Background : To assess the actual practice of breast self-examination (BSE), as an early detection tool for breast cancer, among a sample of patients affected with breast cancer in Iraq.Methods: A random sample of 200 female patients with breast cancer was analyzed to evaluate the extent of their actual practice of breast self-examination before the diagnosis of the disease. The examined variables included the age of the patients, marital status, education, occupation, smoking habit, family history of cancer, frequency of gravidity, parity and abortions. Results: The age of patients ranged from (24-70) years with a mean age of 48 years. The highest frequency of the examined sample (24%) was noted in the age group (50-54) years. The majority of the patients (89%) were married, 33% had university degree and 57% were employed. While 46% of the patients had a family history of cancer, in 33.5% the breast was involved. Only 5.5% of the total number of patients had practiced BSE regularly before the diagnosis of breast cancer, 57.5% had carried out the procedure randomly while 37% did not perform BSE at all during their lives. The study illustrated that the level of education, occupation and family history of cancer had significant roles in the practice of BSE. Conclusions: The findings of this study emphasize the urgent need for promoting screening in our society through strengthening practical policy decisions to raise the level of public awareness among the Iraqi women towards the adoption of simple approaches for early detection of breast cancer.
Periodontitis is a chronic inflammation affecting the tooth-supporting periodontal tissues. It is diagnosed by measuring periodontal parameters. However, documenting this data takes effort and may not discover early periodontitis. Biomarkers may help diagnose and assess periodontitis. This study aimed to evaluate the potential diagnostic of the salivary tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and receptor-activator of nuclear factor ĸ-B-ligand (RANKL) in distinguishing between periodontitis and healthy periodontium.
The
Oryza sativa japonica (ofada rice) is largely grown in Aramoko, Abakaliki and Ofada are communities and consumed by both the poor and rich in Nigeria. A total of twenty ofada rice farmlands were identified in each study area and rice samples were randomly collected, thoroughly mixed to make a representative sample from each farmland. Soil samples were collected in each farm to a depth of 5-15cm from at least eight different points and thoroughly mixed together to form a representative sample. The samples were thereafter taken to the laboratory for preparation and spectroscopic analysis. A well-calibrated NaI(Tl) gamma-ray detector was used in spectrometric analysis of the samples and descriptive statistics was used to analyze th
... Show MoreThe hydrological process has a dynamic nature characterised by randomness and complex phenomena. The application of machine learning (ML) models in forecasting river flow has grown rapidly. This is owing to their capacity to simulate the complex phenomena associated with hydrological and environmental processes. Four different ML models were developed for river flow forecasting located in semiarid region, Iraq. The effectiveness of data division influence on the ML models process was investigated. Three data division modeling scenarios were inspected including 70%–30%, 80%–20, and 90%–10%. Several statistical indicators are computed to verify the performance of the models. The results revealed the potential of the hybridized s
... Show MoreA recent study compared experimentally the hydraulic and thermal activity of twisted tape inserts for two types, metal foam twisted tape (MFTT) and traditional twisted tape (TTT), in a double pipe heat exchanger. The investigation goal of the innovatively designed MFTT is to enhance the heat transfer process, which provides a higher thermal enhancement factor over those of TTT under the same conditions. Heat transfer activity in terms of Nusselt number (
In petroleum refineries, cooling towers, steam engines, and vacuum distillation all require a large volume of water. Before being dumped into the water bodies, it is then transported to an industrial water treatment facility. One of the study's objectives is to verify how well different processing units in the industrial wastewater treatment plant at the cycle refinery remove concentrations of chemical and biological oxygen demand (COD) and BOD. Five samples of industrial wastewater were collected before and after each treatment unit and one sample of wastewater was drained as a final product to the Tigris River. Over the summer, the BOD5 values after each processing unit were 180.8, 175.2, 111, 43, and 37 ppm. Winter readings were
... Show MoreThis review examines how artificial intelligence (AI) including machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and the Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming operations across exploration, production, and refining in the Middle Eastern oil and gas sector. Using a systematic literature review approach, the study analyzes AI adoption in upstream, midstream, and downstream activities, with a focus on predictive maintenance, emission monitoring, and digital transformation. It identifies both opportunities and challenges in applying AI to achieve environmental and economic goals. Although adoption levels vary across the region, countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are leading initiatives that align with global sustainability targets.
... Show MoreA series of novel hybrid molecules containing 1,3,4-oxadiazole and 1,3,4-thiadiazole moieties bearing an ibuprofen moiety were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. A carboxylic acid compound with a 1,3,4-thiadiazole unit was synthesized via the coupling reaction of 5-(1-(4-isobutylphenyl) ethyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-amine with benzoic acid. This compound was then used as the starting material to make several new 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives through ring closure reactions, after first converting it to its ester (methyl 4-(5-(1-(4-isobutylphenyl)ethyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl) benzoate) and then to the acid hydrazide (4-(5-(1-(4-isobutylphenyl) eth
... Show MoreCharacterizing dementia is a global challenge in supporting personalized health care. The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a promising tool to support the diagnosis and evaluation of abnormalities in the human brain. The EEG sensors record the brain activity directly with excellent time resolution. In this study, EEG sensor with 19 electrodes were used to test the background activities of the brains of five vascular dementia (VaD), 15 stroke-related patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 15 healthy subjects during a working memory (WM) task. The objective of this study is twofold. First, it aims to enhance the recorded EEG signals using a novel technique that combines automatic independent component analysis (AICA) and wave
... Show MoreThin films of pure WO3 and the binary systems of TiO2:WO3,MoO3:WO3,Cr2O3:WO3, and SnO2:WO3 were prepared by pulsed laser deposition method. The single and binary compounds were sintered at 1273K for five hours. The deposition were done under vacuum of 2x10-2 Torr at various substrates like glass and single crystal silicon wafer with negative conductance at ambient temperature thickness of ≍150 nm. The structures and morphology of pure WO3