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Welcome to tyrionwillโ€™s page.
Contributor score: 22


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 +1  visit this page (nbme24#9)
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probably only 2 parasites are related to nodules: 1. trichinella spiralis: muscle mass, muscle ache, systemic symptoms 2. onchocerca volvulus: skin nodules, without significant systemic signs until blindness

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tyrionwill  probably cannot find any abnormality on the skin surface or no obvious mass found along body. only biopsy from the painful muscle can detect the larve of trichinella spiralis. however, skin change due to onchocerca is popular to be easily found when doing PE +

 +0  visit this page (nbme24#30)
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we can make things simple like this way: if we want to know whether X1,or X2 correlates Y, we just separately test X1 and Y, and X2 and Y accordingly. When test X1 with Y, we require no X2 exposure; When test X2 with Y, we require no X1 exposure;

We test cookie with diarrhea, when milk was not drunk (top right): positive We test milk with diarrhea, when no cookie was eaten (lower right): negative

conclusion: only cookie correlates to the diarrhea

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Subcomments ...

submitted by stevenorange(6), visit this page
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first should know that this is the fundus or body of the gastric, so it should be the parietal cell domaine; then think the mucus is the protective one , A without hesitate. then the other on the upper glandular layer should be the paretal cell, which is B. others like C is so small ,in the deeper glandular layer and basalphilic looking maybe is the chief cell . then deeper could be the submucosa layer. UW ID124 fyi.

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zme331  ???? +
tyrionwill  how would I know where is superficial and where is the deep layer? +
sexymexican888  @tyrionwill if you look at D and E they look more like muscular tissue than glandular tissue (like A,B,C) so thats how you can orient yourself and know that the bottom layer is by D and E so A must be more superficial. +


submitted by cassdawg(1781), visit this page
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This woman has gout which is associated with hypertension and diabetes and attacks can be precipitated by diuresis (such as with furosemide). Negatively biorefringent crystals (uric acid crystals) are also characteristic of gout. Gout is associated with kidney stones (nephrolithiasis). [FA2020 p467]

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frijoles  I don't see where it says that gout is associated with kidney stones. Gout is more commonly caused by underexcretion than overproduction, yes? And this patient has renal insufficiency, yes? So if anything, they have LESS uric acid in the urine and are LESS likely to have stones. It's the reason they have gout to begin with (because it's out of the urine and into the blood). This answer would make sense if the gout was due to overproduction but there is no evidence of that here. This isn't a very good question imo. Please lmk if I'm missing something here. +3
jt263619  uric acid stones... +3
tyrionwill  hyperuricemia may cause kidney stone if urine turns to be acidic or condensed. so I think this question is asking a general possible complication. +
i_hate_it_here  I think that what they were trying to ask was what could also occur due to the predisposing factor that led to gout. The patient was on a loop diuretic which can lead to hypovolemia. Kidney stones and gout occur more frequently when the substrates are able to concentrate in low volume. +3
kard  furosemide and acetazolamid---> Nephrolithiasis! +1
millan  I thought it was osteoporosis due to calcium loss???? +
ibashli  I also put osteoporosis at first but I think that's with chronic use of furosemide. She has only been on it for 1 month so it's more likely that she will develop a stone from uric acid accumulation than osteoporosis from a little excess loss of calcium, especially because of her "Gradually increasing serum creatinine," suggesting that she is getting gradually worse and worse at filtering out the uric acid from her body --> worsening arthritis and risk of stones. +


submitted by 123ojm(11), visit this page
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Specifically didn't choose coronavirus due to the evidence that COVID-19 is spread fecal-orally. How does it get through the GI tract if it's inactivated by pH < 6? Can someone explain why my thinking is wrong?

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hello  ...COVID-19 is transmitted via respiratory droplets. +4
123ojm  Right but some research has come out saying it's also spread fecal-orally. So I'm wondering what I'm missing in this question. +
tyrionwill  Don't trust US CDC in this pandemic. They always downplayed the truth. Cronavirus does spread mainly by droplets, when they drop, they contaminate the surface, then fecal-oral could be a second pathway. Wearing mask, social distancing are both to prevent a droplet. +
boostcap23  I thought covid used to be low yield when this test was made and they didn't mention helical so I didn't pick it smh I'm an idiot. +1


submitted by tea-cats-biscuits(273), visit this page
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The disease here is fructose bisphosphatase deficiency. In it, IV glycerol or fructose doesnโ€™t help because both enter the gluconeogenesis pathway below fructose bisphophatase. Galactose on the other hand enters above it. I donโ€™t think you really need to know this to choose the correct answer since the clinical picture of fasting hypoglycemia that is corrected w/ some sort of sugar that can enter the gluconeogenesis pathway should clue you into the right answer.

