Feature Aggregation Decoder for Segmenting Laparoscopic Scenes

Laparoscopic scene segmentation is one of the key building blocks required for developing advanced computer assisted interventions and robotic automation. Scene segmentation approaches often rely on encoder-decoder architectures that encode a representation of the input to be decoded to semantic pixel labels. In this paper, we propose to use the deep Xception model for the encoder and a simple yet effective decoder that relies on a feature aggregation module. Our feature aggregation module constructs a mapping function that reuses and transfers encoder features and combines information across all feature scales to build a richer representation that keeps both high-level context and low-level boundary information. We argue that this aggregation module enables us to simplify the decoder and reduce the number of parameters in the decoder. We have evaluated our approach on two datasets and our experimental results show that our model outperforms state-of-the-art models on the same experimental setup and significantly improves the previous results, 98.44% vs 89.00% , on the EndoVis’15 dataset

Impact of composts prepared from olive waste on the growth and production parameters of some fruit trees

In agriculture, the use of organic amendments allows a better sustainability and productivity of the crop by improving the quality and structure of the soil, due to their richness in organic matter and nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, etc. This study aims to evaluate the effect of two composts of different compositions on the growth and yield of three types of trees: peach, pear and orange. The experimental design used is a randomized block with three replications. The treatment of trees was carried out by four types of amendments which were composts with olive waste (OW), olive mill wastewater (OMW), manure (M) and NPK fertilizer (F) of type 10-15-12. Their fertilizing power was evaluated by monitoring the morphological parameters of plant growth: height, trunk diameter, number of branches, and those of production including size, weight of fruit and yield. The obtained outcomes reveal that the two composts have a very highly significant effect on the investigated parameters. The production was recorded only in peach trees with a total yield of 31.5 t/ha; 25.5 t/ha; 22.5 t/ha; 18.5 t/ha, respectively for OW, OMW, F and M

Kyste hydatique du foie rompu dans la veine cave inférieure

La rupture du kyste hydatique dans la veine cave inférieure est une complication rare et grave des kystes hydatiques hépatique. La manifestation la plus fréquente est l’embolie pulmonaire. L’hémorragie aigue intra-kystique survienne surtout en per-opératoire et elle est d’évolution dramatique. Le diagnostic est basé sur le scanner. Le traitement est chirurgical. Nous rapportons un cas clinique rare chez un patient de 38 ans, opéré en urgence pour un sepsis sur un kyste hydatique du foie comprimant la veine cave inférieur (VCI) avec thrombose partielle de cette dernière. Après évacuation du kyste, une fistulisation spontané per opératoire s’est produite dans la VCI ayant causé le décès du patient. La rupture du kyste hydatique du foie dans la VCI doit toujours être redoutée devant un kyste hydatique des segments postérieurs du foie droit (VII et VIII), comprimant la VCI avec présence en son sein d’une thrombose ou des vésicules filles. Le traitement chirurgical doit être réalisé avec prudence et toujours sous contrôle vasculaire.Key words: Kyste hydatique hépatique, Rupture, Veine cave inférieure, Chirurgie, Contrôle vasculaire, Maro

Identifying effluents from a food processing industry

The agri-food industry in Morocco generates significant volumes of liquid waste, contributing to environmental challenges that directly impact public health. To address this issue, it is crucial to characterize this wastewater comprehensively, enabling the development of suitable treatment strategies to alleviate pollution and potentially facilitate recycling. This study focuses on the identification of effluents from an olive and caper preservation industry, employing physicochemical and bacteriological analyses on raw, decanted, and filtered effluent samples. The findings reveal that the effluent from the olive and caper preservation industry is characterized by high acidity and an exceptionally elevated mineral load. Notably, the application of decantation and filtration methods demonstrates a limited influence, primarily affecting the reduction of suspended solids. Understanding these physicochemical and bacteriological characteristics is pivotal for devising targeted treatment protocols, ensuring effective pollution reduction, and exploring avenues for potential recycling of this agri-food industry wastewater. This research serves as a foundation for informed decision-making in the development of sustainable and efficient wastewater management practices, balancing environmental preservation with industrial needs

What effects does an organic amendment to olive waste have on the soil and crop yield?

