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.
Metal and metal oxide NPs have shown to be perfectly synthesized by using plant extracts with high efficiency, low cost and low toxicity. Our goal was to synthesize ZnO NPs by using an extract of pomegranate seeds and investigate the anticorrosion, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of the synthesized ZnO NPs. The results have shown that the use of pomegranate in the green synthesis of ZnO NPs gave a good yield, with a low cost and non-toxic approach. The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was used to coat stainless steel (S.S) by synthesized ZnO NPs in an alcoholic solution at room temperature producing a good coating against corrosion. The corrosion properties were investigated in a saline solution and a temperature range of (293–32
... Show MoreCopper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles were synthesized through the thermal decomposition of a copper(II) Schiff-base complex. The complex was formed by reacting cupric acetate with a Schiff base in a 2:1 metal-to-ligand ratio. The Schiff base itself was synthesized via the condensation of benzidine and 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde in the presence of glacial acetic acid. This newly synthesized symmetric Schiff base served as the ligand for the Cu(II) metal ion complex. The ligand and its complex were characterized using several spectroscopic methods, including FTIR, UV-vis, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, CHNS, and AAS, along with TGA, molar conductivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The CuO nanoparticles were produced by thermally decomposing the
... Show MoreThe present study was conducted to estimate the antimicrobial activity and the potential biological control of the killer toxin produced by
Average per capita GDP income is an important economic indicator. Economists use this term to determine the amount of progress or decline in the country's economy. It is also used to determine the order of countries and compare them with each other. Average per capita GDP income was first studied using the Time Series (Box Jenkins method), and the second is linear and non-linear regression; these methods are the most important and most commonly used statistical methods for forecasting because they are flexible and accurate in practice. The comparison is made to determine the best method between the two methods mentioned above using specific statistical criteria. The research found that the best approach is to build a model for predi
... Show MoreBackground: Whey protein is the green-yellow colored, liquid portion of the milk, and it is also called the cheese serum, it is obtained after the separation of curd, during the coagulation of the milk. It contains a considerable amount of α-helix pattern with an evenly distributed hydrophobic and hydrophilic as well as basic and acidic amino acids along with their polypeptide chain. The major whey protein constituents include β-lactoglobulin (β-LG),α-lactalbumin (α-LA), immunoglobulins (IG), bovine serum albumin (BSA), bovine lactoperoxidase (LP), bovine lactoferrin (BLF) and minor amounts of a glycol macro peptide (GMP). Osseointegration can be defined as a process that is immune driven which leads to the formatio
... Show MoreShell model and Hartree-Fock calculations have been adopted to study the elastic and inelastic electron scattering form factors for 25Mg nucleus. The wave functions for this nucleus have been utilized from the shell model using USDA two-body effective interaction for this nucleus with the sd shell model space. On the other hand, the SkXcsb Skyrme parameterization has been used within the Hartree-Fock method to get the single-particle potential which is used to calculate the single-particle matrix elements. The calculated form factors have been compared with available experimental data.
Background: This study aimed to compare the mechanical properties between four groups of newly fabricated combination wires according to their method of union, according to the gauges of wires and a comparison were made between them and their originals. Materials and method: A total of 60 stainless steel combination wires were fabricated , divided into four groups according to gauge of wires and their method of union, each of them with 15 samples, the groups were welded (0.016x0.022-0.016 and 0.016x0.022-0.018) and soldered (0.016x0.022-0.016 and 0.016x0.022-0.018), samples were made according to certain parameters which were : for the welded samples: length,weight, duration of pulsation and size of copper electrode tips used; for the sold
... Show More