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Introduction: Technical advances and the increasing role of interdisciplinary decision-making may warrant formal definitions of expertise in surgical neuro-oncology. Research question: The EANS Neuro-oncology Section felt that a survey detailing the European neurosurgical perspective on the concept of expertise in surgical neuro-oncology might be helpful. Material and methods: The EANS Neuro-oncology Section panel developed an online survey asking questions regarding criteria for expertise in neuro-oncological surgery and sent it to all individual EANS members. Results: Our questionnaire was completed by 251 respondents (consultants: 80.1%) from 42 countries. 67.7% would accept a lifetime caseload of >200 cases and 86.7% an annual caseload of >50 as evidence of neuro-oncological surgical expertise. A majority felt that surgeons who do not treat children (56.2%), do not have experience with spinal fusion (78.1%) or peripheral nerve tumors (71.7%) may still be considered experts. Majorities believed that expertise requires the use of skull-base approaches (85.8%), intraoperative monitoring (83.4%), awake craniotomies (77.3%), and neuro-endoscopy (75.5%) as well as continuing education of at least 1/year (100.0%), a research background (80.0%) and teaching activities (78.7%), and formal interdisciplinary collaborations (e.g., tumor board: 93.0%). Academic vs. non-academic affiliation, career position, years of neurosurgical experience, country of practice, and primary clinical interest had a minor influence on the respondents' opinions. Discussion and conclusion: Opinions among neurosurgeons regarding the characteristics and features of expertise in neuro-oncology vary surprisingly little. Large majorities favoring certain thresholds and qualitative criteria suggest a consensus definition might be possible.
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The action of the medicinal plant Tribulus terrestris (TT) on bovine ovarian cell functions, as well as the protective potential of TT against xylene (X) action, remain unknown. The aim of the present in vitro study was to elucidate the influence of TT, X and their combination on basic bovine ovarian cell functions. For this purpose, we examined the effect of TT (at doses of 0, 1, 10, and 100 ng/mL), X (at 20 ?g/mL) and the combination of TT + X (at these doses) on proliferation, apoptosis and hormone release by cultured bovine ovarian granulosa cells. Markers of proliferation (accumulation of PCNA), apoptosis (accumulation of Bax) and the release of hormones (progesterone, testosterone and insulin-like growth factor I, IGF-I) were analyzed by quantitative immunocytochemistry and RIA, respectively. TT addition was able to stimulate proliferation and testosterone release and inhibit apoptosis and progesterone output. The addition of X alone stimulated proliferation, apoptosis and IGF-I release and inhibited progesterone and testosterone release by ovarian cells. TT was able to modify X effects: it prevented the antiproliferative effect of X, induced the proapoptotic action of X, and promoted X action on progesterone but not testosterone or IGF-I release. Taken together, our observations represent the first demonstration that TT can be a promoter of ovarian cell functions (a stimulator of proliferation and a suppressor of apoptosis) and a regulator of ovarian steroidogenesis. X can increase ovarian cell proliferation and IGF-I release and inhibit ovarian steroidogenesis. These effects could explain its anti-reproductive and cancer actions. The ability of TT to modify X action on proliferation and apoptosis indicates that TT might be a natural protector against some ovarian cell disorders associated with X action on proliferation and apoptosis, but it can also promote its adverse effects on progesterone release.
