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Physical activity is an important determinant of health in children and adults. Assessment of physical activity is therefore an important factor in the promotion of health and in several childhood and adulthood pathological situations. Physical activity can be estimated by various methods: pedometry, heart rate monitoring, questionnaires, the doubly labelled water method, and accelerometry. The choice of the type of device depends on the objectives of the clinician or researcher. Accelerometry currently represents the best objective method for measuring physical activity and is widely used in clinical or epidemiological studies. The purpose of this paper is to help practitioners and researchers to make better decisions when using accelerometry as a device for measuring physical activity measurement in order to obtain the most accurate and comparable information., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Neurological soft signs (NSS) include anomalies in motor integration, coordination, sensory integration and lateralization and could be endophenotypic markers in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Their characterization provides a more precise phenotype of ASD and more homogeneous subtypes to facilitate clinical and genetic research. Few scales for NSS have been adapted and validated in children including children with ASD. Our objective was to perform an adaptation to the child of a scale assessing neurological soft signs and a validation study in both general and clinical populations., Methods: We have selected the NSS scale of Krebs et al. (2000) already validated in adults. It encompasses 5 dimensions: motor coordination, motor integration, sensory integration, involuntary movement, laterality. After a preliminary study that examined 42 children, several changes have been made to the original version to adapt it to the child and to increase its feasibility, particularly in children with ASD. Then we conducted a validation study by assessing the psychometric properties of this scale in a population of 86 children including 26 children with ASD (DSM 5 Criteria) and 60 typically developing children. Children's ages ranged between 6 and 12 years, and patients and controls were matched for gender, age and intelligence. Patients were assessed using the Autism diagnostic Interview-revised and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale to confirm diagnosis. Typically developing children were assessed using the semi-structured Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents to eliminate any psychiatric disorder. All children with neurological pathologies (history of cerebral palsy, congenital anomaly of the central nervous system, epilepsy, tuberous sclerosis, neurofibromatosis, antecedent of severe head trauma) and obvious physical deformities or sensory deficits that could interfere with neurological assessment were excluded from the study. Both patients and controls were assessed using the Raven Progressive Matrices to exclude intellectual disability, and the adapted Krebs' scale for the assessment of NSS., Results: Adaptation of the scale consisted of a modification in the order of items, in the use of concrete supports for the assessment of laterality and in the elimination of item constructive praxis. The internal consistency was good with a Cronbach alpha of 0.87. Inter-rater reliability was good, kappa coefficient was greater than 0.75 for 16 items, 3 items had a kappa value between 0.74 and 0.60, only 1 item had a kappa coefficient between 0.4 and 0.59. Good inter-rater reliability was also checked for the total score with a value of intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.91. Principal component analysis found five factors accounting for 62.96 % of the total variance. About the comparison between patients and controls, significant differences were found for NSS total score (P=0.000) and all subscores., Conclusion: The adaptation for children of the Krebs et al.' NSS scale proved to be valid, especially in children with ASD., (Copyright © 2016 L’Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Posterior cervical arthrodesis is associated with osteosynthesis. C2 pedicular screwing affords a good bone anchoring but involves neurological and vascular risks., Purpose: To determine C2 pedicular screwing feasibility from a large cohort of cervical CT scans. To describe the visible anatomical parameters during a surgical procedure in order to plan and secure it., Materials and Methods: Retrospective consecutive series of 100 cervical CT scans was analyzed. Cases with upper cervical fracture were excluded. C2 surgical anatomy was assessed according to maximum length, minimum width and minimum height. Angular parameters were pedicle-transverse angle and sagittal angle. Original pedicle-lamina angle was used as a visible mark during the procedure independent of the patient's position. Pedicular screwing feasibility was evaluated. It was arbitrarily defined by a lower minimum height less than 4mm., Results: Two hundred C2 pedicles were analyzed with 7.5% that were not screwable. Their mean length was 26.2mm, with a mean width of 5.2mm and a mean height of 9.2mm. Mean pedicle-transverse angle was 36.2°, mean sagittal angle was 25.8° and mean pedicle-lamina angle was 81.3°., Conclusion: C2 pedicle screwing feasibility is inconstant due to anatomical variability. In fact, 13% of patients have at least one non-screwable pedicle. Preoperative planning is essential to achieve this procedure. A pedicle-lamina angle can be used which remains independent from the patient's position., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) analysis by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) has become essential for the assessment of glaucoma patients. The foveal projection is conventionally below the disc plane, creating an angle with the horizontal meridian, the disc-fovea angle. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of adjustment of cpRNFL analysis based on this angle., Materials and Methods: This study concerns 40 control eyes and 55 eyes affected with and followed for primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). After precise localization of the optic disc center and the axis connecting it to the center of the fovea, a circular peripapillary scan is performed with Spectralis OCT (Heidelberg Engineering, Germany). The mean thickness in each of six papillary sectors and the global mean thickness of the cpRNFL were evaluated. The ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis evaluated the diagnostic capabilities of the various sectors before and after adjustment of the analysis for the disc-fovea angle., Results: The disc-fovea angle was not different between the two groups (-7.0 ± 1.2° for controls vs. -6.6 ± 1.2° for POAG, P=0.70). There is a significant variance of this angle in both groups (the angle varies in the control group between -22.5° to +1.8° and in the POAG group between -18° to +2.4°). The global mean and inferior temporal (IT) thickness of the cpRNFL show the best diagnostic performance. Adjustment for disc-fovea angle does not increase the diagnostic accuracy of the various sectors analyzed. Although there is an increase in the area under the curve for the IT sector after adjustment, it is not statistically significant (0.910 ± 0.056 vs. 0.936 ± 0.045, P=0.06)., Conclusions: There is a significant variation in disc-fovea angle. In this study, accounting for it does not significantly improve the diagnostic capabilities of cpRNFL in patients with POAG., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate retrospectively the indications, surgical technique, and postoperative findings in a series of 35 patients presenting lumbar canal stenosis due to osteoarthritic degeneration who underwent surgery using a tubular system for muscle retraction., Methods: This retrospective analysis included 35 patients, 28 with lumbar canal stenosis on a single level and seven with stenosis on two levels. On the stress images, 8 of these 35 patients presented stable degenerative spondylolisthesis. The surgical technique consisted in using a tubular system for muscle retraction. This enabled access for magnification and microsurgery of the canal, which was opened via an interlaminal approach. Concentric endocanal treatment was thus achieved without laminectomy. The same surgeon performed these 35 operations. The following variables were noted: patient age, level of canal narrowing, initial symptoms, duration of the operation, postoperative pain, use of analgesics, duration of hospital stay, clinical outcome at one and six months., Results: The postoperative period (mean postoperative stay 2.5 days) was generally uneventful with little pain (mean VAS 0.8). This can be explained by the absence of invasive dissection. Disinsertion of the paravertebral muscles and use of elevators can induce muscle ischemia. The spine is not destabilized since laminectomy is avoided. The six-month outcome showed relief of the initial symptom for 84% of patients. There were two dural breaches with no clinical impact and one patient required revision surgery because of destabilization of a degenerative spondylolisthesis. One other patient also required revision for complementary laminectomy., Conclusion: The short-, mid-, and long-term results of spinal canal recalibration using a less invasive approach to lumbar canal stenosis via a tubular system for muscle retraction has provided encouraging results in terms of symptom relief. The early postoperative period is short and uneventful allowing earlier resumption of daily activities. This technique reduces the cost of hospitalization and drugs and is adapted for geriatric patients. The long-term outcome with this technique should be assessed in terms of spinal stability after recalibration.

