Complication rates and types of failure after arthroscopic acute acromioclavicular dislocation fixation. Prospective multicenter study of 116 cases

AbstractAimsTo report and analyze both the surgical and radiographic complications associated with anatomic coracoclavicular (CC) ligament procedures and to evaluate the effect of these complications on patient outcomes.Patients and methodsFrom July 2012 to July 2013, 116 primary anatomic CC ligament procedures (all arthroscopic endobutton fixations) were performed in 14 different centers. Demographic, surgical, subjective, and radiographic data were prospectively analyzed in 14 centers with a minimum follow-up of 12 months.ResultsThis series included 96 men and 20 women, mean age 37 years old, with a mean delay to surgery of 10 days. No intraoperative complications were reported. There were 11 complications due to hardware failure resulting in a loss of reduction, 1 coracoid fracture, 7 cases of adhesive capsulitis, 2 local infections, 5 cases of hardware pain. There were significant differences in outcomes between patients who did and did not develop complications: mean CS=71 vs. 93, (P<0.0001). All the parameters of the CS were statistically affected (P<0.0001). Forty-eight patients had persistent dislocation>150% on an AP X-ray which affected the pain and activity CS (P=0.023 and P=0.044). No preoperative predictive factors were identified. These patients could not return to the same level of sports activities due to persistent pain.DiscussionAnatomic procedures to treat AC joint dislocation using CC ligament reconstruction resulted in an overall complication rate of 22.4% and influenced the return to sports. Good to excellent outcomes were reported in patients without complications.Clinical seriesLevel of evidence 4

A century of warfare shoots holes in anti-Caulerpa campaign

Effort to have all varieties of the marine alga Caulerpa taxifolia listed as noxious weeds hinges on the argument that the alga&#x27;s proliferation in the Mediterranean Sea is a cause and not a consequence of environmental degradation. Until now, the occurrence of two populations in a pristine part of the northern Mediterranean near the island of Porquerolles has upheld this claim. Here we show that the alga&#x27;s development at Porquerolles is indeed a consequence of environmental degradation caused by military weapons&#x27; impacts on seagrass beds during the last century. The available data show that substratum enrichment plays a key role in fostering development of Caulerpa, irrespective of whether this results directly from pollution or from the impacts of pollution and other anthropogenic factors on benthic vegetation cover

A multispectral omnidirectional stereoscopic sensor

The 3D reconstruction of an environment with a high degree of accuracy and faithful textures represents an important challenge for applications related to the multimedia and cinematography. We present in this article, the complete development, of the electronic design to the algorithmic restitution of the environment, of a multispectral omnidirectional stereoscopic sensor that tackles this problem. Although panoramic sensors exist, the vision system presented here has four channels of acquisition coupled to a projector of structured light emitting in the infra-red. This original process separates the acquisition of colors textures independently of the 3D reconstruction. The panoramic images colors are corrected starting from ICC (International Color Consorsium) profiles of the two cameras. The reconstruction of the environment uses only the invariable available on the infra-red channels. An active calibration technique is also presented. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of this new class of multispectral omnidirectionnal vision sensor.La reconstruction d’un environnement avec une grande précision et des textures fidèles représente un besoin important pour des applications liées aux mondes de l’événementiel, de la cinématographie et du multimédias. Nous présentons dans cet article, le développement complet, de la conception électronique à la restitution algorithmique de l’environnement, d’un système de vision stéréoscopique omnidirectionnel multi spectral permettant de répondre à ce besoin. L’architecture du système présentée ici, possède la particularité d’avoir deux caméras (munies de quatre canaux d’acquisition) couplées à un projecteur de lumière structurée infrarouge. Ce procédé original d’acquisition traite le processus d’obtention des textures couleurs indépendamment de celui de la reconstruction 3D. Les images panoramiques couleurs sont corrigées à partir des profils ICC (International Color Consorsium) des deux caméras. La reconstruction 3D de l’environnement utilise les informations disponibles sur les canaux infrarouges des deux caméras. Une étape préliminaire de calibrage actif est aussi présentée. Des résultats expérimentaux démontrent la faisabilité de cette nouvelle classe de capteur de vision multi spectrale omnidirectionnelle

The Mid-Infrared Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope, VIII: The MIRI Focal Plane System

We describe the layout and unique features of the focal plane system for MIRI. We begin with the detector array and its readout integrated circuit (combining the amplifier unit cells and the multiplexer), the electronics, and the steps by which the data collection is controlled and the output signals are digitized and delivered to the JWST spacecraft electronics system. We then discuss the operation of this MIRI data system, including detector readout patterns, operation of subarrays, and data formats. Finally, we summarize the performance of the system, including remaining anomalies that need to be corrected in the data pipeline

Measuring Cluster Temperature Profiles with XMM/EPIC

Using the PV observation of A1795, we illustrate the capability of XMM-EPIC to measure cluster temperature profiles, a key ingredient for the determination of cluster mass profiles through the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium. We develop a methodology for spatially resolved spectroscopy of extended sources, adapted to XMM background and vignetting characteristics. The effect of the particle induced background is discussed. A simple unbiased method is proposed to correct for vignetting effects, in which every photon is weighted according to its energy and location on the detector. We were able to derive the temperature profile of A1795 up to 0.4 times the virial radius. A significant and spatially resolved drop in temperature towards the center (r<200 kpc) is observed, which corresponds to the cooling flow region of the cluster. Beyond that region, the temperature is constant with no indication of a fall-off at large radii out to 1.2 Mpc.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A (special Letter issue on XMM

