Background: Intramedullary astrocytomas
account for about 1% of all CNS tumors and
6–8% of spinal cord tumors. The vast majority
of intramedullary astrocytomas are slowgrowing
lesions.
Objectives: The goal in this study was to
review a series of patients who underwent
surgical removal of intramedullary high-grade
astrocytomas, focusing on the functional
outcome and the effect of multimodality
treatment on the survival of patients with high
grade intramedullary astrocytoma.
Methods: Between June 1999 and June 2004,
22 patients underwent removal of
intramedullary high-grade astrocytomas in four
neurosurgical hospital in Baghdad/ Iraq
(Neurosurgical hospital, Al Shaheed Adnan
Hospital for Surgical Speeialticsa, Nursing
Home Hospital Lesions were located in the
cervical segment of the spinal cord in 12
patients, and patients.
Results: Histological examinations showed
10 Grade III astrocytomas and 12
glioblastomas. Only 2 of the 22 high-grade
astrocytomas could be completely removed. The
clinical postoperative status worsened in
14 patients (63.6%), was unchanged in seven
patients (31.8%), and there was one case of
intraoperative death (4.5%). None of the 22
patients showed improvement in their
neurological status postoperatively. In this series,
excluding the one intra-operative death, all
patients died of the progression of the
malignancy.
Conclusions: Surgical treatment did not
ameliorate the postoperative neurological status;
instead, in the majority of cases, it prompted a
worsening of the deficit. Radiotherapy and
chemotherapy have a little influence on the
length of survival. In this series, multimodality
treatment of intramedullary high-grade
astrocytomas has been shown to increase length
of survival without improving the neurological
status.
Background: Directly observed therapy-short course (DOTS) had been adopted by World Health Organization (WHO) as hopeful strategy for treatment of tuberculosis (TB) since early nineties. Iraqi health authorities started DOTS implementation since 2001 in Baghdad. Coverage expanded gradually till 100% in 2004. War and unstable security condition hit Iraq since March 2003. Objective: The objective of this study was To evaluate the DOTS implementation program in Baghdad in different periods including 2 unstable periods for proper assessment of war and instability on treatment of TB. Patients and methods: This study had been conducted in Baghdad during four different periods (before and during 2003 war, after war; without and with DOTS). Dire
... Show MoreThe application of ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) processes in the handling of raw produced water have been investigated in the present study. Experiments of both ultrafiltration and nanofiltration processes are performed in a laboratory unit, which is operated in a cross-flow pattern. Various types of hollow fiber membranes were utilized in this study such as poly vinyl chloride (PVC) UF membrane, two different polyether sulfone (PES) NF membranes, and poly phenyl sulfone PPSU NF membrane. It was found that the turbidity of the treated water is higher than 95 % by using UF and NF membranes. The chemical oxygen demand COD (160 mg/l) and Oil content (26.8 mg/l) were found after treatment according to the allowable limits set
... Show MoreIn this study, the feasibility of Forward–Reverse osmosis processes was investigated for treating the oily wastewater. The first stage was applied forward osmosis process to recover pure water from oily wastewater. Sodium chloride (NaCl) and magnesium chloride (MgCl2) salts were used as draw solutions and the membrane that was used in forward osmosis (FO) process was cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane. The operating parameters studied were: draw solution concentrations (0.25 – 0.75 M), oil concentration in feed solution (FS) (100-1000 ppm), the temperature of FS and draw solution (DS) (30 - 45 °C), pH of FS (4-10) and the flow rate of both DS and FS (20 - 60 l/h). It was found that the water flux and oil concentration in FS increas
... Show MoreAn ingrowing toenail is a common problem affecting mainly adolescents and young adults, with a male predominance of 3:1. The disorder generally occurs in big toes. It is painful and often chronic and it affects work and social activities. Most patients initially complain of pain and later discharge, infection and difficulty in walking occur. The Objectives: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of (10600nm) CO2 laser in the treatment of ingrowing toe nail. Patients, Materials & Methods: This study was done in laser medicine research clinics from July 2013 to the end of December 2013; 10 patients including 7(70%) males and 3 (30%) females with age ranging from 18 years to 70 years with mean age of 44 years o
... Show MoreIn this paper, a discrete SIS epidemic model with immigrant and treatment effects is proposed. Stability analysis of the endemic equilibria and disease-free is presented. Numerical simulations are conformed the theoretical results, and it is illustrated how the immigrants, as well as treatment effects, change current model behavior
Stuck pipe is a prevalent and costly issue in drilling operations, with the potential to cost the petroleum industry billions of dollars annually. To reduce the likelihood of this issue, efforts have been made to identify the causes of stuck pipes. The main mechanisms that cause stuck pipes include drill cutting of the formation, inappropriate hole-cleaning, wellbore instability, and differential sticking forces, particularly in highly deviated wellbores. The significant consequences of a stuck pipe include an increase in well costs and Non-Productive Time (NPT), and in the worst-case scenario, the loss of a wellbore section and down-hole equipment, or the need to sidetrack, plug, or abandon the well. This paper provides a comprehensive
... Show MoreHuman serum albumin (HSA) nanoparticles have been widely used as versatile drug delivery systems for improving the efficiency and pharmaceutical properties of drugs. The present study aimed to design HSA nanoparticle encapsulated with the hydrophobic anticancer pyridine derivative (2-((2-([1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidin-3-yl)methylene)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide (BIPHC)). The synthesis of HSA-BIPHC nanoparticles was achieved using a desolvation process. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis showed the average size of HSA-BIPHC nanoparticles was 80.21 nm. The percentages of entrapment efficacy, loading capacity and production yield were 98.11%, 9.77% and 91.29%, respectively. An In vitro release study revealed that HSA-BIPHC nan
... Show MoreKE Sharquie, JR Al-Rawi, AA Noaimi, HM Al-Hassany, Journal of drugs in dermatology: JDD, 2012 - Cited by 47