Permian high-temperature metamorphism in the Western Alps (NW Italy)

During the late Palaeozoic, lithospheric thinning in part of the Alpine realm caused high-temperature low-to-medium pressure metamorphism and partial melting in the lower crust. Permian metamorphism and magmatism has extensively been recorded and dated in the Central, Eastern, and Southern Alps. However, Permian metamorphic ages in the Western Alps so far are constrained by very few and sparsely distributed data. The present study fills this gap. We present U/Pb ages of metamorphic zircon from several Adria-derived continental units now situated in the Western Alps, defining a range between 286 and 266 Ma. Trace element thermometry yields temperatures of 580-890°C from Ti-in-zircon and 630-850°C from Zr-in-rutile for Permian metamorphic rims. These temperature estimates, together with preserved mineral assemblages (garnet-prismatic sillimanite-biotite-plagioclase-quartz-K-feldspar-rutile), define pervasive upper-amphibolite to granulite facies conditions for Permian metamorphism. U/Pb ages from this study are similar to Permian ages reported for the Ivrea Zone in the Southern Alps and Austroalpine units in the Central and Eastern Alps. Regional comparison across the former Adriatic and European margin reveals a complex pattern of ages reported from late Palaeozoic magmatic and metamorphic rocks (and relics thereof): two late Variscan age groups (~330 and ~300 Ma) are followed seamlessly by a broad range of Permian ages (300-250 Ma). The former are associated with late-orogenic collapse; in samples from this study these are weakly represented. Clearly, dominant is the Permian group, which is related to crustal thinning, hinting to a possible initiation of continental rifting along a passive margin

Emerging treatment options in the management of non-small cell lung cancer

Lung cancer (LC) has become the leading cancer-related cause of death in the US and in developed European countries in the last decade. Its incidence is still growing in females and in smokers. Surgery remains the treatment of choice whenever feasible, but unfortunately, many patients have an advanced LC at presentation and one-third of potentially operable patients do not receive a tumor resection because of their low compliance for intervention due to their compromised cardiopulmonary functions and other comorbidities. For these patients the alternative therapeutic options are stereotactic radiotherapy or percutaneous radiofrequency. When surgery is planned, an anatomical resection (segmentectomy, lobectomy, bilobectomy, pneumonectomy, sleeve lobectomy) is usually performed; wedge resection (considered as a nonanatomical one) is generally the accepted option for unfit patients. The recent increase in discovering small and peripheral LCs and/or ground-glass opacities with screening programs has dramatically increased surgeons' interest in limited resections. The role of these resections is discussed. Also, recent improvements in molecular biology techniques have increased the chemotherapic options for neoadjuvant LC treatment. The role and the importance of targeted chemotherapy is also discussed

Paleomagnetism of Jurassic carbonate rocks from Sardinia: No indication of post-Jurassic internal block rotations

Several paleomagnetic studies on Carboniferous and Permian sedimentary and volcanic rocks from Sardinia and Corsica have recently demonstrated (1) the tectonic coherence between southern Corsica and northern Sardinia and (2) significant rotations between individual crustal blocks within Sardinia itself. The geodynamic significance of these rotations, however, is not clearly understood mainly because of uncertainties in defining their timing and causes. In order to contribute to these issues, a pioneering paleomagnetic study on Jurassic carbonates from the Baronie-Supramonte region of eastern-central Sardinia has been extended regionally and stratigraphically. A total of 280 oriented drill cores were taken from 44 sites of Middle and Late Jurassic age in the Nurra, Baronie-Supramonte, Barbagia-Sarcidano, and Sulcis regions. Despite generally weak remanent magnetization intensities, on the order of less than 1 mA/m, thermal and alternating field demagnetizations were successfully applied to define a characteristic remanent magnetization component in about 60% of the samples. Site mean directions show rather good agreement after correction for bedding tilt and yield Middle and Late Jurassic overall mean directions of D = 269.7° and I = 45.0° (α95 = 8.0°, k = 14, and n = 25 sites) and D = 275.5° and I = 50.7° (α95 = 7.2°, k = 45.3, and n = 10 sites). Positive regional and local fold and reversal tests demonstrate the primary character of the natural magnetic remanence, which is carried by magnetite. These results indicate only insignificant amounts (±10°) of post-Jurassic rotations within the island of Sardinia.The resulting Middle and Late Jurassic paleopoles (latitude (Lat) = 16.5°, longitude (Long) = 299.1°, dp = 6.4°, and dm = 10.1° and Lat = 23.4°, Long = 301.2°, dp = 6.5°, and dm = 9.7°), corrected for the opening of (1) the Liguro-Provençal Basin and (2) the Bay of Biscay using rotation parameters from the literature, fall near the coeval segment of the European apparent polar wander path. These results constrain the timing of large differential block rotations found in Late Carboniferous-Permian rocks to a pre–Middle Jurassic age and lead us to exclude tectonics related to the Alpine orogeny for such rotations