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Tribulus , Animais , Apoptose , Bovinos , Proliferação de Células , Células Cultivadas , Feminino , Células da Granulosa , Fator de Crescimento Insulin-Like I/metabolismo , Progesterona/metabolismo , Testosterona/metabolismo , Tribulus/metabolismo , Xilenos/metabolismo , Xilenos/farmacologiaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Twitter engagement between surgeons provides opportunities for international discussion of research and clinical practice. Understanding how surgical tweet chats work is important at a time when increasing reliance is being placed on virtual engagement because of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Individual tweets from the May 2019 #BJSConnect tweet chat were extracted using NodeXL, complemented by Twitter searches in an internet browser to identify responses that had not used the hashtag. Aggregate estimates of tweet views were obtained from a third-party social media tool (Twitonomy) and compared with official Twitter Analytics measurements. RESULTS: In total 37 Twitter accounts posted 248 tweets or replies relating to the tweet chat. A further 110 accounts disseminated the tweets via retweeting. Only 58.5 per cent of these tweets and 35 per cent of the tweeters were identified through a search for the #BJSConnect hashtag. The rest were identified by searching for replies (61), quoting tweets (20), and posts by @BJSurgery that used the hashtag but did not appear in the Twitter search (22). Studying all tweets revealed complex branching discussions that went beyond the discussed paper's findings. Third-party estimates of potential reach of the tweet chat were greatly exaggerated. CONCLUSION: Understanding the extent of the discussion generated by the #BJSConnect tweet chat required looking beyond the hashtag to identify replies and other responses, which was time-consuming. Estimates of reach using a third-party tool were unreliable.
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Cirurgia Geral , Publicações Periódicas como Assunto , Mídias Sociais , COVID-19 , Comunicação , Humanos , SARS-CoV-2 , Reino UnidoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Patients are increasingly taking an active role in the design and delivery of surgical research. Public communication of results should also be encouraged, but this is often limited to non-expert commentary. This study assessed the role of plain English abstracts disseminated via social media in engaging patients and clinicians in the communication of surgical research. METHODS: A three-arm randomized controlled trial with crossover of two intervention arms was performed. Manuscripts accepted for publication in BJS were allocated to one of three arms and disseminated via Twitter: plain English abstracts, visual abstracts and standard tweets. The primary outcome was online engagement (a composite of tweets, replies and likes) by members of the public within 14 days. The secondary outcome was online engagement by healthcare professionals. RESULTS: Forty-one manuscripts were randomized to plain English abstracts (14), visual abstracts (14) and standard tweets (13). The number of public engagements was low, with a mean of 1·8 (range 0-8), 2·5 (0-11), and 1·2 (0-4) for plain English abstracts, visual abstracts and standard tweets respectively. The mean number of engagements by healthcare professionals was 29·4 (6-66), 45·3 (6-161) and 28·8 (10-52) respectively. Overall, visual abstracts attracted a significantly greater number of engagements than plain English ones (P < 0·001). CONCLUSION: Online, public engagement with surgical research was low. Overall engagement (predominantly from healthcare professionals) was enhanced by the use of visual abstracts.
ANTECEDENTES: Los pacientes están tomando cada vez más un papel activo en el diseño y en la difusión de la investigación quirúrgica. También se debe fomentar la comunicación pública de los resultados, pero a menudo ésta se limita a comentarios de personas no expertas. Este estudio evaluó el papel de los resúmenes redactados en un inglés sencillo difundidos a través de las redes sociales para involucrar a pacientes y médicos en la comunicación de la investigación quirúrgica. MÉTODOS: Se realizó un ensayo aleatorizado y controlado de tres brazos con un diseño cruzado de los dos brazos de intervención. Los manuscritos aceptados para publicación en BJS se asignaron a tres brazos y se difundieron vía twitter: resúmenes redactados en un inglés sencillo, resúmenes visuales, y tweets estándar. El criterio de valoración principal fue la interacción online (variable compuesta de tweets, respuestas y me gusta) por parte del público durante los primeros 14 días. El criterio de valoración secundario fue la interacción online de los profesionales de la salud. RESULTADOS: Un total de 41 manuscritos se asignaron al azar a resúmenes redactados en un inglés sencillo (n = 14), resúmenes visuales (n = 14) y tweets estándar (n = 13). El número de interacciones por parte del público fue bajo, con una media de 1,8 (rango 0-8), 2,5 (rango 0-11) y 1,2 (rango 0-4) para resúmenes en inglés sencillo, resúmenes visuales y tweets estándar, respectivamente. El número medio de interacciones por profesionales de la salud fue de 29,4 (rango 6-66), 45,3 (6-161) y 28,8 (10-52). En general, los resúmenes visuales atrajeron un número significativamente mayor de interacciones que los de inglés sencillo (P = 0,001). CONCLUSIÓN: La interacción online del público con la investigación quirúrgica fue baja. La participación general (predominantemente de profesionales de la salud) mejoró mediante el uso de resúmenes visuales. Los próximos trabajos podrían considerar si el público desea interaccionar y de qué modo con resúmenes redactados en un inglés sencillo.
