Background: Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) is a well established non invasive test for the diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with coronary artery disease. Aim of the study was to conduct a pilot study in order to establish the basis for the future routine practice of DSE in our center (Ibn Al- Bitar Hospital for Cardiac Surgery).
Patients and Methods: Fifty consecutive patients who were referred from the outpatient of our center, from August 2007 to July 2008, were included. The age range was 39 – 70 years with an average of 57.18 years. Fifty-eight percent were males. Patients were enrolled in the study in accordance with the American Heart Association/ American College of Cardiology guidelines, including mainly those who are unable to exercise due to an orthopedic problem (26%) or limited functional capacity (30%). Some Patients with resting electrocardiographic changes (20%) and non diagnostic exercise test (14%) were also included as well as five patients (10%) for the assessment of myocardial viability. The baseline echocardiogram was normal in 44 % of cases. Others had resting wall motion abnormalities due to previous myocardial infarction (50%) or left bundle branch block (6%). Dobutamine was given by a syringe or an infusion pump at incremental doses (every three minutes) of 5,10,20,30, and finally 40 μg/kg/min. Atropine was needed at peak test in 36% of cases to increase the proportion of patients who reach the target heart rate.
Results: The test was positive in 5 patients (10%); negative in 34(68%), non diagnostic in 2(4%), aborted due to intolerable symptoms in 3(6%) and stopped due to arrhythmias in 3(6%) patients. Side effects included chest tightness and irritability in 40%, headache in 12%, nausea and vomiting in 10%, and postural hypotension in 4%. Infrequent ventricular/atrial ectopics occurred in 13%, supraventricular tachycardia in one patient, and complex multiple ventricular ectopics in 3 patients; no incidence of sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation occurred. There was no incidence of myocardial infarction or death.
Conclusions: DSE is a safe and practical test provided it is used according to the recommendedprotocols. A special unit for DSE in our centre is recommended.
The removal of turbidity from produced water by chemical coagulation/flocculation method using locally available coagulants was investigated. Aluminum sulfate (alum) is selected as a primary coagulant, while calcium hydroxide (lime) is used as a coagulant aid. The performance of these coagulants was studied through jar test by comparing turbidity removal at different coagulant/ coagulants aid ratio, coagulant dose, water pH, and sedimentation time. In addition, an attempt has been made to examine the relationship between turbidity (NTU) and total suspended solids (mg/L) on the same samples of produced water. The best conditions for turbidity removal can be obtained at 75% alum+25% lime coagulant at coagulant dose of 80 m
... Show MoreHydromorphometric analysis as a method is considered one of the most reliable and used methods in solving hydrological problems. Where it is possible to know the volume of runoff and the rest of the elements that enter into the water balance. Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing is the technique that used the hydro-morphometric analysis of the Wadi Al-Mohammadi basin. Wadi Al-Mohammadi, located in the Western Desert, is one of the main valleys that flow into the Euphrates River. It is considered an important basin, because of its many characteristics, including its relatively large area and the amount of water drained through, which is used mainly in watering livestock and agriculture, in addition to industrial purposes suc
... Show MoreThe objective of this work is to study the influence of end milling cutting process parameters, tool material and geometry on multi-response outputs for 4032 Al-alloy. This can be done by proposing an approach that combines Taguchi method with grey relational analysis. Three cutting parameters have been selected (spindle speed, feed rate and cut depth) with three levels for each parameter. Three tools with different materials and geometry have been also used to design the experimental tests and runs based on matrix L9. The end milling process with several output characteristics is solved using a grey relational analysis. The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the major influencing parameters on multi-objective response w
... Show MoreThe insulation system of a machine coil includes several layers made of materials with different characteristics. The effective insulation design of machine coils, especially in the machine end winding, depends upon an accurate model of the stress grading system. This paper proposes a modeling approach to predict the transient overvoltage, electric field, and heat generation in machine coils with a stress grading system, considering the variation of physical properties in the insulation layers. A non-uniform line model is used to divide the coil in different segments based on material properties and lengths: overhang, stress grading and slot. The cascaded connection of chain matrices is used to connect segments for the representation of the
... Show MoreSalt stress negatively affects germination and seedling growth. Sorghum cultivars (Bohuth70, Inqath and Rabeh), seed soaking in dry yeast extract (3, 6 and 9 g l-1) in addition to dry seeds and electrical conductivity (4, 10 and 16 dS m-1) were studied. Traits of germination ratio at first and final counts, lengths of radicle and plumule, seedling dry weight and seedling vigour index were studied. The cultivar of Bohuth70 and concentration of yeast extract (9 g l-1) were superior at all studied traits, while all traits values were reduced with increased saline stress. The combination (Bohuth70×9×4) was superior to most other treatments at first and final counts, radicle length and seedling dry weight, while superiority of plumule length a
... Show MoreBackground:
type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that is accompanied by the production of free radicals which will ultimately increase the level of oxidative stress.
Background: A Catheter-associated with candidiasis infection is the most common nosocomial infection and the objective of this work is to isolate and identify Candida species from catheterized patients by ordinary culture and PCR.Objective:To study the isolation and identification of Candida species from catheterized patients by culture media and polymerase chain reaction(PCR).Methods: One hundred and thirty five Candida species isolates were obtained from urine culture of catheterized specimens from male and female patients , During the period between October 2011 to April 2012 , attending AL-Ramadi general teaching Hospital. A quantitative urine culture for isolation and identification of Candida species was. The isolation of Candida s
... Show MoreOlive leaves extract is famous for its antioxidant and protective effects. In this study, the aqueous extract of Iraqi Olea europaea L. Leaves was investigated for its anti-diabetic effects against low double doses of alloxan induced Diabetes Mellitus in rats. Low double doses (75 mgKg body weight) of alloxan were injected intraperitoneally at day 1&29 of the experimental period in rats, whereas an aqueous extract of Iraqi Olea europaea L. Leaves was added continuously to their drinking water. Serum malondialdehyde concentration, total oxidative stress and oxidative stress index as oxidoreductive stress biomarker, activities of certain anti-oxidoreductive stress enzymes (glutathione peroxidase, super oxide dismutase and catalase) and concen
... Show MoreSome new norms need to be adapted due to COVID-19 pandemic period where people need to wear masks, wash their hands frequently, maintain social distancing, and avoid going out unless necessary. Therefore, educational institutions were closed to minimize the spread of COVID-19. As a result of this, online education was adapted to substitute face-to-face learning. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the Malaysian university students’ adaptation to the new norms, knowledge and practices toward COVID-19, besides, their attitudes toward online learning. A convenient sampling technique was used to recruit 500 Malaysian university students from January to February 2021 through social media. For data collection, all students
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