Unintended complication of intracranial subdural hematoma after percutaneous epidural neuroplasty.

Percutaneous epidural neuroplasty (PEN) is a known interventional technique for the management of spinal pain. As with any procedures, PEN is associated with complications ranging from mild to more serious ones. We present a case of intracranial subdural hematoma after PEN requiring surgical evacuation. We review the relevant literature and discuss possible complications of PEN and patholophysiology of intracranial subdural hematoma after PEN

The effect of gluon condensate on holographic heavy quark potential

The gluon condensate is very sensitive to the QCD deconfinement transition since its value changes drastically with the deconfinement transition. We calculate the gluon condensate dependence of the heavy quark potential in AdS/CFT to study how the property of the heavy quarkonium is affected by a relic of the deconfinement transition. We observe that the heavy quark potential becomes deeper as the value of the gluon condensate decreases. We interpret this as a dropping of the heavy quarkonium mass just above the deconfinement transition, which is similar to the results obtained from QCD sum rule and from a bottom-up AdS/QCD model.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, typos corrected, references adde

Horizontal linear vibrating actuator to reduce smart phone thickness

Smart phones have numerous features and large display. In result, the smart phone is less portable than before due to its large size. In order to improve the portability of a smart phone, the thickness of the smart phone should be reduced. This is one of the important issues in today's smart phone hardware industry. The vibrating actuator is the thickest component in a smart phone. A thinner electric vibration actuator could make smart phones slimmer. Currently, a vertical linear vibrating actuator is used in smart phones, and it vibrates in the thickness direction of the phone. This imposes a restriction on the sliming of smart phones. Also, a vertical actuator has a thickness of approximately 3.0 to 3.6 mm. We develop a horizontal linear vibrating actuator that can be used to reduce the thickness of a smart phone. Mathematical vibration modeling is used to calculate the magnetic force, and a finite element analysis using the commercial electromagnetic analysis software MAXWELL is performed to determine the specifications of a permanent magnet and electromagnetic coil. The guide spring is designed by modal and harmonic response analysis using ANSYS. A horizontal linear vibrating actuator is designed, and a prototype is manufactured for use in experiments. Its thickness is reduced by 30 % compared to a vertical linear vibrating actuator. In addition, the actuator can vibrate with an acceleration of up to 2.10 Gravity (G), which represents an improvement of at least 40 % compared to a vertical linear vibrating actuator

Dynamic experiment of active accelerator pedal system with a coreless tubular electromagnetic linear actuator

An automobile active accelerator pedal (AAP) warns the driver about an emergency. A tubular electromagnetic linear actuator is the key component to create an impact or vibration, but it has a large cogging force due to a steel core that causes instabilities. Accordingly, we propose an AAP with a coreless tubular electromagnetic linear actuator, and verify its performance using dynamic experiments

Characteristics of Mechanical Ventilation Employed in Intensive Care Units: A Multicenter Survey of Hospitals

A 1D point-prevalence study was performed to describe the characteristics of conventional mechanical ventilation in intensive care units (ICUs). In addition, a survey was conducted to determine the characteristics of ICUs. A prospective, multicenter study was performed in ICUs at 24 university hospitals. The study population consisted of 223 patients who were receiving mechanical ventilation or had been weaned off mechanical ventilation within the past 24 hr. Common indications for the initiation of mechanical ventilation included acute respiratory failure (66%), acute exacerbation of chronic respiratory failure (15%) (including tuberculosis-destroyed lung [5%]), coma (13%), and neuromuscular disorders (6%). Mechanical ventilation was delivered via an endotracheal tube in 68% of the patients, tracheostomy in 28% and facial mask with noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in 4%. NIV was used in 2 centers. In patients who had undergone tracheostomy, the procedure had been performed 16.9±8.1 days after intubation. Intensivists treated 29% of the patients. A need for additional educational programs regarding clinical practice in the ICU was expressed by 62% of the staff and 42% of the nurses. Tuberculosis-destroyed lung is a common indication for mechanical ventilation in acute exacerbation of chronic respiratory failure, and noninvasive ventilation was used in a limited number of ICUs

Reliability Analysis on Flexural Behavior of FRP Bridge Decks

Design codes for the design of FRP bridge decks shall be established to promote the use of such innovative materials. For the purpose of preparing code provisions, reliability analyses were conducted to evaluate proper levels of safety and serviceability. Based on the results, several guidelines on design codes are suggested

Interfacial architecture for extra Li+ storage in all-solid-state lithium batteries

The performance of nanocomposite electrodes prepared by controlled ball-milling of TiS2 and a Li2S-P2S5 solid electrolyte (SE) for all-solid-state lithium batteries is investigated, focusing on the evolution of the microstructure. Compared to the manually mixed electrodes, the ball-milled electrodes exhibit abnormally increased first-charge capacities of 416 mA h g-1and 837 mA h g-1 in the voltage ranges 1.5-3.0 V and 1.0-3.0 V, respectively, at 50 mA g-1 and 30??C. The ball-milled electrodes also show excellent capacity retention of 95% in the 1.5-3.0 V range after 60 cycles as compared to the manually mixed electrodes. More importantly, a variety of characterization techniques show that the origin of the extra Li+ storage is associated with an amorphous Li-Ti-P-S phase formed during the controlled ball-milling process.open1