Background: Several infectious lung diseases often develop in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), especially during immunosuppressive medication, including disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The present study aimed to determine the role of respiratory tract bacterial infection in RA activity. Methods: Blood and sputum samples were collected from 31 patients with RA and 12 healthy subjects as control. The bacterial isolates were isolated and identified in collected sputum by biochemical tests and Vitec 2 system. Results: In the present study, thirty-one patients with RA were compared with 12 healthy subjects. Eight patients with RA were not infected with pathogenic bacteria (RA-NIPB) (25.8%). Twenty-three RA patients were infected with pathogenic bacteria (RA-IPB) (74.19%). From 23 RA-IPB, 10 RA patients were infected with Staphylococcus aureus, 6 RA patients were infected with Klebsiella pneumonia, 4 RA patients were infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae, and 3 RA patients were infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. No pathogenic bacteria were isolated from the sputum of a healthy subjects. There was no significant difference between RA-NIPB and RA-IPB in terms of the level of disease activity score DAS28. Conclusion: The current study showed that patients with RA have a higher incidence of being infected with pathogenic bacteria than the healthy control group. No significant effect of bacterial species infection on the level of DAS28. The present study is the pioneer study that showed no effect of bacterial respiratory infections and different RA treatments on RA disease activity.
The present research aims at identifying the impact of S.N.I.P.S strategy on the achievement of fifth grade students in natural geography
For the purpose of verifying the objective of the research, the researcher put the following zero hypothesis: There is no statistically significant difference at the level of (0.05) between the mean score of experimental group who study according to the (S.N.I.P.S) strategy, and the mean score of control group who study according to the traditional method in the achievement test.
In order to verify the validity of this null hypothesis, the researcher adopted the experimental method. Two groups of (60) fifth grade literary students were collecte
... Show MoreIn this study, the effect of ceramic coating on the performance and gases emission on diesel engine was investigated. A four-stroke, direct injected, single cylinder, diesel engine was tested at constant speed and at different load conditions without coating. Then, the inlet and exhaust valves faces were coated by about 500µm with ceramic materials. Ceramic layers were made of YttriaStabilized Zirconia (YSZ), and NiCrAl as a bond coat. The coating technique adapted in this work is the flame spray method. The engine with valves ceramiccoated research was tested for the same operation conditions of the engine (without coating). The results indicate a reduction in both fuel consumption by about 7.6% and particulate emissions by about (13
... Show MoreIn this paper, SiO2 nanoparticles thin films were synthesised at different PH values of solution by sol gel method at fixed temperature (25oC) and molar ratio (R =H2O/precursor) of (Tetra Ethyl Ortho Silicate) TEOS as precursor at (R=1). The structure and optical properties of the thin films have been investigated. All thin films were tested by using X-RAY diffraction. All X-RAY spectrum can be indexed as monoclinic structure with strong crystalline (110) plane. The morphological properties of the prepared films were studied by SEM. The results indicate that all films are in nano scale and the particle size around (19-62) nm .The size of silica particles increases with increasing PH value of solution where both the rate of hydrolysis and
... Show MoreBackground: Tobacco smoking and tuberculosis (TB) are two major public health problems; Associations between smoking and tuberculosis including death from tuberculosis have been reported , A reduction in smoking could be expected to have a significant impact on TB incidence and prevalence .
Objectives: to assess the effect of smoking on tuberculosis.
Methods: This study was conducted from June 2011 to June 2012 in 200 patients, adult ( aged 17 years and more), newly diagnosed patients of pulmonary tuberculosis, at the chest and Respiratory Disease Specialized Center in Baghdad. Demographic data, presenting symptoms, data on smoking, and recurrence of disease were compared. Information on smoking status, tobacco smoking was collecte
Nano gamma alumina was prepared by double hydrolysis process using aluminum nitrate nano hydrate and sodium aluminate as an aluminum source, hydroxyle poly acid and CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) as templates. Different crystallization temperatures (120, 140, 160, and 180) 0C and calcinations temperatures (500, 550, 600, and 650) 0C were applied. All the batches were prepared at PH equals to 9. XRD diffraction technique and infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy were used to investigate the phase formation and the optical properties of the nano gamma alumina. N2 adsorption-desorption (BET) was used to measure the surface area and pore volume of the prepared nano alumina, the particle size and the morphology of the surface of
... Show MoreVisceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a parasitic disease that affects public health. It is described by weight reduction, irregular fever bouts, anemia, and amplification of the spleen and liver.
Three concentrations (15.6, 31.2, and 62.5 μg/mL) were used to find the potency of an aqueous extract of
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a parasitic disease that affects public health. It is described by weight reduction, irregular fever bouts, anemia, and amplification of the spleen and liver.
Three concentrations (15.6, 31.2, and 62.5 μg/mL) were used to find the potency of an aqueous extract of
The performance of photovoltaic (PV) panel having staggered metal foam fins was examined experimentally in Baghdad, Iraq. Three staggered metal foam fin configurations attached to the backside of the PV panel were studied. The measured parameters were front and back surfaces temperature, open voltage and current circuits, maximum power, and PV efficiency. It was noted that the maximum electrical efficiency enhancement was 4.7% for staggered metal foam fins (case III) than the reference PV panel. The operating temperature of the cell was increased when the value of solar intensity was high. Thereby, the electrical efficiency was decreased. It was found that the metal foam fins decreased the PV temperature by 2-3 o
... Show MoreCultivation of the green seaweed Enteromorpha compressa was performed under natural laboratory spring environmental conditions of temperature, light intensity and photoperiod to study the salinity tolerance of this intertidal green macroalga. Cultivation was carried out under artificial seawater (ASW) of different concentrations (18, 35, 53 and 106 g/l sea salt) compared to the control using natural seawater (NSW). Growth rate and pigment content of the cultivated alga were recorded at regular intervals during the experimental duration. Antioxidant activity of the crude ethanolic extract and its fractions (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and acetone) was performed against DPPH radical scavenging assay and compared to
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