Abstract Asthma is a complex disease defined by chronic airway inflammation and airflow limitation causing variable respiratory symptoms which include shortness of breath (SOB), wheezing, chest tightness and cough. Asthma guidelines advocate adding a second long acting bronchodilator to medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) rather using high doses of ICS alone to control moderate to severe persistent asthma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of three medication regimens indicated for Iraqi patients suffering from persistent asthma. This study was interventional randomized clinical study conducted on a sample of adult Iraqi asthmatic patients in Baghdad City. The study composed of three visits distributed over eight weeks; baseline visit followed by first follow up and second follow up visits after four and eight weeks respectively. The study enrolled 78 adult patients with moderate to severe persistent asthma as diagnosed by specialist physician according to patient history and baseline pulmonary function test (PFT) and allocated them randomly to three groups (each group included 26 patients) to receive equivalent medium doses of budesonide inhaler in addition to either formoterol inhaler, oral modified release aminophylline tablets or tiotropium inhaler (first, second and third group respectively). Sixty four patients completed this study. The mean ages of patients were above 35 years with slightly more male predominance. The study groups developed significant increase of peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and forced vital capacity (FVC) values at the first follow up visit compared to baseline values (p<0.001). Thereafter, the first and third groups achieved significant higher values at the second follow up visit compared to first follow up visit (p<0.001), while second group produced no change. All the groups developed significant improvement of Mini asthma quality of life questionnaire (MiniAQLQ) scores and percentage of symptom free days (SFD) at first follow up visit and continued further significant improvement at the second follow up visit (p<0.001). Generally, between groups comparison according to extent of change of study parameters revealed that third group produced the greatest improvement over the entire study period followed by the first group, whereas the second group was associated with the least extent of improvement. This study concluded that all groups caused significant improvement in study parameters compared to baseline values and also concluded that the third group of inhaled [tiotropium/budesonide] was associated with the highest extent of improvement followed by first group, while the second group was the least.
A simple straightforward mathematical method has been developed to cluster grid nodes on a boundary segment of an arbitrary geometry that can be fitted by a relevant polynomial. The method of solution is accomplished in two steps. At the first step, the length of the boundary segment is evaluated by using the mean value theorem, then grids are clustered as desired, using relevant linear clustering functions. At the second step, as the coordinates cell nodes have been computed and the incremental distance between each two nodes has been evaluated, the original coordinate of each node is then computed utilizing the same fitted polynomial with the mean value theorem but reversibly.
The method is utilized to predict
... Show MoreThe involvement of maxillofacial tissues in SARS‐CoV‐2 infections ranges from mild dysgeusia to life‐threatening tissue necrosis, as seen in SARS‐CoV‐2‐associated mucormycosis. Angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) which functions as a receptor for SARS‐CoV‐2 was reported in the epithelial surfaces of the oral and nasal cavities; however, a complete understanding of the expression patterns in deep oral and maxillofacial tissues is still lacking.
The immunohistochemical expression of ACE2 was analyzed in 95 specimens from maxillofacial tissues and 10 specimens o
In this paper, thermal performance of a zig-zig solar air heater (ZZSAH) with and without using steel wire mesh on the absorber plate of the collector is experimentally investigated. The experimental work includes four inclination angles of the collector 20o, 30o, 45o, and 60o and four air mass flow rates of 0.03, 0.04, 0.06, and 0.08 kg/s under varieties of operating conditions of a geographic location of Baghdad. New correlation equations of Nusselt number are obtained from experimental results for both types of collectors where the effect of varying of the inclination angle of collector taken into consideration in the experiment. The correlations show good agreement wi
... Show MoreThere is a scarcity of data regarding algal flora of Tigris River in the territory of Baghdad. The present study deals with Tigris River in Al-Dora site in Baghdad province from November 2014 to June 2015 in order to shed light on its epiphytic Algae on (Phragmites australis) and epipelic algae. An amount of 183 and 154 species of epiphytic and epipelic algae are identified respectfully. The Bacillariophyceae (diatoms) are the dominant algal group followed by Cyanophyceae and Chlorophyceae. Moreover, 90 species are shared between two groups of algae (epiphytic and epipelic) and identified at the study site. Additionally, the seasonal variations and diversity of algal species are noticed. The highest number of epiphytic algae is 772.05 x 104
... Show MoreExploring the antibacterial potential of neem oil (Azadirachta indica) in combination with gentamicin (GEN) against pathogenic molds, especially Pseudomonas aeruginosa, has drawn concern due to the quest for natural treatment options against incurable diseases. Prospective research directions include looking for natural cures for many of the currently incurable diseases available now. microbial identification system, were used to identify the isolates. The research utilized a range of methods, such as the diffusion agar well (AWD) assays, TEM (transmission electron microscopy) analysis, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays, and real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) to analyze bacterial expression and the antibacterial action of neem oil (Azadira
... Show MoreThe article deals with glutton-discursive aphorisms, maxims, sentations, paremias (proverbs and sayings) of different peoples, which reflect their character traits and aspects of life in the family, collective, society, everyday realities, which indicates the close connection of paremias with the language en vironment. Attention is focused on the parodies used in 73% of cases and nominating personality characteristics using the socio-cultural code of arabophones. It is proved that this vocabulary as the national socio-cultural code of arabophones are used to increase the capacity of the statement, and express the emotional and aesthetic positions of a person
A problem of solid waste became in the present day common global problem among all countries, whether developing or developed countries, and can say that no country in the world today is immuning from this dilemma which must find appropriate solutions. The problem has reached a stage that can not ignore or delay, but has became a daily problem occupies the minds of ecologists, economists and politicians took occupies center front in the lists of priorities for the countries in terms of finding solutions to the rapid scientific and radical them. and that transport costs constitute an important component of total costs borne by the municipal districts in the process of disposal of solid waste, so any improvement in the
... Show MoreThe present study explores the solar-induced photocatalytic degradation of reactive red (RR) and reactive turquoise (RT) dyes in a single system using TiO2 immobilized in xanthan gum (TiO2/XG), synthesized using the sol–gel dip-coating technique for direct precipitation. SEM-EDX, XRD, FTIR, and UV–Vis were used to assess the characteristics of the resulting catalyst. Moreover, the effects of different operating parameters, specifically pH, dye concentration, TiO2/XG concentration, H2O2 concentration, and contact time, were also investigated in a batch photocatalytic reactor. The immobilized TiO2/XG catalyst showed a slight adsorption degradation efficiency and then improved the RR and RT dye degradation activity (92.5 and 90.8%
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