Epidural injection-related pneumorrhachis: A case report with cauda equina syndrome.

Pneumorrhachis (PR) is an uncommon condition characterized by the accumulation of air within the spinal canal. This finding may occur due to various causes, mostly after trauma and medical procedures. It can manifest with various features depending on the underlying cause, the location, and the extent of the air trapped. Clinically, the symptoms in affected patients can span a spectrum, ranging from being asymptomatic to manifesting as radiculopathies resulting from compression. The pneumorrhachis-related cauda equina syndrome is incredibly rare and typically appears as a large volume of air causing compression or irritation of the nerve roots in the lower spinal cord. In this report, we present a female patient whose cauda equina syndrome developed as a result of accidental extradural pneumorrhachis after epidural injection in the lumbar spine.

HUST bearing: a practical dataset for ball bearing fault diagnosis.

OBJECTIVES: The rapid growth of machine learning methods has led to an increase in the demand for data. For bearing fault diagnosis, the data acquisition is time-consuming with complicated processes. Existing datasets are only focused on only one type of bearing, which limits real-world applications. Therefore, the objective of this work is to propose a diverse dataset for ball bearing fault diagnosis based on vibration. DATA DESCRIPTION: In this work, we introduce a practical dataset named HUST bearing, which provides a large set of vibration data on different ball bearings. This dataset contains 99 raw vibration signals of 6 types of defects (inner crack, outer crack, ball crack, and their 2-combinations) on 5 types of bearing (6204, 6205, 6206, 6207, and 6208) at 3 working conditions (0 W, 200 W, and 400 W). Each vibration signal is sampled at a rate of 51,200 samples per second for 10 s. The data acquisition system is elaborately designed with high reliability.

Ultra-low detection limit chemoresistive NO2 gas sensor using single transferred MoS2 flake: an advanced nanofabrication.

In this work, a method of fabricating a NO2 nano-sensor working at room temperature with a low detectable concentration limit is proposed. A 2D-MoS2 flake is isolated by transferring a single MoS2 flake to SiO2/Si substrate, followed by applying an advanced e-beam lithography (EBL) to form a metal contact with Au/Cr electrodes. The resulting chemoresistive nano-sensor using a single MoS2 flake was applied to detect a very low concentration of NO2 at the part-per-billion (ppb) level. This result is obtained due to the ability to create microscopic nano-sized MoS2 gaps using e-beam lithography (300 nm-400 nm). Experimental results also show that the sensor can capture changes in concentration and send the information out extremely quickly. The response and recovery time of the sensor also reached the lowest point of 50 and 75 ms, outperforming other sensors with a similar concentration working range.

Blood pressure screening results from May Measurement Month 2019 in Vietnam.

Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a growing burden worldwide, leading to over 10 million deaths each year. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global initiative to raise awareness of high BP and act as a temporary solution to the lack of screening programmes worldwide. We aimed to screen for hypertension and cardiovascular risk factors in people aged ≥18 years in the community, thereby defining the proportion of subjects with elevated BP and assess the awareness and the effectiveness of its treatment. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged ≥18 years was carried out in May 2019. Blood pressure measurement, the definition of hypertension and statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. From May 2019 to June 2019, through 10 cities/provinces in Vietnam, 25 887 individuals with mean age 48.7 (SD ±17.7) years were screened. After multiple imputations, 8758 (33.8%) had hypertension. Of individuals not receiving antihypertensive medication, 3025 (15.0%) were hypertensive. Of individuals receiving antihypertensive medication, 2800 (48.8%) had uncontrolled BP. Raised BP [systolic BP (SBP) ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP (DBP) ≥90 mmHg] was also associated with additional risk factors including smoking, alcohol intake, previous hypertension in pregnancy, and obesity. May Measurement Month 2019 was the most extensive BP screening campaign ever undertaken in Vietnam. Undiagnosed and uncontrolled hypertension in Vietnam remains a substantial health problem. Local campaigns applying standardized methods such as MMM 2019 will be beneficial to screen for the significant number of individuals with raised BP and increase the awareness of hypertension.

May Measurement Month 2018: an analysis of blood pressure screening results from Vietnam.

