Background: Coronary artery disease remains the main cause of death despite several preventive programs. Epicardial adipose tissue is a visceral fat depot of the heart located along the large coronary arteries and on the surface of ventricles and apex. Intima media thickness is commonly recognized as the initial stage in the development of atherosclerosis. The development of ultrasound machines, advances in echocardiographic devices and high resolution transducers facilitate comprehensive analysis of epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and carotid –intima media thickness (C-IMT).
Aim: To investigate the relationship of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and carotid –intima media thickness (C-IMT) with the severity of coronary artery disease.
Methods: A cross sectional multicenter diagnostic accuracy study carried out at Ibn Al-Nafis Cardiovascular Hospital, Ibn Al- Bitar Cardiology Center and Ghazi Al-Hariri Hospital –Iraqi Center for Cardiology during the period between October 2016 and May 2017 assessing. History regarding demographic data and risk factors was taken. Two dimensional transthoracic echocardiographic measurements were done. EFT was measured from parasternal long axis view perpendicular to the right ventricular free wall. C-IMT was measured according to that recommended by the American society of echocardiography (ASE).
Results: The current study demonstrated that the EFT has a direct and significant correlation with the number of involved vessels (P value ˂ 0.001, r= 0.770). The validity of EFT to discriminate between multiple vessels disease and no vessel involvement is excellent (AUC= 0.984, cut point > 8mm, sensitivity=92.9%, specificity= 93.3%). There is inverse and significant correlation between ejection fraction (EF) and three vessels disease (P value ˂ 0.001, r= -0.507). Also there is a direct and significant correlation between C-IMT and severity of CAD. ROC analysis for validity of C-IMT to discriminate between multiple vessels disease and no vessel involvement is excellent (AUC= 0.961, cut point > 1.04mm, sensitivity=92.9%. specificity=86.7%). C-IMT is fair to discriminate between single vessel disease and no vessel involvement (AUC=0.738, cut point ˃ 0.84mm, sensitivity 100%), so if correlated with age, C-IMT above 0.84 can be used as a cut off point for the prediction of CAD. Finally, EFT and C-IMT are more likely to reflect severity of CAD than their ratio.
Conclusions: C-IMT and EFT are simple and reproducible parameters that can be used as a screening tool for the presence and severity of CAD especially before symptoms appearance in high risk patients
This paper presents the effect of Cr doping on the optical and structural properties of TiO2 films synthesized by sol-gel and deposited by the dip- coating technique. The characteristics of pure and Cr-doped TiO2 were studied by absorption and X-ray diffraction measurement. The spectrum of UV absorption of TiO2 chromium concentrations indicates a red shift; therefore, the energy gap decreases with increased doping. The minimum value of energy gap (2.5 eV) is found at concentration of 4 %. XRD measurements show that the anatase phase is shown for all thin films. Surface morphology measurement by atomic force microscope (AFM) showed that the roughness of thin films decrease with doping and has a minimum value with 4 wt % doping ratio.
The alfalfa plant, after harvesting, was washed, dried, and grinded to get fine powder used in water treatment. We used the alfalfa plant with ethanol to make the alcoholic extract characterized by using (GC-Mass, FTIR, and UV) spectroscopy to determine active compounds. Alcoholic extract was used to prepare zinc nanoparticles. We characterized Zinc nanoparticles using (FTIR, UV, SEM, EDX Zeta potential, XRD, AFM). Zinc nanoparticle with Alfalfa extract and alfalfa powder were used in the treatment of water polluted with inorganic elements such as Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Cd, Ag by (Batch processing). The batch process with using alfalfa powder gets treated with Pb (51.45%), which is the highest percentage of treatment. Mn (13.18%), which is the
... Show MoreIn this study; the genus of Sinoxylon Duftschmid, 1825 (Coleoptera, Bostrichidae) was revised. There were 3 species registered in our investigations: S. anale Lesne, 1897; S. ceratoniae (Linnaeus, 1758) and S. muricatum (Olivier, 1790), the last species was redescribed as being found for the first time for the Iraqi faunal insects. Key to the species were constructed and supported by figures of the main diagnostic characters and some morphological features.
The organation ⁄monomer N-naphthylacrylamide (NAA) was prepared; subsequently the synthesized monomer was successfully copolymerized with acrylicacid (AA) and methylacrylate (MA) by free radical technique using dry benzene as solvent and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as initiator. The overall conversion was kept low (≤ 10% wt/wt) for all studies copolymers samples. The synthesized monomer and copolymers were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and their thermal properties were studied by DSC and TGA. The copolymers compositions were determined by elemental analysis. Kelen-Tudes and Finmman-Ross graphical procedures were employed to determine the monomers reactivity ratios. The der
... Show MoreA new Differential Evolution (ARDE) algorithm is introduced that automatically adapt a repository of DE strategies and parameters adaptation schemes of the mutation factor and the crossover rate to avoid the problems of stagnation and make DE responds to a wide range of function characteristics at different stages of the evolution. ARDE algorithm makes use of JADE strategy and the MDE_pBX parameters adaptive schemes as frameworks. Then a new adaptive procedure called adaptive repository (AR) has been developed to select the appropriate combinations of the JADE strategies and the parameter control schemes of the MDE_pBX to generate the next population based on their fitness values. Experimental results have been presented to confirm the reli
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Find interested in the harmonization of variables and determinants of supply chain planning needs of the material, leading to the results start effective supply chain management, and end up quickly modify the sizes to suit the demand and turnover in the market. As well as identifying relationships between variables, and type of relationship used by the company with the processors and their feasibility, and indicate the level of interest and willingness to redesign the supply chain Company for Electrical Industries and build an integrated model for supply chain with the MRP system can be applied in the company.
Research depend on quantitative and descriptive method, It
... Show MorePoly [2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1, 4-phenylenevinyl] (MEH-PPV) thin films were created in this study using both spin coating and drop casting processes. MEH-PPV thin films generated by Ferric Chloride (FeCl3) doping (0.03, 0.06, 0.09, and 0.12 wt%) were studied for some physical features using Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX). An FTIR test showed that there was no chemical reaction that occurred between Ferric Chloride (FeCl3) and MEH-PPV, but rather a physical one, that is, an organic material composite occurred. As for FE-SEM, the pure sample MEH-PPV formed uniformly, but when FeCl3 was added by weight, we have differ
... Show MoreBenign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a prevalent condition among elderly and middle-aged men characterized by symptoms such as dysuria, urinary incontinence, and frequent micturition. The gold standard procedure for relieving BPH symptoms is transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). However, some patients undergoing TURP are at risk of developing urinary tract infections (UTIs) due to uropathogenic bacteria. This prospective study aimed to investigate post TURP bacteruria alongside with multifactoria risk factors that implicated postoperatively compared to preoperative and intraoperative periods. Ninety patients undergoing TURP and 30 control subjects were included in the study. Urine specimen for urine analysis from pateints
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