31P MRS and 1H MRI of skeletal muscle have become major new tools allowing a complete non invasive investigation of muscle function both in the clinical setting and in basic research. The comparative analysis of normal and diseased muscle remains a major requirement to further define metabolic events surrounding muscle contraction and the metabolic anomalies underlying pathologies. Also, standardized rest-exercise-recovery protocols for the exploration of muscle metabolism by P-31 MRS in healthy volunteers as well as in patients with intolerance to exercise have been developed. The CRMBM protocol is based on a short-term intense exercise, which is very informative and well accepted by volunteers and patients. Invariant metabolic parameters have been defined to characterize the normal metabolic response to the protocol. Deviations from normality can be directly interpreted in terms of specific pathologies in some favorable cases. This protocol has been applied to more than 4,000 patients and healthy volunteers over a period of 15 years. On the other hand, MRI investigations provide anatomical and functional information from resting and exercising muscle. From a diagnostic point of view, dedicated pulse sequences can be used in order to detect and quantify muscle inflammation, fatty replacement, muscle hyper and hypotrophy. In most cases, MR techniques provide valuable information which has to be processed in conjunction with traditional invasive biochemical, electrophysiological and histoenzymological tests. P-31 MRS has proved particularly useful in the therapeutic follow-up of palliative therapies (coenzyme Q treatment of mitochondriopathies) and in family investigations. It is now an accepted diagnostic tool in the array of tests which are used to characterize muscle disorders in clinical routine. As a research tool, it will keep bringing new information on the physiopathology of muscle diseases in animal models and in humans and should play a role in the metabolic characterization of gene and cell therapy.

