Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Iraq and the United Kingdom. While the disease is frequently diagnosed among middleaged Iraqi women at advanced stages accounting for the second cause of cancer-related deaths, breast cancer often affects elderly British women yielding the highest survival of all registered malignancies in the UK. Objective: To compare the clinical and pathological profiles of breast cancer among Iraqi and British women; correlating age at diagnosis with the tumor characteristics, receptor-defined biomarkers and phenotype patterns. Methods: This comparative retrospective study included the clinical and pathological characteristics of (1,940) consecutive female patients who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from 2014 to 2016 in Iraq (Medical City Teaching Hospital, Baghdad: 635 cases) and UK (John Radcliffe, Oxford and Queen's, BHR University Hospitals: 1,305 cases). The studied parameters in both groups comprised the age of the patient at the time of diagnosis, breast cancer histologic type, grade, tumor size, lymph node status, clinical stage at presentation, Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR) and HER2 positive tumor contents and the receptor defined breast cancer surrogate subtypes. Results: The Iraqi patients were significantly younger than their British counterparts and exhibited higher trend to present at advanced stages; reflected by larger size tumors and frequent lymph node involvement compared to the British (p<0.00001). They also had worse receptor-defined breast cancer subtypes manifested by higher rates of hormone receptor (ER/PR) negative, HER2 positive tumor contents, Triple Positive and Triple Negative phenotypes (p<0.00001). Excluding HER2 status, the significant differences in the clinical and tumor characteristics between the two populations persisted after adjusting for age among patients younger than 50 years. Conclusion: The remarkable differences in the clinical and tumor characteristics of breast cancer between the Iraqi and British patients suggest heterogeneity in the underlying biology of the tumor which is exacerbated in Iraq by the dilemma of delayed diagnosis. The significant ethnic disparities in breast cancer profiles recommend the prompt strengthening of the national cancer control plan in Iraq as a principal approach to the management of the disease.
In this paper, a fast lossless image compression method is introduced for compressing medical images, it is based on splitting the image blocks according to its nature along with using the polynomial approximation to decompose image signal followed by applying run length coding on the residue part of the image, which represents the error caused by applying polynomial approximation. Then, Huffman coding is applied as a last stage to encode the polynomial coefficients and run length coding. The test results indicate that the suggested method can lead to promising performance.
Adversity and psychosocial stress are involved in aging through the following pathways. psychological stress enhances the nerve system to secrete endocrine mediators (hormones). Mitochondrial respiration mediates energy production stimulated by binding to these hormones to their receptors. Energy produced by mitochondria accelerates metabolism and, in its turn, leads to increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) of free radicals. Cellular stress and accumulation of damage can result from an excess of ROS. Accumulation of damage comprises damages in telomeric and nontelomeric DNA, in addition to mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondrial DNA damage plays an important role in increasing the pathway of p53/p21. The expression of the PGC-1α gene is inhi
... Show MoreThe study aims to investigate the antimicrobial activity of propolis obtained from different regions of Iraq compared with that of propolis obtained from Iran. Samples were investigated for their antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Eschericha coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus cereus , Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans using standard antimicrobial assays. Marked variations in the antimicrobial activity of the different propolis samples were observed, the method of extraction selected gives the highest antimicrobial activity and the best alcohol concentration using in the extraction of propolis , then the crude extract of propolis showed synergistic effect with some antibiotics in
... Show MoreThick films of poly(vinyl chloride)(PVC)& PVC doped with Zn(etx)2 salt complex have been prepared by cast method with fixed thickness almost (120±5) Microns. Optical studies were carried out in the wavelengths region(200-900)nm based on absorption & transmition measurement. Optical parameters such as absorption coefficient(?) ,refraction index(n) and extinction coefficient(K) were observed to be effected by adding the dopant.Electrical parameters such as real(?)& imaginary(?) part of dielectric constant were also calculated part of dielectric constant were also calculated from the optical parameters using Maxwell equation.
Objectives: Teenage pregnancy with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) offers a real challenge to the health system and needs a special care. We aimed to evaluate possible obstetrical and neonatal adverse events of different treatment protocols in adolescent GDM including lifestyle, metformin (MTF), and insulin. Methods: All teen pregnant women ≤ 19 years old visiting Baghdad Teaching Hospital throughout four years (from June 1, 2016 till May 31, 2020) diagnosed with GDM were included in this cohort study and followed-up closely throughout pregnancy and after delivery. Included adolescents were put on lifestyle alone during the first week of presentation. Adolescents who reached target glucose measurements were categorized i
... Show MoreThe concept of Assemblage appeared obviously in Postdramatic works, where a character or a text may stand as an assemblage of potentialities in the sense that it signifies unidentified subjectivity. Assemblages are constituted essentially of heterogeneous elements yet fused without specific demarcations. In order to enjoy the desired productivity at a "smooth pace," the regularities of political and societal institutionalization are disseminated. To achieve this dissemination, Deleuze-Guattari suggest an unsatiated platform of a "Body without Organs' (BwO), where desire escapes identification. Martin Crimp (b. 1956) defines his off-stage characters in Attempts on Her Life (1997), Anne, or whatever the name is, as a 'BwO', upon which
... Show MoreNanoparticles have gained considerable interest in recent times for oil recovery purposes owing to significant capabilities in wettability alteration of reservoir rocks. Wettability is a key factor controlling displacement efficiency and ultimate recovery of oil. The present study investigates the influence of zirconium (IV) oxide (ZrO2) and nickel (II) oxide (NiO) nanoparticles on the wetting preference of fractured (oil-wet) limestone formations. Wettability was assessed through SEM, AFM and contact angle. The potentials of the nanoparticles to alter oil-wet calcite substrates water wet, was experimentally tested at low nanoparticle concentrations (0.004–0.05 wt%). Quite similar behaviour was observed for both nanoparticles at the same
... Show MoreSixteen species of Armored Scale insects were recorded from Baghdad city during 2001-2005. Three of these are reported here for the first time Abgrallaspis cyanophylli (Signoret, 1869), Aonidiella citrina (Craw,1870) and Chrysomphalus aonidium (Linnaeus,1758). The other thirteen species were recorded earlier Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell), Aonidiella orientalis (Newstead), Chrysomphalus dictyospermi (Morgan), Diaspidiotus ostreaeformis (Curtis), Diaspidiotu perniciosus (Comctock), Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret), Lepidosaphes beckii (Newman), Lepidosaphes conchiformis (Gmelin), Lepidosaphes ulmi (Linnaeus), Mercetaspis halli
... Show MoreThe possible effects of COVID-19 vaccines on reproductive health and male fertility in particular have been discussed intensely by the scientific community and the public since their introduction during the pandemic. On news outlets and social media platforms, many claims have been raised regarding the deleterious effects of COVID-19 vaccines on sperm quality without scientific evidence. In response to this emerging conflict, we designed this study to evaluate and assess the effect of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine on male fertility represented by the semen analysis parameters.
This work includes the geographical distribution variation and notes for the habitat of Iraqi blind snakes Leptotyphlops macrorhynehus. Typhlops braminus, and Typhlops vermicularis. A key was also given for the identification of these three snakes.