Background: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system of unknown etiology. Different techniques and magnetic resonance image sequences are widely used and compared to each other to improve the detection of multiple sclerosis lesions in the spinal cord. Objective: To evaluate the ability of MRI short tau inversion recovery sequences in improvementof multiple sclerosis spinal cord lesion detection when compared to T2 weighted image sequences. Type of the study: A retrospective study. Methods: this study conducted from 15thAugust 2013 to 30thJune 2014 at Baghdad teaching hospital. 22 clinically definite MS patients with clinical features suggestive of spinal cord involvement, patients were imaged with sagittal short tau inversion recovery sequences and sagittal T2 weighted. Results: The mean age of the patients was 32.5 ± 6.7years; female to male ratio was 2.7:1. The total number of spinal cord MS lesions was 44 of them 86.4% in the cervical spine, 68.2%of the lesions had less than one vertebra extension,79.6% of the lesions did not show changes in the spinal cord morphology. There was a significant upgrading in the lesions conspicuity at short tau inversion recovery sequence comparing to T2 weighted image, P<0.001. A significant difference had been found in artifact grading between both sequences; P<0.001. Conclusions: short tau inversion recovery magnetic resonance image sequences improve detection of MS spinal cord plaques compared with T2 weighted image and itincreasesthe conspicuity of the visualized T2weighted image lesions, but also it accentuates theartifacts more than T2weighted image.
Background: Optimal root canal retreatment was required safe and efficient removal of filling material from root canal. The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the efficacy of reciprocating and continuous motion of four retreatment systems in removal of root canal filling material. Materials and Methods: Forty distal roots of the mandibular first molars teeth were used in this study, these roots were embedded in cold clear acrylic,roots were instrumented using crown down technique and rotary ProTaper systemize Sx to size F2 ,instrumentation were done with copiousirrigation of 2.5% sodium hypochlorite and 17% buffered solution of EDTA was used as final irrigant followed by distilledwater, roots were obturated with AH26 sealer and Prota
... Show MoreCanonical correlation analysis is one of the common methods for analyzing data and know the relationship between two sets of variables under study, as it depends on the process of analyzing the variance matrix or the correlation matrix. Researchers resort to the use of many methods to estimate canonical correlation (CC); some are biased for outliers, and others are resistant to those values; in addition, there are standards that check the efficiency of estimation methods.
In our research, we dealt with robust estimation methods that depend on the correlation matrix in the analysis process to obtain a robust canonical correlation coefficient, which is the method of Biwe
... Show MoreSurface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)-based plastic optical fiber sensor for estimating the concentration and refractive index of sugar in human blood serum. The sensor is fabricated by a small part (10mm) of optical fiber in the middle is embedded in a resin block and then the polishing process is done, after that it is deposited with about (40nm) thickness of gold metal. The blood serum is placed on gold coated core of an Optical grade plastic optical fiber of 980 µm core diameter.
The levels of lead (pb), copper (cu), cobalt (co) and cadmium (cd) were determined in different kinds of milk and the health risks were evaluated. The mean levels were 0.73±0.21, 0.06±0.01, 0.12±0.01 and 0.14±0.01 ppm for these metals respectively. The levels of pb and cu were found to be insignificant differences (p<0.05), whereas the levels of co and cd, were no significant differences (p>0.05). The dry and liquid kinds of milk were different significantly (p<0.05), whereas the original, was no significant differences (p>0.05). The values for all metals were more than one. The metals pb and cd were detected at highest concentrations in most dry and liquid milk samples.
In the present study, a total of 245 flour samples were collected from 49 mills on both sides of Baghdad city (Al- Karkh and Al- Resafa), during the period from 1/6 - 1/12/ 2015 to detect the prolportion of iron added to the flour samples. It is found that only 45% of mills produced flour contain the prescribed percentage of iron (30-60 ppm) while 51.9% of the mills produced flour at rate is less or much more than the prescribed percentage, while only 4.1% of the mills were not added iron to the flour.
In this study, a three-dimensional finite element analysis using ANSYS 12.1 program had been employed to simulate simply supported reinforced concrete (RC) T-beams with multiple web circular openings subjected to an impact loading. Three design parameters were considered, including size, location and number of the web openings. Twelve models of simply supported RC T-beams were subjected to one point of transient (impact) loading at mid span. Beams were simulated and analysis results were obtained in terms of mid span deflection-time histories and compared with the results of the solid reference one. The maximum mid span deflection is an important index for evaluating damage levels of the RC beams subjected to impact loading. Three experi
... Show MoreThis study concluded detection of Toxoplasma gondii in milk, immunologically by using Elisa and nested PCR)nPCR (based on B1 gene, also to investigate the effect of toxoplasmosis, parity, breed and flock on some milk composition in the Iraqi local and Shami goats in the middle of Iraq. A total of 80 milk samples of the lactating goats were collected. Results of this study showed the prevalence of Toxoplasmosis was 21.25% and 28.75% by Elisa and nPCR respectively without significant differences. The sensitivity of Elisa was a low (30.43%) whereas the specificity was a high (82.45%). The degree of agreement estimated by Kappa coefficient revealed a slight agreement (0.14) between two methods. The results indicated that goats infected
... Show MoreSpraying pesticides is one of the most common procedures that is conducted to control pests. However, excessive use of these chemicals inversely affects the surrounding environments including the soil, plants, animals, and the operator itself. Therefore, researchers have been encouraged to...