Background: The occurrence of seizures in bacterial meningitis is important, as it has been reported to increase the risk of complications; however, its frequency and predictors are not well studied yet. Objective: To assess the frequency, clinical, and biochemical predictors of seizures in children with acute bacterial meningitis. Method: A cross-sectional study recruited confirmed acute bacterial meningitis cases based on positive CSF culture and sensitivity among children aged 2 months to 15 years admitted to the Central Child Teaching Hospital emergency department in Iraq. Patients were divided into two groups based on seizure at presentation time. Demographic characteristics [age, gender, residence, duration of fever and disease, presenting complaints and antibiotic intake]; hematological [WBC, neutrophils] Lymphocyte, N/L ratio, packed cell volume, platelets, blood sugar, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) indices were compared between groups. Results: Seizures had a frequency of 18% among the 122 children and were significantly higher in younger cases with female predominance. By multivariate analysis and odds ratio (OR), predictors for seizure were as follows: CSF lymphocytes (OR=0.25, 95%CI=0.08–0.26), lethargy (OR=8.15, 95%CI=1.03-68.65), headache (OR=0.09, 95%CI=0.02-0.45), neck stiffness (OR=0.07, 95% CI=0.01-0.61) and poor feeding (OR=4.8, 95%CI=1.21–18.97). Conclusions: CSF lymphocytes reliably predicted seizure with good sensitivity and specificity of 75% and 73%. Lethargy and poor feeding had the highest odds as clinical predictors of seizures. Together, those results can help with risk stratification and allocate resources for high-risk cases to improve patient outcomes
In this study, ceramic purifier (CP) was produced from a mixture of Iraqi raw materials. This ceramic mixture was prepared using Bentonite as a Clay, Porcelanite as a Silica, and Limestone as a flux. The produced ceramic filter was formed by semi-dry compressing method and was fired at 1200 C?. Physical properties of the produced CP were measured. A hydraulic test rig was constructed to study the hydraulic conductivity of the produced CP. The average hydraulic conductivity of the produced CP was 55 times that of commercial types of ceramic filters. The mineral composition of the produced ceramics was found by X-Ray tests. Tests results showed that all of the produced ceramics filters composed mainly of low Cristobalte and Tridoymite in addi
... Show MoreThe Trump administration asserts that the actions of the United States are neither constrained by international organizations nor international controls, as they strive to seek a leadership position in a competitive manner, advance the reform of the United Nations in order to gain strength and support for US interests, and promote conservative social values. This negative policy is the result of the influence and mutual influence of long-term isolationism, the "American exception" and popular trends in the United States, as well as the result of the Trump administration's attempt to employ powerful means to revitalize the United States' strong position in the United Nations. However, the Trump administration’s policy toward the United
... Show MoreObjectives: To determine the impact of the household hazardous waste’s aspects upon the environment
pollution .and to identify the relationship between the households’ demographic characteristics and the aspects
of household hazardous waste.
Methodology: A descriptive study is conducted between December 14th 2004 to October 20th 2005that uses of
an assessment tool. A probability (simple random sampling) of (336) principal’s households which is selected
from the zones around the (14) primary health care centers as focal points, (8) in the urban and (6) in the rural
areas of Baghdad Governorate. After reliability and validity were determined Data are collected through the use
of an assessment tool that is consist
Reinforced concrete barriers have been commonly used in protecting the important building because the response of R.C. barriers subjected to blast loading is practically more acceptable than other materials used to build the barriers. In this study, the response of R.C. barriers was detected due to the blast effects caused by two charge weights (50 kg and 400 kg); ANSYS 14 was used to simulate the problem. A horizontal distance of 2 m between the explosive TNT charge and the front face of wall was taken. The pressure on the front face of the concrete barriers was measured at three levels. The R.C. barrier was entirely damaged when subjected to the blast effects caused by 400 kg TNT explosion bomb. However, the 50 kg TNT charge had
... Show MoreAbstract. Froth flotation is a solid-liquid separation technique that uses hydrophobicity as a driving force. Bacteria and other drinking water microorganisms tend to be hydrophobic and can be removed from water using this application. The biggest limitation against using froth flotation in the drinking water industry is the difficulty of producing froth without chemical frothers and holding bacteria in this froth without chemical collectors which deteriorate water taste and odor. Recently, researchers at the University of Sheffield described a method for producing froth using only water and compressed air. This has enabled froth flotation to be studied as an alternative to biocides for the removal of bacteria from drinking water. T
... Show MoreDate palm fiber is one of the common wastes available in the M. E. countries essentially Iraq. The aim of search to investigate the performance and effects of fiber date palm on the mechanical properties of high strength concrete, this fiber was used in three ratio 2, 4 and 6 % by vol. of concrete at ages of (7, 28, 90) days. Results demonstrated improvement in the compressive strength increased 19.2 %, 23.6%, 24.9 % for 2%, 4%, 6% of fiber respectively at age 28 days. Flexural strength increases 47.6%, 66.2%, 93.8% form (2,4,6) % of fiber respectively at age 28 days. Density increase about 0.41%, 0, 61 % 0.69 % for (2,4,6) % of fiber respectively at age 28. Absorption water decrease
Water absorbent polymers (WAP) are new component in producing building materials. They provide internal curing which reduces autogenous cracking, eliminates autogenous shrinkage, mortar strength increased, enhance early age strength to withstand strain, improve the durability, introduce higher early age compressive strength, have higher performance and reduce the effect of insufficient external curing. This research used different percent of polymer balls to choose the percent that provides good development in compressive strength with time for both water and air curing. The water absorption polymer balls in this research have the ability to absorb water and after usage in concrete they spill out the water (internal curing) and shri
... Show MoreCOVID 19 has spread rapidly around the world due to the lack of a suitable vaccine; therefore the early prediction of those infected with this virus is extremely important attempting to control it by quarantining the infected people and giving them possible medical attention to limit its spread. This work suggests a model for predicting the COVID 19 virus using feature selection techniques. The proposed model consists of three stages which include the preprocessing stage, the features selection stage, and the classification stage. This work uses a data set consists of 8571 records, with forty features for patients from different countries. Two feature selection techniques are used in