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

Radiculopathy as Delayed Presentations of Retained Spinal Bullet.

Bullet injuries to the spine may cause injury to the anatomical structures with or without neurologic deterioration. Most bullet injuries are acute, resulting from direct injury. However, in rare cases, delayed injury may occur, resulting in claudication. We report a case of intradural bullet at the L3-4 level with radiculopathy in a 30-year-old male. After surgical removal, radicular and claudicating pain were improved significantly, and motor power of the right leg also improved. We report the case of intradural bullet, which resulted in delayed radiculopathy

Sequential Changes of Plasma C-Reactive Protein, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate and White Blood Cell Count in Spine Surgery : Comparison between Lumbar Open Discectomy and Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion.

ObjectiveC-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) are often utilized to evaluate for postoperative infection. Abnormal values may be detected after surgery even in case of non-infection because of muscle injury, transfusion, which disturbed prompt perioperative management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the perioperative CRP, ESR, and white blood cell (WBC) counts after spine surgery, which was proved to be non-infection.MethodsTwenty patients of lumbar open discectomy (LOD) and 20 patients of posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) were enrolled in this study. Preoperative and postoperative prophylactic antibiotics were administered routinely for 7 days. Blood samples were obtained one day before surgery and postoperative day (POD) 1, POD3, and POD7. Using repeated measures ANOVA, changes in effect measures over time and between groups over time were assessed. All data analysis was conducted using SAS v.9.1.ResultsChanges in CRP, within treatment groups over time and between treatment groups over time were both statistically significant F(3,120)=5.05, p=0.003 and F(1,39)=7.46, p=0.01, respectively. Most dramatic changes were decreases in the LOD group on POD3 and POD7. Changes in ESR, within treatment groups over time and between treatment groups over time were also found to be statistically significant, F(3,120)=6.67, p=0.0003 and F(1,39)=3.99, p=0.01, respectively. Changes in WBC values also were be statistically significant within groups over time, F(3,120)=40.52, p<0.001, however, no significant difference was found in between groups WBC levels over time, F(1,39)=0.02, p=0.89.ConclusionWe found that, dramatic decrease of CRP was detected on POD3 and POD7 in LOD group of non-infection and dramatic increase of ESR on POD3 and POD7 in PLIF group of non-infection. We also assumed that CRP would be more effective and sensitive parameter especially in LOD than PLIF for early detection of infectious complications. Awareness of the typical pattern of CRP, ESR, and WBC may help to evaluate the early postoperative course

Stereotactic guidance for navigated percutaneous sacroiliac joint fusion.

Arthrodesis of the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) for surgical treatment of SIJ dysfunction has regained interest among spine specialists. Current techniques described in the literature most often utilize intraoperative fluoroscopy to aid in implant placement; however, image guidance for SIJ fusion may allow for minimally invasive percutaneous instrumentation with more precise implant placement. In the following cases, we performed percutaneous stereotactic navigated sacroiliac instrumentation using O-arm® multidimensional surgical imaging with StealthStation® navigation (Medtronic, Inc. Minneapolis, MN). Patients were positioned prone and an image-guidance reference frame was placed contralateral to the surgical site. O-arm® integrated with StealthStation® allowed immediate auto-registration. The skin incision was planned with an image-guidance probe. An image-guided awl, drill and tap were utilized to choose a starting point and trajectory. Threaded titanium cage(s) packed with autograft and/or allograft were then placed. O-arm® image-guidance allowed for implant placement in the SIJ with a small skin incision. However, we could not track the cage depth position with our current system, and in one patient, the SIJ cage had to be revised secondary to the anterior breach of sacrum

Identifying set-wise differential co-expression in gene expression microarray data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous differential coexpression analyses focused on identification of differentially coexpressed gene pairs, revealing many insightful biological hypotheses. However, this method could not detect coexpression relationships between pairs of gene sets. Considering the success of many set-wise analysis methods for microarray data, a coexpression analysis based on gene sets may elucidate underlying biological processes provoked by the conditional changes. Here, we propose a differentially coexpressed gene sets (dCoxS) algorithm that identifies the differentially coexpressed gene set pairs between conditions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>dCoxS is a two-step analysis method. In each condition, dCoxS measures the interaction score (IS), which represents the expression similarity between two gene sets using Renyi relative entropy. When estimating the relative entropy, multivariate kernel density estimation was used to model gene-gene correlation structure. Statistical tests for the conditional difference between the ISs determined the significance of differential coexpression of the gene set pair. Simulation studies supported that the IS is a representative measure of similarity between gene expression matrices. Single gene coexpression analysis of two publicly available microarray datasets detected no significant results. However, the dCoxS analysis of the datasets revealed differentially coexpressed gene set pairs related to the biological conditions of the datasets.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>dCoxS identified differentially coexpressed gene set pairs not found by single gene analysis. The results indicate that set-wise differential coexpression analysis is useful for understanding biological processes induced by conditional changes.</p

A Flexible Piezoelectric Energy Harvester-Based Single-Layer WS2 Nanometer 2D Material for Self-Powered Sensors

