DaT Scan “Abnormality” in Hyperglycemic-Hemichorea

Background: Hyperglycemic-hemichorea is a well-established clinical entity which leads to signal changes on brain MRI. We are reporting a case of hyperglycemic-hemichorea where the DaT scan showed reduced uptake bilaterally. Case Report: A 57-year-old female was seen in the clinic for hemichorea due to hyperglycemia. Her brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed increased T1 signal intensity in bilateral lenticular nuclei and the DaT scan showed reduced uptake on both sides. Discussion: This case highlights the importance of performing a DaT scan in the correct clinical context, as an abnormality on brain MRI can lead to false-positive DaT scan results

Paraneoplastic Chorea Managed with Intravenous Amantadine

This letter responds to an the article entitled ‘Anti-CV2/CRMP5 paraneoplastic chorea effectively managed with intravenous amantadine.' The authors congratulate the authors of the original paper for this unique case report and make some suggestions for future cases

Purkinje Cell Cytoplasmic Antibody (PCA-2)-related Chorea–Dystonia Syndrome

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Biomass and Carbon Stock Estimation in Woody Grass (\u3cem\u3eDendrocalamus strictus\u3c/em\u3e L.) in Doon Valley, India

Bamboos commonly kown as woody grass are one of the most important species particularly in Asia, where it is frequently considered as the ―timber of the poor‖ (Rao et al., 1985). With about 23 genera and 136 species, India is the second largest reservoir of bamboos, next only to China (SFR, 2013 and Nath et al., 2009). Bamboos occur extensively in the managed ecosystems of India—both as plantations (and in agroforestry (scattered clumps, hedgerows on farm boundaries etc. Dendrocalamus strictus L. is most commonly found bamboo in India. It is widely distributed in dry deciduous forests and grows rapidly in all climatic conditions and occupies about 53 % of total bamboo area in India. It grows better in the drier parts and on sandstone, granite and coarse grained soils with low moisture- retaining capacity and soils with pH range 5.5–7.6. It grows more than 8 feet in 6–8 months. The species is used widely for as raw material in paper mills and also for variety of purposes such as construction, agricultural implements, musical instruments, furniture etc. The species is also suitable for reclamations of degraded and ravine lands. The accurate assessment of biomass estimates of a forest is important for many applications (Brown, 2002; Chave et al., 2004; Arora et al., 2014; Verma et al., 2014). In recent years, the carbon cycle has become an important issue in the world and plants play a major role in carbon storage. Biomass estimation enables us to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide that can be sequestered from the atmosphere. However, most of the carbon and biomass studies focus on assessing the capability of trees viz., poplar, eucalyptus, shisham, chir teak, subabul etc. The studies related to biomass and carbon stock estimation in bamboos is limited. The present study examine specifically the above ground stand biomass, biomass structure and C storage in D. strictus

Higher incidence of persistent chronic infection of Chlamydia pneumoniae among coronary artery disease patients in India is a cause of concern

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is growing evidence that <it>Chlamydia pneumoniae </it>may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, as several studies have demonstrated the presence of the organism in atherosclerotic lesions. <it>C. pneumoniae </it>infections, which are especially persistent infections, have been difficult to diagnose either by serological methods or isolation of the organism from the tissue. Nucleic Acid Amplification tests (NAATs) has emerged as an important method for detecting <it>C. pneumoniae</it>. Inspite of high prevalence of <it>C. pneumoniae </it>specific antibodies in coronary heart disease patients, direct detection of <it>C. pneumoniae </it>in circulating blood of coronary artery disease (CAD) patients by sensitive nucleic acid amplification tests nested PCR (nPCR), multiplex PCR (mPCR) has not been carried out is required. Further correlation of the presence of <it>C. pneumoniae </it>in blood of CAD patients with <it>C. pneumoniae </it>specific IgA and IgG antibodies, which may indicative of the status of infection with the progression of atherosclerosis. This will help in order to prepare strategies for the antibiotic intervention to avoid the progression towards CAD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Venous blood was obtained from 91 CAD patients and 46 healthy controls. Nucleic acid amplification tests <it>viz</it>. nested -, semi-nested – and multiplex PCR were used for detection of <it>C. pneumoniae</it>. ELISA carried out prevalence of <it>C. pneumoniae </it>specific IgG and IgA antibodies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>29.67% (27/91) patients were positive for <it>C. pneumoniae </it>using nested PCR. The sensitivity and specificity of semi-nested and multiplex PCR were 37.03%, 96.96% and 22.22%, 100% with respect to nested PCR. Positive nPCR patients were compared with presence of <it>C. pneumoniae </it>specific IgA, IgA+IgG and IgG antibodies. Among 27 (29.67%) nPCR <it>C. pneumoniae </it>positive CAD patients, 11(12%) were IgA positive, 13(14.2%) were IgA+IgG positive and only1 (1.1%) was IgG positive. A significant presence of <it>C. pneumoniae </it>was detected in heavy smokers, non-alcoholics and with family histories of diabetes and blood pressure group of CAD patients by nPCR.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results indicate synergistic association of <it>C. pneumoniae </it>infection and development of CAD with other risk factors. We also detected increased positivity for <it>C. pneumoniae </it>IgA than IgG in nPCR positive CAD patients. Positive nPCR findings in conjunction with persisting high <it>C. pneumoniae </it>specific antibody strongly suggest an ongoing infection.</p

