Manual neuronavigation for superior semicircular canal dehiscence surgery

BackgroundIntraoperative identification of a superior semicircular canal (SSC) dehiscence via the middle cranial fossa approach (MCFA) remains a difficult endeavor without a neuronavigation system. To address these challenges, we propose a technique to localize the SSC dehiscence intraoperatively using certain anatomical landmarks.MethodThree anatomical landmarks should be identified on preoperative radiological images: the distance from the squamous part of the temporal bone to the dehiscent SSC, the lower limit of the craniotomy, and the exact location of the craniotomy in relation to the bony external auditory canal. The use of these landmarks intraoperatively can allow the surgeon to correctly identify the position of the SSC. Two instructional videos explaining this technique are presented.ConclusionThe proposed manual neuronavigation technique seems to be an accurate, safe, and cost-effective alternative technique for use in SSC dehiscence surgery

Coping during socio-political uncertainty

IntroductionWell-being of young adults is known to be compromised in times of significant changes, such as economic and political turmoil. This study focuses on university students in Lebanon during one of the most prominent social unrests of its modern history to determine potential understudied protective factors that would predict the youth capacity to strive.MethodsA sample of 489 university students were asked to fill an online survey including standardized questionnaires of wellbeing (WEMWBS), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (HAM-A), intolerance of uncertainty (IUS-12), coping (Brief COPE) in addition to demographics and questions about their attitudes and future perspectives.ResultsWe found increased rates of mental distress, predominantly in women, with around 80% of the sample being highly intolerant to the uncertainty climate. Results unsurprisingly show that well-being negatively correlated with anxiety, depression and intolerance of uncertainty. Overall, mental distress was found to mediate the relation between uncertainty and wellbeing, and the relation between maladaptive coping and wellbeing. Students who were intolerant of uncertainty and who used maladaptive coping strategies were more likely develop anxiety and depression and subsequently report poorer wellbeing. Conversely, having adaptive strategies was directly linked to higher well-being.DiscussionIn spite of increased distress, some university students managed to preserve their well-being within a climate of severe socio-political uprise. These findings suggest that modifying subjective experience of events and using soft skillset could alleviate young adults’ emotional distress in unstable societies

Factors associated with posttraumatic growth: gratitude, PTSD and distress; one year into the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon

peer reviewe

Canadian French Translation and Validation of the Neck Dissection Impairment Index: A Quality of Life Measure for the Surgical Oncology Population

BACKGROUND: Neck dissections (ND) are a routine procedure in head and neck oncology. Given the postoperative functional impact that some patients experience, it is imperative to identify and track quality of life (QoL) symptomatology to tailor each patient\u27s therapeutic needs. To date, there is no validated French-Canadian questionnaire for this patient-population. We therefore sought to translate and validate the Neck Dissection Impairment Index (NDII) in Canadian French. METHODS: A 3-phased approach was used. Phase 1: The NDII was translated from English to Canadian French using a forward and backward translational technique following international guidelines. Phase 2: A cognitive debriefing session was held with 10 Canadian French-speaking otolaryngology patients to evaluate understandability and acceptability. Phase 3: The final version was administered prospectively to 30 patients with prior history of ND and 30 control patients. These patients were asked to complete the questionnaire 2 weeks after their first response. Test-retest reliability was calculated with Spearman\u27s correlation. Internal consistency was elicited using Cronbach\u27s alpha. RESULTS: NDII was successfully translated and validated to Canadian French. Cronbach\u27s alpha revealed high internal consistency (0.92, lower 95% confidence limit 0.89). The correlation for test-retest validity were strong or very strong (0.61-0.91). CONCLUSION: NDII is an internationally recognized QoL tool for the identification of ND-related impairments. This validated Canadian French version will allow clinicians to adequately assess the surgery-related QoL effect of neck surgery in the French-speaking population, while allowing French institutions to conduct and/or participate in multisite clinical trials requiring the NDII as an outcome measure