The Mid-Infrared Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope, III: MIRIM, The MIRI Imager

In this article, we describe the MIRI Imager module (MIRIM), which provides broad-band imaging in the 5 - 27 microns wavelength range for the James Webb Space Telescope. The imager has a 0"11 pixel scale and a total unobstructed view of 74"x113". The remainder of its nominal 113"x113" field is occupied by the coronagraphs and the low resolution spectrometer. We present the instrument optical and mechanical design. We show that the test data, as measured during the test campaigns undertaken at CEA-Saclay, at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, indicate that the instrument complies with its design requirements and goals. We also discuss the operational requirements (multiple dithers and exposures) needed for optimal scientific utilization of the MIRIM.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figure

XMM- Newton Observation of the Coma Galaxy Cluster: The temperature structure in the central region

We present a temperature map and a temperature profile of the central part (r < 20' or 1/4 virial radius) of the Coma cluster. We combined 5 overlapping pointings made with XMM/EPIC/MOS and extracted spectra in boxes of 3.5' X 3.5'. The temperature distribution around the two central galaxies is remarkably homogeneous (r<10'), contrary to previous ASCA results, suggesting that the core is actually in a relaxed state. At larger distance from the cluster center we do see evidence for recent matter accretion. We confirm the cool area in the direction of NGC 4921, probably due to gas stripped from an infalling group. We find indications of a hot front in the South West, in the direction of NGC4839, probably due to an adiabatic compression

Statistical Model of Shape Moments with Active Contour Evolution for Shape Detection and Segmentation

This paper describes a novel method for shape representation and robust image segmentation. The proposed method combines two well known methodologies, namely, statistical shape models and active contours implemented in level set framework. The shape detection is achieved by maximizing a posterior function that consists of a prior shape probability model and image likelihood function conditioned on shapes. The statistical shape model is built as a result of a learning process based on nonparametric probability estimation in a PCA reduced feature space formed by the Legendre moments of training silhouette images. A greedy strategy is applied to optimize the proposed cost function by iteratively evolving an implicit active contour in the image space and subsequent constrained optimization of the evolved shape in the reduced shape feature space. Experimental results presented in the paper demonstrate that the proposed method, contrary to many other active contour segmentation methods, is highly resilient to severe random and structural noise that could be present in the data

Prognostic factors to succeed in surgical treatment of chronic acromioclavicular dislocations

AbstractIntroductionTreatment of chronic acromioclavicular joint dislocation (ACJD) remains a poorly known and controversial subject. Given the many surgical options, it is not always easy to determine which steps are indispensable.MethodsThis article reports a multicenter prospective study. The clinical and radiological follow-up involved a comparative analysis of the preoperative and postoperative data at 1 year, including pain (visual analogue scale), subjective functional incapacity (QuickDASH), and the objective Constant score, as well as a comparative analysis of vertical and horizontal movements measured on simple x-rays.ResultsBased on a series of 140 operated ACJDs, we included 24 chronic ACJDs. The mean time to surgery was 46 weeks (range, 1 month to 4 years). The patients’ mean age was 41 years, with a majority of males (75%), 72% of whom participated in recreational sports. Professionally, 40% of the subjects had jobs involving manual labor. We noted 40% grade III, 24% grade IV, and 36% grade V injury according to the Rockwood classification. In 92% of cases, coracoclavicular stabilization was provided by a double button implant, reinforced with a biological graft in 88% of the cases. In 29%, millimeters to centimeters of the distal clavicle were resected and acromioclavicular stabilization was associated in 54%. We observed complications in 33% of the cases. At 1 year postoperative, 21 patients underwent clinical and radiological follow-up (87.5%). Only 35% of the patients were satisfied or very satisfied, whereas 100% of them would recommend the operation. Full-time work was resumed in 91% of the cases and all sports could be resumed in 86%. The pre- and postoperative values at 1 year changed as follows: the mean Constant score improved from 61 to 87 (p=0.00002); the subjective QuickDASH score decreased from 41 to 9 (p=0.00002); and radiologically significant reduction of the initial displacement was observed in the vertical plane (p<10−3) and the horizontal plane (p=0.022).ConclusionIn this study, the favorable prognostic factors found were: time to surgery less than 3 months (p=0.02), associated acromioclavicular stabilization, and postoperative immobilization with a sling extended to 6 weeks. However, resection of the distal clavicle did not influence the final result.Level of proofLevel II prospective non-randomized comparative study

A Mosaic of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies with XMM-Newton

The Coma cluster of galaxies was observed with XMM-Newton in 12 partially overlapping pointings. We present here the resulting X-ray map in different energy bands and discuss the large scale structure of this cluster. Many point sources were found throughout the observed area, at least 11 of them are coincident with bright galaxies. We also give a hardness ratio map at the so far highest angular resolution obtained for a cluster of galaxies. In this map we found soft regions at the position of bright galaxies, little variation in the central 15 arcmin, but some harder regions north of the line NGC 4874 - NGC 4889.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepetd for publication in the A&A special issue on XMM-Newton result