Background: Nursing interventions tailored to the smoking triggers in patients with non-communicable chronic diseases are essential. However, these interventions are scant due to the nature of factors associated with smoking cessation and the poor understanding of the effect of nurse-led intervention in Iraq.Purpose: This study aimed to determine the dominant smoking triggers and examine the effects of a tailored nursing intervention on smoking behavior in patients with non-communicable chronic diseases.Methods: Convenience samples of 128 patients with non-communicable chronic diseases, male and female patients, who were 18-70 years old, were recruited in this quasi-experimental, randomized comparative trial in the outpatient clinic in one major teaching hospital in Baghdad City, Iraq. The intervention included simple yet specific instructions that were given both orally and in written form to the study samples to enable them to manage their craving to smoke for 6 weeks. The smoking triggers were assessed using Why Do You Smoke questionnaire. Participants were randomly allocated to receive either the nurse-led intervention or standard care. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, logistic regression, and two-sided tests.Results: Stress reduction was the dominant smoking trigger among subjects. The percentage of participants who were either able to completely quit smoking or reduce the number of smoked cigarettes per day (n=19, 29.7%; n=28, 43.8%, respectively) was greater in the study group than those in the control group (n=5, 5.8%; n=5, 5.8%, respectively). Study findings demonstrated significant differences in the inability to improve readiness to quit smoking between the intervention group and control group (p=0.000) at the sixth-week follow-up.Conclusion: The tailored nursing intervention was effective for a successful achievement of smoking reduction and cessation among patients with non-communicable chronic diseases, and a potential to equip nurses in clinical settings to support patients to achieve this is recommended.
This paper proposes a new approach, of Clustering Ultrasound images using the Hybrid Filter (CUHF) to determine the gender of the fetus in the early stages. The possible advantage of CUHF, a better result can be achieved when fuzzy c-mean FCM returns incorrect clusters. The proposed approach is conducted in two steps. Firstly, a preprocessing step to decrease the noise presented in ultrasound images by applying the filters: Local Binary Pattern (LBP), median, median and discrete wavelet (DWT), (median, DWT & LBP) and (median & Laplacian) ML. Secondly, implementing Fuzzy C-Mean (FCM) for clustering the resulted images from the first step. Amongst those filters, Median & Lap
This study is unique in this field. It represents a mix of three branches of technology: photometry, spectroscopy, and image processing. The work treats the image by treating each pixel in the image based on its color, where the color means a specific wavelength on the RGB line; therefore, any image will have many wavelengths from all its pixels. The results of the study are specific and identify the elements on the nucleus’s surface of a comet, not only the details but also their mapping on the nucleus. The work considered 12 elements in two comets (Temple 1 and 67P/Churyumoy-Gerasimenko). The elements have strong emission lines in the visible range, which were recognized by our MATLAB program in the treatment of the image. The percen
... Show MoreThis study aims at examining and confirming the patterns of phenetic relationships and the levels of variations within and among the species of Lotus L., 1753 in Egypt by using morphometric analysis techniques. We have evaluated 24 morphological characters from about 300 herbarium specimens representing 19 species of Lotus that are currently recognized. Based on numerical analyses of macromorphological characters (cluster analysis, principal coordinate analysis and principal component analysis), 19 species of Lotus were recognized from Egypt. These species were clustered in six species-specific groups: (I) Lotus halophilus Boiss. & Spruner, L. angustissimus L., L. glinoides Delile and L. schimperi Steud. ex Boiss., (II) Lotus glaber
... Show MoreThis work consists of a numerical simulation to predict the velocity and temperature distributions, and an experimental work to visualize the air flow in a room model. The numerical work is based on non-isothermal, incompressible, three dimensional, k turbulence model, and solved using a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) approach, involving finite volume technique to solve continuity, momentum and energy equations, that governs the room’s turbulent flow domain. The experimental study was performed using (1/5) scaled room model of the actual dimensions of the room to simulate room air flow and visualize the flow pattern using smoke generated from burnt herbs and collected in a smoke generator to delivered through
... Show MoreGaines's A Lesson Before Dying (1993) is about more than the challenges associated with being blacking an Eurocentric society. Though Gaines positions the story within the context of the African American experience, its central theme investigates what it means to be human. The Afro-American writer Ernest Gaines consistently writes about people who face the problems of being denied humanity, dignity, and self-worth. The article illustrates one man's struggle to gain recognition of his humanity in the court (as his attorney insists on calling him a hog for a crime he did not commit) and how this recognition will initiate a change in the community.
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Estrogens has traditionally been known as the female hormone, but this idea has been challenged in early 1990’s and an essential physiological role for estrogen in male fertility was identified. Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring non-steroidal plant chemicals that can act like the female hormone estrogen. The herbs ( anise alfalfa and vervain ) chosen in this study contain phytoestrogens. OBJECTIVE: Previous studies demonstrated controversy of the effects of phytoestrogens on the rat testes .Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to investigate the influence of typical dose of herbs containing phytoestrogen on the rat testis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four apparently normal mature male rats we
... Show MoreZanthoxylum L. 1753 belongs to the family Rutaceae. The plant, with its forest green color and with its distinctive fragrance attracted the attention of the study, specially it was an exotic to the environment of Iraq. Zanthoxylum is an exotic plant produced to Iraq and planted in gardens as an ever-green aromatic plant named (BUKHUR HINDI), as it is known among sellers and farmers in Iraq, because of the aromatic smell that emanated from the leaves and resembles Indian incense. The plant adapted to environmental conditions and succeeded in growing and blooming. It was examined and diagnosed for the first time in Iraq as Zanthoxylum beechyanum K. Koch. (Chinese pepper tree). Morphological characteristics and anatomical characteristi
... Show MoreIsolated Bacteria from the roots of barley were studied; two stages of processes Isolated and screening were applied in order to find the best bacteria to remove kerosene from soil. The active bacteria are isolated for kerosene degradation process. It has been found that Klebsiella pneumoniae sp. have the highest kerosene degradation which is 88.5%. The optimum conditions of kerosene degradation by Klebsiella pneumonia sp. are pH5, 48hr incubation period, 35°C temperature and 10000ppm the best kerosene concentration. The results 10000ppm showed that the maximum kerosene degradation can reach 99.58% after 48 h of incubation. Higher Kerosene degradation which was 99.83% was obtained at pH5. Kerosene degradation was found to be maximum at 3
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