Background: Urolithiasis and hypertension are prevalent and clinically significant conditions in the Middle East, both influenced by shared metabolic and environmental risk factors. Understanding the potential association between them is important for guiding prevention strategies. Objective: To explore the relationship between urolithiasis and hypertension in a sample of Iraqi adult patients. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted at Alkindy Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, from September 2024 to March 2025. Participants included 237 patients with confirmed urinary tract stones and 244 controls confirmed to be stone-free, matched for age and sex. Exclusion criteria included secondary hypertension, chronic kidney disease (stage 3 or higher), pregnancy, and metabolic or hormonal disorders likely to alter the blood pressure. Blood pressure status was determined via history and repeated measurements. BMI and demographic data were collected. Statistical analysis included Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, and logistic regression models. Results: Hypertension was significantly more prevalent in the urolithiasis groupan in the controls. Patients with urolithiasis also had significantly higher BMI. However, after adjusting for age and BMI, urolithiasis was no longer significantly associated with hypertension (OR = 0.63; 95% CI: 0.39–1.01; p=0.056), while both age and BMI remained significant predictors of hypertension (p<0.001). Conclusions: Although a higher prevalence of hypertension was observed among patients with urolithiasis, this association was not statistically significant after adjusting for age and BMI. These findings suggest that shared risk factors, particularly obesity, may mediate the observed relationship.
Background: Moringa peregrina Forssk is a well-known plant in ethnomedicine due to its widespread uses in various diseases like cough, wound healing, rhinitis, fever, and detoxification. The plant seeds contain compounds that are cytotoxic to many cancer cells. During the therapeutic use of plants via the oral route, some compounds present in the plants may be cytotoxic to normal cell lines and red blood cells. Objective: This study was the first report of investigation of the cytotoxic profile on oral cancer, CAL 27, cell line, and hemolytic activities on human erythrocytes of Moringa peregrina seeds ethanolic extract (MPSE). Methods: MPSE was screened for its cytotoxic effect against oral cancer, CAL 27, cell line using 3-(4, 5-di
... Show MoreThe variation in wing morphological features was investigated using geometric morphometric technique of the Sand Fly from two Iraqi provinces Babylon and Diyala . We distributed eleven landmarks on the wings of Sand Fly species. By using the centroid size and shape together, all species were clearly distinguished. It is clear from these results that the wing analysis is an essential method for future geometric morphometry studies to distinguish the species of Sand Flies in Iraq.
A simple, fast, inexpensive and sensitive method has been proposed to screen and optimize experimental factors that effecting the determination of phenylephrine hydrochloride (PHE.HCl) in pure and pharmaceutical formulations. The method is based on the development of brown-colored charge transfer (CT) complex with p-Bromanil (p-Br) in an alkaline medium (pH=9) with 1.07 min after heating at 80 °C. ‘Design of Experiments’ (DOE) employing ‘Central Composite Face Centered Design’ (CCF) and ‘Response Surface Methodology’ (RSM) were applied as an improvement to traditional ‘One Variable at Time’ (OVAT) approach to evaluate the effects of variations in selected factors (volume of 5×10-3 M p-Br, heating time, and temperature) on
... Show MoreThe beet armyworm (BAW), Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a highly destructive pest of vegetables and field crops. Management of beet armyworm primarily relies on synthetic pesticides, which is threatening the beneficial community and environment. Most importantly, the BAW developed resistance to synthetic pesticides with making it difficult to manage. Therefore, alternative and environment-friendly pest management tactics are urgently required. The use of pesticidal plant extracts provides an effective way for a sustainable pest management program. To evaluate the use of pesticidal plant extracts against BAW, we selected six plant species (Lantana camara, Aloe vera, Azadirachta indica, Cymbopogon citratus, Nicotiana tabacum ,
... Show MoreNew simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods for the determination of paracetamol in aqueous medium were developed. The first method is based on coupling of paracetamol with p-amino-2-hydroxy sodium benzoate (AHB) in the presence of sodium periodate, as oxidizing agent, to form a brownish-orange compound which shows a λmax at 470 nm. The molar absorptivity (εmax) of the colored product was found to be (3371) l. mole1. cm-1 and Sandel’s index 0.0449 μg. cm-2. The method follows Beer’s law in the concentration range of 12.5-500.0 μg of paracetamol in a final volume of 25 ml (0.5-20.0) μg. ml-1 with relative standard deviation percent (RSD%) ranged between 0.26-4.71% and accuracy, expressed by recovery percent, 95-106% for five
... Show MoreThe efficient behavior of a low-concentrating photovoltaic-thermal system with a micro-jet channel (LCPV/T-JET) and booster mirror reflector is experimentally evaluated here. Micro-jets promote the thermal management of PV solar cells by implementing jet water as active cooling, which is still in the early stages of development. The booster mirror reflector concentrates solar irradiance into solar cells and improves the thermal, electrical, and combined efficiencies of the LCPV/T-JET system. The LCPV/T-JET system was tested under ambient weather conditions in the city of Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia, and all data was recorded between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Parametric studies were conducted to compare the performance of the LCPV/T-JET system
... Show MoreThe behavior corrosion inhibition of aluminum alloy (Al6061) in acidic (0.1 M HCl) and saline (3.5% NaCl) solutions was investigated in the absence and the presence of expired diclofenac sodium drug (DSD) as a corrosion inhibitor. The influence of temperature and was studied using electrochemical techniques. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the surface morphology. The results showed that DSD acted as a powerful inhibitor in acidic solutions, while a moderate influence was observed with saline one. Maximum inhibition efficiency was 99.99 and 83.32% in acidic and saline solutions at 150 ppm of DSD, respectively. Corrosion current density that obtained using electrochemical technique was increased with temperat
... Show MoreSpray pyrolysis technique was used to make Carbon60-Zinc oxide (C60-ZnO) thin films, and chemical, structural, antibacterial, and optical characterizations regarding such nanocomposite have been done prior to and following treatment. Fullerene peaks in C60-ZnO thin films are identical and appear at the same angles. Following the treatment of the plasma, the existence regarding fullerene peaks in the thin films investigated suggests that the crystallographic quality related to C60-ZnO thin films has enhanced. Following plasma treatment, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images regarding a C60-ZnO thin film indicate that both zinc oxide and fullerene particles had shrunk in the size and have an even distribution. In addition
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