Ali Abu Arra | An-Najah National University (original) (raw)

Papers by Ali Abu Arra

Journal of Medical Ultrasound, 2020

In this review, the flow phantoms and the wall-less flow phantoms with recognized acoustic featur... more In this review, the flow phantoms and the wall-less flow phantoms with recognized acoustic features (attenuation and speed of sound), interior properties, and dimensions of tissue were prepared, calibrated, and characterized by Doppler ultrasound (US) scanning which demands tissue-mimicking materials (TMMs). TMM phantoms are commercially available and readymade for medical US applications. Furthermore, the commercial TMM phantoms are proper for US purpose or estimation of diagnostic imaging techniques according to the chemical materials used for its preparation.

Polish Journal of Medical Physics and Engineering, Jun 27, 2017

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare objective image quality data for patient pulmonary embo... more Aim: The aim of this study was to compare objective image quality data for patient pulmonary embolism between a conventional pulmonary CTA protocol with respect to a novel acquisition protocol performed with optimize radiation dose and less amount of iodinated contrast medium injected to the patients during PE scanning. Materials and Methods: Sixty-four patients with Pulmonary Embolism (PE) possibility, were examined using angio-CT protocol. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: A (16 women and 16 men, with age ranging from 19-89 years) mean age, 62 years with standard deviation 16; range, 19-89 years)-injected contrast agent: 35-40 ml. B (16 women and 16 men, with age ranging from 28-86 years)-injected contrast agent: 70-80 ml. Other scanning parameters were kept constant. Pulmonary vessel enhancement and image noise were quantified; signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated. Subjective vessel contrast was assessed by two radiologists in consensus. Result: A total of 14 cases of PE (22 %) were found in the evaluated of subjects (nine in group A, and five in group B). All PE cases were detected by the two readers. There was no significant difference in the size or location of the PEs between the two groups, the average image noise was 14 HU for group A and 19 HU for group B. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.09). Overall, the SNR and CNR were slightly higher on group B (24.4 and 22.5 respectively) compared with group A (19.4 and 16.4 respectively), but those differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.71 and p = 0.35, respectively). Conclusion and Discussion: Both groups that had been evaluated by pulmonary CTA protocol allow similar image quality to be achieved as compared with each other's, with optimize care dose for both protocol and contrast volume were reduced by 50 % in new protocol comparing to the conventional protocol.

Journal of Medical Ultrasound, 2020

In this review, the flow phantoms and the wall-less flow phantoms with recognized acoustic featur... more In this review, the flow phantoms and the wall-less flow phantoms with recognized acoustic features (attenuation and speed of sound), interior properties, and dimensions of tissue were prepared, calibrated, and characterized by Doppler ultrasound (US) scanning which demands tissue-mimicking materials (TMMs). TMM phantoms are commercially available and readymade for medical US applications. Furthermore, the commercial TMM phantoms are proper for US purpose or estimation of diagnostic imaging techniques according to the chemical materials used for its preparation.

Journal of Radiology Nursing

Polish Journal of Medical Physics and Engineering

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare objective image quality data for patient pulmonary embo... more Aim: The aim of this study was to compare objective image quality data for patient pulmonary embolism between a conventional pulmonary CTA protocol with respect to a novel acquisition protocol performed with optimize radiation dose and less amount of iodinated contrast medium injected to the patients during PE scanning. Materials and Methods: Sixty- four patients with Pulmonary Embolism (PE) possibility, were examined using angio-CT protocol. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: A (16 women and 16 men, with age ranging from 19-89 years) mean age, 62 years with standard deviation 16; range, 19-89 years) - injected contrast agent: 35-40 ml. B (16 women and 16 men, with age ranging from 28-86 years) - injected contrast agent: 70-80 ml. Other scanning parameters were kept constant. Pulmonary vessel enhancement and image noise were quantified; signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated. Subjective vessel contrast was assessed by two radiologis...

