Significance: This work describes the most extensive discovery and functional characterization of small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis to date. We comprehensively define the sRNAs expressed in M. tuberculosis under five host-like stress conditions. This reference dataset comprehensively defines the expression patterns and boundaries of mycobacterial sRNAs. We perform in-depth characterization of one sRNA, mycobacterial regulatory sRNA in iron (MrsI), which is induced in M. tuberculosis in multiple stress conditions. MrsI is critical for the iron-sparing response in mycobacteria by binding directly to mRNAs encoding nonessential iron-containing proteins to repress their expression. Interestingly, MrsI acts in an anticipatory manner, in which its induction by a variety of stresses primes M. tuberculosis to enter an iron-sparing state more rapidly upon iron deprivation.

Background: Despite efforts to address gender disparities in medicine, female representation in orthopaedics lags behind that of other fields, and little work has evaluated gender disparities within the subspecialty of arthroplasty surgery. The objective of this study was to analyze female authorship trends in arthroplasty research from 2002 to 2019. Methods: Articles published from 2002 to 2019 in 12 clinical orthopaedic and arthroplasty journals were extracted from PubMed. Articles that provided the full name of the first author and contained the terms “arthroplasty,” “hip replacement,” “knee replacement,” or “joint replacement” in the title and/or as keywords were analyzed. The gender of the author was determined with the validated Genderize algorithm, and publication trends were analyzed over time. Descriptive and comparative statistics were computed, and logistic regression was used to evaluate gender trends. Results: From 2002 to 2019, 14,692 articles met the inclusion criteria, and the gender of 63,628 authors was identified. There were 23,626 unique authors; 4,003 (16.9%) were women and 19,623 (83.1%) were men. Female involvement in arthroplasty publications increased from 11.1% in 2002 to 12.6% in 2019 (p < 0.001), and the percentage of female first authors increased from 5.0% in 2002 to 11.3% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Critically, however, the proportion of women as senior authors significantly declined from 8.5% in 2002 to 6.2% in 2019 (p < 0.001). From our analysis of U.S. publications with physician senior authors, the proportion of female senior authors remained relatively stable from 1.7% in 2002 to 2.4% in 2019 without a significantly increasing trend (p = 0.88). Overall, on average, women published a mean (and 95% confidence interval) of 1.9 ± 0.1 publications, while men published 2.9 ± 0.1 publications (p < 0.001). The proportion of female senior authors in arthroplasty publications (6.6%) was lower than that of other orthopaedic subspecialties such as sports medicine (9.2%), spine (13.6%), and foot and ankle (13.1%). Conclusions: While overall female representation and first authorship in arthroplasty literature have increased over time, the paucity of women in senior author roles remains troubling. Future studies should examine why the proportion of women publishing in arthroplasty remains lower than that in most other orthopaedic subspecialties.

Orthopaedic and related care has the potential to present unique obstacles for patients with a range of autism manifestations. In this review, we aim to describe and analyze the literature on autistic patients’ experience within orthopaedics and closely related fields. This literature search utilized the PubMed, Embase, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases. Three major concepts were built into the search terms: (1) patients on the autism spectrum; (2) patient experience; and (3) movement sciences, including orthopaedics, physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), occupational therapy (OT), and physical therapy (PT). Our search yielded 35 topical publications, with the major topic areas addressed as follows: (1) clinical and perioperative management, (2) therapy interventions, (3) participation in exercise and social play, (4) sensory management and accommodations, (5) caregiver/parent training and involvement in care, (6) healthcare needs and barriers to care, and (7) utilization of technology. In the current literature, there are no studies that attempt to directly assess autistic patient experience with care practices and clinical environments in orthopaedics. Rigorous, direct examination of the experience of autistic patients within clinical orthopaedic settings is urgently needed to address this gap.