Distinguishing Acute Rheumatic Fever From Post-streptococcal Reactive Arthritis.

We report an initial episode of post-streptococcal reactive arthritis (PRSA) in a 61-year-old male with group A streptococcal (GAS) bacteremia. The disease is commonly reported in young children and young adults. Additionally, this patient exemplifies the nonlinear boundaries of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and PRSA, bringing into question whether they are truly distinct disease entities.

Coxsackie B Virus-Induced Cardiac Tamponade and Adrenal Insufficiency.

We report a case involving a young male patient without a significant medical history who exhibited symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath, chest and back pain, and syncope with vomiting. He was found to have adrenal insufficiency and cardiac tamponade requiring pericardiocentesis. Further inpatient workup revealed the patient had positive IgM and IgG antibody titers for the coxsackie B virus, which we believe caused his presentation.

A Case of Euglycemic Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), Influenza, and a Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 (DPP-4) Inhibitor.

A subclass of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is euglycemic DKA, characterized by the same traits of ketoacidosis and low bicarbonate levels. However, the condition differs from classic DKA because of its normoglycemic levels. Euglycemic DKA was once thought to be incredibly rare, but its incidence has been on the rise with the widespread use of sodium-glucose-cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and other newer anti-diabetic medications.

Yeast-based assays for characterization of the functional effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms in human DNA repair genes.

DNA repair mechanisms maintain genomic integrity upon exposure to various types of DNA damage, which cause either single- or double-strand breaks in the DNA. Here, we propose a strategy for the functional study of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human DNA repair genes XPD/ERCC2, RAD18, and KU70/XRCC6 and the checkpoint activation gene ATR that are essentially involved in the cell cycle and DNA damage repair. We analyzed the mutational effects of the DNA repair genes under DNA-damaging conditions, including ultraviolet irradiation and treatment with genotoxic reagents, using a Saccharomyces cerevisiae system to overcome the limitations of the human cell-based assay.

Functional heterogeneity of the supplementary motor area.

Background And Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess supplementary motor area (SMA) activation during motor, sensory, word generation, listening comprehension, and working memory tasks by using functional MR imaging (fMRI). Human supplementary motor area (SMA) has been shown to play roles in motor control and other various functions such as sensory, speech expression, and memory. However, topographical localizations of these functions in the SMA remain unclear.