Background: Population studies suggest that 3–8% of asymptomatic adults have thyroid nodules. Nodules have a 5–15% prevalence of malignancy. Fine-needle aspiration cytology is the primary and frequently initial tool for assessing the risk of malignancy in thyroid nodules and selecting patients for thyroid surgery.
Patients and Methods: This prospective study was done during the period from June 2007 to November 2008. The study includes 141 patients with palpable solitary or multiple thyroid nodules. Only patients with normal or low TSH values were referred for ultrasound examination and ultrasound guided FNAC, which were done using fine needles (G 20).
Results: eleven patients (7.8%) have insufficient or non-diagnostic aspirates and were excluded from the study. Of the remaining 130 patients that were included in our study, only 20 patients had thyroid carcinoma (15.3%). Seventy-nine patients (60.7%) had solitary nodule larger than 10 mm in largest dimension and 51 patients (39.3%) had two or more such nodules. The rate of cancer in males with thyroid nodules was higher than in females. The prevalence of thyroid cancer did not differ between patients with a solitary thyroid nodule (12 of 79 patients, 15.1%) and patients with multiple nodules (8 of 51 patients, 15.7%), the deference is statistically insignificant (P = 0.95). A nodule that is one of several nodules had a lower likelihood of being malignant than did a solitary nodule: (8.9% versus 15.1%) (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Ultrasound guided FNAC is the primary and frequently initial tool for assessing the risk of malignancy in thyroid nodules. The prevalence of thyroid cancer did not differ between patients with a solitary thyroid nodule and those with multiple thyroid nodules. FNAC have limited role incytological diagnosis of follicular carcinomas, unless it is confirmed by histopathological diagnosis.
The temperature control process of electric heating furnace (EHF) systems is a quite difficult and changeable task owing to non-linearity, time delay, time-varying parameters, and the harsh environment of the furnace. In this paper, a robust temperature control scheme for an EHF system is developed using an adaptive active disturbance rejection control (AADRC) technique with a continuous sliding-mode based component. First, a comprehensive dynamic model is established by using convection laws, in which the EHF systems can be characterized as an uncertain second order system. Second, an adaptive extended state observer (AESO) is utilized to estimate the states of the EHF system and total disturbances, in which the observer gains are updated
... Show MoreBearing capacity of soil is an important factor in designing shallow foundations. It is directly related to foundation dimensions and consequently its performance. The calculations for obtaining the bearing capacity of a soil needs many varying parameters, for example soil type, depth of foundation, unit weight of soil, etc. which makes these calculation very variable–parameter dependent. This paper presents the results of comparison between the theoretical equation stated by Terzaghi and the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) technique to estimate the ultimate bearing capacity of the strip shallow footing on sandy soils. The results show a very good agreement between the theoretical solution and the ANN technique. Results revealed that us
... Show MoreA particle swarm optimization algorithm and neural network like self-tuning PID controller for CSTR system is presented. The scheme of the discrete-time PID control structure is based on neural network and tuned the parameters of the PID controller by using a particle swarm optimization PSO technique as a simple and fast training algorithm. The proposed method has advantage that it is not necessary to use a combined structure of identification and decision because it used PSO. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive PID neural control algorithm in terms of minimum tracking error and smoothness control signal obtained for non-linear dynamical CSTR system.
Despite their long successful use, synthetic dyes have several problems due to their carcinogenic and toxic effects. Besides providing bright colors, some natural pigments have shown notable antimicrobial activity; thus, they could be utilized as functional dyes in many applications such as making colored antimicrobial textiles. In this work, a yellow pigment produced by Streptomyces thinghirensis AF7 and has a notable antimicrobial activity was used to produce a colored antimicrobial textile. The extracted yellow pigment was subjected to a purification step using silica gel column eluted with di ethyl ether solvent. The FTIR, GC-MS and NMR analysis showed that the colorings in this type of product are due to t
... Show MoreThis paper investigated the fatigue life behavior of two composite materials subjected to different times of shot peening (2, 4 and 6 min).The first material prepared from unsaturated polyester with E-glass reinforcement by 33% volume fraction. While, the second one was prepared from unsaturated polyester with aluminum powder by2.5% volume fraction. The experimental results showed that the improvement in endurance limit was obtained (for the first material) at 2, 4 and 6 min shot peening times where the percentage of maximum improvement was 25% at shot peening time of 6 min. While, the endurance limit of the second material decreased at shot peening times of 2, 4 and 6 min where the percentage of maximum reduction was 29 % at shot peenin
... Show MoreWith the development of cloud computing during the latest years, data center networks have become a great topic in both industrial and academic societies. Nevertheless, traditional methods based on manual and hardware devices are burdensome, expensive, and cannot completely utilize the ability of physical network infrastructure. Thus, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) has been hyped as one of the best encouraging solutions for future Internet performance. SDN notable by two features; the separation of control plane from the data plane, and providing the network development by programmable capabilities instead of hardware solutions. Current paper introduces an SDN-based optimized Resch
The present work determines the particle size based only on the number of tracks detected in a cluster created by a hot particle on the CR-39 solid state nuclear track detector and depending on the exposure time. The mathematical model of the cross section developed here gives the relationship between alpha particle emitting from the (n, α) reaction and the number of tracks created and distribution of tracks created on the surface of the track detector. In an experiment performed during this work, disc of boron compound (boric acid or sodium tetraborate) of different weights were prepared and exposed to thermal neutron from the source. Chemical etching is processes of path formation in the detector, during which a suitable etching solut
... Show MoreOne hundred samples of root canal bacteria were isolated from patients teeth with primary and secondary infected root canal from all the ages . Biochemical and microscopial tests were done for identification of these isolates. Twenty four isolates were confirmed as E. faecalis species by using these tests. Genetic diagnosis for the all isolates was also done by using polymerase chain reaction ( PCR ). Thirty two isolates were confirmed to belong to E. faecalis species by using this test.
The complexity and partially defined nature of jet grouting make it hard to predict the performance of grouted piles. So the trials of cement injection at a location with similar soil properties as the erecting site are necessary to assess the performance of the grouted piles. Nevertheless, instead of executing trial-injected piles at the pilot site, which wastes money, time, and effort, the laboratory cement injection devices are essential alternatives for evaluating soil injection ability. This study assesses the performance of a low-pressure laboratory grouting device by improving loose sandy soil injected using binders formed of Silica Fume (SF) as a chemical admixture (10% of Ordinary Portland Cement OPC mass) to di
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