Purpose: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal Aflibercept injection on wet AMD both functionally and anatomically after loading doses. The secondary aim is to evaluate the effect of risk factors including (gender, age, smoking, hypertension, and diabetes meatus) on the patient’s response. Study Design: Interventional case series. Place and Duration of Study: Al-Haitham Eyes Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, from November 2021 and September 2022. Methods: Fifty eyes of 47 patients with treatment naïve wet AMD were selected through convenient sampling. Data were collected for age, gender, smoking, and chronic disease. Clinical examination, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), optical coherence tomography angiography, and spectral domain optical coherence tomography SD-OCT were performed at baseline and then at 16 weeks, after three one-monthly injections of Aflibercept 2 mg/ 0.05 ml intravitreally. Results: Mean age was 68.23 ± 8.5 years. Mean difference in BCVA was 0.37 ± 0.03 (P = 0.000) and mean difference in central macular thickness was 105.72 ± 45.05 (P value < .0000) at 16 weeks. CNV was associated with intra-retinal fluid in 52% of cases, subretinal fluid in 72%, pigment epithelial detachment in 20%, intraretinal hemorrhage in 6% and subretinal hemorrhage in 4%. Studying associations between the responses of Aflibercept with the general features of the patients as age, gender, chronic diseases and smoking status, revealed no statistically significant difference. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that aflibercept is effective for the treatment of patients with wet AMD both functionally and anatomically after the loading doses. The presence of intraretinal fluid at presentation had a negative effect on the vision.
An experimental study was carried out to improve the surface roughness quality of the stainless steel 420 using magnetic abrasive finishing method (MAF). Four independent operation parameters were studied (working gap, coil current, feed rate, and table stroke), and their effects on the MAF process were introduced. A rotating coil electromagnet was designed and implemented to use with plane surfaces. The magnetic abrasive powder used was formed from 33%Fe and 67% Quartz of (250µm mesh size). The lubricant type SAE 20W was used as a binder for the powder contents. Taguchi method was used for designing the experiments and the optimal values of the selected parameters were found. An empirical equation representing the r
... Show MoreA second-order sliding mode control is used for high-order uncertain plants using equivalent control approach to improve the performance of control systems. They combine backstepping with quasi-continuous controller and twisting controllers. This paper considers a two of the most popular controllers that are used to solve the nonlinearities problem which are the backstepping quasi-continuous control (BQCC) and backstepping twisting controllers to control the angular velocity of a hydraulic motor to improve tracking performance and robustness to uncertainties. For the system dynamics, a linear state feedback with suitable high gain was designed as the virtual controller, where steady state error can be made arbitrarily small according to the
... Show MoreSteel–concrete–steel (SCS) structural systems have economic and structural advantages over traditional reinforced concrete; thus, they have been widely used. The performance of concrete made from recycled rubber aggregate from scrap tires has been evaluated since the early 1990s. The use of rubberized concrete in structural construction remains necessary because of its high impact resistance, increases ductility, and produces a lightweight concrete; therefore, it adds such important properties to SCS members. In this research, the use of different concrete core materials in SCS was examined. Twelve SCS specimens were subjected to push-out monotonic loading for inspecting their mechanical performance. One specimen was constructed from co
... Show MoreThe polymer was used to inhibit the corrosion of copper metal in salt media in different concentrations at room temperature using potentiometric polarization measurement. The polymer was prepared by mixing (0.1 M) 4-Hydroxy aniline (C6H7NO) with (0.25M) of ammonium persulfate as the initiator using the electro-deposition technique. The polymer’s results showed that copper in (3.5%) NaCl had good corrosion resistance. The findings demonstrate that the %IE for polymer-induced copper corrosion is 89.32% at 10 ppm concentration as a result of the 4-hydroxy aniline polymer’s adsorption from salt solution on the surface of copper metal. The numbers from the polarization method and the acquired standard data agree well. The coated copper by po
... Show MoreAssessment of annual wind energy potential for three selected sites in Iraq has been analyzed in the present work. The wind velocities data from August 2014 to July 2015 were collected from the website of Weather Underground Organization (WUO) at stations elevation (35m, 32m, and 17m) for Baghdad, Najaf, and Kut Al-Hai respectively. Extrapolation of stations elevation and wind velocities was used to estimate wind velocities at (60m, 90m, and 120m). The objectives are to analyze the wind speed data and assess the wind energy potential for wind energy applications. Computer code for MATLAB software has been developed to solve the mathematical model. The results are presented as a monthly and annual average for wind velocities, standard deviat
... Show MoreAn inert matrix that is used to control the release of (PTX) was prepared using Eudragit RL100 and RSPM types as matrix forming agent . The matrices were prepared by either dry granulation(slugging) , or wet granulation method using chloroform as a solvent evaporation vehichle. The cumulative release was adjusted by using polyvinylpyrollidone (PVP) or ethylcellulose (EC) polymers .The results indicated that both methods of preparation were valid for incorporation PTX as a sustained release granules .Moreover ,the results revealed that best polymer used was Eudragit RSPM in 3:20 polymer drug ratio .Besides to that , the results indicated that the release profiles were affected by pH- medium&
... Show MoreABSTRACT Two females of the red-back spider, Latrodectus scelio Thorell, 1870 were first recorded in Iraq, short description with figure was provided
During COVID-19, wearing a mask was globally mandated in various workplaces, departments, and offices. New deep learning convolutional neural network (CNN) based classifications were proposed to increase the validation accuracy of face mask detection. This work introduces a face mask model that is able to recognize whether a person is wearing mask or not. The proposed model has two stages to detect and recognize the face mask; at the first stage, the Haar cascade detector is used to detect the face, while at the second stage, the proposed CNN model is used as a classification model that is built from scratch. The experiment was applied on masked faces (MAFA) dataset with images of 160x160 pixels size and RGB color. The model achieve
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