This study aims to characterize traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) neurophysiologically using an intramuscular fine-wire electromyography (EMG) electrode pair. EMG data were collected from an agonist-antagonist pair of tail muscles of Macaca fasicularis, pre- and post-lesion, and for a treatment and control group. The EMG signals were decomposed into multi-resolution subsets using wavelet transforms (WT), then the relative power (RP) was calculated for each individual reconstructed EMG sub-band. Linear mixed models were developed to test three hypotheses: (i) asymmetrical volitional activity of left and right side tail muscles (ii) the effect of the experimental TSCI on the frequency content of the EMG signal, (iii) and the effect of an experimental treatment. The results from the electrode pair data suggested that there is asymmetry in the EMG response of the left and right side muscles (p-value < 0.001). This is consistent with the construct of limb dominance. The results also suggest that the lesion resulted in clear changes in the EMG frequency distribution in the post-lesion period with a significant increment in the low-frequency sub-bands (D4, D6, and A6) of the left and right side, also a significant reduction in the high-frequency sub-bands (D1 and D2) of the right side (p-value < 0.001). The preliminary results suggest that using the RP of the EMG data, the fine-wire intramuscular EMG electrode pair are a suitable method of monitoring and measuring treatment effects of experimental treatments for spinal cord injury (SCI).
Background: Conventional MR imaging is essential for diagnosis and evaluation of the posterior fossa tumors Objectives: To assess the value of diffusion weighted imaging and apparent diffusion coefficient in making distinction between different histological types of posterior fossa tumors.
Type of the study: Cross-sectional study.
Methods: Brain MRI and DWI assessed 19 patients (12 female and 7 male) with MRI diagnosis of posterior fossa tumors. absolute ADC values of contrast -enhancing solid tumor region and ADC ratio of solid tumor to ADC of normal -appearing deep White matter were compared with histological diagnosis postoperatively .The m
... Show MoreThis study aimed to conduct a comparative analysis of seven calliphorid species of third- instar larvae that were collected from central Iraq. The purpose was to morphologically characterize these species and develop an identification key to differentiate them from closely related species. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) graphical images and high-resolution traditional optical microscopes were used to analyze the morphological characteristics of the species Calliphora vomitoria (Linnaeus, 1758), C. vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830, Chrysomya albiceps (Widemann, 1819), Ch. rufifacies (Macquart, 1844), Ch. megacephala (Fabricius, 1794), Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann, 1830), and L. sericata (Meigen, 1826). An identification key was const
... Show MoreThis paper aims to identify the approaches used in assessment the credit applications by Iraqi banks, as well as which approach is most used. It also attempted to link these approaches with reduction of credit default and banks’ efficiency particularly for the Gulf Commercial Bank. The paper found that the Gulf Bank widely relies on the method of Judgment Approach for assessment the credit applications in order to select the best of them with low risk of default. In addition, the paper found that the method of Judgment Approach was very important for the Gulf Bank and it driven in reduction the ratio of credit default as percentage of total credit. However, it is important to say that the adoption of statistical approaches for
... Show MoreAbstract
The study of oxygen mass transfer was conducted in a laboratory scale 5 liter stirred bioreactor equipped with one Rushton turbine impeller. The effects of superficial gas velocity, impeller speed, power input and liquid viscosity on the oxygen mass transfer were considered. Air/ water and air/CMC systems were used as a liquid media for this study. The concentration of CMC was ranging from 0.5 to 3 w/v. The experimental results show that volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient increases with the increase in the superficial gas velocity and impeller speed and decreases with increasing liquid viscosity. The experimental results of kla were correlated with a mathematical correlation des
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Consequence of thermal and concentration convection on peristaltic pumping of hyperbolic tangent nanofluid in a non‐uniform channel and induced magnetic field is discussed in this article. The brief mathematical modeling, along with induced magnetic field, of hyperbolic tangent nanofluid is given. The governing equations are reduced to dimensionless form by using appropriate transformations. Exact solutions are calculated for temperature, nanoparticle volume fraction, and concentration. Numerical technique is manipulated to solve the highly non‐linear differential equations. The roll of different variables is graphically analyzed in terms of concentration, temperature, volume fraction of nanoparticles, axial induced magnetic fie
... Show MoreBackground: Background : Patients with non-rheumatic atrial fibrillation have high risk of thromboembolism especially ischemic stroke usually arising from left atrial appendage .Transoesophageal echocardiography provides useful information for risk stratification in these patients as it detects thrombus in the left atrial or left atrial appendage. Objective : This study was conducted at Al-Kadhimiya Teaching Hospital to assess the prevalence of left atrial chamber thrombi in patients with chronic non-rheumatic atrial fibrillation using transoesophageal echocardiography and its clinical significance as well as to verify the superiority of transoesophageal over transthoracic echocardiography in the detection of these abnormalities. Type of
... Show MoreLaser assisted skin wound closure offers many distinct advantages over conventional closure
techniques. The objective of this in vitro experimental study, carried out at the Institute of Laser for
Postgraduate Studies/Baghdad University, was to determine the effectiveness of 980 nm diode laser in
welding of human skin wounds. Multiple 3-4 cm long full thickness incisions in a specimen of human
skin obtained from the discarded panniculus of an Abdominoplasty operation were tried to be laser
welded using a 4 mm spot diameter laser beam from a 980 nm diode laser at different laser parameters
and modes of action. The tensile strength at the weld site was analyzed experimentally. Although laser
assisted wound welding did