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.
Persistence of antibiotics in the aquatic environment has raised concerns regarding their potential influence on potable water quality and human health. This study analyzes the presence of antibiotics in potable water from two treatment plants in Baghdad City. The collected samples were separated using a solid-phase extraction method with hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) cartridge before being analyzed. The detected antibiotics in the raw and finished drinking water were analyzed and assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), with fluorometric detector and UV detector. The results confirmed that different antibiotics including fluoroquinolones and
The Backstepping Sliding Mode Control is a control technique used for controlling nonlinear systems. In this paper, the performance of the backstepping sliding mode controller schemes for the angular velocity control for a rotary actuator of an angular velocity control system that utilizes a novel hydraulic flow control method called inlet throttling was investigated. For the angular velocity dynamic, a linear state feedback with suitable high gain is designed as the virtual controller, where steady state error can be made arbitrarily small according to the gain value. A time varying sliding variable is then selected based on the designed virtual controller. The resulting control design is robust, and the maximum error of the angular veloci
... Show MoreIntroduction and Aim: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a nosocomial infection with an ability to develop high levels of antibiotic resistance. The efflux pump system is one of the mechanisms that is linked to multidrug resistance in P. aeruginosa. In this study, we employed siRNA loaded on gold nanoparticles against the MexA efflux pump gene to decrease the MexA gene expression in P. aeruginosa and estimated antibiotic resistance after gene silencing. Materials and Methods: This study examined four strains of P. aeruginosa isolated from patients in various hospitals in Baghdad. Bacteria isolated were identified by biochemical tests and Vitek compact 2 system. Single-stranded siRNA (33bp) designed in this study was loaded onto gold
... Show MoreObjective: Evaluation of women's knowledge about risk factors and early detection of breast cancer at
Ibn Rushd college of education in Baghdad University.
Methodology: The study sample included (184) women in the Ibn Rushd College / University of
Baghdad, whose age ranged between (17-58) years. Data were collected through a structured
questionnaire prepared by the National Cancer Research Center which were answered during a scientific
symposium about breast cancer. The score was calculated by correcting the results of the answer, giving
one score for each correct answer and then estimating the level of knowledge and inputting all data in a
statistical program.
Results: The results showed limited level of women's
Background: Thyroid surgery is most common endocrine surgery in general surgical practice. Objectives: the aim of this work is to evaluate the feasibility, benefits and outcomes of open mini-incision thyroidectomy and compared the results with that of conventional thyroidectomy. The comparison between the two groups was in term of incision length, amount of blood loss, time of operation, postoperative pain, hospital stay and the cosmetic outcomes.Type of the study: this is a single-blinded randomized controlled studyMethods: This study compared the advantages and outcomes of 22 patients subjected to mini-incision thyroidectomy (Group A) with the equal numbers of patients subjected to conventional thyroidectomy (Group B).Results: the oper
... Show MoreQuantum key distribution (QKD) provides unconditional security in theory. However, practical QKD systems face challenges in maximizing the secure key rate and extending transmission distances. In this paper, we introduce a comparative study of the BB84 protocol using coincidence detection with two different quantum channels: a free space and underwater quantum channels. A simulated seawater was used as an example for underwater quantum channel. Different single photon detection modules were used on Bob’s side to capture the coincidence counts. Results showed that increasing the mean photon number generally leads to a higher rate of coincidence detection and therefore higher possibility of increasing the secure key rate. The secure key rat
... Show MoreBackground: With the increased in the demands of adult orthodontics, the challenge of direct bonding to non-enamel surface (zirconium) had been increased. The present study was carried out to compare the shear bond strength of three different brackets (stainless steel, sapphire and composite) bonded to zirconium surface and study the mode of bond failure. Materials and methods: The sample was comprised of 30 models (8mm *6mm*1.5mm) of full contour zirconium veneers. They were divided into three groups according to the brackets type; all samples were treated first by sandblast with aluminum oxide particle 50 µm then coated by z-prime plus primer. A central incisor bracket of each group was bonded to the prepared zirconium surface with lig
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