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.
The exchanges in various fields,like economics, science, culture, etc., have been enhanced unceasingly among different countries around the world in the twenty-first century, thus, the university graduate who masters one foreign language does not meet the need of the labor market in most countries.So, many universities began to develop new programs to cultivate students who can use more foreign languages to serve the intercultural communication. At the same time, there is more scientific research emerged which is related to the relationship between the second and third languages. This humble research seeks to explain the relevant concepts and analyze the real data collected from Shanghai International Studies University in China, to expl
... Show MoreResearchers have increased interest in recent years in determining the optimum sample size to obtain sufficient accuracy and estimation and to obtain high-precision parameters in order to evaluate a large number of tests in the field of diagnosis at the same time. In this research, two methods were used to determine the optimum sample size to estimate the parameters of high-dimensional data. These methods are the Bennett inequality method and the regression method. The nonlinear logistic regression model is estimated by the size of each sampling method in high-dimensional data using artificial intelligence, which is the method of artificial neural network (ANN) as it gives a high-precision estimate commensurate with the dat
... Show MoreBackground Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Ischemic heart disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Lack of blood supply to the brain can cause tissue death if any of the cerebral veins, carotid arteries, or vertebral arteries are blocked. An ischemic stroke describes this type of event. One of the byproducts of methionine metabolism, the demethylation of methionine, is homocysteine, an amino acid that contains sulfur. During myocardial ischemia, the plasma level of homocysteine (Hcy) increases and plays a role in many methylation processes. Hyperhomocysteinemia has only recently been recognized as a major contributor to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) owing to its eff
... Show MoreThe serum protein test includes measurement of the level of total protein(albumin, globulin). Fetuin-A is a blood protein made in liver. It can inhibit insulin receptor, enhance insulin sensitivity and make the individuals more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, then disorder in lipid profile (Total cholesterol(TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), Triglyceride(TG) and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-c) . To evaluate Fetuin-A, total protein, albumin, globulin, HbAlc and lipid profile in 200 adult and elderly Iraqi patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus were taken and compare them with 200 subjects as a healthy control. The laboratory analysis(for patients and
... Show MoreKE Sharquie, AA Noaimi, RA Flayih, Am J Clin Res Rev, 2020 - Cited by 4
The study tries to answer several questions posed by the subject, one of the important: How the Internet promotes rumor? And what are the most Internet applications that promote rumor? And the practical ways to reduce these negative? Using the process of in vestige and reading theoretical heritage available in this field, and inferred the numbers and statistics marked the uses of the Internet and its applications over recent years, and the characteristics of each these tools in the field of collection, processing, and dissemination of information
The current research dealt with the development of sciences and arts over the course of human history, and the development of sciences with their natural and human trends are important areas in developing the knowledge and application base for industrial product design and design in its various fields. Bionic science is one of the sciences that works on applying biological methods and systems found in nature to study and design engineering systems and modern technology, and for industrial products to be highly efficient, durable and resistant to natural variables in daily life for use. The transfer of technology between life forms and industrial products is desirable because the processes of development at the level of science in general
... Show MoreThis research deals with the study of the obstacles to peaceful coexistence in Iraq. Therefore, our hypothesis is that these obstacles are not attributed to one reason or to one source. Therefore, peaceful coexistence among the components of Iraqi society remains fragile and vulnerable to collapse and threat at any moment. This society, which is already in need of social relations, needs more than ever to coexist and consolidate it. Through the exercise of democracy in Iraq in a manner that guarantees rights and duties for all, to restore mutual trust between the components of this community in a way that feels they are citizens of the state.
Research summary
Westernization is a term not familiar to our scholars at the beginning of the emergence of translation from Western literature, sciences and arts in its detailed form now.
Westernization was not an issue that those Greeks, Persians, Romans, Indians and others worked on translating those sciences and cultures. Rather, it was a process of transferring a new philosophy and logic that had not been previously seen by the Arabs, so they were affected by it in a strange way, to the point of fascination by some of them. For this reason, this research came to clarify these issues and address them within the scientific methodology.