Very low proportions of publications from low- and middle-income countries (LAMIC) have been proved in multiple fields. Some researchers from these countries believe that there is a biased attitude of editors against their studies. Under-representation of editorial board members from LAMIC were revealed in many research fields. However, it has not been investigated in the field of foot and ankle surgery. The current study aimed to analyze the composition of the editorial board members in leading foot and ankle journals, and to provide the international representation of editorial boards in the field of foot and ankle surgery. Five leading journals in the field of foot and ankle surgery were included. The editorial board members were collected from the official websites of these journals. The countries of board members were classified based on World Bank. The board compositions of the journals were analyzed. In total, 229 editorial board members were identified. These editors were from 29 countries. The United States (29.69%) had the greatest number of editors, followed by the United Kingdom (20.52%), Australia (8.30%), Italy (6.11%), and Germany (5.68%). When the editors were classified by regions, 49.34% of board members were from Europe & Central Asia, followed by North America (31.44%), East Asia & Pacific (14.41%), Latin America & Caribbean (2.62%), and Middle East & North Africa (2.18%). No editors were from South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 217 editors (94.76%) were from high-income countries, followed by upper-middle-income countries (3.06%), and lower-middle-income countries (2.18%). No members were from low-income countries. There is a lack of international representation on editorial boards of leading foot and ankle journals. Editorial board members in the field of foot and ankle surgery are largely composed by editors from high-income countries with sever under-representation of LAMIC.

Implant shear stiffness significantly affected the load sharing between the implant and the natural spine in anterior shear ex vivo. Low-stiffness implants transferred significantly greater loads to the spine. This study supports the importance of load-sharing behavior when designing new implants.

Several studies report that the OPG is an important candidate gene in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. This study aimed to detect the potential association of OPG gene polymorphisms with osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. We recruited 928 subjects containing 463 with primary postmenopausal osteoporosis and 465 healthy volunteers as controls. The BMD of neck hip, lumbar spine (L2–4), and total hip were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Through the created restriction site-polymerase chain reaction (CRS-PCR), PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and DNA sequencing methods, the g.18873C>T and g.27522G>A have been investigated. As for g.18873C>T, our data indicated that subjects with CC genotype have significantly higher BMD value than those of CT and TT genotypes (all P values < 0.05). As for g.27522G>A, the BMD values of subjects with GG genotype were significantly higher than those of GA and AA genotypes (all P values < 0.05). Our findings suggest that the OPG g.18873C>T and g.27522G>A genetic polymorphisms are associated with the decreased risk for osteoporosis in Chinese postmenopausal women.

Many pathologies involving disc degeneration are treated with surgery and spinal implants. It is important to understand how the spine behaves mechanically as a function of disc degeneration. Shear loading is especially relevant in the natural and surgically stabilized lumbar spine. The objective of our study was to determine the effect of disc degeneration on anterior translation of the lumbar spine under shear loading. We tested 30 human cadaveric functional spinal units (L3-4 and L4-5) in anterior shear loading. First, the specimens were imaged in a 1.5 T magnetic resonance scanner. The discs were graded according to the Pfirrmann classification. The specimens were then loaded up to 250 N in anterior shear with an axial compression force of 300 N. Motion of the vertebrae was captured with an optoelectronic camera system. Inter-and intra-observer reliability for disc grading was determined (Cohen's and Fleiss' Kappa), and a non-parametric test was performed on the translation data to characterize the effect of disc degeneration on this parameter. We found fair to moderate agreement between and within observers for the disc grading. We found no significant effect of disc degeneration on anterior shear translation (Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA). Our results indicate that disc degeneration, as classified with the Pfirrmann scale, does not predict lumbar spinal motion in shear. ß

BMSCs reduced the inflammatory response and were effective in immunomodulations during severe trauma.