Comparing smell identification ability among different motor subtypes of Parkinson’s disease using the Vietnamese Smell Identification Test and the Brief Smell Identification Test

IntroductionOlfactory dysfunction is one of the most common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). The association between smell identification ability and motor subtypes of PD is not uniform in previous studies. This study aimed to compare the odor identification ability among different motor subtypes of PD in Vietnamese participants.MethodsPatients who were diagnosed with PD according to the International Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Society 2015 Diagnostic Criteria and had normal cognitive function were recruited. Participants were divided into akinetic-rigid (AR), tremor-dominant (TD), and mixed (MX) motor subgroups using the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) score. Olfactory identification ability was evaluated using the Vietnamese Smell Identification Test (VSIT) and the Brief Smell Identification Test (BSIT). Cognitive status was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Age, age at PD onset, disease duration, smell identification ability, and cognitive function were compared among the three PD motor subtypes.ResultsThe AR subgroup was the most common motor subtype (n = 164, 75.2 %), followed by TD (n = 39, 17.9 %), and MX (n = 15, 6.9 %) subtypes. Age, age at PD onset, sex, disease duration, and MMSE score were not significantly different between the three motor subgroups (all p > 0.05). The median (IQR) VSIT scores of AR, TD, and MX subgroups were 5.00 [4.00;7.00], 5.00 [3.50;7.00], and 5.00 [3.00;6.00], respectively. The median (IQR) BSIT scores of AR, TD, and MX subgroups were 6.00 [4.00;7.00], 5.00 [4.00;7.00], and 5.00 [4.50;7.00], respectively. The VSIT and the BSIT scores were not significantly different among the three motor subtypes (all p > 0.05).ConclusionSmell identification ability assessed in both the VSIT and BSIT did not differ across the three motor subtypes of PD

Diagnostic value of vietnamese smell identification test in Parkinson's disease

IntroductionThe Vietnamese Smell Identification Test (VSIT) has been validated in determining olfactory dysfunction in the Vietnamese population; however, its value in diagnosing Parkinson's disease (PD) has not been established.MethodsThis case-control study was conducted at University Medical Center HCMC, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The study sample included non-demented PD patients and healthy controls (HC) who were gender- and age-matched. All participants were evaluated for odor identification ability using the VSIT and the Brief Smell Identification Test (BSIT).ResultsA total of 218 HCs and 218 PD patients participated in the study. The median VSIT and BSIT scores were significantly different between PD and HC groups (VSIT, 5 (3) vs. 9 (2), P < 0.0001; BSIT, 6 (3) vs 8 (2), P < 0.0001). Using the cut-off of <8 for correct answers out of 12 odorants, the VSIT had higher sensitivity (84.4%) and specificity (86.2%) than those of the BSIT (sensitivity of 81.7% and specificity of 69.3%) for the diagnosis of PD. The area under the curve (AUC) value was greater for the VSIT than for the BSIT (0.909 vs 0.818). The smell identification scores were not significantly correlated with disease duration, disease severity, or LEDD (all p > 0.05).ConclusionThe VSIT can be a valuable ancillary tool for supporting the diagnosis of PD in Vietnam. Olfactory dysfunction in PD was unrelated to the disease duration and severity. The VSIT can be applied to improve the accuracy of clinical PD diagnosis

Inverse kinematic and dynamic analysis of redundant measuring manipulator BKHN-MCX-04

This paper deals with the problem of inverse kinematics and dynamics of a measuring manipulator with kinematic redundancy which was designed and manufactured at Hanoi University of Technology for measuring the geometric tolerance of surfaces of machining components. A comparison between the calculation result and the experimental measurement is also presented

ONE STEP SYNTHESIS OF WATER-DISPERSIBLE CoFe2O4 MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES USING TRIETHYLENETETRAMINE AS SOLVENT AND STABILISING LIGAND

Magnetic CoFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesised by one step synthetic method through thermal decomposition of Co and Fe precursors in triethylenetetramine solvent at high temperature. The advantage of this method is the ability to make monodisperse nanoparticles with high water-dispersibility and stability. The particle size can be tuned in the range of 7-11.3 nm by varying synthetic conditions. The obtained particles with small DLS size (less than 21 nm) are ready to disperse and stable in aqueous solution for weeks without any surface modification

In Vitro Antibiotic Resistance in Bacterial Infected Eczema at Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Dermatology

BACKGROUND: Infected eczema is one of the most common complications of eczema. The progression and treatment of infected eczema have become more complex and difficulty due to the antibiotic resistance of bacteria and the abuse of antibiotics in treatment. AIM: Our research was conducted with the aim of investigating the severity of in vitro antibiotic resistance in patients with bacterially infected eczema at Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Dermatology. METHODS: We studied 40 cases of patients, suffering from atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, vesicular palmoplantar eczema, with positive results of infected eczema. RESULTS: S. aureus accounted for 82.5%, followed by S. epidermidis (15%), P. aeruginosa (12.5%), S. pyogenes (5%) accounted for a small percentage. E. coli (2.5%) and M. morganii (2.5%) accounted for the lowest percentage. Both MSSA and MRSA were completely resistant to penicillin. MRSA is completely resistant to penicillin, erythromycin, and cefuroxime, highly resistant to clindamycin (82.35%). Our research showed that Pseudomonas aeruginosa was not resistant to a variety of antibiotics. It was completely resistant to tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (100%). Most bacteria are highly sensitive to linezolid, vancomycin as other studies in the world shown. There are also rifampicins, pristinamycin. Hence, it`s prioritised to be used for only patients with eczema infected with multidrug-resistant bacteria. CONCLUSION: Penicillin is not recommended for the treatment for infected eczema. Linezolid, vancomycin has a high sensitivity to bacteria including multidrug-resistant bacteria like MRSA

