Background: Oral anticoagulation medication, warfarin and non-vitamin k antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOAC) may require long term use which may affect patients’ satisfaction with their treatment and their quality of life (QOL). Objective: To compare the quality of life and treatment satisfaction among groups of patients using different anticoagulant therapies (warfarin and NOAC). Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed at Ibn Al-Bitar Hospital for cardiac surgery in Baghdad in the period between December 2022 to May 2023. The study population included a convenient sample of patients receiving either warfarin or non-vitamin k antagonist oral anticoagulants treatment. The Arabic version of the short form 12 (SF-12) questionnaire and the Anti-Coagulant Treatment Satisfaction Scale (ACTS) questionnaire were used to assess the quality of life and satisfaction with treatment respectively. Results: The study included 181 patients in total. The mean physical and mental quality of life scores for study participants were 42.3±9.92 and 52.6±10.36 respectively. There was no significant difference in the QOL between patients taking warfarin and those on non-vitamin k antagonist oral anticoagulants treatment. The mean total satisfaction score was 65.4±6.73. Patients receiving non-vitamin k antagonist oral anticoagulants had significantly higher satisfaction compared to those receiving warfarin (P=0.000). The physical score correlated significantly with gender, educational level, employment status, number of chronic medications and number of chronic diseases. The total satisfaction score correlated significantly with gender, number of chronic medications, number of side effects and duration of anticoagulation. There was a significant correlation between the QOL and treatment satisfaction (P=0.000). Conclusion: Treatment with non-vitamin k antagonist oral anticoagulants showed comparable QOL and higher treatment satisfaction than that of warfarin. Better treatment satisfaction can improve patients’ QOL which may ultimately enhance their adherence to treatment.
A novel demountable shear connector for precast steel‐concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high‐strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents slip of bolts within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes typical construction tolerances issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly, and therefore, can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow, i.e. (i) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (ii) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (iii) steel beams can b
... Show MoreTooth restoration one of the most common procedures in dental practice. The replacement of the entire restoration leads to loss of tooth structure and increase risk of pulp injury; replacement is also time consuming and costly. According to the minimally invasive approach when minimal defects, repair is the better choice than the total replacement of the restoration. This study aims to evaluate repair rating versus replacement treatment procedure for defective composite fillings among Iraqi dentists. Material and methodology: A questionnaire survey were designed and distributed to 184 post-graduate dentists in Iraq. The inquiry pertained general information; including their clinical experience in years, their preference in terms of direct c
... Show MoreThis study focused on the improvement of the quality of gasoline and enhancing its octane number by the reduction of n-paraffins using zeolite 5A. This study was made using batch and continuous mode. The parameters which affected the n-paraffin removal efficiency for each mode were studied. Temperature (30 and 40 ˚C) and mixing time up to 120 min for different amounts of zeolite ranging (10-60 g) were investigated in a batch mode. A maximum removal efficiency of 64% was obtained using 60 g of zeolite at 30 ˚C after a mixing time 120 min. The effect of feed flow rate (0.3-0.8 l/hr) and bed height (10-20 cm) were also studied in a continuous mode. The equilibrium isotherm study was made using different amounts of zeolite (2-20 g) and the
... Show MoreAn ultrasonic treatment was applied to the vacuum gas oil at intervals of 5 to 30 minutes, at 70°C. In this work, the improvement of the important properties of Iraqi vacuum gas oil, such as carbon residue, was studied with several parameter conditions that affect vacuum efficiency, such as sonication time (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30) min, power amplitude (10–50%). After ultrasonic treatment, the carbon residue of vacuum gas oil was evaluated using a Conradson carbon residue meter (ASTM D189). The experiment revealed that the oil's carbon residue had decreased by 16%. As a consequence of the experiment It was discovered that ultrasonic treatment might reduce the carbon residual and density of oil samples being studied. It also notice
... Show MoreIn the present study, free convection heat and mass transfer of fluid in a square packed bed enclosure is numerically investigated. For the considered geometrical shape, the left vertical wall of enclosure was assumed to be kept at high temperature and concentration while the opposite wall was kept at low temperature and concentration with insulating both the top and bottom walls of enclosure. The Brinkman– Forchheimer extended Darcy model was used to solve the momentum equations, while the energy equations for fluid and solid phases were solved by using the local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) model.Computations are performed for a range of the Darcy number from 10-5 to 10-1, the porosity from 0.5 to 0.9, and buoyancy ratio from -15 t
... Show MoreThree hundred Iraqi people participated in demographic and attitudes study about red and white meat consumption. The mean age of the participants was 50 SD ± 11 years (mean 30-72); 51% were females and 49% males, mostly in forties who lived ≥ 5 years in Baghdad. The results showed that 80% of individuals prefer red meat. A 90% of people prefer fresh meat compared to frozen and processed meat. A 60% of people buy meat from popular markets. Nearly 87% of respondents believe the improving of livestock sector is essential and 80% of people confirmed there are obstacles to development this sector. An 80% of participates thought the reasons of the high prices of local fresh meat is the lack of plann
... Show MoreIn this study, a predicated formula is been proposed to find the shear strength of non-prismatic beams with or without openings. It depends on the contributions of concrete shear strength considering the beam depth variation and existing openings, shear steel reinforcements and defines the critical shear section, the effect of diagonal shear reinforcement, the effect of inclined tensile steel reinforcement, and the compression chord influence. The verification of the proposed formula has been conducted on the experimental test results of 26 non-prismatic beams with or without openings at the same loading conditions. The results reflect that the predicted formula finds the shear capacity of non-prismatic beams with openings, it is co
... Show MoreNon-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma has emerged as a
new promising tool in medicine and biology. In this work, A DBD
system was built as a source of atmospheric pressure non-thermal
Plasma suitable for clinical and biological applications. E. coli and
staphylococcus spp bacteria were exposed to the DBD plasma for a
period of time as inactivation (sterilization) process. A series of
experiments were achieved under different operating conditions. The
results showed that the inactivation, of the two kinds of bacteria, was
affected (increasing or decreasing) according to operation conditions
because they affects, as expected, the produced plasma properties
according to those conditions.
Cold plasma is a relatively low temperature gas, so this feature enables us to use cold plasma to treat thermally sensitive materials including polymers and biologic tissues. In this research, the non-thermal plasma system is designed with diameter (3 mm, 10 mm) Argon at atmospheric pressure as well as to be suitable for use in medical and biotechnological applications.
The thermal description of this system was studied and we observed the effect of the diameter of the plasma needle on the plasma, when the plasma needle slot is increased the plasma temperature decrease, as well as the effect of the voltages applied to the temperature of the plasma, where the temperature increasing with increasing the applied voltage . Results showed t