Clin Med
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This questionnaire-based study assessed the attitudes of the general public to the symptoms of a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and determined the current level of knowledge about the management of TIA among doctors. The public chose to wait for symptom recurrence before seeking medical advice for amaurosis (41%) and upper limb (UL) monoparesis (51%), sensory loss (68%), or paraesthesia (95%). However, medical advice would be sought most often for slurred speech alone (89%) or combined with UL monoparesis (99%). ⋯ In conclusion, the general public does not recognise the importance of TIA symptoms and the need for rapid assessment. This is compounded by deficiencies in the medical management of TIA. Stroke guidelines will remain ineffective without public awareness campaigns and physician education.
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An online survey of consultant diabetologists in the UK examined the interface between specialist services and acute-general internal medicine (acute-GIM). Out of 592 consultants, 289 (49%) responded. Of these, 94% contributed to acute-GIM, devoting equivalent time to acute-GIM and specialist diabetes services. ⋯ The increased commitment to acute-GIM compromised specialist diabetes activity through reduced consultant and training-grade time for outpatient activity and service development. The shift to primary care of chronic disease led to further conflict between acute-GIM and delivery of a specialist service, given the current systems for provision of consultant-led care. The large number of specialist trainees in diabetes and endocrinology will require innovative commissioning mechanisms that reflect the need to sustain and develop specialist diabetes and endocrine care in the appropriate settings as well as the continued input in acute trusts for acute-GIM.
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Performing music at a professional level requires the integration of multimodal sensory and motor information and precise monitoring of the performance via auditory feedback. In the context of Western classical music, musicians are forced to reproduce highly controlled movements almost perfectly with a high reliability. These specialised sensorimotor skills are acquired during extensive training periods over many years. ⋯ Auditory-sensorimotor integration, for example, is accompanied by rapid modulations of neuronal connectivity in the time range of 20 minutes. Finally, dysfunctional plasticity in musicians, known as musician's dystonia, leads to deterioration of extensively trained fine motor skills. Musician's dystonia may be caused by training induced dysplasticity with pathological fusion of central nervous representations in sensorimotor cortical and subcortical brain regions.