Single incision thoracoscopic right upper lobectomy with systematic lymph node dissection

Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) provides less postoperative pain, preservation of the immune response and shorter recovery period, compared with thoracotomy. However, many patients complain of postoperative pain and paresthesia because VATS requires 3 or 4 incisions including a utility incision of 3–5 cm. To overcome this problem, single incision thoracoscopic surgery has emerged; this technique has been adopted for lung cancer surgery since 2010. Complete mediastinal lymph node dissection is the major role of lung cancer surgery. We describe a case of a right upper lobectomy with complete mediastinal lymph node dissection via single incision thoracosopic surgery

Higher Hippocampal Diffusivity Values in Welders Are Associated with Greater R2* in the Red Nucleus and Lower Psychomotor Performance

INTRODUCTION: Chronic excessive welding exposure may be related to higher metal accumulation and structural differences in different subcortical structures. We examined how welding affected brain structures and their associations with metal exposure and neurobehavioral consequences. METHODS: Study includes 42 welders and 31 controls without a welding history. Welding-related structural differences were assessed by volume and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics in basal ganglia, red nucleus (RN), and hippocampus. Metal exposure was estimated by both exposure questionnaires and whole blood metal levels. Brain metal accumulations were estimated by R1 (for Mn) and R2* (for Fe). Neurobehavioral status was assessed by standard neuropsychological tests. RESULTS: Compared to controls, welders displayed higher hippocampal mean (MD), axial (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) (p\u27s \u3c 0.036), but similar DTI or volume in other ROIs (p\u27s \u3e 0.117). Welders had higher blood metal levels (p\u27s \u3c 0.004), higher caudate and RN R2* (p\u27s \u3c 0.014), and lower performance on processing/psychomotor speed, executive function, and visuospatial processing tasks (p\u27s \u3c 0.046). Higher caudate and RN R2* were associated with higher blood Fe and Pb (p\u27s \u3c 0.043), respectively. RN R2* was a significant predictor of all hippocampal diffusivity metrics (p\u27s \u3c 0.006). Higher hippocampal MD and RD values were associated with lower Trail Making Test-A scores (p\u27s \u3c 0.025). A mediation analysis of both groups revealed blood Pb indirectly affected hippocampal diffusivity via RN R2* (p\u27s \u3c 0.041). DISCUSSION: Welding-related higher hippocampal diffusivity metrics may be associated with higher RN R2* and lower psychomotor speed performance. Future studies are warranted to test the role of Pb exposure in these findings

Signatures of Electronic Nematic Phase at Isotropic-Nematic Phase Transition

The electronic nematic phase occurs when the point-group symmetry of the lattice structure is broken, due to electron-electron interactions. We study a model for the nematic phase on a square lattice with emphasis on the phase transition between isotropic and nematic phases within mean field theory. We find the transition to be first order, with dramatic changes in the Fermi surface topology accompanying the transition. Furthermore, we study the conductivity tensor and Hall constant as probes of the nematic phase and its transition. The relevance of our findings to Hall resistivity experiments in the high-$T_c$ cuprates is discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure