Parenthood and neurosurgery in Europe, a white paper from the European association of neurosurgical societies' diversity in neurosurgery committee, part II - practice with children.

Introduction: In the first part of this White Paper, the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) Diversity in Neurosurgery Committee (DC) addressed the obstacles faced by neurosurgeons when planning to have a family and practice during pregnancy, attempting to enumerate potential, easily implementable solutions for departments to be more family-friendly and retain as well as foster talent of parent-neurosurgeons, regardless of their gender identity and/or sexual orientation. Attrition avoidance amongst parent-neurosurgeons is at the heart of these papers. Research question: In this second part, we address the obstacles posed by practice with children and measures to mitigate attrition rates among parent-neurosurgeons. For the methodology employed to compose this White Paper, please refer to Supplementary Electronic Materials (SEM) 1. Materials and methods: For composing these white papers, the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS)'s Diversity Committee (DC) recruited neurosurgeon volunteers from all member countries, including parents, aspiring parents, and individuals without any desire to have a family to create a diverse and representative working group (WG). Results: In spite of the prevailing heterogeneity in policies across the continent, common difficulties can be identified for both mothers and fathers considering the utilization of parental leave. Discussion and conclusion: Reconciliation of family and a neurosurgical career is challenging, especially for single parents. However, institutional support in form of childcare facilities and/or providers, guaranteed lactation breaks and rooms, flexible schedule models including telemedicine, and clear communication of policies can improve working conditions for parent-neurosurgeons, avoid their attrition, and foster family-friendly work environments.

Parenthood and neurosurgery in Europe a white paper from the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies' Diversity in Neurosurgery Committee Part I - Family Planning and Practice during Pregnancy.

Introduction: Family and work have immensely changed and become intertwined over the past half century for both men and women. Additionally, alongside to traditional family structures prevalent, other forms of families such as single parents, LGBTQ + parents, and bonus families are becoming more common. Previous studies have shown that surgical trainees regularly leave residency when considering becoming a parent due to the negative stigma associated with pregnancy during training, dissatisfaction with parental leave options, inadequate lactation and childcare support, and desire for greater mentorship on work-life integration. Indeed, parenthood is one of the factors contributing to attrition in surgical specialities, neurosurgery not being an exception. Research question: The Diversity in Neurosurgery Committee (DC) of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) recognizes the challenges individuals face in parenthood with neurosurgery and wishes to address them in this white paper. Materials and methods: In the following sections, the authors will focus on the issues pertaining to family planning and neurosurgical practice during pregnancy in itemized fashion based on an exhaustive literature search and will make recommendations to address the matters raised. Results: Potential solutions would be to further improve the work-family time ration as well as improving working conditions in the hospital. Discussion and conclusion: While many obstacles have been quoted in the literature pertaining to parenthood in medicine, and in neurosurgery specifically, initiatives can and should be undertaken to ensure not only retention of colleagues, but also to increase productivity and job satisfaction of those seeking to combine neurosurgery and a family life, regardless of their sexual identity and orientation.

Representation of minorities in European neurosurgical leadership.

Introduction: Ethnic diversity has significantly increased within European countries since World War II for several reasons. However, there continues to be a contrasting lag in leadership positions within healthcare circles, and neurosurgery is no exception. Under-representation of minorities is a contributory factor to recurring problems of healthcare inequality. Research question: The European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) Diversity Committee (DC) set out to examine trends in underrepresented minority (URM) representation in leadership positions across Europe. Material and methods: Data on the race and ethnicity of departmental heads across the units in the European nations was collated. We defined the term 'ethnic minority' in line with the criteria set by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). The percentage of URM among the European neurosurgical units was analysed against the demographics of the respective countries to assess whether there was a corresponding association. Results: The percentage of URM representation was low across most European countries. Countries with the highest immigration rates e.g. Great Britain and Germany had the highest rates of representation within the neurosurgical leadership in comparison to other countries. The Balkan states had zero rates of URM representation within the neurosurgical leadership. Discussion and conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that URM representation in neurosurgical leadership across European countries is significantly low. Selection policies, training curricula and recruitment processes aimed at improving health inequality are necessary. Further studies are needed to elucidate the factors contributing to the low participation of URM in neurosurgical leadership.

