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.
This study employs wavelet transforms to address the issue of boundary effects. Additionally, it utilizes probit transform techniques, which are based on probit functions, to estimate the copula density function. This estimation is dependent on the empirical distribution function of the variables. The density is estimated within a transformed domain. Recent research indicates that the early implementations of this strategy may have been more efficient. Nevertheless, in this work, we implemented two novel methodologies utilizing probit transform and wavelet transform. We then proceeded to evaluate and contrast these methodologies using three specific criteria: root mean square error (RMSE), Akaike information criterion (AIC), and log
... Show MoreBuffering of Local anaesthesia (LA) has been suggested as a mechanism to improve injection comfort and hasten the onset of anaesthesia. Aim This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of buffered LA in the extraction of maxillary premolars and molars. Materials and Methods This randomized controlled study included 100 patients who were indicated for extraction of maxillary posterior teeth, they were randomly divided into two groups; a study group that received infiltration of buffered 2% lidocaine hydrochloride with 1:80,000 epinephrine LA, and a control group that received non-buffered 2% lidocaine hydrochloride with 1:80,000 epinephrine LA. The buffering was performed using the Onset® LA buffering system (Onpharma®). The outcome va
... Show MoreABSTRACT: Polypyrrole and polypyrrole / silver nanocomposites were fabricated by in-situ polymerization employing Ammonium Persulphate as an oxidizing agent. Nanocomposites were synthesized by combining polypyrrole and silver nanoparticles in various weight percentages (0.1%, 0.5%, 3%, 5% and 7% wt.). Crystallographic data were collected using X-ray diffraction. PPy particles were found to have an orthorhombic symmetry. In contrast, PPy/Ag nanocomposites were reported to have monoclinic structure. The crystallite size was determined by XRD using Scherrer equation and considered to be within 49 nm range. DC conductivity of pelletized samples was evaluated in the temperature range of 323.15k to 453.15k. The conductiv
... Show MoreRenewable energy resources have become a promissory alternative to overcome the problems related to atmospheric pollution and limited sources of fossil fuel energy. The technologies in the field of renewable energy are used also to improve the ventilation and cooling in buildings by using the solar chimney and heat exchanger. This study addresses the design, construction and testing of a cooling system by using the above two techniques. The aim was to study the effects of weather conditions on the efficiency of this system which was installed in Baghdad for April and May 2020. The common weather in these months is hot in Baghdad. The test room of the design which has a size of 1 m3 was situated to face the geographical south. The te
... Show MoreDigital tampering identification, which detects picture modification, is a significant area of image analysis studies. This area has grown with time with exceptional precision employing machine learning and deep learning-based strategies during the last five years. Synthesis and reinforcement-based learning techniques must now evolve to keep with the research. However, before doing any experimentation, a scientist must first comprehend the current state of the art in that domain. Diverse paths, associated outcomes, and analysis lay the groundwork for successful experimentation and superior results. Before starting with experiments, universal image forensics approaches must be thoroughly researched. As a result, this review of variou
... Show MoreThe advancement of digital technology has increased the deployment of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in our daily life. However, locating sensor nodes is a challenging task in WSNs. Sensing data without an accurate location is worthless, especially in critical applications. The pioneering technique in range-free localization schemes is a sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) method, which utilizes network connectivity to estimate sensor location without additional hardware. This study presents a comprehensive survey of state-of-the-art SMC localization schemes. We present the schemes as a thematic taxonomy of localization operation in SMC. Moreover, the critical characteristics of each existing scheme are analyzed to identify its advantages
... Show MoreAutoimmune hepatitis is an inflammatory disease and its incidence has been increasing. The features of hepatitis are the release of inflammatory cytokines, the elevation of AST and ALT, and hepatocyte apoptosis and necrosis. Concanavalin A considered as essential model represents the acute immune-mediated liver damage in rodents. Thymoquinone is well known herbal compound that exert hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activity. In this study, we focus on the immunoregulatory and liver protective effect of thymoquinone in a mouse model of concanavalin A-induced liver injury.
Twenty-four male mice were randomly divided into four groups each containing six animals: Negative control group, concanavalin A model group,
... Show MoreThis study has contributed to understanding a delayed prey-predator system involving cannibalism. The system is assumed to use the Holling type II functional response to describe the consuming process and incorporates the predator’s refuge against the cannibalism process. The characteristics of the solution are discussed. All potential equilibrium points have been identified. All equilibrium points’ local stability analyses for all time delay values are investigated. The system exhibits a Hopf bifurcation at the coexistence equilibrium, which is further demonstrated. The center manifold and normal form theorems for functional differential equations are then used to establish the direction of Hopf bifurcation and the stability of the per
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The research aims to clarify the impact of adopting the IFRS16 financial reporting standard on lease contracts in insurance companies on audit procedures. The change in the classification of lease contracts in the case of adopting the IFRS16 financial reporting standard necessarily requires audit procedures that are compatible with this change. A proposed audit program was prepared, guided by international auditing standards, based on the study of the client's environment and analysis of external and internal risks in the light of financial and non-financial indicators. The researchers reached a set of concl
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