Background: Preterm labor and related prematurity are predisposing factors that increase perinatal morbidity and mortality. Acute phase reactants are inflammatory markers which are positive and negative reactants explained by the reaction of reactants to the subclinical infection that are commonly associated with preterm labor. Objectives: To assess the role of acute phase reactants in pregnant women with preterm delivery. Patients and method: A case control study conducted in Gynecological Department of Baghdad Teaching Hospital from 1st February 2021 to 30th October 2021, on one hundred pregnant women with gestational age (28weeks - 36weeks+6days) who attended outpatient clinic; fifty pregnant women with established preterm labor as case group and fifty pregnant women with no signs and symptoms of preterm labor as control group. Data was collected using structured questionnaire included demographic features, and biochemical parameters (serum ferritin (ng/ml), albumin (gm/dl), fibrinogen (mg/dl), and calcium (mg/dl) . Results: Mean±SD serum ferritin in control group was (46.2 ± 16.2 ng/ml) while in case group (52.47 ± 11.6ng/ml) with significant difference between both groups (P=0.03), mean±SD serum albumin in control group (3.18 ± 0.31 ng/ml) while in case group (2.92 ± 0.39) with highly significant difference between both groups (P<0.001). Validity test of serum ferritin at cutoff ≥ 52.7 (ng/ml) in case group was as follows: Sensitivity (94%), specificity (90%), negative predictive value (94%), positive predictive value (90%) and the accuracy was (92%). The validity test of serum albumin at cutoff ≤ 3.06 (gm/dl) to detect the preterm labor as follows: Sensitivity (78%), specificity (86%), negative predictive value (78%), positive predictive value (83%) and the accuracy was (84%). Mean±SD serum fibrinogen in control group was (400.9 ± 38.1) while in case group was (410.7 ± 51.2) with no significant difference between both groups (P=0.1). Mean±SD serum calcium in control group was (8.1 ± 0.7) while in case group was (7.92 ± 0.5) with no significant difference between both groups (P=0.1). Conclusion: serum ferritin and albumin can be used in prediction of preterm labor in 3rd trimester.
Portland Cement is manufactured by adding 3% gypsum to clinker which is produced by grinding, pulverizing, mixing, and then burning a raw mix of silica, and calcium carbonate. Limestone is the main source of carbonates, while clay collected from arable land is the main source of silica. The marl in the Euphrates Formation was studied as an alternative to arable lands. Nine boreholes drilled and penetrated the marl layer in selected locations at the Kufa cement quarry. Forty-one samples of marl from boreholes and four samples of limestone from the closed area were collected. The chemical content of the major oxides and the hardness of the marl layer was very encouraging as a raw material for Portland Cement as they are SiO2 (17.60),
... Show MoreAntibacterial Activity of Bioactive Glass 45S5 and Chitosan Incorporated as Fillers into Gutta Percha, Ahmed I AL-Jobory*, Raghad AL-Hashimi
Treated effluent wastewater is considered an alternative water resource which can provide an important contribution for using it in different purposes, so, the wastewater quality is very important for knowing its suitability for different uses before discharging it into fresh water ecosystems. The wastewater quality index (WWQI) may be considered as a useful and effective tool to assess wastewater quality by indicating one value representing the overall characteristic of the wastewater. It could be used to indicate the suitability of wastewater for different uses in water quality management and decision making. The present study was conducted to evaluate the Al-Diwaniyah sewage treatment plant (STP) effluent quality based on wastewa
... Show MoreA total of (25) stool samples were collected from children and adults (2- 4) years old suffering from diarrhea to isolate E. coli strains that produce heat-stable enterotoxin a (STa), and after performing microscopic examination, cultural characterization and biochemical identification only (11) isolates showed positive E. coli. STa activity was estimated by using suckling mouse assay (SMA) and from these (11) isolates only (5) showed STa activity and the one with the highest STa activity was selected for large scale production of STa, which was followed by partial purification using ion-exchange chromatography (normal phase) using DEAE sephadex A-50 column. After purification and determination of protein concentration by using the standard
... Show MoreIn earthquake engineering problems, uncertainty exists not only in the seismic excitations but also in the structure's parameters. This study investigates the influence of structural geometry, elastic modulus, mass density, and section dimension uncertainty on the stochastic earthquake response of a multi-story moment resisting frame subjected to random ground motion. The North-south component of the Ali Gharbi earthquake in 2012, Iraq, is selected as ground excitation. Using the power spectral density function (PSD), the two-dimensional finite element model of the moment resisting frame's base motion is modified to account for random ground motion. The probabilistic study of the moment resisting frame structure using stochastic fin
... Show MoreThe sensitivity of SnO2 nanoparticles/reduced graphene oxide hybrid to NO2 gas is discussed in the present work using density functional theory (DFT). The SnO2 nanoparticles shapes are taken as pyramids, as proved by experiments. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) edges have oxygen or oxygen-containing functional groups. However, the upper and lower surfaces of rGO are clean, as expected from the oxide reduction procedure. Results show that SnO2 particles are connected at the edges of rGO, making a p-n heterojunction with a reduced agglomeration of SnO2 particles and high gas sensitivity. The DFT results are in
Inthisstudy,FourierTransformInfraredSpectrophotometry(FTIR),XRay Diffraction(XRD)andlossonignition(LOI),comparativelyemployedtoprovideaquick,relativelyinexpensiveandefficientmethodforidentifyingandquantifyingcalcitecontentofphosphateoresamplestakenfromAkashatsiteinIraq.Acomprehensivespectroscopicstudyofphosphate-calcitesystemwasreportedfirstintheMid-IRspectra(4004000cm-1)usingShimadzuIRAffinity-1,fordifferentcutsofphosphatefieldgradeswithsamplesbeneficiatedusingcalcinationandleachingwithorganicacidatdifferenttemperatures.Thenusingtheresultedspectratocreateacalibrationcurverelatesmaterialconcentrationstotheintensity(peaks)ofFTIRabsorbanceandappliesthiscalibrationtospecifyphosphate-calcitecontentinIraqicalcareousphosphateore.Theirpeakswereass
... Show MoreThis paper discusses a comparative study to relate parametric and non-parametric mode decomposition algorithms for response-only data. Three popular mode decomposition algorithms are included in this study: the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm with the Natural Excitation Technique (NExT-ERA) for the parametric algorithm, as well as the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) for the non-parametric algorithms. A comprehensive parametric study is provided for (i) different response types, (ii) excitation types, (iii) system damping, and (iv) sensor spatial resolution to compare the mode shapes and modal coordinates of using a 10-DOF building model. The mode decomposition results are also compared using
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