The value of intraoperative ultrasound in oblique corpectomy for cervical spondylotic myelopathy and ossified posterior longitudinal ligament.

Intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS) has been described to be useful during central corpectomy for compressive cervical myelopathy. This study aimed at documenting the utility of IOUS in oblique cervical corpectomy (OCC). Prospective data from 24 patients undergoing OCC for cervical spondylotic myelopathy and ossified posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) were collected. Patients had a preoperative cervical spine magnetic resonance (MR) image, IOUS and a postoperative cervical CT scan. Retrospective data from 16 historical controls that underwent OCC without IOUS were analysed to compare the incidence of residual compression between the two groups. IOUS identified the vertebral artery in all cases, detected residual cord compression in six (27%) and missed compression in two cases (9%). In another two cases with OPLL, IOUS was sub-optimal due to shadowing. IOUS measurement of the corpectomy width correlated well with these measurements on the postoperative CT. The extent of cord expansion noted on IOUS after decompression showed no correlation with immediate or 6-month postoperative neurological recovery. No significant difference in residual compression was noted in the retrospective and prospective groups of the study. Craniocaudal spinal cord motion was noted after the completion of the corpectomy. IOUS is an inexpensive and simple real-time imaging modality that may be used during OCC for cervical spondylotic myelopathy. It is helpful in identifying the vertebral artery and determining the trajectory of approach, however, it has limited utility in patients with OPLL due to artifacts from residual ossification.

Le bon vin d’Orleans, le punays lac de Sorbone et la mode de Bretaigne: sociocentrisme lúdic i ambivalència als blasons populars del Pantagruel de Rabelais, amb mostres de versions en diferents llengües

En aquest article es presenta una selecció d’un corpus extret del Pantagruel, en el qual els personatges de Rabelais ataquen o afalaguen, grotescament i hiperbòlica, en el més pur estil pantagruèlic, les altres nacions o viles. Per a aquests epítets ètnics, Rabelais reutilitza el blasó popular (blason populaire), en una fusió total de la lloança i la injúria. En el nostre treball comprovarem si la visió sociocèntrica que el blasonador aplica al blasonat, així com el propòsit lúdic, han aconseguit ser traslladats a les versions catalana (Miquel-Àngel Sánchez Férriz, 1985), espanyola (Alicia Yllera, 2003), italiana (Mario Bonfantini, 1953) i anglesa (Burton Raffel, 1991).

Empirical mode decomposition-based face recognition system

In this work we explore the multivariate empirical mode decomposition combined with a Neural Network classifier as technique for face recognition tasks. Images are simultaneously decomposed by means of EMD and then the distance between the modes of the image and the modes of the representative image of each class is calculated using three different distance measures. Then, a neural network is trained using 10- fold cross validation in order to derive a classifier. Preliminary results (over 98 % of classification rate) are satisfactory and will justify a deep investigation on how to apply mEMD for face recognition.

EEG signal analysis via a cleaning procedure based on multivariate empirical mode decomposition

Artifacts are present in most of the electroencephalography (EEG) recordings, making it difficult to interpret or analyze the data. In this paper a cleaning procedure based on a multivariate extension of empirical mode decomposition is used to improve the quality of the data. This is achieved by applying the cleaning method to raw EEG data. Then, a synchrony measure is applied on the raw and the clean data in order to compare the improvement of the classification rate. Two classifiers are used, linear discriminant analysis and neural networks. For both cases, the classification rate is improved about 20%.

Longitudinal neurochemical modifications in the aging mouse brain measured in vivo by (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Alterations to brain homeostasis during development are reflected in the neurochemical profile determined noninvasively by (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We determined longitudinal biochemical modifications in the cortex, hippocampus, and striatum of C57BL/6 mice aged between 3 and 24 months . The regional neurochemical profile evolution indicated that aging induces general modifications of neurotransmission processes (reduced GABA and glutamate), primary energy metabolism (altered glucose, alanine, and lactate) and turnover of lipid membranes (modification of choline-containing compounds and phosphorylethanolamine), which are all probably involved in the frequently observed age-related cognitive decline. Interestingly, the neurochemical profile was different in male and female mice, particularly in the levels of taurine that may be under the control of estrogen receptors. These neurochemical profiles constitute the basal concentrations in cortex, hippocampus, and striatum of healthy aging male and female mice.

Ultrasound evaluation of synovitis in RA: Correlation with clinical disease activity and sensitivity to change in an observational cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation between clinical measures of disease activity and a ultrasound (US) scoring system for synovitis applied by many different ultrasonographers in a daily routine care setting within the Swiss registry for RA (SCQM) and further to determine the sensitivity to change of this US Score. METHODS: One hundred and eight Swiss rheumatologists were trained in performing the Swiss Sonography in Arthritis and Rheumatism (SONAR) score. US B-mode and Power Doppler (PwD) scores were correlated with DAS28 and compared between the clinical categories in a cross-sectional cohort of patients. In patients with a second US (longitudinal cohort), we investigated if change in US score correlated with change in DAS and evaluated the responsiveness of both methods. RESULTS: In the cross-sectional cohort with 536 patients, correlation between the B-mode score and DAS28 was significant but modest (Pearson coefficient r=0.41, P<0.0001). The same was true for the PwD score (r=0.41, P<0.0001). In the longitudinal cohort with 183 patients we also found a significant correlation between change in B-mode and in PwD score with change in DAS28 (r=0.54, P<0.0001 and r=0.46, P<0.0001, respectively). Both methods of evaluation (DAS and US) showed similar responsiveness according to standardized response mean (SRM). CONCLUSIONS: The SONAR Score is practicable and was applied by many rheumatologists in daily routine care after initial training. It demonstrates significant correlations with the degree of as well as change in disease activity as measured by DAS. On the level of the individual, the US score shows many discrepancies and overlapping results exist.

High cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in myofibrillar myopathies due to DES gene mutations: a 10-year longitudinal study.

To determine incidence and type of major cardiac adverse events in patients with mutated desmin (DES) gene, we retrospectively reviewed baseline medical information, and examined the long-term outcomes of 28 DES patients (17 men, baseline mean age=37.7±14.4 years [min=9, max=71]) from 19 families. Baseline studies revealed skeletal muscle involvement in 21 patients and cardiac abnormalities in all but one patient. Over a mean follow-up of 10.4±9.4 years [min=1, max=35], cardiac death occurred in three patients, death due to cardiac comorbidities in two, one or more major cardiac adverse events in 13 patients. Among the 19 patients with mild conduction defects at baseline, eight developed high-degree conduction blocks requiring permanent pacing. Cardiac involvement was neither correlated with the type of DES mutation nor with the severity of skeletal muscle involvement. Our study underscores that in DES patients in-depth cardiac investigations are needed to prevent cardiac conduction system disease.

Longitudinal Joint Forming in PCC Pavements, MLR-00-05, Construction Report, 2003

In conventional construction practices, a longitudinal joint is sawed in a PCC (Portland Cement Concrete) pavement to control concrete shrinkage cracking between two lanes of traffic. Sawing a joint in hardened concrete is an expensive and time consuming operation. The longitudinal joint is not a working joint (in comparison to a transverse joint) as it is typically tied with a tie bar at 30 inch spacing. The open joint reservoir, left by the saw blade, typically is filled or sealed with a durable crack sealant to keep incompressibles and water from getting into the joint reservoir. An experimental joint forming knife has been developed. It is installed under the paving machine to form the longitudinal joint in the wet concrete as a part of the paving process. Through this research method, forming a very narrow longitudinal joint during the paving process, two conventional paving operations can be eliminated. Joint forming eliminates the need of the joint sawing operation in the hard concrete, and as the joint that is formed does not leave a wide-open reservoir, but only a hairline crack, it does not need the joint filling or sealing operation. Therefore, the two conventional longitudinal joint sawing and sealing operations are both being eliminated by this innovation. A laboratory scale prototype joint forming knife was built and tested, initially forming joints in small concrete beams. The results were positive so the method was proposed for field testing. Initial field tests were done in the construction season of 2001, limited to one paving contractor. A number of modifications were made to the knife throughout the field tests. About 3000 feet of longitudinal joint was formed in 2001. Additional testing was done in the 2002 construction season, working with the same contractor. About 150,000 feet of longitudinal joint was formed in 2002. Evaluations of the formed joints were done to determine longitudinal joint hairline crack development rate and appearance. Additional tests will be done in the next construction season to improve or perfect the longitudinal joint forming technique.

Enquête sur la mode féminine : [plaquette de prestige] / High-Life Taylor ; [texte signé J.R.] ; [ill. de Bernard B. de Monvel, Maurice Leloir, L. Sabattier,...]

Mécénat texte imprimé : Cet ouvrage a été numérisé grâce à Myriam Lenourry

Evidence of energy sparing in Gambian women during pregnancy: a longitudinal study using whole-body calorimetry.

Components of daily energy expenditure were measured serially by whole-body calorimetry in Gambian women before pregnancy and at 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 wk gestation. Weight gain was (mean +/- SD) 6.8 +/- 2.8 kg, fat deposition was 2.0 +/- 2.5 kg and lean tissue deposition was 5.0 +/- 2.5 kg. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) was depressed during the first 18 wk of gestation, causing total cumulative maintenance costs by week 36 to be 8.4 MJ. Individual responses to pregnancy correlated with changes in body mass (36 wk: delta BMR vs delta weight; r = 0.60, P < 0.01 delta BMR vs delta LBM; r = 0.62, P < 0.01). There was no significant increase in the cost of treadmill exercise (0% slope: F = 0.71, P = 0.64; 5% slope: F = 1.97, P = 0.10), 24-h energy expenditure (F = 0.72, P = 0.64), activity or diet-induced thermogenesis (F = 1.02, P = 0.43), during pregnancy in spite of body weight gain. Total metabolic costs over 36 wk were 144 MJ (fetus 43 MJ, fat deposition 92 MJ, cumulative maintenance costs 8.4 MJ). These were far lower than reported for well-nourished Western populations.

From caging to rouse dynamics in polymer melts with intramolecular barriers: a critical test of the mode coupling theory

By means of computer simulations and solution of the equations of the mode coupling theory (MCT),we investigate the role of the intramolecular barriers on several dynamic aspects of nonentangled polymers. The investigated dynamic range extends from the caging regime characteristic of glass-formers to the relaxation of the chain Rouse modes. We review our recent work on this question,provide new results, and critically discuss the limitations of the theory. Solutions of the MCT for the structural relaxation reproduce qualitative trends of simulations for weak and moderate barriers. However, a progressive discrepancy is revealed as the limit of stiff chains is approached. This dis-agreement does not seem related with dynamic heterogeneities, which indeed are not enhanced by increasing barrier strength. It is not connected either with the breakdown of the convolution approximation for three-point static correlations, which retains its validity for stiff chains. These findings suggest the need of an improvement of the MCT equations for polymer melts. Concerning the relaxation of the chain degrees of freedom, MCT provides a microscopic basis for time scales from chain reorientation down to the caging regime. It rationalizes, from first principles, the observed deviations from the Rouse model on increasing the barrier strength. These include anomalous scaling of relaxation times, long-time plateaux, and nonmonotonous wavelength dependence of the mode correlators.