Background: Chronic cough is often the key
symptom not only of chronic pulmonary diseases
but for other important extrapulmonary
pathologies, in particular upper airway and
gastrointestinal diseases.
Objective: This study was designed to
determine the etiology of chronic cough and the
usefulness of the available diagnostic tests in
reaching its causes.
Methods: One hundred patients presenting with
chronic cough at Baghdad Teaching Hospital
Outpatient Clinic were enrolled in this study. The
patients underwent a full clinical interview,
physical examination with indicated diagnostic
test(s) (such as chest x ray, bronchoscope, PFT,
GIT study, sinus X ray or CT).
Results: An etiology of chronic

The activation and reaction energies of the C-C and C-H bonds cleavage in pyrene molecule are calculated applying the Density Functional Theory and 6-311G Gaussian basis. Different values for the energies result for the different bonds, depending on the location of the bond and the structure of the corresponding transition states. The C-C bond cleavage reactions include H atom migration, in many cases, leading to the formation of CH2 groups and H-C≡C- acetylenic fragments. The activation energy values of the C-C reactions are greater than 190.00 kcal/mol for all bonds, those for the C-H bonds are greater than 160.00 kcal/mol. The reaction energy values for the C-C bonds range between 56.497 to 191.503 kcal/mol. As for the C-H cleavage rea

This article proposes a new strategy based on a hybrid method that combines the gravitational search algorithm (GSA) with the bat algorithm (BAT) to solve a single-objective optimization problem. It first runs GSA, followed by BAT as the second step. The proposed approach relies on a parameter between 0 and 1 to address the problem of falling into local research because the lack of a local search mechanism increases intensity search, whereas diversity remains high and easily falls into the local optimum. The improvement is equivalent to the speed of the original BAT. Access speed is increased for the best solution. All solutions in the population are updated before the end of the operation of the proposed algorithm. The diversification f

For many years it was argued that there may be a gender differences in adverse drug reactions (ADRs). This assumption was based on many possible factors such as hormonal or behavior differences, and it was not clearly identified since the female gender was not preferred to be enrolled in many clinical trials. The primary aim of this study was to assess the extent of possibly relevant gender differences in drug–ADRs regarding causality, severity, preventability, seriousness, expectedness and outcome. While the secondary aim was to assess for which group of drugs and for which ADRs gender differences are identified most often. The study was a retrospective one that depends on processing a specially selected group of data obtained from th

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is one of the autoimmune disorders, generated by a production of specific autoantibodies against self-antigens before the occurrence of clinical symptoms. The etiology of disease is still unknown, although there have been several infectious agents that have been associated with SLE development, especially in genetically predisposed individuals. Herpes simplex virus-I and -II (HSV-I and -II) and Toxoplasma gondiiare two infectious agents that have been suggested to be involved in SLE etiology. Accordingly, the present study assessed anti- HSV-I and -II and anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in sera of 64 SLE female patients and 32 healthy control women. The patients w

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitusand chronic periodontitis hold a close relationship that has been the focus of many researches. Currently there is an appreciation to the role of adipose tissue-derived substances "the adipokines" in immune-inflammatory responses; also, there is an interest in using the simple non-invasive saliva in diagnosing and linking oral and general health problems. The current study aims to determine the periodontal health status in the chronic periodontitis patients with and without poorly or well controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus, measure the salivary levels of two adipokines "leptin and resistin", pH and flow rate and then correlate between these clinical periodontal, biochemical and physical parameters in eac

Babesiosis is a tick-borne disease caused by Babesia microti. We present a case of false positive HIV in the setting of confirmed babesiosis infection. An understanding that patients with babesiosis can have a false positive HIV test result is important in management decisions.

Abstract: Lymphoproliferative Disorders (LPDs) are a group of neoplasms affecting various cells within lymphoid system. Each type has different treatment a..70619