Non-alcoholic Wernicke's Encephalopathy Masquerading As CNS Relapse of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

While Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) is mostly caused by thiamine deficiency secondary to chronic alcohol use, other conditions that may affect one's nutritional status, such as bariatric surgery, hyperemesis gravidarum, chronic gastrointestinal disease, HIV/AIDS, and certain malignancies, may also lead to this outcome. We are discussing one such case, WE, in a young man with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who underwent chemotherapy. The patient presented with blurred vision, paresthesia, weakness, and vomiting.

Use of Fine-scale Geospatial Units and Population Data to Evaluate Access to Emergency Care.

Introduction: Time to facility is a crucial element in emergency medicine (EM). Fine-scale geospatial units such as census block groups (CBG) and publicly available population datasets offer a low-cost and accurate approach to modeling geographic access to and utilization of emergency departments (ED). These methods are relevant to the emergency physician in evaluating patient utilization patterns, emergency medical services protocols, and opportunities for improved patient outcomes and cost utilization.

Attitudes, knowledge, and practices regarding malaria prevention and treatment among pregnant women in Eastern India.

We explored views toward and use of malaria prevention and treatment measures among pregnant women in Jharkhand, India. We conducted 32 in-depth interviews and six focus group discussions (total = 73 respondents) with pregnant women in urban, semi-urban, and rural locations in a region with moderate intensity malaria transmission. Most respondents ranked malaria as an important health issue affecting pregnant women, had partially correct understanding of malaria transmission and prevention, and reported using potentially effective prevention methods, usually untreated bed nets.

Myosin phosphatase isoform switching in vascular smooth muscle development.

We are using the myosin phosphatase targeting subunit (MYPT1) as a model gene to study smooth muscle phenotypic diversity. Myosin phosphatase (MP) is the primary effector of smooth muscle relaxation, and MYPT1 is a key target of signals that regulate smooth muscle tone. In a model of portal hypertension we previously showed dynamic changes in the expression of MYPT1 isoforms in the portal vein and upstream mesenteric artery.

TIA proteins are necessary but not sufficient for the tissue-specific splicing of the myosin phosphatase targeting subunit 1.

We are using the tissue-specific splicing of myosin phosphatase targeting subunit (MYPT1) as a model to investigate smooth muscle phenotypic diversity. We previously identified a U-rich intronic enhancer flanking the 5' splice site (IE1), and a bipartite exonic enhancer/suppressor, that regulate splicing of the MYPT1 central alternative exon. Here we show that T-cell inhibitor of apoptosis (TIA-1) and T-cell inhibitor of apoptosis-related (TIAR) proteins bind to the IE1.