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.
In the field of data security, the critical challenge of preserving sensitive information during its transmission through public channels takes centre stage. Steganography, a method employed to conceal data within various carrier objects such as text, can be proposed to address these security challenges. Text, owing to its extensive usage and constrained bandwidth, stands out as an optimal medium for this purpose. Despite the richness of the Arabic language in its linguistic features, only a small number of studies have explored Arabic text steganography. Arabic text, characterized by its distinctive script and linguistic features, has gained notable attention as a promising domain for steganographic ventures. Arabic text steganography harn
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to shed light on the importance of biofuels as an alternative to conventional energy, in addition to the importance of preserving agricultural crops, which are the main source of this fuel, to maintain food security, especially in developing countries. The increase in global oil prices, in addition to the fear of global warming, are among the main factors that draw the world’s attention to searching for alternative sources of traditional energy, which are sustainable on the one hand, and on the other hand reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, the volume of global investment in renewable energy in general, and in liquid biofuels and biomass in particular, has increased. Global fears emerged that the excessive convers
... Show MoreThis work implements an Electroencephalogram (EEG) signal classifier. The implemented method uses Orthogonal Polynomials (OP) to convert the EEG signal samples to moments. A Sparse Filter (SF) reduces the number of converted moments to increase the classification accuracy. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used to classify the reduced moments between two classes. The proposed method’s performance is tested and compared with two methods by using two datasets. The datasets are divided into 80% for training and 20% for testing, with 5 -fold used for cross-validation. The results show that this method overcomes the accuracy of other methods. The proposed method’s best accuracy is 95.6% and 99.5%, respectively. Finally, from the results, it
... Show MoreDeep learning convolution neural network has been widely used to recognize or classify voice. Various techniques have been used together with convolution neural network to prepare voice data before the training process in developing the classification model. However, not all model can produce good classification accuracy as there are many types of voice or speech. Classification of Arabic alphabet pronunciation is a one of the types of voice and accurate pronunciation is required in the learning of the Qur’an reading. Thus, the technique to process the pronunciation and training of the processed data requires specific approach. To overcome this issue, a method based on padding and deep learning convolution neural network is proposed to
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of N and Nβ -closed sets in terms of neutrosophic topological spaces. Some of its properties are also discussed.
The fingerprints are the more utilized biometric feature for person identification and verification. The fingerprint is easy to understand compare to another existing biometric type such as voice, face. It is capable to create a very high recognition rate for human recognition. In this paper the geometric rotation transform is applied on fingerprint image to obtain a new level of features to represent the finger characteristics and to use for personal identification; the local features are used for their ability to reflect the statistical behavior of fingerprint variation at fingerprint image. The proposed fingerprint system contains three main stages, they are: (i) preprocessing, (ii) feature extraction, and (iii) matching. The preprocessi
... Show MoreThe present study involves experimental analysis of the modified Closed Wet Cooling Tower (CWCT) based on first and second law of thermodynamics, to gain a deeper knowledge in this important field of engineering in Iraq. For this purpose, a prototype of CWCT optimized by added packing under a heat exchanger was designed, manufactured and tested for cooling capacity of 9 kW. Experiments are conducted to explore the effects of various operational and conformational parameters on the towers thermal performance. In the test section, spray water temperature and both dry bulb temperature and relative humidity of air measured at intermediate points of the heat exchanger and packing. Exergy of water and air were calculated by applying the exergy
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to present a weak form of -light functions by using -open set which is -light function, and to offer new concepts of disconnected spaces and totally disconnected spaces. The relation between them have been studied. Also, a new form of -totally disconnected and inversely -totally disconnected function have been defined, some examples and facts was submitted.
Background: Obesity tends to appear in modern societies and constitutes a significant public health problem with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Objective: This study aims to determine the agreement between actual and perceived body image in the general population.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted with a sample size of 300. The data were collected from eight major populated areas of Northern district of Karachi Sindh with a period of six months (10th January 2020 to 21st June 2020). The Figure rating questionnaire scale (FRS) was applied to collect the demographic data and perception about body weight. Body mass index (BMI) used for ass
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