Effects of Gender and Country of Training on Perceived Access to Opportunities for Neurosurgical Research and Gender-Concordant Mentorship.

Background: The current neurosurgical workforce is not large enough to address the significant burden of neurosurgical disease worldwide, and women are under-represented in this surgical specialty. However, trainee opportunities are particularly scarce in lower- and middle-income countries, where the burden of neurosurgical disease is high. Thus, the primary aim of this study was to assess the effects of gender and country on perceived access to neurosurgical research and mentorship opportunities.

Perceived Barriers to Pursuing a Career in Neurosurgery in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Nigerian Medical Students and Unspecialized Physicians.

Background: Nigeria has an inadequate number of neurosurgeons to meet the population's demand for neurosurgical care. Furthermore, few Nigerian neurosurgeons are female. This study sought to evaluate perceived barriers to pursuing neurosurgery among Nigerian trainees.

Socioeconomic characteristics and postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing prenatal vs. postnatal repair of myelomeningoceles.

Purpose: To investigate differences in sociodemographic characteristics and short-term outcomes between patients undergoing prenatal versus postnatal myelomeningocele repair.

Methods: Patients who underwent myelomeningocele repair at our institution were stratified based on prenatal or postnatal timing of repair. Baseline characteristics and outcomes were compared.

Tracking Staff Mood and Concerns in a Pediatric Emergency Department During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: Few studies have monitored health care worker mood and job satisfaction changes longitudinally throughout an epidemic. The objective of this study was to track staff mood, job satisfaction, questions, and suggestions in a pediatric emergency department over 1 year during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We hypothesized that staff would experience heightened negative emotions earlier in the pandemic due to uncertainty around hospital protocols and the coronavirus disease 2019 disease process.

The Impact of Image Quality and Trachomatous Inflammation on Using Photography for Trachoma Prevalence Surveys.

Purpose: Graded images can be used for trachoma prevalence surveys, but there is concern for mismatch between image and field grades of the upper tarsal conjunctiva. We aimed to determine if poor photograph quality and/or inflammation may contribute to differential grading of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) between field and photograph graders.

Methods: We developed a simplified and expanded image quality grading tool.

Environmental factors and hygiene behaviors associated with facial cleanliness and trachoma in Kongwa, Tanzania.

Background: Having a clean face is protective against trachoma. In the past, long distances to water were associated with unclean faces and increased trachoma. Other environmental factors have not been extensively explored.

Serology, infection, and clinical trachoma as tools in prevalence surveys for re-emergence of trachoma in a formerly hyperendemic district.

Background: To eliminate trachoma as a public health problem, countries must achieve a district-level prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) <5% in children ages 1-9 years. Re-emergence of TF could trigger additional rounds of mass drug/antibiotic administration (MDA), so accurate tools for use in surveys assessing trachoma prevalence are essential.

Methodology & Principal Findings: We surveyed 2401 children ages 1-9 years from 50 villages in Kongwa, Tanzania, 2 years post-MDA and 1.

Toward Precision Medicine for Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

The genetic complexity, clinical variability, and inaccessibility of affected tissue in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders have largely prevented the development of effective disease-modifying therapeutics. A precision medicine approach that integrates genomics, deep clinical phenotyping, and patient stem cell models may facilitate identification of underlying biological drivers and targeted drug development.