Further tests showed that Monica struggled with recognizing highly familiar melodies, but that she had no problems in recognizing the voices of well-known speakers. Thus, it was concluded that Monicas deficit seemed limited to music. A later study showed that not only do amusics experience difficulty in discriminating variations in pitch, but they also exhibit deficits in perceiving patterns in pitch.This finding led to another test that was designed to assess the presence of a deficiency in pitch perception. In this test, Monica heard a sequence of five piano tones of constant pitch followed by a comparison sequence of five piano tones in which the fourth tone could be the same pitch as the other notes in the sequence or a completely different pitch altogether. Monica was asked to respond "yes" if she detected a pitch change on the fourth tone or respond "no" if she could not detect a pitch change. Results showed that Monica could barely detect a pitch change as large as two semitones (whole tone), or half steps. While this pitch-processing deficit is extremely severe, it does not seem to include speech intonation. This is because pitch variations in speech are very coarse compared with those used in music. In conclusion, Monicas learning disability arose from a basic problem in pitch discrimination, which is viewed as the origin of congenital amusia. Research
Over the past decade, much has been discovered about amusia. However, there remains a great deal more to learn.
A tophus (Latin: "stone", plural tophi) is a deposit of monosodium urate crystals, in people with longstanding high levels of uric acid in the blood, a condition known as hyperuricemia. Tophi are pathognomonic for the disease gout. Most people with tophi have had previous attacks of acute arthritis, eventually leading to the formation of tophi. Chronic tophaceous gout is known as Harrison Syndrome.Tophi form in the joints, cartilage, bones, and other places throughout the body. Sometimes, tophi break through the skin and appear as white or yellowish-white, chalky nodules. Without treatment, tophi may develop on average about ten years after the onset of gout, although their first appearance can range from three to forty-two years. The development of gouty tophi can also limit joint function and cause bone destruction, leading to noticeable disabilities, especially when gout cannot successfully be treated. When uric acid levels and gout symptoms cannot be controlled with standard gout medicines that decrease the production of uric acid (e.g., allopurinol, febuxostat) or increase uric acid elimination from the body through the kidneys (e.g., probenecid), this can be referred to as refractory chronic gout (RCG). They are more apt to appear early in the course of the disease in people who are older. Although less common, tophi can also form in the kidneys and nasal cartilage. Pathophysiology
It appears that monosodium urate crystals trigger a distinct physiological NETosis pathway that coats them in DNA. These coated crystals then persist in tissues as a foreign body granuloma constituting gouty tophus.