Depression predicts decreased lumbar bone mineral density: A scoping review of chronic psychological stress and spinal tissue pathology.

Objective: Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is a complex disease with biological, psychological, and social components and the complex interactions of these components are poorly understood. Chronic psychological stress (CPS) (anxiety, depression, etc.) and pathological changes in spinal tissue (osteoporosis, disc degeneration, etc.

The COMPASS complex maintains the metastatic capacity imparted by a subpopulation of cells in UPS.

Intratumoral heterogeneity is common in cancer, particularly in sarcomas like undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS), where individual cells demonstrate a high degree of cytogenic diversity. Previous studies showed that a small subset of cells within UPS, known as the metastatic clone (MC), as responsible for metastasis. Using a CRISPR-based genomic screen , we identified the COMPASS complex member as a key regulator maintaining the metastatic phenotype of the MC in murine UPS.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the productivity and career prospects of musculoskeletal researchers.

Academic researchers faced a multitude of challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including widespread shelter-in-place orders, workplace closures, and cessation of in-person meetings and laboratory activities. The extent to which these challenges impacted musculoskeletal researchers, specifically, is unknown. We developed an anonymous web-based survey to determine the pandemic's impact on research productivity and career prospects among musculoskeletal research trainees and faculty.

Disease progression and clinical outcomes in latent osteoarthritis phenotypes: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) is widespread and the heterogeneous patient factors and clinical symptoms in OA patients impede developing personalized treatments for OA patients. In this study, we used unsupervised and supervised machine learning to organize the heterogeneity in knee OA patients and predict disease progression in individuals from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) dataset. We identified four distinct knee OA phenotypes using unsupervised learning that were defined by nutrition, disability, stiffness, and pain (knee and back) and were strongly related to disease fate.

Disease progression and clinical outcomes in latent osteoarthritis phenotypes: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) is widespread and the heterogeneous patient factors and clinical symptoms in OA patients impede developing personalized treatments for OA patients. In this study, we used unsupervised and supervised machine learning to organize the heterogeneity in knee OA patients and predict disease progression in individuals from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) dataset. We identified four distinct knee OA phenotypes using unsupervised learning that were defined by nutrition, disability, stiffness, and pain (knee and back) and were strongly related to disease fate.

Advancing basic and preclinical spine research: Highlights from the ORS PSRS 6th International Spine Research Symposium.

The sixth biennial ORS PSRS International Spine Research Symposium was held from November 6 to 10, 2022, at Skytop Lodge in northeastern Pennsylvania, USA. Organized jointly by the Orthopaedic Research Society and the Philadelphia Spine Research Society, the symposium attracted more than 200 participants from 15 different countries who came together to share the latest advances in basic and preclinical spine research. Following the symposium, selected participants were invited to submit full-length manuscripts to this special issue of .

Predicting Caregiver Communications in a Geriatric Clinic.

The current study evaluated the use of a machine learning model to determine benefit of medical record variables in predicting geriatric clinic communication requirements. Patient behavioral symptoms and global cognition, medical information, and caregiver intake assessments were extracted from 557 patient records. Two independent raters reviewed the subsequent 12 months for documented (1) incoming caregiver contacts, (2) outgoing clinic contacts, and (3) clinic communications.

Socioeconomic status, mental health, and nutrition are the principal traits for low back pain phenotyping: Data from the osteoarthritis initiative.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a heterogeneous disease with biological, physical, and psychosocial etiologies. Models for predicting LBP severity and chronicity have not made a clinical impact, perhaps due to difficulty deciphering multidimensional phenotypes. In this study, our objective was to develop a computational framework to comprehensively screen metrics related to LBP severity and chronicity and identify the most influential.

Tumor necrosis is an underappreciated histopathologic factor in the grading of chondrosarcoma.

Background: Cartilaginous neoplasms can be challenging to grade; there is a need to create an evidence-based rubric for grading. The goal of this study was to identify histopathologic features of chondrosarcoma that were associated with 5-year survival and to compare these to traditional patient, tumor and treatment variables.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of all patients undergoing surgical resection of a primary chondrosarcoma with at least 2 years of follow up.

