Objectives: Small field of view gamma detection and imaging technologies for monitoring in vivo tracer uptake are rapidly expanding and being introduced for bed-side imaging and image guided surgical procedures. The Hybrid Gamma Camera (HGC) has been developed to enhance the localization of targeted radiopharmaceuticals during surgical procedures; for example in sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsies and for bed-side imaging in procedures such as lacrimal drainage imaging and thyroid scanning. In this study, a prototype anthropomorphic head and neck phantom has been designed, constructed, and evaluated using representative modelled medical scenarios to study the capability of the HGC to detect SLNs and image small organs. Methods: An anthropomorphic head and neck phantom has been designed to mimic the adult head and neck including some internal organs and tissues of interest, such as the thyroid gland and sentinel lymph nodes. The design of the head and neck phantom included an adjustable inner jig holding the simulated SLNs and thyroid gland. The simulated thyroid gland was designed and 3D printed taking into consideration the size and the shape of a healthy adult thyroid gland. The inner sealed space of the thyroid was filled with 15MBq of 99mTc through two upper filling valves. Sealed micro-tubes (0.2ml) have been employed to simulate SLNs containing various 99mTc activity concentrations ranging between 0.1MBq and 1MBq, and can be positioned at any desired place in the head and neck region. An active background was simulated through mixing 10MBq of 99mTc solution with the water used to fill the outer shell of the head and neck phantom. Results: The head and neck phantom was employed to simulate a situation where there are four SLNs distributed at two different vertical levels and at two depths within the neck. Contrast to noise ratio (CNR) calculations were performed for the detected SLNs at an 80mm distance between both pinhole collimators (i.e. 0.5mm and 1.0mm diameters) and the surface of the head and neck phantom with a 100s acquisition time. The recorded CNR values for the simulated SLNs are higher when the HGC was fitted with the 1.0mm diameter pinhole collimator. For instance, the recorded CNR values for the superficially simulated SLN containing 0.1MBq of 99mTc using 0.5mm and 1.0mm diameter pinhole collimators are 6.48 and 16.42, respectively (~87% difference). The anatomical context provided by the hybrid imaging aided the localization process of radioactivity accumulation in simulated SLNs. Gamma and hybrid optical images were acquired using the HGC with both available pinhole collimators for the simulated thyroid gland. The thyroid images produced varied in terms of spatial resolution and detectability. The count profiles through the middle of the simulated thyroid gland images provided by both pinhole collimators were obtained. The HGC could clearly differentiate the individual peaks of both thyroid lobes in the gamma image produced by the 0.5mm pinhole collimator. In contrast, the recorded count profile for the acquired image using the 1.0mm diameter pinhole collimator showed broader peaks for both lobes, reflecting the degradation of the spatial resolution with increasing the diameter of the pinhole collimator. Conclusion: The capability of the HGC has been evaluated utilizing a prototype anthropomorphic head and neck phantom, and the gamma and hybrid images obtained demonstrate that it is ideally suited for intraoperative SLNs detection and small organ imaging. The standardization of test phantoms and protocols for SFOV portable gamma systems will provide an opportunity to collect data across various medical centers and research groups. Moreover, it will provide a technical baseline for researchers and clinical practitioners to consider when assessing their SFOV gamma imaging systems. The anthropomorphic head and neck phantom described is cost effective, reproducible, flexible and anatomically representative.