International Journal of the Physical Sciences, 2012

The laser-skin interaction was studied using the laboratory albino rat skin as an experimental sa... more The laser-skin interaction was studied using the laboratory albino rat skin as an experimental sample and 10.6 μm wavelength CO 2 laser as a source of irradiation. This study aimed to determine the effect of different laser doses on the skin structure as a trial to understand how laser exerts its medical effects in treating skin problems. It also aimed to determine the relationship between the laser dose and biological effects and thus determine the lowest dose that had highest medical effects with lowest skin damage. Briefly, the rat skin was exposed to CW CO 2 laser at 12.5, 14.1, 15.6 and 17.2 W/cm 2 for 15 s. Directly after the exposure, biopsies of normal and exposed skin were preserved and fixed for histological studies. The images obtained from the compound light and electron microscopes exerted changes contributed to the interaction of the skin cells to the heat and energy produced by the continuous wave carbon dioxide (CW CO 2) laser during the exposure time. Basically, the tissue damage caused by the laser was mainly due to photothermal effect and increased gradually as the irradiation dose increased. Epidermal loss along with coagulation, homogenous hyalinization, lost of hair associated with shrinkage and collapse of hair follicle structures of varying depths at the-burn sites were detected in the histologic sections. Damage-power density (DPD) relationship was confirmed by measuring the damage depth using the software provided in the light microscope. On the other hand, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed detailed images of the extensive epidermal epithelial cells damage which also increased by increasing the laser dose. Rough surface, partial destruction of intercellular junctions giving rise to loss of adherence between squamous cells and formation of narrow spaces between these cells were the most evident changes detected. The findings may help specialists to choose the best laser parameters for certain applications.

International Journal of Applied Physics and Mathematics, 2014

For the first time, Gum Arabic (GA) is used as a binder in particleboards preparation and the att... more For the first time, Gum Arabic (GA) is used as a binder in particleboards preparation and the attenuation properties of the fabricated particleboards were evaluated to check their suitability as tissue equivalent material. Gum Arabic was added into Rhizophora spp. particleboards of four particle sizes at three different GA adhesive levels. The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique was used to measure the linear and the mass attenuation coefficients of the fabricated particleboards at effective energy range of 17.4-26.7 keV. This was achieved by determining the attenuation of Kα1 X-ray fluorescent (XRF) photons from niobium, molybdenum, palladium, silver and tin targets. The results were compared with theoretical values of water calculated using XCOM computer program. The mass attenuation coefficients of the GA bonded Rhizophora spp. particleboards were found to be close to the values of water calculated in XCOM at the same photon energies. Luckily, fabricated particleboards showed tissue equivalent results which optimistically can open a new window on the consumption of such a natural adhesive in particleboards as phantom material in dosimetric phantoms and quality control applications.

Materials & Design, 2014

ABSTRACT Gum Arabic (GA) was used as a binder for the fabrication of Rhizophora spp. particleboar... more ABSTRACT Gum Arabic (GA) was used as a binder for the fabrication of Rhizophora spp. particleboards. The physical and mechanical properties of the bioadhesive bonded particleboards, including moisture content, internal bond (IB) strength, thickness swelling (TS), water absorption (WA) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were used to characterize the manufactured particleboards. Three different particle sizes of the Rhizophora spp. with four adhesive levels were utilized. Results revealed that the addition of GA into the particleboards noticeably improved panel overall properties. The GA bonded particleboards resulted in smoother surfaces, more rigid texture and better internal bonding strength compared to binderless particleboards made without using any adhesive. All specimens had internal bond strength of more than the minimum requirement of the Japanese Industrial Standard JIS A-5908 Type-8 of 0.15 N/mm2 and were noticed to increase by increasing the adhesive level. However the GA bonded particleboards had higher percentage of WA and the TS compared with the binderless boards. Microscopic study also revealed that particleboards bonded with the gum had better contact compared to the binderless boards. Based on these results, it could be concluded that gum Arabic is an effective natural substance that could be added to manufacture particleboards to improve some of panels’ physical and mechanical properties.

Advanced Materials Research, 2014

In this study, the green animal-based, which has been prepared by prolonged boiling of the inedib... more In this study, the green animal-based, which has been prepared by prolonged boiling of the inedible connective tissues of domesticated ungulates, was investigated for adhesive properties. The viscosity of green animal-based wood adhesive was measured and compared with that of urea-formaldehyde (UF) and phenol-formaldehyde (PF) which are widely used synthetic glues in the wood industry. Also, the crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, nitrogen free extract (NFE) that represents carbohydrate, and ash as the organic components of green animal-based glue was measured. According to the results, the green animal-based wood glue was found suitable to be used in wood industry.

