[Ditrovie scale: Translation and validation in standard Arabic]. / Échelle Ditrovie : traduction et validation en langue arabe standard.

OBJECTIVES: Our work aimed to translate Ditrovie scale into standard Arabic and to verify its validity and reliability in the Tunisian population. MATERIALS: The translation-retro-translation method was the chosen translation method. The committee of experts analyzed these versions and elaborated a pre-final version The Arabic version obtained was conducted on a sample of 100 patients with idiopathic overactive bladder. The reliability of the scale was verified by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The feasibility and acceptability of the scale was good. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.86. The reproducibility of our scale as well as of each domain were very good (intraclass correlation coefficient>0.9) with a mean of the differences centered and homogeneous in the Bland and Altman graph. CONCLUSION: The standard Arabic version of the Ditrovie scale is a reliable instrument with satisfactory psychometric properties allowing evaluation of quality of life of patients with idiopathic overactive bladder. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: B.

[Treatment of idiopathic overactive bladder in women: Transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation alone versus combined with pelvic floor muscle training]. / Traitement de l'hyperactivité vésicale d'origine idiopathique chez la femme : électrostimulation transcutanée du nerf tibial postérieur transcutanée seule versus combinée à la rééducation périneale.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of overactive bladder syndrome (OABS) by percutaneous pelvic nerve stimulation (PTNS) is usually recommended as a third line treatment. The purpose of this work was to compare PTNS alone on idiopathic OABS in women against a treatment combining PTNS and pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT). METHODS: This was a retrospective comparative study of 58 patients, followed at the urodynamic unit. Thirty patients received PTNS alone and 28 PTNS+pelvic floor rehabilitation. The main instrument used to measure the outcomes was the voiding diary. RESULTS: The average age of our patients was 55.2 years. In the PTNS group, there was a significant improvement in daily micturitions (6 after PTNS vs. 10 before, P<0.001), nocturia (1.08 after PTNS vs. 1.75 before, P=0.003), urgency (7 daily before PTNS vs. 11 before (P<0.001) and maximum voided volume (378mL after PTNS vs. 306mL before, P=0.004). The Ditrovie score and USP scores showed a significant decrease. In the PTNS+PFMT group, a significant improvement was noted for the criteria: daily frequency episodes (5.7 after PTNS+PFMT vs. 7.56 before, P<0.001), nocturia (1.4 after PTNS+PFMT vs. 2.3 before, P=0.001), and daily urgency episodes (7 after PTNS+PFMT vs. 9 before, P<0.01). The OAB and SUI USP scores and the Ditrovie score decreased significantly (USP SUI score: 1.2 after PTNS+PFMT vs. 3.4 before (P<0.001) ; USP OAB score: 5.2 after PTNS+PFMT vs. 10.4 before, P<0.001). The comparison of the two groups (PTNS vs. PTNS+PFMT) did not show any significant difference in the voiding dairy outcomes and in the subjective scores outcomes (USP and Ditrovie). CONCLUSION: No significant difference was observed concerning outcomes following PTNS alone and combined PTNS and PFMT in women presenting OABS. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

The study of the pseudo-polyrotaxane architecture as a route for mild surface functionalization by click chemistry of poly(ε-caprolactone)-based electrospun fibers.

Polycaprolactone (PCL) electrospun fibers are widely developed for biomedical applications. However, their hydrophobicity and passivity towards cell growth is an important limitation. An original method to functionalize PCL nanofibers, making them reactive for bioconjugation of proteins or other molecules of interest in water under mild conditions, is reported here. This method involves the preparation of pseudo-polyrotaxanes (pPRs) of cyclodextrin (CD) and PCL. Core:shell PCL:pPR fibers were then prepared by coaxial electrospinning in order to bring available reactive hydroxyl groups from the CD to the fiber surface. Different pPR architectures (star, miktoarm and block-copolymer-like) were synthesized to study the effect of the pPR structure on fiber morphology and surface reactivity by grafting fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). Finally, bicyclononyne groups were grafted onto the star-pPR based fibers allowing the conjugation of a fluorescent dye by click chemistry in water without any copper catalyst proving the potential of the method for the biofunctionalization of PCL-based fibers.

Chromium vinylidene carbenoids: stereospecific synthesis of (Z)-2-chloroalk-2-en-1-ols.

(Z)-2-Chloroalk-2-en-1-ols are obtained in excellent yields from a wide variety of aldehydes by addition of (E)-chromium vinylidene carbenoids, stereospecifically generated from trichloroalkanes using CrCl(2) in THF at room temperature. [reaction: see text]

A convenient synthesis of 2-tetrahydrofuranyl ethers.

[reaction: see text] A wide spectrum of alcohols and phenols are readily transformed to the corresponding 2-tetrahydrofuranyl ethers in good to excellent yields using CrCl2 and CCl4 in THF under nearly neutral conditions at room temperature.