Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of respiratory airways characterized by distinctive history of respiratory symptoms due to variable airflow obstruction which reverses either spontaneously or in response to certain medications. Acetylcholine is a parasympathetic neurotransmitter which plays fundamental roles in the development of persistent asthma. Treatment guidelines recommend using medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids in addition to another controller bronchodilator instead of using high doses inhaled steroid alone for treatment of moderate to severe persistent asthma. The inhaled long acting muscarinic antagonist, tiotropium, was approved recently to control unresponsive asthma to inhaled corticosteroid with or without a long acting β-2 agonist. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the responses of a sample of Iraqi asthmatic patients to three different medication regimens.
Adsorption studies were carried out to test the ability of the Iraqi rice bran (Amber type) to adsorb some metals divalent cations (Cd2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Fe2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, and Zn2+) as an alternative tool to remove these pollutants from water. The Concentrations of these ions in water were measured using flame and flamless atomic absorption spectrophotometry techniques. The applicability of the adsorption isotherm on Langmuir or Freundlisch equation were tested and found to be dependent on the type of ions. The results showed different adsorptive behavior and different capacities of the adsorption of the ions on the surface of the bran. The correlation between the amounts adsorbed and different cation parameters including (electronegativity, io
... Show MoreBackground: Insulin resistance is present in 50% or more of patients with primary hypothyroidism. Metformin can decrease TSH levels in these patients by a complex matter, this can be of great help in clinical practice.
Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of metformin in reducing TSH levels in patients with primary hypothyroidism.
Methods: Hundred patients with primary hypothyroidism, 82 females, 18 males were included in this study, everyone was followed up for two months after adding metformin 850 mg twice daily in addition to thyroxin.
Results: 36 patients (36%) have a normal baseline TSH and no change after 2 months, 64 pa
... Show MoreBackground: Antimicrobial prescribing patterns have an important role in the emergence of resistance, and community pharmacists have a substantial influence on this issue. Objective: To assess community pharmacists' behaviors and attitudes toward antimicrobial dispensing, determine their proportions and categories, and examine the underlying rationales for this practice. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists in Iraq was conducted from June to August 2023, using a self-administered validated questionnaire. The attitudes, practices, and motivations driving the distribution of antimicrobials without a prescription (AWP) were explored in three areas. Results: A sizable proportion (61.6%) of respondents rejected
... Show MoreObjective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have increased morbidity and mortality from premature cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD). Framingham risk score (FRS) is a simplified coronary prediction tool developed to enable clinicians to assess the risk of a cardiovascular event and to identify candidate patients for risk factors modifications worldwide. The predictive ability of the FRS varies between populations, ethnic groups, and socio-economic status. The aim of this study is to find if there is any correlation between the Framingham risk score and the inflammatory and biochemical parameters used to measure disease activity and functional ability in Iraqi patients with active RA.
Stumpff functions are an infinite series that depends on the value of z. This value results from multiplying the reciprocal semi-major axis with a universal anomaly. The purpose from those functions is to calculate the variation of the universal parameter (variable) using Kepler's equation for different orbits. In this paper, each range for the reciprocal of the semi-major axis, universal anomaly, and z is calculated in order to study the behavior of Stumpff functions C(z) and S(z). The results showed that when z grew, Stumpff functions for hyperbola, parabola, and elliptical orbits were also growing. They intersected and had a tendency towards zero for both hyperbola and parabola orbits, but for elliptical orbits, Stumpff functions
... Show MoreIn this paper, we used maximum likelihood method and the Bayesian method to estimate the shape parameter (θ), and reliability function (R(t)) of the Kumaraswamy distribution with two parameters l , θ (under assuming the exponential distribution, Chi-squared distribution and Erlang-2 type distribution as prior distributions), in addition to that we used method of moments for estimating the parameters of the prior distributions. Bayes
In this study, we used Bayesian method to estimate scale parameter for the normal distribution. By considering three different prior distributions such as the square root inverted gamma (SRIG) distribution and the non-informative prior distribution and the natural conjugate family of priors. The Bayesian estimation based on squared error loss function, and compared it with the classical estimation methods to estimate the scale parameter for the normal distribution, such as the maximum likelihood estimation and th
... Show MoreThe study explores the use of ergative verbs in constructing clauses and their impact on the backgrounding of the agent's role in two selected short stories. Contrary to hypothesis No. 1, the research indicates that changes in sentence patterns don't affect the meaning of the process. Additionally, hypothesis No. 2 is refuted as the middle structure is found to highlight the agent's role in the science fiction short story, Terra Infirmum, rather than concealing it as hypothesized for "The Invisible Man." The analysis uncovers that writers utilize ergative processes to narrate stories in various ways, including transitive/active voice, intransitive/active voice, and transitive/passive voice. Furthermore, the findings suggest that writers emp
... Show More The research addresses the most important elements of the ancient Iraqi heritage represented by architecture and plastic arts being the direct means that preserved the heritage due to the ease of preserving them and the speed of circulating them and diversity of their topics. Through the features of these elements, the research problem has been defined in the form of questions including: what are the most important elements of the ancient Iraqi heritage? What are the plastic arts? What are the most important topics adopted? What is the concept of palm in the ancient Iraqi heritage? What is the evidence for that?
Has it been employed in the Iraqi contemporary art? What is the evidence for that? How to employ it in the arts and t