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.
The erythrocyte aggregation is an important physiological phenomenon in the circulation of blood. It is a basic characteristic of normal blood that plays a major role in the cardiovascular system, especially in the microcirculation. This study explained the kinetics of single cells rouleaux formation one- dimensional aggregate and three- dimensional aggregate, during simultaneous, and the effect of hematocrit on the process of aggregation and sedimentation. The present study was done on forty one healthy subjects. Laser light is passed through a well mixed sample of blood and the forward scattered light intensities recorded continuously. The samples were prepared with different hematocrit, (10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%). Increasing
... Show MoreThe design of components subjected to contact stress as local compressive stress is important in engineering application especially in ball and socket Joining. Two kinds of contact stress are introduced in the ball and socket joint, the first is from normal contact while the other is from sliding contact. Although joining two long links (drive shaft in steering cars) will cause the effect of flexural and tensional buckling stress in hollow columns through the ball and socket ends on the failure condition of the joining mechanism. In this paper the consideration of the combined effect of buckling Load and contact stress on the ball and socket joints have been taken, epically on the stress distribution in the contact area. Different
... Show MoreWhile traditional energy sources such as oil, coal, and natural gas drive economic growth, they also seriously affect people’s health and the environment. Renewable energies (RE) are presently seen as an efficient choice for attaining long-term sustainability in development. They provide an adequate response to climate change and supply sufficient electricity. The current situation in Iraq results from a decades-long scarcity of reliable electricity, which has impacted various industries, including agriculture. There are diverse prospects for using renewable energy sources to address the present power crisis. The economic and environmental impacts of renewable energy systems were investigated in this study by using the solar pumpi
... Show MoreHigher education is important because it creates and develops human capital and provides qualified human cadres, which requires restructuring government spending so that an increase in funding allocated to education is brought about. During the period 1990-2020, government spending was weak on educational institutions in Iraq, which led to a decline in The role of these institutions in the economic development of the country. The highest percentage of spending on higher education of GDP was 0.47% in 2007 and the lowest was 0.01% in 2005. The number of public universities reached 35, and the number of private universities and colleges reached 64 universities and private colleges in 2020. This was accompanied by an increase in the number of s
... Show MoreMost of the studies conducted in the past decades focused on the effect of interest rates and exchange rates on domestic investment under the assumption that the independent variables have the same effect on the dependent variable, but there were limited studies that investigated the unequal effects of changes in interest rates and exchange rates, both positive and negative, on domestic investment. This study used a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model to assess the unequal effects of the real interest rate and real exchange rate variables on domestic investment in Egypt for the period 1976 - 2020. The results revealed that positive and negative shocks for both exchange rates have unequal effects on
... Show MoreBackground: Dental implants act as infrastructure for fixed restoration to look like as a natural tooth. Osseointegration is a biological events and considered as a base for success of dental implant. The aim of this study is to evaluate the bond strength between bone and Ti implant coated with mixture of nano hydroxyapatite-chitosan-collagen compared with Ti implants coated with nano hydroxyapatite implanted in rabbit tibia, after different period of implantation time (two and six weeks) by torque removal test. Material and methods: 36 screws of commercially pure titanium; 8mm in length and 3mm diameter , 18 screws coated with mixture of nano hydroxyapatite-chitosan-collagen and18 screws coated with nano hydroxyapatite by dip coating. St
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic periodontitis is a bacterial infection that result in bone destruction associated with the increasing level of salivary tumor necrosis alpha and interleukin6 that affect Mother-infant bonding status. The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between the Mother-infant bonding status in mothers with chronic periodontitis in relation to Salivary Tumor necrosis factor alpha and Salivary Interleukin6. Materials and Methods: The selected sample consisted of mothers with chronic periodontitis compared with mothers with healthy periodontium in postpartum period, their age ranged between 30-40 years. Both groups were subjected to postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ). Periodontal health status was assessed f
... Show MoreThis paper analyzes the effect of scaling-up model and acceleration history on seismic response of closed-ended pipe pile using a finite element modeling approach and the findings of 1 g shaking table tests of a pile embedded in dry and saturated soils. A number of scaling laws were used to create the numerical modeling according to the data obtained from 1 g shake table tests performed in the laboratory. The current study found that the behaviors of the scaled models, in general have similar trends. From numerical modeling on both the dry and saturated sands, the normalized lateral displacement, bending moment, and vertical displacement of piles with scale factors of 2 and 35 are less than those of the pile with a scale factor of 1 and the
... Show MoreAbstract:
The research aims to identify how to audit potential liabilities and contingent liabilities in light of the pandemic and its reflection on the auditor's report. The research problem is represented by the complexity of the process of checking potential liabilities and contingent liabilities in insurance companies, which was negatively reflected in the auditor's neutral technical opinion. The researchers hypothesize that auditing potential liabilities and contingent liabilities in light of the Corona pandemic is positively reflected in the auditor's report. The research concludes that the process of checking potential liabilities and contingent liabilities is
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