Mermin's inequalities in Quantum Field Theory

A relativistic Quantum Field Theory framework is devised for Mermin's inequalities. By employing smeared Dirac spinor fields, we are able to introduce unitary operators which create, out of the Minkowski vacuum $\vert 0 \rangle$, GHZ-type states. In this way, we are able to obtain a relation between the expectation value of Mermin's operators in the vacuum and in the GHZ-type states. We show that Mermin's inequalities turn out to be maximally violated when evaluated on these states.Comment: 8 pages, minor changes, results unchange

Epidemiological surveillance of SARSCov2 in β-Thalassemia Patients in the last two years: reinfection rate, insights and future challenges

Background: Although the association between comorbidities and the severity of COVID-19 infection has been extensively discussed, data on COVID-19 and hemoglobinopathies are still limited. SARS-Cov2 reinfections with severe acute respiratory syndrome have been described in the general population, usually with a milder outcome compared to the primary infection. The aim of our study was to determine the rate of reinfection and clinical features in a population of β-thalassemia patients. Results: Following the first infection, patients showed an adequate humoral immune response, however, all four patients are considered immune impaired owing to chronic transfusional support coupled with iron chelating treatment and splenectomy in three of the four.

Hodgkin’s lymphoma in a man with dilated cardiomyopathy and paraneoplastic ataxia: a therapeutical challenge

Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system. We report the case of a man with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and cardiomyopathy, for which the dilemma was whether to use the standard protocol − putting the patient at risk of worsening of heart failure, but giving him a good chance of full recovery − or not. The standard protocol was given and the patient made a full recovery without cardiac complications

A prospective study comparing quantitative Cytomegalovirus (CMV) polymerase chain reaction in plasma and pp65 antigenemia assay in monitoring patients after allogeneic stem cell transplantation

BACKGROUND: Low levels of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) viral load are frequently detected following allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) and CMV disease may still develop in some allogeneic SCT patients who have negative pp65-antigenemia (pp65-Ag) or undetectable DNA. Pp65Ag is a sensitive method to diagnose CMV infection. Quantitative CMV-DNA PCR assay in plasma has been proposed to monitor CMV infection in SCT patients. We evaluated the clinical utility of pp65Ag and PCR assay in plasma of SCT recipients. METHODS: In a prospective longitudinal study, 38 consecutive patients at risk of CMV infection (donor and/or recipient CMV seropositive) were weekly monitored for CMV infection by both quantitative CMV-PCR in plasma (COBAS AMPLICOR CMV MONITOR) and pp65 Ag, during the first 100 days after SCT. RESULTS: A total of 534 blood samples were simultaneously analysed for pp65Ag and PCR. Overall, 28/38 patients (74%) had active CMV infection within 100 days from SCT. In 16 patients, CMV was first detected by pp65 Ag alone; in 5 patients by both methods and in 6 by PCR assay alone; one patient had CMV biopsy-proven intestinal disease without pp65Ag and PCR assays positivity before CMV disease. Overall, three patients developed intestinal CMV disease (7.9%): one had negative both pp65Ag and PCR assays before CMV disease, one had disease and concomitant positivity of both methods, while in the remaining patient, only pp65Ag was positive before CMV disease. CONCLUSION: Plasma PCR(COBAS AMPLICOR CMV MONITOR) and pp65Ag assays were effective in detecting CMV infection, however, discordance between both methods were frequently observed. Plasma PCR and pp65Ag assays may be complementary for diagnosis and management of CMV infection

A population-based study on myelodysplastic syndromes in the Lazio Region (Italy), medical miscoding and 11-year mortality follow-up. The Gruppo Romano-Laziale Mielodisplasie experience of retrospective multicentric registry

Data on Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) are difficult to collect by cancer registries because of the lack of reporting and the use of different classifications of the disease. In the Lazio Region, data from patients with a confirmed diagnosis of MDS, treated by a hematology center, have been collected since 2002 by the Gruppo Romano-Laziale Mielodisplasie (GROM-L) registry, the second MDS registry existing in Italy. This study aimed at evaluating MDS medical miscoding during hospitalizations, and patients' survival. For these purposes, we selected 644 MDS patients enrolled in the GROM-L registry. This cohort was linked with two regional health information systems: the Hospital Information System (HIS) and the Mortality Information System (MIS) in the 2002-2012 period. Of the 442 patients who were hospitalized at least once during the study period, 92% had up to 12 hospitalizations. 28.5% of patients had no hospitalization episodes scored like MDS, code 238.7 of the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). The rate of death during a median follow-up of 46 months (range 0.9-130) was 45.5%. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was the first cause of mortality, interestingly a relevant portion of deaths is due to cerebro-cardiovascular events and second tumors. This study highlights that MDS diagnosis and treatment, which require considerable healthcare resources, tend to be under-documented in the HIS archive. Thus we need to improve the HIS to better identify information on MDS hospitalizations and outcome. Moreover, we underline the importance of comorbidity in MDS patients' survival

Improved overall survival with Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin (GO) compared with best supportive care (BSC) in elderly patients with untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) not considered fit for intensive chemotherapy: final results from the randomized phase III study (AML-19) of the EORTC and gimema leukemia groups

peer reviewe

Gender, age and diagnosis effect on self-perceived pain in hematological patients: retrospective analysis of two case series.

We have read with great interest the paper by Ahmed and colleagues (1), entitled " Does gender affect self-perceived pain in cancer patients? -A meta-analysis "

INCB84344-201: Ponatinib and steroids in frontline therapy for unfit patients with Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors have improved survival for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, prognosis for old or unfit patients remains poor. In the INCB84344-201 (formerly GIMEMA LAL 1811) prospective, multicenter, phase 2 trial, we tested the efficacy and safety of ponatinib plus prednisone in newly diagnosed patients with Ph+ ALL 6560 years, or unfit for intensive chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. Forty-four patients received oral ponatinib 45 mg/d for 48 weeks (core phase), with prednisone tapered to 60 mg/m2/d from days-14-29. Prophylactic intrathecal chemotherapy was administered monthly. Median age was 66.5 years (range, 26-85). The primary endpoint (complete hematologic response [CHR] at 24 weeks) was reached in 38/44 patients (86.4%); complete molecular response (CMR) in 18/44 patients (40.9%) at 24 weeks. 61.4% of patients completed the core phase. As of 24 April 2020, median event-free survival was 14.31 months (95% CI 9.30-22.31). Median overall survival and duration of CHR were not reached; median duration of CMR was 11.6 months. Most common treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were rash (36.4%), asthenia (22.7%), alanine transaminase increase (15.9%), erythema (15.9%), and \u3b3-glutamyltransferase increase (15.9%). Cardiac and vascular TEAEs occurred in 29.5% (grade 653, 18.2%) and 27.3% (grade 653, 15.9%), respectively. Dose reductions, interruptions, and discontinuations due to TEAEs occurred in 43.2%, 43.2%, and 27.3% of patients, respectively; 5 patients had fatal TEAEs. Ponatinib and prednisone showed efficacy in unfit patients with Ph+ ALL; however, a lower ponatinib dose may be more appropriate in this population. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01641107