Femoral Neck Anteversion: Which Distal Femur Landmark Matters?

Background: Femoral neck anteversion has traditionally been measured by the angle between the distal femur posterior condylar axis (PCA) and a line drawn through the center of the femoral head and neck. While less common, the transepicondylar axis (TEA) has also been used to reference femoral neck anteversion. The purpose of this study was to compare femoral neck version of the PCA vs the TEA using computerized tomography (CT).

How to Estimate Femoral Stem Anteversion During Direct Anterior Approach Total Hip Arthroplasty.

Background: There are various traditional landmarks used to estimate the femoral component version, yet none are widely accepted by direct anterior surgeons. The purpose of this study was to compare bony landmarks easily accessible to direct anterior surgeons and to estimate which one provides the best estimate of femoral component anteversion.

Methods: A computed tomography database was used to identify 736 left entire-femur computed tomography scans.

Leadership perspectives on osteopathic medical school applicants to pathology residency training.

The number of graduating allopathic (MD) medical students matching into pathology has declined in recent years, while the number of osteopathic (DO) medical students has increased modestly, given the rapid expansion of osteopathic medical schools. Nonscholarly publications and materials on the internet often perpetuate negative perceptions of osteopathic physicians. Anecdotally, perspectives exist that some pathology residency programs are not DO-friendly; however, the reasons and how widespread an effect this might be are unclear.

A modified Delphi consensus statement on patellar instability: part I.

Aims: The aim of this study was to establish consensus statements on the diagnosis, nonoperative management, and indications, if any, for medial patellofemoral complex (MPFC) repair in patients with patellar instability, using the modified Delphi approach.

Methods: A total of 60 surgeons from 11 countries were invited to develop consensus statements based on their expertise in this area. They were assigned to one of seven working groups defined by subtopics of interest within patellar instability.

A modified Delphi consensus statement on patellar instability: part II.

Aims: The aim of this study was to establish consensus statements on medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction, anteromedialization tibial tubercle osteotomy, trochleoplasty, and rehabilitation and return to sporting activity in patients with patellar instability, using the modified Delphi process.

Methods: This was the second part of a study dealing with these aspects of management in these patients. As in part I, a total of 60 surgeons from 11 countries contributed to the development of consensus statements based on their expertise in this area.

Healthcare staff mental health trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the COVID-19 Staff Wellbeing Survey.

Background: Cross-sectional studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of healthcare staff. However, it is less well understood how working over the long term in successive COVID-19 waves affects staff well-being.

Aims: To identify subpopulations within the health and social care staff workforce with differentiated trajectories of mental health symptoms during phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ungulate spatiotemporal responses to contrasting predation risk from wolves and snow leopards.

Spatial responses to risk from multiple predators can precipitate emergent consequences for prey (i.e. multiple-predator effects, MPEs) and mediate indirect interactions between predators.

Hemisilicone Elastomers That Are Recyclable to the Monomer.

Methyl-, vinyl-, and hydride-terminated polymers of the heterocyclic monomer, 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-2,5-disila-1-oxacyclopentane (-ME) were prepared by sulfuric acid-catalyzed, ring-opening equilibration with the end-capping agents hexamethyldisiloxane (MM), divinyltetramethyldisiloxane (MM), and tetramethyldisiloxane (MM), respectively. The molecular weights of the polymers were controlled by adjusting the ratio of monomer to end-capping agent. All of these polymers are oils and exhibit molecular weight-dependent viscosities that are qualitatively similar to those of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based analogs prepared by the same reaction using octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D) instead of -ME.

Alterations in Protein Translation and Carboxylic Acid Catabolic Processes in Diabetic Kidney Disease.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) remains the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease despite decades of study. Alterations in the glomerulus and kidney tubules both contribute to the pathogenesis of DKD although the majority of investigative efforts have focused on the glomerulus. We sought to examine the differential expression signature of human DKD in the glomerulus and proximal tubule and corroborate our findings in the db/db mouse model of diabetes.

