Patients with complicated Pott's disease: Management in a rehabilitation department and functional prognosis

AbstractObjectiveThe objective is to study the rehabilitation management and to assess autonomy in daily life activities as well as walking recovery in patients with complicated Pott's disease.Patients and methodsRetrospective study in nine patients over a period of 8 years extending from 2000 to 2008, collated in the Department of Physical Medicine and Functional Rehabilitation, CHU Sahloul, Sousse, Tunisia.ResultsThe mean age of our patients was 43.8 years; sex ratio was 5/4. The spine involvement of tuberculosis was dorsal in seven cases, dorso-lumbar in one patient, and multiple (cervical, dorsal and lumbar) in one case. All patients were paraplegic with a neurological involvement of the bladder. They had prior antituberculosis chemotherapy for at least 8 months. Decompression surgery was performed in six cases. Two female patients presented disorders of spinal posture during treatment requiring surgical revision with osteosynthesis. All patients received additional rehabilitation care. Following a mean duration of hospitalisation in the Rehabilitation department of 47 days with twice-daily sessions of tailored physiotherapy, three patients remained in complete paraplegia, autonomous in wheel-chair and with vesical and sphincter incontinence. The measure of functional independence (MFI) was at admission/discharge 71/92.ConclusionRehabilitation takes an important place in the medico-surgical management in Pott's disease, to limite or compensate the disabilities and handicap related to this pathology

Métodos alternativos de muestreo para estimar la estructura y caracteres reproductivos de bosques

Aleppo pine had a large forest cover in North Africa and along the Mediterranean basin which management is not fully developed and new forest tools are required. In this research, the forest structure, epidometric characteristics and allometric relationships were studied in 79 plots covering four bioclimatic zones from natural even aged forests of Aleppo pine located between eastern Algeria to the western coastal part of Tunisia. To characterize the forest structure three sampling methods were carried out: classical inventories (recording all pine trees), and two simplified approach using one average size or five dominant pine tree per plot. Annual growth increment and cone production were only calculated for the average size tree. Furthermore, the analysis of variance showed non-significant differences recorded between bioclimatic zones in trunk or crown diameter using the two simplified approach. Moreover, a significant decrease from wetter to drier areas in total height, crown height, cone seed production was observed only for average size tree method. However, the analysis of covariance showed significant differences between both approaches in total height, trunk diameter and crown coverage which were largely influenced by the pine tree density. In future investigations, we confirmed previous research that the dominant tree is a good sampling method to examine the site fertility, whereas the average size tree constitutes a valuable approach to study the population growth and reproduction.El pino carrasco muestra una gran cobertura forestal, tanto en el norte de África como en toda la Cuenca Mediterránea, cuyo manejo no está totalmente desarrollado lo que requiere nuevas herramientas de manejo. En esta investigación, se estudiaron la estructura forestal, las características epidométricas y las relaciones alométricas de 79 parcelas distribuidas a lo largo de cuatro zonas bioclimáticas en bosques regulares de pino carrasco situados entre el este de Argelia y la costa este de Túnez. Para caracterizar la estructura forestal se aplicaron tres métodos de muestreo: inventario clásico (midiendo todos los pies) y dos propuestas más sencillas, usando un árbol medio o cinco pies dominantes por parcela. El análisis de varianza no mostraba diferencias significativas de las mediciones de diámetro de tronco y de copa realizadas entre las distintas zonas bioclimáticas usando ambos métodos. Por otra parte, se observó una disminución significativa de las zonas más húmedas a las más secas en altura toral, altura de copa y producción de semillas fue observada aplicando el método de árbol medio. Además, el análisis de covarianzas mostraba diferencias significativas, usando ambas metodologías, en los valores medios de altura total, diámetro de tronco y cobertura de copa que mostraron estar influenciados por los valores de la densidad de arbolado de cada zona. Para futuras investigaciones, confirmamos estudios previos que apuntaban que la propuesta de muestreo de árboles dominantes como un buen método de muestreo para caracterizar la calidad de sitio mientras que la de árbol medio constituye una valiosa propuesta para el estudio del crecimiento de poblaciones y sus características reproductivas

Multi-Criteria Decision Making for Medical Device Development

International audienceThe development of a new product is a complicated multi-stakeholder process with a significant risk of failure. This is particularly true in the medical device sector, where there are strict therapeutic, psychological, and normative constraints. This article presents a multi-criteria decision making process called “Define, Prioritize, Measure, and Aggregate” (DPMA). DPMA is designed to help engineering managers in decision making during the development process of new medical devices. The model is based on two sets of criteria linked to business and customer satisfaction. These criteria are weighted using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and group decision making (GDM) process. The performance of a medical device is measured according to each criterion. Furthermore, the final score of GO/NO GO alternatives are calculated with the simple additive weighting (SAW) method. A case study for the development of a new kind of femoral implant is presented to demonstrate the implementation of the DPMA process. This study shows that the application of the DPMA process during the design of a 3D printed femoral prosthesis provided engineering managers the key elements and green light to go ahead with the development of this medical device

Microcapteurs électrochimiques pour des mesures durables en Environnement-Santé et Agroalimentaire

National audienc

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV

Probing effective field theory operators in the associated production of top quarks with a Z boson in multilepton final states at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe