Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the major cause of cancer related deaths among Iraqi women. Due to the relatively late detection of breast cancer, the majority of the patients are still treated by modified radicle mastectomy. Aim: To assess the time lag between diagnosis of breast cancer and mastectomy among Iraqi patients; correlating the findings with other clinicopathological characteristics of the disease. Patients and methods: This retrospective study enrolled 226 Iraqi female patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer. Data were registered on the exact time period between signing the histopathological report and the surgical treatment. Other recorded variables included the age of the patients, their level of education, number of parity, age at first child birth, family history and the stage at breast cancer presentation. Results: In general, 51% of the patients were under the age of 50 years, 93.8% were married, 10.6% were illiterate, only 1.8% were nulliparous while positive family history of cancer was noted in 25.6%. Overall 67.7%, 87.6%, and 92% underwent mastectomy during the first month, two months and three months after diagnosis respectively. Only 3.1% were operated upon after one year. With the exception of the age at first childbirth, there was no significant correlation between the waiting times to surgery and the patients’ age, education, number of parity, family history and the stage at breast cancer detection. Conclusions: The percentage of the patients who had surgical treatment during the first month following diagnosis seems rather satisfactory when compared to the corresponding findings reported in similar surveys from developing and some developed countries. Strengthening public education and adopting multimodality evidenced-based management protocols are crucial steps to control the waiting times among those who have delayed mastectomies.
In this research, a variable stiffness actuator is proposed to enhance the damping of the mechanical vibrating system. The frequency response analysis of the vibrating system is dependant in order to analyze and synthesis this semi-active damping, where the suggested process is using active filter to estimate the present frequency of the vibration system, and this will limit the value of the stiffness of the vibrated system. Two active filter s are needed, low-pass-filter (LPF) to choose the higher stiffness of the actuator at small frequencies as well as more damping and high-pass-filter (HPF) to choose the lower stiffness of the actuator at high frequencies as well as more damping, and so
... Show MoreElectrophoretic Deposition (EPD) process offers various advantages like the fabrication of the ceramic coatings and bodies with dense packing, good sinterability and homogenous microstructure. The variables namely (applied potential, deposition time and sintering temperature) affected the development of hydroxyapatite (HAP) coatings. The coating weight and thickness were found to increase with the increase in applied potential or coating time. Sintering temperature was found to affect in change phases of the metal, furthermore the firing shrinkage of the HAP coating on a constraining metal substrate leads to serve cracking. XRD Characterization indicates the formation of a contamination free phase pure, and the optical micrographs show th
... Show MoreThe Halabja earthquake occurred on 12/11/2017 in Iraq, with a magnitude of 7.3 Mw, which happened in the Iraqi-Iranian borders. This earthquake killed and injured many people in the Kurdish region in the north of the country. There is no natural disaster more dangerous than earthquake, especially it occurs without warning, great attention must be paid to the impact of earthquakes on the soil and preparing for a wave of earthquakes. Numerical modeling using specific elements is considered a powerful tool to investigate the required behavior of structures in Geotechnical engineering, and the main objective of this is to assess the response of the Al-Wand dam to the Halabja earthquake, as this dam is located in an area that has been su
... Show MoreBackground. Material tribology has widely expanded in scope and depth and is extended from the mechanical field to the biomedical field. The present study aimed to characterize the nanocoating of highly pure (99.9%) niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), and vanadium (V) deposited on 316L stainless steel (SS) substrates which considered the most widely used alloys in the manufacturing of SS orthodontic components. To date, the coating of SS orthodontic archwires with Nb, Ta, and V using a plasma sputtering method has never been reported. Nanodeposition was performed using a DC plasma sputtering system with three different sputtering times (1, 2, and 3 hours). Results. Structural and elemental analyses were conducted on the deposited coating
... Show MoreIn the present work advanced oxidation process, photo-Fenton (UV/H2O2/Fe+2) system, for the treatment of wastewater contaminated with oil was investigated. The reaction was influenced by the input concentration of hydrogen peroxide H2O2, the initial amount of the iron catalyst Fe+2, pH, temperature and the concentration of oil in the wastewater. The removal efficiency for the system UV/ H2O2/Fe+2 at the optimal conditions and dosage (H2O2 = 400mg/L, Fe+2 = 40mg/L, pH=3, temperature =30o C) for 1000mg/L load was found to be 72%.
One of the most severe problems with flexible asphalt pavements is permanent deformation in the form of rutting. Accordingly, the practice of adding fiber elements to asphalt mix to improve performance under dynamic loading has grown significantly in order to prevent rutting distress and ensure a safe and long-lasting road surface. This paper explores the effects of a combination of ceramic fiber (CF), a low-cost, easily available mineral fiber, and thermal insulator fiber reinforced to enhance the Marshall properties and increase the rutting resistance of asphalt mixes at high temperatures. Asphalt mixtures with 0%, 0.75%, 1.5%, and 2.25% CF content were prepared, and Marshall stability and wheel tracking tests were employed to stu
... Show MoreMany studies have been published to address the growing issues in wireless communication systems. Space-Time Block Coding (STBC) is an effective and practical MIMO-OFDM application that can address such issues. It is a powerful tool for increasing wireless performance by coding data symbols and transmitting diversity using several antennas. The most significant challenge is to recover the transmitted signal through a time-varying multipath fading channel and obtain a precise channel estimation to recover the transmitted information symbols. This work considers different pilot patterns for channel estimation and equalization in MIMO-OFDM systems. The pilot patterns fall under two general types: comb and block types, with
... Show MoreIn this study, the mechanical properties of an epoxy and unidirectional woven carbon with fiberglass composite were experimentally investigated. When preparing the composite samples, American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)standard was used. Tensile, impact and flexural test were conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of the new produced epoxy Unidirectional Woven Carbon and Epoxy Fiberglass composites. The outcome showed that the strength of the produced samples increased with the increase in the number of unidirectional woven carbon layers added. Two methods were utilized: (1) woven carbon composite with glass fiber (2) woven carbon composite). The two methods of composite were compared with each other. The resul
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