Background: Neonatal seizures are the most common neurological emergency in newborns, often associated with significant mortality and long-term neurodevelopmental disabilities. The aim is to determine the incidence, etiological causes, and risk factors associated with neonatal seizures.Patients and Methods: This prospective case-control study was conducted over eight months, from January 1 to August 31, 2022, the study was conducted at the neonatal care unit of Children Welfare Teaching Hospital. Neonates who developed clinically recognizable seizures before 28 days of life in term infants, or up to 44 weeks corrected gestational age in preterm infants, were included. Data collection involved demographic information, prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal history, family history, seizure characteristics, physical examination including growth parameters, and relevant laboratory and radiological investigations. Follow-up was conducted two months later via phone interviews.Results: Among 180 neonates included, 50% had seizures while the remaining served as controls. The incidence of seizures among admitted neonates was 7.7%. The three main etiologies were birth asphyxia, infection, and metabolic disorders, each accounting for 25.6% of cases. The mean age at seizure onset was 9.3 ± 9.1 days, with a median of 5 days. Males were more affected (male-to-female ratio 1.57:1), and seizures were more common in term infants. Significant associations were found with family history of neurological disease and neonatal death. Vaginal delivery was more linked to birth asphyxia, while cesarean delivery was associated with neurological malformations. Mortality was three times higher in neonates with seizures.Conclusion: Birth asphyxia, infection, and metabolic disorders are leading causes of neonatal seizures. A positive family history and prematurity increase susceptibility. Early onset may indicate etiology, but seizure type does not predict cause. Seizure presence significantly increases neonatal mortality.
Background: Anti-vascular endothelial growth factors commonly used intravitreally for treatment of variable retinal disease worldwide, which help to regulate the upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factors due to ischemia or/and other retinal insult.
Objective: To review all cases of intravitreal bevacizumab given in the retinal unit of the Eye Specialty Private Hospital in Iraq from December 2015 to June 2016, pointing out the common indications.
Methods: A retrospective study including all cases of intravitreal injections of bevacizumab recorded at the Eye Specialty Private Hospital from December 2015 to June 2016 were retrieved. Age, sex, laterality, diagnosis
... Show MoreThis study aims at shedding light on the linguistic significance of collocation networks in the academic writing context. Following Firth’s principle “You shall know a word by the company it keeps.” The study intends to examine three selected nodes (i.e. research, study, and paper) shared collocations in an academic context. This is achieved by using the corpus linguistic tool; GraphColl in #LancsBox software version 5 which was announced in June 2020 in analyzing selected nodes. The study focuses on academic writing of two corpora which were designed and collected especially to serve the purpose of the study. The corpora consist of a collection of abstracts extracted from two different academic journals that publish for writ
... Show MoreAutoimmune hepatitis is an inflammatory disease and its incidence has been increasing. The features of hepatitis are the release of inflammatory cytokines, the elevation of AST and ALT, and hepatocyte apoptosis and necrosis. Concanavalin A considered as essential model represents the acute immune-mediated liver damage in rodents. Thymoquinone is well known herbal compound that exert hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activity. In this study, we focus on the immunoregulatory and liver protective effect of thymoquinone in a mouse model of concanavalin A-induced liver injury.
Twenty-four male mice were randomly divided into four groups each containing six animals: Negative control group, concanavalin A model group,
... Show MoreContinuous escalation of the cost of generating energy is preceded by the fact of scary depletion of the energy reserve of the fossil fuels and pollution of the environment as developed and developing countries burn these fuels. To meet the challenge of the impending energy crisis, renewable energy has been growing rapidly in the last decade. Among the renewable energy sources, solar energy is the most extensively available energy, has the least effect on the environment, and is very efficient in terms of energy conversion. Thus, solar energy has become one of the preferred sources of renewable energy. Flat-plate solar collectors are one of the extensively-used and well-known types of solar collectors. However, the effectiveness of the coll
... Show MoreOxidative stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of peripheral artery disease (PAD). This study aimed to investigate the effect of clopidogrel on oxidative stress in PAD patients. Seventy subjects were divided into three groups: PAD patients before treatment (B-PAD), PAD patients after treatment with clopidogrel (A-PAD), and healthy controls. Serum levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and oxidized protein were measured. SOD activities were also determined. The results showed that SOD activities, and SOD specific activities were significantly decreased in PAD patients compared to healthy individuals. After treatment with clopidogrel, SOD activities, and SOD specific activities were continuous
... Show MoreIt is well known that the spread of cancer or tumor growth increases in polluted environments. In this paper, the dynamic behavior of the cancer model in the polluted environment is studied taking into consideration the delay in clearance of the environment from their contamination. The set of differential equations that simulates this epidemic model is formulated. The existence, uniqueness, and the bound of the solution are discussed. The local and global stability conditions of disease-free and endemic equilibrium points are investigated. The occurrence of the Hopf bifurcation around the endemic equilibrium point is proved. The stability and direction of the periodic dynamics are studied. Finally, the paper is ended with a numerical simul
... Show MoreThis review delves deep into the intricate relationship between urban planning and flood risk management, tracing its historical trajectory and the evolution of methodologies over time. Traditionally, urban centers prioritized defensive measures, like dikes and levees, with an emphasis on immediate solutions over long-term resilience. These practices, though effective in the short term, often overlooked broader environmental implications and the necessity for holistic planning. However, as urban areas burgeoned and climate change introduced new challenges, there has been a marked shift in approach. Modern urban planning now emphasizes integrated blue-green infrastructure, aiming to harmonize human habitation with water cycles. Resil
... Show MoreSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease that affects 43.7 per 100,000 people worldwide, most commonly presenting in childbearing years. SLE pregnancies are complicated by cardiovascular events in up to 7.8% of cases, which translates to a 3.2- to 31.5-fold increase in severe maternal morbidity and a seven-fold increase in maternal mortality, compared to the general obstetric population. The highest risk is reported in cases with concurrent lupus nephritis or antiphospholipid syndrome [1]. These complications are not surprisingly seen; they are the end result of endothelial dysfunction, immune aberration, and placental dysfunction that precedes clinical decompensation by weeks [2,3].The current approach in mana
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