Background: Chronic cigarette smoking is one of the major risk factors for coronary artery disease. However, it has additional cardiac adverse effects independent of coronary atherosclerosis. Patient and Methods: After informed consent and perm- ission from the review board of the hospital, 80 healthy subjects who were classified as smokers or non-smokers were included in the study. They were examined by standard echocardiography protocol which was followed by two-dimensional speckle tracking to assess the functions of the right ventricle. Results: The tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) was significantly reduced in smokers as compared to non-smokers (P < 0.05). The tricuspid flow peak late diastolic velocity (A wave) was significantly higher in smokers (P < 0.05, and hence the E/A ratio was signif- icantly lower (P < 0.05). The tissue Doppler imaging examination of right ventricular free wall showed that the peak systolic velocity of right ventricular (RV) free wall (S’), and the peak early diastolic velocity of RV free wall (E’) were significantly lower in smokers when compared to the control group (P < 0.05 for both). The global longit- udinal strain (GLS) assessed by 2D-speckle tracking echo- cardiography was also significantly reduced in smokers (P < 0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that chronic cigarette smoking causes alterations in long-axis systolic and diast- olic functions of right ventricle in healthy young subjects. These changes can be detected early with 2-D speckle tracking echocardiography.
Imposed on foreign oil companies from important sources in the financing of the general budget in most countries of the world income tax is considered as well as be used to achieve political, economic and social goals, and has developed the concept of the tax until it became play an important role in influencing the economic conditions of a country, and the aim of this research is to statement imposed on foreign oil companies operating in Iraq in the financing of the state budget income tax contribution, as well as clarify the contracts type contracts with these companies, which is in favor of Iraq, together with the Income Tax Law No. (19) for the year / 2010, and instructed No. (5) for the year / 2011, which organized the tax process s
... Show MoreNowadays, the worldwide issue of the environment occupies the minds not only of ecological experts and politicians but also is addressed in cultural fields and literature in particular. The conceptualization of ecocriticism, whether in the ecological field or cultural studies, has come as a response to the increasing public awareness of numerous environmental crises. Most ecocritics regard John Clare (1793-1864) as a 'proto-ecological' British poet since his poetry incorporates ecological issues which were not then categorized as they are now. The study offers a precise illustration of ecocriticism coupled with a number of the most significant ecological concepts proven in selected poems by John Clare. The ecocritical reading of Clare's po
... Show MoreThis paper examines the decolonizing methods used by Leslie Marmon Silko in her novel Ceremony (1977) to heal the indigenous people from the patriarchal traditions of the white hegemony. This study aims to emphasize the vulnerable responses of the Pueblo people to the memories of the clan and to highlight Silko’s methods to sustain the history and lifestyle of the indigenous people. Therefore, Silko’s novel can be situated historically and culturally within memory-studies. To analyze the contrasting behaviors of characters, this paper projects the relationship between the collective patriarchal doctrines and that of the individual within the framework of memory studies. Theories of Jan and Aleida Assmann are used here to explore the
... Show MoreThe research aims to find out the impact of wages and benefits systems on the performance of employees, which included the research community on a sample of employees in the company, and the sample consisted of (50) employees and an employee, A questionnaire composed as prepared (23) paragraph, use the promised statistically methods in data collected by the questionnaire analysis. The research reached a number of results, the most prominent of which were: There is a correlation between wage systems, benefits and performance of employees, and the presence of the impact of the systems of wages and benefits to the performance of employees. The research was presented a set of recommendations including: increasing the effectiveness of
... Show MoreBackground: Gingival crevice fluid (GCF) is a mixture of substances derived from serum, leukocytes, and structural cells of periodontium and oral bacteria. These substances possess a great potential for serving as indicators of periodontal disease and healing after therapy the main purpose of this study was to find if there is a difference in albumin concentration between healthy and diseased periodontal tissues and to compare between diseased group according to pocket depth Materials and methods: total sample composed of 60 pockets found in 35 patients all of them had no history of any systemic disease, The samples were divided in to three main group that include two diseased groups divided according to the depth of the periodontal pocket
... Show MoreSome research reports that cognitive grammar (CG) theory has good contributions to teaching English as a foreign language. In this research, the researchers seek to apply this theory and its principles when teaching the simple present tense to Iraqi students who face difficulties in differentiating between the multiple usages of this tense. To achieve this objective, the researchers have conducted an experimental study on a group of 60 Iraqi students in the University of Baghdad, College of Education for Women. Langacker’s (2003) theory has been adopted in the analysis of the cognitive relations to understand the common and different connections of these usages of the simple present. The study has concluded that the cognitive grammar t
... Show MoreThe current study aims to identify the needs in the stories of the Brothers Grimm. The research sample consisted of (3) stories, namely: 1- The story of the Thorn Rose (Sleeping Beauty) 2- The story of Snow White 3- The story of Little Red Riding Hood. The number of pages analyzed reached (15.5) pages, and to achieve the research objectives, Murray's classification of needs was adopted, which contains (36) basic needs that are further divided into (129) sub-needs. The idea was adopted as a unit of analysis and repetition as a unit of enumeration, Reliability was extracted in two ways: 1- Agreement between the researcher and himself over time, where the agreement coefficient reached 97%. The second was agreement between the researcher and tw
... Show MoreThe ceramic compound Mg1-xSixAl2O4 (x= 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) was prepared from nano powder of Al2O3 and MgO doped with Nano powder of SiO2 at different molar ratios. The specimens were prepared by standard chemical solid reaction technique and sintered at 1450 oC. Structure of the specimens was analyzed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The X-ray patterns of the specimens showed the formation of pure simple cubic spinel structure MgAl2O4 phase with space group of ̅ . The average grain size and surface topology were studied by atomic force microscopy. The results showed that the average grain size was about 73-90 nm. The DC electrical properties of the specimen were measured. The apparent density was found to increase and the porosity a
... Show MoreDissolution of gypsum rock in water is significant, which may result in hydrocarbon reservoir formation and evaporate deposits. However, the complexity of the gypsum dissolution process is still of interest because of its uncleanness that requires more critical analysis. The objectives of this experimental study are emphasis on the dissolution characteristics of gypsum rock under room temperature and by various types of water; namely: deionized, tap, fresh, acidic, well, and normal rainwatre. In addition, the influences of dissolution on gypsum rock's mechanical and physical characteristics. Gypsum rock was obtained from Agjalar area, in the southwest of Sulaymaniyah city, Northern Iraq. Experimental results show that we
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