The rapid increase in the number of older people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other forms of dementia represents one of the major challenges to the health and social care systems because of a large number of people affected. Early detection of AD makes it possible for patients to access appropriate services and to benefit from new treatments and therapies, as and when they become available, and to plan for the future. The onset of AD starts many years before the clinical symptoms become clear. A biomarker that can measure the brain changes in this period would be useful for early diagnosis of AD. Potentially, the electroencephalogram (EEG) can play a valuable role in early detection of AD. Damage caused to the brain due to AD leads to changes in the information-processing activity of the brain which can be quantified by the EEG and used as a biomarker of AD.EEG provides useful insight into brain functions and can play a useful role as the first line of a decisionsupport tool for early detection and diagnosis of dementia. It is non-invasive, low-cost and has a high temporal resolution. EEG is suitable to develop a tool can be used in general practice to detect people at high risk of AD. Tsallis Entropy (TsEn) [1], changes in the EEG amplitude (ΔEEGA) [2], and Higuchi fractal dimension (HFD) [3] have been shown to be the most promising methods for quantifying changes in the EEG due to AD. In this study, we analyzed the efficacy of using EEG biomarkers of AD extracted from these three promising methods. The results show that AD patients have a significant reduction in TsEn, ΔEEGA, and HFD values. This reduction is significant enough to allow the discrimination between AD patients and normal subjects based on these biomarkers
This study discusses risk management strategies caused by pandemic-related (Covid-19) suspensions in thirty-six engineering projects of different types and sizes selected from countries in the middle east and especially Iraq. The primary data collection method was a survey and questionnaire completed by selected project crew and laborers. Data were processed using Microsoft Excel to construct models to help decision-makers find solutions to the scheduling problems that may be expected to occur during a pandemic. A theoretical and practical concept for project risk management that addresses a range of global and local issues that affect schedule and cost is presented and results indicate that the most significant delays are due to a
... Show MoreGlass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) beams have gained attention due to their promising mechanical properties and potential for structural applications. Combining GFRP core and encasing materials creates a composite beam with superior mechanical properties. This paper describes the testing encased GFRP beams as composite Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams under low-velocity impact load. Theoretical analysis was used with practical results to simulate the tested beams' behavior and predict the generated energies during the impact loading. The impact response was investigated using repeated drops of 42.5 kg falling mass from various heights. An analysis was performed using accelerometer readings to calculate the generalized inertial load
... Show MoreRapid worldwide urbanization and drastic population growth have increased the demand for new road construction, which will cause a substantial amount of natural resources such as aggregates to be consumed. The use of recycled concrete aggregate could be one of the possible ways to offset the aggregate shortage problem and reduce environmental pollution. This paper reports an experimental study of unbound granular material using recycled concrete aggregate for pavement subbase construction. Five percentages of recycled concrete aggregate obtained from two different sources with an originally designed compressive strength of 20–30 MPa as well as 31–40 MPa at three particle size levels, i.e., coarse, fine, and extra fine, were test
... Show MoreBackground: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of in vitro long-term simulation of oral conditions on the bond strength of PEEK CAD/CAM lingual retainers.
Material and methods: The sample consisted of 12 PEEK CAD/CAM retainers each composed of 2 centrally perforated 3x4mm pads joined by a connector. They were treated by 98% sulfuric acid for 1 minute and then conditioned with Single Bond Universal and bonded to the lingual surface of premolar teeth by 3M Transbond TM System. Half of the retainers were artificially aged using a 30-day water storage and 5000 thermocycling protocol before bond strength testing to compare with the non-aged specimens.
Results: The artificially aged retainers showed a marginally
... Show MoreThere are a few studies that discuss the medical causes for diabetic foot (DF) ulcerations in Iraq, one of them in Wasit province. The aim of our study was to analyze the medical, therapeutic, and patient risk factors for developing DF ulcerations among diabetic patients in Baghdad, Iraq.
A novel metal complexes Cu (II), Co (II), Cd (II), Ru (III) from azo ligand 5-((2-(1H-indol-2-yl) ethyl) diazinyl)-2-aminophenol were synthesized by simple substitution of tryptamine with 2-aminophenol. Structures of all the newly synthesized compounds were characterized by FT IR, UV-Vis, Mass spectroscopyand elemental analysis. In addition measurements of magnetic moments, molar conductance and atomic absorption. Then study their thermal stability by using TGA and DSC curves. The DCS curve was used to calculate the thermodynamic parameters ΔH, ΔS and Δ G. Analytical information showed that all complexes achieve a metal:ligand ratio of [1:1]. In all complex examinations, the Ligand performs as a tridentate ligand, connecting Cu (
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