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Thyroid related autoantibodies have been related to the development of encephalopathy, known as Hashimoto's encephalopathy. However, their relation with the encephaIopathy occurring in patients with Graves' disease has not been well established. The case is reported of a 51 year old woman presenting with subacute progressive dementia with evidence of hyperthyroidism. She had Graves' disease associated with high titres of thyroid related autoantibodies. Her encephalopathy was not improved by antithyroid drugs, but promptly responded to corticosteroid treatment, and stabilised with a gradual reduction of thyroid related autoantibody titres. Brain positron emission tomography initially showed a diffuse and multifocal cerebral hypometabolism with subsequent normalisation on her clinical recovery, which was consistent with the acute and reversible cerebral inflammation probably mediated by autoimmune mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An overview of recent results from the MST reversed field pinch programme is presented. With neutral beam injection, bursty energetic particle (EP) modes are observed. The profiles of the magnetic and density fluctuations associated with these EP modes are measured using a far infrared interferometer–polarimeter. Equilibrium reconstructions of the quasi-single-helicity 3D helical state are provided by the V3FIT code that now incorporates several of MST's advanced diagnostics. The orientation of the helical structure is controlled using a new resonant magnetic perturbation technique. Gyrokinetic simulations based on experimental equilibria predict unstable trapped-electron modes (TEMs), and small-scale density fluctuations are detected in improved-confinement plasmas with TEM-like features. Upgraded pellet injection permits study of density and beta limits over MST's full range of operation, and an MST-record line-average density of 0.9 × 1020 m3 (n/nG = 1.4) has been obtained. Impurity ion temperature measurements reveal a charge-to-mass-ratio dependence in the rapid heating that occurs during a sawtooth crash. Runaway of NBI-born fast ions during the impulsive sawtooth event agrees with test-particle theory. Magnetic self-organization studies include measurements of the dynamo emf with an applied ac inductive electric field using oscillating field current drive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: With the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore underwent a national lockdown in which most organisations, including schools were closed. Halting face-to-face tutorials resulting in decreased clinical contact for medical students. Prior to the pandemic, we had developed the Virtual Integrated Patient (VIP). Equipped with conversational technology, it provides students online practice in various clinical skills such as history-taking, physical examination and investigations. The aim of this paper is to describe the supplementary use of VIP in the second-year class, in which a pilot study was conducted. Methods: The VIP platform was introduced to the cohort and used to supplement the teaching of history-taking in the “Communication with Patients” (CWP) module for second-year students. Traditionally, CWP tutorials involve face-to-face history-taking from standardised patients (SPs). Students, who consented to participating in the trial, had an additional 3 weeks’ access to VIP to practice their history-taking skills. They completed a survey on their user experience and satisfaction at the end of the 3 weeks. Results: Out of the 106 participants, 87% strongly agreed or agreed that using VIP helped in remembering the content while 69% of them felt that VIP increased their confidence and competence in history-taking. Conclusion: VIP was well-received by students and showed promise as a tool to supplement history-taking tutorials, prior to students’ encounter with SPs and real patients. Hence, this trend showed its potential as an alternative when clinical rotations were delayed or cancelled. Further research can be done to evaluate its effectiveness in this context.