Measurement, 2014

The objective of this study is to evaluate the mechanical and physical properties of the particle... more The objective of this study is to evaluate the mechanical and physical properties of the particleboard manufactured from Rhizophora spp. in three particle sizes bonded with powdered Eremurus spp. root as a bio-based adhesive in two adhesive treatment levels. The samples acquired high internal bond strength values when the Rhizphora spp. particle size was reduced and the adhesive treatment level was increased. Dimensional stability normally increased with the reduced Rhizophora spp. wood particle size. The hydrophilic property of Eremurus spp. indicates that dimensional stability also increased with decreased adhesive treatment level. However, dimensional stability is affected by the adhesive treatment level when the wood particle size is smaller than that of the adhesive particle. The density distributions of the fabricated particleboards were evaluated using Surfer8 software, which showed significant homogeneity in all samples. The microstructures of the fabricated particleboards were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy, which refers to the better surrounding adhesive with bigger particles than Rhizophora spp. particles. This study indicates the potential of Eremurus spp. root as a bio-adhesive, which improved the characterization of Rhizophora spp. particleboard.

Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 1995

ABSTRACT As with many cities all over the world with active industrial developments, the city of ... more ABSTRACT As with many cities all over the world with active industrial developments, the city of Penang in Malaysia has also the potential of being exposed to industrial pollution. Such exposure would certainly have a detrimental impact on the environment and the people. The determination of trace elemental levels in hair which is well known as a method for environmental exposure monitoring, evaluation of heavy metal poisoning, assessment of nutrient levels and disease diagnoses. In this study, it is selected as the method to determine the possible exposure to pollutants in the form of unwanted trace elements. The natural levels of trace elements in hair are hence monitored first as reference values for the assessment of the possible human contamination levels. In this work the concentrations of As and Hg in the human scalp hair of 100 residents of Penang were determined using XRF. The results of this study are compared with the results obtained in other cities where such measurements have also been carried out.

Journal of Medical Ultrasound, 2020

In this review, the flow phantoms and the wall-less flow phantoms with recognized acoustic featur... more In this review, the flow phantoms and the wall-less flow phantoms with recognized acoustic features (attenuation and speed of sound), interior properties, and dimensions of tissue were prepared, calibrated, and characterized by Doppler ultrasound (US) scanning which demands tissue-mimicking materials (TMMs). TMM phantoms are commercially available and readymade for medical US applications. Furthermore, the commercial TMM phantoms are proper for US purpose or estimation of diagnostic imaging techniques according to the chemical materials used for its preparation.

Polish Journal of Medical Physics and Engineering, Jun 27, 2017

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare objective image quality data for patient pulmonary embo... more Aim: The aim of this study was to compare objective image quality data for patient pulmonary embolism between a conventional pulmonary CTA protocol with respect to a novel acquisition protocol performed with optimize radiation dose and less amount of iodinated contrast medium injected to the patients during PE scanning. Materials and Methods: Sixty-four patients with Pulmonary Embolism (PE) possibility, were examined using angio-CT protocol. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: A (16 women and 16 men, with age ranging from 19-89 years) mean age, 62 years with standard deviation 16; range, 19-89 years)-injected contrast agent: 35-40 ml. B (16 women and 16 men, with age ranging from 28-86 years)-injected contrast agent: 70-80 ml. Other scanning parameters were kept constant. Pulmonary vessel enhancement and image noise were quantified; signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated. Subjective vessel contrast was assessed by two radiologists in consensus. Result: A total of 14 cases of PE (22 %) were found in the evaluated of subjects (nine in group A, and five in group B). All PE cases were detected by the two readers. There was no significant difference in the size or location of the PEs between the two groups, the average image noise was 14 HU for group A and 19 HU for group B. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.09). Overall, the SNR and CNR were slightly higher on group B (24.4 and 22.5 respectively) compared with group A (19.4 and 16.4 respectively), but those differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.71 and p = 0.35, respectively). Conclusion and Discussion: Both groups that had been evaluated by pulmonary CTA protocol allow similar image quality to be achieved as compared with each other's, with optimize care dose for both protocol and contrast volume were reduced by 50 % in new protocol comparing to the conventional protocol.