Bullying, harassment, and discrimination of musculoskeletal researchers and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: an international study.

Purpose: Bullying, harassment, and discrimination (BHD) are prevalent in academic, scientific, and clinical departments, particularly orthopedic surgery, and can have lasting effects on victims. As it is unclear how BHD affects musculoskeletal (MSK) researchers, the following study assessed BHD in the MSK research community and whether the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused hardships in other industries, had an impact.

Methods: A web-based anonymous survey was developed in English by ORS Spine Section members to assess the impact of COVID-19 on MSK researchers in North America, Europe, and Asia, which included questions to evaluate the personal experience of researchers regarding BHD.

Self-paced acceptance and commitment training reduces burden transfer, stress, and burnout in veterinary healthcare teams.

Objective: An acceptance and commitment training (ACT) educational program targeting reaction to difficult client interactions recently demonstrated efficacy in reducing burden transfer, stress, and burnout in veterinary healthcare teams. The current noninferiority trial compared effectiveness of the original program with a self-paced version.

Sample: Employees of 2 corporate veterinary groups were randomized to live (n = 128) or self-paced (124) conditions.

Validation of the Burden Transfer Inventory-abbreviated and examination across veterinary medicine positions and settings in the United States.

Background: Burden transfer, when veterinary client caregiver burden underlies stressful encounters with providers, elevates risk for occupational distress in veterinary medicine. To date, burden transfer has been primarily examined in veterinarians working in general practice, using methods that are time consuming. The current work validates an abbreviated Burden Transfer Inventory (BTI-A) and explores burden transfer across positions of employment and veterinary settings.

An acceptance and commitment training program reduces burden transfer, stress, and burnout among veterinary healthcare teams.

Objective: To determine whether an acceptance and commitment training (ACT) program targeting reactions to difficult client interactions would reduce burden transfer, stress, and burnout among veterinary healthcare teams.

Sample: Small animal veterinary hospital employees randomly assigned to participate in an ACT program (intervention group; n = 72) or to not undergo the training program (control group; 71).

Procedures: The study was designed as a randomized, controlled, parallel-arms trial.

Specific agitation behaviours in dementia differentially contribute to aspects of caregiver burden.

Background: Agitation is a common symptom in dementia and linked to caregiver burden, but both agitation and burden are multidimensional constructs. The current study sought to determine whether specific presentations of agitation differentially relate to aspects of caregiver burden.

Methods: Medical record data from an outpatient memory clinic were extracted for 609 persons with dementia, including caregiver-reported burden and care recipient agitation.

In vivo fluid transport in human intervertebral discs varies by spinal level and disc region.

Background: The lumbar discs are large, dense tissues that are primarily avascular, and cells residing in the central region of the disc are up to 6-8 mm from the nearest blood vessel in adults. To maintain homeostasis, disc cells rely on nutrient transport between the discs and adjacent vertebrae. Thus, diminished transport has been proposed as a factor in age-related disc degeneration.

Lumbar intervertebral disc diurnal deformations and T2 and T1rho relaxation times vary by spinal level and disc region.

Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is routinely used to evaluate spine pathology; however, standard imaging findings weakly correlate to low back pain. Abnormal disc mechanical function is implicated as a cause of back pain but is not assessed using standard clinical MRI. Our objective was to utilize our established MRI protocol for measuring disc function to quantify disc mechanical function in a healthy cohort.

Factors of Dementia Caregiver Burden Differentially Contribute to Desire to Institutionalize.

The experience of dementia caregiver burden is multidimensional. Little is known about how different aspects of burden contribute to the consideration of moving a loved one to a structured living facility. In the present study, caregiver burden (Zarit Burden Interview; ZBI) and consideration of structured living arrangements (Desire to Institutionalize Scale; DIS) were self-reported by 339 caregivers.

In vivo relationships between lumbar facet joint and intervertebral disc composition and diurnal deformation.

