Background: Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)-derived mitral annular displacement (MAD) utilizes the speckle tracking technique to measure strain vectors, which provides accurate estimates of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).Objectives: To validate the accuracy of mitral annular displacement (MAD), assessed by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (STE), as a surrogate for determination of left ventricular systolic function in comparison to 2-Dimensions Simpson method in patients with different heart diseases.Methods : This cross-sectional study included patients who referred to outpatient department of Ibn Albitar Center for Cardiac Surgery, Baghdad, Iraq, between October 2012 and April 2013. STE continuously tracked annular motion throughout the cardiac cycle in the apical 4- and 2-chamber views. LVEF for each patient was measured by both Simpson method and STE-derived MAD.Results: This study included 100 patients, of them (35%) had ischemic heart disease (IHD), (10%) had dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), (10%) had valvular heart disease (VHD), (25%) had normal echocardiography, and (20%) had hypertensive heart disease (HHD).There was significant correlation between EF % (derived by MAD) and EF % (derived by Simpson method) in patients with different heart diseases. This correlation was good in normal subjects (r=0.673), and those with IHD(r=0.896), DCM (r=0.724) and VHD (r=0.935), while in HHD it was moderately correlated (r=0.455). There was slight under-estimation of LVEF derived by MAD (a mean value of difference 0.846 %; p =0.022). In subgroup analysis, this difference was seen only in patients with HHD (a mean value of difference 3.145 %; p <0.001), while it was absent in other subgroups.Conclusion: STE-derived MAD provides easy, fast, and accurate assessments of global longitudinal systolic function. LVEF derived by MAD was correlated well with LVEF derived by Simpson method in patients with different heart diseases
The aim of this study is to evaluate the levels of trace elements Magnesium (Mg), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), and Selenium (Se) in blood sera of asthmatic patients by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The concentrations of Mg, Cu, and Zn have been determined by Flame Atomic Absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS), and Se with flameless Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (GFAAS). The study involves (55) asthmatic patients as study group and (28) subjects as control from both genders. Serum levels of Mg, Cu, and Se were significantly higher (p<0.001 for all) in patients when compared with healthy subjects, while Zn level was relatively significant (p<0.05). Our observations confirm the efficacy and applicability of (AAS) in
... Show MoreThe spray quality of two spraying agents with different physical properties was investigated under laboratory conditions to find whether the measurement of deposited drops could be affected by spraying those agents. The first spraying agent Moddus, which is a plant growth regulator, has a surface tension of 28 mN m-1 with almost half the value of the second spraying agent Kelpak (58 mN m-1). A mini boom sprayer containing three flat fan nozzles (XR 11003) was used in the test with three traveling speeds (4.74, 5.42 and 8.13 km. h-1). The test was performed to evaluate the quality of spray drops (spray coverage, spray density and stains diameter) after they were deposited on water sensitive papers (WSP). The results showed a higher ability o
... Show MoreFor modeling a photovoltaic module, it is necessary to calculate the basic parameters which control the current-voltage characteristic curves, that is not provided by the manufacturer. Generally, for mono crystalline silicon module, the shunt resistance is generally high, and it is neglected in this model. In this study, three methods are presented for four parameters model. Explicit simplified method based on an analytical solution, slope method based on manufacturer data, and iterative method based on a numerical resolution. The results obtained for these methods were compared with experimental measured data. The iterative method was more accurate than the other two methods but more complexity. The average deviation of
... Show MoreEnhanced oil recovery is used in many mature oil reservoirs to increase the oil recovery factor. Surfactant flooding has recently gained interest again. To create micro emulsions at the interface between crude oil and water, surfactant flooding is the injection of surfactants (and co-surfactants) into the reservoir, thus achieving very low interfacial tension, which consequently assists mobilize the trapped oil.
In this study a flooding system, which has been manufactured and described at high pressure. The flooding processes included oil, water and surfactants. 15 core holders has been prepared at first stage of the experiment and filled with washed sand grains 80-500 mm and then packing the sand to obtain sand packs
... Show MoreThe relation between the output power and wavelengths for a 532nm 3W frequency doubled diode pumped solid state laser pumped Ti:Sapphire crystal is investigated. A 20 femtosecond pulse at 800 nm is obtained. A 320 mW is found to be the highest power at 800nm. Below this wavelength value and above the power was found to deviate from highest output value.
Otitis media with effusion (OME) is a common disease especially among young children (before school age) and it is one of the common causes of acquired hearing loss in childhood. Pediatric patients with OME are usually undernourished. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the serum levels of trace elements (zinc, copper, magnesium, iron) have a role in the development of OME in children. This study carried out on 55 children and subdivided them into two groups. Group 1 (patient group) consist of 30 children suffering from OME and group 2 (control group) included 25 apparently healthy children. Serum levels of zinc, copper, magnesium and iron were measured for both groups. Comparison the results between the two groups showed t
... Show MoreThe aim of the study was to investigate the effect of magnetized water on the histological structure of heart, lung and spleen. For this purpose, twenty five albino rats were divided into five equal groups, the first group was considered as control group. The other groups were given magnetized water with intensity of 250, 750, 1000, 1500 gause every day for 30 days. Then the animals were sacrificed and the histological change on heart, lung and spleen was studied. Histopathology of heart in rats treated with magnetic water with intensity of 250, 750, 1000, 1500 gause showed no clear pathological lesion. Lung section of rats treated with 250 gause of magnetic water showed no pathological lesion, while lung section belongs to rats group given
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