions: We conclude that the substellar companion hypothesis for this K giant is the best explanation for the observed periodic radial velocity variation. This study also shows the high potential of multi-wavelength radial velocity observations for the validation of planet candidates. Based on observations collected at the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), operated on the island of La Palma by the Fundación Galileo Galilei of the INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, in the frame of the programme Global Architecture of Planetary Systems (GAPS)