Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive airflow limitation that is preventable but not curable. It is associated with persistent symptoms that cause a considerable burden on individual productivity at work, and daily activities, and reduced quality of life, also burdening the healthcare system and society. Objectives: The study aims to measure the burden of COPD on patients in terms of daily activities and work productivity. It also seeks to investigate some inflammatory biomarkers' levels and their correlation with selected outcomes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study on 120 stable COPD patients who were diagnosed and treated according to the GOLD guidelines at Kirkuk General Hospital's

The 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

In this paper the process of metal ions extraction (Zn(II) and Cu(II)) was studied in PEG-KCl aqueous two phase system was investigated without using an extracting agent. The experimental runs were performance at constant temperature (25 ^oC), constant mixing time (30 min), and constant PH of the solution (about 3). The effect of KCl salt concentration (from 10% to 25%), volumetric phase ratio of PEG solution to KCl solution (from 0.5 to 2), and the initial metal ion concentration (from 0.25 ml to 2 ml of 1 gm/L solution) were investigated on the percent extraction of Zn(II) and Cu(II). The results indicated that the percent extraction of metal ions increase with increasing of salt concentration and phase ratio, and slightly de

The removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater by ion exchange resins ( zeolite and purolite C105), was investigated. The adsorption process, which is pH dependent, shows maximum removal of metal ions at pH 6 and 7 for zeolite and purolite C105 for initial metal ion
concentrations of 50-250 mg/l, with resin dose of 0.25-3 g. The maximum ion exchange capacity was found to be 9.74, 9.23 and 9.71 mg/g for Cu2+, Pb2+, and Ni2+ on zeolite respectively, while on purolite C105 the maximum ion exchange capacity was found to be 9.64 ,8.73 and 9.39 for Cu2+, Pb2+, and Ni2+ respectively. The maximum removal was 97-98% for Cu2+ and Ni2+ and 92- 93% for Pb2+ on zeolite, while it was 93-94% for Cu2+, 96-97% for Ni2+, and 87-88% for Pb2+ on puroli

One of the key molecules in the conversion of sphingosine to sphingosine-1- phosphate is SPHK-1, also known as Sphingosine Kinase 1 (SPHK-1). Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a lipid that acts as a signaling molecule and plays an essential role in inflammatory and immunomodulatory responses. S1P has recently been identified as a mediator and a biomarker in inflammatory bone diseases such as osteoporosis and inflammatory osteolysis based on the biological effects of S1P in osteoclastic and osteoblastic cells and immune cells. According to recent research, S1P may play a role in the pathogenesis of periodontitis, an inflammatory bone-destructive condition. This study assesses the salivary level SPHK-1 in periodontitis and its correlat