Cancer Incidence, Mortality, Years of Life Lost, Years Lived With Disability, and Disability-Adjusted Life Years for 29 Cancer Groups From 2010 to 2019: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD 2019) provided systematic estimates of incidence, morbidity, and mortality to inform local and international efforts toward reducing cancer burden. To estimate cancer burden and trends globally for 204 countries and territories and by Sociodemographic Index (SDI) quintiles from 2010 to 2019. The GBD 2019 estimation methods were used to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2019 and over the past decade. Estimates are also provided by quintiles of the SDI, a composite measure of educational attainment, income per capita, and total fertility rate for those younger than 25 years. Estimates include 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). In 2019, there were an estimated 23.6 million (95% UI, 22.2-24.9 million) new cancer cases (17.2 million when excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer) and 10.0 million (95% UI, 9.36-10.6 million) cancer deaths globally, with an estimated 250 million (235-264 million) DALYs due to cancer. Since 2010, these represented a 26.3% (95% UI, 20.3%-32.3%) increase in new cases, a 20.9% (95% UI, 14.2%-27.6%) increase in deaths, and a 16.0% (95% UI, 9.3%-22.8%) increase in DALYs. Among 22 groups of diseases and injuries in the GBD 2019 study, cancer was second only to cardiovascular diseases for the number of deaths, years of life lost, and DALYs globally in 2019. Cancer burden differed across SDI quintiles. The proportion of years lived with disability that contributed to DALYs increased with SDI, ranging from 1.4% (1.1%-1.8%) in the low SDI quintile to 5.7% (4.2%-7.1%) in the high SDI quintile. While the high SDI quintile had the highest number of new cases in 2019, the middle SDI quintile had the highest number of cancer deaths and DALYs. From 2010 to 2019, the largest percentage increase in the numbers of cases and deaths occurred in the low and low-middle SDI quintiles. The results of this systematic analysis suggest that the global burden of cancer is substantial and growing, with burden differing by SDI. These results provide comprehensive and comparable estimates that can potentially inform efforts toward equitable cancer control around the world.Funding/Support: The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities. Dr Aljunid acknowledges the Department of Health Policy and Management of Kuwait University and the International Centre for Casemix and Clinical Coding, National University of Malaysia for the approval and support to participate in this research project. Dr Bhaskar acknowledges institutional support from the NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Health Pathology. Dr Bärnighausen was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through the Alexander von Humboldt Professor award, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Dr Braithwaite acknowledges funding from the National Institutes of Health/ National Cancer Institute. Dr Conde acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council ERC Starting Grant agreement No 848325. Dr Costa acknowledges her grant (SFRH/BHD/110001/2015), received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, IP under the Norma Transitória grant DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006. Dr Ghith acknowledges support from a grant from Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF16OC0021856). Dr Glasbey is supported by a National Institute of Health Research Doctoral Research Fellowship. Dr Vivek Kumar Gupta acknowledges funding support from National Health and Medical Research Council Australia. Dr Haque thanks Jazan University, Saudi Arabia for providing access to the Saudi Digital Library for this research study. Drs Herteliu, Pana, and Ausloos are partially supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNDS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0084. Dr Hugo received support from the Higher Education Improvement Coordination of the Brazilian Ministry of Education for a sabbatical period at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, between September 2019 and August 2020. Dr Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam acknowledges funding by a National Heart Foundation of Australia Fellowship and National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellowship. Dr Jakovljevic acknowledges support through grant OI 175014 of the Ministry of Education Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. Dr Katikireddi acknowledges funding from a NHS Research Scotland Senior Clinical Fellowship (SCAF/15/02), the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/2), and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU17). Dr Md Nuruzzaman Khan acknowledges the support of Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Bangladesh. Dr Yun Jin Kim was supported by the Research Management Centre, Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUMRF/2020-C6/ITCM/0004). Dr Koulmane Laxminarayana acknowledges institutional support from Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Dr Landires is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Investigación, which is supported by Panama’s Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación. Dr Loureiro was supported by national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia under the Scientific Employment Stimulus–Institutional Call (CEECINST/00049/2018). Dr Molokhia is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Center at Guy’s and St Thomas’ National Health Service Foundation Trust and King’s College London. Dr Moosavi appreciates NIGEB's support. Dr Pati acknowledges support from the SIAN Institute, Association for Biodiversity Conservation & Research. Dr Rakovac acknowledges a grant from the government of the Russian Federation in the context of World Health Organization Noncommunicable Diseases Office. Dr Samy was supported by a fellowship from the Egyptian Fulbright Mission Program. Dr Sheikh acknowledges support from Health Data Research UK. Drs Adithi Shetty and Unnikrishnan acknowledge support given by Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Dr Pavanchand H. Shetty acknowledges Manipal Academy of Higher Education for their research support. Dr Diego Augusto Santos Silva was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil Finance Code 001 and is supported in part by CNPq (302028/2018-8). Dr Zhu acknowledges the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas grant RP210042

Delayed Hemichorea Following Temporal-Occipital Lobe Infarction

No abstract necessary for Letters