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neonem  I don't think you could have *totally* ruled out the other answers - I picked glycogen breakdown because it sounded kind of like Von Gierke disease (glucose-6-phosphatase) to me: characterized by fasting hypoglycemia, lactic acidosis, and hepatomegaly since you're not able to get that final step of exporting glucose into the blood. However, I guess in this case you wouldn't see that problem of glycerol/fructose infusion not increasing blood glucose. Nice catch. +28
vshummy  I think you were super smart to catch Von Gierke! Just to refine your answer b/c I had to look this up after reading your explanation, von gierke has a problem with gluconeogenesis as well as glycogenolysis. So theyโ€™d have a problem with glycerol and fructose but also galactose since they all feed into gluconeogenesis before glucose-6-phosphatase. Great thought process! +24
drmomo  glycerol and fructose both enter the pathway thru DHAP and glyceraldehyde-3-ph. Galactose enters thru Gal-1-ph to glu-1-ph conversion +3
linwanrun1357  In this cause (fructose bisphosphatase deficiency.,),fructose should help to increase serum glucose, bcz it can become into glucose-6-P by hexokinase. Therefore, this question makes me confused.... +
krewfoo99  According to uworld, fructose infusion will not increase blood glucose levels in Von Gierkes Disease as well +
atbangura  I believe Von Gierke is not a plausible answer choice because a galactose infusion would still not see an elevation in glucose levels. Remember, galactose could be converted to galactose 6 phosphate, but in order to complete gluconeogenesis and allow glucose to leave the Liver for an increase of its concentration in the blood, the patient would still need glucose 6 phosphatase which is eliminated in Von Gierke. +2
lilyo  So what disease is this??? I mean couldnt we have just answered the question based on the fact that the patient responds to galactose being infused and we know that galactose feeds into gluconeogenesis?? I am so confused. +1
djtallahassee  Its Hereditary Fructose intolerance right? gets sick after fructose and I guess glycerol can jump in via aldolase B on this pathway via page 74 of FA2019. It looked like a fructose thing to me so I just marked out the other ones and moved on. +1
paperbackwriter  @djtallahassee I was wondering same, but hereditary fructose intolerance also results in inhibition of glycogenolysis :/ confusing question. +
amt12d  A much simpler way to think about this, without trying to figure out a diagnosis, I looked at the time frame for when the child was presenting. He has eaten poorly for 3 days, by now, his glycogen breakdown is gone. His body would be trying to make glucose, therefore, gluconeogenesis is impaired, not glycogen breakdown. +7
tyrionwill  if fructose kinase is not available (fructose intolerence), then some fructose may go to F-6-P by hexokinase, then goes to G6P if gluconeogenesis is needed. however this patient's fructose kinase was intact, so no fructose would have go to F6P, so there would be no blood glucose increment after injection of fructose. +1
shayokay  You had to know that fructose and glycerol enter glycolysis at DHAP/G3P, and galactose enters glycolysis at G6P (gal-> gal-1-p -> glu-1-p -> glu-6-p). This means that one of the 3 enzymes between G6P and DHAP/G3P is not functioning properly. Most likely this would be fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase because there does not appear to be anything wrong with glycolysis. "Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBP1) deficiency is characterized by episodic acute crises of lactic acidosis and ketotic hypoglycemia, manifesting as hyperventilation, apneic spells, seizures, and/or coma. Acute crises are most common in early childhood; nearly half of affected children have hypoglycemia in the neonatal period (especially the first 4 days) resulting from deficient glycogen stores. Factors known to trigger episodes include fever, fasting, decreased oral intake, vomiting, infections, and ingestion of large amounts of fructose." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK550349/ +1
shayokay  Also, even though Von Gierke is categorized as a glycogen storage disease it is really a problem with gluconeogenesis not glycogen breakdown. So even if you thought this was VG, you still could have gotten the right answer. In VG, any monosaccharide other than glucose (fructose, galactose, glycerol, etc.) will not raise the plasma glucose level because they all require gluconeogenesis to be converted into glucose and this cannot happen because there is no glucose-6-phosphatase. This is why the treatment for VG is frequent oral glucose in the form of cornstarch and avoidance of fructose and galactose. +


submitted by usmle11a(102), visit this page
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guys VG would worsen with galactose infusion, remebmber they dont have G6Pase which means they cant convert anything to glucose

