Free abdominal gas on computed tomography in the emergency department: aetiologies and association between amount of free gas and mortality.

INTRODUCTION: Free abdominal gas is an important finding with major clinical implications. However, data on the aetiologies and prognosis of patients with free gas are scarce. Our primary aim was to describe the sources of free abdominal gas on emergency department (ED) computed tomography (CT). The secondary aim was to evaluate the association between the amount of free gas and all-cause mortality. METHODS: All patients who underwent CT in the ED between February 2012 and February 2019 with free abdominal gas were included in the study. A scoring system was used to assess the amount of free gas: small - gas bubbles; medium - any gas pocket ≤2cm in diameter; large - any gas pocket >2cm. Data were collected from laboratory and clinical assessment regarding the source of free gas and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: A total of 372 patients had free abdominal gas. Colonic diverticulitis was the most common aetiology among those with a small or medium amount of free gas (81/250 [32.4%] and 12/71 [16.9%] respectively). For patients with a large amount of gas, peptic disease was the most common aetiology (11/51 [21.6%]). Three-quarters of the patients (280/372, 75.2%) had the source of free gas identified during ED admission. Ninety-day mortality rates were 7.2%, 9.9% and 21.6% for patients with small, medium and large amounts of gas respectively (p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Colonic diverticulitis was the most common source of free abdominal gas and peptic disease was the most common cause of a large amount of free gas. Mortality rates correlated with the amount of gas and were significantly higher in patients with a large amount.

Thalassomonas loyana sp. nov., a causative agent of the white plague-like disease of corals on the Eilat coral reef.

The taxonomic position of the coral pathogen strain CBMAI 722T was determined on the basis of molecular and phenotypic data. We clearly show that the novel isolate CBMAI 722 T is a member of the family Colwelliaceae, with Thalassomonas ganghwensis as the nearest neighbour (95 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). CBMAI 722T can be differentiated from its nearest neighbour on the basis of phenotypic and chemotaxonomic features, including the utilization of cellobiose and L-arginine, the production of alginase and amylase, but not oxidase, and the presence of the fatty acids 12:0 3-OH and 14:0, but not 10:0 or 15:0. The DNA G+C content of CBMAI 722T is 39.3 mol%. We conclude that this strain represents a novel species for which we propose the name Thalassomonas loyana sp. nov., with the type strain CBMAI 722T (=LMG 22536T). This is the first report of the involvement of a member of the family Colwelliaceae in coral white plague-like disease.

CIS: compound importance sampling method for protein-DNA binding site p-value estimation.

MOTIVATION: A key aspect of transcriptional regulation is the binding of transcription factors to sequence-specific binding sites that allow them to modulate the expression of nearby genes. Given models of such binding sites, one can scan regulatory regions for putative binding sites and construct a genome-wide regulatory network. In such genome-wide scans, it is crucial to control the amount of false positive predictions. Recently, several works demonstrated the benefits of modeling dependencies between positions within the binding site. Yet, computing the statistical significance of putative binding sites in this scenario remains a challenge. RESULTS: We present a general, accurate and efficient method for computing p-values of putative binding sites that is applicable to a large class of probabilistic binding site and background models. We demonstrate the accuracy of the method on synthetic and real-life data. AVAILABILITY: The procedure for scanning DNA sequences and computing the statistical significance of putative binding site scores is available upon request at http://compbio.cs.huji.ac.il/CIS/ CONTACT: nir@cs.huji.ac.il.

[Systemic lupus erythematosus in children in Israel].

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a rare disease in children that might possibly be modulated by genetic and environmental factors. In order to delineate the characteristic features of SLE among Israeli children, we reviewed the medical records of 38 cases from 8 pediatric rheumatology clinics. All fulfilled the 1982 American Rheumatism Association revised criteria for SLE. The illness became apparent at the age of 16 years or younger and the mean age of onset was 11.9 +/- 2.4 y (range 7-16) and the mean duration of follow-up 4.0 +/- 4.8 y (range 0.5-15). The female to male ratio was 2.8:1; 28 were Jewish and 10 Arabs. Systemic complaints, such as fever, malaise and weight loss, were noted in 90%, malar rash in 65%, and other skin manifestations in 40%. Arthritis was noted in 57% and additional musculoskeletal complaints in 70%; 90% had hematological abnormalities. Major organ system involvement included: renal disease in 50% pulmonary involvement 28% and CNS involvement 28%. 2 patients are currently on renal dialysis and 1 died from hypertensive crisis. We conclude that the features of SLE in children in Israel are not influenced by ethnic or geographic factors, and are similar to those reported worldwide.

Homozygosity for autosomal dominant Marfan syndrome.

Marfan syndrome is an autosomal dominant condition with varying phenotypic manifestations. Affected persons are usually heterozygotes. A family is presented in which the gene for this syndrome is segregating in a large number of members. Two sibs suffered from unusually severe, identical, and fatal manifestations from birth, their parents having mild cardiovascular and somatic symptoms common in Marfan syndrome. Investigation of collagen biosynthesis in fibroblasts revealed no abnormalities in fibronectin and procollagen I and III synthesis and secretion or in the procollagen to collagen conversion. We suggest that these two sibs are examples of homozygosity for the Marfan syndrome gene, based on the large number of affected members, the absence of additional consanguinity, manifestation of the syndrome in both parents, and the severity of the disease in the two sibs.

Renal glomerular and tubular function following acute insulin deprivation in juvenile diabetes mellitus.

The effects of acute deprivation of insulin on renal glomerular and tubular functions were studied in 10 children with juvenile diabetes mellitus. Serum glucose concentrations were similar when insulin was administered (251 +/- 112 mg/dl) and when it was withheld (306 +/- 130 mg/dl; 0.5 greater than 0.2). Acute insulin deprivation was associated with a significant reduction in glomerular filtration rate, from 151 +/- 48 ml/min/1.73 m2 to 114 +/- 41 ml/min/1.73 m2 (p less than 0.01). The fractional excretion of sodium rose from 0.45 +/- 0.43 to 0.85 +/- 0.54% (p less than 0.05) and was associated with an enhanced natriuresis; the urinary excretion of sodium increased from 1.67 +/- 1.23 to 2.43 +/- 1.72 microEq/min/kg body weight (p less than 0.05), whereas the urinary excretion of phosphate was not significantly altered from control values. During insulin deprivation a drop occurred in the serum concentration of calcium from 10.37 +/- 0.52 to 9.73 +/- 0.61 mg/dl (p less than 0.01) as well as in its urinary excretion from 0.34 +/- 0.24 to 0.24 +/- 0.20 microgram/min/kg body weight (p less than 0.01). The serum concentration of potassium rose from 4.44 +/- 0.41 to 4.96 +/- 0.51 mEq/l, but its urinary excretion was not significantly different from control values. These data suggest that in juvenile diabetes mellitus the acute deprivation of insulin, dissociated from fluctuations in serum glucose concentration, is associated with a fall in glomerular filtration rate, an increased natriuresis, and a modified calcium and potassium homeostasis.