Introduction: The authors present the diode-pumped, all-solid state, neodymium:glass femtosecond laser from the Laboratory of Ocular Biotechnology, Hotel-Dieu Hospital., Materials and Methods: We worked with a 1,065-nm wavelength infrared laser. This laser is composed of an oscillator and amplification glass matrix mixed with neodymium. Its stretching and compression system is capable of producing pulses lasting a few hundred femtoseconds. The repetition rate is adjustable, ranging from 1 to 10 kHz, and can reach energies up to 60 microJ. The delivery system was set up on an optical table, with human corneal samples fixed to an anterior chamber system, which can be moved over the X-Y-Z axis by a computer-guided translation motor with micrometric precision. We analyzed the biological effects of laser impacts in human corneal tissue, obtained from the French Eye Bank., Results: The femtosecond laser provides automated corneal cutting with a high level of precision, which can be verified on the corneal surface regularity by scanning electron microscopy analysis. Silicon samples can also be cut and can be used for calibration testing of the laser., Conclusion: The set-up composed of the femtosecond laser and the described delivery system enable precise corneal cutting and offer the opportunity to study its characteristics.

The decimal visual acuity chart is not easy to use for statistical analysis and requires a transformation into LogMAR units (decimal logarithm of the Minimum Angle Resolution). In contrast to the decimal chart, the logarithmic chart has an arithmetic progression and a constant interval between lines. The LogMAR chart makes statistical analysis of visual acuity easy. Change in visual acuity is calculated directly by subtracting LogMAR data, while the average visual acuity is obtained with the arithmetic mean value of the LogMAR data. The mean acuity expressed in LogMAR units can be transformed into a decimal chart for a more comprehensive result. To calculate the average visual acuity directly from the decimal data, the geometric mean value must be used instead of the arithmetic mean value.

Purpose: Until now, organ-cultured corneal endothelial mosaic has been assessed in France by cell counting using a calibrated graticule, or by drawing cells on a computerized image. The former method is unsatisfactory because it is characterized by a lack of objective evaluation of the cell surface and hexagonality and it requires an experienced technician. The latter method is time-consuming and requires careful attention. We aimed to make an efficient, fast and easy to use, automated digital analyzer of video images of the corneal endothelium., Methods: The hardware included a PC Pentium III ((R)) 800 MHz-Ram 256, a Data Translation 3155 acquisition card, a Sony SC 75 CE CCD camera, and a 22-inch screen. Special functions for automated cell boundary determination consisted of Plug-in programs included in the ImageTool software. Calibration was performed using a calibrated micrometer. Cell densities of 40 organ-cultured corneas measured by both manual and automated counting were compared using parametric tests (Student's t test for paired variables and the Pearson correlation coefficient)., Results: All steps were considered more ergonomic i.e., endothelial image capture, image selection, thresholding of multiple areas of interest, automated cell count, automated detection of errors in cell boundary drawing, presentation of the results in an HTML file including the number of counted cells, cell density, coefficient of variation of cell area, cell surface histogram and cell hexagonality. The device was efficient because the global process lasted on average 7 minutes and did not require an experienced technician. The correlation between cell densities obtained with both methods was high (r=+0.84, p<0.001). The results showed an under-estimation using manual counting (2191+/-322 vs. 2273+/-457 cell/mm(2), p=0.046), compared with the automated method., Conclusions: Our automated endothelial cell analyzer is efficient and gives reliable results quickly and easily. A multicentric validation would allow us to standardize cell counts among cornea banks in our country.

Bone densitometry is a biological measurement which must comply to the usual rules of quality control. Calibration phantoms are available and must be regularly measured. Results may be interpreted by visual inspection or by estimating drift percentage. Different calculation methods have been proposed. A rigorous procedure is required when replacing densitometry devices. Simple and regular controls can assure the reliability of the technique.

In order to appreciate the consequences of aging on the urethra, two prospective studies assessed its caliber in postmenopausal women. The population included aged women who came to consultation for disorders of the bladder and sphinecters. The clinical checkup, assessing the patient's age, morphology, time elapsed since menopause, local consequences of hormonal deficiency and urinary functional signs, was completed by an urodynamic examination. In the first study (76 patients), the urethra was calibrated using two Peters dilating bougies ranging from Charrière 10 to Charrière 26. In the second study (50 patients), measurements were made with OTIS-type ball dilators ranging from Charrière 9 to Charrière 30. This exploration was made in 126 patients. Urethral caliber was greater than or equal to Charrière 24 in 78% of patients. Only 2.3% of women had urethral "stenosis" with a Charrière score under 18. Contrary to what we were expecting, the urethral caliber does not seem to decrease with age. This unexpected statement and the difficulties of statistical analysis we have encountered lead us to complement our study.