Objectives: Recently, there have been important advances in the clinical application of targeted hybrid near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent-radioactive tracers. ICG-99mTc-nanocolloid, for example, is already being used by some centres for sentinel lymph node biopsy in head and neck cancer. The radioactive component allows imaging at depths which would not be possible with NIR alone and, once exposed, the NIR fluorescence reporter can be imaged at very high resolution. Gamma detection is currently carried out with a separate hand-held gamma camera or with a non-imaging probe. Visualisation of NIR fluorescence during surgery requires a dedicated NIR camera, several of which are available commercially. We describe a novel hand-held hybrid NIR-gamma small field of view camera, capable of displaying co-aligned images from both modalities, which can be fused into one image or viewed separately. This study is a preliminary investigation of the performance of the fluorescence component of this camera, including phantom studies and first images from a preclinical pilot study. Methods: The hybrid camera consists of a 1500 µm thick thallium doped caesium iodide columnar (CsI:Tl) scintillator coupled to an electron multiplying charged coupled device (EMCCD). A 1.0mm diameter tungsten pinhole collimator gives a 40mm x 40mm nominal field of view for an 8mm x 8mm CCD detection area. A fluorescence camera was aligned to provide the same field of view as the gamma camera with an LED ring as the excitation source. The performance of the fluorescence imaging was quantified in this study for the fluorophores ICG and IRDye800CW (CW800) using a range of bespoke phantom experiments. In vivo images were also obtained from a preclinical study of a targeted hybrid tracer (cRGD-CW800-TCO + TCO-DOTA-111In) in mice with HT29 colorectal cancer xenografts. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The portable hybrid camera prototype has been shown to successfully image dual NIR-gamma tracers using both in vitro and in vivo experimental models. With further development, this camera could be used intraoperatively, offering the benefits of gamma imaging at depth in tissues and high resolution surface NIR fluorescence imaging in a single imaging system.
The performance of a synergistic combination of electrocoagulation (EC) and electro-oxidation (EO) for oilfield wastewater treatment has been studied. The effect of operative variables such as current density, pH, and electrolyte concentration on the reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was studied and optimized based on Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The results showed that the current density had the highest impact on the COD removal with a contribution of 64.07% while pH, NaCl addition and other interactions affects account for only 34.67%. The optimized operating parameters were a current density of 26.77 mA/cm2 and a pH of 7.6 with no addition of NaCl which results in a COD removal efficiency of 93.43% and a specific energy c
... Show MoreTumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) antagonists’ therapy are expensive and has a non-responsive rate between 30% to 40% in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Genetic variation plays a vital role in the responsiveness to this type of therapy.The aim of this study is to investigate if the presence of genetic polymorphism in the TNF-α gene promoter region at locations -376 G/A (rs1800750), -806 C/T (rs4248158), and -1031 T/C (rs1799964) affects rheumatoid arthritis patient's tendency to be a non-responder to etanercept.
Eighty RA patients on etanercept (ETN) for at least six months were recruited from the Rheumatology Unit at Baghdad Teaching Hospital. Based on The European League Against Rheumatism response (EULAR) criteria, patient
... Show MoreA theoretical and experimental investigation was carried out to study the behavior of a two-phase closed thermosyphon loop (TPCTL) during steady-state operation using different working fluids. Three working fluids were investigated, i.e., distilled water, methanol, and ethanol. The TPCTL was constructed from an evaporator, condenser, and two pipelines (riser and downcomer). The driving force is the difference in pressure between the evaporator and condenser sections and the fluid returns to the heating section by gravity. In this study, the significant parameters used in the experiments were filling ratios (FR%) of 50%, 75%, and 100% and heat-input range at the evaporator section of 215-860.2 W. When the loop reached to
... Show MoreWhen scheduling rules become incapable to tackle the presence of a variety of unexpected disruptions frequently occurred in manufacturing systems, it is necessary to develop a reactive schedule which can absorb the effects of such disruptions. Such responding requires efficient strategies, policies, and methods to controlling production & maintaining high shop performance. This can be achieved through rescheduling task which defined as an essential operating function to efficiently tackle and response to uncertainties and unexpected events. The framework proposed in this study consists of rescheduling approaches, strategies, policies, and techniques, which represents a guideline for most manufacturing companies operatin
... Show MoreMaximum likelihood estimation method, uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimation method and minimum mean square error estimation, as classical estimation procedures, are frequently used for parameter estimation in statistics, which assuming the parameter is constant , while Bayes method assuming the parameter is random variable and hence the Bayes estimator is an estimator which minimize the Bayes risk for each value the random observable and for square error lose function the Bayes estimator is the posterior mean. It is well known that the Bayesian estimation is hardly used as a parameter estimation technique due to some difficulties to finding a prior distribution.
The interest of this paper is that
... Show MorePhonological metathesis can be defined as an alternation in the normal sequence of two sounds under certain conditions. The present paper is intended to give a detailed synchronic description of phonological metathesis in Iraqi Arabic dialect. For data collection, the researchers have adopted two naturalistic techniques, viz., observation and notes taking. A synchronic analysis is carried out to provide some evidence that describe the sequential change of phonological metathesis in the dialect under investigation. Such sequential changes of metathesized sounds are presented and tabulated. The study concludes with the following finding that this process is not limited to cases where two consonant sounds are transposed, but three consonant
... Show More
In the name of God, praise be to God, and prayers and peace be upon the best of God’s creation, Muhammad bin Abdullah, and upon his family and companions, and from his family:
And after:
He saw from verbs that transcend one effect if it is visual and to two effects if it is heart and this action has several strokes and it is an awareness of the sense and illusion and imagination and reason and in addition to that it has many meanings dealt with in the glossary books and as for what the verb included in the audio studies it is the explanation and deletion and slurring The heart of my place. As for what the grammatical studies included, it focuses on one or two effects according to its l
In this paper the variable structure control theory is utilized to derive a discontinuous controller to the magnetic levitation system. The magnetic levitation system model is considered uncertain, which subjected to the uncertainty in system parameters, also it is open-loop unstable and strongly nonlinear. The proposed variable structure control to magnetic levitation system is proved, and the area of attraction is determined. Additionally, the chattering, which induced due to the discontinuity in control law, is attenuated by using a non-smooth approximate. With this approximation the resulted controller is a continuous variable structure controller with a determined steady state error according to the selected control
... Show More