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.
This paper aims to investigate the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams considering fire resistance by adding Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregates (LECA) to the concrete mix as partial coarse aggregate replacement. LECA is a type of porous clay with a uniform pore structure with fine, closed cells and hard, tightly sintered skin. The experimental work comprised four reinforced self-compacted concrete beams. All the specimens were identical in their geometrical layout of 1600×240×200 mm, reinforcement details, and support condition (simply supported). For all the beams, the main reinforcement was provided by two bars, each having a diameter of 12 mm, while a bar of 6 mm diameter was employed for the top and shear reinforc
... Show MoreLight naphtha treatment was achieved over 0.3wt%Pt loaded-alumina, HY-zeolite and Zr/W/HY-zeolite catalysts at temperature rang of 240-370°C, hydrogen to hydrocarbon mole ratio of 1-4 0.75-3 wt/wt/hr, liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) and at atmospheric pressure. The hydroconversion of light naphtha over Pt loaded catalyst shows two main reactions; hydrocracking and hydroisomerization reactions. The catalytic conversion of a light naphtha is greatly influenced by reaction temperature, LHSV, and catalyst function. Naphtha transformation (hyroisomerization, cracking and aromatization) increases with decreasing LHSV and increasing temperature except hydroisomerization activity increases with increasing of temperature till 300°C then began
... Show MoreThis study numerically intends to evaluate the effects of arc-shaped fins on the melting capability of a triplex-tube confinement system filled with phase-change materials (PCMs). In contrast to situations with no fins, where PCM exhibits relatively poor heat response, in this study, the thermal performance is modified using novel arc-shaped fins with various circular angles and orientations compared with traditional rectangular fins. Several inline and staggered layouts are also assessed to maximize the fin’s efficacy. The effect of the nearby natural convection is further investigated by adding a fin to the bottom of the heat-storage domain. Additionally, the Reynolds number and temperature of the heat-transfer fluid (HTF) are e
... Show MoreBackground: The interest in herbal extracts as antimicrobial agents has increased over the past few years in endodontic therapy. Nasturtium officinale (watercress) is a promising plant with great medicinal values. This study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of watercress oil in combination with calcium hydroxide against Candida albicans as intracanal medicament. Materials and Methods: Candida albicans was isolated from patients with necrotic root canal or failed root canal treatment. The sensitivity of Candida albicans to different concentrations of watercress oil extract was determined by using the agar well diffusion method in comparison with calcium hydroxide paste. The agar plate method was used to determine the minimum fung
... Show MoreThe wave functions of converted harmonic-oscillator in local scaling transformations are employed to evaluate charge distributions and elastic charge electron scattering form structures for 6,7Li, 9Be, 14,15N and 16O nuclei. The nuclear shell-model was fulfilled using Warburton-Brown psd-shell (WBP) interaction with truncation in model space. Very good agreements with the experimental data were obtained for the aforementioned quantities.
The effects of using aqueous nanofluids containing covalently functionalized graphene nanoplatelets with triethanolamine (TEA-GNPs) as novel working fluids on the thermal performance of a flat-plate solar collector (FPSC) have been investigated. Water-based nanofluids with weight concentrations of 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.075%, and 0.1% of TEA-GNPs with specific surface areas of 300, 500, and 750 m2/g were prepared. An experimental setup was designed and built and a simulation program using MATLAB was developed. Experimental tests were performed using inlet fluid temperatures of 30, 40, and 50 °C; flow rates of 0.6, 1.0, and 1.4 kg/min; and heat flux intensities of 600, 800, and 1000 W/m2. The FPSC’s efficiency increased as the flow rate and hea
... Show MoreBackground :The cotton factories have difference steps, spinning and weaving are van important parts of the factories. Cotton industry workers are exposed to various hazards in the different departments of textile factories. The major health problems associated with cotton dust are respiratory problems. Cotton workers display an excess of lung function abnormalities when compared to a community control population.
Aim of Study: This study assessed the effect of exposure to cotton dust in spinning and weaving workers on the lung function in Iraq, by measuring Forced Vital Capacity (FVC),Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second(FEV1), FEV1 ∕ FVC Ratio, and Forced Expiratory Flow 50%(FEF50%),with varying degree of reduction in lung
Soil is a crucial component of environment. Total soil analysis may give information about possible enrichment of the soil with heavy metals. Heavy metals, potentially contaminate soils, may have been dumped on the ground. chromium, nickel and cadmium,
The poster is one of the means which can be communicate with others through it, to transfer ideas that the designer want to focus on, for its importance to accomplish the poster. It’s a visual mean contact aim to submit an idea to the audience to get a clear idea, and that would be through the shapes and subject to submit the idea. Depend on that our goal in this study is to find out, what follows:1-Finding the relationship between the shape and the idea.And the study comes up with several results, like:1-The drawings that contain themes connected with what the designer want to achieve, through the clearness of idea and to make those elements clear by putting more elements to surround the main shape.2-To assure that the strong connecti
... Show MoreThe goal of the research is to highlight the role of the governance and its characteristics in increasing the tax outcome by implementing the laws, regulations and annual controls issued annually from the general authority for taxation for the financing of the general treasury of the state, Additional development and economic capacity, As the search shares a view of the governance and its characteristics and its ideas from increasing tax output. The analytical transparent approach was used by adopting the practice of practicalities of the general authority for tax For quotations in the senior cabinet section ,the revealing of the ongoing operations was relied on the revenue for each financial year, The tools adopted in the process of ana
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