Gender differences in work-life balance of European neurosurgeons

Neurosurgery is one of the most demanding medical specialties. For neurosurgeons, balancing professional activity with personal life can be challenging. To evaluate gender differences in contribution of neurosurgeons in the household and child-rearing, as well as their impact on personal life and career. An anonymous, electronic, 59-item web-based survey was administered to National Neurosurgical Societies of Europe, and European Member Societies of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (June-October 2021). A total of 205 European neurosurgeons (87 females and 118 males, mean age 40.7) are included in our survey. In neurosurgery, females are significantly more likely to be alone (37.9%), while males are significantly more likely to have children (66.9%). In terms of household efforts, females spend more time than males on the same tasks. Most participants (71.2%) view gender issues as a disadvantage in career pursuing. Women feel less accepted (54.3%) and having fewer opportunities (58.6%), while men believe that pregnancy/child-rearing (65.8%) and having many roles (51.3%) are the main obstacles. Both genders (77.6%) favor more convenient working conditions for young parents. Discussion and Conclusion. In our study we found that, women neurosurgeons take more responsibilities at home, especially in the child-rearing years. Female neurosurgeons are more likely to live alone or stay childless more often compared to their male colleagues. Supportive facilities, flexible programs, universal life policies and presumably curbing of the social stereotypes are of importance to overcome gender inequities that women are still facing in neurosurgery

The masquerading presentation of a systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma, ALK positive : a case report and review of the literature

We report an unusual case of systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), ALK positive with leukemic involvement in a 57-year-old woman. The patient presented with a fulminant respiratory infection unresponsive to treatment requiring intensive care and ventilatory support. The CT scan demonstrated mediastinal and bilateral lymphadenopathy. On peripheral smear a few atypical lymphocytes were visualized. Based on the increasing number of atypical lymphocytes in the daily peripheral bloodsmears, the diagnosis ALCL was suggested. Definitive diagnosis was made on a bone marrow biopsy, with lymphocytes being immunoreactive for CD30, EMA, and ALK. Leukemic peripheral blood involvement in ALCL is an uncommon clinicopathologic entity with unfavorable prognosis. The case we present is perhaps unusual in that a complete respons was achieved, highlighting the importance of prompt diagnosis and judicious management

Chemical angioplasty vs. balloon plus chemical angioplasty for delayed cerebral ischemia: a pilot study of PbtO2 outcomes.

Funder: B. Braun Melsungen; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007534BACKGROUND: Delayed cerebral ischaemia (DCI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH). Chemical angioplasty (CA) and transluminal balloon angioplasty (TBA) are used to treat patients with refractory vasospasm causing DCI. Multi-modal monitoring including brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO2) is routinely used at this centre for early detection and management of DCI following aSAH. In this single-centre pilot study, we are comparing these two treatment modalities and their effects on PbtO2. METHODS: Retrospective case series of patients with DCI who had PbtO2 monitoring as part of their multimodality monitoring and underwent either CA or TBA combined with CA. PbtO2 values were recorded from intra-parenchymal Raumedic NEUROVENT-PTO® probes. Data were continuously collected and downloaded as second-by-second data. Comparisons were made between pre-angioplasty PbtO2 and post-angioplasty PbtO2 median values (4 h before angioplasty, 4 h after and 12 h after). RESULTS: There were immediate significant improvements in PbtO2 at the start of intervention in both groups. PbtO2 then increased by 13 mmHg in the CA group and 15 mmHg in the TBA plus CA group in the first 4 h post-intervention. This improvement in PbtO2 was sustained for the TBA plus CA group but not the CA group. CONCLUSION: Combined balloon plus chemical angioplasty results in more sustained improvement in brain tissue oxygenation compared with chemical angioplasty alone. Our findings suggest that PbtO2 is a useful tool for monitoring the response to angioplasty in vasospasm

Overview of SMOS L4 products under development and implementation at CATDS

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Mapping water bodies over tropical basins from SMOS L-band brightness temperature

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G-SWAF a 10 years dataset of global water dynamics from L-Band microwave: from concept to applications

