Background: Coronary artery disease remains the main cause of death despite several preventive programs. Epicardial adipose tissue is a visceral fat depot of the heart located along the large coronary arteries and on the surface of ventricles and apex. Intima media thickness is commonly recognized as the initial stage in the development of atherosclerosis. The development of ultrasound machines, advances in echocardiographic devices and high resolution transducers facilitate comprehensive analysis of epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and carotid –intima media thickness (C-IMT).
Aim: To investigate the relationship of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and carotid –intima media thickness (C-IMT) with the severity of coronary artery disease.
Methods: A cross sectional multicenter diagnostic accuracy study carried out at Ibn Al-Nafis Cardiovascular Hospital, Ibn Al- Bitar Cardiology Center and Ghazi Al-Hariri Hospital –Iraqi Center for Cardiology during the period between October 2016 and May 2017 assessing. History regarding demographic data and risk factors was taken. Two dimensional transthoracic echocardiographic measurements were done. EFT was measured from parasternal long axis view perpendicular to the right ventricular free wall. C-IMT was measured according to that recommended by the American society of echocardiography (ASE).
Results: The current study demonstrated that the EFT has a direct and significant correlation with the number of involved vessels (P value ˂ 0.001, r= 0.770). The validity of EFT to discriminate between multiple vessels disease and no vessel involvement is excellent (AUC= 0.984, cut point > 8mm, sensitivity=92.9%, specificity= 93.3%). There is inverse and significant correlation between ejection fraction (EF) and three vessels disease (P value ˂ 0.001, r= -0.507). Also there is a direct and significant correlation between C-IMT and severity of CAD. ROC analysis for validity of C-IMT to discriminate between multiple vessels disease and no vessel involvement is excellent (AUC= 0.961, cut point > 1.04mm, sensitivity=92.9%. specificity=86.7%). C-IMT is fair to discriminate between single vessel disease and no vessel involvement (AUC=0.738, cut point ˃ 0.84mm, sensitivity 100%), so if correlated with age, C-IMT above 0.84 can be used as a cut off point for the prediction of CAD. Finally, EFT and C-IMT are more likely to reflect severity of CAD than their ratio.
Conclusions: C-IMT and EFT are simple and reproducible parameters that can be used as a screening tool for the presence and severity of CAD especially before symptoms appearance in high risk patients
The fuzzy assignment models (FAMs) have been explored by various literature to access classical values, which are more precise in our real-life accomplishment. The novelty of this paper contributed positively to a unique application of pentagonal fuzzy numbers for the evaluation of FAMs. The new method namely Pascal's triangle graded mean (PT-GM) has presented a new algorithm in accessing the critical path to solve the assignment problems (AP) based on the fuzzy objective function of minimising total cost. The results obtained have been compared to the existing methods such as, the centroid formula (CF) and centroid formula integration (CFI). It has been demonstrated that operational efficiency of this conducted method is exquisitely develo
... Show MoreFlat-plate collector considers most common types of collectors, for ease of manufacturing and low price compared with other collectors. The main aim of the present work is to increase the efficiency of the collector, which can be achieved by improving the heat transfer and minimize heat loss experimentally. Five types of solar air collectors have been tested, which conventional channel with a smooth absorber plate (model I), dual channel with a smooth absorber plate (model II), dual channel with perforating “V” corrugated absorber plate (model III), dual channel with internal attached wire mesh (model Ⅳ), and dual channel with absorber sheet of transparent honeycomb, (model Ⅴ). The dual channel collector used for
... Show MoreDiazotization reaction between 1-(2,4,6-Trihydroxy-phenyl)-ethanone and diazonium salts was carried out resulting in ligand 4-(3-Acetyl-2,4,6-trihydroxy-phenylazo)-N-(5-methyl-isoxazol-3-yl)-benzenesulfonamide, this in turn reacted with the next metal ions (V4+ , Cr3+ , Mn2+ and Cu2+) forming stable complexes with unique geometries such as (Octahedral for both Cr3+ , Mn2+ and Cu2+ ,squar pyramidal for V4+). The creation of such complexes was detected by employing spectroscopic means involving ultraviolet-visible which proved the obtained geometries, fourier transfer proved the formation of azo group and and the coordination with metal ion through it. Pyrolysis (TGA & DSC) studies proved the coordination of water residues with me