Women in leadership positions in European neurosurgery - Have we broken the glass ceiling?

Introduction: The proportion of male neurosurgeons has historically been higher than of women, although at least equal numbers of women have been entering European medical schools. The Diversity Committee (DC) of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) was founded recently to address this phenomenon. Research question: In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to characterize the status quo of female leadership by assessing the proportion of women heading European neurosurgical departments. Material and methods: European neurosurgical departments were retrieved from the EANS repository. The gender of all department chairs was determined via departmental websites or by personal contact. The proportion of females was stratified by region and by type of hospital (university versus non-university). Results: A total of 41 (4.3%) female department chairs were identified in 961 neurosurgery departments in 41 European countries. Two thirds (68.3%) of European countries do not have a female neurosurgery chair. The highest proportion of female chairs was found in Northern Europe (11.1%), owing to four female chairs in a relatively small number of departments (n = 36). The proportions were considerably smaller in Western Europe (n = 17/312 (5.5%)), Southern Europe (n = 14/353 (4.0%)) and Central and Eastern Europe (n = 6/260 (2.3%)) (p = 0.06). The distribution of female chairs in university (n = 19 (46.3%)) versus non-university departments (n = 22 (53.7%)) was even. Discussion and Conclusion: There is a significant gender imbalance with 4% of all European neurosurgery departments headed by women. The DC intends to develop strategies to support equal chances and normalize the presence of female leaders in European neurosurgery.

Phytogeographic Characteristics of Montane Coniferous Forests of the Central Balkan Peninsula (SE Europe).

We investigated taxonomic and endemic richness, patterns of spatial distribution, cenotic and spatial diversification, and chorological and life form spectra of montane coniferous forests in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. We collected information on 1435 taxa (1351 at the level of species and 84 subspecies) with 65,289 species-occurrence data, published in 1930 original plots with a total area of about 215 ha in the analysis. All statistical analyses (univariate and multivariate) were performed on binary matrices prepared for different levels of analysis. Our main results showed that the montane coniferous forests of the central Balkan Peninsula represent very species-rich vegetation. At the same time, the high proportion of endemics indicated that the montane coniferous forests of the central Balkan Peninsula differ significantly from Central European and boreal forests of a similar type. Furthermore, we found that there were regional differences in the species composition of the coniferous forests of the Balkan Peninsula, and that the primary centers of floristic richness are located in the area of the central and continental Dinarides. This latter finding suggested that the true centers of the richness of European coniferous forests are located south of the Limestone Alps-Western Dinarides-Carpathian Foothills line in Romania, which used to be considered the center of the richness of the coniferous forests in Europe.

Health Benefits and Applications of Goji Berries in Functional Food Products Development: A Review.

Goji berries have long been used for their nutritional value and medicinal purposes in Asian countries. In the last two decades, goji berries have become popular around the world and are consumed as a functional food due to wide-range bioactive compounds with health-promoting properties. In addition, they are gaining increased research attention as a source of functional ingredients with potential industrial applications. This review focuses on the antioxidant properties of goji berries, scientific evidence on their health effects based on human interventional studies, safety concerns, goji berry processing technologies, and applications of goji berry-based ingredients in developing functional food products.

Phenolic Composition, Antioxidant, Anti-Enzymatic, Antimicrobial and Prebiotic Properties of Prunus spinosa L. Fruits.

