Deep beams are used in wide construction fields such as water tanks, foundations, and girders in multi-story buildings to provide certain areas free of columns. In practice it is quite often occurring to create web opening in deep beams to supply convenient passage of ventilation ducts, cable channels, gas and water pipes. Experimental studies of ten 10 deep beams were carried out, where two of them are control specimens without openings and eight with large web openings in the shear spans. The variables that have been adopted are the ratio of the shear span to the overall depth of the member cross-section, location and dimensions of the opening. Test results showed that there was a decrease in the load carrying capacity of deep beams with openings compared to the control deep beams. This reduction may reach 66% in particular cases. It is clear that, the position of opening in shear span has less effect on the performance of structural concrete deep beams at different serviceability stages. Only 11% increase in load capacity at failure was observed in specimens with openings adjacent to the interior edges of shear spans in comparison with specimens with openings at the center of shear span because the discontinuity of the load path is less. Also the midspan deflection at service load level of the reference beam in specimens with openings adjacent to interior edge of shear spans was less than the midspan deflection of reference specimens by 10% - 33%. Evaluating all these advantages facilitates to recommend, if it is very required, the creation of openings at the interior edges of shear spans of the structural concrete deep beams.
HBV and HCV are the major causes of chronic liver diseases throughout the world, and constitute a major global health risk. There is accumulated evidence that the imbalance of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine production may play an important role in the pathogenesis of viral hepatic infections and may influence the clinical outcome and disease progression. This study was undertaken to analyze the circulating levels of Tumor Necrotic Factor (TNF-α) and Th2 cytokine IL-10 in patients infected with Hepatitis B and C virus. The study population consisted of 30 patients with chronic HBV, in addition to other 30 patients with chronic HCV infection were recruited on their first examination at the Al-Kindy General Hospital in Baghdad
... Show MoreBackground: Both bladder cancer and schistosomiasis are endemic in Egypt. The former has a unique epidemiological pattern, which has been linked to bladder infestation by Schistosoma. The last decades have witnessed a great reduction in the infection rate of schistosomiasis and a decline in the incidence and changes in the patterns of bladder cancer. Whether these changes are linked to each other or a co-incidence is a subject of investigations.
Method: Literature on epidemiological data of bladder cancer and Schistosoma in Egypt was searched for in Medline, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Furthermore, a hand search for literature and reports released by the Egyptian government and involved agencies was perfo
... Show MoreBackground: Cigarette smoking (CS) is a periodontal disease risk factor, affecting clinical parameters such as bleeding on probing (BOP), plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI) and proinflammatory cytokines level. This study examines the impact electronic cigarette use on proinflammatory cytokines and periodontal parameters. Methods: In this non-randomized study, ninety participants diagnosed with gingivitis were assigned into three groups. examined the effect of oral hygiene instructions on periodontal parameters and inflammatory biomarkers. Thirty CS (n=30) vaping electronic-cigarettes (e-cig) (n=29), and non-smoker (NS) (n=31) was included. Clinical parameters including PI, BOP, and GI were recorded at baseline and after 3 weeks
... Show MoreObjective To highlight the main demographic characteristics and clinical profiles of female patients registered with breast cancer in Iraq; focusing on the impact of age.Methods This retrospective study enrolled 1172 female patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer at the Main Center for Early Detection of Breast Cancer/Medical City Teaching Hospital in Baghdad. Data were extracted from an established information system, developed by the principal author under supervision of WHO, that was based on valid clinical records of Iraqi patients affected by breast cancer. The recorded information regarding clinical examination comprised positive palpable lumps, bloody nipple discharge, skin changes, bilateral breast involvement, tumor
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic kidney disease is a condition that results from an indefinite change in the structure and function of the kidneys. A slow, steady progression characterizes it and is irreversible. Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the findings of certain biochemical and hematological tests in samples from Iraqi CKD patients. Methods: This study included 90 subjects, where 70 patients with chronic kidney disease and 20 healthy individuals. Blood samples were collected from the patients during their visits to Ghazi Al-Hariri Surgical Specialties' Hospital- Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq. Age, sex and body mass index were assessed for each participant followed by renal function tests [serum blood urea, creatinine, uric acid a
... Show MoreOsteoporosis (OP) is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by low bone mineral density and deterioration of bone architecture, resulting in bone strength reduction and increased fracture susceptibility. Estrogen deficiency in post-menopausal women is possibly responsible for the instability between bone formation and resorption, which is managed by specific osteoclastogenic cytokines that may be leading to resorption. This study aims to estimation of the concentrations of interleukins −8, −17, −22, beside to certain parameters in blood serum and explained their roles in the development of osteoporosis pathogenicity in postmenopausal women. Materials and Methods A case-control study included 108 Iraqi postmenopausal women participa
... Show MoreThe largest use of x-ray in medical by dentists, employers or persons that needed by patients with specific conditions, lead to higher exposure of x-ray that may cause many diseases. In the present work radiography films have been used in evaluating the efficiency of using unsaturated polyester polymer reinforced with lead oxide (PbO) as shield material for medical x-ray devices, many parameters studied like concentration and thickness that they are increasing the attenuation of x-ray in them. The results show that the attenuation of X-ray increasing with concentration of reinforced material and with thickness, and the optical density decreases with increasing concentration from 0% to 50%, we chose 30% as suitable concentration to increase
... Show MorePrevious data indicated the effectiveness of silibinin as intraocular pressure (IOP) - lowering agent. The present study was performed to evaluate the interaction of silibinin with pilocarpine or cyclopentolate in lowering IOP in normotensive rabbits. The effects of topically instilled silibinin hemisuccinate solution (0.75%) alone or adjunctly combined with 2% pilocarpine or 1% cyclopentolate on the IOP of normotensive rabbits were evaluated using indentation tonometry. The results showed that 0.75% solution of silibinin was found more potent than pilocarpine (2% drops) in lowering IOP of normotensive rabbits, while their combination results in longer duration of action. Moreover, the elevated IOP values produced by cyclopentolate
... Show MorePrevious data indicated the effectiveness of silibinin as intraocular pressure (IOP) - lowering agent. The present study was performed to evaluate the interaction of silibinin with pilocarpine or cyclopentolate in lowering IOP in normotensive rabbits. The effects of topically instilled silibinin hemisuccinate solution (0.75%) alone or adjunctly combined with 2% pilocarpine or 1% cyclopentolate on the IOP of normotensive rabbits were evaluated using indentation tonometry. The results showed that 0.75% solution of silibinin was found more potent than pilocarpine (2% drops) in lowering IOP of normotensive rabbits, while their combination results in longer duration of action. Moreover, the elevated IOP values produced by cyclopentolate (1%drops
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