Continuous Functions Modeling with Artificial Neural Network: An Improvement Technique to Feed the Input-Output Mapping

The artificial neural network is one of the interesting techniques that have been advantageously used to deal with modeling problems. In this study, the computing with artificial neural network (CANN) is proposed. The model is applied to modulate the information processing of one-dimensional task. We aim to integrate a new method which is based on a new coding approach of generating the input-output mapping. The latter is based on increasing the neuron unit in the last layer. Accordingly, to show the efficiency of the approach under study, a comparison is made between the proposed method of generating the input-output set and the conventional method. The results illustrated that the increasing of the neuron units, in the last layer, allows to find the optimal network’s parameters that fit with the mapping data. Moreover, it permits to decrease the training time, during the computation process, which avoids the use of computers with high memory usage

Prosthetic knee arthritis due to Granulicatella adiacens after dental treatment

We report prosthetic knee arthritis in a 55-year-old diabetic man due toGranulicatella adiacens, a micro-organism present in the oral flora, usually described in endocarditis but rarely in prosthesis joint infection. This patient had undergone a dental extraction without antibiotic prophylaxis one month before, and an aseptic loosening of the prosthesis had been diagnosed previously. If antimicrobial prophylaxis against infective endocarditis for dental procedures is well established, such an approach is still controversial for joint prosthesis and should be considered in some conditions.</jats:p

Multidrug and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis

International audienc

Comparison of methods available for identification of Mycobacterium chimaera

International audienceObjectives: Mycobacterium chimaera is a recently described nontuberculous mycobacteriumbelonging to the M. avium complex (MAC). Because this species is implicated in a worldwideoutbreak due to contaminated heater-cooler unit water tanks during open-heart surgery, itbecomes mandatory for clinical microbiology laboratories to be able to differentiate M.chimaera from the other MAC species, especially M. intracellulare. Such identification wasso far restricted to specialized laboratories, since it required the analysis of several genesequences. The aim of this study was to evaluate commercialized methods for identifying M.chimaera with regard to the reference gene sequencing ITS, the internal transcribed spacer16-23S.Methods: 47 clinical and environmental isolates including 41 MAC were identified using (i)PCR sequencing of the ITS gene and of the hsp65 gene, (ii) three molecular biology kits(INNO-LiPA Mycobacteria, GenoType Mycobacterium CM and GenoType NTM-DR), and(iii) matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDITOFMS) using MicroFlex software.Results: There was a high concordance for species determination between the reference ITSsequencing and the GenoType NTM-DR test (39/41, 95%), the INNO-LiPA test (38/41, 93%)and the hsp65 sequencing (38/41, 93%). The GenoType CM test did not distinguish M.chimaera from M. intracellulare. MALDI-TOF MS distinguished two M. chimaera - M.intracellulare groups separated from M. avium and from the other mycobacterial species on ascore-oriented dendrogram, but did not differentiate the two species either.Conclusions: This study showed that INNO-LiPA and Genotype NTM-DR are efficientassays for M. chimaera identification in clinical microbiology laboratories