Journal of Medical Ultrasound, 2020

In this review, the flow phantoms and the wall-less flow phantoms with recognized acoustic featur... more In this review, the flow phantoms and the wall-less flow phantoms with recognized acoustic features (attenuation and speed of sound), interior properties, and dimensions of tissue were prepared, calibrated, and characterized by Doppler ultrasound (US) scanning which demands tissue-mimicking materials (TMMs). TMM phantoms are commercially available and readymade for medical US applications. Furthermore, the commercial TMM phantoms are proper for US purpose or estimation of diagnostic imaging techniques according to the chemical materials used for its preparation.

Journal of Radiology Nursing

Polish Journal of Medical Physics and Engineering

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare objective image quality data for patient pulmonary embo... more Aim: The aim of this study was to compare objective image quality data for patient pulmonary embolism between a conventional pulmonary CTA protocol with respect to a novel acquisition protocol performed with optimize radiation dose and less amount of iodinated contrast medium injected to the patients during PE scanning. Materials and Methods: Sixty- four patients with Pulmonary Embolism (PE) possibility, were examined using angio-CT protocol. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: A (16 women and 16 men, with age ranging from 19-89 years) mean age, 62 years with standard deviation 16; range, 19-89 years) - injected contrast agent: 35-40 ml. B (16 women and 16 men, with age ranging from 28-86 years) - injected contrast agent: 70-80 ml. Other scanning parameters were kept constant. Pulmonary vessel enhancement and image noise were quantified; signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated. Subjective vessel contrast was assessed by two radiologis...

International Journal of the Physical Sciences, 2012

The laser-skin interaction was studied using the laboratory albino rat skin as an experimental sa... more The laser-skin interaction was studied using the laboratory albino rat skin as an experimental sample and 10.6 μm wavelength CO 2 laser as a source of irradiation. This study aimed to determine the effect of different laser doses on the skin structure as a trial to understand how laser exerts its medical effects in treating skin problems. It also aimed to determine the relationship between the laser dose and biological effects and thus determine the lowest dose that had highest medical effects with lowest skin damage. Briefly, the rat skin was exposed to CW CO 2 laser at 12.5, 14.1, 15.6 and 17.2 W/cm 2 for 15 s. Directly after the exposure, biopsies of normal and exposed skin were preserved and fixed for histological studies. The images obtained from the compound light and electron microscopes exerted changes contributed to the interaction of the skin cells to the heat and energy produced by the continuous wave carbon dioxide (CW CO 2) laser during the exposure time. Basically, the tissue damage caused by the laser was mainly due to photothermal effect and increased gradually as the irradiation dose increased. Epidermal loss along with coagulation, homogenous hyalinization, lost of hair associated with shrinkage and collapse of hair follicle structures of varying depths at the-burn sites were detected in the histologic sections. Damage-power density (DPD) relationship was confirmed by measuring the damage depth using the software provided in the light microscope. On the other hand, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed detailed images of the extensive epidermal epithelial cells damage which also increased by increasing the laser dose. Rough surface, partial destruction of intercellular junctions giving rise to loss of adherence between squamous cells and formation of narrow spaces between these cells were the most evident changes detected. The findings may help specialists to choose the best laser parameters for certain applications.

International Journal of Applied Physics and Mathematics, 2014

For the first time, Gum Arabic (GA) is used as a binder in particleboards preparation and the att... more For the first time, Gum Arabic (GA) is used as a binder in particleboards preparation and the attenuation properties of the fabricated particleboards were evaluated to check their suitability as tissue equivalent material. Gum Arabic was added into Rhizophora spp. particleboards of four particle sizes at three different GA adhesive levels. The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique was used to measure the linear and the mass attenuation coefficients of the fabricated particleboards at effective energy range of 17.4-26.7 keV. This was achieved by determining the attenuation of Kα1 X-ray fluorescent (XRF) photons from niobium, molybdenum, palladium, silver and tin targets. The results were compared with theoretical values of water calculated using XCOM computer program. The mass attenuation coefficients of the GA bonded Rhizophora spp. particleboards were found to be close to the values of water calculated in XCOM at the same photon energies. Luckily, fabricated particleboards showed tissue equivalent results which optimistically can open a new window on the consumption of such a natural adhesive in particleboards as phantom material in dosimetric phantoms and quality control applications.

