Hallux valgus, ankle osteoarthrosis and adult acquired flatfoot deformity: a review of three common foot and ankle pathologies and their treatments.

The pathogenesis of hallux valgus deformity is multifactorial. Conservative treatment can alleviate pain but is unable to correct the deformity. Surgical treatment must be adapted to the type and severity of the deformity. Success of surgical treatment ranges from 80% to 95%, and complication rates range from 10% to 30%.Ankle osteoarthrosis most commonly occurs as a consequence of trauma. Ankle arthrodesis and total ankle replacement are the most common surgical treatments of end stage ankle osteoarthrosis. Both types of surgery result in similar clinical improvement at midterm; however, gait analysis has demonstrated the superiority of total ankle replacement over arthrodesis. More recently, conservative surgery (extraarticular alignment osteotomies) around the ankle has gained popularity in treating early- to mid-stage ankle osteoarthrosis.Adult acquired flatfoot deformity is a consequence of posterior tibial tendon dysfunction in 80% of cases. Classification is based upon the function of the tibialis posterior tendon, the reducibility of the deformity, and the condition of the ankle joint. Conservative treatment includes orthotics and eccentric muscle training. Functional surgery is indicated for treatment in the early stages. In case of fixed deformity, corrective and stabilising surgery is performed. Cite this article: Crevoisier X, Assal M, Stanekova K. Hallux valgus, ankle osteoarthrosis and adult acquired flatfoot deformity: a review of three common foot and ankle pathologies and their treatments. EFORT Open Rev 2016;1:58-64. DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.1.000015

Automatic Identity Recognition Using Speech Biometric

Biometric technology refers to the automatic identification of a person using physical or behavioral traits associated with him/her. This technology can be an excellent candidate for developing intelligent systems such as speaker identification, facial recognition, signature verification...etc. Biometric technology can be used to design and develop automatic identity recognition systems, which are highly demanded and can be used in banking systems, employee identification, immigration, e-commerce…etc. The first phase of this research emphasizes on the development of automatic identity recognizer using speech biometric technology based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques provided in MATLAB. For our phase one, speech data is collected from 20 (10 male and 10 female) participants in order to develop the recognizer. The speech data include utterances recorded for the English language digits (0 to 9), where each participant recorded each digit 3 times, which resulted in a total of 600 utterances for all participants. For our phase two, speech data is collected from 100 (50 male and 50 female) participants in order to develop the recognizer. The speech data is divided into text-dependent and text-independent data, whereby each participant selected his/her full name and recorded it 30 times, which makes up the text-independent data. On the other hand, the text-dependent data is represented by a short Arabic language story that contains 16 sentences, whereby every sentence was recorded by every participant 5 times. As a result, this new corpus contains 3000 (30 utterances * 100 speakers) sound files that represent the text-independent data using their full names and 8000 (16 sentences * 5 utterances * 100 speakers) sound files that represent the text-dependent data using the short story. For the purpose of our phase one of developing the automatic identity recognizer using speech, the 600 utterances have undergone the feature extraction and feature classification phases. The speech-based automatic identity recognition system is based on the most dominating feature extraction technique, which is known as the Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC). For feature classification phase, the system is based on the Vector Quantization (VQ) algorithm. Based on our experimental results, the highest accuracy achieved is 76%. The experimental results have shown acceptable performance, but can be improved further in our phase two using larger speech data size and better performance classification techniques such as the Hidden Markov Model (HMM)

Predicting the pathogen of diabetic toe osteomyelitis by two consecutive ulcer cultures with bone contact

In this study, we investigate the accuracy of two consecutive ulcer cultures with bone contact compared to bone biopsy for the diagnosis of diabetic toe osteomyelitis. The same nurse and orthopaedic surgeon obtained all samples: sample A-1: bone contact swabbing through the ulcer; sample A-2: a second culture swabbing from the bone surface within 24 h; sample B: surgical bone biopsy in the operating theatre. The kappa statistic measure between samples A-1 and A-2 (bone contact swabs) indicated 82.35% agreement. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the two samples A compared to B were 96%, 79%, 92% and 88%, respectively, for the causative pathogen. These results were similar with prior antibiotic treatment, discordant bone surface swabs or with monomicrobial infections. As a conclusion, two consecutive diabetic toe cultures with bone contact accurately predict the pathogen of diabetic toe osteomyelitis in 90% of cases

Predicting the pathogen of diabetic toe osteomyelitis by two consecutive ulcer cultures with bone contact

