Previous studies in Euro-American countries have shown that patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection have increased levels of neuropsychiatric symptoms. While chronic hepatitis C virus infection has been reported in Arab countries such as Iraq, there is little studies about the neuropsychological burden associated with chronic hepatitis C among patients in the Arab region. The aim of the current study was to measure the prevalence and level of severity of depression, anxiety and stress among a sample of chronic hepatitis C patients in AL-Najaf province /Iraq. The current study was cross-sectional study carried out on (110) already diagnosed chronic viral hepatitis C patients who attended the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Center/Al-Sader Medical City/Najaf/Iraq during November 2018 to May 2019. In addition, (100) apparently healthy subjects were included as a control group. The Arabic version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to assess mental health. Both the prevalence rates and severity levels of depression, anxiety and stress were significantly higher in chronic hepatitis C patients compared to the control group (P<0.001). Stress level is negatively correlated with age and is significantly more in single. Anxiety level is less with a higher level of education. Depression was significantly higher in those having children. The study indicates that the presence of chronic hepatitis C infection is associated with a higher risk of psychological burden. Accordingly, meeting the psychological needs of such patients would need to be addressed.
In this paper, we employ the maximum likelihood estimator in addition to the shrinkage estimation procedure to estimate the system reliability (
Various theories have been proposed since in last century to predict the first sighting of a new crescent moon. None of them uses the concept of machine and deep learning to process, interpret and simulate patterns hidden in databases. Many of these theories use interpolation and extrapolation techniques to identify sighting regions through such data. In this study, a pattern recognizer artificial neural network was trained to distinguish between visibility regions. Essential parameters of crescent moon sighting were collected from moon sight datasets and used to build an intelligent system of pattern recognition to predict the crescent sight conditions. The proposed ANN learned the datasets with an accuracy of more than 72% in comp
... Show MoreThis study examines the causes of time delays and cost overruns in a selection of thirty post-disaster reconstruction projects in Iraq. Although delay factors have been studied in many countries and contexts, little data exists from countries under the conditions characterizing Iraq during the last 10-15 years. A case study approach was used, with thirty construction projects of different types and sizes selected from the Baghdad region. Project data was gathered from a survey which was used to build statistical relationships between time and cost delay ratios and delay factors in post disaster projects. The most important delay factors identified were contractor failure, redesigning of designs/plans and change orders, security is
... Show MoreThis study identified the genus Coelastrella Chodat, 1922 which was isolated from a sediment sample taken from the Tigris river in Baghdad Governorate, Iraq. The alga was isolated and cultured in modified Chu 10 media and the morphological features of the isolated algae were observed in light microscopy (LM); it showed some characteristic features of this genus, such as its ellipsoidal or lemon- shaped cells, a visible pyrenoid and the chloroplast parietal. To ensure correct identification of the isolated alga, a molecular analysis using 18S rRNA gene and DNA sequencing revealed a match with C. terrestris (Reisigl) Hedewald & N. Hanagata 2002. This species is a new record in Iraq
... Show MoreIn fish, a complex set of mechanisms deal with environmental stresses including hypoxia. In order to probe the hypothesis that hypoxia-induced stress could be manifested in varieties of pathways, a model species, mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio), were chronically exposed to hypoxic condition (dissolved oxygen level: 1.80±0.6mg/l) for 21 days and subsequently allowed to recover under normoxic condition (dissolved oxygen level: 8.2±0.5mg/l) for 7 days. At the end of these exposure periods, an integrated approach was applied to evaluate several endpoints at different levels of biological organisation. These included determination of (i) oxidative damage to DNA in erythrocytes (using modified comet assay), (ii) lipid peroxidation in liver sample
... Show MoreThis study focused on determining the markers of Macrophage migration inhibitor (MIF), as well as the N-telopeptides of type I bone collagen (NTX), and some other parameters (alkaline phosphatase (ALP), vitamin D (Vit D), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and magnesium (Mg), and their correlation with other parameters in osteoporosis. One hundred ten subjects were involved in the current study. There were two groups of patients: group I (30) women with severe osteoporosis and group II (30) women with mild osteoporosis. For comparison, 50 apparently healthy individuals were included as a control. Serum levels of MIF, and NTX were significantly higher in groups I and II as compared to the control group, which indicate that these two parameters
... Show MoreThis study examines the vibrations produced by hydropower operations to improve embankment dam safety. This study consists of two parts: In the first part, ANSYS-CFX was used to generate a three-dimensional (3-D) finite volume (FV) model to simulate a vertical Francis turbine unit in the Mosul hydropower plant. The pressure pattern result of the turbine model was transformed into the dam body to show how the turbine unit's operation affects the dam's stability. The upstream reservoir conditions, various flow rates, and fully open inlet gates were considered. In the second part of this study, a 3-D FE Mosul dam model was simulated using an ANSYS program. The operational turbine model's water pressure pattern is conveyed t
... Show MoreThe current paper aims to identify potential factors associated with employees’ intentions to leave information and communication technology companies in Iraq. There is evident variability in the literature regarding these factors; hence, a factor analysis approach was employed to identify these factors within the surveyed environment. Due to the difficulty in precisely delineating the size of the research population, a purposive sampling method was employed to reach an appropriate number of respondents within the aforementioned companies. A total of 288 employees responded to the survey conducted via Google Forms. The test results revealed the presence of five primary factors associated with employees’ intentions to leave, name
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