[Medical photographs: Time saving and data security thanks to a dedicated application]

INTRODUCTION

Medical photography, ubiquitous in plastic surgery, provides essential information to the medical record. Smartphones have become the preferred tool for acquiring these photographs, but cause a data security issue. Furthermore, the management of photographs is frequently manual and time-consuming. The Pixacare software suite has been designed to meet this need in complete security. It includes a mobile application, a web application and a HADS server. The objective of the study was to calculate the time saved by the Pixacare application at the time of data acquisition.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This prospective and monocentric study was carried out in two steps in order to time the acquisition times with the usual method and with the Pixacare mobile application. Each phase included 89 patients recruited in plastic and maxillofacial surgery consultation with four surgeons. The number of patients and the average number of photographs per patient were comparable for each practitioner in both phases.

RESULTS

The acquisition time of the photographic data was divided by 3.77 (P<0.001). With the usual method, the average acquisition time was 259seconds, compared to 69seconds with the Pixacare application, saving 3minutes and 10seconds per patient.

CONCLUSION

The Pixacare software suite saves the surgeon significant time while ensuring appropriate data security. This study does not take into account the additional time saved by organising medical meetings, the benefits of sharing photographs between healthcare professionals and the efficiency of secure messaging.

Effect of production management on semen quality during long-term storage in different European boar studs

The processing of ejaculates is a fundamental step for the fertilizing capacity of boar spermatozoa. The aim of the present study was to identify factors that affect quality of boar semen doses. The production process during 1 day of semen processing in 26 European boar studs was monitored. In each boar stud, nine to 19 randomly selected ejaculates from 372 Pietrain boars were analyzed for sperm motility, acrosome and plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity and thermo-resistance (TRT). Each ejaculate was monitored for production time and temperature for each step in semen processing using the special programmed software SEQU (version 1.7, Minitüb, Tiefenbach, Germany). The dilution of ejaculates with a short-term extender was completed in one step in 10 AI centers (n = 135 ejaculates), in two steps in 11 AI centers (n = 158 ejaculates) and in three steps in five AI centers (n = 79 ejaculates). Results indicated there was a greater semen quality with one-step isothermal dilution compared with the multi-step dilution of AI semen doses (total motility TRT d7: 71.1 ± 19.2%, 64.6 ± 20.0%, 47.1 ± 27.1%; one-step compared with two-step compared with the three-step dilution; P < .05). There was a marked advantage when using the one-step isothermal dilution regarding time management, preservation suitability, stability and stress resistance. One-step dilution caused significant lower holding times of raw ejaculates and reduced the possible risk of making mistakes due to a lower number of processing steps. These results lead to refined recommendations for boar semen processing.

Development and validation of a duplex real-time PCR assay for the simultaneous detection and quantification of porcine circovirus type 2 and an internal control on porcine semen samples

A duplex real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) method for the simultaneous detection of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and an exogenous internal positive control (IPC) in porcine semen samples was developed. The IPC was included to monitor DNA extraction and PCR inhibition and consisted of a mutated PCV2 plasmid clone which differed from the target PCV2 in the probe binding region and thus was detected by the use of a second probe with different end-labeling. The sensitivity, specificity and repeatability of the assay were validated by testing semen samples from 12 boars inoculated experimentally with PCV2, 10 boars infected naturally with PCV2, and 3 PCV2 negative control boars. The duplex qPCR assay was found to be more sensitive, specific, rapid, and repeatable than nested PCR (nPCR) methods for the detection of PCV2 DNA in semen. Analysis of separated semen fractions by the duplex qPCR assay showed PCV2 DNA to be present mainly in the cell fraction as opposed to the seminal plasma fraction which is in contrast to previous reports. The duplex qPCR assay was found to be a valuable tool for accurate and quantitative detection of PCV2 DNA in boar semen.

Characterization of lower temperature storage limitations of fresh-extended porcine semen

Irreversible damage caused by cold shock has been assumed to occur when boar semen is exposed to temperatures below 15 degrees C. Identification of the lower critical temperature at which extended boar semen undergoes cold shock, however, has yet to be defined. The aims of this study were to 1) identify the cold-shock critical temperature and time on extended boar semen as assessed by sperm motility and morphology, and 2) determine the effects on fertility of using extended porcine semen exposed to this critical temperature and time. For Objective 1, ejaculates from 18 boars were collected, analyzed and extended in Androhep to 50 x 10(6) sperm/mL. Doses (4 x 10(9) sperm) from each ejaculate were exposed to 5 storage temperatures (8, 10, 12, 14 and 17 degrees C). Sperm motility and morphology (including acrosomes) were assessed following collection and at 12-h intervals for 48-h. Decreases in sperm motility occurred within the first 12-h at all temperatures. Sample motility dropped below 70% within 12-h in the 8 degrees C group and by 48-h in the 10 degrees C group. Sample motility was > 75% in the 12, 14 and 17 degrees C (control) groups throughout the trial. The percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm cells, including acrosomes, did not change within or between treatment groups over the 48-h storage period. In Objective 2, boar ejaculates (n = 9) were handled as in the first objective and were equally divided into treated (12 degrees C for < or = 60-h) and control (17 degrees C for < or = 60-h) groups. Using a timed, double insemination technique, 135 sows were bred by AI using either 12 degrees C (n = 74) or 17 degrees C (n = 61) extended, stored semen. No differences were observed in the farrowing rate (93 vs 95%), total offspring born (11.58 vs 11.61) or number live born (10.68 vs 10.63) between 12 and 17 degrees C groups, respectively. The results demonstrate that acceptable fertility can be obtained with Androhep extended boar semen exposed to temperatures as low as 12 degrees C for up to 60-h, and that cold shock appears to occur in vitro when extended boar semen is exposed to storage temperatures below 12 degrees C.

[Care of adult mentally retarded patients in institutions. Comparative study of homes and cantonal psychiatric clinics in the city and environs of Basle]

Mentally retarded adults frequently live in psychatric hospitals because no other place could be found for them. Analysis of data of all mentally handicapped residents in psychatric clinics and special homes in two swiss cantons showed that in no case permanent hospitalisation was justified by severity of additional handicaps nor by behavioural disturbances. The main reason for permanent hospitalisation is practically always the lack of other possibilities of permanent care.

[Value of quantitative serial EEG analysis during supervision of evolutive cerebral diseases (author's transl)]

The authors emphasize the value of quantitative EEG analysis in patients with acute or subacute evolutive diseases, who have undergone serial EEG records. On the basis of the power spectra, the topographical distribution of the different frequency components and their changes during disease evolution, it is shown (by 142 investigations in 44 patients with various evolutive cerebral diseases) that these analyses (with their immediately interpretable histographic representation) are able: (1) to follow the step-by-step evolution of the disease and to apprehend the (favourable or unfavourable) evolutive tendencies of the cerebral process in a condensed form and often before the appearance of typical clinical and electroencephalographic disturbances; (2) to note a focalisation or lateralisation which does not always clearly appear with the clinical or conventional electroencephalographic data.

[Histopathologic representation of a tumoral EEG focus by spectral analysis]

This work is intended for those: (1) wishing to use spectral analysis for clinical purposes and who have ony limited computer facility possibilities at their disposal; (2) who are looking for a simple and, above all, easily and immediately interpretable graphic representation of the spectral data developed by a cerebral focal lesion, which can be interpreted even by an inexperienced clinician. Finally this paper emphasized the value of a particularly interesting clinical sign from quantitative analysis, namely the EEG supervision of cerebral tumours, either evolving or recovering.