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
Our country suffered from pollution translation as a result to the wars events, so, it is necessary to measure the amount of radiation in the fields that are of indirect contact with human life and health. The main aim of the present work is to measure the concentration of alpha emitters in tomato fruits collected from different farms in Al – Basra governorate in the south of Iraq. Nuclear track detectors of type CR – 39 are used as a detection device and Can technique as a detection technique. Results show that the maximum concentration recorded is sample no.7 of site Al – Rafidhya which was equal to (6.9621 ± 0.111) ppm and sample no.1 of site Lothan with concentration equals to (4.9236 ± 0.117) ppm. The minimum concentratio
... Show MoreThe industrial design occupies an important status in public and private life activities, because it contains a group of interactive, productive, and interconnected institutions, which is confirmed by Descartes who is credited for promoting the method of skepticism on sound foundations, showing that in order for us to search for the truth, we must suspect everything that we confront let it be once in our life time, especially our options in the scientific research and industrial design and product, starting from the knowledge heritage and the intellectual concepts that ascend to the levels of the functional, aesthetic and environmental performance, the significance of skepticism becomes clear. The research problem lies in this que
... Show MoreCement-based adhesive (CBA) is used as a bonding agent in Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) applications as an alternative to epoxy-based adhesive due to the drawbacks of the epoxy system under severe service conditions which negatively affect the bond between the CFRP and strengthened elements. This paper reports the results of, an investigation carried out to develop two types of CBA using magnetized water (MW) for mixing and curing. Two magnetic devices (MD-I and MD-II), with different magnetic field strengths (9000 and 6000 Gauss) respectively, were employed for water magnetization. Different water flows with different water circulation times in the magnetizer were used for each device. Compressive and splitting tensile strength te
... Show MoreTraining and retraining of teachers have become a central issue in Iraq recently especially in-service training of English teachers on the new curricula (Iraq opportunities). English teachers should be objectively evaluated and assessed.
A sample of (40) trained teachers of English is included in the study and a questionnaire is used as the main instrument of the study.
The main findings of the study were the following:
1. The trainees were serious in training on the new course (item 6) the programme helped increase their information (item 4) and motivate them towards better teaching (item 3). The aims of the programme were clear (item1). The programme helped develop their teaching skills (item 2) and was comprehensive (item 5).
Nanostructure of chromium oxide (Cr2O3-NPs) with rhombohedral structure were successfully prepared by spray pyrolysis technique using Aqueous solution of Chromium (III) chloride CrCl3 as solution. The films were deposited on glass substrates heated to 450°C using X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows the nature of polycrystalline samples. The calculated lattice constant value for the grown Cr2O3 nanostructures is a = b = 4.959 Å & c = 13.594 Å and the average crystallize size (46.3-55.6) nm calculated from diffraction peaks, Spectral analysis revealed FTIR peak characteristic vibrations of Cr-O Extended and Two sharp peaks present at 630 and 578 cm-1 attributed to Cr-O “stretching
... Show MoreDuring treatment of inflammatory diseases, many conventional therapies (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) used to relief pain and inflammation. Chronic use of the intended drugs is frequently associated with serious side effect, which may lead to discontinuation of treatment . The efficacy and dose- response effect of ammi majus extraxt (2 , 4, 8 , 16, and 32 mg/rat) were assessed using formalin to induce paw edema in rats as a model of chronic inflammation respectively. In this study, 42 rats were used and allocated into 7 groups each containing 6 rats, representing control (Distilled water) , standard (piroxicam ) and test extract ( 2 , 4 , 8 , 16 and 32 mg/rat of Ammi majus alcoholic e
... Show MoreObjectives: The study aims at finding the effectiveness of dietary habits on urolithiatic patients at Urinary Units
in Baghdad Teaching Hospitals.
Methodology: A quantitative descriptive study was conducted to identify the effectiveness of dietary habits on
(100) of urolithiatic patients in Urinary Units at Baghdad Teaching Hospitals starting from May 2011 to Sep.
2012.Data were collected through the use of constructed check list of the questionnaire format, which
consists of two parts: - The first part: is related to the patient's demographic variables ; the second part: is
constructed to serve the purpose of the study (effectiveness of the dietary habits). The total number of items
of the questionnaire is (69) item
In this research, porous silicon (PS) prepared by anodization etching on surface of single crystalline p-type Si wafer, then Gold nanoparticle (AuNPs) prepared by pulsed laser ablation in liquid. NPs deposited on PS layer by drop casting. The morphology of PS, AuNPs and AuNPs/PS samples were examined by AFM. The crystallization of this sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrical properties and sensitivity to CO2 gas were investigated to Al/AuNPs/PS/c-Si/Al, we found that AuNPs plays crucial role to enhance this properties.
In the present work, the behavior of thick-walled cylinder of elasto-plastic material (polymeric material) has been studied analytically. The study is based on modified Von-Mises yield criterion (for non metallic material). The equations of stress distribution are obtained for the cylinder under general cases of elastic expansion, plastic initiation and elastic-plastic expansion.
A computer program is developed for evaluating the stress distribution. The solution is carried out for worst boundary conditions when the cylinder is subjected to the combination of pressure load, inertia load, and temperature gradient.
The results are presente
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