Background: Extracorporeal Shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is widely used in treating patients with ureteralstones because it is effective, safe, and noninvasive. Based on factors such as size and the location of stones,there is a significant variation in the overall stone-free rate (SFR).Aim of the study: To evaluate the effect of ureteral wall thickness (UWT), stone attenuation, the time fromfirst attack of pain till first session of ESWL and stone/ rib density on the outcome of SWL in the treatmentof upper ureteral stones (UUS).Patient and methods: A prospective study when 127 patients with radio-opaque UUS ranging from 7 to 20mm and treated by ESWL were included in this study. The effect of (stone/ 12th rib) density by KUB, ureteralwall thickness by NCCT and the time from first attack of pain till first ESWL session was studied.Results: The overall successful fragmentation was 75.5%, with the overall success rates in the low density(LD) and high density (HD) groups were 83.8% and 52.94%, respectively. The average number of SWLsessions needed in the two groups for success was 1.9 compared with 2.7 sessions (p<0.05). For stones <10 mm; those with ureteral wall thickness <3.25 mm have success rate about 90.3% VS 69.7% with uretericwall thickness > 3.25 mm which is highly significant. Early ESWL within the first 24 hours of acute attackof first pain has successful fragmentation of 85.45%. With significant effect on number of ESWL sessions.The stone free rate reaches 91.1% for stones <10 mm.Conclusions: The stone free rate is inversely affected by stone /12th rib density ; ureteral wall thickness andthe time from first attack of pain till first session of ESWL, were important predictors of successful ESWL.
This study was set out to investigate factors affecting labor productivity on construction in the north of Iraq (Kurdistan) and to rank all the factors based on engineers, contractors, and designer’s opinions. 76 factors were analyzed based on previous literature and a pilot study. Next, by using online Google Form, a questionnaire form was created and sent to people who have experience in the construction industry. Afterward, the questionnaire form was sent to targeted people by email and social media apps. Factors were divided into nine groups “Management, Technical and Technology, Human and Workforce, Leadership, Motivation, Safety, Time, Material and Equipment, and External”. However, 202 respondents participated in this study,
... Show MoreTodays, World is faced an energy crisis because of a continuous increasing the consumption of fuels due to intension demand for all types of vehicles. This study is one of the efforts dealing with reduce the weight of vehicles by using a new material of sandwich steel, which consists of two skin steel sheets with core of a polymer material. Resistance spot welding (RSW) can be easily implemented on metals; however a cupper shunt tool was designed to perform the resistance welding of sandwich steel with DP800 cover sheets to resolve a non-conductivity problem of a polymer core. Numerical simulations with SORPAS®3D were employed to test the weldability of this new material and supported by many practical experiments. In conclus
... Show MoreZiziphora persica Bunge is recorded as a new Study in Iraq. This species has been collected from Jabal Sinjar in Nineveh province in the north western part of Iraq. The morphological characters, habitat and geographical distribution of the species with a key to Ziziphora L. species in Iraq have been provided.
Antiviral medications may be the best choices for COVID-19 treatment until particular therapeutic treatments become available. Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is a neuraminidase inhibitor licensed for the management and defense against influenza types A and B. Oseltamivir-based medication combinations are currently being used to treat COVID-19 patients who also have the new coronavirus 1 SARS-CoV-2. 1 Oseltamivir administration was related with a less time spent in the hospital, quicker recovery 1 and discharge, and a decreased mortality rate. Docking is a modern computational method for identifying a hit molecule by assessing the binding ability of molecular medicines within the binding target pocket. In this work, we chose 21 ligand compounds that
... Show MoreThirty-four dolomite and dolomitic limestone samples were collected from Aqra – Bekhma (It is difficult to separate the two formations as they are intervening) Formation in Bekhma Gorge area near Shaqlawa in northern Iraq. Alizarin red - s was used to distinguish calcite from dolomite. The saddle dolomite was recognized as a virtually rough crystalline material with milky-white or rosy color when seen in outcrop. In addition, we observed a pearl luster and a characteristically marred crystal building that is, in principle, described as damaged crystal faces with cleavage planes, while microscopically it appeared as a widespread extinction. The crystal faces, although well advanced, are frequently pavement-like facets.
In this study a new antiseptic was formulated and tested to match the effectiveness against microorganisms. The formulation consisted of Povidone - Iodine (PVP-I) (10%), H2O2 (3%) and Aloe Vera gel (pure). Different ratios of these materials were prepared within the acceptable range of pH for an antiseptic (3-6). The prepared samples were tested. The In Vitro test was performed by using four bacteria, two were Gram-Positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) and two were Gram-Negative (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The new antiseptic showed 100% killing rate for E. coli, Ps. aeruginosa and S. aureus and 96.4667% killing rate for B. cereus. When the new antiseptic was compared with two common
... Show MoreBecause of inhalation of the volatile substances and unintended ingestion, the risk of health problems for fuelling employees exposed to gasoline vapours in gas stations is increased. Therefore, the goal of the study was to compare the oxidative stress state of healthy volunteers, who served as the control group, to Iraqi male fuelling staff, who served as the exposed groups. The levels of total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS) and oxidative stress index (OSI), malondialdehyde (MDA), Uric acid (UA), and total peroxidase activity were measured. A total of 102 subjects divided into three groups according to the duration of fuel vapours exposure: 25 exposed for 1-10 years (G1), 50 exposed for 11-19 years (G2)
... Show MoreThe arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin to power in the Russian Federation is an important factor in delineating a new approach to Russian policy towards regions that have great strategic importance affecting its national security. Therefore, NATO's progress eastward towards these regions prompts Russia to delineate a new strategy to confront this progress as well as preserving its control in the near neighboring regions represented by the countries of Eastern Europe, especially after the changes that occurred in those regions following the color revolutions that swept the region, such as the first application of this Russian policy in 2014, through the annexation of Crimea, and the latest military operations in Ukraine i
... Show MoreExcessive skewness which occurs sometimes in the data is represented as an obstacle against normal distribution. So, recent studies have witnessed activity in studying the skew-normal distribution (SND) that matches the skewness data which is regarded as a special case of the normal distribution with additional skewness parameter (α), which gives more flexibility to the normal distribution. When estimating the parameters of (SND), we face the problem of the non-linear equation and by using the method of Maximum Likelihood estimation (ML) their solutions will be inaccurate and unreliable. To solve this problem, two methods can be used that are: the genetic algorithm (GA) and the iterative reweighting algorithm (IR) based on the M
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