Background: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a common health problem that has a worldwide distribution. Apart from the direct effect of the virus on the liver, there are many extrahepatic manifestations among which the probable effect on bone turnover associated with low bone mineral density (BMD). Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between treated and untreated chronic HBV infection with BMD. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which included a total of 48 patients with chronic HBV (28 patients treated with tenofovir-disoproxil-fumarate [TDF] antiviral drug and 20 patients have not yet started treatment). Other age- and sex-matched 30 apparently healthy individuals were recruited to represent the healthy controls. BMD was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry on the anteroposterior lumbar spine (L1–L4 spine) views, from which T-score was calculated. Liver function tests were also evaluated from serum samples. Results: Treated patients showed a lower T‑score (−0.48 ± 0.72) than either healthy individuals (1.08 ± 0.84) or untreated patients (0.78 ± 0.51), with highly significant differences. In multivariate regression, only disease duration (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 9.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.8–16.68) and TDF treatment (adjusted OR = 6.4, 95% CI = 4.18–97.05) were significantly associated with BMD. Conclusions: Prolonged use of TDF in the treatment of HBV infection can significantly reduce BMD. Moreover, BMD can also be inversely affected in long-standing HBV, regardless of treatment regimen.
Break in the bond and its impact on the difference of scholars
Iraq has the second largest proven oil reserves in the world. According to oil experts, it is expected that the Iraq's reserves to rise to 200+ billion barrels of high-grade crude.
Oil is a strategic commodity for producing and exporting countries in general, and Iraq in particular, as demonstrated by the international experience that oil is an important means to achieve economic growth, an important tool in the overall economic, social and political development. It is also an important source of hard currency for any national economy and a means to connect the local economy and the global economy. In this paper we focus our attention on selecting the best regression model that explain the effect of human capita
... Show MoreSuccessive waves and generations of terrorists attacked the Iraqis in the years following the fall of the regime in Iraq in 2003, after the US invasion of the country under the pretext of weapons of mass destruction. Hence, the Iraqi people enrolled in ongoing war with these armed groups which led to massive casualties due to blasts and missile injuries.
Mechanism of blasts injury can be classified into primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. While bullet injuries can be classified into low and high-energy injuries, the type and severity of the injury will influence the type of management, together with facilities available in
This study investigates the influence of Strategic Consensus (SC) on Organizational Performance (OP), with Strategic Alignment (SA) serving as a mediating variable, within private academic institutions in Iraq. The research utilized scales developed to measure each variable: SC, OP, and SA, all of which are unidimensional. The sample comprised 131 senior participants, including deans and faculty council members, with questionnaires distributed across three institutions: Dijla University College (35 respondents), Baghdad College of Economic Sciences (31 respondents), and the University of Uruk (65 respondents). Data analysis employed various statistical techniques, including normality testing, confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statis
... Show MoreScams remain among top cybercrime incidents happening around the world. Individuals with high susceptibility to persuasion are considered as risk-takers and prone to be scam victims. Unfortunately, limited number of research is done to investigate the relationship between appeal techniques and individuals' personality thus hindering a proper and effective campaigns that could help to raise awareness against scam. In this study, the impact of fear and rational appeal were examined as well as to identify suitable approach for individuals with high susceptibility to persuasion. To evaluate the approach, pretest and posttest surveys with 3 separate controlled laboratory experiments were conducted. This study found that rational appeal treatm
... Show MoreA collection of pictures of traditional Kurdish women's national clothing and contemporary clothing was collected. A visit was also made to the city of Sulaymaniyah and the city of Halabja to find out the foundations of traditional clothing for the Kurdish regions and the impact of contemporary fashion on traditional dress. Which represents the culture and regionalism and reflects the picturesque nature of northern Iraq, and in order to complete the study, the parametric measurements of the clothes were analyzed and the graphs of the dress and its accessories were re-drawn to understand and make a comparison between them to study the clear influences and changes and examine the possibility of benefiting from them in sewing contemporary f
... Show MoreThis study aims to reveal the role of one of the artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, “ChatGPT,” in improving the educational process by following it as a teaching method for the subject of automatic analysis for students of the Chemistry Department and the subject of computer security for students of the Computer Science Department, from the fourth stage at the College of Education for Pure Science (Ibn Al-Haitham), and its impact on their computational thinking to have a good educational environment. The experimental approach was used, and the research samples were chosen intentionally by the research community. Research tools were prepared, which included a scale for CT that included 12 items and the achievement test in b
... Show MoreWater provision is sensitive to climate change, and agricultural production and food supply are sensitive to water availability. Water scarcity affects food security and agricultural economic development through changes in agricultural production and changes in the composition of produced goods. Recent droughts also led to a decrease in the volume of water allocated to agriculture, which led to a decrease in total agricultural production and exports, and this has subsequent impacts on food security and economic development. The research aimed to measure the impact of water scarcity on agricultural economic development for the period 1990-2022. The research included three behavioral equations with three endogenous variables: the cult
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