Background: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a common health problem that has a worldwide distribution. Apart from the direct effect of the virus on the liver, there are many extrahepatic manifestations among which the probable effect on bone turnover associated with low bone mineral density (BMD). Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between treated and untreated chronic HBV infection with BMD. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which included a total of 48 patients with chronic HBV (28 patients treated with tenofovir-disoproxil-fumarate [TDF] antiviral drug and 20 patients have not yet started treatment). Other age- and sex-matched 30 apparently healthy individuals were recruited to represent the healthy controls. BMD was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry on the anteroposterior lumbar spine (L1–L4 spine) views, from which T-score was calculated. Liver function tests were also evaluated from serum samples. Results: Treated patients showed a lower T‑score (−0.48 ± 0.72) than either healthy individuals (1.08 ± 0.84) or untreated patients (0.78 ± 0.51), with highly significant differences. In multivariate regression, only disease duration (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 9.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.8–16.68) and TDF treatment (adjusted OR = 6.4, 95% CI = 4.18–97.05) were significantly associated with BMD. Conclusions: Prolonged use of TDF in the treatment of HBV infection can significantly reduce BMD. Moreover, BMD can also be inversely affected in long-standing HBV, regardless of treatment regimen.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact two doses of Menaquinones-7 on hepatotoxicity induced by doxorubicin in rats. Sixty adult rats of both sexes were used in this study; the animals were randomly enrolled into six groups of 10 animals each. Group I: negative control (rats administered distilled water); Group II: Menaquinones-7 at a dose of 16 µg/kg; Group III: Menaquinones-7 at a dose of 48 µg/kg; Group IV: positive control (Doxorubicin 15 mg/kg); Group V: Menaquinones-7 at a dose of 16 µg/kg administered prior to a single dose of Doxorubicin 15 mg/kg; Group VI: Menaquinones-7 at a dose of 48 µg/kg administered prior to a single dose of Doxorubicin 15 mg/kg. On day twelve of the study, blood was
... Show MoreAlO-doped ZnO nanocrystalline thin films from with nano crystallite size in the range (19-15 nm) were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition technique. The reduction of crystallite size by increasing of doping ratio shift the bandgap to IR region the optical band gap decreases in a consistent manner, from 3.21to 2.1 eV by increasing AlO doping ratio from 0 to 7wt% but then returns to grow up to 3.21 eV by a further increase the doping ratio. The bandgap increment obtained for 9% AlO dopant concentration can be clarified in terms of the Burstein–Moss effect whereas the aluminum donor atom increased the carrier's concentration which in turn shifts the Fermi level and widened the bandgap (blue-shift). The engineering of the bandgap by low
... Show MoreThis research studied the relationship of patterns of investigator personality with the big five dimensions (Extraversion, stability, interoperability, openness, and personal benevolent), in facing the job stress with its resources(characteristics of the role, quality of work, organizational structure, work environment, organizational policies, social relations, and organizational processes) which the investigators exposed to it at the General Inspectors Offices.
The researcher derived the idea of research from the importance of the work of these offices in a confrontation of various cases of financial and administrative corruption in Iraq at the present time, since itis one of the most important in
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to clarify the measurement of the impact regarding financial value of human resources on investors' decisions by considering that the human element is one of the assets of the company. Therefore, a set of criteria must be available to determine the applicability of these standards in the human resource because it has an effective role in the success for the company. Is to measure the value of human resources in a financial format according to the first two methods depends on the value and the second depends on the cost.
In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a questionnaire was designed to survey the views of a number of employees of the General Company for Leather Industries in order to arriv
... Show MoreIn this paper, numerical and experimental studies on the elastic behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) with stiffeners in the GFRP section's web (to prevent local buckling) are presented. The GFRP profiles were connected to the concrete deck slab by shear connectors. Two full-scale simply supported composite beams (with and without stiffeners) were tested under impact load (three-point load) to assess its structural response. The results proved that the maximum impact force, maximum deflection, damping time, and damping ratio of the composite beam were affected by the GFRP stiffeners. The experimental results indicated that the damping ratio and deflection were diminished compare
... Show MoreThis study presents an investigation about the effect of fire flame on the punching shear strength of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete flat plates. The main considered parameters are the fiber type (steel or glass) and the burning steady-state temperatures (500 and 600°C). A total of 9 half-scale flat plate specimens of dimensions 1500mm×1500mm×100mm and 1.5% fiber volume fraction were cast and divided into 3 groups. Each group consisted of 3 specimens that were identical to those in the other groups. The specimens of the second and the third groups were subjected to fire flame influence for 1 hour and steady-state temperature of 500 and 600°C respectively. Regarding the cooling process, water sprinkling was applied directly aft
... Show MoreThe determination of river pollution impact on the performance of water treatment plants is achieved by two main objectives. The first is to study raw and treated water qualities and comparing them with standards and the second is to evaluate the treatment plants efficiency. The analyzed data were those water quality parameters in relation to physical, chemical and bacteriological characteristics for river water and produced water by seven water treatment plants located on Tigris River passing through Baghdad City.
The results of this study indicated that all raw water characteristic are within the surface water standards established by Iraqi and USA criteria except Bacterial Counts.
Tigris River water is of good quality to be trea
Variation orders are an on-going phenomenon in construction and industry projects worldwide, particularly in the province of Sulaimani, where the project's damage from cost and schedule overrun because of variation orders. However, the effect on project costs and time overrun of variation order has yet to be identified. This study evaluates the impact of variation orders on the cost and time off in the Sulaimani governorate. Two hundred twenty-eight projects from various construction sectors built between 2007-2012 were adopted to calculate the contract cost and schedule overruns due to variation orders. Data analysis was applied in the study were descriptive statistics. One-way ANOVA was also applied to determine w
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