A piezoelectric sensor is a typical self-powered sensor. With the advantages of a high sensitivity, high frequency band, high signal-to-noise ratio, simple structure, light weight, and reliable operation, it has gradually been applied to the field of smart wearable devices. Here, we first report a flexible piezoelectric sensor (FPS) based on tungsten disulfide (WS2) monolayers that generate electricity when subjected to human movement. The generator maximum voltage was 2.26 V, and the produced energy was 55.45 μJ of the electrical charge on the capacitor (capacity: 220 μF) when applying periodic pressing by 13 kg. The generator demonstrated here can meet the requirements of human motion energy because it generates an average voltage of 7.74 V (a knee), 8.7 V (a sole), and 4.58 V (an elbow) when used on a running human (weight: 75 kg). Output voltages embody distinct patterns for different human parts, the movement-recognition capability of the cellphone application. This generator is quite promising for smart sensors in human–machine interaction detecting personal movement

Association of handgrip strength with new-onset CKD in Korean adults according to gender

IntroductionHandgrip strength (HGS) is an indicator of many diseases such as pneumonia, cardiovascular disease and cancer. HGS can also predict renal function in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, but the value of HGS as a predictor of new-onset CKD is unknown.Methods173,195 subjects were recruited from a nationwide cohort and were followed for 4.1  years. After exclusions, 35,757 participants remained in the final study, and CKD developed in 1063 individuals during the follow-up period. Lifestyle, anthropometric and laboratory data were evaluated in relation to the risk of CKD.ResultsThe participants were subdivided into quartiles according to relative handgrip strength (RGS). Multivariate Cox regression demonstrated that RGS was inversely associated with incident CKD. Compared with the lowest quartile, the hazard ratios (HRs) [95% confidence intervals (CIs)] for incident CKD for the highest quartile (Q4) was 0.55 (0.34–0.88) after adjusting for covariates in men and 0.51 (0.31–0.85) in women. The incidence of CKD decreased as RGS increased. These negative associations were more significant in men than in women. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that baseline RGS had predictive power for new-onset CKD. Area under the curve (AUC) (95% CIs) was 0.739 (0.707–0.770) in men and 0.765 (0.729–0.801) in women.ConclusionThis is the novel study demonstrating that RGS is associated with incident CKD in both men and women. The relationship between RGS and incident CKD is more significant in women than in men. RGS can be used in clinical practice to evaluate renal prognosis. Regular measurement of handgrip strength is essential to CKD detection

Bone-Loading Physical Activity and Alcohol Intake but not BMI Affect Areal Bone Mineral Density in Young College-Aged Korean Women: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the differences in areal bone mineral density (aBMD) based on alcohol consumption behaviors, bone-loading history as assessed by a bone-specific physical activity questionnaire (BPAQ), and the body mass index (BMI). College-aged female students (N = 112) were recruited from the universities in Seoul and Gyeonggi province, South Korea. The aBMD of the lumbar spine and non-dominant side of the proximal femur (total hip, TH; femoral neck, FN; femoral trochanter, FT) were measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Alcohol consumption was determined by the frequency and amount of alcohol intake during the past 12 months using a self-reported questionnaire. The X-scan plus II was used to measure height (cm), body mass (kg), fat-free mass (FFM, kg), and % body fat. Drinking two or more times alcohol per week was associated with greater aBMD of the TH (p = 0.04–0.002) and FN (p = 0.043) compared to a lower frequency of alcohol consumption and 2–4 times per month, respectively. Based on the drinking amount per occasion, there were no significant group differences (p \u3e 0.05) in aBMD at any of the sites. The highest group of total BPAQ had greater aBMD of the TH, FN, and FT versus the lowest (p = 0.023–0.009) and mid of total BPAQ groups (p = 0.004–0.009). Additionally, the highest group had greater aBMD of the lumbar spine compared to the mid group (p = 0.001). No significant group differences in aBMD at any of the sites were noted based on the BMI (p \u3e 0.05). Young college-aged women with greater bone-loading physical activity showed greater aBMD at the TH, FN, FT, and lumbar spine, while a moderate alcohol intake was associated with greater aBMD of the TH and FN. These findings have clinical implications for young women who may not participate in high-impact physical activity and are binge drinkers

A Survey and Proposed Framework on the Soft Biometrics Technique for Human Identification in Intelligent Video Surveillance System

Biometrics verification can be efficiently used for intrusion detection and intruder identification in video surveillance systems. Biometrics techniques can be largely divided into traditional and the so-called soft biometrics. Whereas traditional biometrics deals with physical characteristics such as face features, eye iris, and fingerprints, soft biometrics is concerned with such information as gender, national origin, and height. Traditional biometrics is versatile and highly accurate. But it is very difficult to get traditional biometric data from a distance and without personal cooperation. Soft biometrics, although featuring less accuracy, can be used much more freely though. Recently, many researchers have been made on human identification using soft biometrics data collected from a distance. In this paper, we use both traditional and soft biometrics for human identification and propose a framework for solving such problems as lighting, occlusion, and shadowing