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.
Aim of the study: Using surface roughness and tensile bond strength tests, the objective of this investigation was to ascertain the impact of laser surface modification on the binding strength of injectable thermoplastic acrylic denture base material to acrylic-based soft-liner material. Materials and methods: Acrylic base soft liner material was bonded to injectable thermoplastic acrylic resin (Deflex). Forty specimens were created (20 disc, 20 dumbbells) 10 of each specimen type as control specimens, and 10 were treated with nano pulse Nd: YAG laser. The data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and unpaired t-test (a=.05) and the roughness test was performed utilizing a double column universal test machine. Results: Compar
... Show MoreFive derivatives of thiadiazole were prepared with aldehydes and alkyl halides, compoundA: 2-amino-5-thiol-1,3,4- thiadiazole, compound B :2-(o-hydroxybenzylidine)amino-5-thiol-1,3,4-thiadiazole, compoundC: 2(2-butan-lidine)amino-5-thiol-1,3,4-thiadiazole, compound E: 2- amino-5-(2-Propanylthio)-1,3,4-thiadiazol) and compound F:2(o-chlorobenzylamino)-5-(2-propanyl thio)-1,3,4 thiadiazol. All prepared compounds were diagnosed by (IR) and (UV) Spectroscopy. All of those compounds were screened for their anti-microbial activity in vitro. The results show that most of the compounds A, B, C exhibited moderate to good activity against Gram-positive bacteria and the same compound exhibit low to moderate activity on most gram-negative bacte
... Show MoreThe purpose of this work is to study the classification and construction of (k,3)-arcs in the projective plane PG(2,7). We found that there are two (5,3)-arcs, four (6,3)-arcs, six (7,3)arcs, six (8,3)-arcs, seven (9,3)-arcs, six (10,3)-arcs and six (11,3)-arcs. All of these arcs are incomplete. The number of distinct (12,3)-arcs are six, two of them are complete. There are four distinct (13,3)-arcs, two of them are complete and one (14,3)-arc which is incomplete. There exists one complete (15,3)-arc.
Trickle irrigation is a system for supplying filtered water and fertilizer directly into the soil and water and it is allowed to dissipate under low pressure in an exact predetermined pattern. An equation to estimate the wetted area of unsaturated soil with water uptake by roots is simulated numerically using the HYDRUS-2D/3D software. In this paper, two soil types, which were different in saturated hydraulic conductivity were used with two types of crops tomato and corn, different values of emitter discharge and initial volumetric soil moisture content were assumed. It was assumed that the water uptake by roots was presented as a continuous sink function and it was introduced into Richard's equation in the unsaturated z
... Show MoreResearch in consumer science has proven that grocery shopping is a complex and distressing process. Further, the task of generating the grocery lists for the grocery shopping is always undervalued as the effort and time took to create and manage the grocery lists are unseen and unrecognized. Even though grocery lists represent consumers’ purchase intention, research pertaining the grocery lists does not get much attention from researchers; therefore, limited studies about the topic are found in the literature. Hence, this study aims at bridging the gap by designing and developing a mobile app (application) for creating and managing grocery lists using modern smartphones. Smartphones are pervasive and become a necessity for everyone tod
... Show MoreImproving" Jackknife Instrumental Variable Estimation method" using A class of immun algorithm with practical application
In this paper, third order non-polynomial spline function is used to solve 2nd kind Volterra integral equations. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the applications of this method, and to compare the computed results with other known methods.