In this study, we investigate the accuracy of two consecutive ulcer cultures with bone contact compared to bone biopsy for the diagnosis of diabetic toe osteomyelitis. The same nurse and orthopaedic surgeon obtained all samples: sample A-1: bone contact swabbing through the ulcer; sample A-2: a second culture swabbing from the bone surface within 24 h; sample B: surgical bone biopsy in the operating theatre. The kappa statistic measure between samples A-1 and A-2 (bone contact swabs) indicated 82.35% agreement. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the two samples A compared to B were 96%, 79%, 92% and 88%, respectively, for the causative pathogen. These results were similar with prior antibiotic treatment, discordant bone surface swabs or with monomicrobial infections. As a conclusion, two consecutive diabetic toe cultures with bone contact accurately predict the pathogen of diabetic toe osteomyelitis in 90% of case

Bridging GPS Outages Using Spectral Fusion and Neural Network Models in Support of Multibeam Hydrography

In classical hydrographic surveying, the use of GPS is limited to providing horizontal control for survey vessels. More recently, an alternative practice has evolved, which determines depth values relative to a geodetic datum and then relate them to tidal datums through a series of vertical datum transformations. Although it has a number of advantages over classical hydrographic surveying, this practice requires accurate 3D positioning information. Unfortunately, accurate 3D positioning solution may not always be available as a result of communication link problems, GPS outages, or unsuccessful fixing for the ambiguity parameters. This paper examines the use of wavelet analysis to spectrally combine the GPS/INS height data series and the heave signal to bridge the height data gaps. In addition, a neural network-based model is developed to precisely predict the horizontal component of the survey vessel.En los levantamientos hidrográficos clásicos, el uso del GPS está limitado al suministro de control horizontal para los buques hidrográficos. Más recientemente, se ha desarrollado una práctica alterna-tiva, que determina los valores de la profundidad relativos a un datum geodésico y los relaciona pos-teriormente con los datums de mareas a través de una serie de transformaciones del datum vertical. Aunque tiene una serie de ventajas con respecto a los levantamientos hidrográficos clásicos, esta práctica requiere una información precisa del posicionamiento en 3D. Desgraciadamente, puede que una solución de posicionamiento preciso en 3D no esté siempre disponible como resultado de los problemas de enlaces de datos, los cortes GPS, o un ajuste infructuoso de parámetros de ambigüedad. Este artículo examina el uso de un análisis de ondas pequeñas para combinar espectralmente la serie de datos de altura GPS/INS y la señal de oleaje para superar las deficiencias de datos de alturas. Además, se ha desarrollado un modelo basado en la red neural para predecir con precisión la compo-nente horizontal del buque hidrográfico.Dans les levés hydrographiques classiques, l‘utilisation du GPS est limitée à la fourniture d‘un contrôle horizontal pour les bâtiments hydrographiques. Plus récemment, une autre pratique est ap-parue et celle-ci détermine les valeurs de profondeur par rapport à un système géodésique puis les rapporte au niveau de référence des marées par le biais d‘une série de transformations du système géodésique vertical. Bien que ceci offre un certain nombre d‘avantages par rapport aux levés hydro-graphiques classiques, cette pratique nécessite des informations exactes sur la détermination de la position en 3D. Malheureusement, une solution exacte de détermination de la position en 3D n‘est pas toujours disponible à cause de problèmes de liaison en matière de communications, de défaillan-ces GPS, ou de réparation infructueuse des paramètres d‘ambiguïté. Le présent article examine l‘uti-lisation d‘une analyse des ondelettes pour combiner de manière spectrale les séries de données de hauteur GPS/INS et le signal de pilonnement afin de combler les lacunes en données de hauteur. En outre, un modèle inspiré d‘un réseau neuronal est en cours de développement en vue d‘une prédic-tion précise de la composante horizontale du bâtiment hydrographique

Étude de la dynamique stationnelle des populations des culicidés dans la province de Sidi Slimane (Maroc)

