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.
In this paper, a new class of non-convex functions called semi strongly (
Contents IJPAM: Volume 116, No. 3 (2017)
Recently, increasing material prices coupled with more acute environmental awareness and the implementation of regulation has driven a strong movement toward the adoption of sustainable construction technology. In the pavement industry, using low temperature asphalt mixes and recycled concrete aggregate are viewed as effective engineering solutions to address the challenges posed by climate change and sustainable development. However, to date, no research has investigated these two factors simultaneously for pavement material. This paper reports on initial work which attempts to address this shortcoming. At first, a novel treatment method is used to improve the quality of recycled concrete coarse aggregates. Thereafter, the treated recycled
... Show MoreThe flexibility of interaction between the movement of macroeconomic variables that affect and are affected by the balance of payments, especially the movement of the current account, implies a perception of the maturity of economic development and what the theory assumes from the launch of a wide range of economic movement that varies in the degree of its influence according to the level of economic development and the vitality of the internal/external overlap relations through the assumed response to the movement of the macroeconomic variables. On this basis, it is possible to estimate the soundness and rationality of the economic decision taken that takes into account the required reciprocal repercussions between the current a
... Show MoreThe exponential growth of audio data shared over the internet and communication channels has raised significant concerns about the security and privacy of transmitted information. Due to high processing requirements, traditional encryption algorithms demand considerable computational effort for real-time audio encryption. To address these challenges, this paper presents a permutation for secure audio encryption using a combination of Tent and 1D logistic maps. The audio data is first shuffled using Tent map for the random permutation. The high random secret key with a length equal to the size of the audio data is then generated using a 1D logistic map. Finally, the Exclusive OR (XOR) operation is applied between the generated key and the sh
... Show MoreThis study utilizes streamline simulation to model fluid flow in the complex subsurface environment of the Mishrif reservoir in Iraq's Buzurgan oil field. The reservoir faces challenges from high-pressure depletion and a substantial increase in water cut during production, prompting the need for innovative reservoir management. The primary focus is on optimizing water injection procedures to reduce water cuts and enhance overall reservoir performance. Three waterflooding tactics were examined: normal conditions without injectors or producers, normal conditions with 30 injectors and 80 producers and streamline simulation using the frontsim simulator. Three main strategies were employed to streamline water injection in targeted areas.
... Show MoreThe open hole well log data (Resistivity, Sonic, and Gamma Ray) of well X in Euphrates subzone within the Mesopotamian basin are applied to detect the total organic carbon (TOC) of Zubair Formation in the south part of Iraq. The mathematical interpretation of the logs parameters helped in detecting the TOC and source rock productivity. As well, the quantitative interpretation of the logs data leads to assigning to the organic content and source rock intervals identification. The reactions of logs in relation to the increasing of TOC can be detected through logs parameters. By this way, the TOC can be predicted with an increase in gamma-ray, sonic, neutron, and resistivity, as well as a decrease in the density log
... Show MoreThree series of monomers, polymers and thioester cyclic compounds containing 4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-thiol moiety were synthesized and examined for their liquid crystalline properties. All monomers, polymers and thioester compounds were characterized by elemental analysis and FTIR, 1 H-NMR and mass spectroscopy. The phase transition and mesomorphic properties were investigated by polarized optical microscope (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The monomer with terminal phenyl substituent display dimorphism nematic and smectic A (SmA) mesophases. The corresponding polymers derived from acrylic and phenyl acrylic acid monomers show nematic mesophase. The only thioester cyclic compound derived from terephtaloyl chloride show nemati
... Show MoreStrengthening of the existing structures is an important task that civil engineers continuously face. Compression members, especially columns, being the most important members of any structure, are the most important members to strengthen if the need ever arise. The method of strengthening compression members by direct wrapping by Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) was adopted in this research. Since the concrete material is a heterogeneous and complex in behavior, thus, the behavior of the confined compression members subjected to uniaxial stress is investigated by finite element (FE) models created using Abaqus CAE 2017 software. The aim of this research is to study experimentally and numerically, the beha
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