International audienceMonitoring of in-land waters has gained a big interest in the last decade due to the high stacks related to water resources and the increased availability of satellite-based Earth Observation (EO) data for the detection of water surfaces. L-band passive microwave while providing deca-Kilometric spatial resolution observations is able to monitor water surfaces at high temporal resolution (<3days) under dense vegetated areas globally. Here, we present the algorithms basis of the latest 10 years dataset of Global Surface WAter Fraction (G-SWAF) available at www.catds.fr (Al Bitar et al. 2020). G-SWAF is based on multi-angular and dual-pole observation from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite. Level3 Angle binned Horizontal (HH) and Vertical (VV) polarization, Top of Atmosphere (TOA) Brightness Temperatures (TB) (Al Bitar et al. 2017) at 32.5 to 52.5 incidence angles are used to retrieve the surface water fractions. The retrieval is based on minimizing the quadratic difference between the modeled and the observed TB. Surface emission for forest is considered from spatio-temporal observations while the TB for water surfaces is modeled using radiative transfer principals. We present the validation and comparison of the G-SWAF product against water surfaces from microwave (SWAMP, GIEMS), SAR (ALOS-PALSAR), optical (MODIS), and altimetry (Jason2, Sentinel-3) (Parrens et al. 2017, Fatra et al. 2020). Fusion of the SWAF data with digital elevation models (SRTM, MERIT) and optical data (GSW) provides enhanced 1km resolution surface water maps (SWAF-HR) (Parrens et al. 2020). Several applications are also illustrated showing the added value of the G-SWAF product. Namely, the forcing of hydrodynamic models (MGB,SWAT) in tropical basins, a first EO based quantification of denitrification in the Amazon river (Guilerne et al. 2020, Martinez, et al. 2020), the monitoring of the floods in the Congo River Basin (Fatras et al. 2020), In the last section, we show how the combination of the G-SWAF with altimetric data can provide monitoring of water volumes in densely vegetated areas in preparation of the SWOT mission

G-SWAF a 10 years dataset of global water dynamics from L-Band microwave: from concept to applications

International audienceMonitoring of in-land waters has gained a big interest in the last decade due to the high stacks related to water resources and the increased availability of satellite-based Earth Observation (EO) data for the detection of water surfaces. L-band passive microwave while providing deca-Kilometric spatial resolution observations is able to monitor water surfaces at high temporal resolution (<3days) under dense vegetated areas globally. Here, we present the algorithms basis of the latest 10 years dataset of Global Surface WAter Fraction (G-SWAF) available at www.catds.fr (Al Bitar et al. 2020). G-SWAF is based on multi-angular and dual-pole observation from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite. Level3 Angle binned Horizontal (HH) and Vertical (VV) polarization, Top of Atmosphere (TOA) Brightness Temperatures (TB) (Al Bitar et al. 2017) at 32.5 to 52.5 incidence angles are used to retrieve the surface water fractions. The retrieval is based on minimizing the quadratic difference between the modeled and the observed TB. Surface emission for forest is considered from spatio-temporal observations while the TB for water surfaces is modeled using radiative transfer principals. We present the validation and comparison of the G-SWAF product against water surfaces from microwave (SWAMP, GIEMS), SAR (ALOS-PALSAR), optical (MODIS), and altimetry (Jason2, Sentinel-3) (Parrens et al. 2017, Fatra et al. 2020). Fusion of the SWAF data with digital elevation models (SRTM, MERIT) and optical data (GSW) provides enhanced 1km resolution surface water maps (SWAF-HR) (Parrens et al. 2020). Several applications are also illustrated showing the added value of the G-SWAF product. Namely, the forcing of hydrodynamic models (MGB,SWAT) in tropical basins, a first EO based quantification of denitrification in the Amazon river (Guilerne et al. 2020, Martinez, et al. 2020), the monitoring of the floods in the Congo River Basin (Fatras et al. 2020), In the last section, we show how the combination of the G-SWAF with altimetric data can provide monitoring of water volumes in densely vegetated areas in preparation of the SWOT mission

The science products from the SMOS CATDS: from level 2 to level 4

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Dromedary camels as a natural source of neutralizing nanobodies against SARS-CoV-2

The development of prophylactic and therapeutic agents for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a current global health priority. Here, we investigated the presence of cross-neutralizing antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in dromedary camels that were Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) seropositive but MERS-CoV free. The tested 229 dromedaries had anti–MERS-CoV camel antibodies with variable cross-reactivity patterns against SARS-CoV-2 proteins, including the S trimer and M, N, and E proteins. Using SARS-CoV-2 competitive immunofluorescence immunoassays and pseudovirus neutralization assays, we found medium-to-high titers of cross-neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in these animals. Through linear B cell epitope mapping using phage immunoprecipitation sequencing and a SARS-CoV-2 peptide/proteome microarray, we identified a large repertoire of Betacoronavirus cross-reactive antibody specificities in these dromedaries and demonstrated that the SARS-CoV-2–specific VHH antibody repertoire is qualitatively diverse. This analysis revealed not only several SARS-CoV-2 epitopes that are highly immunogenic in humans, including a neutralizing epitope, but also epitopes exclusively targeted by camel antibodies. The identified SARS-CoV-2 cross-neutralizing camel antibodies are not proposed as a potential treatment for COVID-19. Rather, their presence in nonimmunized camels supports the development of SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune camels, which could be a prominent source of therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19