Environmental management tools for ports

Ports are very complex systems from the point of view of environment. In fact, the very existence of the port, as well as any expansion of its installations, implies a certain loss of habitat. Furthermore, the normal activities carried out in ports can be associated, one way or another, with environmental impacts: waste water discharges, air pollution, noise, soil contamination, dredging, waste production, accidental releases into water or air, etc. (Trozzi and Vaccaro, 2000).Preprin

Semi-sparse PCA

It is well-known that the classical exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of data with more observations than variables has several types of indeterminacy. We study the factor indeterminacy and show some new aspects of this problem by considering EFA as a specific data matrix decomposition. We adopt a new approach to the EFA estimation and achieve a new characterization of the factor indeterminacy problem. A new alternative model is proposed, which gives determinate factors and can be seen as a semi-sparse principal component analysis (PCA). An alternating algorithm is developed, where in each step a Procrustes problem is solved. It is demonstrated that the new model/algorithm can act as a specific sparse PCA and as a low-rank-plus-sparse matrix decomposition. Numerical examples with several large data sets illustrate the versatility of the new model, and the performance and behaviour of its algorithmic implementation

La voie cingulo-habénulaire dans les conséquences émotionnelles de la douleur chronique chez le rongeur : caractérisation comportementale, fonctionnelle et moléculaire

La douleur chronique est l’une des principales causes d’invalidité mondiale et est largement associée aux troubles émotionnels. De nombreuses études pointent vers le cortex cingulaire antérieur (CCA) et l’habénula latérale (HbL) dans le développement et le maintien de la comorbidité entre douleur chronique et troubles émotionnels. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’apporter une caractérisation de la voie CCA-HbL dans les conséquences émotionnelles de la douleur chronique chez des souris mâles. Des enregistrements calciques des neurones du CCA projetant vers l’HbL ont montré une réponse à des stimuli aversifs. Ensuite, l’activation chronique de cette voie par optogénétique a induit des comportements de type anxio-dépressif chez des animaux naïfs. L’inhibition de cette voie chez des souris douloureuses chroniques a réduit ces comportements. Enfin, l’analyse transcriptomique de ces neurones a révélé des dérégulations associées à des processus épigénétiques chez les souris douloureuses chroniques. Pour conclure, ces résultats ont souligné l’importance de la voie CCA-HbL dans la comorbidité entre douleur chronique et troubles émotionnels.Chronic pain is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide and is associated with emotional disorders. Compelling evidence point to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the lateral habenula (LHb) in the development and maintenance of the chronic pain and emotional disorders comorbidity. The goal of this thesis is to provide a characterization of the ACC-LHb pathway in chronic pain-induced emotional consequences in male mice. The calcium recording of LHb projecting ACC neurons highlighted their response to aversive stimuli. Secondly, chronic optogenetic activation of this pathway induces anxiodepressive-like behaviours in naive animals. On the other hand, its inhibition alleviates chronic pain induced anxiodepressive-like behaviours. Finally, transcriptomic analysis of LHb projecting ACC neurons revealed dysregulation associated with epigenetic adaptations in chronic pain mice. Altogether, these results highlight the importance of the ACC-LHb pathway in the chronic pain and emotional disorders dyad

Automatic method to detect and determine the preferential frequency of EMG signals from patients with pathological tremours

The paper presents a special purpose automatic-detection method de veloped to determine whether a tremour EMG contains a tremour and to calculate its preferential frequency if a tremour is present. This method is specially designed and applied in a project where only pathological tremours with preferential frequencies within the frequency band 2-10 Hz are recorded. The preferential frequency is calculated approximately as the mean frequency in a 3Hz broad area surrounding the main peak in the power spectrum The detection method assumes that the tremour signal contains only one single preferential frequency The advantages of the detection method are data reduction and objectivity. The level of detection of a tremour is approximately the same as can be derived from inspection of a power spectrum © 1984 IFMBE

Safety issues during surgical monitoring

While intra-operative neuro-physiologic assessment and monitoring improve the safety of patients, its use may also introduce new risks of injuries. This chapter looks at the electric safety of equipment and the potential hazards during the set-up of the monitoring. The physical and functional physiologic effects of electric shocks and stimulation currents, standards for safety limits, and conditions for tissue damage are described from basic physical principles. Considered are the electrode-tissue interface in relation to electrode dimensions and stimulation parameters as applied in various modalities of evoked sensory and motor potentials as to-date used in intra-operative monitoring, mapping of neuro-physiologic functions. A background is given on circumstances for electric tissue heating and heat drainage, thermal toxicity, protection against thermal injuries and side effects of unintended activation of neural and cardiac tissues, adverse effects of physiologic amplifiers from transcranial stimulation (TES) and excitotoxicity of direct cortical stimulation. Addressed are safety issues of TES and measures for prevention. Safety issues include bite and movement-induced injuries, seizures, and after discharges, interaction with implanted devices as cardiac pacemaker and deep brain stimulators. Further discussed are safety issues of equipment leakage currents, protection against electric shocks, and maintenance.</p

Improvement of the detectability of simulated pathological tremour e.m.g.s by means of demodulation and spectral analysis

In e.m.g.s recorded from patients with pathological tremours, the tremour cannot often be recognised by visual inspection. Demodulation of tremour e.m.g.s improves the detectability of the tremour, but the signal-to-noise ratio remains poor. In this study, demodulated artificially generated tremour e.m.g.s and e.m.g.s from a patient with a pathological tremour were subjected to digital spectral analysis. Power spectra, phase and coherence functions of the modulating and demodulated signals were calculated. The result is that the detectability is improved from a modulation depth of 60% in modulated noise to 2-4% after demodulation and spectral analysis. The results suggest a useful application of the demodulator and analysing software to tremour e.m.g.s in clinical practice. © 1983 IFMBE

Improvement of the detectability of simulated pathological tremour e.m.g.s by means of demodulation and spectral analysis

In e.m.g.s recorded from patients with pathological tremours, the tremour cannot often be recognised by visual inspection. Demodulation of tremour e.m.g.s improves the detectability of the tremour, but the signal-to-noise ratio remains poor. In this study, demodulated artificially generated tremour e.m.g.s and e.m.g.s from a patient with a pathological tremour were subjected to digital spectral analysis. Power spectra, phase and coherence functions of the modulating and demodulated signals were calculated. The result is that the detectability is improved from a modulation depth of 60% in modulated noise to 2-4% after demodulation and spectral analysis. The results suggest a useful application of the demodulator and analysing software to tremour e.m.g.s in clinical practice. © 1983 IFMBE