chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disease with episodes of exacerbation. Variable factors including infectious pathogen can predispose for this exacerbation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of intestinal protozoa in COPD exacerbation. A total of 56 patients with COPD were included in this study. Patients were categorized into two groups based on the frequency of exacerbation during the last 6 months: those with ≤1 exacerbation (32 patients) and those with ≥2 exacerbations (24 patients). Stool specimens from each patient were collected two times (one week interval) examined for intestinal parasite. In univariate analysis, rural residence and parasitic infection were more common among patients with frequent exacerbation (45.83% and 33.33%, respectively) than patients with non-frequent exacerbation (18.75% and 9.38%, respectively) with significant differences. However, in multivariate analysis, only body mass index >25 kg/m2 (OR=4.59, 95%CI=1.18-17.86, P=0.028) and parasitic infection (OR=5.51, 95%CI=1.01-30.18, P=0.049) were independently associated with COPD exacerbation. These data indicate a significant association between frequent COPD exacerbation and infection with some intestinal protozoa. However, the cause-effect relationship is debatable.
Thin films of highly pure (99.999%) Tellurium was prepared by high vacuum technique (5*10-5torr), on glass substrates .Thin films have thickness 0.6m was evaporated by thermal evaporation technique. The film deposited was annealed for one hour in vacuum of (5*10-4torr) at 373 and 423 K. Structural and electrical properties of the films are studies. The x-ray diffraction of the film represents a poly-crystalline nature in room temperature and annealed film but all films having different grain sizes. The d.c. electrical properties have been studied at low and at relatively high temperatures and show that the conductivity decreases with increasing temperature at all range of temperature. Two types of conduction mechanisms were found to d
... Show MoreThis research presents the possibility of using banana peel (arising from agricultural production waste) as biosorbent for removal of copper from simulated aqueous solution. Batch sorption experiments were performed as a function of pH, sorbent dose, and contact time. The optimal pH value of Copper (II) removal by banana peel was 6. The amount of sorbed metal ions was calculated as 52.632 mg/g. Sorption kinetic data were tested using pseudo-first order, and pseudo-second order models. Kinetic studies showed that the sorption followed a pseudo second order reaction due to the high correlation coefficient and the agreement between the experimental and calculated values of qe. Thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy change (ΔH
... Show MoreRare earth metal oxides (REMOs) have gained considerable attention in recent years owing to their distinctive properties and potential applications in electronic devices and catalysts. Particularly, cerium dioxide (CeO2), also known as ceria, has emerged as an interesting material in a wide variety of industrial, technological, and medical applications. Ceria can be synthesized with various morphologies, including rods, cubes, wires, tubes, and spheres. This comprehensive review offers valuable perceptions into the crystal structure, fundamental properties, and reaction mechanisms that govern the well-established surface-assisted reactions over ceria. The activity, selectivity, and stability of ceria, either as a stand-alone catalyst or as
... Show MoreIn this study, aluminum alloyAA6061-T6 was joined by a hot press process with three types of material; polyamide PA 6.6 (nylon), 1% carbon nanotube/PA6.6 and 30% carbon fiber/PA6.6 composites. Three parameters were considered in the hot pressing; temperature (180, 200 and 220°C), pressure (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 bar) and time of pressing (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 minutes for 200ºC, and 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1 and 1.25 minutes for220ºC). Applied pressure has great effect on shear strength of the joint, corresponding to bonding time and temperature. Maximum shear strength was 8.89MPa obtained for PA6.6 at bonding conditions of 4 bar, 220ºC and 0.75 minute. For 30% carbon fiber/PA6,6 shear recorded was
Nanostructured photodetectors have garnered great attention due to their enriched electronic and optical properties. In this work, we aim to fabricate a high-performance CeO2/Si photodetector by growing a CeO2 nanostructure film on a silicon substrate using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique at different laser energy densities. The impact of laser energy density and the number of pulses on the morphological, optical, and electrical properties was studied. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) results show that the CeO2 film has a spherical grain morphology with an average grain size ranging from 33 to 54 nm, depending on the laser energy density. The film deposited at various numbers of laser pulses also has spherical
... Show MoreIn this study, four different spectrophotometric methods were applied for determination of cimetidine and erythromycin ethylsuccinate drugs in pure form and in their pharmaceutical preparations. The suggested methods are simple, sensitive, accurate, not time consuming and inexpensive. The results showed the following: The first method: Based on the formation of ion pair complex of each drug with bromothymol blue (BTB) as a chromogenic reagent. The formed complexes were extracted with chloroform and their absorbance values were measured at 427.5 nm for cimetidine and 416.5nm for erythromycin ethylsuccinate; against their reagents blanks. Two different methods, univariate method and multivariate method, were used to obtain the optimum condit
... Show MoreThe Skyrme–Hartree–Fock (SHF) method with MSK7 Skyrme parameter has been used to investigate the ground-state properties for two-neutron halo nuclei 6He, 11Li, 12Be and 14Be. These ground-state properties include the proton, neutron and matter density distributions, the corresponding rms radii, the binding energy per nucleon and the charge form factors. These calculations clearly reveal the long tail characterizing the halo nuclei as a distinctive feature.
Dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) can be described as the presence of contact with the discharge of one or more insulating layers located between two cylindrical or flat electrodes connected to an AC/pulse dc power supply. In this work, the properties of the plasma generated by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) system without and with a glass insulator were studied. The plasma was generated at a constant voltage of 4 kV and fixed distance between the electrodes of 5 mm, and with a variable flow rate of argon gas (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5) L/min. The emission spectra of the DBD plasmas at different flow rates of argon gas have been recorded. Boltzmann plot method was used to calculate the plasma electron temperature (Te), and Stark broadeni
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