Materials & Design, 2014

ABSTRACT Gum Arabic (GA) was used as a binder for the fabrication of Rhizophora spp. particleboar... more ABSTRACT Gum Arabic (GA) was used as a binder for the fabrication of Rhizophora spp. particleboards. The physical and mechanical properties of the bioadhesive bonded particleboards, including moisture content, internal bond (IB) strength, thickness swelling (TS), water absorption (WA) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were used to characterize the manufactured particleboards. Three different particle sizes of the Rhizophora spp. with four adhesive levels were utilized. Results revealed that the addition of GA into the particleboards noticeably improved panel overall properties. The GA bonded particleboards resulted in smoother surfaces, more rigid texture and better internal bonding strength compared to binderless particleboards made without using any adhesive. All specimens had internal bond strength of more than the minimum requirement of the Japanese Industrial Standard JIS A-5908 Type-8 of 0.15 N/mm2 and were noticed to increase by increasing the adhesive level. However the GA bonded particleboards had higher percentage of WA and the TS compared with the binderless boards. Microscopic study also revealed that particleboards bonded with the gum had better contact compared to the binderless boards. Based on these results, it could be concluded that gum Arabic is an effective natural substance that could be added to manufacture particleboards to improve some of panels’ physical and mechanical properties.

Advanced Materials Research, 2014

In this study, the green animal-based, which has been prepared by prolonged boiling of the inedib... more In this study, the green animal-based, which has been prepared by prolonged boiling of the inedible connective tissues of domesticated ungulates, was investigated for adhesive properties. The viscosity of green animal-based wood adhesive was measured and compared with that of urea-formaldehyde (UF) and phenol-formaldehyde (PF) which are widely used synthetic glues in the wood industry. Also, the crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, nitrogen free extract (NFE) that represents carbohydrate, and ash as the organic components of green animal-based glue was measured. According to the results, the green animal-based wood glue was found suitable to be used in wood industry.

Measurement, 2014

The objective of this study is to evaluate the mechanical and physical properties of the particle... more The objective of this study is to evaluate the mechanical and physical properties of the particleboard manufactured from Rhizophora spp. in three particle sizes bonded with powdered Eremurus spp. root as a bio-based adhesive in two adhesive treatment levels. The samples acquired high internal bond strength values when the Rhizphora spp. particle size was reduced and the adhesive treatment level was increased. Dimensional stability normally increased with the reduced Rhizophora spp. wood particle size. The hydrophilic property of Eremurus spp. indicates that dimensional stability also increased with decreased adhesive treatment level. However, dimensional stability is affected by the adhesive treatment level when the wood particle size is smaller than that of the adhesive particle. The density distributions of the fabricated particleboards were evaluated using Surfer8 software, which showed significant homogeneity in all samples. The microstructures of the fabricated particleboards were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy, which refers to the better surrounding adhesive with bigger particles than Rhizophora spp. particles. This study indicates the potential of Eremurus spp. root as a bio-adhesive, which improved the characterization of Rhizophora spp. particleboard.

Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 1995

ABSTRACT As with many cities all over the world with active industrial developments, the city of ... more ABSTRACT As with many cities all over the world with active industrial developments, the city of Penang in Malaysia has also the potential of being exposed to industrial pollution. Such exposure would certainly have a detrimental impact on the environment and the people. The determination of trace elemental levels in hair which is well known as a method for environmental exposure monitoring, evaluation of heavy metal poisoning, assessment of nutrient levels and disease diagnoses. In this study, it is selected as the method to determine the possible exposure to pollutants in the form of unwanted trace elements. The natural levels of trace elements in hair are hence monitored first as reference values for the assessment of the possible human contamination levels. In this work the concentrations of As and Hg in the human scalp hair of 100 residents of Penang were determined using XRF. The results of this study are compared with the results obtained in other cities where such measurements have also been carried out.