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.
Three 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 MorePurpose This study investigated periodontal ligament (PDL) restoration in osseointegrated implants using stem cells. Methods Commercial pure titanium and zirconium oxide (zirconia) were coated with beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) using a long-pulse Nd:YAG laser (1,064 nm). Isolated bone marrow mesenchymal cells (BMMSCs) from rabbit tibia and femur, isolated PDL stem cells (PDLSCs) from the lower right incisor, and co-cultured BMMSCs and PDLSCs were tested for periostin markers using an immunofluorescent assay. Implants with 3D-engineered tissue were implanted into the lower right central incisors after extraction from rabbits. Forty implants (Ti or zirconia) were subdivided according to the duration of implantation (healing period: 45 o
... Show MoreCleft / palate is one of the common congenital deformities in craniofacial region, associated with different types of dental anomalies like (Tooth agenesis, impaction, and supernumerary teeth) with marked changes in palatal dimensions. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of teeth agenesis and dental anomalies in cleft lip/palate patients using CBCT, and to compare the palatal dimension of cleft group with control subjects. Twenty-eight cleft cases collected during the period from 2015 to 2022, CBCT images evaluated, the study sample classified into two groups (14 bilateral and 14 unilateral cleft lip/palate) and the non-cleft control group (14 CBCT images). The presence of dental anomalies was assessed in relation to clef
... Show MoreThe presence of White Blood Cells (WBCs) in the body of human has a great role in the protection of the body against many pathogens. The recognition of the WBC is the first important step to diagnose some particular diseases. The pathologists usually use an optical microscope to recognize WBCs, but, this process is a quite tedious, time-consuming, error prone, very slow, and expensive. In addition, it needs experts with long practice in this field. For these reasons, a computer assisted diagnostic system that helps pathologists in the process of diagnosis can be effective, easy and safe. This research is devoted to develop a system based on digital image processing methods to localize WBCs nuclei. The proposed system involved a collectio
... Show MoreThis work deals with kinetics and chemical equilibrium studies of esterification reaction of ethanol with acetic acid. The esterification reaction was catalyzed by an acidic ion exchange resin (Amberlyst- 15) using a batch stirred tank reactor. The pseudo-homogenous and Eley-Rideal models were successfully fitted with experimental data. At first, Eley-Rideal model was examined for heterogeneous esterification of acetic acid and ethanol. The pseudo-homogenous model was investigated with a power-law model. The apparent reaction order was determined to be (0.88) for Ethanol and (0.92) for acetic acid with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.981 and 0.988, respectively. The reaction order was determined to be 4.1087x10-3 L0.8/(mol0.8.min) with
... 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 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
... Show MoreLet h is Γ−(λ,δ) – derivation on prime Γ−near-ring G and K be a nonzero semi-group ideal of G and δ(K) = K, then the purpose of this paper is to prove the following :- (a) If λ is onto on G, λ(K) = K, λ(0) = 0 and h acts like Γ−hom. or acts like anti–Γ−hom. on K, then h(K) = {0}.(b) If h + h is an additive on K, then (G, +) is abelian.
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
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