Background: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system of unknown etiology. Different techniques and magnetic resonance image sequences are widely used and compared to each other to improve the detection of multiple sclerosis lesions in the spinal cord. Objective: To evaluate the ability of MRI short tau inversion recovery sequences in improvementof multiple sclerosis spinal cord lesion detection when compared to T2 weighted image sequences. Type of the study: A retrospective study. Methods: this study conducted from 15thAugust 2013 to 30thJune 2014 at Baghdad teaching hospital. 22 clinically definite MS patients with clinical features suggestive of spinal cord involvement, patients were imaged with sagittal short tau inversion recovery sequences and sagittal T2 weighted. Results: The mean age of the patients was 32.5 ± 6.7years; female to male ratio was 2.7:1. The total number of spinal cord MS lesions was 44 of them 86.4% in the cervical spine, 68.2%of the lesions had less than one vertebra extension,79.6% of the lesions did not show changes in the spinal cord morphology. There was a significant upgrading in the lesions conspicuity at short tau inversion recovery sequence comparing to T2 weighted image, P<0.001. A significant difference had been found in artifact grading between both sequences; P<0.001. Conclusions: short tau inversion recovery magnetic resonance image sequences improve detection of MS spinal cord plaques compared with T2 weighted image and itincreasesthe conspicuity of the visualized T2weighted image lesions, but also it accentuates theartifacts more than T2weighted image.
This study investigated the feasibility of anaerobic co-digestion of giant reed (GR) inoculated with waste manure as a co-substrate for biogas production. The performance of co-digestion was evaluated in 4 anaerobic digesters operated in batch mode at different conditions. The effects of alkali pretreatment with NaOH (4% w/v) solution, inoculum type, and thermal condition were studied. The results demonstrated that the alkali-pretreatment of GR enhanced the biogas generation by about 15% at mesophilic conditions. Thermophilic conditions enhanced the biogas recovery from both alkali-free and alkali pretreated GR by 15% and 127%, respectively. The kinetic study of the co-digestion process of GR for biogas recovery suggeste
... Show MoreThe aim of the present study is to research two morphological processes: acronym and compounding (phrasal compounds/ circumlocution) and one syntactic category which are 'existential sentences' in science fiction short stories. The present paper identifies different types and rates of existential sentences. In this respect , 'bare existential and locative’ read the high percentages and may be contrasted with other classifications of English existential sentences which have a verb other than 'be' and a definite expression. 'Phrasal compounds' vary in rates as they constitute notable percentage for those that involve 'lexical means and lexical relations' followed by 'prepositional compounds' , 'conjunctional compounds' , and those invo
... Show More<span lang="EN-US">The fundamental of a downlink massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) energy- issue efficiency strategy is known as minimum mean squared error (MMSE) implementation degrades the performance of a downlink massive MIMO energy-efficiency scheme, so some improvements are adding for this precoding scheme to improve its workthat is called our proposal solution as a proposed improved MMSE precoder (PIMP). The energy efficiency (EE) study has also taken into mind drastically lowering radiated power while maintaining high throughput and minimizing interference issues. We further find the tradeoff between spectral efficiency (SE) and EE although they coincide at the beginning but later their interests become con
... Show MoreThe software-defined network (SDN) is a new technology that separates the control plane from data plane for the network devices. One of the most significant issues in the video surveillance system is the link failure. When the path failure occurs, the monitoring center cannot receive the video from the cameras. In this paper, two methods are proposed to solve this problem. The first method uses the Dijkstra algorithm to re-find the path at the source node switch. The second method uses the Dijkstra algorithm to re-find the path at the ingress node switch (or failed link).
... Show MoreThis article aims to explore the importance of estimating the a semiparametric regression function ,where we suggest a new estimator beside the other combined estimators and then we make a comparison among them by using simulation technique . Through the simulation results we find that the suggest estimator is the best with the first and second models ,wherealse for the third model we find Burman and Chaudhuri (B&C) is best.
A true random TTL pulse generator was implemented and investigated for quantum key distribution systems. The random TTL signals are generated by low cost components available in the local markets. The TTL signals are obtained by using true random binary sequences based on registering photon arrival time difference registered in coincidence windows between two single – photon detectors. The true random TTL pulse generator performance was tested by using time to digital converters which gives accurate readings for photon arrival time. The proposed true random pulse TTL generator can be used in any quantum -key distribution system for random operation of the transmitters for these systems
The aim of current study is to analyze the content of intermediate stage biology books based on multiple intelligences. To do this, the researcher used the descriptive analytical approach. To analyze the three books of the intermediate stage, the author adopted content analysis tool and area unit. They were exposed to group of experts in methods of teaching biology, and measurement and evaluation. The findings of the study have shown a significant difference between what was expected and the observation of the multiple intelligences for the three biology books excluded the (social, musical, and kinetic intelligence), and there is no significant difference between the analysis' result of the biology books and the expectations of b
... Show MoreThe steel jetty selected for strengthening is in Baghdad city, over Tigris River, consists of 55 short spans, each of approximately 4 meters and one naviga-tional opening of 12 m. The bridge is 224 meters length and 8 meters in width. The strengthening system was designed to remove overstresses that occurred when the bridge was subjected to abnormal loads of 380 tons. A strengthening system which installed in spring 2008 was used where the main concept is to depend on added side supporting elements which impose reversal forces on the bridge to counteract most of the loads expected from the abnormal heavy loads. The bridge was load tested before and after the strengthening system was activated. The load test results indicate that the strengt
... Show MoreThis paper presents an experimental study for strengthening existing columns against axial compressive loads. The objective of this work is to study the behavior of concrete square columns strengthening with circulation technique. In Iraq, there are significantly more reinforced rectangular and square columns than reinforced circular columns in reinforced concrete buildings. Moreover, early research studies indicated that strengthening of rectangular or square columns using wraps of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) provided rather little enhancement to their load-carrying capacity. In this paper, shape modification technique was performed to modify the shape (cross section) of the columns from square columns into circular colu
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