Molecular epidemiology of invasive group B Streptococcus in South Africa, 2019-2020.

Background: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of neonatal meningitis and sepsis and an important cause of disease in adults. Capsular polysaccharide and protein-based GBS vaccines are currently under development.

Methods: Through national laboratory-based surveillance, invasive GBS isolates were collected from patients of all ages between 2019 and 2020.

Provision of a daily high protein and high energy meal: Effects on the physical and psychological wellbeing of community-dwelling, malnourished older adults; a randomised crossover trial.

Objectives: To determine whether daily provision of a high protein, high energy meal for 12-weeks to under-nourished older adults living independently in the community can improve physical, physiological, and psychological outcomes.

Design: A randomised crossover trial.

Setting: Participant homes within a 15-mile radius to meal supplier; Dartmoor Community Kitchen Hub.

Genomic cluster formation among invasive group A streptococcal infections in the USA: a whole-genome sequencing and population-based surveillance study.

Background: Clusters of invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) infection, linked to genomically closely related group A streptococcal (GAS) isolates (referred to as genomic clusters), pose public health threats, and are increasingly identified through whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis. In this study, we aimed to assess the risk of genomic cluster formation among iGAS cases not already part of existing genomic clusters.

Methods: In this WGS and population-based surveillance study, we analysed iGAS case isolates from the Active Bacterial Core surveillance (ABCs), which is part of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Emerging Infections Program, in ten US states from Jan 1, 2015, to Dec 31, 2019.

Associations between static foot posture, dynamic in-shoe plantar foot forces and knee pain in people with medial knee osteoarthritis: A cross-sectional exploratory study.

Objective: To investigate relationships between static foot posture, dynamic plantar foot forces and knee pain in people with medial knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Design: Data from 164 participants with symptomatic, moderate to severe radiographic medial knee OA were analysed. Knee pain was self-reported using a numerical rating scale (NRS; scores 0-10; higher scores worse) and the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score pain subscale (KOOS; scores 0-100; lower scores worse).

Prioritisation of clinical trial learning needs of musculoskeletal researchers: an inter-disciplinary modified Delphi study by the Australia & New Zealand musculoskeletal clinical trials network.

Background: There is a need to increase the capacity and capability of musculoskeletal researchers to design, conduct, and report high-quality clinical trials. The objective of this study was to identify and prioritise clinical trial learning needs of musculoskeletal researchers in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Findings will be used to inform development of an e-learning musculoskeletal clinical trials course.

Improving the identification of bone-specific physical activity using wrist-worn accelerometry: A cross-sectional study in 11-12-year-old Australian children.

Physical activity (PA) during childhood and adolescence is important for the accrual of maximal peak bone mass. The precise dose that benefits bone remains unclear as methods commonly used to analyze PA data are unsuitable for measuring bone-relevant PA. Using improved accelerometry methods, this study identified the amount and intensity of PA most strongly associated with bone outcomes in 11-12-year-olds.

Associations of between- and within-day patterns of physical activity accumulation with arterial stiffness and indices of microvascular health-Evidence from The Maastricht study.

While physical activity (PA) is understood to promote vascular health, little is known about whether the daily and weekly patterns of PA accumulation associate with vascular health. Accelerometer-derived (activPAL3) 6- or 7-day stepping was analyzed for 6430 participants in The Maastricht Study (50.4% women; 22.

Hydralazine use can be associated with IgM-dominated immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis.

Context: IgM-dominant immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis (IgM-dominant ICMGN) is a rare renal entity, characterized by a membranoproliferative pattern by light microscopy, dominant IgM staining by immunofluorescent staining, and subendothelial deposits by electron microscopy. This study was to investigate if some of IgM-ICMGN were associated with autoimmune disorders induced by hydralazine.

Design: Seven IgM-dominant ICMGN cases were identified over 8 years.

A novel invasive Streptococcus pyogenes variant sublineage derived through recombinational replacement of the emm12 genomic region.

Group A streptococcal strains potentially acquire new M protein gene types through genetic recombination (emm switching). To detect such variants, we screened 12,596 invasive GAS genomes for strains of differing emm types that shared the same multilocus sequence type (ST). Through this screening we detected a variant consisting of 16 serum opacity factor (SOF)-positive, emm pattern E, emm82 isolates that were ST36, previously only associated with SOF-negative, emm pattern A, emm12.

Variation in pneumococcal invasiveness metrics is driven by serotype carriage duration and initial risk of disease.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that, while usually carried asymptomatically, can cause severe invasive diseases like meningitis and bacteremic pneumonia. A central goal in S. pneumoniae public health management is to identify which serotypes (immunologically distinct strains) pose the most risk of invasive disease.

The Role of Bone Marrow Biopsy Evaluation in the Workup for Monoclonal Gammopathy of Renal Significance: A Diagnosis of Exclusion.

Context.—: Monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance (MGRS) is a relatively new concept for patients with renal monoclonal protein deposition (RMPD) (except monoclonal cast nephropathy) and has been used as a reason for nephrologists to obtain a bone marrow biopsy (BMB). It takes a team of pathologists and clinicians to determine when RMPD at our institution can be defined as MGRS.

