This study aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of laser lithotripsy and pneumatic lithotripsy, the two most commonly used transurethral lithotripsy methods for treating bladder stones in children in Iraq. Between January 2013 and December 2016, 64 children with bladder stones were included in this prospective randomized study, after ethical committee approval and written consent from the children’s parents or caregivers were obtained. Patients were assigned randomly by computer software to two groups treated with either pneumatic cystolithotripsy or laser lithotripsy. A 9 Fr. semirigid ureteroscope was used to pass the lithotripter through and fragment the stone. A catheter of 8–12 Fr. was then introduced and kept in place for 24 h. All children were hospitalized for 24 h, and the catheter was removed the next morning. Outpatient follow-up was maintained for 6–12 months. In terms of operation outcomes and complications, the laser lithotripsy group had a significantly longer duration of operation (74.5 ± 26.6 min vs. 51.5 ± 17.2 min, p = 0.001), whereas the number of patients requiring an extended hospital stay was significantly higher in the pneumatic lithotripsy group (48.5% vs. 16.1%, p = 0.006). Moreover, pneumatic lithotripsy was associated with a significantly greater risk of having at least one adverse effect (64% greater than that in the laser group). Stone clearance rates did not significantly differ between treatment groups. In conclusion, both pneumatic and laser lithotripters can be used to treat children with bladder stones with high efficacy and safety.
Background: The treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis has advanced significantly with the use of biologic treatments. Objective: To compare the effectiveness, safety, and impact on quality of life of biologic therapies versus conventional systemic therapies for moderate-to-severe psoriasis, using evidence from 2015 to 2025, focusing on the implications for understudied regions such as Iraq and the Middle East. Methods: Data was collected using "Embase," "MEDLINE," "PubMed," and "Cochrane Central Register." The study includes 45 randomized controlled trials. Additionally, 25 key real-world evidence studies were included for qualitative synthesis to provide context on long-term drug survival, quality of life, and regional applicab
... Show MoreIn this work, results from an optical technique (laser speckle technique) for measuring surface roughness was done by using statistical properties of speckle pattern from the point of view of computer image texture analysis. Four calibration relationships were used to cover wide range of measurement with the same laser speckle technique. The first one is based on intensity contrast of the speckle, the second is based on analysis of speckle binary image, the third is on size of speckle pattern spot, and the latest one is based on characterization of the energy feature of the gray level co-occurrence matrices for the speckle pattern. By these calibration relationships surface roughness of an object surface can be evaluated within the
... Show MoreSegmentation of urban features is considered a major research challenge in the fields of photogrammetry and remote sensing. However, the dense datasets now readily available through airborne laser scanning (ALS) offer increased potential for 3D object segmentation. Such potential is further augmented by the availability of full-waveform (FWF) ALS data. FWF ALS has demonstrated enhanced performance in segmentation and classification through the additional physical observables which can be provided alongside standard geometric information. However, use of FWF information is not recommended without prior radiometric calibration, taking into account all parameters affecting the backscatter energy. This paper reports the implementation o
... Show MoreThe objective of this study is to demonstrate the corrosion behavior of dental alloys Co-Cr-Mo, Ni-Cr-Mo and Ti-Al-V in artificial saliva at pH=4 and 37oC enriched with ethyl alcohol at 8% percentage. The linear and cyclic polarizations were investigated by electrochemical measurements. Laser surface modification was achieved for the three dental alloys to improve corrosion resistance. The results show that corrosion resistance of Co-Cr-Mo and Ni-Cr-Mo alloys only were increased after laser treatment due to the fact that laser radiation has caused a smoother surface, in addition to the decrement in corrosion current densities (icorr) for Co-Cr-Mo and Ni-Cr-Mo alloys and the reverse scan in cyclic polarization became in the wider range of
... Show MoreBackground: Anti-oxidants are used as supplements to counteract the over production of free radicals in periodontal disease.Co-Q10 functions as an intercellular antioxidant by acting as a primary scavenger of free radicals (FRs) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), this study aimed to evaluate the effect of intra pocket application of perio Q gel (coenzyme Q10) alone and as adjunct to scaling and root planing on the periodontal clinical parameters in the treatment of patients with chronic periodontitis and compare the better improvement on the clinical periodontal parameters among different treatment modalities at 3 and 6 weeks. Materials and methods: A total of 323 sites with pocket depth (5-8) mm in patients with chronic periodontitis were
... Show MoreTooth restoration one of the most common procedures in dental practice. The replacement of the entire restoration leads to loss of tooth structure and increase risk of pulp injury; replacement is also time consuming and costly. According to the minimally invasive approach when minimal defects, repair is the better choice than the total replacement of the restoration. This study aims to evaluate repair rating versus replacement treatment procedure for defective composite fillings among Iraqi dentists. Material and methodology: A questionnaire survey were designed and distributed to 184 post-graduate dentists in Iraq. The inquiry pertained general information; including their clinical experience in years, their preference in terms of direct c
... Show MoreIn this work, lead oxide nanoparticles were prepared by laser ablation of lead target immersed in deionized water by using pulsed Nd:YAG laser with laser energy 400 mJ/pulse and different laser pulses. The chemical bonding of lead oxide nps was investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR); surface morphology and optical properties were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and UV-Visible spectroscopy respectively, and the size effect of lead oxide nanoparticles was studied on its antibacterial action against two types of bacteria Gram-negitive (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcusaurus) by diffusion method. The antibacterial property results show that the antibacterial activity of the Lead oxide NPs was
... Show MoreIn this study, the effect of grafting with magnesium (Mg) ratios (0.1, 0.3, 0.5) on the structural and optical properties of cadmium oxide films (CdO) was studied, as these films were prepared on glass bases using the method of pulse laser deposition (PLD). The crystallization nature of the prepared membranes was examined by X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), which showed that the synthesis of the prepared membranes is polycrystalline, and (AFM) images also showed that the increased deformation with magnesium led to an increase in the grain size ratio and a decrease in surface roughness, as well as the absorption coefficient was calculated. And the optical energy gap for the prepared membranes, where it was found that the absorption coef
... Show MoreRadiation treatment has long been the conventional approach for treating nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) tumors due to its anatomic features, biological characteristics, and radiosensitivity. The most common treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma is radiotherapy. This study aimed to assess the better quality of radiotherapy treatment techniques using intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT). The VMAT and IMRT are comparative techniques. Forty patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and forwarded for radiotherapy were treated with both advanced techniques, IMRT and VMAT, using eclipse software from Varian. The x-ray energy was set at 6 MV. The total prescribed dose was 70 Gy. The results show that the
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