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tyrionwill  Yes, VG makes the liver into muscle, where all sugars (except glucose) can only be burned to lactate+glycerol(from glycolysis), ATP (from TCA metabolism, to give uric acid), and fat deposit (from glycerol+pyruvate going to FA+TG) to worsen the situation. Sugar cannot be made into glucose in liver for other tissues. +


submitted by lsmarshall(465), visit this page
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MHC class 1 peptide antigen processing > "Antigen peptides loaded onto MHC I in RER after delivery via TAP (transporter associated with antigen processing)" - First Aid 2019.

Bare lymphocyte syndrome type 2 (BLS II; affecting MHC II) is due to mutations in genes that code for transcription factors that normally regulate the expression (gene transcription) of the MHC II genes. Bare lymphocyte syndrome type 1 (BLS I; affecting MHC I), is much more rare, and is associated with TAP deficiencies.

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tyrionwill  in the question, it says absence of MHC-I presenting cells. I guess the meaning is lack of MHC-I. IF TAP is missing or dysfunction (bare lym syn type-1), MHC-I should be there, however Ag cannot be loaded to the MHC-I. Can anyone help me to understand more. +1
peridot  @tyrionwill From wiki: "The TAP proteins are involved in pumping degraded cytosolic peptides across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane so they can bind HLA class I. Once the peptide:HLA class I complex forms, it is transported to the membrane of the cell. However, a defect in the TAP proteins prevents pumping of peptides into the endoplasmic reticulum so no peptide:HLA class I complexes form, and therefore, no HLA class I is expressed on the membrane. Just like BLS II, the defect isn't in the MHC protein, but rather another accessory protein." +1
j44n  i hate this question because MHCI is on all nucleated cells. So this person is literally a bag of RBC's +1
soccerfan23  @j44n Not quite. It's true that MHC I is on all nucleated cells. Because of the TAP mutation, these cells don't express MHC I on their membranes. But these cells still exist. That is what is meant when the vignette says "flow cytometry shows absence of class I MHC-expressing cells. +1


submitted by famylife(110), visit this page
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To rule out SIADH type: "Serum potassium concentration generally remains unchanged. Movement of potassium from the intracellular space to the extracellular space prevents dilutional hypokalemia. As hydrogen ions move intracellularly, they are exchanged for potassium in order to maintain electroneutrality."

https://www.medscape.com/answers/246650-8383/how-does-syndrome-of-inappropriate-antidiuretic-hormone-secretion-siadh-affect-serum-potassium-levels

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usmile1  Does anyone know if SIADH is associated with hypertension? I don't think it is due to the body's response of downregulating aldosterone, but if someone could verify that I would appreciate it. +
sunshinesweetheart  @usmile1 pg 579 FA 2019 = BP can be normal or high in SIADH +
usmlecrasherss  in SIADH GOLJAN says you have diluteonal hypokalemia +
tyrionwill  SIADH -> excessive ADH -> water retention -> atrium excretes more ANP, ventricule excretes more BNP -> water is excreted more. So that is why not too much plasma volume increment, resulting mostly normal BP. +


submitted by aneurysmclip(209), visit this page
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pretty straightforward question but another thing you couldd do is figure out his lymphocyte count 5%x2000 = 100 which would line up with a low Cd4 count however you divide it

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tyrionwill  Yes agree! Lymphocyte count is so low, which suggest HIV. +


submitted by ameanolacid(29), visit this page
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Atherosclerosis is the MOST common cause of renal artery stenosis...with fibromuscular dysplasia being the SECOND most common cause (even though it is tempting to choose this option considering the patient's demographic).

