Mesurer l'amplitude articulaire du genou: goniométre universel ou smartphone [Measurement of the knee range of motion: standard goniometer or smartphone?].

Universal standard goniometer is an essential tool to measure articulations' range of motion (ROM). In this time of technological advances and increasing use of smartphones, new measurement's tools appear as specific smartphone applications. This article compares the iOS application "Knee Goniometer" with universal standard goniometer to assess knee ROM. To our knowledge, this is the first study that uses a goniometer application in a clinical context. The purpose of this study is to determine if this application could be used in clinical practice.

High-resolution 3D whole-heart coronary MRA: a study on the combination of data acquisition in multiple breath-holds and 1D residual respiratory motion compensation.

OBJECT: To study a scan protocol for coronary magnetic resonance angiography based on multiple breath-holds featuring 1D motion compensation and to compare the resulting image quality to a navigator-gated free-breathing acquisition. Image reconstruction was performed using L1 regularized iterative SENSE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effects of respiratory motion on the Cartesian sampling scheme were minimized by performing data acquisition in multiple breath-holds. During the scan, repetitive readouts through a k-space center were used to detect and correct the respiratory displacement of the heart by exploiting the self-navigation principle in image reconstruction. In vivo experiments were performed in nine healthy volunteers and the resulting image quality was compared to a navigator-gated reference in terms of vessel length and sharpness. RESULTS: Acquisition in breath-hold is an effective method to reduce the scan time by more than 30 % compared to the navigator-gated reference. Although an equivalent mean image quality with respect to the reference was achieved with the proposed method, the 1D motion compensation did not work equally well in all cases. CONCLUSION: In general, the image quality scaled with the robustness of the motion compensation. Nevertheless, the featured setup provides a positive basis for future extension with more advanced motion compensation methods.

Experiments on substratum roughness, grainsize and volume influence on the motion and spreading of rock avalanches

The main objective of the research is to link granular physics with the modelling of rock avalanches. Laboratory experiments consist to find a convenient granular material, i.e. grainsize and physical behaviour, and testing it on simple slope geometry. When the appropriate sliding material is selected, we attempted to model the debris avalanche and the spreading on a slope with different substratum to understand the relationship between the volume and the reach angle, i.e. angle of the line joining the top of the scar and the end of the deposit. For a better understanding of the mass spreading, the deposits are scanned with a laser scanner. Datasets are compared to see how the grain size and volume influence a debris avalanche. The relationship between the roughness and grainsize of the substratum shows that the spreading of the sliding mass is increased when the roughness of the substratum starts to be equivalent or greater than the grainsize of the flowing mass. The runout distance displays a more complex relationship, because a long runout distance implies that grains are less spread. This means that if the substratum is too rough the distance diminishes, as well if it is too smooth because the effect on the apparent friction decreases. Up to now our findings do not permit to validate any previous model (Melosh, 1987; Bagnold 1956).

Setting in motion the immune mechanisms underlying genetically determined resistance and susceptibility to infection with Leishmania major.

The murine model of infection with Leishmania major has allowed the demonstration of a causal relationship between, on the one hand, genetically determined resistance to infection and the development of a Th1 CD4+ cell response, and on the other hand, genetically determined susceptibility and Th2 cell maturation. Using this murine model of infection, the role of cytokines in directing the functional differentiation pathway of CD4+ T cell precursors, has been demonstrated in vivo. Thus, IL-12 and IFN-gamma have been shown to favour Th1 cell development and IL-4 is crucial for the differentiation of Th2 responses. Maturation of a Th2 response in susceptible BALB/c mice following infection with L. major is triggered by the IL-4 produced during the first two days after parasite inoculation. This IL-4 rapidly renders parasite specific CD4+ T cells precursors unresponsive to IL-12. A restricted population of CD4+ T cells expressing the V beta 4V alpha 8 TCR heterodimer and recognizing a single epitope on the LACK (Leishmania Activated C-Kinase) antigen of L. major is responsible for this rapid production of IL-4, instructing subsequent differentiation towards the Th2 phenotype of CD4+ T cells specific for several parasite antigens.

