Sorting orbital angular momentum of photons through a multi-ring azimuthal-quadratic phase.

Beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) already play significant roles in many domains. Here we propose a practical design of an OAM beam splitter based on a single phase-only multi-ring azimuthal-quadratic diffraction optical element that can sort different OAM components into various spatial positions, and OAM state probing is also achieved. The performance is demonstrated through proof-of-principle experiments and shows favorable results. Furthermore, the intensity proportion of each OAM component, namely the OAM spectrum, is also diagnosed. This work offers high applicability and practicability for the recognition and separation of photon OAM, and thus paves the way for many advanced scenarios such as quantum communication, holographic encryption, and remote sensing.

Radiofrequency Ablation with Continued EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy Prolongs Disease Control in EGFR-Mutant Advanced Lung Cancers with Acquired Resistance to EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors: Two Case Reports.

OBJECTIVE: Lung cancer remains the leading cause of malignant tumor-related death globally. There is mounting evidence that a large proportion of patients harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation and treated with EGFR TKI experience oligoprogressive disease. The optimal treatment strategy for these patients is undetermined. Thus, in this article, we report two cases of EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients with locally resistant lesions achieving disease control via combination therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We present two cases of lung adenocarcinoma patients that developed oligoprogressive disease during TKI treatment. For further treatment, the patient then received radiofrequency ablation. RESULTS: Through follow-up observation, we found that the addition of radiofrequency ablation might provide the clinical benefit of these two NSCLC patients. CONCLUSION: Our two cases provide a promising treatment for oligoprogressive disease during the first-line EGFR-TKI therapy.

Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of NCALD protein expression in lung adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Although there are great improvements in diagnostics and treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), it remains the leading cause of cancer-related death globally. NSCLC can be further categorized into two common subtypes, lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). The aims of this study were to evaluate the expression of neurocalcin delta (NCALD) in LUAD patients and to evaluate the relationship between NCALD expression and clinicopathological feature as well as overall survival (OS). METHODS: The expression level of NCALD protein was assessed by immunohistochemical analysis of tissue microarrays (TMAs) which contained 90 LUAD tissues and paired adjacent normal tissues. The relationship between NCALD expression level and clinicopathological characteristics as well as OS were investigated. RESULTS: The results showed that the expression level of NCALD protein in LUAD tissues was significantly down-regulated (P<0.01) and that the NCALD level was correlated with the tumor size (P<0.001), lymph node metastasis (P=0.03) and TNM stage (P=0.015). Both Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression univariate analysis identified that NCALD expression level, lymph node metastasis, and clinical TNM stages were prognostic factors for patients' survival (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Overexpression of NCALD is a significant marker for a good prognosis in patients with LUAD.