U(1)-Symmetry breaking and violation of axial symmetry in TlCuCl3 and other insulating spin systems

We describe the Bose-Einstein condensate of magnetic bosonic quasiparticles in insulating spin systems using a phenomenological standard functional method for T = 0. We show that results that are already known from advanced computational techniques immediately follow. The inclusion of a perturbative anisotropy term that violates the axial symmetry allows us to remarkably well explain a number of experimental features of the dimerized spin-1/2 system TlCuCl3. Based on an energetic argument we predict a general intrinsic instability of an axially symmetric magnetic condensate towards a violation of this symmetry, which leads to the spontaneous formation of an anisotropy gap in the energy spectrum above the critical field. We, therefore, expect that a true Goldstone mode in insulating spin systems, i.e., a strictly linear energy-dispersion relation down to arbitrarily small excitations energies, cannot be observed in any real material.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

THE EFFICACY OF THE TREATMENT WITH BIOENTERICS INTRAGASTRIC BALLOON (BIB) IS REDUCED IN OBESE PATIENTS WITH BINGE EATING DISORDER (BED)

Background and aim: Eating disorders, such as BED, and assessment of abnormal body image are routinely investigated, in clinical settings, with Binge Eating Scales (BES) and Body Uneasiness Test (BUT). This study aims at evaluating if BES and BUT questionnaires are predictive of the efficacy of bariatric treatment with BIB. Material and methods: 47 obese patients (39 females; mean age = 36, range 18-59; mean BMI = 41.6, range 31-71) who underwent bariatric treatment with BIB have been evaluated with BES and BUT questionnaires, before the insertion of the BIB (t0) and after 6 months at the moment of the removal (t6). Patients were divided in two groups: one with BMI reduction <12% (group A) and the other with BMI reduction =12% (group B).Group A and B were compared according to the results of BES and BUT questionnaires, in order to assess a statistically significant difference (95% Confidence Interval, p<0.05), before and after bariatric treatment. Results: Group A was composed of 24 patients (mean BMI reduction (3.1±1.9 SD), while group B was composed of 23 (mean BMI reduction 6.8±1.4 SD). At the time t0 there was no difference in the prevalence of BED estimated with BES (4.2% vs 8.7%, in group A and B respectively, (p = ns), whereas at the time t6, BES questionnaire showed a statistically significant difference between group A and B (34%; 95%CI: 21%-44% vs 8,7%; 95%CI: 2%-17%; p < 0,05) and with both groups at the time t0. At the time t0, BUT questionnaire resulted normal in 21% vs 13% in group A and B respectively (p = ns), whereas at the time t6 there was a statistically significant difference between the percentage of normal BUT questionnaire in groups A and B (29%; 95%CI: 17%-40% vs 48%; 95%CI: 34%-59%; p < 0,05) and with both groups at the time t0. Conclusions: Obese patients with BED achieve fewer results with BIB as bariatric treatment. As expected, patients with better BMI % reduction perceive a diminished uneasiness of their body image. However pre-procedural assessment with these tests is not completely useful in order to diagnose BED in these patients, whose identification demands a specialist psychological appraisal

Intrathymic Localization of Melanoma: A Brief Report of Two Cases and a Review of the Literature

Intrathymic localizations of melanoma represent a very rare entity, with fewer than ten cases of intrathymic melanoma described in the literature. Herein, we describe two cases of patients who underwent surgical removal of a thymic mass at our thoracic surgery department between 2015 and 2022. The final pathological examination revealed a malignant melanoma in both cases; we therefore carried out a literature review to identify such rare and similar cases. In the first case, the intrathymic localization of melanoma was the first manifestation of the disease, posing a dilemma regarding the metastatic and primitive nature of the neoplasm. The second case described a thymic metastasis from a known previous cutaneous melanoma, for which the patient had successfully been treated six years earlier. After carefully reviewing the literature, we identified only six cases of verified primary intrathymic melanomas and one case of intrathymic metastasis resulting from melanoma previously described. Pathologists should be aware of the occurrence of this rare entity and mindful of the differential diagnoses. Several tools, including immunostaining of melanocytic markers and molecular investigations, are mandatory for final pathological diagnosis