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xxabi  Is there a situation where you would pick fibromuscular dysplasia over atherosclerosis if given both options? Thanks for your help! +6
baconpies  Atherosclerosis affects PROXIMAL 1/3 of renal artery Fibromuscular dysplasia affects DISTAL 2/3 of renal artery +65
gonyyong  Why is there โ†“ size in both kidneys? This threw me off +3
kateinwonderland  @gonyyong : Maybe because narrowed renal a. d/t atherosclerosis led to renal hypoperfusion and decrease in size? +1
drdre  Fibromuscular dysplasia occurs in young females according to Sattar Pg 67, 2018. +12
davidw  Normally you will see Fibromuscular dysplasia in a young female 18-35 with high or resistant hypertension. She is older has a history type II DM predispose you to vascular disease and normal to moderate elevation in BP +9
suckitnbme  @gonyyong there's bilateral renal artery stenosis. The decrease in size of both kidneys should be from atrophy due to lack of renal blood flow. +5
tyrionwill  1 year ago, she did not present any physical or Lab abnormalities. This means she must not suffer fibromuscular dysplasia, otherwise she must have presented renal abnormalities for a long long time, or even before DM-2. +2
rockodude  a little surprised that atherosclerosis leading to bilateral renal artery stenosis and shrunken kidneys could happen that quickly after everything was A okay the year prior +1


submitted by brethren_md(105), visit this page
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Make a punnett square with a cross of B B+ and B B0; B+ represents 50% function while B0 represents 0% (null) function. So in this case, the husband would have a B B0 genotype while the wife has a B B+ genotype.

Cross of these two will result in the following genotypes; BB, BB0, BB+, B+B0 BB = 100% function, BB+ = 75% function, BB0 = 50% function, B+B0 = 25% function

So the answer will be 1 in 4 have a 25% function given the genotypes.

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tyrionwill  how about the choice of D: 1 in 4 have 50% function, which is true. shall 50% function needs transfusion? +
tyrionwill  In FA, it defines beta thalassemia into minor (HbA2 >3.5%) and major (both HbF and HbA2 go further up), and the major needs transfusion frequently. How can we take this classification based upon quantitive way like in this question? how much percentage of function left does not need a frequent transfusion? +
azibird  D says one in TWO, not one in FOUR. +6
hemehero  Is there a way to know that B+B0 will = 25% function. I was stuck between 25% function and 10% function, but couldn't figure out how to reason between the two of them. +3
neil_simmons  The question says the mother has a mutation known to cause 50% decrease in beta-globin gene function of one allele. So if one allele is working at 50% (B+) and the other allele is working at 0% (B0), then that would mean that particular set of alleles would function at 25%. +2
twich22  The Key here is the woman has 50% decrease in function "Of one allele". Its a stupid way to word it, But it means that one allele works at 50%, which would be B+. So if you have a B0/B+ offspring, the B0 gives 0% and the B+ works at 50% capacity, so you only have 25% of normal. +
murad  some one explain this to me please, how come if the mother with his genotype BB+ has 50% function of one allele. while if we get her offspring punnet square we consider the one that has the same genotype as her BB+ of having 75% function?? +


submitted by brethren_md(105), visit this page
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Make a punnett square with a cross of B B+ and B B0; B+ represents 50% function while B0 represents 0% (null) function. So in this case, the husband would have a B B0 genotype while the wife has a B B+ genotype.

Cross of these two will result in the following genotypes; BB, BB0, BB+, B+B0 BB = 100% function, BB+ = 75% function, BB0 = 50% function, B+B0 = 25% function

So the answer will be 1 in 4 have a 25% function given the genotypes.

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tyrionwill  how about the choice of D: 1 in 4 have 50% function, which is true. shall 50% function needs transfusion? +
tyrionwill  In FA, it defines beta thalassemia into minor (HbA2 >3.5%) and major (both HbF and HbA2 go further up), and the major needs transfusion frequently. How can we take this classification based upon quantitive way like in this question? how much percentage of function left does not need a frequent transfusion? +
azibird  D says one in TWO, not one in FOUR. +6
hemehero  Is there a way to know that B+B0 will = 25% function. I was stuck between 25% function and 10% function, but couldn't figure out how to reason between the two of them. +3
neil_simmons  The question says the mother has a mutation known to cause 50% decrease in beta-globin gene function of one allele. So if one allele is working at 50% (B+) and the other allele is working at 0% (B0), then that would mean that particular set of alleles would function at 25%. +2
twich22  The Key here is the woman has 50% decrease in function "Of one allele". Its a stupid way to word it, But it means that one allele works at 50%, which would be B+. So if you have a B0/B+ offspring, the B0 gives 0% and the B+ works at 50% capacity, so you only have 25% of normal. +
murad  some one explain this to me please, how come if the mother with his genotype BB+ has 50% function of one allele. while if we get her offspring punnet square we consider the one that has the same genotype as her BB+ of having 75% function?? +


submitted by tyrionwill(22), visit this page
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probably only 2 parasites are related to nodules: 1. trichinella spiralis: muscle mass, muscle ache, systemic symptoms 2. onchocerca volvulus: skin nodules, without significant systemic signs until blindness

