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.
BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorder affecting women in reproductive age. No single etiologic factor fully accounts for the spectrum of abnormalities in the polycystic ovary syndrome. Different changes in hormonal, metabolism and the inflammatory markers as squealy of PCOS with adverse effect on the women life. OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome and levels of C-reactive protein, human interleukin and hormonal and metabolic alteration in women with PCOS PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty women with Polycystic Ovary syndrome (PCOS) and other thirty women without PCOS were included. Venous blood samples were taken in early follicular phase of menstrual cycle [day
... Show MoreThe study aimed to prepare a set of qualifying exercises to improve the muscular strength of the muscles surrounding the ankle joint by applying different resistances according to the nature of the movement of this joint, which is one of the second moving joints (flexion, extension and rotation of the right and left) in order to increase the efficiency of all muscles working on this joint according to those movements and identification On the impact of these exercises and assume that there will be statistical differences between the two tests of the research sample. The researcher used the semi-articulated experimental method with a pre- and post-test for one group. The injury was evaluated on the women's national team players durin
... Show MoreInterleukin-6 (IL-6) is a proinflammatory cytokine implicated in the immunopathogenesis of tuberculosis (TB). TB is recognized worldwide as an important public health issue. To study the relationship between the age of patients with pulmonary TB and serum IL-6 levels, from the other hand, the severity of this disease with IL-6 levels. This study included 30 patients (16 female and 14 male) with pulmonary TB and 10 healthy persons (5 female and 5 male) as control group for comparison. An ELISA assay was used to quantify IL-6 in the sera. The results showed a significant increase of IL-6 levels with increase of age of patients, in (23-38) year old patients the IL-6 levels (median= 17.9 pg/ml, range 12.3-29.1), while in (50-70) year old patien
... Show MoreA single step extraction-cleanup procedure using porous membrane-protected micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) in conjunction with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the extraction and determination of aflatoxins (AFs) B1, B2, G1 and G2 from food was successfully developed. After the extraction, AFs were desorbed from the μ-SPE device by ultrasonication using acetonitrile. The optimum extraction conditions were: sorbent material, C8; sorbent mass, 20 mg; extraction time, 90 min; stirring speed, 1000 rpm; sample volume, 10 mL; desorption solvent, acetonitrile; solvent volume, 350 μL and ultrasonication period, 25 min without salt addition. Under the optimum conditions, enrichment factor of 11, 9, 9 and 10 for AFG2, AFG1
... Show MoreThe article describes a study on the role of vitamin C as a protective agent for the teeth, gum, and implants using quantum chemical calculations and polarization tests. The Density Functional Theory (DFT) at 6-311G (d, p) basis set is used to estimate the ability of vitamin C to inhibit the corrosion of the abovementioned parts. The experimental study was performed in a at human body media simulator (Hank’s balanced salt solution) at a temperature of 37°C. The compound was optimized for its ground state, physical properties, and corrosion parameters. Further, HOMO, LUMO, energy gap, dipole moment, and other parameters were used to predict the inhibitor’s efficiency. Gaussian 09, UCA-FUKUI, MGL tools, DSV, and LigPlus software was used
... Show MoreThe ethyl acetate synthesis via heterogeneous reactive distillation is studied experimentally using ethanol and acetic acid. Three types of cation exchanging resins were used as catalysts: Zerolit 225, Zerolit 226 and Ambylite 400. Experiments were carried out in two units of the same dimensions. Each unit consisted of three sections: rectifying, reactive and stripping sections of heights (60+25+20) cm respectively and 2.5cm column diameter. The first unit (column-A-) was a fractionation type and the second unit (column-B-) was packed column. The packing type was hollow glass cylinders with 10 mm height, and 4, 5 mm inner and outer diameter respectively.
The experiment
... Show MoreThis work aims to see the positive association rules and negative association rules in the Apriori algorithm by using cosine correlation analysis. The default and the modified Association Rule Mining algorithm are implemented against the mushroom database to find out the difference of the results. The experimental results showed that the modified Association Rule Mining algorithm could generate negative association rules. The addition of cosine correlation analysis returns a smaller amount of association rules than the amounts of the default Association Rule Mining algorithm. From the top ten association rules, it can be seen that there are different rules between the default and the modified Apriori algorithm. The difference of the obta
... Show MoreBackground: CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and tobacco smoking are among several risk factors for various types of cancers, but their influence on breast cancer remains controversial. We analyzed the possible association of CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and tobacco smoking-related breast cancer in women from Iraq. Materials and methods: In this case-control study, gene polymorphism of CYP1A1 gene (CYP1A1m1, T6235C and CYP1A1m2, A4889G) of 199 histologically verified breast cancer patients' and 160 cancer-free control women's specimens were performed by using PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: Three genotype frequencies (TT, TC, and CC) of CYP1A1m1T/C appeared in 16.1, 29.6, and 54.3% of women with breast cancer, respectiv
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