Background: since December 2019, China and in particularly Wuhan, faced an unprecedented an outbreak challenge of coronavirus disease 2019, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Clinical characteristics of Iraqi patients with COVID-19 and risk factors for mortality needed to be shared with the health care providers to improve the overall disease experience. Methods: prospective, single-center study recruited patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who were admitted to Al-Shifaa Isolation Center / Baghdad Medical City between the mid of March and the end of April 2020 until had been discharged or had died. Demographic data, information on clinical signs, symptoms, at presentation, treatment, have been collected from patient records and a research questioner. Result: a total of 60 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection have been included (mean age, 47 years [range, 12-80 years]; 72% male. Comorbidities were identified in 32 cases (53 %) including respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Fever and headache were reported in 27 (45%) and 15 (25%) of the cases respectively. Respiratory manifestations recorded as wheezing observed in 3 (5%), rhinorrhea 12 (20%), crackles 3 (5%) sore throat 22 (36%), bronchial breathing 23 (38.3%) with the most of the patients experienced cough 41 (68.3%) and shortness of breath (SOB) 38 (63.3%). Cyanosis is recognized in 3 (5%), convulsion 4 (6.7%), malaise 41 (68.3%). Gastrointestinal manifestations were diarrhea 8 (13.3%), vomiting 12 (20%). Overall mortality was higher in male gender 8 (18.6%) and the overall average age of the died cases was 60.5 years. Conclusion: the infection with COVID-19 is more likely to infect older men with hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease as significant risk factors for COVID-19 patients. The understanding of these factors can enhance defining those COVID-19 patients at higher risk, and allow a more targeted and approach to prevent those deaths.
High smoke emissions, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter typically produced by diesel engines. Diminishing the exhausted emissions without doing any significant changes in their mechanical configuration is a challenging subject. Thus, adding hydrogen to the traditional fuel would be the best practical choice to ameliorate diesel engines performance and reduce emissions. The air hydrogen mixer is an essential part of converting the diesel engine to work under dual fuel mode (hydrogen-diesel) without any engine modification. In this study, the Air-hydrogen mixer is developed to get a homogenous mixture for hydrogen with air and a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio according to the speed of the engine. The mixer depends on the balance between th
... Show MoreThe loose sand is subject to large settlement when it is exposed to high stresses. This settlement is due to the nature of the high drainage of sand, which displays foundations and constructions to a large danger. The densification of loose sandy soils is required to provide sufficient bearing capacity for the structures. Thus soil stabilization is used to avoid failure in the facilities. Traditional methods of stabilized sandy soil such as fly ash, bituminous, and cement often require an extended curing period. The use of polymers to stabilize sandy soils is more extensive nowadays because it does not require a long curing time in addition to being chemically stable. In this study, the effect of adding different percent
... Show MoreThis study aims to investigate the effect of low concentrations of sulfuric antioxidants on sperm of rams. This study was conducted in the field of sheep and goats of the Department of Livestock in the collage of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad. The semen was collected using the artificial vagina at weekly rate (Pooled semen) and was subjected to different tests and then was divided into seven treatments but different concentrations of cysteine (0.5, 1mM) and glutathione (0.5, 1mM) and taurine (0.5, 1mM).The sample of the semen was diluted with Tris dilution (10: 1). The results showed that the low concentrations of glutathione, cysteine and taurine resulted i
The present experimental work is conducted to examine the influence of adding Alumina (Al2O3) nanoparticles and Titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles each alone to diesel fuel on the characteristic of the emissions. The size of both Alumina and Titanium oxide nanoparticles which have been added to diesel fuel to obtain nano-fuel is about 20 nm and 25 nm respectively. Three doses of (Al2O3) and (TiO2) were prepared (25, 50, and 100) ppm. The nanoparticles mixed with gas oil fuel by mechanical homogenous (manual electrical mixer) and ultrasonic processor. The study reveals that the adding of Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and Titanium oxide (TiO2) to g
... Show MoreIn this work, enhancement to the fluorescence characteristics of laser dye solutions hosting highly-pure titanium dioxide nanoparticles as random gain media. This was achieved by coating two opposite sides of the cells containing these media with nanostructured thin films of highly-pure titanium dioxide. Two laser dyes; Rhodamine B and Coumarin 102, were used to prepare solutions in hexanol and methanol, respectively, as hosts for the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles and thin films were prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The enhancement was observed by the narrowing of fluorescence linewidth as well as by increasing the fluorescence intensity. These parameters were compared to those of the dye only and the dye solution
... Show MoreIn this study, gold nanoparticle samples were prepared by the chemical reduction method (seed-growth) with 4 ratios (10, 12, 15 and 18) ml of seed, and the growth was stationary at 40 ml. The optical and structural properties of these samples were studied. The 18 ml seed sample showed the highest absorbance. The X- ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of these samples showed clear peaks at (38.25o, 44.5o, 64.4o, and 77.95o). The UV-visible showed that the absorbance of all the samples was in the same range as the standard AuNPs. The field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) showed the shape of AuNPs as nanorods and the particle size between 30-50 nm. Rhodamine-610 (RhB) was prepared at 10<
... Show MoreBackground: Dyslipidemia is defined as an abnormally high level of various lipids in the blood. It is considered a major risk for atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. Genetic susceptibility can have a significant influence on the development and progression of dyslipidemia. ApoB-100 R3500Q mutation and ApoE variants are among those genetic risks for dyslipidemia. This study aims to assess the possible contribution of ApoB and ApoE variants on lipid profile among a group of early-onset ischemic heart disease (IHD) patients in comparison to a group of controls. Methods: Forty patients with dyslipidemia and early-onset IHD without chronic conditions likely to cause derangement of lipid levels were recruited to this case-control study
... Show MoreIn the last few years, the use of artificial neural network analysis has increased, particularly, in geotechnical engineering problems and has demonstrated some success. In this research, artificial neural network analysis endeavors to predict the relationship between physical and mechanical properties of Baghdad soil by making different trials between standard penetration test, liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, cohesion, angle of internal friction, and bearing capacity. The analysis revealed that the changes in natural water content and plastic limit have a great effect on the cohesion of soil and the angle of internal friction, respectively. . On the other hand, the liquid limit has a great impact on the bearing capacity and
... Show MoreIn the last few years, the use of artificial neural network analysis has increased, particularly, in geotechnical engineering problems and has demonstrated some success. In this research, artificial neural network analysis endeavors to predict the relationship between physical and mechanical properties of Baghdad soil by making different trials between standard penetration test, liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, cohesion, angle of internal friction, and bearing capacity. The analysis revealed that the changes in natural water content and plastic limit have a great effect on the cohesion of soil and the angle of internal friction, respectively. . On the other hand, the liquid limit has a great impact on the bearing capacity and
... Show More