A poly(ethylene glycol) three-dimensional bone marrow hydrogel.

Three-dimensional (3D) hydrogels made from synthetic polymers have emerged as in vitro cell culture platforms capable of representing the extracellular geometry, modulus, and water content of tissues in a tunable fashion. Hydrogels made from these otherwise non-bioactive polymers can be decorated with short peptides derived from proteins naturally found in tissues to support cell viability and direct phenotype. We identified two key limitations that limit the ability of this class of materials to recapitulate real tissue.

COVID-19 Staff Wellbeing Survey: longitudinal survey of psychological well-being among health and social care staff in Northern Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, health and social care workers have faced unprecedented professional demands, all of which are likely to have placed considerable strain on their psychological well-being.

Aims: To measure the national prevalence of mental health symptoms within healthcare staff, and identify individual and organisational predictors of well-being.

Method: The COVID-19 Staff Wellbeing Survey is a longitudinal online survey of psychological well-being among health and social care staff in Northern Ireland.

The trochlear sulcus of the native knee is consistently orientated close to the sagittal plane despite variation in distal condylar anatomy.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe the native trochlear orientation of non-arthritic knees in three planes and to quantify the relationship between trochlear and distal condylar anatomy across race and sex.

Methods: Computed tomography scans of 1578 femora were included in this study. The mediolateral position of the trochlear sulcus, the distal trochlear sulcus angle (DTSA) the medial sulcus angle (MSA) and the lateral sulcus angle (LSA) as well as the mechanical lateral distal femoral angle (mLDFA) were measured relative to a standard reference coordinate system.

Range of Motion to Impingement Curves Create a New Patient-Specific Impingement-Free Zone for Acetabular Cup Placement.

Introduction: The acetabular "safe zone" has recently been questioned as a reliable reference for predicting total hip arthroplasty impingement and instability as many dislocations occur within the described parameters. Recently, an improved understanding of spino-pelvic mechanics has provided surgeons useful information to both identify those at a higher risk of dislocation and, in some cases, allows altering component positioning to accommodate the patient's individual "functional" range of motion. The purpose of this study was to create a new patient-specific impingement-free zone by considering range of motion (ROM) to prosthetic impingement for both high flexion and extension poses, thus demarcating a zone that avoids both anterior and posterior impingement, thereby creating an objective approach to identifying a patient's ideal functional safe zone.

The orchestrated cellular and molecular responses of the kidney to endotoxin define a precise sepsis timeline.

Sepsis is a dynamic state that progresses at variable rates and has life-threatening consequences. Staging patients along the sepsis timeline requires a thorough knowledge of the evolution of cellular and molecular events at the tissue level. Here, we investigated the kidney, an organ central to the pathophysiology of sepsis.

Rediscovering Silicones: The Anomalous Water Permeability of "Hydrophobic" PDMS Suggests Nanostructure and Applications in Water Purification and Anti-Icing.

Cross-linked polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is simultaneously water-repellent and highly permeable to water vapor. Unfilled and silica-free cross-linked PDMS films of variable thickness (8-160 µm) are prepared and their water vapor transmission rates and permeability values are determined. Vapor transmission rate increases as membrane thickness decreased from 160 to 15 µm, but does not increase further when the film thickness is decreased to 8 µm.

Multiple factors influence local perceptions of snow leopards and Himalayan wolves in the central Himalayas, Nepal.

An understanding of local perceptions of carnivores is important for conservation and management planning. In the central Himalayas, Nepal, we interviewed 428 individuals from 85 settlements using a semi-structured questionnaire to quantitatively assess local perceptions and tolerance of snow leopards and wolves. We used generalized linear mixed effect models to assess influential factors, and found that tolerance of snow leopards was much higher than of wolves.

A Different Silica Surface: Radical Oxidation of Poly(methylsilsesquioxane) Thin Films and Particles (Tospearl).

