chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disease with episodes of exacerbation. Variable factors including infectious pathogen can predispose for this exacerbation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of intestinal protozoa in COPD exacerbation. A total of 56 patients with COPD were included in this study. Patients were categorized into two groups based on the frequency of exacerbation during the last 6 months: those with ≤1 exacerbation (32 patients) and those with ≥2 exacerbations (24 patients). Stool specimens from each patient were collected two times (one week interval) examined for intestinal parasite. In univariate analysis, rural residence and parasitic infection were more common among patients with frequent exacerbation (45.83% and 33.33%, respectively) than patients with non-frequent exacerbation (18.75% and 9.38%, respectively) with significant differences. However, in multivariate analysis, only body mass index >25 kg/m2 (OR=4.59, 95%CI=1.18-17.86, P=0.028) and parasitic infection (OR=5.51, 95%CI=1.01-30.18, P=0.049) were independently associated with COPD exacerbation. These data indicate a significant association between frequent COPD exacerbation and infection with some intestinal protozoa. However, the cause-effect relationship is debatable.
Abstract Background: The prevalence of heart failure (HF) continues to increase with an increase in the aging population. Palliative care should be integrated into routine disease management for all patients with serious illness, regardless of settings or prognosis. Objectives: The purposes of this study were to determine the level of knowledge of nurses concerning palliative care for patients with heart failure after implementation of instructional program. Design: The study was a quasi-experimental study and consists of 60 nurses. Setting: The study was conducted between17th November 2021, to 10th February 2022, at three teaching hospitals in Baghdad city, Iraq. Method: A non-probability (purposive) sample was utilized, nurses who agreed
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Transverse fractures of the patella are important fractures with a wide variety of subtypes, the common incidence in the age group of 20–50 years. Surgical interference aims to achieve a perfect alignment of the joint surface, in addition to rigid fixation of the fracture for early re-habitation and early movement to retain the extensor mechanism of the knee joint. AIM: The aim of this study was to compare the radiological and functional outcomes of the displaced transverse patella fracture in adult patients treated by ORIF using tension band wiring versus cannulated screws with wiring. METHODS: A prospective analytic comparative study was conducted in Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital/Baghdad/Iraq for 18 months from Apr
... Show MoreThe paper present design of a control structure that enables integration of a Kinematic neural controller for trajectory tracking of a nonholonomic differential two wheeled mobile robot, then proposes a Kinematic neural controller to direct a National Instrument mobile robot (NI Mobile Robot). The controller is to make the actual velocity of the wheeled mobile robot close the required velocity by guarantees that the trajectory tracking mean squire error converges at minimum tracking error. The proposed tracking control system consists of two layers; The first layer is a multi-layer perceptron neural network system that controls the mobile robot to track the required path , The second layer is an optimization layer ,which is impleme
... Show MoreBackground: The longevity of any prosthesis depends on the materials from which it was fabricated, that is why, defects in the material properties may reduce the service life of prosthesis and necessitate its replacement. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding different concentrations of Polyamide-6 (Nylon-6) on the tear and tensile strength of A-2186 RTV silicone elastomer. Materials and Methods: 80 samples were fabricated by the addition of 0%, 1%, 3% and 5% by weight PA-6 micro-particles powder to A-2186 platinum RTV silicone elastomer. The study samples were divided into four (4) groups, each group containing 20 samples. One control group was prepared without PA-6 micro particles and three experimental groups were pr
... Show MorePolymer metal complexes of poly ethylene glycol acetal and Ag (I), Cu (II), Ni (II), Mn (II), Co (III) and Hg (II) were prepared from the reaction of PEG with aldehyde derived from Erythro-ascorbic acid (pentulosono-ɣ-lactone-2, 3- enedianisoate). All these compounds were characterized by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and FTIR spectra and aldehyde was also characterized by (U.V-Vis), 1HNMR,13CNMR, and mass spectra. It has been established that, the polymer and its metal complexes showed good activities against four pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli ,Klebsiellapneumonae, Staphylococcusaureus, Staphylococcus Albus) and two fungal (Aspergillus Niger,Yeast). The polymer metal complexes showed higher activity than the free polymer. The
... Show MoreAn aromatic ester containing two azo groups namely p-nitro phenyl azo-β-naphthyl-(4'-azobenzoic acid)-4-benzoate was synthesized by esterfiaction of 4,4'-azo dibenzoic acid with p-nitro phenyl azo-β-naphthol. Synthesized ester was characterized by CHN-Elemental analysis, FTIR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR. A modified PVA polymer was obtained by grafting 10 g of PVA-polymer via partial esterification with (2, 3, 4 g) p-nitro phenyl azo-1-naphthyl-4-azobenzoic acid)-4-azo benzoate. Grafting PVA-polymer behaviours was studied, by physical measurements (solubility, swelling), thermal properties (DSC) and tensile.
Abstract
Anaerobic digestion process of organic materials is biochemical decomposition process done by two types of digestion bacteria in the absence of oxygen resulting in the biogas production, which is produced as a waste product of digestion. The first type of bacteria is known as acidogenic which converts organic waste to fatty acids. The second type of bacteria is called methane creators or methanogenic which transforms the fatty acids to biogas (CH4 and CO2). The considerable amounts of biodegradable constitutes such as carbohydrates, lipids and proteins present in the microalgae biomass make it a suitable substrate for the anaerobic digestion or even c
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