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa L.) fruit is bluish-black wild fruit traditionally used in nutrition and medicine. It is recently gaining attention as a functional food and an underutilized source of bioactive compounds for application in the food and pharmaceutical industry. This study aimed to assess the health-promoting potential of blackthorn fruits from Serbia by examining their chemical composition and in vitro biological activities. Phytochemical analysis of the blackthorn fruit extracts was performed using LC-DAD-ESI-MS. The total phenolic (TPC), total flavonoid (TFC), total anthocyanin (TAC) content, antioxidant capacity, and enzyme inhibitory activities were determined spectrophotometrically. The antimicrobial and prebiotic properties were tested using the broth microdilution method. Twenty-seven phenolics belonging to the classes of hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids derivatives, flavonoids, and anthocyanins were identified, with caffeoylquinic acid as the most abundant compound. Blackthorn extracts were characterized by notable TPCs, TFCs, and TACs, and free radical scavenging and reducing ability. The enzyme inhibitory effects (IC50 = 0.43-2.16 mg/mL) were observed towards α-amylase, α-glucosidase, acetylcholinesterase, and tyrosinase. Blackthorn fruit extracts in a concentration-dependent manner (0.3-5 mg/mL) stimulated the growth of several probiotic microorganisms and their mixtures, especially the yeast Saccharomyces boulardii. Obtained results support further evaluation of the functional food potential of blackthorn fruit.

Photosynthetic Reaction-Center/Graphene Biohybrid for Optoelectronics.

Photosynthetic reaction center proteins (RC) purified from purple bacterial strains were deposited on graphene layer prepared by liquid phase exfoliation and light-induced resistance change was measured. By measuring the temperature dependence of the resistance change of the bare and RC covered graphene and comparing with the one inactivated by protein unfolding, two effects were possible to separate. One of them is the resistance change due to temperature effect. The other one clearly indicates a possible electric/electronic interaction between the charge flow in the graphene and the light-induced charge pair within the protein, which is, essentially, different in the open (dark, PBPheo) and closed (light, P+BPheo-) states. These results provide useful information for designing hybrid bio-photonic devices which are able to absorb and convert light energy.

Ultrafast humidity sensor based on liquid phase exfoliated graphene.

Humidity sensing is important to a variety of technologies and industries, ranging from environmental and industrial monitoring to medical applications. Although humidity sensors abound, few available solutions are thin, transparent, compatible with large-area sensor production and flexible, and almost none are fast enough to perform human respiration monitoring through breath detection or real-time finger proximity monitoring via skin humidity sensing. This work describes chemiresistive graphene-based humidity sensors produced in few steps with facile liquid phase exfoliation followed by Langmuir-Blodgett assembly that enables active areas of practically any size. The graphene sensors provide a unique mix of performance parameters, exhibiting resistance changes up to 10% with varying humidity, linear performance over relative humidity (RH) levels between 8% and 95%, weak response to other constituents of air, flexibility, transparency of nearly 80%, and response times of 30 ms. The fast response to humidity is shown to be useful for respiration monitoring and real-time finger proximity detection, with potential applications in flexible touchless interactive panels.

Chemical Characterization, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Properties of Goji Berries Cultivated in Serbia.

Since the fruits of Lycium L. species (Fructus Lycii, goji berries) are promoted as a "superfood" with plenty of health benefits, there is extensive research interest in their nutritional and phytochemical composition. In the present study, the nutritional value, minerals, fatty acid composition, and bioactive compounds of L. barbarum L., red, yellow, and black goji berry (L. ruthenicum Murray.) cultivated in Serbia were investigated. Antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of their methanol extracts were assessed. Red goji berry had the highest content of fats, dietary fiber, iron, total carotenoids, and 2-O-ß-d-glucopyranosyl-l-ascorbic acid (AA-2ßG). The yellow goji berry extract showed the highest level of flavonoids and the most prominent antimicrobial (especially against Gram-negative bacteria) properties. The highest total phenolic content and the most potent antioxidant activity were observed for the extract of black goji berry. Therefore, all goji berries could be a valuable source of bioactive compounds in the food and pharmaceutical industry.