Emotion recognition has important applications in human-computer interaction. Various sources such as facial expressions and speech have been considered for interpreting human emotions. The aim of this paper is to develop an emotion recognition system from facial expressions and speech using a hybrid of machine-learning algorithms in order to enhance the overall performance of human computer communication. For facial emotion recognition, a deep convolutional neural network is used for feature extraction and classification, whereas for speech emotion recognition, the zero-crossing rate, mean, standard deviation and mel frequency cepstral coefficient features are extracted. The extracted features are then fed to a random forest classifier. In
... Show MoreThe research studied and analyzed the hybrid parallel-series systems of asymmetrical components by applying different experiments of simulations used to estimate the reliability function of those systems through the use of the maximum likelihood method as well as the Bayes standard method via both symmetrical and asymmetrical loss functions following Rayleigh distribution and Informative Prior distribution. The simulation experiments included different sizes of samples and default parameters which were then compared with one another depending on Square Error averages. Following that was the application of Bayes standard method by the Entropy Loss function that proved successful throughout the experimental side in finding the reliability fun
... Show MoreIn cognitive radio system, the spectrum sensing has a major challenge in needing a sensing method, which has a high detection capability with reduced complexity. In this paper, a low-cost hybrid spectrum sensing method with an optimized detection performance based on energy and cyclostationary detectors is proposed. The method is designed such that at high signal-to-noise ratio SNR values, energy detector is used alone to perform the detection. At low SNR values, cyclostationary detector with reduced complexity may be employed to support the accurate detection. The complexity reduction is done in two ways: through reducing the number of sensing samples used in the autocorrelation process in the time domain and through using the Slid
... Show MoreThis research presents an experimental investigation of the rehabilitation efficiency of the damaged hybrid reinforced concrete beams with openings in the shear region. The study investigates the difference in retrofitting ability of hybrid beams compared to traditional beams and the effect of two openings compared with one opening equalized to two holes in the area. Five RC beams classified into two groups, A and B, were primarily tested to full-failure under two-point loads. The first group (A) contained beams with normal weight concrete. The second group (hybrid) included beams with lightweight concrete for web and bottom flange, whereas the top flange was made from normal concrete. Two types of openings were considered in this s
... Show MoreThe current research aims to investigate the counseling services provided to gifted students in the Al-Baha region from their point of view, and to identify the differences in these views according to the students ’gender, educational stages, and the cities in which they study. The descriptive survey approach was followed in its relevance to the research objectives. Likewise, a random sample of gifted elementary, intermediate, and secondary school students was selected by the method of stratified sampling, as the sample reached (175) male and female students. The instrument of the research consisted of the questionnaire of counseling services presented to gifted students from their point of view prepared by researchers. The results sho
... Show MoreThe aim of the current research is to develop the social studies curriculum at the primary stage in light of the standards of the next generation, which was represented in three main dimensions (pivotal ideas, scientific practices, and comprehensive concepts). The researcher designed a tool for the study, which is a content analysis card in the light of (NGSS) standards, based on the previous main dimensions. The descriptive analytical approach was adopted in analyzing the social studies curriculum for the primary stage to determine the degree to which the standards of the next generation are available, as well as to establish the theoretical framework related to the research variables. To develop the social studies curriculum in light o
... Show MoreThis field experiment, was conducted to investigate a comparison of two methods for harvesting potatoes: mechanical and handy when using moldboard and chisel plow for primary tillage and three different distances for planting tubers in the rows 15, 25, and 35 cm in silt clay loam soil south of Baghdad. The factorial experiment followed a randomized complete block design with three replications using L.S.D. 5 % and 1 %. Mechanical harvest recorded the best valid potato tubers at 88.78 %, marketable yield of 31.74 ton. ha-1, efficiency lifted 95.68 %, tubers damage index 28.41, speeding up the harvesting process and reducing time and effort. Handy harvest gave the least damage to potato tubers, 6.02 %, and unlifted potato tubers, 4.32 %. Howe
... Show MoreMishrif Formation is the main reservoir in Amara Oil Field. It is divided into three units (MA, TZ1, and MB12). Geological model is important to build reservoir model that was built by Petrel -2009. FZI method was used to determine relationship between porosity and permeability for core data and permeability values for the uncored interval for Mishrif formation. A reservoir simulation model was adopted in this study using Eclipse 100. In this model, production history matching executed by production data for (AM1, AM4) wells since 2001 to 2015. Four different prediction cases have been suggested in the future performance of Mishrif reservoir for ten years extending from June 2015 to June 2025. The comparison has been mad
... Show MoreDirect field-orientation Control (DFOC) of induction motor drives without mechanical speed sensors at the motor shaft has the attractions of low cost and high reliability. To replace the sensor, information on the rotor speed and position are extracted from measured stator currents and from voltages at motor terminals. In this paper presents direct field-orientation control (DFOC) with two type of kalman filter (complete order and reduced order extended kalman filter) to estimate flux, speed, torque and position. Simulated results show how good performance for reduced order extended kalman filter over that of complete order extended kalman filter in tracking performance and reduced time of state estimation.
The reaction of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PV A) with Urea in (DMSO) resulted in uerthanised oxim, wr,ich reacted with diacetylmonoxime in a (DY.ISOfmethanol) to give anew type (N2) polymeric bidentate imine oxime ligand [HL], The ligand was reacted with MCh (where M= Co, Cu, and Hg). Under reflux in a (DMF/Methanol) mixture with (I:1) ratio to give Complexes of the general formula [M (T.)2]X, (where M= Co,Hg, Cu). All .:ompouncs have been characterized by spectroscopic methods [IR, U.V.-Vis, A tomi<;absorption] microanalysis along with conductivity measurements, from the above:: data the proposed molecular structure for Co,Cu, and Hg is a distorted. Tetrahedml