The Melkites and the Muslims: The Qur’ān, Christology, and Arab Orthodoxy

The earliest Chalcedonian writers to take notice of the religious ideas of the invading Arabs at the time of the Islamic conquest of the Middle East already highlighted what they viewed as wrong or confused notions about Christ on the part of the invaders. Then in the mid-eighth century, Arabic-speaking Chalcedonians in Syria/Palestine, whose adversaries would soon be calling them ‘Melkites’, were quoting the Qur’ān with a view to exploiting the probative potential of its language for apologetic purposes, especially in Christology. This article traces the continued focus on Christology and the Qur’ān in the development of Chalcedonian theology in Arabic in the works of the major writers in the early ‘Melkite’ tradition, suggesting that the ‘Melkite’ community’s engagement with the religious challenge of Islam over time issued in the emergence of a recognizeable Arab Christian Orthodoxy, which the term ‘Melkite’ came to designate.Durante la expansión del Islam por Oriente Medio, los primeros autores calcedonianos que tuvieron conocimiento de las ideas religiosas que los invasores árabes traían, pusieron de relieve ciertas nociones que ellos entendían como confusas o negativas sobre Cristo. A mediados del siglo VIII, los araboparlantes calcedonianos de Siria-Palestina (que pronto serían denominados «Melquitas» por sus adversarios), comenzaron a citar el Corán con la intención de explotar el potencial probatorio de la lengua para propósitos apologéticos, especialmente en Cristología. Este artículo rastrea ese enfoque en la Cristología y el Corán, que se mantiene de forma continuada en el desarrollo de la teología calcedoniana en lengua árabe, en los trabajos de los más importantes autores de la tradición melquita temprana. Este análisis nos hace pensar que ese «combate» de la comunidad melquita como reacción al desafío religioso del Islam, con el paso del tiempo, hace necesaria una ortodoxia árabe-cristiana reconocible que vendría a ser designada con el término Melquit

Oxygen reduction catalyzed by a fluorinated tetraphenylporphyrin free base at liquid/liquid interfaces

The diprotonated form of a fluorinated free base porphyrin, namely 5-(p-aminophenyl)-10,15,20-tris(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin (H(2)FAP), can catalyze the reduction of oxygen by a weak electron donor, namely ferrocene (Fc). At a water/1,2-dichloroethane interface, the interfacial formation of H(4)FAP(2+) is observed by UV-vis spectroscopy and ion-transfer voltammetry, due to the double protonation of H(2)FAP at the imino nitrogen atoms in the tetrapyrrole ring. H(4)FAP(2+) is shown to bind oxygen, and the complex in the organic phase can easily be reduced by Fc to produce hydrogen peroxide as studied by two-phase reactions with the Galvani potential difference between the two phases being controlled by the partition of a common ion. Spectrophotometric measurements performed in 1,2-dichloroethane solutions clearly evidence that reduction of oxygen by Fc catalyzed by H(4)FAP(2+) only occurs in the presence of the tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate (TB-) counteranion in the organic phase. Finally, ab initio computations support the catalytic activation of H(4)FAP(2+) on oxygen

Molecular Electrocatalysis for Oxygen Reduction by Cobalt Porphyrins Adsorbed at Liquid/Liquid Interfaces

Molecular electrocatalysis for oxygen reduction at a polarized water/1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) interface was studied, involving aqueous protons, ferrocene (Fc) in DCE and amphiphilic cobalt porphyrin catalysts adsorbed at the interface. The catalyst, (2,8,13,17-tetraethyl-3,7,12,18-tetramethyl-5-p-aminophenylporphyrin) cobalt(II) (CoAP), functions like conventional cobalt porphyrins, activating 02 via coordination by the formation of a superoxide structure. Furthermore, due to the hydrophilic nature of the aminophenyl group, CoAP has a strong affinity for the water/DCE interface as evidenced by lipophilicity mapping calculations and surface tension measurements, facilitating the protonation of the CoAP-O-2 complex and its reduction by ferrocene. The reaction is electrocatalytic as its rate depends on the applied Galvani potential difference between the two phases

Molecular mechanism by which prominent human gut Bacteroidetes utilize mixed-linkage beta-glucans, major health-promoting cereal polysaccharides

Microbial utilization of complex polysaccharides is a major driving force in shaping the composition of the human gut microbiota. There is a growing appreciation that finely tuned polysaccharide utilization loci enable ubiquitous gut Bacteroidetes to thrive on the plethora of complex polysaccharides that constitute “dietary fiber.” Mixed-linkage β(1,3)/β(1,4)-glucans (MLGs) are a key family of plant cell wall polysaccharides with recognized health benefits but whose mechanism of utilization has remained unclear. Here, we provide molecular insight into the function of an archetypal MLG utilization locus (MLGUL) through a combination of biochemistry, enzymology, structural biology, and microbiology. Comparative genomics coupled with growth studies demonstrated further that syntenic MLGULs serve as genetic markers for MLG catabolism across commensal gut bacteria. In turn, we surveyed human gut metagenomes to reveal that MLGULs are ubiquitous in human populations globally, which underscores the importance of gut microbial metabolism of MLG as a common cereal polysaccharide