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tyrionwill  probably cannot find any abnormality on the skin surface or no obvious mass found along body. only biopsy from the painful muscle can detect the larve of trichinella spiralis. however, skin change due to onchocerca is popular to be easily found when doing PE +


submitted by yotsubato(1208), visit this page
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Kind of tricky question. The hypnozoites are chloroquine resistant. But the species may not be.

P. Falciparum is resistant and looks like a banana, but you dont know if the malaria in the RBC is falciparum or not.

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tyrionwill  whether resistant or sensitive, depends on the region, not on the species falci coming from Hatii could be sensitive +


submitted by nutcraker(7), visit this page
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Looks like Tabes dorsalis polyneuropathy to me, 19 y/o with loss of propioception, parasthesias...

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tyrionwill  also probably B12 deficiency: lost vibration sensory, weakness of extremities, and possible ataxia if more information is collected... Syphilis will not impair muscle strength. +


submitted by hhsuperhigh(49), visit this page
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The diet is prescribed, so no need to refer to dietician anymore. It is a case of the patient non-compliance of diet. But why can't advise the parents to stop bickering?

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therealslimshady  I remember Boards and Beyond said that you never want to pick any statements that sound "scolding", plus it couldn't be much help to just say "stop arguing", it's better to find out information on what's causing the arguing so that you can stop it entirely, which choice B will allow you to do. +
tyrionwill  stress is the thing to worse the condition of DM, and will be better after being seen, comforted, and accepted. +


submitted by abhishek021196(120), visit this page
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Rituximab

Mechanism = Monoclonal antibody against CD20, which is found on most B-cell neoplasms.

Use = B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, CLL, ITP, rheumatoid arthritis, TTP, AIHA, MS.

Adv effects = Increased risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in patients with JC virus.

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tyrionwill  low IgG in response to infection/vaccination leads to broad bacteria and virus infection or reactivation. bacteria: strep pneumonia, Hib virus: JC, HBV, CMV... +


submitted by macrohphage95(10), visit this page
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MDMA is the only hallucinogen that has sympathetic activity as it is derived from methamphethamines ( look at its name) ... that explains everything.

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tyrionwill  Yes, good point to remember. In the category of FA stimulants, 2 agents has sympathetic activity: 1)MDMA; 2)PCP +
jackie_chan  Basically how I solved it, all the other drugs are downers +
jackie_chan  Even tho ketamine has sympathomemetic effects, they would be widly tripping, they dont call it falling into a K-hole for nothing. +


submitted by yotsubato(1208), visit this page
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"Children exhibit behavior incongruent with their age and development" in sexual abuse.

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tyrionwill  mostly the age difference exceeds 4 years trigger so called "incongruent with their age". age incongruence plus signs of being forced, like this case which the 4-year-old boy was found crying, lead to suspicious more on sex abuse than sex play. +2


submitted by abhishek021196(120), visit this page
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Bortezomib, carfilzomib

Mechanism = Proteasome inhibitors, induce arrest at G2-M phase and apoptosis.

Use = Multiple myeloma, mantle cell lymphoma.

Adv Effects = Peripheral neuropathy, herpes zoster reactivation

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tyrionwill  under Bortezomib, the proteasome cannot digest viral Ag and presents it to the membrane-bonded MHC-I. Therefore CD8-Tc cannot recognize the host cells containing relapsed VZV. That is probably why shingles is one of the popular side effect of Bortezomib. +
kcyanide101  The drug inhibits proteosome. Hence there is no fragment available through TAP inside CD4 cell to load unto MHC I.... As such the CD8 presentation to Tcell is prevented. The accumulating proteins inside the CD8 cells which are not being broken down by the proteosome cause it to undergo apoptosis +


submitted by krewfoo99(115), visit this page
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So basically what this is saying that DNA will be transmitted to the progeny not RNA. So DNA will replicate in the G2 phase and transfer of DNA material to progeny will occur in the M phase. The RNA may be mutated and making defective products, but this will not transmit into the progeny, thus not affecting species survival based on RNA mutations.

