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.
Recently, environmental noise has arisen from various sources, such as those from exhaust mufflers of combustion engines found in cars, trucks, or power generators, which produce significant noise during their operation. Controlling the radiated noise from these mufflers is a major factor in improving acoustic comfort and minimizing the impact on the surrounding communities. Numerous research has been presented for this reason by modification of the internal structure of the exhaust muffler. The main objective of this work is to reduce the noise level emitted from exhaust mufflers. This can be achieved by adjusting structure parameters to attenuate the surrounding environment's radiated noise. Analysis of pressure-wave propagation h
... 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
... Show MoreThe current research discusses “The impact of the critical factors for the transfer of knowledge on opportunities and strategic success ", the attention have been increased on knowledge transfer and strategic success subjects because on being one of the important and contemporary issues, which have a significant impact on the existence of organizations and its future. The research aims to identify the critical factors for knowledge transfer in private high education environment which enables (the college community surveyed) to achieve strategic success, also the research sought to answer questions related to research problem by testing a number of major and minor hypothes in impact, in order to test the hypotheses I used a fiel
... Show MoreVariation 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
... Show MoreIn the midst of rapid changes and difficultiesand the tough competition faced by the Iraqi banks, it has become necessary to focus on a significant aspect of administrative work; that is strategic planning and the key role of implementation within this process in improving the banking service quality. It has emerged as a critical and main competitive weapon for distinguishing the services provided by banks from each other in an effort to participate in increasing market share of the bank in question in question; in its growth, continuation and profit increase.
The research has addressed the relation between the independent variable (implementation within strategic planning), and the dependent variable (banking service quality and
... Show MoreActive learning is a teaching method that involves students actively participating in activities, exercises, and projects within a rich and diverse educational environment. The teacher plays a role in encouraging students to take responsibility for their own education under their scientific and pedagogical supervision and motivates them to achieve ambitious educational goals that focus on developing an integrated personality for today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders. It is important to understand the impact of two proposed strategies based on active learning on the academic performance of first-class intermediate students in computer subjects and their social intelligence. The research sample was intentionally selected, consis
... Show MoreThe consequences of ionizing radiation-induced oxidative stress on radiographers in X-ray and CT-scan departments utilizing several biochemical were analyzed. The study found highly considerable discrepancies in the interplay between radiation levels and gender in terms of mean Malondialdehyde (MAD), Vitamin D3 (Vit.D3), Triiodothyronine (T3), Thyroxine (T4), and High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL), but not Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), cholesterol, triglyceride (TG) and Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL). The findings indicated that malondialdehyde is a useful biomarker for assessing oxidative stress in radiographers with exposure to ionizing radiation.
Ternary semiconductors AB5C8 (A = Cu/Ag, B = In and C = S, Se or Te) have been investigated. The CuIn5S8 and AgIn5S8 have been synthesize in cubic spinel structure with space group (Fd3m), whereas CuIn5Se8, AgIn5Se8, CuIn5Te8 and AgIn5Te8 have tetragonal structures with space group P-42m. The relaxed crystal geometry, electrical properties such as electronic band structure and optoelectronic properties are predicted by using full potential method in this work. For the determination of relaxed crystal geometry, the gradient approximation (PBE-GGA) is used. All the studied compounds are semiconductors based on their band structures in agreement with the experimental results, and their bulk moduli are in the range 35 to 69 GPa. Wide absorption
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