Vietnam in the Asia Pacific region has a high hypertension (HTN) prevalence. The May Measurement Month (MMM) program was enthusiastically responded to in Vietnam by launching and deploying it across the whole country from 2017. The aims of the MMM 2018 program in Vietnam were to screen at least 15 000 people aged 18 and over across the country; to inform participants of the risks associated with HTN; and thereby define the proportion of subjects with elevated blood pressure (BP) and assess the awareness and the effectiveness of its treatment. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged ≥ 18 was carried out in May 2018. Blood pressure measurement, the definition of HTN, and statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. From May 2018 to June 2018, through 10 cities/provinces in Vietnam, 17 332 individuals with mean age 47.0 ± 17.9 years were screened during MMM18. After multiple imputation, 5260 (30.3%) had HTN. Of individuals not receiving antihypertensive medication, 1956 (13.9%) were hypertensive. Of patients receiving antihypertensive medication, 1540 (46.6%) had uncontrolled BP. Those who had HTN also displayed many additional risk factors similarly to MMM 2017 including smoking, alcohol, overweight-obesity, and diabetes. In conclusion, MMM 2018 campaign is a continuation program of MMM 2017 that has promoted the strength of the BP screening survey in the community in Vietnam, which hopefully will influence on awareness of disease prevention in this century. The next steps of the program will have special innovations on how to reduce the frequency of focusing on variable risk factors to change the overall picture of HTN in Vietnam.

Rare and novel variants of PRKN and PINK1 genes in Vietnamese patients with early-onset Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Early-onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD) refers to that of patients who have been diagnosed or had onset of motor symptoms before age 50, accounting for 4% of Parkinson's disease patients. The PRKN and PINK1 genes, both involved in a metabolic pathway, are associated with EOPD. METHODS: To identify variants associated with EOPD, coding region of PARKIN and PINK1 genes in 112 patients and 112 healthy individuals were sequenced. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification kit was used to determine EOPD patients that carried mutations in PRKN and PINK1 genes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Three rare and three novel mutations in total of 14 variants of PARKIN and PINK1 were detected in the EOPD cohorts. Mutations of PRKN and PINK1 genes were found in five (4.4%) patients, which were four patients with compound heterozygous variants in the PRKN and one case with a homozygous mutation of the PINK1 gene. The novel mutations might reduce the stability of the PRKN and PINK1 protein molecules. The frequency of homozygous mutant genotype p.A340T of the PINK1 in the EOPD cohort was higher than in control (p = 0.0001, OR = 5.704), suggesting this variant might be a risk factor for EOPD. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of PRKN and PINK1 genes conducted on Vietnamese EOPD patients. These results might contribute to the genetic screening of EOPD in Vietnam.

Laparoscopic liver resection: 5-year experience at a single center.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cancer, especially in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, where the prevalence of hepatitis virus infection is high. Liver resection is a potentially curative and popular therapy for HCC. Laparoscopic surgery using minimally invasive techniques potentially brings benefits to patients who need liver resection for HCC. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and benefits of laparoscopic liver resection for HCC with long-term follow-up evaluation. METHODS: This cohort study with 5-year results of total laparoscopic hepatectomy for HCC was conducted in one center. Patients with HCC were selected for laparoscopic liver resection by the same team. The operation also was performed by one team of surgeons. The follow-up protocol was similar to that for open surgery. The patients were scheduled to return for examination every 2 months after the operation. The data for the patients were collected and analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS: From January 2008 to December 2012, 173 enrolled patients with HCC underwent laparoscopic liver resection. The male-to-female ratio was 3:1. The mean age of the patients was 56 years (range 16-83 years). The follow-up period for 130 patients was 21.6 ± 16.0 months (range 0-60 months). The mean tumor size was 3.73 cm (range 2-10 cm). The stages of HCC according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) categorization were as follows: 0 (6 %), A1 (59.5 %), A2 (6.9 %), A4 (2.9 %), and B (27.2 %). Four patients required conversion to other techniques (2.3 %) because of the potential for major bleeding and tumor perforation. The types of resection were resection of one segment (segments 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8; 43.8 %), resection of two segments (posterior sector, anterior sector, segments 5 and 6, and left lateral sector; 47.9 %), resection of three segments (left and central liver; 4.7 %), and four segments (right liver; 3.6 %). The mean operation time was 112 ± 56 min (range 30-345 min), and the median blood loss was 100 ml (range 20-1,200 ml). The mean hospital stay was 6.5 ± 2.0 days (range, 3-19 days). No perioperative mortality occurred. The overall survival rates were 94.2 % at 1 year, 87 % at 2 years, 72.9 % at 3 years, 72.9 % at 4 years, and 72.9 % at 5 years. The mean overall survival time was 49.7 ± 2.1 months (range 45.5-53.9 months). The disease-free survival rates were 79.1 % at 1 year, 60 % at 2 years, 57 % at 3 years, 52 % at 4 years, and 26.3 % at 5 years. The mean disease-free survival time was 38.9 ± 2.6 months (range 33.9-44.0 months). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic liver resection for HCC is feasible, safe, and effective, with good oncologic results. Major and anatomic hepatectomy are possible with improved skill and experience. Laparoscopic liver resection is a promising treatment option with minimally invasive benefits for HCC patients.