Expansion of Invasive Group A Streptococcus M1 Lineage in Active Bacterial Core Surveillance, United States, 2019‒2021.

From 2015-2018 to 2019‒2021, hypertoxigenic M1 lineage among invasive group A Streptococcus increased in the United States (1.7%, 21/1,230 to 11%, 65/603; p<0.001).

Raw Acceleration from Wrist- and Hip-Worn Accelerometers Corresponds with Mechanical Loading in Children and Adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between peak magnitudes of raw acceleration (g) from wrist- and hip-worn accelerometers and ground reaction force (GRF) variables in a large sample of children and adolescents. A total of 269 participants (127 boys, 142 girls; age: 12.3 ± 2.

Does physical activity moderate the association between shorter leukocyte telomere length and incident coronary heart disease? Data from 54,180 UK Biobank participants.

Telomere shortening is a biological aging hallmark. The effect of short telomere length may be targeted by increased physical activity to reduce the risk of multiple aging-related diseases, including coronary heart disease (CHD). The objective was to assess the moderation effect of accelerometer-based physical activity (aPA) on the association between shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) relatively in the population sample and incident CHD.

Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis in the Pediatric Spine Requiring Stabilization: A Literature Review and Report of 3 Cases.

Case: This report describes 3 cases of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) of the cervical and thoracic spine in patients aged 4 to 10 years. Each patient had painful lytic spinal lesions with vertebral body collapse and posterior involvement suggesting instability requiring corpectomy, grafting, and fusion. All 3 patients were doing well at their most recent follow-up without pain or recurrence.

The Analytical and Clinical Validity of the pfSTEP Digital Biomarker of the Susceptibility/Risk of Declining Physical Function in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Measures of stepping volume and rate are common outputs from wearable devices, such as accelerometers. It has been proposed that biomedical technologies, including accelerometers and their algorithms, should undergo rigorous verification as well as analytical and clinical validation to demonstrate that they are fit for purpose. The aim of this study was to use the V3 framework to assess the analytical and clinical validity of a wrist-worn measurement system of stepping volume and rate, formed by the GENEActiv accelerometer and GENEAcount step counting algorithm.

Sexual activity satisfaction in symptomatic hip osteoarthritis patients: A cross-sectional, national web-based study.

Aim: Despite high-interest rates in sex in people with hip osteoarthritis (OA), clinicians tend not to address sexual issues, especially in older adults. The objective of this study is to evaluate sexual activity and factors associated with sexual activity satisfaction in people with symptomatic hip OA.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 252 participants with symptomatic hip OA in Australia.

Associations of habitual physical activity and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity; a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

The aim of this review was to understand the association between habitual physical activity (hPA) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) in an ostensibly healthy adult population. Searches were performed in MEDLINE Web of Science, SPORTDiscus and CINAHL databases published up to 01/01/2022 (PROSPERO, Registration No: CRD42017067159). Observational English-language studies assessing the relationship between cfPWV and hPA (measured via self-report or device-based measures) were considered for inclusion in a narrative synthesis.

Shoes for self-managing chronic hip Pain: the SCHIPP randomized clinical trial protocol.

Background: Chronic hip pain is common and disabling and is largely due to osteoarthritis (OA). Self-management is recommended by international OA clinical guidelines yet there are few effective treatment options. Footwear has been suggested as a self-management approach, given that foot motion influences hip forces.

Recommendations for the delivery of therapeutic exercise for people with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis. An international consensus study from the OARSI Rehabilitation Discussion Group.

Objective: To develop evidence-informed recommendations to support the delivery of best practice therapeutic exercise for people with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis (OA).

Design: A multi-stage, evidence-informed, international multi-disciplinary consensus process that included: 1) a narrative literature review to synthesise existing evidence; 2) generation of evidence-informed proposition statements about delivery of exercise for people with knee and/or hip OA by an international multi-disciplinary expert panel, with statements refined and analysed thematically; 3) an e-Delphi survey with the expert panel to gain consensus on the most important statements; 4) a final round of statement refinement and thematic analysis to group remaining statements into domains.

Results: The expert panel included 318 members (academics, health care professionals and exercise providers, patient representatives) from 43 countries.

Effect of functional weightbearing versus non-weightbearing quadriceps strengthening exercise on contact force in varus-malaligned medial knee osteoarthritis: A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Knee osteoarthritis progression may be related to altered knee loads, particularly in those with varus malalignment. Using randomized controlled trial data, this secondary analysis of complete datasets (n = 67) compared the effects of a functional weightbearing (WB) and non-weightbearing quadriceps strengthening exercise (NWB) program on measures of medial tibiofemoral joint contact force (MTCF) during walking.

Methods: Participants aged ≥50 years and with medial knee osteoarthritis and varus malalignment were randomly allocated to a 12-week, home-based, physiotherapist-prescribed exercise program comprised of WB exercises (n = 31), or NWB exercise (n = 36).