Surfaces that exhibit the reactivity of silica toward surface modification (silanol condensation) were prepared by treating thin films and particles of poly(methylsilsesquioxane) with aqueous potassium persulfate at elevated temperature. Parallel experiments were carried out using a highly cross-linked poly(dimethylsiloxane). Advancing (θ) and receding (θ) water contact angles for all of these oxidized surfaces were θ/θ = ∼10/∼0°, and these low values remain unchanged for months.

Children Devise and Selectively Use Tools to Offload Cognition.

From maps sketched in sand to supercomputing software, humans ubiquitously enhance cognitive performance by creating and using artifacts that bear mental load [1-5]. This extension of information processing into the environment has taken center stage in debates about the nature of cognition in humans and other animals [6-9]. How does the human mind acquire such strategies? In two experiments, we investigated the developmental origins of cognitive offloading in 150 children aged between 4 and 11 years.

Identifying Injury Patterns Associated With Physical Elder Abuse: Analysis of Legally Adjudicated Cases.

Study Objective: Elder abuse is common and has serious health consequences but is underrecognized by health care providers. An important reason for this is difficulty in distinguishing between elder abuse and unintentional trauma. Our goal was to identify injury patterns associated with physical elder abuse in comparison with those of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with unintentional falls.

Sessile Liquid Features as Molds for Silicone Elastomers.

Liquid applied to a chemically patterned (wetting/nonwetting, lyophilic/lyophobic) substrate forms a 3-dimensional contoured surface, the shape of which depends on the volume of liquid applied and the shape of the three-phase contact lines of air (or other phase in contact), liquid, and the wetted pattern. The resulting binary contoured interface with air, which consists of flat unwetted regions of the substrate and the mean curvature liquid-vapor interfaces of the sessile structures, can be used as a mold for imprinting solid polymers by curing liquid resins in contact. The success, flexibility with regard to shape, and reproducibility of this molding process depend on numerous issues.

Carbon Nanotubes Readily Disperse in Linear Silicones and Improve the Thermal Stability of Dimethylsilicone Elastomers.

Stable silicone fluid-carbon nanotube dispersions were prepared in minutes by simple mixing processes, without the addition of solvents or surfactants and without the chemical modification of the nanotubes. With linear silicones of sufficient viscosity, a dual asymmetric centrifuge (SpeedMixer) was sufficient for dispersion; lower viscosity silicones required a brief ultrasound treatment. Optical microscopy indicates a homogeneous dispersion of multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) bundles in linear poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) oils.

Near infrared light amplifies endothelial progenitor cell accumulation after stroke.

Damage-associated molecular pattern signals may play key roles in mediating non-cell autonomous effects of pre and post-conditioning. Here, we show that near-infrared (NIR) light stimulation of astrocytes increases a calcium-dependent secretion of the prototypical DAMP, HMGB1, which may then accelerate endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) accumulation after stroke. Conditioned media from NIR-stimulated astrocytes increased EPC proliferation in vitro, and blockade of HMGB1 with siRNA diminished the effect.

SRAssembler: Selective Recursive local Assembly of homologous genomic regions.

Background: The falling cost of next-generation sequencing technology has allowed deep sequencing across related species and of individuals within species. Whole genome assemblies from these data remain high time- and resource-consuming computational tasks, particularly if best solutions are sought using different assembly strategies and parameter sets. However, in many cases, the underlying research questions are not genome-wide but rather target specific genes or sets of genes.

Amoebae Assemble Synthetic Spherical Particles To Form Reproducible Constructs.

Difflugia are testate amoebae that use particulate inorganic matter to build a protective shell (generally called a test or theca). Difflugia globulosa were grown both in culture containing only naturally occurring theca-building materials and under conditions where synthetic particles were present also. The presence of monodisperse Stöber silica microspheres of 1, 3, and 6 μm in diameter or 4 μm polystyrene spheres dramatically increased the rate of Difflugia growth, and foreign microspheres became the overwhelmingly dominant construction material.