Neurosurgical Operative Videos: An Analysis of an Increasingly Popular Educational Resource.

OBJECTIVE: Surgical education has increasingly relied on electronic learning. In particular, online operative videos have become a core resource within neurosurgery. We analyze the forums for neurosurgical operative videos. METHODS: Operative videos from 5 sources were reviewed: 1) the NEUROSURGERY Journal YouTube channel; 2) the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Neurosurgery YouTube channel; 3) The Neurosurgical Atlas Operative Video Cases; 4) Operative Neurosurgery; and 5) Neurosurgical Focus: Video. Title, year of publication, senior author, institution, country, and subspecialty were documented for each video. RESULTS: A total of 1233 videos showing 1247 surgeries were identified. Ten videos included >1 surgery; of those, there was a median of 2 surgeries (interquartile range, 2.0-2.5) per video. The most frequently represented subspecialties included vascular (48.3%), tumor (35.2%), and skull base surgery (27.5%), with almost 40% of videos showing >1 category. Videos were submitted by investigators from 28 countries, but 82.1% of the videos originated in the United States. CONCLUSIONS: Neurosurgical operative videos have become increasingly common through a variety of online platforms. Future efforts may benefit from collecting videos from underrepresented regions and subspecialties, providing long-term follow-up data and showing techniques for managing complications.

Effect of Loading Method on a Peptide Substrate Reporter in Intact Cells.

Studies of live cells often require loading of exogenous molecules through the cell membrane; however, effects of loading method on experimental results are poorly understood. Therefore, in this work, we compared three methods for loading a fluorescently labeled peptide into cells of the model organism Dictyostelium discoideum. We optimized loading by pinocytosis, electroporation, and myristoylation to maximize cell viability and characterized loading efficiency, localization, and uniformity. We also determined how the loading method affected measurements of enzyme activity on the peptide substrate reporter using capillary electrophoresis. Loading method had a strong effect on the stability and phosphorylation of the peptide. The half-life of the intact peptide in cells was 19 ± 2, 53 ± 15, and 12 ± 1 min, for pinocytosis, electroporation, and myristoylation, respectively. The peptide was phosphorylated only in cells loaded by electroporation. Fluorescence microscopy suggested that the differences between methods were likely due to differences in peptide localization.

Synthetic Strategies Employed for the Construction of Fostriecin and Related Natural Products.

Fostriecin and related natural products present a significant challenge for synthetic chemists due to their structural complexity and chemical sensitivity. This review will chronicle the successful efforts of synthetic chemists in the construction of these biologically active molecules. Key carbon-carbon bond forming reactions will be highlighted, as well as the methods used to install the numerous stereocenters present in this class of compounds.