Background: The excess mortality associated with
rheumatoid arthritis is largely due to
cardiovascular disease. Rheumatoid arthritis is of
primary importance in atherogenesis. The intimamedia thickness of extracranial carotid arteries is a
measurable index of the presence of
atherosclerosis.
Objective: To assess carotid intima-media
thickness in rheumatoid arthritis by Doppler
ultrasound.
Methods: Fifty two Iraqi patients with rheumatoid
arthritis were studied and compared with another
fifty two, healthy individuals matched for age and
sex as a control group. Full history was taken and
complete clinical examination was done for all
individuals in both groups. Rheumatoid arthritis
diagnosis was based on The American
Rheumatism Association 1987 revised criteria for
the classification of rheumatoid arthritis. Carotid
intima-media thickness was measured by Doppler
ultrasound.
Results: There was a significant increase in the
frequency of increased carotid intima-media
thickness among individuals with rheumatoid
arthritis (44.2%) compared to healthy control
group (3.8%) (P=0.000001).
Conclusion: Increased carotid intima-media
thickness occurs in high frequency in rheumatoid
arthritis
Industrial wastewater containing nickel, lead, and copper can be produced by many industries. The reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technologies are very efficient for the treatment of industrial wastewater containing nickel, lead, and copper ions to reduce water consumption and preserving the environment. Synthetic industrial wastewater samples containing Ni(II), Pb(II), and Cu(II) ions at various concentrations (50 to 200 ppm), pressures (1 to 4 bar), temperatures (10 to 40 oC), pH (2 to 5.5), and flow rates (10 to 40 L/hr), were prepared and subjected to treatment by RO system in the laboratory. The results showed that high removal efficiency of the heavy metals could be achieved by RO process (98.5%, 97.5% and 96% for Ni(II),
... Show MoreResistance spot welding (RSW) aluminum alloys has a major problem of inconsistent quality from weld to weld, because of the problems of the non-uniform oxide layer. The high resistivity of the oxide causes strong heat released which influence significantly on the electrode lifetime and the weld quality. Much effort has been devoted experimentally to the study of the sheet surface characteristics for as-received sheet and surface pretreatment sheet by pickling in NaOH and glassblasted with three thicknesses (0.6, 1.0, and 1.5 mm) of AA1050. Three different welding process parameters energy setup as a low, medium, and high were carried. Tensile-shear strength tests were performed to indicate the weld quality. Moreover, microhardness tests,
... Show MoreEbastine (EBS) is a non-sedating antihistamine with a long duration of action. This drug has predominantly hydrophobic property causing a low solubility and low bioavailability. Surface solid dispersions (SSD) is an effective technique for improving the solubility and dissolution rate of poorly soluble drugs by using hydrophilic water insoluble carriers.
The present study aims to enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of EBS by using surface solid dispersion technique. Avicel® PH101, Avicel® PH 102, croscarmellose sodium(CCS) and sodium starch glycolate(SSG) were used as water insoluble hydrophilic carriers.
The SSD formulations of EBS were prepared by the solvent evaporation method in different drug: carrier
... Show MoreIn the present study, a powder mixture of elements Ti and Ni was mechanically alloyed in a high energy ball mill. Microstructure of the nanosized amorphous milled product in different stages of milling has been characterized by X- ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and differential thermal analysis. We found that time of mechanical alloying is more significant to convert all crystalline structure to the amorphous phase. Nanocrystalline phase was achieved as a result of the mechanical alloying process. The results also indicates that the phase transformation and the grain size occurs in these alloys are controlled by ball milling time
Porosity plays an essential role in petroleum engineering. It controls fluid storage in aquifers, connectivity of the pore structure control fluid flow through reservoir formations. To quantify the relationships between porosity, storage, transport and rock properties, however, the pore structure must be measured and quantitatively described. Porosity estimation of digital image utilizing image processing essential for the reservoir rock analysis since the sample 2D porosity briefly described. The regular procedure utilizes the binarization process, which uses the pixel value threshold to convert the color and grayscale images to binary images. The idea is to accommodate the blue regions entirely with pores and transform it to white in r
... Show MoreKinetic and mechanism studies of the oxidation of oxalic acid by Cerium sulphate have been carried out in acid medium sulphuric acid. The uv- vis. Spectrophotometric technique was used to follow up the reaction and the selected wavelength to be followed was 320 nm. The kinetic study showed that the order of reaction is first order in Ce(IV) and fractional in oxalic acid. The effect of using different concentration of sulphuric acid on the rate of the reaction has been studied a and it was found that the rate decreased with increasing the acid concentration. Classical organic tests was used to identify the product of the oxidation reaction, the product was just bubbles of CO2.