Background: Prematurity and its complications are the major causes of neonatal and infant morbidity and mortality. Although the cause of preterm labor is often unknown, numerous etiological risk factors may be implicated. To identify the risk factors that lead to prematurity and assess the neonatal outcomes that preterm neonates may develop. Methods: This case-control study was conducted at AL-Elwiya Pediatric Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, from the 1st of June to the 31st of December 2019. A non-randomized sample of 700 neonates admitted to the neonatal care unit was included in this study and divided into two groups of preterm full-term neonates as the experimental and control groups, respectively (n=350 each). The same questionnaire was applied to all cases. The test of proportion and the Chi-square test were used to determine significant differences between the two groups. Results: A significant association was found between preterm birth and the factors of older maternal age (more than 35 years), passive smoking, low educational state, and employed mothers. Moreover, cervical incompetence, premature rupture of membrane, number of fetuses, and gestational hypertension showed significant associations with preterm birth. It was also found that preterm birth was highly associated with such complications as respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, intraventricular hemorrhage, hypothermia, and hypoglycemia. Conclusion: Prematurity was associated with certain risk factors, such as older maternal age, multiple gestations, premature rupture of membrane, pre-eclampsia, and diabetes mellitus. Preterm neonates were more liable to develop complications, have hospital admission, and have a higher risk of mortality than the control group.
The aim of the current study was to develop a nanostructured double-layer for hydrophobic molecules delivery system. The developed double-layer consisted of polyethylene glycol-based polymeric (PEG) followed by gelatin sub coating of the core hydrophobic molecules containing sodium citrate. The polymeric composition ratio of PEG and the amount of the sub coating gelatin were optimized using the two-level fractional method. The nanoparticles were characterized using AFM and FT-IR techniques. The size of these nano capsules was in the range of 39-76 nm depending on drug loading concentration. The drug was effectively loaded into PEG-Gelatin nanoparticles (≈47%). The hydrophobic molecules-release characteristics in terms of controlled-releas
... Show MoreHumanity is confronted with a growing array of environmental challenges that demand immediate attention and cannot be disregarded. One of the issues the world faces is air pollution, which presents a significant risk to both the environment and human well-being. The capitalist system has a great impact on the exacerbation of air pollution and environmental deterioration. This impact is reflected in Caryl Churchill’s post-apocalyptic play Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen (1971). The play presents a futuristic scenario in which humanity faces grave consequences due to the polluting practices of capitalism and the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. It depicts a future in which environmental degradation drives people
... Show MoreAbstract: Background: Staphylococcus aureus is Gram-positive bacteria that lives as a normal flora in living organisms but can be pathogenic to humans. Although a relatively unspectacular, nonmotile coccoid bacterium, S. aureus is a dangerous human pathogen in both community-acquired and nosocomial infections. Due to the increasing emergence of new strains of this antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it has become essential to approach different methods to control this pathogen. One of these methods is the antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation process using a low-level laser, in this paper, the Photodynamic effects of Rose Bengal and LLLL on the virulence factors of S.aureus were evaluated.
This study analyses six political cartoons selected based on their relevance to current Iraqi political issues, specifically the period between 2005 and 2015, from American online newspapers (calgecartooms.com). The selection criteria included the cartoons' satirical elements, visual rhetoric, and their ability to engage with themes such as power dynamics, social issues, and public opinion. It sheds light on how these cartoons can function as mediators of meanings between the cartoonists and the readers. The data is examined using multimodal discourse analysis (MDA), which combines language study with the analysis of other visual elements, like colors, gestures, and images, to understand meaning (O’Halloran et al., 2011). The Visual Socia
... Show MoreIn this study, NAC-capped CdTe/CdS/ZnS core/double shell QDs were synthesized in an aqueous medium to investigate their utility in distinguishing normal DNA from mutated DNA extracted from biological samples. Following the interaction between the synthesized QDs with DNA extracted from leukemia cases (represents damaged DNA) and that of healthy donors (represents undamaged DNA), differential fluorescent emission maxima and intensities were observed. It was found that damaged DNA from leukemic cells DNA-QDs conjugates at 585 nm while intact DNA (from healthy subjects) DNA–QDs conjugates at 574 nm. The obtained results from the optical analyses indicate that the prepared QDs could be utilized as probe for detecting disrupted DNA th
... Show MoreNovel derivatives of 1-(´1, ´3, ´4, ´6-tetra benzoyl-β-D-fructofuranosyl)-1H- benzotriazole and 1-(´1, ´3, ´4, ´6-tetra benzoyl-β-D-fructofuranosyl)-1H- benzotriazole carrying Schiff bases moiety were synthesised and fully characterised. The protection of D- fructose using benzoyl chloride was synthesized, followed by nucleophilic addition/elimination between benzotria- zole and chloroacetyl chloride to give 1-(1- chloroacetyl)- 1H-benzotriazole. The next step was condensation reaction of protected fructose and 1-(1-chloroacetyl)-1H- benzotriazole producing a new nucleoside analogue. The novel nucleoside analogues underwent a second conden- sation reaction with different aromatic and aliphatic amines to provide new Schiff b
... Show MoreThe largest use of x-ray in medical by dentists, employers or persons that needed by patients with specific conditions, lead to higher exposure of x-ray that may cause many diseases. In the present work radiography films have been used in evaluating the efficiency of using unsaturated polyester polymer reinforced with lead oxide (PbO) as shield material for medical x-ray devices, many parameters studied like concentration and thickness that they are increasing the attenuation of x-ray in them. The results show that the attenuation of X-ray increasing with concentration of reinforced material and with thickness, and the optical density decreases with increasing concentration from 0% to 50%, we chose 30% as suitable concentration to increase
... Show MoreThe aim of this article is to solve the Volterra-Fredholm integro-differential equations of fractional order numerically by using the shifted Jacobi polynomial collocation method. The Jacobi polynomial and collocation method properties are presented. This technique is used to convert the problem into the solution of linear algebraic equations. The fractional derivatives are considered in the Caputo sense. Numerical examples are given to show the accuracy and reliability of the proposed technique.