Intensive agriculture or phenomena such as pollution, compaction, and/or erosion lead to a decrease in the amounts of organic matter of soils; thus, causing a decrease in their fertility. The use of an organic amendment in agriculture could combat soil degradation. In this sense, two organic amendments with olives waste (OW) and olive mill wastewater (OMW) have been manufactured.  The objective of this work is to examine the capacity of these amendments to improve soil quality in comparison with manure (M). Three types of soil were tested: the first has been amended for two years with a compost of similar composition (S1), the second not amended (S2), and the third corresponds to an agricultural soil that is amended with chemical fertilizer (S3). All the trials were carried out on two vegetable gardens: potato and radish. The ANOVA shows that the amendment effect was highly significant on all the physicochemical parameters studied except humidity. In conclusion, this product could be an alternative to chemical fertilizers and considered as a perennial solution adapted to the context of sustainable development to the recovery of olive waste

New electronic orderings observed in cobaltates under the influence of misfit periodicities

We study with ARPES the electronic structure of CoO2 slabs, stacked with rock-salt (RS) layers exhibiting a different (misfit) periodicity. Fermi Surfaces (FS) in phases with different doping and/or periodicities reveal the influence of the RS potential on the electronic structure. We show that these RS potentials are well ordered, even in incommensurate phases, where STM images reveal broad stripes with width as large as 80\AA. The anomalous evolution of the FS area at low dopings is consistent with the localization of a fraction of the electrons. We propose that this is a new form of electronic ordering, induced by the potential of the stacked layers (RS or Na in NaxCoO2) when the FS becomes smaller than the Brillouin Zone of the stacked structure

Agronomic valorization of the composts with olive waste

In the Mediterranean countries, olive waste, a co-product of the olive oil trituration process, presents a serious environmental problem because of their polyphenol charge, given the quantities rejected each year. In previous works, this waste has been co-composted with other substrates and has been transformed into non-phytotoxic substances in conformity with the French standard NFU44-051 due to their composition in nutritional elements like soluble sugars, proteins and mineral elements. This study examines the efficacy of these substances on radish and potato crops. To do this, seeds were sown on the plot. For each crop, 4 plots were planned: land amended with manure (M), NPK fertilizer (F), the vegetable water substance (VW) and the olive-pomace substance (OP) in addition to the vegetable water. The first three substances served as controls. A statistical study of correlation between the latter and those that characterize the soil after amendment was carried out.  The obtained results showed that there are two strong correlations between pH, organic matter, dry matter and soil moisture amended by the OW compost and, on the one hand, the morphological growth parameters of the two crops and, on the other hand, the parameters of their production

Antioxidant activities, total phenol an flavonoid contents of two Teucrium polium subspecies extracts

The soxhlet extracts of two subspecies from Moroccan Teucrium polium were examined for their antioxidant activities, total polyphenol and total flavonoids contents.The Antioxidant activities was evaluated in vitro spectrophotometrically using  four methods, such as ABTS+·, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrzyl (DPPH·), ferric reducing antioxidant power and phosphomolybdenum assay. Total polyphenol and flavonoid contents  were measured using Folin-Ciocalteu test and aluminum chloride colorimetric method, respectively. The total phenol contents, flavonoids contents and antioxidant activities of T. polium subsp. polium extracts were higher than T. polium subsp. aurum. The phenols contents ranged from 112.27 to 4.38 mg GA E/ g dry extract. The total flavonoids varied between 174.57 and 40.42 mg RE/ g dry weight. The extract showed significant scavenging activity of  ABTS+·  and  DPPH·, with IC50 values ranging from 0.38 to 5 mg/ml and from 0.23 to 4.02 mg/ml, respectively. Moreover all extracts showed a good ferric reducing antioxidant power with EC50 values varying between 0.19 and 3.94 mg/ml. The total antioxidant capacity assay revealed that the water extract of T. polium subsp. aurum had a high activity with a value of 220 mg VitCE/g dry weight. The ethyl acetate extract has a weak antioxidant activity in the four tests. These results shows that Moroccan T. polium subspecies are a rich source of phenols and natural antioxidant compounds, which can be used as a natural food preservative