... Show MoreIn this research, rabbit femurs were implanted with CP Ti screws coated with a combination of CaCO3 and nanohydroxyapatite, and the effect on osseointegration was assessed using histological and histomorphometric examination at 2 and 6 weeks. CaCO3 and nanohydroxyapatite were combined with the EPD to coat the surfaces of the CP Ti screws. The femurs of five male rabbits were implanted with coated and uncoated implant screws. Healing time was divided into two groups (2 and 6 weeks). After 2 and 6 weeks of implantation, the histological examination revealed an increase in the growth of bone cells for coated screws, and the histomorphometric analysis revealed an increase in the percentage of ne
... Show MorePolycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is reproductive, endocrine, and metabolic disorder affecting females. The pathology of PCOS is complicated and associated to chronic low-grade inflammation, this includes a disruption in pro-inflammatory factor production, leukocytosis, and endothelial cell dysfunction, also associated with high level of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and leukocyte count. In addition, PCOS is characterized by hormonal and immunological dysfunction. Inflammation of the ovary affects ovulation and induces or aggravates systemic inflammation. Macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1), a pro-inflammatory chemokine, is crucial in the recruitment of inflammatory and immunological cells to the place of inflammation
... Show MoreDiabetic nephropathy is characterized by persistent microalbuminuria and metabolic changes that decline renal functions. Researchers have been prompted to explore new biomarkers such as KIM-1 and nephrin that may enhance the identification of disease. Objective: To Evaluate biomarker levels of kidney injury molculre-1 (KIM-1) concentration and nephrin as early and sensitive markers of nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients. Method: One hundred T2DM patients were included in a cross-sectional study at the specialized center for endocrinology and diabetes, Baghdad. The first group includes 50 diabetic nephropathy (DN) patients, and the second group includes 50 T2DM patients without DN. Biochemical and clinical parameters were reported for pa
... Show MoreThis paper presents a nonlinear finite element modeling and analysis of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) deep beams with and without openings in web subjected to two- point loading. In this study, the beams were modeled using ANSYS nonlinear finite element
software. The percentage of steel fiber was varied from 0 to 1.0%.The influence of fiber content in the concrete deep beams has been studied by measuring the deflection of the deep beams at mid- span and marking the cracking patterns, compute the failure loads for each deep beam, and also study the shearing and first principal stresses for the deep beams with and without openings and with different steel fiber ratios. The above study indicates that the location of openings an
Wellbore stability is considered as one of the most challenges during drilling wells due to the
reactivity of shale with drilling fluids. During drilling wells in North Rumaila, Tanuma shale is
represented as one of the most abnormal formations. Sloughing, caving, and cementing problems
as a result of the drilling fluid interaction with the formation are considered as the most important
problem during drilling wells. In this study, an attempt to solve this problem was done, by
improving the shale stability by adding additives to the drilling fluid. Water-based mud (WBM)
and polymer mud were used with different additives. Three concentrations 0.5, 1, 5 and 10 wt. %
for five types of additives (CaCl2, NaCl, Na2S
In recent years and decades, there is a great need for developing new alternative energy sources or renewable sustainable energy. On the other hand, new technology approaches are growing . towards benefits from the valuable nutrients in wastewater which are unrecoverable by traditional wastewater treatment processes. In the current study, a novel integrated system of microbial fuel cell and anoxic bioreactor (MFC-ANB) was designed and constructed to investigate its potential for slaughterhouses wastewater treatment, nitrogen recovery, and power generation. The system consisted of a double-chamber tubular type MFC with biocathode inoculated with freshly collected activated sludge. The MFC-ANB system was continuously fed with real-fi
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