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The Burden of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease COPD in Stable Patients and its Association with Inflammatory Biomarkers and Body Mass Index
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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 chest and Internal Medicine consultation clinics, and in private internist clinics in Kirkuk City, Iraq between January and April 2023. The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI-COPD) measured the Burden of COPD. The symptom burden was assessed by the COPD assessment test (CAT). The level of IL-6 monoclonal antibodies was measured via a Roche Cobas 6000 analyzer and TNF-α using the ELISA sandwich technique. All these devices and machines were authorized by the Ministry of Health, Iraq. Results: The mean age was (54.1 ± 8.12) years, 62.5% being males and 37.5% being females; 41.7% were public sector employees, and 39.2% were self-employed. Due to COPD, the overall work loss was (45.9±18.91) days, the mean percentage of absenteeism was (10.9% ± 12.31%), activity impairment was (47.5% ±17.79%) among all patients, presenteeism was (40.8 ± 15.05%,) and COPD-related retirees were 14.2% of the study group. The mean CAT score (19.3±5.63) was high and the most troubling symptom among patients was chest tightness.  WPAI-COPD scores were higher in older age and longer disease duration. The levels of biomarkers were above the reference ranges, the mean IL-6 level was (69.4 ± 35.29) pg/ml, and the mean TNF-α was (72.3 ± 22.45) pg/ ml. Conclusions: COPD patients exhibit a disease burden in terms of productivity loss at work and activity impairment that increases with aging and disease duration. COPD patients with low BMI are more prone to a decline in lung functions and to worse symptoms.

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Publication Date
Tue Jul 01 2025
Journal Name
Journal Of Ecological Engineering
Enhancement of <i>Chlorella vulgaris</i> bioethanol production by optimizing phosphorus concentrations
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This study investigated the bioethanol production from green algae Chlorella vulgaris depending on its carbohydrate-enriched biomass. Four different phosphorous concentrations were employed to stimulate bioethanol production from Chlorella vulgaris. The impact of various phosphorous values on Chlorella vulgaris growth rate as well as primary product (carbohydrate) were evaluated. High performance liquid chromatography was utilized in this work. The stationary phase was identified as day 14, 12, 10 and 6 in treatments 6, 4, 2 and g/L, respectively. The findings suggest that the treatment without phosphorous addition had the highest record of carbohydrate content (22.64% dry weight) as well as the highest bioethanol yield (20.66% dry weight).

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Publication Date
Sun Jun 01 2014
Journal Name
Baghdad Science Journal
Solving Optimal Control Linear Systems by Using New Third kind Chebyshev Wavelets Operational Matrix of Derivative
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In this paper, a new third kind Chebyshev wavelets operational matrix of derivative is presented, then the operational matrix of derivative is applied for solving optimal control problems using, third kind Chebyshev wavelets expansions. The proposed method consists of reducing the linear system of optimal control problem into a system of algebraic equations, by expanding the state variables, as a series in terms of third kind Chebyshev wavelets with unknown coefficients. Example to illustrate the effectiveness of the method has been presented.

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Publication Date
Mon Jul 01 2019
Journal Name
Journal Of Engineering
Development of Bridges Maintenance Management System based on Geographic Information System Techniques (Case study: AlMuthanna \ Iraq)
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A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computerized database management system for accumulating, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display spatial data. In general, GIS contains two broad categories of information, geo-referenced spatial data and attribute data. Geo-referenced spatial data define objects that have an orientation and relationship in two or three-dimensional space, while attribute data is qualitative data that can be counted for recording and analysis. The main aim of this research is to reveal the role of GIS technology in the enhancement of bridge maintenance management system components such as the output results, and make it more interpretable through dynamic colour coding and more sophisticated vi

