BACKGROUND: Montelukast (Singulair) is a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist, used for the maintenance treatment of asthma and to relieve symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis and asthma, also used for exercise-induced bronchospasm. AIM: This study was performed to determine the prevalence of Montelukast use as an add-on therapy among Iraqi asthmatic patients on treatment. Comparing the effectiveness of regimens with and without montelukast. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 73 Iraqi asthmatic patients on treatment of both sexes with age range (18-60) years old, attending Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital and Al-Zahraa Centre of Asthma and Allergy, Baghdad, for the period between February and March 2017. A questionnaire was specifically prepared to meet the objectives and was used to collect the data of the study. RESULTS: There was a significant statistical reduction of frequency in asthmatic attacks after Montelukast treatment (p-value < 0.05). Out of 73 patients, 39 were males, and 34 were females, 46 were jobless, 37 were married, 63 were urban residents, 63 were educated. Prevalence of exacerbation factors was as following: infection was found in 60.3% of the patients, exercise in 57.5%, dust in 72.6%, smoking in 60.6%, food in 24.7%, others (stress, perfumes) in 20.5%. The prevalence of Montelukast use in this study was 46% (34 patients). Out of 34 patients using Montelukast, 28 were using inhaled salbutamol, 5 were using oral salbutamol, 15 were using inhaled corticosteroids, 9 were using systematic corticosteroids, 2 were using xanthines, and 6 were using ketotifen. CONCLUSION: Montelukast was used as add-on therapy with the inhaled corticosteroids to reduce the required dose of inhaled corticosteroids also the use of Montelukast lead to reduced number of exacerbations which will be reflected on the use of inhaled salbutamol and systematic corticosteroids. Also, Montelukast was superior to xanthines and ketotifen as an add-on therapy.
he effect of different cultural conditions on production of bioemulsifier from Serratia marcescens S10 was determined; different carbon and nitrogen sources were used such as: different oils include: edible (vegetable) oils (olive oil, sesame oil, sun flower oil and corn oil) and heavy oils (oil 150, oil 60, oil 40) as carbon sources and (NH4Cl, casein, (NH4)2SO4, peptone, tryptone, gelatin and yeast extract) as nitrogen sources were added to production media. Bioemulsifier was estimated by measuring the surface tension (S.T), emulsification activity (E.A) and emulsification index (E24%). The best results of bioemulsifier production from Serratia marcescens S10 were obtained at pH8 and incubated at 37ºC for 5days, using sesame oil
... Show MoreSeveral types of laser are used in experimental works in order to study the effects of laser on blood vessel. They differ from each other by a lot of properties mainly in wavelength, energy of the laser and pulse duration. In this study argon laser (488 nm- 514 nm) and continuous Nd: YAG laSer (1064 nm), have been applied to 50 samples of sheep blgod tesselS. Histologically, tha results of the study were different According to the txpe of L`sar used; apgon larer had distrabtave effects on $he blood vessal while continuous Nd: YAG laser Appeaped to be the safesd one on the blmod vessel architecture. This study concluded that argoj laser has da-aging ef&ect on
... Show MoreThis work presents a five-period chaotic system called the Duffing system, in which the effect of changing the initial conditions and system parameters d, g and w, on the behavior of the chaotic system, is studied. This work provides a complete analysis of system properties such as time series, attractors, and Fast Fourier Transformation Spectrum (FFT). The system shows periodic behavior when the initial conditions xi and yi equal 0.8 and 0, respectively, then the system becomes quasi-chaotic when the initial conditions xi and yi equal 0 and 0, and when the system parameters d, g and w equal 0.02, 8 and 0.09. Finally, the system exhibits hyperchaotic behavior at the first two conditions, 0 and 0, and the bandwidth of the chaotic
... Show MoreBrainstorming has been a common approach in many industries where the result is not always accurate, especially when procuring automobile spare parts. This approach was replaced with a scientific and optimized method that is highly reliable, hence the decision to optimize the inventory inflation budget based on spare parts and miscellaneous costs of the typical automobile industry. Some factors required to achieve this goal were investigated. Through this investigation, spare parts (consumables and non-consumables) were found to be mostly used in Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM), Nigeria but incorporated miscellaneous costs to augment the cost of spare parts. The inflation rate was considered first due to the market's
... Show MoreA Laced Reinforced Concrete (LRC) structural element comprises continuously inclined shear reinforcement in the form of lacing that connects the longitudinal reinforcements on both faces of the structural element. This study conducted a theoretical investigation of LRC deep beams to predict their behavior after exposure to fire and high temperatures. Four simply supported reinforced concrete beams of 1500 mm, 200 mm, and 240 mm length, width, and depth, respectively, were considered. The specimens were identical in terms of compressive strength ( 40 MPa) and steel reinforcement details. The same laced steel reinforcement ratio of 0.0035 was used. Three specimens were burned at variable durations and steady-state temperatures (one
... Show MoreBackground: acrylic resin denture base consider a common denture base material for its acceptable cost, aesthetic and easy processing but still has disadvantages including easy of fracture and low impact strength. Material and method: The experimental group was prepared by addition of 15% phosphoric acid 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate ester (PA2HEME) with polymethyl methacrylate monomer; the experimental groups was compared with the control one. The specimens were prepared according to ADA specification No. 12 with dimension 65 mm x 10 mm x2.5 mm (length x width x thickness respectively). The prepared specimens were tested by three-point flexural strength utilizing Instron Universal Testing Machine (WDW, Layree Technology Co.), Shore D hard
... Show MoreIn this paper, we used two monomers, 3,3',4,4'-benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA) and m,m'-diaminobenzophenone (m, m’-DABP), to produce polyamide acid and then converted it to polyimide (PI). The effects of phosphoric acid (H3PO4) molarity (1, 2, and 3 M) on the structural, thermal, mechanical, and electrical characteristics of the polyimides/polyaniline (PI/PANI) nanocomposites were studied. Two sharp reflection peaks were developed by the addition of PANI to PI. When 3 M H3PO4 is added, the crystalline sharp peak loses some of its intensity. The complex formation of PI/PANI-H3PO4 was confi
... Show MoreThe enhancement of ZnSe/Si Heterojunction by adding some elements (V, In and Cu) as impurities is the main goal because they contribute to the manufacturing of renewable energy equipment, such as solar cells. This paper describes the preparation of thin films ZnSe with V, In and Cu doped using thermal evaporation method with a vacuum of 10–5 Torr. The thin film was obtained from this work could be applied in heterojunction solar cell because of several advantages including high absorption coefficient value and direct band gap. The samples prepared on a glass and n-type Si wafer substrate. These films have been annealed for 1 h in 450 K. X-ray diffraction XRD results indicated that ZnSe thin film possesses poly-crystalline structure after
... Show MoreThe change in the size of the droplets during the pesticide application process could have a negative impact on the percentage of drift or the losses of pesticides to the environment. One of the factors that could affect the droplet size produced from a single nozzle is the internal design of the nozzle itself, in addition to the wear of the nozzle orifice as a result of the usage time. In this research, three types of nozzles with different internal designs were used (Turbo TeeJet (TT), Turbo TwinJet (TTj 6011003), and Drift Guard (DG 11003)). The nozzles were subjected to an accelerated wear test for one hundred hours, and different droplet size parameters (Dv 0.1, Dv 0.5, Dv 0.9),