Des Moines University (DMU) is a private medical school in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 1898, Des Moines University is the second oldest osteopathic medical school and the fifteenth largest medical school in the United States. DMU's three colleges – the College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, and College of Health Sciences – offer nine academic degrees, including master’s and doctorate degrees.Annual enrollment is approximately 1,550 students, and the university has more than over 14,000 total alumni in all 50 states.The unaffiliated Des Moines College used the name Des Moines University during the 1920s until its closure in 1929.
BackgroundSeptic arthritis of native joints remains an uncommon but serious clinical condition affecting approximately two per 100,000 individuals annually. The synovial membrane, being highly vascular and lacking a protective basement membrane, is particularly susceptible to hematogenous bacterial seeding, especially in patients with pre-existing joint disease. Corynebacterium propinquum, typically regarded as a respiratory commensal, has rarely been implicated in deep-seated infections.Case SummaryWe report the first known case of C. propinquum isolated from synovial fluid in a patient with native knee septic arthritis. The 59-year-old female had a history of bilateral knee osteoarthritis and recent intra-articular corticosteroid injections. Initial synovial fluid cultures were negative; however, enrichment using aerobic blood culture bottles, followed by subculture, yielded C. propinquum identified by MALDI-TOF MS. The organism grew on aerobic blood agar but not on anaerobic media or thioglycolate broth. The patient was successfully treated with intravenous daptomycin, followed by ceftriaxone, with subsequent clinical improvement.ConclusionThis case highlights the diagnostic value of using enrichment culture and comprehensive laboratory-clinical correlation to recognize clinically significant, low-virulence organisms, such as Corynebacterium propinquum. Accurate species-level identification and thoughtful interpretation within the clinical context are essential to distinguish contamination from true infection, particularly in sterile-site cultures associated with native joint infections.
Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are low-cost, wearable sensors that can estimate body segment orientation by tracking relative sensor orientations. This review aimed to synthesize and evaluate studies investigating the accuracy and reliability of IMUs in measuring shoulder kinematics for clinical application in patients with musculoskeletal injuries. Shoulder kinematics were chosen due to their importance in assessing upper extremity function, performing overhead activities, and the increasing demand for objective, accessible motion-tracking tools in clinical settings. Studies within PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar were screened for eligibility. They were selected based on the following inclusion criteria: (1) application of inertial sensors to assess motions, (2) sensors used accelerometers and gyroscopes or similarly functioning technologies, (3) sensors applied to shoulders, (4) studies published from 2011 to 2024, (5) studies written in English, (6) studies found in peer reviewed, original research articles, (7) studies with full text available. Of 1900 articles identified in our initial literature search, 49 were included. Articles were excluded based on these criteria: (1) Reviews, systematic reviews, or meta-analyses, (2) Studies without ethical approval, (3) Animal or cadaveric studies, (4) Studies prior to 2011. A data extraction was included with key findings of each article. The Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) quality assessment tool was used to assess each article's risk of bias. We compared outcome metrics across studies quantifying IMU accuracy and reliability, including root mean square error (RMSE) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), respectively. IMU-based shoulder kinematics exhibited a wide-range of RMSEs (<1° - 12°) and ICCs (0.32 - 0.98) depending on the motion and number of sensors used. Overall, there was a tolerable RMSE (between 5-10°; mean = 7.10 ± 3.97) and good ICC (>0.75; mean = 0.810 ± 0.145) across studies for 6.77 IMUs on average. The goal of this review was to assess the current IMU use in upper extremities, identify factors preventing clinical use, and inform future research. More IMU-based clinical studies are needed to understand shoulder pathology motor deficits. Additional validation studies are needed to demonstrate IMU efficacy when paired with other technologies.
The aim of this study was to examine the patterns of health information-seeking via social media among emerging adults compared to older cohorts. The study utilized data ( N = 6,252) from wave six of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 6), a nationally representative survey designed to monitor how people access and use health information and health communication in the United States. Results indicate that emerging adults reported significantly different patterns of health-related social media use and perceptions of the utility of social media in making health decisions than older adults. In general, compared to older generations, emerging adults were more likely to use social media, more likely to use information from social media to make health decisions, and more likely to report social media networks with similar views on health. These findings have important implications for public health education and communication strategies.