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Publication Date
Fri May 01 2015
Journal Name
Journal Of Engineering
Use of non-Conventional Material to Remove Cu+2 ions from Aqueous Solutions using Chemical Coagulation
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Coagulation - flocculation are basic chemical engineering method in the treatment of metal-bearing industrial wastewater because it removes colloidal particles, some soluble compounds and very fine solid suspensions initially present in the wastewater by destabilization and formation of flocs. This research was conducted to study the feasibility of using natural coagulant such as okra and mallow and chemical coagulant such as alum for removing Cu and increase the removal efficiency and reduce the turbidity of treated water. Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) was carried out for okra and mallow before and after coagulant to determine their type of functional groups. Carbonyl and hydroxyl functional groups on the surface of

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Publication Date
Wed Dec 01 2021
Journal Name
Bioresource Technology Reports
Biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) by a newly isolated strain Bacillus tequilensis ARY86 using inexpensive carbon source
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Publication Date
Wed Mar 01 2023
Journal Name
Journal Of Engineering
Stiffness Characteristics of Pile Models for Cement Improving Sandy Soil by Low-Pressure Injection Laboratory Setup
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Soil improvement has developed as a realistic solution for enhancing soil properties so that structures can be constructed to meet project engineering requirements due to the limited availability of construction land in urban centers. The jet grouting method for soil improvement is a novel geotechnical alternative for problematic soils for which conventional foundation designs cannot provide acceptable and lasting solutions. The paper's methodology was based on constructing pile models using a low-pressure injection laboratory setup built and made locally to simulate the operation of field equipment. The setup design was based on previous research that systematically conducted unconfined compression testing (U.C.Ts.). Th

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Publication Date
Fri Sep 01 2017
Journal Name
Journal Of Bridge Engineering
Novel Demountable Shear Connector for Accelerated Disassembly, Repair, or Replacement of Precast Steel-Concrete Composite Bridges
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A novel demountable shear connector for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents bolts from slipping within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes the typical construction tolerance issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly. Therefore, it can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow including the following: (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (

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Publication Date
Sat Jan 01 2022
Journal Name
International Journal Of Research In Social Sciences & Humanities
Sarah Orne Jewett As a Precursor of Ecoconscious Children Fiction: “A White heron” As an Example
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Nearly a century and a half has passed since Sarah Orne Jewett published her much anthologized short story “A White Heron” (1886), but commentators on the tale missed one of the most important points in the text. It is the story’s similarity to the traditional Euro-centric fairy tale of “Little Red Riding Hood”. As an author, writing at the end of the ninetieth century, a time that witnessed the demise of the Romantic movement in America and the beginning of the age of Realism, Jewett did not romanticize her characters, despite the idyllic landscape in which “A White Heron” is set. Her story can be analyzed as a text that aims at disseminating ecological awareness among her young readers. This study focuses on Jewett

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Publication Date
Thu Dec 01 2011
Journal Name
Journal Of Engineering
OPTIMAL DESIGN OF MODERATE THICK LAMINATED COMPOSITE PLATES UNDER STATIC CONSTRAINTS USING REAL CODING GENETIC ALGORITHM
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The objective of the current research is to find an optimum design of hybrid laminated moderate thick composite plates with static constraint. The stacking sequence and ply angle is required for optimization to achieve minimum deflection for hybrid laminated composite plates consist of glass and carbon long fibers reinforcements that impeded in epoxy matrix with known plates dimension and loading. The analysis of plate is by adopting the first-order shear deformation theory and using Navier's solution with Genetic Algorithm to approach the current objective. A program written with MATLAB to find best stacking sequence and ply angles that give minimum deflection, and the results comparing with ANSYS.

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Publication Date
Sat Jan 01 2022
Journal Name
Journal Of Engineering
Efficient Energy Management for a Proposed Integrated Internet of Things-Electric Smart Meter (2IOT-ESM) System
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In this work, an efficient energy management (EEM) approach is proposed to merge IoT technology to enhance electric smart meters by working together to satisfy the best result of the electricity customer's consumption. This proposed system is called an integrated Internet of things for electrical smart meter (2IOT-ESM) architecture. The electric smart meter (ESM) is the first and most important technique used to measure the active power, current, and energy consumption for the house’s loads. At the same time, the effectiveness of this work includes equipping ESM with an additional storage capacity that ensures that the measurements are not lost in the event of a failure or sudden outage in WiFi network. Then then these

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