It is widely accepted that early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) makes it possible for patients to gain access to appropriate health care services and would facilitate the development of new therapies. AD starts many years before its clinical manifestations and a biomarker that provides a measure of changes in the brain in this period would be useful for early diagnosis of AD. Given the rapid increase in the number of older people suffering from AD, there is a need for an accurate, low-cost and easy to use biomarkers that could be used to detect AD in its early stages. Potentially, the electroencephalogram (EEG) can play a vital role in this but at present, no reliable EEG biomarker exists for early diagnosis of AD. The gradual slowing of brain activity caused by AD starts from the back of the brain and spreads out towards other parts. Consequently, determining the brain regions that are first affected by AD may be useful in its early diagnosis. Higuchi fractal dimension (HFD) has characteristics which make it suited to capturing region-specific neural changes due to AD. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of HFD of the EEG as a biomarker which is associated with the brain region first affected by AD. Mean HFD value was calculated for all channels of EEG signals recorded from 52 subjects (20-AD and 32-normal). Then, p-values were calculated between the two groups (AD and normal) to detect EEG channels that have a significant association with AD. k-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm was used to compute the distance between AD patients and normal subjects in the classification. Our results show that AD patients have significantly lower HFD values in the parietal areas. HFD values for channels in these areas were used to discriminate between AD and normal subjects with a sensitivity and specificity values of 100% and 80%, respectively.
Background: Coronary artery disease remains the main cause of death despite several preventive programs. Epicardial adipose tissue is a visceral fat depot of the heart located along the large coronary arteries and on the surface of ventricles and apex. Intima media thickness is commonly recognized as the initial stage in the development of atherosclerosis. The development of ultrasound machines, advances in echocardiographic devices and high resolution transducers facilitate comprehensive analysis of epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and carotid –intima media thickness (C-IMT).
Aim: To investigate the relationship of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and carotid –intima media thickness (C-IMT) with the severity of coro
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), characterized by hepatic fat accumulation in individuals consuming little or no alcohol, has become highly prevalent globally. Oxidative stress plays a central role in instigating inflammation and cell death pathways driving NAFLD progression. This case–control study aimed to elucidate the association between circulating levels of the pivotal non-enzymatic antioxidants – coenzyme Q10 and vitamins E and C – and liver injury parameters among 60 Iraqi NAFLD patients versus 30 healthy controls. NAFLD diagnosis entailed over 5% hepatic steatosis on ultrasound excluding other etiologies. Patients spanned three age groups: 20–29, 30–39, an
Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is a substance that is frequently utilized in industrial operations for important tasks such as chemical cleaning and pickling metallic surfaces.Therefore, the corrosion inhibition ability of three newly synthesized quinazoline derivatives namely, 3-allyl-2-(propylthio) quinazolin-4(3H)-one) (APQ), (3-allyl-2-(allylthio) quinazolin-4(3H)-one) (AAQ), (3-allyl- 2-( Prop -2-yn -1-ylthio) Quinazolin - 4 (3H) - one) (AYQ) were theoretically determined and these compounds were characterized using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) and 1H and 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopic. A series of quantum chemical properties of these derivatives: EHOMO, ELUMO, energy gap (ΔE),dipole moment (μ), hardness (η), soft
... Show MorePopulation density represents an important indicator for determining the growth of the size of urban areas. Population density has a direct impact on the quality of life, and its excessive rise may lead to the deterioration of basic service facilities. The problem of the research is that the increase in the total population densities of the residential neighborhood may reflect negatively on the nature of the services provided to the residents in these shops, and thus the failure to achieve sustainability in the residential locality. The research assumes that the increase in population densities negatively affects the achievement of sustainability in the residential neighborhood.
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The study of surface hardness, wear resistance, adhesion strength, electrochemical corrosion resistance and thermal conductivity of coatings composed from sodium silicate was prepared using graphite micro-size particles and carbon nano particles as fillers respectively of concentration of (1-5%), for the purpose of covering and protecting the oil distillation towers. The results showed that the sodium silicate coating reinforced with carbon nano-powder has higher resistance to stitches, mechanical wear, adhesive and thermal conductivity than graphite/sodium silicate composite especially when the ratio 5% and 1%, the electrochemical corrosion test confirmed that the coating process of stainless steel 304 lead to increasin
... Show MoreThe present study evaluates the effects of Ginkgo biloba extract as monotherapy on the glycemic status, insulin resistance (IR), body mass index (BMI), and visceral adiposity index (VAI), in addition to the inflammatory markers, oxidative status and leptin level in patients with metabolic syndrome in comparison with metformin.
The study is a randomized, double-blind pilot study conducted during the period May to September, 2020. Fifty patients were recruited in the study and they were allocated into two groups (25 per each group): Ginkgo biloba and Metformin groups, they received (120 mg Ginkgo biloba extract/ capsule) and (500 mg Metformin/ capsule) respectively; orally as a single dose for 90 days. Blood samples were taken at z
... Show MoreThe paper proposes a methodology for predicting packet flow at the data plane in smart SDN based on the intelligent controller of spike neural networks(SNN). This methodology is applied to predict the subsequent step of the packet flow, consequently reducing the overcrowding that might happen. The centralized controller acts as a reactive controller for managing the clustering head process in the Software Defined Network data layer in the proposed model. The simulation results show the capability of Spike Neural Network controller in SDN control layer to improve the (QoS) in the whole network in terms of minimizing the packet loss ratio and increased the buffer utilization ratio.
Presentation of urinary calculus ranges from painful urination to acute retention. Diagnosed by x-ray pelvis and non-contrast CT and removal of stone by various methods is the management. Variety in symptoms, sometimes make clinical diagnosis difficult until radiological investigations confirm it. In this case presentation, initial diagnosis was made of Urethrocutaneous fistula may be due to distal stricture, but on investigating, he was diagnosed as urethral calculus in urethral diverticulum , as the reason for his symptoms
The human intellect and his ability to complex thinking is a characteristic that Allah has given him above all his creatures. Islam came to encourage the utilization of the mind by thought, contemplation and consideration of the kingdom of Allah, His signs and religion, and He gave us a set of legislation that preserves the mind and protects it from falling into error or deviation.
This research deals with one of the most important components of civilizations in general and Islamic civilization in particular, which is thinking and what is related to it. It is an essential and influential component in man's dealing with life around him and the for
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