This study aims to characterize traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) neurophysiologically using an intramuscular fine-wire electromyography (EMG) electrode pair. EMG data were collected from an agonist-antagonist pair of tail muscles of Macaca fasicularis, pre- and post-lesion, and for a treatment and control group. The EMG signals were decomposed into multi-resolution subsets using wavelet transforms (WT), then the relative power (RP) was calculated for each individual reconstructed EMG sub-band. Linear mixed models were developed to test three hypotheses: (i) asymmetrical volitional activity of left and right side tail muscles (ii) the effect of the experimental TSCI on the frequency content of the EMG signal, (iii) and the effect of an experimental treatment. The results from the electrode pair data suggested that there is asymmetry in the EMG response of the left and right side muscles (p-value < 0.001). This is consistent with the construct of limb dominance. The results also suggest that the lesion resulted in clear changes in the EMG frequency distribution in the post-lesion period with a significant increment in the low-frequency sub-bands (D4, D6, and A6) of the left and right side, also a significant reduction in the high-frequency sub-bands (D1 and D2) of the right side (p-value < 0.001). The preliminary results suggest that using the RP of the EMG data, the fine-wire intramuscular EMG electrode pair are a suitable method of monitoring and measuring treatment effects of experimental treatments for spinal cord injury (SCI).
A multivariate multisite hydrological data forecasting model was derived and checked using a case study. The philosophy is to use simultaneously the cross-variable correlations, cross-site correlations and the time lag correlations. The case study is of two variables, three sites, the variables are the monthly rainfall and evaporation; the sites are Sulaimania, Dokan, and Darbandikhan.. The model form is similar to the first order auto regressive model, but in matrices form. A matrix for the different relative correlations mentioned above and another for their relative residuals were derived and used as the model parameters. A mathematical filter was used for both matrices to obtain the elements. The application of this model indicates i
... Show MoreObjective: To conduct a standardized method for cavity preparation on the palatal surface of rat maxillary molars and to introduce a standardized method for tooth correct alignment within the specimen during the wax embedding procedure to better detect cavity position within the examined slides. Materials and methods: Six male Wistar rats, aged 4-6 weeks, were used. The maxillary molars of three animals were sectioned in the frontal plane to identify the thickness of hard tissue on the palatal surface of the first molar which was (250-300µm). The end-cutting bur (with a cutting head diameter of 0.2mm) was suitable for preparing a dentinal cavity (70-80µm) depth. Cavity preparation was then performed using the same bur on the tooth surf
... Show MoreObjective: To conduct a standardized method for cavity preparation on the palatal surface of rat maxillary molars and to introduce a standardized method for tooth correct alignment within the specimen during the wax embedding procedure to better detect cavity position within the examined slides. Materials and methods: Six male Wistar rats, aged 4-6 weeks, were used. The maxillary molars of three animals were sectioned in the frontal plane to identify the thickness of hard tissue on the palatal surface of the first molar which was (250-300µm). The end-cutting bur (with a cutting head diameter of 0.2mm) was suitable for preparing a dentinal cavity (70-80µm) depth. Cavity preparation was then performed using the same bur on the tooth
... Show MoreThis study focused on the role and importance of alkaloid compounds in Punica granatum peels which is one of many wide distribution medicinal fruits. Two kinds of pathogenic fungi were isolated from patients in Baghdad to be tested, also a type of extracts was prepared, alkaloids were isolated and partially purified and detected by two ways, a classic depended technique also used for determine these alkaloids, results showed an observed differences among extracts or treatments towards the fungi samples. So this study was one of the scientific applications to find natural alternative compounds that inhibit the growth of several pathogenic organisms that cause dangers and harms for human health.
Background: Sperm motility disorder is an important cause of infertility in male, and one of the causes of reduced motility of the sperm is the disorders of the mitochondria because it provides the required energy for sperm motility, Laser biostimulation or low-level laser therapy has a positive effect on the mitochondria and led to increasing the synthesis of ATP. Method: Twenty fresh human semen samples were used in this research study, each sample was separated into two portions, one was used as control which is not exposed to the laser beam and the other was irradiated with the wavelength of 410 nm diode laser with an output power of 100 mW and an exposure time of 60 seconds, then the measurement of
... Show MoreBackground: The global threat of COVID-19 outbreak and on the 11 March 2020, WHO acknowledged that the virus would likely spread to all countries across the globe and declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic which is the fifth pandemic since 20 century and this has brought human lives to a sudden and complete lockdown and the confirmed cases of this disease and deaths continue to rise in spite of people around the world are taking important actions to mitigate and decrease transmission and save lives. Objectives: To assess the effect of exercise and physical activity on the immunity against COVID-19. Methods: Collected electronic databases including (Medline, EMBASE, Google Scholar, PubMed and Web of Science) were searched with
... Show MoreInvestigating the human mobility patterns is a highly interesting field in the 21th century, and it takes vast attention from multi-disciplinary scientists in physics, economic, social, computer, engineering…etc. depending on the concept that relates between human mobility patterns and their communications. Hence, the necessity for a rich repository of data has emerged. Therefore, the most powerful solution is the usage of GSM network data, which gives millions of Call Details Records gained from urban regions. However, the available data still have shortcomings, because it gives only the indication of spatio-temporal data at only the moment of mobile communication activities. In th
The study aims to use the European Excellence Model (EFQM) in assessing the institutional performance of the National Center for Administrative Development and Information Technology in order to determine the gap between the actual reality of the performance of the Center and the standards adopted in the model, in order to know the extent to which the Center seeks to achieve excellence in performance to improve the level of services provided and the adoption of methods Modern and contemporary management in the evaluation of its institutional performance.
The problem of the study was the absence of an institutional performance evaluation system at the centre whereby weaknesses (areas of improvement) and st
... Show MoreBacteriocin is an important antimicrobial peptide that can be used in industrial and medical fields due to its characteristics of antibacterial, food preservation and anticancer activities. Fifty isolates of Bacillus sp were collected from different soil samples which were already recognized via morphological and biochemical identification process. The isolates were screened for bacteriocin production effective against Staphylococcus spp in order to select the highest producing isolate. The isolate NK16 showed the maximum bacteriocin production (80 AU/ml) which was further characterized as Bacillus subtilis NK 16 through using API identification system (API 20E and API 50CHB). Then, next step was to detect the optimal conditions for maximum
... Show More