Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive airflow limitation that is preventable but not curable. It is associated with persistent symptoms that cause a considerable burden on individual productivity at work, and daily activities, and reduced quality of life, also burdening the healthcare system and society. Objectives: The study aims to measure the burden of COPD on patients in terms of daily activities and work productivity. It also seeks to investigate some inflammatory biomarkers' levels and their correlation with selected outcomes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study on 120 stable COPD patients who were diagnosed and treated according to the GOLD guidelines at Kirkuk General Hospital's chest and Internal Medicine consultation clinics, and in private internist clinics in Kirkuk City, Iraq between January and April 2023. The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI-COPD) measured the Burden of COPD. The symptom burden was assessed by the COPD assessment test (CAT). The level of IL-6 monoclonal antibodies was measured via a Roche Cobas 6000 analyzer and TNF-α using the ELISA sandwich technique. All these devices and machines were authorized by the Ministry of Health, Iraq. Results: The mean age was (54.1 ± 8.12) years, 62.5% being males and 37.5% being females; 41.7% were public sector employees, and 39.2% were self-employed. Due to COPD, the overall work loss was (45.9±18.91) days, the mean percentage of absenteeism was (10.9% ± 12.31%), activity impairment was (47.5% ±17.79%) among all patients, presenteeism was (40.8 ± 15.05%,) and COPD-related retirees were 14.2% of the study group. The mean CAT score (19.3±5.63) was high and the most troubling symptom among patients was chest tightness. WPAI-COPD scores were higher in older age and longer disease duration. The levels of biomarkers were above the reference ranges, the mean IL-6 level was (69.4 ± 35.29) pg/ml, and the mean TNF-α was (72.3 ± 22.45) pg/ ml. Conclusions: COPD patients exhibit a disease burden in terms of productivity loss at work and activity impairment that increases with aging and disease duration. COPD patients with low BMI are more prone to a decline in lung functions and to worse symptoms.
The topic of the research tagged (narrative structure and its impact on building open and closed endings in the fictional film) is summarized by studying the mechanism of employing closed and open endings in the fictional film. novelist, then the need for it, as well as the objectives of the research and clarifying its limits as well as its importance. Then moving to the theoretical framework, which included three topics, where the first topic was entitled (the cinematic construction of the film narrative), either the second topic (the structure of complexity and narrative solutions), or the third topic dealt with the subject (the structure of the end and its relationship to the construction of the narrative). After completing the theore
... Show MoreBackground: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a cytokine that has several functions, including stimulating growth and inhibiting cell death. It has the potential to operate as a biomarker for the accurate prediction of disease severity and activity, platelets-rich plasma was used in the treatment of oral lichen planus and can change the salivary IL-6 level.
Objectives: To study the clinical outcome of intralesional platelets-rich plasma in patients with oral lichen planus and to measure salivary IL-6 levels before and after the treatment with platelets-rich plasma were the aims of this study.
Subjects and Methods: In this clinical trial, for each patient a standardi
... Show MoreThe growing demand for optical fibers is due to their superior the ability to transmit information with high efficiency and minimal loss across extensive distances. In this study, four optical fibers with core radii ranging from (2.05-5.05) μm, and with a numerical aperture of 0.1624 were analyzed. The modal properties of these fibers were calculated at a wavelength of 1030 nm using the RP Fiber Calculator software (free version 2025). Furthermore, the impact of increasing the core radius on these properties was examined. The results showed that multimode fibers are formed when the core radius is much larger than the wavelength used. In contrast, single-mode fiber is obtained when th
The irony pushes us to inquire about what is in the text of contradiction, irony, suspense, and other acts of paradox, as well as a departure from what is logical, or familiar, that attracts the attention of the addressee, and this is what drives us to introspect the text and interrogate it in order to get to know the intended product of the text or its real or metaphorical intent. On the other hand, the irony is more in the literary text than in the scientific texts. Therefore, critics add the word literature to it in their definition.
As it is represented by the paradox, we will seek to study the paradox of the title and the problematic that it may pose as the beginning of the text, and i
... Show MoreComputer models are used in the study of electrocardiography to provide insight into physiological phenomena that are difficult to measure in the lab or in a clinical environment.
The electrocardiogram is an important tool for the clinician in that it changes characteristically in a number of pathological conditions. Many illnesses can be detected by this measurement. By simulating the electrical activity of the heart one obtains a quantitative relationship between the electrocardiogram and different anomalies.
Because of the inhomogeneous fibrous structure of the heart and the irregular geometries of the body, finite element method is used for studying the electrical properties of the heart.
This work describes t
... Show MoreThe banking sector of all kinds is the backbone of the economy in all countries, as it is the main financier of most economic projects in order to achieve economic development and achieve stability, which contributes to providing the necessary resources in return for obtaining a profit margin in exchange for giving up his money and bearing credit risks. Among the aforementioned banking sectors are: Islamic banks that invest their capital in several forms in order to obtain profits that enable them to continue and grow, and the most important of these formulas is the Murabaha formula, which is summarized by the bank selling a commodity after owning it and then selling it to the applicant for this commodity based on a prior request
... Show MoreMass transfer was examined at a stationary rectangular copper electrode (cathode) by using the reduction of cupric ions as the electrochemical reaction. The influence of electrolyte temperature (25, 45, and 65 oC), and cupric ions concentration (4, 8, and 12 mM) on mass transfer coefficient were investigated by using limiting current technique. The mass transfer coefficient and hence the Sherwood number was correlated as Sh =
In this work, Kinetic Phosphorescence Analyzer (KPA) has been used to measure the concentrations of uranium (UC) and Amorphous crystals (AMO) in urine samples of breast cancer patients in Baghdad. Additionally, a relation between UC and AMO with respect to patient's age has been deduced and studied.
Forty one urine samples of patients and five for healthy were taken from females lived in different residential area of Baghdad. The measured maximum UC value for urine samples of patients was 2.35 ± 0.053, the minimum value was 0.86 ± 0.034 μg/L, and an overall average was 1.6 ± 0.027 μg/L while the average UC for healthy females was 1.03 ± 0.020 μg/L.
From these results, AMO concentrations were found for all breast cancer patie
The current research attempts to examine the relationship between social-psychological conflict and their relation to family upbringing approaches among the adolescents of intermediate stage according to sex and economical level. To do this, the researcher prepared a questionnaire to measure social-psychological conflict that consisted of (32) item divided on four dimensions, and also she prepared a questionnaire to measure family upbringing approaches which composed of (28) item divided on four dimensions. The sample was (260) male and female student from intermediate stage chosen randomly. The results revealed that there were significant differences between social-psychological conflict which went to male, there was a negative correlat
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