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bk2458  makes sense!! +
almondbreeze  good work +1
tyrionwill  the question asks the reason of no impact on its survival. if a protein translated from a wrong mRNA loses its function, how can we say the bacteria will still survive well? if there is always fatal error happened during mRNA transcription, and always leading to fatal dysfunctional protein, how can the bacteria and its progeny still survive? so the point will be whether the fatal errors will always happen during transcription? I dont know... +
tyrionwill  actually FA and NBME seem to have made a wrong statement that RNA polymerase has no proofreading function. RNA polymerase has more fidelity to DNA than DNA polymerase by 2 ways: 1) highly selection of correct nucleotide, and 2) proofreading. (Jasmin F Sydow and Patrick Cramer, RNA polymerase fidelity and transcriptional proofreading: https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_1940413/component/file_1940417/content) however, if survival of the species refers only to the reproduction of progeny, mRNA mutation has nothing with the progeny. +1
fatboyslim  @tyrionwill That's a good question. I think though it is less likely for a transcription error to cause a fatal protein error. Maybe it can cause the bacteria to be less virulent or something... +


submitted by krewfoo99(115), visit this page
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So basically what this is saying that DNA will be transmitted to the progeny not RNA. So DNA will replicate in the G2 phase and transfer of DNA material to progeny will occur in the M phase. The RNA may be mutated and making defective products, but this will not transmit into the progeny, thus not affecting species survival based on RNA mutations.

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bk2458  makes sense!! +
almondbreeze  good work +1
tyrionwill  the question asks the reason of no impact on its survival. if a protein translated from a wrong mRNA loses its function, how can we say the bacteria will still survive well? if there is always fatal error happened during mRNA transcription, and always leading to fatal dysfunctional protein, how can the bacteria and its progeny still survive? so the point will be whether the fatal errors will always happen during transcription? I dont know... +
tyrionwill  actually FA and NBME seem to have made a wrong statement that RNA polymerase has no proofreading function. RNA polymerase has more fidelity to DNA than DNA polymerase by 2 ways: 1) highly selection of correct nucleotide, and 2) proofreading. (Jasmin F Sydow and Patrick Cramer, RNA polymerase fidelity and transcriptional proofreading: https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_1940413/component/file_1940417/content) however, if survival of the species refers only to the reproduction of progeny, mRNA mutation has nothing with the progeny. +1
fatboyslim  @tyrionwill That's a good question. I think though it is less likely for a transcription error to cause a fatal protein error. Maybe it can cause the bacteria to be less virulent or something... +


submitted by nor16(70), visit this page
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in รŸ Thalassemia there is HbA2 increase and HbA decreases, even in รŸ+ , normal electrophoresis rules this out. same for A)-C)

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tyrionwill  Yes! The key point is the normal electrophoresis. Hemoglobin will not show any abnormalities until least one single allele of Hb fully develops mutation. alpha chain of Hb is contributed by two points within one single allele, while beta chain of Hb is made of only one point in one single allele, therefore: -- in alpha thalassemia Hb electrophoresis will be normal if only one point gets mutation, i.e., aa/a- which we call it the "minima type". If two points get mutation, i.e., cis aa/--, or trans a-/a-, the "minor type", the Hb electrophoresis will be either abnormal(Hb Barts 3-8%) or still normal. overall, we assume the parent both are the minima type, so their children have 50% chance to be the minor type, 25% to be fully normal, and 25% to be the trans minor. -- However in beta thalassemia, the mutation of one allele will lead to whole allele changed, so we just need the mutation once to generate an abnormal Hb electrophoresis result. +1


submitted by sajaqua1(607), visit this page
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Gynecomastia, spider angiomata, and hypogonadism (as well as palmar erythema) are all signs of excess estrogen. The liver in patients with hepatic disease is impaired and so cannot clear estrogen sufficiently. Six 12 oz beers daily (72 oz, or half a gallon) is too much, and is destroying his liver.

