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 every country in the world, there are a number of amputees who have been exposed to some accidents that led to the loss of their upper limbs. The aim of this study is to suggest a system for real-time classification of five classes of shoulder girdle motions for high-level upper limb amputees using a pattern recognition system. In the suggested system, the wavelet transform was utilized for feature extraction, and the extreme learning machine was used as a classifier. The system was tested on four intact-limbed subjects and one amputee, with eight channels involving five electromyography channels and three-axis accelerometer sensor. The study shows that the suggested pattern recognition system has the ability to classify the sho
... Show MoreDocetaxel is an effective treatment approved for many types of cancers, but its effectiveness in clinical practice can be compromised by significant occurrence of adverse drug reactions. The aim of the current study was to measure the distribution of adverse drug reactions of docetaxel reported in Iraq and to assess the causality, severity, seriousness, preventability, expectedness and outcome of these adverse reactions. A retrospective study conducted on individual case safety reports from the Iraqi Pharmacovigilance Center / Ministry of Health. The study included 118 individual case safety report containing 236 adverse drug reactions.
Most of the adverse drug reactions were related to skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders(26.7%), f
In this research, the electrical characteristics of glow discharge plasma were studied. Glow discharge plasma generated in a home-made DC magnetron sputtering system, and a DC-power supply of high voltage as input to the discharge electrodes were both utilized. The distance between two electrodes is 4cm. The gas used to produce plasma is argon gas which flows inside the chamber at a rate of 40 sccm. The influence of work function for different target materials (gold, copper, and silver), - 5cm in diameter and around 1mm thickness - different working pressures, and different applied voltages on electrical characteristics (discharge current, discharge potential, and Paschen’s curve) were studied. The results showed that the discharge cur
... Show MoreIncorporating the LiDAR sensor in the most recent Apple devices represents a substantial development in 3D mapping technology. Meanwhile, Apple's Lidar is still a new sensor. Therefore, this article reviews the potential uses of the Apple Lidar sensor in various fields, including engineering and construction, focusing on indoor and outdoor as-built 3D mapping and cultural heritage conservation. The affordable cost and shorter observation times compared to traditional surveying and other remote sensing techniques make the Apple Lidar an attractive choice among scholars and professionals. This article highlights the need for continued research on the Apple LiDAR sensor technology while discussing its specifications and limitations. A
... Show MoreNations are developed with education and knowledge that raise the status of society in its various segments, beyond that it leads to underdevelopment and deterioration in various sectors, whether economic, health, social, etc. If we considered the general name of The ministry of Education & Scientific Studies, then the second part seems to be not functioning, since scientific research has no material allocation and remains based on the material potential of the university professor. As for the first half of the topic, the reality of the situation reveals problems related to the Holy Trinity of Education which is (Professor - Student - the scientific method) where universities suffer at the present time from this problem, and
... Show MoreObjectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and s
... Show MoreThe study aimed at identifying the strategic gaps in the actual reality of the management of public organizations investigated to determine the strategy used based on the study model. The study relied on the variable of the general organization strategy in its dimensions (the general organization strategy, the organization's political strategy and the defense strategy of the organization) The sample of the study was (General Directorate of Traffic, Civil Status Directorate and Civil Defense Directorate), formations affiliated to the Ministry of the Interior, for the importance of the activity carried out by these public organizations by providing them In order to translate the answers into a quantitative expression in the analysi
... Show MoreA theoretical investigation is carried out to study the effect of a pencil electron beam propagating inside the plasma region determining the hydrodynamic densities distribution with the aid of numerical analysis finite deference method (FDM).The plasma is generated and trapped by annular electron beams of fixed electron density 1x1014 m-3. The result of the study shows that the hydrodynamic density behaves as the increase in pencil electron beam. The hydrodynamic density ratio goes to more than double as the increase in pencil electron beam density to 1x1018 m-3.
This research was aimed to study the pollen morphology for the genus Pterocephalus(Vaill) from Dipsacaceae family in Iraq, and to utilize these feathers in isolating the species as valuable taxonomic traits for enriching Iraqi flora. The study included characteristics of the type, shape, size, sculpturing and apertures, as well as determining the full dimensions using light microscopy as well as numerical analysis of this species and draw polygonal shapes and denderogram convergence between species. The results of the study of pollen and polygonal forms showed significant differences in the characteristics at the level of each species, which helps to identification the genus species, as it was found that the pollen was a tricolp
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