Background: Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)-derived mitral annular displacement (MAD) utilizes the speckle tracking technique to measure strain vectors, which provides accurate estimates of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).Objectives: To validate the accuracy of mitral annular displacement (MAD), assessed by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (STE), as a surrogate for determination of left ventricular systolic function in comparison to 2-Dimensions Simpson method in patients with different heart diseases.Methods : This cross-sectional study included patients who referred to outpatient department of Ibn Albitar Center for Cardiac Surgery, Baghdad, Iraq, between October 2012 and April 2013. STE continuously tracked annular

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

The neutrophil/ lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have the potential to be inflammatory markers that reflect the activity of many inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the NLR and PLR as potential markers of disease activity in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by clonal proliferation of malignant plasma cells within the bone marrow. In most patients, monoclonal immunoglobulin heavy chains or light chains are produced and are associated with organ dysfunction. The growth factor B-cell activating factor (BAFF) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma due to its ability to promote B-cell survival, expansion, and differentiation. Objective:  to measure the circulatory level of B-cell activating factor in multiple myeloma patients in relapsed and remission states and explore its possible correlations with the clinical staging, β2-microglobulin, and interleukin-6. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 60

Multiple studies support a role for inflammation in the pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis and unstable cardiac syndromes. However, of the known pro-inflammatory cytokines, only elevated plasma levels of interleukin-6(IL-6) have been linked to Unstable Angina. We sought to examine the plasma levels of other major proinflammatory cytokines in similar clinical settings patients with unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction and the relationship extent between them. This study aimed to investigate and compare the level of IL-1 in Unstable Angina and Acute Myocardial Infarction patients. Thirty patients with unstable angina and thirty patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction, also thirty healthy individual as control were included

The increase in the Iraqi population put pressure on urban cities as there were no new cities built since the 1980s due to the wars and the economic blockade imposed in 1991 and the deteriorating security situation after 2003, where the population in 2018 reached about forty million people. Iraq also suffered during the past decades from problems and challenges in many respects that affected the local environment, and the constructed buildings had a role in increasing these impacts, so the Ministry of Housing worked to issue the Iraqi Green Architecture Code in 2019 to reduce damage to the environment and use resources more efficiently. And because the constructed buildings were not constructed according to green standards, including Bas

Iraqi EFL teachers face problems in teaching “English for Iraq Series” for primary public school pupils. In this paper, the researchers are going to identify the main problems faced by our teachers and try to find solutions to these problems. To achieve the aim of the study, list of questions asked and from teachers’ responses, the researchers have got an idea about the main problems which are related to textbook material, parents, learners, environment and technology. Therefore, the researchers adapted a questionnaire to achieve the purpose of the study with some changes and modifications. This questionnaire with five point scale (strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, strongly disagree). To achieve face validity, the

Objective(s): To determine the impact of health education program toward their end-stage renal failure (ESRF)
patients’ knowledge through a follow-up approach each two months post program implementation for six months.
Methodology: "Follow-up" longitudinal design by using time series approach of data analysis and the application of
pre-post tests approach for the study group and the control group. The study is conducted in Al-Shahid Ghazi Hariri
Teaching Hospital for Surgical Specialties/Centre for Disease and Renal Transplant, and Al-Khayal private Hospital for
renal disease and transplantation during the period from August, 29th
, 2010 through February, 28th
, 2011. To achieve
the objectives of the study, purp