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uslme123  No hepatosplenomegaly, ascites, or edema through me off. We that being said, I shied away from cirrhosis. I thought that he showed signed of depression, so I went with the thyroid. But who's to say he isn't injection anabolic steroids?! +7
catch-22  The principle is you can get liver dysfunction without having HSM, ascites, etc. Liver disease is on a progressive spectrum. +14
notadoctor  He likely has hepatitis B/C given his history of intravenous drug use. I believe both can have liver dysfunction but may or may not have ascites, whereas the type of damage we would expect from alcohol that would match this presentation would also show ascites. +
charcot_bouchard  For Ascities u need to have portal HTN. Thats a must. (unless exudative cause like Malignancy) +2
paulkarr  For anyone who needs it; the FA photo is kinda burned into my mind for these questions. NBME has some weird infatuation with this clinical presentation.. FA (2019) Pg: 383 "Cirrhosis and Portal HTN". +5
snripper  @paulkarr the problem was that the FA image was burned into my mind so without no ascites or edema threw me off of cirrhosis. +
tyrionwill  cirrhosis doesn't present hepatomegaly, instead, the liver could be shrunken. +2
avocadotoast  Cirrhosis (most likely due to alcoholism in this patient) leads to an increase in sex hormone binding globulin, causing a relative increase in estrogen compared to androgens. Cirrhosis doesn't always have to present with ascites and adema. I agree with @catch-22 that liver disease is a spectrum. This patient does not have ascites because his liver is still able to produce enough albumin to maintain oncotic pressure in the blood. +1


submitted by sajaqua1(607), visit this page
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Because the baby's mother has Type 1 Diabetes mellitus, it is plausible that they had elevated blood glucose levels during or shortly before birth. Insulin does not cross the placenta, but glucose does, so during birth the neonate would have been hyperglycemic. This would lead to the neonatal pancreas releasing insulin, driving glucose into cells and turning down gluconeogenesis; this is why the baby is hypoglycemic right now.

B) Decreased glycogen concentration- I don't know the glycogen concentration compared to an adult patient, but a decrease in glycogen concentration would indicate glycogen/glucose release, which would not be a hypoglycemic state. C) Decreased glycogen synthase activity- decreased glycogen synthase activity indicates energy catabolism, and would lead to higher serum glucose levels. D) Decreased serum insulin concentration- decreased serum insulin would lead to higher levels of glucose in serum. E) Increased serum insulin-like growth factor- IGF does not bind nearly as well to insulin receptors as insulin does, and so would have to be in extremely high concentrations to have this effect. IGF is associated with somatic growth and muscle development.

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yotsubato  His glycogen concentration is high, since he's been hyperglycemic with lots of insulin until birth. +6
alexb  Also explains why he's 12 pounds. +4
krewfoo99  Also, think of it like this: Insulin causes hypoglycemia, thus this baby must have increased insulin. It is also an anaobolic hormone which is clear by the babys weight. Insulin increases glycogen synthase activity, and causes an increase in concentrations of glycogen. Decrease in insulin would do exactly the opposite +1
tyrionwill  fetus of a mom with DM will develop pancreatic beta cell hyperplasia, which leads to insulinemia trying to reduce the blood glucose. after birth, the excessive blood glucose will be automatically withdrawn while the insulin at that moment is still high, which leads to hypoglycemia. +3
eimal786  high insulin causes positive effect on Fructose 2 6 bisphophate, which will stimulate PFK1 and inhabits F.2.6 Bisphosphatase, this turns off gluconeogenisis.....what the question is exactly asking about..... +


submitted by uslme123(86), visit this page
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This question makes no sense to me. She has an extremely low opening pressure yet has signs of increased intracranial pressure. Did they mean to put 32 cm H20?????????

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uslme123  Standard lab values are incorrect, way to go NBME. +3
wutuwantbruv  I think they mean to put mm Hg. Normal CSF pressure is about 100-180 mm H20 which equates to about 8-15 mm Hg. +4
alexb  I lost a bit of time wondering about that ugh lol +1
mjmejora  I thought there must be an obstruction in the ventricles somewhere preventing csf from getting to the spine. so pressure is low in spinal tap but in the head it must be really high. +2
donttrustmyanswers  Does anyone have clarification on this question? +
llamastep1  Pseudo tumor cerebri can have normal ICP. Who knew +1
tyrionwill  Hi, mjmejora, MRI did not see anything abnormality, couldn't this mean that there was no obstruction in the ventricles? +1


submitted by usmleuser007(464), visit this page
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NVM got it.

Just FYI: the CI was stated to be from 110-116 with 95% and mean of 113. So, on either there are two SD on either sides of 113 (the mean) that give the 95%.