Altered vision during motion: an unusual symptom of cerebellar dysfunction, quantifiable by a simple clinical test.

PURPOSE: To report a series of patients with cerebellar dysfunction and altered vision during motion, and to quantify their visual impairment in motion with a simple clinical test. METHODS: Twenty consecutive patients suffering from cerebellar dysfunction and altered vision during motion were examined between 1994 and 2007. A control group consisted of 20 age- and sex-matched healthy people. All patients had a full neuro-ophthalmic examination. Near visual acuity (NVA) was measured at rest (static NVA) and during chair rotation (dynamic NVA). Distance visual acuity (DVA) was measured at rest (static DVA) and during rotation of the patient's head (dynamic DVA). RESULTS: Only four of the 20 patients reported altered vision during motion spontaneously. The remaining 16 patients admitted this unusual visual disturbance only when asked specifically. All patients exhibited abnormal eye movements, including saccadic smooth pursuit (20/20), dysmetric saccades (15/20), nystagmus (19/20) and impaired suppression of vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) (20/20). During rotation of the examination chair (dynamic NVA), the drop in NVA averaged 5.6 lines (range 1-10 lines). During rotation of the patient's head (dynamic DVA), the drop in DVA averaged only 2.5 lines (range 0-10 lines). For the control group, there was no significant drop in NVA under dynamic conditions. CONCLUSION: Patients with cerebellar dysfunction rarely complain spontaneously of altered vision during motion. However, specific questioning may bring up this unusual symptom. The use of a simple clinical test, consisting of NVA measurement during rotation of the examination chair (dynamic NVA), allows practitioners to quantify the level of visual impairment in patients presenting altered VOR modulation.

Femmes et religion : identité spécifique ou identité construite?

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) Faire le point de la recherche contemporaine en sociologie, sociologie religieuse et histoire sur la relation passionnante mais souvent méconnue qui unit femme et religion: telle est l'ambition de cet ouvrage publié sous la direction de Françoise Lautman. Se limitant aux domaines chrétien, juif et musulman, les écrits s'attachent à nous faire comprendre comment se situe la femme au sein même de sa religion : y a-t-il une spécificité religieuse de la femme? Une façon de croire, une pratique qui lui soit propre? Comment expliquer l'importance de la participation féminine à des Eglises par ailleurs dénoncées pour leur ostracisme à son égard? Qu'en est-il de son enracinement religieux? Quelles représentations de la femme les religions fondent-elles, ou véhiculent-elles? Autant de questions, parmi d'autres, qui trouveront dans ce volume des réponses fouillées et documentées.

Religion et Egalité : un rapport ambivalent

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) Où en est la situation de l'égalité entre femmes et hommes en Suisse ? S'achemine-t-on vers plus d'égalité ou assiste-t-on simplement à un déplacement des anciennes inégalités ? C'est à ces questions que cet ouvrage collectif veut répondre. Il est issu d'un colloque où furent présentées huit recherches conduites dans le cadre du programme national Les voies vers l'égalité du Fonds national de la recherche scientifique. Que ce soit au travail, dans la famille, dans l'église ou dans le système éducatif, tous ces travaux montrent l'ambiguïté et les paradoxes de la situation actuelle et s'interrogent sur les processus qui perpétuent les inégalités anciennes et en créent des nouvelles. Ils nous disent que l'égalité n'est pas un état stable qui pourrait être atteint mais un processus dans lequel les rapports de sexes se modifient et se reconstruisent sans cesse. Le livre est structuré autour de grands axes : la construction de l'égalité à travers les évolutions des identités masculines et féminines et les nouvelles approches à mettre en place pour mieux comprendre et transformer les rapports sociaux de sexe. Par la richesse et la diversité des contributions réunies, cet ouvrage constitue un outil de travail et de références pour les spécialistes comme pour les non-spécialistes. Il suggère également des pistes de réflexion pour alimenter le débat politique et institutionnel.