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.
Objectives:This study aimed to identify women perception and experience regarding family planning(FP) methods
Methodology:Descriptive cross-sectional hospital based study,was conducted at Omer Sawi teaching hospital,from august to September 2019.Sample of 320 women, were selected randomly after their agreement.Data were collected through interview questionnaire and analyzed using a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS)and descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used.With accepted P.< 0.05.for the correlation significant.
Results:Age group between 21-25 years represent (53.1%),most common education levels were secondary school 56%.Majority of women had 2-5 children.Half of the wo
In this work, diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films were prepared from Cyclohexane. Thin films were deposited on quartz substrate by atmospheric pressure Argon plasma jet system. The plasma jet system was applying high voltage sinusoidal waves of frequency 28 kHz and potential difference of 7.5kV peak to peak across the electrodes. The effect of annealing at 400, 500 and 600 °C under vacuum for two hours on optical properties and structural properties of the DLC thin films were investigated. This effect was clarified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR, UV-Visible absorption, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Raman Spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction patterns for the annealing DLC thin films show two broad peaks at 2θ, 26.62° and 51.58
... Show MoreIn the leaves of Olea europaea L. Olive trees an endophytic fungus was discovered. Cladosporium sp. was identified to be the fungus based on its morphological characteristics and nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS sequence analysis and was registered in NCBI as the Cladosporium genus has been registered under the number (0P939922.1) The species was not specified, and it was considered of unknown species after comparing it to global isolates. In comparison to olive leaf extract, Cladosporium sp. including total flavonoid, total phenolic, total terpenoid, and total saponins, Which were 121.9%, 198.1%, 89.13%, and 29.87 % respectively compared to its content in olive leaf extract, which was 61.54 %, 67.88 % , 17.1
... Show MoreA Wearable Robotic Knee (WRK) is a mobile device designed to assist disabled individuals in moving freely in undefined environments without external support. An advanced controller is required to track the output trajectory of a WRK device in order to resolve uncertainties that are caused by modeling errors and external disturbances. During the performance of a task, disturbances are caused by changes in the external load and dynamic work conditions, such as by holding weights while performing the task. The aim of this study is to address these issues and enhance the performance of the output trajectory tracking goal using an adaptive robust controller based on the Radial Basis Function (RBF) Neural Network (NN) system and Hamilton
... Show MoreThis work revealed the spherical aromaticity of some inorganic E4 cages and their protonated E4H+ ions (E=N, P, As, Sb, and Bi). For this purpose, we employed several evaluations like (0D-1D) nucleus independent chemical shift (NICS), multidimensional (2D-3D) off-nucleus isotropic shielding σiso(r), and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. The magnetic calculations involved gauge-including atomic orbitals (GIAO) with two density functionals B3LYP and WB97XD, and basis sets of Jorge-ATZP, 6-311+G(d,p), and Lanl2DZp. The Jorge-ATZP basis set showed the best consistency. Our findings disclosed non-classical aromatic characters in the above molecules, which decreased from N to Bi cages. Also, the results showed more aromaticity in E4 than E4H+
... Show MoreThe quality of groundwater in the Al-Hawija area was assessed using a water quality index. Data of nine physico-chemical parameters of 28 groundwater wells were used to calculate the water quality index (WQI). A heterogeneous water quality was reported, where in close proximity to the Lesser Zab River (LZR), it has low WQI values and permissible for human consumptions due to the dilution processes by fresh water; whereas, it becomes deteriorated in areas located far away the river. The values of WQI ranges from 22 to 336, indicating a good to very poor groundwater quality.
The issue of penalized regression model has received considerable critical attention to variable selection. It plays an essential role in dealing with high dimensional data. Arctangent denoted by the Atan penalty has been used in both estimation and variable selection as an efficient method recently. However, the Atan penalty is very sensitive to outliers in response to variables or heavy-tailed error distribution. While the least absolute deviation is a good method to get robustness in regression estimation. The specific objective of this research is to propose a robust Atan estimator from combining these two ideas at once. Simulation experiments and real data applications show that the p
... Show MoreWe present a reliable algorithm for solving, homogeneous or inhomogeneous, nonlinear ordinary delay differential equations with initial conditions. The form of the solution is calculated as a series with easily computable components. Four examples are considered for the numerical illustrations of this method. The results reveal that the semi analytic iterative method (SAIM) is very effective, simple and very close to the exact solution demonstrate reliability and efficiency of this method for such problems.