116-113= 3 within 2SD above the mean 113-110= 3 within 2SD below the mean

3 divided by the 2 SD = 1.5 per SD.

to get from 95% to 99% you have to incorporate one more SD (3 SD) on either sides of the mean (113)

Therefore; at 99% CI 110-1.5= 108.5 CI 116+1.5= 117.5

Round these up and you get 108-118

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tyrionwill  95%CI = M ยฑ Z(SE) instead of SD 116-113 = 3 within 2SE, not 2SD SE = SD/extract the square root of n = SD/2 and SD = 2SE +
tyrionwill  Sorry I made a mistake, neglect the abobe +
tyrionwill  if you use Mean ยฑ 2SD = 95%CI to know SD, then use Mean ยฑ 3SD to only know 99.7%CI, a bit larger than 99%CI +


submitted by usmleuser007(464), visit this page
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NVM got it.

Just FYI: the CI was stated to be from 110-116 with 95% and mean of 113. So, on either there are two SD on either sides of 113 (the mean) that give the 95%.

116-113= 3 within 2SD above the mean 113-110= 3 within 2SD below the mean

3 divided by the 2 SD = 1.5 per SD.

to get from 95% to 99% you have to incorporate one more SD (3 SD) on either sides of the mean (113)

Therefore; at 99% CI 110-1.5= 108.5 CI 116+1.5= 117.5

Round these up and you get 108-118

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tyrionwill  95%CI = M ยฑ Z(SE) instead of SD 116-113 = 3 within 2SE, not 2SD SE = SD/extract the square root of n = SD/2 and SD = 2SE +
tyrionwill  Sorry I made a mistake, neglect the abobe +
tyrionwill  if you use Mean ยฑ 2SD = 95%CI to know SD, then use Mean ยฑ 3SD to only know 99.7%CI, a bit larger than 99%CI +


submitted by usmleuser007(464), visit this page
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NVM got it.

Just FYI: the CI was stated to be from 110-116 with 95% and mean of 113. So, on either there are two SD on either sides of 113 (the mean) that give the 95%.

116-113= 3 within 2SD above the mean 113-110= 3 within 2SD below the mean

3 divided by the 2 SD = 1.5 per SD.

to get from 95% to 99% you have to incorporate one more SD (3 SD) on either sides of the mean (113)

Therefore; at 99% CI 110-1.5= 108.5 CI 116+1.5= 117.5

Round these up and you get 108-118

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tyrionwill  95%CI = M ยฑ Z(SE) instead of SD 116-113 = 3 within 2SE, not 2SD SE = SD/extract the square root of n = SD/2 and SD = 2SE +
tyrionwill  Sorry I made a mistake, neglect the abobe +
tyrionwill  if you use Mean ยฑ 2SD = 95%CI to know SD, then use Mean ยฑ 3SD to only know 99.7%CI, a bit larger than 99%CI +


submitted by mousie(272), visit this page
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why does treatment of hypothyroid (with levothyroxine I'm assuming) increase risk for myopathy? I chose it simply bc its a common adverse effect of statins but I don't really understand how treating hypothyroidism at the same time would have anything to do with it ??? help please!

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yb_26  They are just asking about side effect of statins, not about treatment of hypothyroidism +5
mjmejora  Hypothyroidism is just a red herring. +
ususmle  statins cause both hepatotoxic and mypopathy so I want for hepatotoxic:( I thought usmle expects different stuff +1
drzed  Statins don't cause 'toxic hepatitis' they just cause a mild asymptomatic rise in LFTs that is reversible with discontinuation of the drug. The more worrisome side effect is of course, myopathy +2
tyrionwill  statins cause both liver injury and myopathy in a dose related, so kidney failure increases their dose, which leads both liver and muscle risk elevated; Pravastatin is said less liver concerns but the myopathy, so choose myopathy when renal failure. +1


submitted by hungrybox(1277), visit this page
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Fucking NBME test writers lmao

Me: "Wait... isn't the answer 25.9? How come I don't see it here."

NBME: "Oh yeah, we rounded it."

Me: "To 30? I don't see that here, either..."

NBME: "No, to 28.8"

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tyrionwill  When I got 25.9 and found nothing exactly matched, I guessed that the maintenance dose might be a bit more due to the bioavailability. So this antibiotic probably was not an I.V. formula, but an oral one, with a roughly 90% BA. +2
eradionova  Well then it could have been equally likely that it had a 50% BA and the answer would be 51.8 exactly. I almost considered picking that but in the end stuck with the one that was closest to my answer lol +2


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