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Atypical eye gaze to social stimuli is one of the most frequently reported and studied social behaviors affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The vast majority of this literature is based on analyses of gaze patterns as participants view social information, such as talking faces, on a computer screen. However, recent results suggest that generalizing gaze behaviors from computer screens to live interactions may not be valid. This study examines between- and within-group differences in gaze behaviors of children with ASD and their neurotypical (NT) peers during a screen-based and a live-interaction task. Results show between-group differences in gaze only for the screen-based, but not the live-interaction task. We also find that gaze behavior of NT children during the screen-based task significantly correlates with their gaze behavior during the live interaction; individuals who direct a higher percentage of gaze to the face in one task also did so in the other task. However, there is no significant relationship between the gaze patterns of children with ASD for those two tasks. These results strongly caution against using gaze of individuals with ASD recorded during screen-based tasks as a proxy for understanding their gaze behavior during live social interactions.
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Transtorno do Espectro Autista/fisiopatologia , Fixação Ocular/fisiologia , Relações Interpessoais , Estimulação Luminosa , Tempo de Tela , Adolescente , Criança , Face , Feminino , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMO
Signaling mediated by the Ras-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk) pathway often leads to the phosphorylation of transcriptional regulators, thereby modulating their activity and causing concerted changes in gene expression. In Drosophila, the induction of multiple Ras-Erk pathway target genes depends on prior phosphorylation of the general co-repressor Groucho, a modification that downregulates its repressive function. Here, we show that TLE1, one of the four human Groucho orthologs, is similarly phosphorylated in response to Ras-Erk pathway activation, and that this modification attenuates its capacity to repress transcription. Specifically, unphosphorylated TLE1 dominantly suppresses the induction of Ras-Erk pathway target genes in cultured human cells, and the expression of an unphosphorylatable TLE1 derivative causes severe phenotypes in a transgenic Drosophila model system, whereas a phosphomimetic variant of TLE1 exerts only negligible effects. We present data indicating that TLE1 is rapidly excluded from the nucleus following epidermal growth factor receptor pathway activation, an effect that likely accounts for its inability to mediate effective repression under such conditions. Significantly, we find that unphosphorylated TLE1 blocks oncogenic phenotypes induced by mutated H-Ras in human mammary cells, both in vitro and following their implantation in mice. Collectively, our data strongly indicate that phosphorylation of TLE family members and the consequent downregulation of their repressor function is a key conserved step in the transcriptional responses to Ras-Erk signaling, and possibly a critical event in the tumorigenic effects caused by excessive Ras-Erk pathway activity.
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MAP Quinases Reguladas por Sinal Extracelular/metabolismo , Sistema de Sinalização das MAP Quinases , Proteínas Repressoras/metabolismo , Proteínas ras/metabolismo , Animais , Animais Geneticamente Modificados , Diferenciação Celular/fisiologia , Núcleo Celular/metabolismo , Proteínas Correpressoras , Regulação para Baixo , Drosophila , Receptores ErbB/genética , Receptores ErbB/metabolismo , MAP Quinases Reguladas por Sinal Extracelular/genética , Feminino , Células HeLa , Xenoenxertos , Humanos , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos NOD , Camundongos SCID , Fosforilação , Proteínas Repressoras/genética , Transcrição Gênica , Proteínas ras/genéticaRESUMO
The cancer community understands the value of blood profiling measurements in assessing and monitoring cancer. We describe an effort among academic, government, biotechnology, diagnostic, and pharmaceutical companies called the Blood Profiling Atlas in Cancer (BloodPAC) Project. BloodPAC will aggregate, make freely available, and harmonize for further analyses, raw datasets, relevant associated clinical data (e.g., clinical diagnosis, treatment history, and outcomes), and sample preparation and handling protocols to accelerate the development of blood profiling assays.