Notes

Hemorrhagic Cholecystitis: An uncommon Source of Melena.
OBJECTIVES Low back pain (LBP) is a common reason for patients to present to emergency departments (EDs). Our objective was to describe the associations between depressive symptoms, pain severity, and functional impairment up to 3 months after initial ED presentation for LBP. METHODS We performed a secondary analysis on an observational cohort of adult patients from a high-volume, urban ED. Initial depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) and disability (Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire) were collected in person at the time of initial ED visit and by telephone at 1-week and 3-month follow-ups. Pain intensity (Numeric Rating Scale) was collected at 1-week and 3-month follow-ups. Our primary goal was to determine the associations between initial depressive symptoms and pain intensity and disability scores at 3 months. We also investigated the associations of initial and 3-month change in depressive symptoms with change in disability score from initial presentation to 3 months and change in pain initial severity and 3-month progression of depressive symptoms and 3-month pain intensity and disability outcomes for ED patients with LBP. Future work is needed to investigate whether behavioral interventions initiated from the ED may mitigate the incidence and severity of LBP-related chronic pain and functional impairments. © 2020 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.OBJECTIVES We know little about human olfactory ability in natural settings because current knowledge derives from lab-based studies using nonrepresentative samples of convenience. The primary objective was to use a validated lab tool, the five-item odor identification test, to assess variation in olfactory ability in different environments. METHODS Using the five-item test, we conducted two repeated measures experiments that assessed participant ability to correctly identify an odor source in different odor environments. We also examined consistency in odor labelling due to documented potential bias from idiosyncrasies in odor terms. RESULTS We found no variation in olfactory ability due to environment, but this may be due to methodological biases. First, subjective bias results from idiosyncratic differences in participant labelling and researcher coding of answer correctness. Second, better ability to learn odors may provide an advantage to women. Third, reducing positive female learning bias by analyzing consistency in response (regardless of correct odor source identification) results in no sex differences but fails to assess the functional aspect of olfactory ability (naming the correct odor source). Fourth, functional olfactory ability is significantly better in women is significantly better in females, especially in food-rich odor environments. CONCLUSIONS Environment was not a significant factor in olfactory ability in this study but that result may be confounded by methodological biases. We do not recommend odor identification as a field tool. Functional olfactory ability exhibits a sex-based pattern but consistency in recognizing the same odor does not. Food-rich odors may enhance olfactory ability in females. We discuss evolutionary and ecological implications of superior female functional olfactory ability relative to food foraging activity. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.BACKGROUND The relationship of Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) with possible alterations in patients' general health has been subject of study and controversy during the last years. OBJECTIVE To analyse the general health status of patients with BMS, comparing it with a control group. METHODS A case-control study was conducted to compare the diseases, medications, blood test alterations, disturbances in general health, oral quality of life, xerostomia, sleep quality and psychological status between a group of 20 patients with BMS and a group of 40 patients who did not suffer from this disease. RESULTS BMS patients suffered more comorbidities and consumed more medications than controls. More mental, behavioural or neurodevelopmental disorders in BMS patients were found, consuming more drugs for nervous and cardiovascular systems, and alimentary tract and metabolism. Lower levels of iron and higher levels of folic acid were found in BMS patients compared to controls. Autophinib Autophagy inhibitor General health status, oral health impact, sleepiness, psychological status and xerostomia levels were also significantly worsened in BMS patients than in controls. CONCLUSIONS BMS patients presented a worsened health status over controls suffering more comorbidities, consuming more medications and showing adverse results in all the health variables analyzed in this study. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.The scsABCD (suppressor of copper sensitivity) locus of Salmonella encodes four proteins that resemble the disulfide folding machinery of other bacteria. Previous work has shown that Salmonella encounters toxic levels of copper during infection and the Scs system provides protection against this copper-mediated toxicity. The current work reports that expression of the soluble periplasmic protein StScsC is induced by copper and that intramacrophage survival in the presence of copper is diminished by the loss of StScsC. Using a combination of genetic and proteomic approaches, the abundance of various cysteine-containing periplasmic proteins was found to be elevated by StScsC in the Salmonella periplasm, implicating StScsC in the disulfide folding of superoxide dismutases and proteins involved in amino acid sensing and import. Co-purification and mass spectrometry approaches confirmed that the arginine-sensing periplasmic protein ArtI associates with StScsC via a disulfide interaction, and purified ArtI was shown to alter the thiol redox state of purified StScsC. This work reports the first demonstration of a redox partner for the Scs system of Salmonella and provides insights into how this bacterial pathogen responds to copper stress during infection. © 2020 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.BACKGROUND Despite advances in noninvasive vascular imaging, detection of renal artery stenosis via catheter angiography is the gold standard for the diagnosis of renovascular hypertension (RVH). Due to lack of evidence, the utility of various blood tests and imaging modalities remains unclear. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed the utility of blood tests [plasma renin activity (PRA), aldosterone, and renal vein renin values] and imaging studies [computed tomography (CT) angiography, kidney ultrasonography (US)] by comparing them with renal angiography. Ten pediatric patients with RVH at two institutions from January 2008 to December 2016 were recruited. The sensitivities for diagnosing RVH via imaging and blood tests (kidney US, PRA, and aldosterone) were derived by examining patient records. Furthermore, the sensitivity and specificity of CT angiography were calculated by considering the both the affected and non-affected renal arteries of the patients. RESULTS A high sensitivity for diagnosing RVH via kidney US (89%) and PRA (80%) was observed.
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