Biomarkers such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP) and Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) have a role in the pathogenesis of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The aim of this study was to explore the differences between serum levels of such biomarkers in severe and non-severe COVID-19 cases and compare them with normal people and to evaluate the sociodemographic variables and chronic diseases effect on the severity of COVID-19. The study included 160 subjects, divided into two groups, a case group of 80 patients, and a control group of 80 normal persons. The case group was divided into two subgroups: 40 severe COVID-19 patients and 40 patients with non-severe disease. Blood IL-6 was assessed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), PCT by an immunoassay, CRP by an immunoturbidimetric assay and NLR from CBC. The levels of IL-6, PCT, CRP, and NLR were significantly higher in the case group than in control group (p= 0.001, for all). However, there was no difference between these biomarkers level in the non-severe COVID-19 subgroup and the control group (p>0.05 for all). The proportion of severe COVID-19 was significantly higher in patients aged >50 years, and in patients with chronic diseases (p=0.046 and p=0.001, respectively). We also found a strong correlation between such biomarkers and old age, and chronic diseases with the disease severity. There was a significant difference in the level of the three biomarkers (IL-6, PCT, CRP, and NLR) between patients’ subgroups and the control group. In conclusion, since the levels of these biomarkers are correlated with the severity of the COVID-19 disease, and there was a difference in the levels between the groups with severe and non-severe symptoms, we suggest a role of these biomarkers in predicting the severity COVID-19 disease and its poor prognosis.
In recent years, there has been expanding development in the vehicular part and the number of vehicles moving on the road in all the sections of the country. Vehicle number plate identification based on image processing is a dynamic area of this work; this technique is used for security purposes such as tracking of stolen cars and access control to restricted areas. The License Plate Recognition System (LPRS) exploits a digital camera to capture vehicle plate numbers is used as input to the proposed recognition system. Basically, the developing system is consist of three phases, vehicle license plate localization, character segmentation, and character recognition, the License Plate (LP) detection is presented using canny
... Show MoreUsed cooking oil was undergoing trans-esterification reaction to produce biodiesel fuel. Method of production consisted of pretreatment steps, trans-esterification, separation, washing and drying. Trans-esterification of treated oils was studied at different operation conditions, the methanol to oil mole ratio were 6:1, 8:1, 10:1, and 12:1, at different temperature 30, 40, 50, and 60 º C, reaction time 40, 60, 80, and 120 minutes, amount of catalyst 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 wt.% based on oil and mixing speed 400 rpm. The maximum yield of biodiesel was 91.68 wt.% for treated oils obtained by trans-esterification reaction with 10:1 methanol to oil mole ratio, 60 º C reaction temperature, 80 minute reactio
... Show MoreIn regression testing, Test case prioritization (TCP) is a technique to arrange all the available test cases. TCP techniques can improve fault detection performance which is measured by the average percentage of fault detection (APFD). History-based TCP is one of the TCP techniques that consider the history of past data to prioritize test cases. The issue of equal priority allocation to test cases is a common problem for most TCP techniques. However, this problem has not been explored in history-based TCP techniques. To solve this problem in regression testing, most of the researchers resort to random sorting of test cases. This study aims to investigate equal priority in history-based TCP techniques. The first objective is to implement
... Show MoreFinite Element Approach is employed in this research work to solve the governing differential equations related to seepage via its foundation's dam structure. The primary focus for this reason is the discretization of domain into finite elements through the placement of imaginary nodal points and the discretization of governing equations into an equation system; An equation for each nodal point or part, and unknown variables are solved. The SEEP / W software (program) is a sub-program of the Geo-Studio software, which is used by porous soil media to compensate for the problems of seepage. To achieve the research goals, a study was carried out on Hemrin dam, which located in the Diyala River 100 km northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Thus, o
... Show MoreNon-prismatic reinforced concrete (RC) beams are widely used for various practical purposes, including enhancing architectural aesthetics and increasing the overall thickness in the support area above the column, which gives high assurance to services that this will not result in the distortion of construction features and can reduce heights. The hollow sections (recess) can also be used for the maintenance of large structural sections and the safe passage of utility lines of water, gas, telecommunications, electricity, etc. They are generally used in large and complex civil engineering works like bridges. This study conducted a numerical study using the commercial finite element software ANSYS version 15 for analysing RC beams, hol
... Show MoreReinforced concrete (RC) beams containing a longitudinal cavity have become an innovative development and advantage for economic purposes of light-weight members without largely affecting their resistance against the applied loads. This type of openings can also be used for maintenance purposes and usage space of communication lines, pipelines, etc. RC beams are primarily loaded in the plane of the members, which are two-dimensional in a plane stress state and the dominant structural behaviours include bending, shear, or combination of both. In the present study, six numerical models of RC beams with and without openings were simulated by using commercial finite element software ANSYS to evaluate the structural behaviours of those b
... Show MoreBackground: Breast Cancer is the most common malignancy among the Iraqi population; the majority of cases are still diagnosed at advanced stages with poor prospects of cure. Early detection through promoting public awareness is one of the promising tools in its control. Objectives: To evaluate the baseline needs for breast cancer awareness in Iraq through exploring level of knowledge, beliefs and behavior towards the disease and highlighting barriers to screening among a sample of Iraqi women complaining of breast cancer. Methodology: Two-hundred samples were enrolled in this study; gathered from the National
The work includes synthesis and characterization of some new heterocyclic compounds, as flow: The compound (3) (5-(4-chlorophenyl) -2-hydrazinyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole was synthesized by using two methods; the first method includes the direct reaction between hydrazine hydrate 80% and 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-2- (ethylthio) 1,3,4-oxadiazole (1), the second method involves converting 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-amine (2) to diazonium salt then reducing this salt to compound (3) by stannous chloride. Compound (3) was used as starting material for synthesizing several fused heterocyclic compounds. The compound 6-(4-chlorophenyl)[1,2.4] triazolo [3,4,b][1,3,4] oxadiazole-3-(2H) thione (compound 4) was synthesized from the reaction of compound (3)
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