La province de Sidi Slimane (Maroc) par son climat et sa position dans la plaine du Gharb en tant qu’une zone d’inondation, engendre une grande variété de gîtes larvaires culicidiens. Les autorités sanitaires de la province adoptent la stratégie nationale qui vise essentiellement le maintien de l’élimination des maladies parasitaires à transmission vectorielle et notamment le paludisme autochtone qui repose en grande partie sur la lutte contre le vecteur. Cette lutte ne peut être efficace sans la bonne connaissance de la répartition de ce vecteur dans l’espace et dans le temps. Dans ce travail nous avons suivi l’évolution spatiotemporelle de 06 espèces de la famille de culicidae (1 espèce d’Anophèles, 5 espèces de Culex) dans huit (08) stations au cours d’un cycle hydrologique de l’année 2011 dans la province de Sidi Slimane (Maroc). Les différents peuplements étudiés sont largement dominés par Cx. pepiens aussi bien spatialement que temporellement. C’est une espèce ubiquiste et printano-automnale. CX.hortensis est une espèce printanière. Cx. theileri est une espèce qui enregistre son maximum d’abondance en printemps. CX. laticinctus évolue également dans un gîte permanent presque durant toute l’année, An. labranchiae, CX.medestus, espèces qui ont des exigences quant au type de gîtes à coloniser.Mots-clés : culicidae, spatio-temporel, anophèles, culex, Sidi Slimane, MarocStudy of the population dynamics of stational culicidées in the province of Sidi Slimane (Morocco)The province of Sidi Slimane (Morocco) by its climate and its geographical situation in the plain of Gharb,which is known as a zone of flood, engenders a big variety of mosquitos larvae breeding grounds. The sanitary authorities of the province adopt the national strategy That aims essentially at eliminating the parasitic diseases at vector transmission , particularly, the autochtonous malaria , That takes the largest part in the fight .However The fight against this vector cannot be effective without a good knowledge of distribution in space and time. In this work we followed the spatiotemporelle evolution of 06 culicidae family species (1 species of Anophèles, 5 species of Culex). In eight (08) stations during a hydrological cycle of the year 2011 in the province. The various studied settlements are largely dominated by Cx. pepiens spatially and temporally as well ubiquist and printano-autumnal. CX.hortensis is a spring species. Cx. theileri is a species which records its maximum of abundance in spring. CX.laticinctus also evolves in the permanent of breeding places almost during all the year. An. labranchiae, CX.medestus, is species which have certain requirements as for the type of breeding places with colonize.Keywords : culicidae, spatio-temporel, anophèles, culex, Sidi Slimane, Morocco

Role of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest in the diagnosis of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) – A serial study of 15 patients

AbstractAim of workTo highlight the characteristic high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings in 15 patients diagnosed with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), narrowing the wide range of ILD and allowing accurate diagnosis preventing unnecessary interventional procedures.Patients and methods15 female patients ranged in age from 17 to 55years (mean age=40.33years). ILD was suspected based on clinical examination and chest radiographs. They were referred to do HRCT chest for further assessment. A 64 MSCT scanner was used.ResultsAll patients showed bilateral multiple cysts showing upper lobar predominance in 13.3% of cases and lower lobar one in 6.7%. The size of the cysts ranged from few mms to 3cm with variable wall thickness. Pneumothorax was reported in three patients and pulmonary hypertension in 15 cases.ConclusionHRCT is a valued diagnostic tool for diagnosis of LAM showing characteristic features for the disease

Automatic identity recognition systems : a review

Rapidly changed computer technology and fast growth of communication ways, makes everyday work easy and managed. Technology takes place everywhere, in business, education, market, security... etc. However, communication between human and these technologies become the main concern of many research areas, especially for developing automatic identity recognition systems. However, biometric technologies are among the most important technologies used in this area. Biometric technology refers to the automatic identity recognition using physical or behavioral traits associated with him/her. Using biometrics, it is possible to establish physiological-based systems that depend on physiological characteristics such as fingerprint, face recognition, DNA... etc, or behavioral-based systems that depend on behavioral characteristics such as gait, voice ...etc, or even combining both of them in one system. Therefore, biometrics technologies can be excellent candidates for developing intelligent systems such as speaker identification, facial recognition, signature verification...etc. In addition, biometric technologies are flexible enough to be combined with other tools to produce more secure and easier to use verification system

Arabic automatic continuous speech recognition systems

MSA is the current formal linguistic standard of Arabic language, which is widely taught in schools and universities, and often used in the office and the media. MSA is also considered as the only acceptable form of Arabic language for all native speakers [I]. As recently, the research community has witnessed an improvement in the performance of ASR systems, there is an increasingly widespread use of this technology for several languages of the world. Similarly, research interests have grown significantly in the past few years for Arabic ASR research. It is noticed that Arabic ASR research is not only conducted and investigated by researchers in the Arab world, but also by many others located in different parts of the \vorld especially the western countries