Background: Nursing interventions tailored to the smoking triggers in patients with non-communicable chronic diseases are essential. However, these interventions are scant due to the nature of factors associated with smoking cessation and the poor understanding of the effect of nurse-led intervention in Iraq.Purpose: This study aimed to determine the dominant smoking triggers and examine the effects of a tailored nursing intervention on smoking behavior in patients with non-communicable chronic diseases.Methods: Convenience samples of 128 patients with non-communicable chronic diseases, male and female patients, who were 18-70 years old, were recruited in this quasi-experimental, randomized comparative trial in the outpatient clinic in one major teaching hospital in Baghdad City, Iraq. The intervention included simple yet specific instructions that were given both orally and in written form to the study samples to enable them to manage their craving to smoke for 6 weeks. The smoking triggers were assessed using Why Do You Smoke questionnaire. Participants were randomly allocated to receive either the nurse-led intervention or standard care. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, logistic regression, and two-sided tests.Results: Stress reduction was the dominant smoking trigger among subjects. The percentage of participants who were either able to completely quit smoking or reduce the number of smoked cigarettes per day (n=19, 29.7%; n=28, 43.8%, respectively) was greater in the study group than those in the control group (n=5, 5.8%; n=5, 5.8%, respectively). Study findings demonstrated significant differences in the inability to improve readiness to quit smoking between the intervention group and control group (p=0.000) at the sixth-week follow-up.Conclusion: The tailored nursing intervention was effective for a successful achievement of smoking reduction and cessation among patients with non-communicable chronic diseases, and a potential to equip nurses in clinical settings to support patients to achieve this is recommended.
A field-pilot scale slow sand filter (SSF) was constructed at Al-Rustamiya Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Baghdad city to investigate the removal efficiency in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Chemical oxygen demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Chloride concentrations for achieving better secondary effluent quality from this treatment plant. The SSF was designed at a 0.2 m/h filtration rate with filter area 1 m2 and total filter depth of 2.3 m. A filter sand media 0.35 mm in size and 1 m depth was supported by 0.2 m layer of gravel of size 5 mm. The secondary effluent from Al-Rustamiya STP was used as the influent to the slow sand filter. The results showed that the removal of BOD5, COD, TSS, and Chloride were
... Show MoreHuman serum albumin (HSA) nanoparticles have been widely used as versatile drug delivery systems for improving the efficiency and pharmaceutical properties of drugs. The present study aimed to design HSA nanoparticle encapsulated with the hydrophobic anticancer pyridine derivative (2-((2-([1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidin-3-yl)methylene)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide (BIPHC)). The synthesis of HSA-BIPHC nanoparticles was achieved using a desolvation process. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis showed the average size of HSA-BIPHC nanoparticles was 80.21 nm. The percentages of entrapment efficacy, loading capacity and production yield were 98.11%, 9.77% and 91.29%, respectively. An In vitro release study revealed that HSA-BIPHC nan
... Show MoreA substantial percentage of the world’s energy consumption (almost 40%) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (around 37%) come from the construction industry, especially schools. This work presents a new hybrid artificial intelligence (AI) engineering model that aims to maximize energy performance on campuses in a holistic way. Modules for data-driven forecasting, metaheuristic optimization, and real-time adaptive control are all part of the concept. A thorough energy simulation of a university campus building is used in conjunction with the AI model to assess its performance through a co-simulation framework. Findings show that yearly peak electricity demand may be reduced by 18.7% and total site energy consumption by 22.4% when co
... Show More—This paper studies the control motion of a single link flexible joint robot by using a hierarchical non-singular terminal sliding mode controller (HNTSMC). In comparison to the conventional sliding mode controller (CSMC), the proposed algorithm (NTSMC) not only can conserve characteristics of the convention CSMC, such as easy implementation, guaranteed stability and good robustness against system uncertainties and external disturbances, but also can ensure a faster convergence rate of the systems states to zero in a finite time and singularity free. The flexible joint robot (FJR) is a two degree of freedom (2DOF) nonlinear and underactuated system. The system here is modeled as a fourth order system by using Lagrangian method. Based on t
... Show MoreThe smart city concept has attracted high research attention in recent years within diverse application domains, such as crime suspect identification, border security, transportation, aerospace, and so on. Specific focus has been on increased automation using data driven approaches, while leveraging remote sensing and real-time streaming of heterogenous data from various resources, including unmanned aerial vehicles, surveillance cameras, and low-earth-orbit satellites. One of the core challenges in exploitation of such high temporal data streams, specifically videos, is the trade-off between the quality of video streaming and limited transmission bandwidth. An optimal compromise is needed between video quality and subsequently, rec
... Show MoreA novel analytical method is developed for the determination of azithromycin. The method utilizes continuous flow injection analysis to enhance the chemiluminescence system of luminol, H2O2, and Cr(III). The method demonstrated a linear dynamic range of 0.001–100 mmol L-1 with a high correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9978, and 0.001–150 mmol L-1 with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9769 for the chemiluminescence emission versus azithromycin concentration. The limit of detection (L.O.D.) of the method was found to be 18.725 ng.50 µL−1 based on the stepwise dilution method for the lowest concentration within the linear dynamic range of the calibration graph. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D. %) for n = 6 was less than 1.2%
... Show MoreIntroduction: Carrier-based gutta-percha is an effective method of root canal obturation creating a 3-dimensional filling; however, retrieval of the plastic carrier is relatively difficult, particularly with smaller sizes. The purpose of this study was to develop composite carriers consisting of polyethylene (PE), hydroxyapatite (HA), and strontium oxide (SrO) for carrier-based root canal obturation. Methods: Composite fibers of HA, PE, and SrO were fabricated in the shape of a carrier for delivering gutta-percha (GP) using a melt-extrusion process. The fibers were characterized using infrared spectroscopy and the thermal properties determined using differential scanning calorimetry. The elastic modulus and tensile strength tests were dete
... Show MoreIn the current worldwide health crisis produced by coronavirus disease (COVID-19), researchers and medical specialists began looking for new ways to tackle the epidemic. According to recent studies, Machine Learning (ML) has been effectively deployed in the health sector. Medical imaging sources (radiography and computed tomography) have aided in the development of artificial intelligence(AI) strategies to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. As a result, a classical machine learning approach for coronavirus detection from Computerized Tomography (CT) images was developed. In this study, the convolutional neural network (CNN) model for feature extraction and support vector machine (SVM) for the classification of axial
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