Background: Quality of life in brain tumor patients is an emerging issue and has prompted neurosurgeons to recon¬sider the need for cognitive assessment in the course of treatment. To date there has been a lack of comprehensive neuropsychological assessment performed preoperatively and in the acute postoperative period in our hospitals.Objectives: to establish the effects of tumors and their surgical treatment, from a neuropsychological perspective, on cognitive functioning in patients with cerebral Gliomas. Methods: This is a prospective study conducted in the Neurosurgical Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from January 1999 to January 2001. Any patient admitted during the period of the study with clinical history, signs, symptoms, and contrast enhanced MRI suggesting a cerebral glioma and confirmed by postoperative histopathological results of glioma has been included in this study. While multifocal lesions, long-lasting epilepsy, use of antiepileptic therapy, multiple cranial lesions, previous cranial surgery, any chronic illness, and histopathological result of other tumors were exclusion criteria. All patients were at their first operation for brain tumors. Patients were examined by analyzing several functional domains (intelligence, executive functions, memory, language, praxis, gnosis and mood state) in order to establish the effect of tumor and surgery on cognition.Results: 29 patients who fulfilled the selection criteria were included. Mean duration of clinical history was 5 months (range 1–9 months). At baseline, using test- and domain-based criteria, 79% and 38% of patients, respectively, were impaired, the former related to tumor factors such as edema (P < 0.05), larger size (P < 0.05) and higher grade (P = 0.001). Verbal memory, visuospatial memory and word fluency were the most frequently affected functions, partly associated with depression. Postoperatively, 38% and 55% of patients, respectively, were unchanged, 24% and 21% improved, and 38% and 24% worsened; 24% and 62% of patients were intact, respec-tively.Conclusions: The extent of removal did not influence the outcome. Improvement involved previously impaired functions and was correlated with high-grade tumors. Worsening regar¬ded executive functions was related to tumor size and was partly explained by radiological findings on postoperative MRI. This prospective study, focusing on the effects of tumor and surgery, showed that tumor significantly affects cognitive func¬tions, mainly due to the mass effect and higher grading. Surgical treatment improved the functions most frequently affected preoperatively and caused worsening of execu¬tive functions soon after operation, leaving the overall cognitive burden unchanged and capable of improvement prospectively.
The ability of microorganisms to attach to living and non-living surfaces and create a biofilm is the cause of numerous long-lasting illnesses, as well as their strong resistance to drugs. Bacterial biofilms consist of intricate assemblies of immobile bacteria. These are located in an extracellular matrix and adhere to various surfaces for a long period. The present study evaluated the antibacterial effectiveness of Plantago major extract against Staphylococcus aureus biofilm. The specimens analyzed in this investigation were skin infections of clinical origin. The current study was not previously studied, particularly in terms of S. aureus biofilm breakdown and inhibition. The disc diffusion method was used to test the antimicrobial activi
... Show MoreWell-dispersed Cu2FeSnSe4 (CFTSe) nanoparticles were first synthesized using the hot-injection method. The structure and phase purity of as-synthesized CFTSe nanoparticles were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Their morphological properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The average particle sizes of the nanoparticles were about 7-10 nm. The band gap of the as-synthesized CFTS nanoparticles was determined to be about 1.15 eV by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry. Photoelectrochemical characteristics of CFTSe nanoparticles were also studied, which indicated their potential application in solar energy water splitting.
The present study deals with the effect of teaching speaking Strategies (SS) on
EFL Iraqi College students. The use of speaking strategies not only solves learners’
communication problems, but also enhances the learner’s interaction in target language,
and improves their oral proficiency .The aim of the study is to find out the effect of
teaching SS used by EFL College students .The learner of the first stage is population of
the study at the Department of English, College of Education /Ibn-Rushd .The sample
consists of (60) students distributed on experimental group(A) as well as control
group(B) each group contains (30) students . In order to achieve the aim of the study,
questionnaire has been constructed t
the research ptesents a proposed method to compare or determine the linear equivalence of the key-stream from linear or nonlinear key-stream
RM Abbas, AA Abdulhameed, AI Salahaldin, International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, 2010
It has become necessary to change from a traditional system to an automated system in production processes, because it has high advantages. The most important of them is improving and increasing production. But there is still a need to improve and develop the work of these systems. The objective of this work is to study time reduction by combining multiple sequences of operations into one process. To carry out this work, the pneumatic system is designed to decrease\ increase the time of the sequence that performs a pick and place process through optimizing the sequences based on the obstacle dimensions. Three axes are represented using pneumatic cylinders that move according to the sequence used. The system is implemented and
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The characterization and design of this study of new liquid crystals with a V shape compounds containing thiazolidine-2,4-dione and 1,3-phenylene as a core unite with mesophase properties were reported. Preparation and characterization of chloroacetic acid, water, and thiourea to produce thiazolidine-2,4-dione [I] in the presence of strong hydrochloric acid. The 4-hydreoxybenzaldehyde and n-alkyl bromide were reacted with potassium hydroxide to create the n-alkoxy benzaldehyde., then the compound [I] reacted with [II]n in presence of piperidine to produce compounds [III]n. Also, converted resorcinol to a corresponding compound [IV] by refl
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