Introduction/Aim. Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in pediatric population and adolescents. Limited data is available on the characteristics of RMS in Iraqi pediatric patients. The aim of the study was to examine the clinical and histological aspects of RMS in Iraqi children, with a focus on their response to treatment, prognosis, and survival. Methods. A retrospective cohort study was conducted at the Oncology Unit of Children's Welfare Teaching Hospital, Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq and included patients who were newly diagnosed with RMS and received treatment during the period between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2019. The patients were followed up from the time of diagnosis until October 1, 2020. Results. A total of 59 patients were included with a median age of 3.5 years ranging between 1-12 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 3.2:1. The most frequent clinical presentation was urine retention in 15 patients (25.4%), followed by proptosis in 14 (23.7%) patients. However, the main sites of involvement were the head and neck in 23 (39%) patients, followed by the trunk and the genitourinary tract observed in 17 (28.8%) and 15 (25.4%) patients, respectively. The alveolar type, found in 11 (18.7%) patients, was the most prevalent histological variety, followed by the embryonal type reported in 42 (71.3%) patients, whereas six patients (9.7%) had other varieties. Of the 49 patients included in the prognosis assessment, 18 patients (36.7%) had a complete response, 20 patients (40.8%) died, and 11 patients abandoned treatment. The average duration of disease recurrence was 21.3 months, with a 7% recurrence rate. The overall survival rate was 36.7%, with a mean survival duration of 14.1 months. Conclusions. Pediatric RMS in Iraq is primarily prevalent in males. There is a significant delay in disease diagnosis from the onset of the symptoms. A high rate of advanced-stage disease may relate to patients reluctant to discontinue treatment. The low disease-free survival rate is due to impediments that hindered the effectiveness of therapy.
Accurate land use and land cover (LU/LC) classification is essential for various geospatial applications. This research applied a Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) classifier on the Landsat 7 (ETM+ 2010) & 8 (OLI 2020) satellite scenes to identify the land cover materials of the Shatt al-Arab region which is located in the east of Basra province during ten years with an estimate of the spectral signature using ENVI 5.6 software of each cover with the proportion of its area to the area of the study region and produce maps of the classified region. The bands of these datasets were analyzed using the Optimum Index Factor (OIF) statistic. The highest OIF represents the best and most appropr
Research on the effects of supplementing broiler diets with Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) and Reishi Mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) was conducted in the field from March 22, 2022, to April 18, 2022, by the Department of Animal Production in the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences at the University of Baghdad in Abu Ghraib. There were a total of 210 one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks employed in this study (10 birds per replicate), and they were fed a starter diet for the first 10 days, a growth diet for the next 11-24 days, and a final diet for the last 25-42 days. The birds were randomly assigned to one of seven treatments, with three replicates per treatment and ten bir
Cyprinidae species are the most abundant and widely distributed fish species in the inland waters of Iraq. Cyprinids are complex species, and it is difficult to identify them on the basis of morphology. Thus, the morphological characteristics must be achieved and confirmed by molecular analysis. Twenty specimens of Cyprinion kais Heckel, 1843 (Piscies, Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae) were collected from two localities at Tigris River in the middle of Iraq: five specimens from Al-Tharthar Lake, Saladin Province, and 15 specimens from Al- Zubaydiyah sub-district, Wasit Province. The DNA sequences of C. kais were done using the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b (cytb) gene. After analysis, the sequences were compared with sequences of ot
... Show MoreBackground: The best material for dental implants is polyetherketoneketone (PEKK). However, this substance is neither osteoinductive nor osteoconductive, preventing direct bone apposition. Modifying the PEKK with bioactive elements like strontium hydroxyapatite is one method to overcome this (Sr-HA). Due to the technique's capacity to provide better control over the coating's properties, RF magnetron sputtering has been found to be a particularly useful technique for deposition. Materials and methods : With specific sputtering conditions, the RF magnetron technique was employed to provide a homogeneous and thin coating on Polyetherketoneketone substrates.. the coatings were characterized by Contact angle, adhesion test, X-ray
... Show MoreWater stress has a negative impact on the yield and growth of crops worldwide and consequently has a global impact on food security. Many biochemical changes occur in plants as a response to water stress, such as activation of antioxidant systems. Molybdenum (Mo) plays an important part in activating the expression of many enzymes, such as CAT, POD, and SOD, as well as increasing the proline content. Mo therefore supports the defence system in plants and plays an important role in the defence system of mung bean plants growing under water stress conditions. Four concentrations of Mo (0, 15, 30, and 45 mg·L−1) were applied to plants, using two approaches: (a) seed soaking and (b) foliar application. Mung bean plants were subject
... Show MoreHealthcare professionals routinely use audio signals, generated by the human body, to help diagnose disease or assess its progression. With new technologies, it is now possible to collect human-generated sounds, such as coughing. Audio-based machine learning technologies can be adopted for automatic analysis of collected data. Valuable and rich information can be obtained from the cough signal and extracting effective characteristics from a finite duration time interval that changes as a function of time. This article presents a proposed approach to the detection and diagnosis of COVID-19 through the processing of cough collected from patients suffering from the most common symptoms of this pandemic. The proposed method is based on adopt
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