Animal Observation Using Motion and Object Detection

This thesis project was commissioned by Tentrio Oy. In the project, hours-long videos that were taken by a fixed camera, often overlooking a room, were processed. The goal was to make a program that would take these video files and based on certain criteria, would output edited videos that were essentially relevant sections of the input videos. More specifically, the primary goal of this project was to make a program that could detect the presence of motion in video frames. Additionally, as a secondary objective, the program was to also look for the presence of cats or dogs. Any segment of the video featuring these elements was to be combined into a single output video. The timestamps of wherein the relevant video segment took place in the video were also to be recorded. To achieve this, Python 3.6 was used as the main programming language along with several libraries. Motion detection was implemented using OpenCV and FFmpeg. On the other hand, the part of the program that handled animal detection was done using TensorFlow, an open source machine learning library. The program needed to be set up as an online service running from a server that would process any video file uploaded by an authenticated user. The server would also allow the user to download the output videos and timestamps. The hardware in which the server ran on was a remote machine provided by the commissioning party. The server was written in Python with Django as the web framework. In the end, a motion detection program running on a remote server was created. On the other hand, object detection was not implemented due to time constraints. Properly integrating object detection into the program would likely take too much time. Moreover, the commissioning party was satisfied with the results which was why object detection was left out in the final product

Estimation of Shear Strength Parameters from Easily-Collected Soil Physical Properties Using Bagging Learning Technique

Shear strength parameters, including cohesion and friction angle, are among the most crucial factors in soil mechanics, playing a pivotal role in the design and construction of engineering projects. This paper aims to estimate these essential soil shear strength parameters using an ensemble learning model. To achieve this, the current study employs the Random Forest (RF) model incorporating various physical parameters of soil, such as density (?), saturation degree (Sr), liquid limit (LL), silt content (SC), clay content (CC) to predict cohesion (c), and friction angle (?). In order to assess the predictive performance of the used model, this research used various metrics, including the mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and correlation coefficient (R2), to evaluate the model’s accuracy. The results reveal that RF performs superior predictive capabilities. Furthermore, the proposed model prediction ability was compared to the previous empirical equations. The comparison results indicated that the prediction capability of RF outperforms the previously developed equations

Preliminary Observation of Native Glyptostrobus pensilis (Taxodiaceae) Stands in Vietnam

Results of preliminary studies of last remnants of Glyptostrobus pensilis native populations in Vietnam are presented in the paper in form of standard taxonomical treatment with comments on ecology, population structure and natural conditions of its habitats. Perspectives of conservation of this unique Tertiary relict are specially assessed and discussed

First record for Brettus cingulatus in Vietnam (Araneae: Salticidae: Spartaeini)

Tam, Truong Van, Huy, Le Ngo Quoc, Phuc, Nguyen Trong, Nhan, Vo Hieu, Khang, Luu Vinh (2021): First record for Brettus cingulatus in Vietnam (Araneae: Salticidae: Spartaeini). Peckhamia 229 (1): 1-2, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.716937

Investigation of acute, sub-chronic toxicity, effects of mangiferin and mangiferin solid dispersion (HPTR) on Triton WR1339-induced hyperlipidemia on Swiss albino mice

Mangiferin is a xanthonoid found in Mango leaves in abundance with many effects as a hypoglycemic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory agent, plant metabolite, and so on. However, nowadays, mango leaves are merely a waste product in Vietnam. To take advantage of this valuable medicinal resource, extraction conditions of mangiferin using classical and ultrasound methods were researched, and mangiferin was purified from Cat Chu mango leaves (Mangifera indica L., Anacardiaceae) collected in Dong Thap. Ultrasound-assisted extraction method was conducted with the following conditions and mangiferin was extracted at a percentage of 6.728% with a purity of 91.11%. Purified mangiferin was evaluated using molecular absorption spectroscopy UV-Vis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, simultaneous thermal analysis (STA: TGA/DSC), and dissolution measurement method. To optimize the solubility and permeability of mangiferin, the solid dispersion system (HPTR) was made by the combination of HPMC 6M:mangiferin at the ratio of 1:5. To investigate the acute, sub-chronic toxicity and hypolipidemia effect of HPTR as compared to purified mangiferin, we followed guidelines for preclinical and clinical trials of Traditional Medicine and Herbal Medicines by the Vietnam Ministry of Health and OECD, and used tyloxapol (Triton WR1339, 400 mg/kg, i.p.) to induce hyperlipidemia. Our results indicated that purified mangiferin and HPTR extract showed no acute toxicity and sub-chronic toxicity and has potential as an antihyperlipidemic agent. The HPTR brought about a significant decrease in total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-c when compared to mangiferin, however there was no significance between them