Background: Spinal motion is facilitated by a "three joint complex", two facet joints and one intervertebral disc at each spinal level. Both the intervertebral discs and facet joints are subject to natural age-related degeneration, and while these processes may be linked it is not clear how. As instability in the disc could underlie facet arthritis, we evaluated the hypothesis that the discs and facet joints are mechanically coupled.

The Moderating Role of Pain Self-efficacy in the Relationships Among Caregiver Burden and Care Recipient Pain and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in a Sample of Persons With Dementia.

Past research suggests relationships among dementia caregiver burden and care recipient pain and neuropsychiatric symptoms, but no prior work has examined the influence of pain self-efficacy on these associations. A sample of 502 dementia caregivers completed an online protocol assessing caregiver burden and care recipient neuropsychiatric symptoms, presence of pain, and pain self-efficacy in this cross-sectional, observational study. The indirect effect of neuropsychiatric symptoms on the relationship between pain and caregiver burden was significant.

Mutant IDH and non-mutant chondrosarcomas display distinct cellular metabolomes.

Background: Majority of chondrosarcomas are associated with a number of genetic alterations, including somatic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) and IDH2 genes, but the downstream effects of these mutated enzymes on cellular metabolism and tumor energetics are unknown. As IDH mutations are likely to be involved in malignant transformation of chondrosarcomas, we aimed to exploit metabolomic changes in IDH mutant and non-mutant chondrosarcomas.

Methods: Here, we profiled over 69 metabolites in 17 patient-derived xenografts by targeted mass spectrometry to determine if metabolomic differences exist in mutant IDH1, mutant IDH2, and non-mutant chondrosarcomas.

In Vivo Mechanical Function of the Distal Radial Ulnar Ligaments During Rotation of the Wrist.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in length of the volar and dorsal radioulnar ligaments (VRULs and DRULs), and the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) space during unweighted and weighted rotation of the wrist using magnetic resonance imaging and biplanar fluoroscopy.

Methods: Fourteen wrists in 7 normal adult volunteers were imaged to define the 3-dimensional geometry of the DRUJ and the insertion sites of the superficial and deep bundles of the VRULs and DRULs. Subjects were imaged at 10 positions of forearm rotation ranging from full pronation to full supination, with or without a 5-pound weight.

Fabrication, maturation, and implantation of composite tissue-engineered total discs formed from native and mesenchymal stem cell combinations.

Low back pain arising from disc degeneration is one of the most common causes of limited function in adults. A number of tissue engineering strategies have been used to develop composite tissue engineered total disc replacements to restore native tissue structure and function. In this study we fabricated a composite engineered disc based on the combination of a porous polycaprolactone (PCL) foam annulus fibrosus (AF) and a hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel nucleus pulposus (NP).

Influence of Genetic Background and Sex on Gene Expression in the Mouse () Tail in a Model of Intervertebral Disc Injury.

To facilitate rational experimental design and fulfill the NIH requirement of including sex as a biologic variable, we examined the influences of genetic background and sex on responses to intervertebral disc (IVD) injury in the mouse tail. The goal of this study was to compare gene expression and histologic changes in response to a tail IVD injury (needle puncture) in male and female mice on the DBA and C57BL/6 (B6) backgrounds. We hypothesized that extracellular matrix gene expression in response to IVD injury differs between mice of different genetic backgrounds and sex.

Automatic registration of MRI-based joint models to high-speed biplanar radiographs for precise quantification of in vivo anterior cruciate ligament deformation during gait.

Understanding in vivo joint mechanics during dynamic activity is crucial for revealing mechanisms of injury and disease development. To this end, laboratories have utilized computed tomography (CT) to create 3-dimensional (3D) models of bone, which are then registered to high-speed biplanar radiographic data captured during movement in order to measure in vivo joint kinematics. In the present study, we describe a system for measuring dynamic joint mechanics using 3D surface models of the joint created from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) registered to high-speed biplanar radiographs using a novel automatic registration algorithm.