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.
Samples of Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+δ superconductor were prepared by solid-state reaction method to study the effects of gold nanoparticles addition to the superconducting system, Nano-Au was introduced by small weight percentages (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, and 1.25 weight %). Phase identification and microstructural
characterization of the samples were investigated using XRD and SEM. Moreover, DC electrical resistivity as a function of the temperature, critical current density Jc, AC magnetic susceptibility, and DC magnetization measurements were carried to evaluate the relative performance of samples. x-ray diffraction analysis showed that both (Bi,Pb)-2223 and Bi-2212 phases coexist in the samples having an orthorhombic crystal struct
A long-span Prestressed Concrete Hunched Beam with Multi-Opening has been developed as an alternative to steel structural elements. The commercial finite element package ABAQUS/CAE version 2019 has been utilized. This article has presented the results of three-dimensional numerical simulations investigating the flexural behaviour of existing experimental work of supported Prestressed Concrete Hunched Beams with multiple openings of varying shapes under static monotonic loads. Insertion openings in such a beam lead to concentrate stresses at the corners of these openings; as a result, extensive cracking would appear. Correlation between numerical models and empirical work has also been discussed regarding load displacemen
... Show MoreThe historic cities in the Arab and Islamic world (including the cities of the holy shrines in Iraq) suffer from many and varied problems and most notably it is clear in its origin functional structure. It had been transformed from a basic place to live for a few thousand of the population to the center or part of the main center of large city populations of more than one million. Functional structure of the ancient city have been change with the beginning of the twentieth century and accelerated rate of change in the second half of the last century. The research aims to analyze the problems of the historic centers of holy cities and analyze the methods of dealing with these problems, leading to discrimination method could be the
... Show MoreThe new multidentate Schiff-base (E)-6,6′-((1E,1′E)-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(azan-1-yl-1-ylidene))bis(methan-1-yl-ylidene))bis(4-methyl-2-((E)(pyridine-2-ylmethylimino)methyl)phenol) H2L and its polymeric binuclear metal complexes with Cr(III), Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) are reported. The reaction of 2,6-diformyl-4-methyl-phenol with ethylenediamine in mole ratios of 2:1 gave the precursor 3,3′-(1E,1′E)-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(azan-1-yl-1ylidene))bis(methan-1-yl-1-ylidene)bis(2-hydroxy-5-methylbenzaldehyde) W. Condensation of the precursor with 2-(amino-methyl)pyridine in mole ratios of 1:2 gave the new N6O2 multidentate Schiff-base ligand H2L. Upon complex formation, the ligand behaves as a dibasic oct
... Show MoreThe applications of mobile robots in rescue scenarios, surviving to search, and exploration for outdoor navigation have received increasing attention due to their promising prospects. In this paper, a simulation of a differential wheeled mobile robot was presented, implementing a Global Positioning System (GPS) data points to specified starting points, final destination, and total error.
In this work, a simple kinematic controller for polar coordinate trajectory tracking is developed. The tracking between two points, pose to pose, was specified by using the GPS data points. After that, the geodesy (GEO) formulation was used to convert the geodesy coordinate to Euclidean or polar coordinate. The Haversine equation
... Show MoreWith the increasing intensity of the ecological and environmental problems and the scarcity of fresh water, this paper was introduced to investigate the ability to use treated wastewater as a cooling media via studying its behavior throughout a cooling tower. The simultaneous transfer of heat and mass from the treated wastewater to air over splash-fill packing arranged in a zigzag manner was studied. The characteristic of the cooling tower, the outlet water temperature, and the rejected heat were investigated as the water-to-air ratio and inlet water temperature were varied. The core results show that the cooling tower of the tower decreases with increasing water-to-air ratio, and increases with the raise of inlet water temperature.
... Show MoreNew polydentate ligand namely bis(N-carboxylatoethyl)-0,0`-dipyridinium) L was synthesised from the reaction of 0,0`-dipyridine with ethyl chloropropionate. Polymeric complexes of general formulae [Cr2(L)(N3)0]Cl2.H2O, Na2[Ag2(L)(N3)0].H2O and [M2(L)(N3)0].nH2O, where (M= Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II); (where n = 2;1;1;1;4;1 and 1, respectively)) are reported. The mode of bonding and overall geometry of the complexes were determined through physico-chemical and spectroscopic methods. These studies revealed octahedral geometry complexes. Molecular structure for the complexes has been optimised by CS Chem 3D Ultra Molecular Modelling and Analysis Program and supported a six coordinate geometry.
The Iraqi marshes are considered the most extensive wetland ecosystem in the Middle East and are located in the middle and lower basin of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers which create a wetlands network and comprise some shallow freshwater lakes that seasonally swamped floodplains. Al-Hawizeh marsh is a major marsh located east of Tigris River south of Iraq. This study aims to assess water quality through water quality index (WQI) and predict Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) concentrations in Al-Hawizeh marsh based on artificial neural network (ANN). Results showed that the WQI was more than 300 for years 2013 and 2014 (Water is unsuitable for drinking) and decreased within the range 200-300 in years 2015 and 2016 (Very poor water). The develope
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