Background: Acute appendicitis is a common surgical
problem that is associated with an acute-phase reaction.
Previous studies have shown that cytokines and acutephase proteins are activated and may serve as indicators for
appendicitis.
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate of serum
levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in correlation to the severity
to acute appendicitis.
Methods: This is a prospective study from December 2008
to March 2009 of patients who had appendectomy in
Department of Surgery, Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital -
Baghdad/Iraq. Serum for estimating levels of interleukin-6
(IL-6) was taken pre-operatively. Depending on the
macroscopic evidence during the operation and the
histopathological examination of the specimens, the
patients were separated into 3 groups, group one with
negative appendectomy (normal appendix), group two with
non-complicated acute appendicitis (catarrhal,
suppurative), and group three with complicated acute
appendicitis (perforated, gangrenous). The
histopathological results were correlated with IL-6 values
statistically.
Results: A total number of 50 patients were included in
this study, 28 male (56%) and 22 female (44%). The mean
age was 23 year (ranged from 7 to 50). On histological
examination, there were 7 patients (14%) in group one, 29
patients (58%) in group two, and 14 patients (28%) in
group three. Serum IL-6 values gave true negative results
in 6%, true positive results in 82%, false negative results in
4%, and false positive results in 8%. We determined,
therefore, in the present study the sensitivity, specificity,
and accuracy of serum IL-6 were calculated as 95.34%,
42.85%, and 88% respectively.
Conclusion: Laboratory results should be considered to be
integrated within the clinical assessment. If used critically,
IL-6 can provide surgeons with complementary
information in discerning the necessity for urgent
operation
The current study involves placing 135 boreholes drilled to a depth of 10 m below the existing ground level. Three standard penetration tests (SPT) are performed at depths of 1.5, 6, and 9.5 m for each borehole. To produce thematic maps with coordinates and depths for the bearing capacity variation of the soil, a numerical analysis was conducted using MATLAB software. Despite several-order interpolation polynomials being used to estimate the bearing capacity of soil, the first-order polynomial was the best among the other trials due to its simplicity and fast calculations. Additionally, the root mean squared error (RMSE) was almost the same for the all of the tried models. The results of the study can be summarized by the production
... Show MoreDue to economic reasons or need for environmental conservatism or also preserve the natural resources; there has been an increasing shift towards the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) materials in the pavement construction industry. Therefore, use the Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) has been enormously increased in pavement construction and has been become common practice in many countries. Nevertheless, this is a relatively new concept in Iraq, and has to be remarked that is not used RAP in the production of HMA and this valuable material is mostly degraded. For this purpose, the reclaimed materials were collected from deteriorated pavement segments. The components of asphalt mixtures consist of: two asphalt penetration grades (40-5
... Show MoreFerrite with general formula Ni1-x Cox Fe2O4(where x=0.0.1,0.3,0.5,0.7, and 0.9), were prepared by standard ceramic technique. The main cubic spinel structure phase for all samples was confirmed by x-ray diffraction patterns. The lattice parameter results were (8.256-8.299 °A). Generally, x -ray density increased with the addition of Cobalt and showed value between (5.452-5.538gm/cm3). Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) showed that the average grain size and surface roughness was decreasing with the increasing cobalt concentration. Scanning Electron Microscopy images show that grains had an irregular distribution and irregular shape. The A.C conductivity was found to increase with the frequency and the addition of Cobal
... Show MoreSteel fiber aluminum matrix composites were prepared by atomization technique. Different air atomization conditions were considered; which were atomization pressure and distance between sample and nozzle. Tensile stress properties were studied. XRF and XRD techniques were used to study the primary compositions and the structure of the raw materials and the atomized products. The tensile results showed that the best reported tensile strength observed for an atomization pressure equal to 4 mbar and sample to nozzle distance equal to 12 cm. Young modulus results showed that the best result occurred with an air atomization pressure equal to 8 mbar and sample to nozzle distance equal to 16cm
The inelastic longitudinal electron scattering form factors are calculated for the low-lying excited states of 7Li {the first excited state 2121TJ (0.478 MeV) and the second excited state 2127TJ (4.63 MeV)}. The exact value of the center of mass correction in the translation invariant shell model (TISM) has been included and gives good results. A higher 2p-shell configuration enhances the form factors for high q-values and resolves many discrepancies with the experiments. The data are well described when the core polarization (CP) effects are included through effective nucleon charge. The results are compared with other theoretical models.
Keyword: 7Li inelastic electron scattering form factors calculated with exact
Ge-Au infrared photoconductive detection was prepared from germanium single crystal which were doped with different gold concentration using thermal evaporation. The spectral resonsivity (Rλ), spectral detectivity (D*) were determined as function of wavelength, also the resistance, conductivity in dark and with illumination to infrared radiation, the gain and relative photo response have been measured with different gold concentration. Remarkable improvements in the photoresponse gain were observed for the highest resistance specimen at the expense of spectral detectivity values.
The Karolinka earth-fill dam was constructed between 1977 and 1984 on the Stanovnice river above the town of Karolinka in the region of Vsetínsko in Czech Republic. Because of leakage on the downstream dam face due to technological indiscipline when filling dam layers during the dam construction stage, there were some steps to improve state dam safety. The final rehabilitation is to construct the diaphragm walls from self-hardening cement-bentonite suspension along the length of the dam. In addition to connecting the gallery and abutment (2 × 25 m long) by using jet piles. The article presents numerical modeling of safety factor evaluation associated with the state of the dam body and foundation; before, and after seal
... Show MoreThis work consists of a numerical simulation to predict the velocity and temperature distributions, and an experimental work to visualize the air flow in a room model. The numerical work is based on non-isothermal, incompressible, three dimensional, k turbulence model, and solved using a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) approach, involving finite volume technique to solve continuity, momentum and energy equations, that governs the room’s turbulent flow domain. The experimental study was performed using (1/5) scaled room model of the actual dimensions of the room to simulate room air flow and visualize the flow pattern using smoke generated from burnt herbs and collected in a smoke generator to delivered through
... Show More This paper concerns with openness concept in contemporary learning environment, which ranges from physical characters to its relation with learning efficiency and its output. Previous literatures differ to clear the effect of openness on the engagement between learner within themselves, and with this kind of spaces. Engagement means: active participation, the ability of making dialogue, self-reflection and the ability to explore and communicate with them and
within learning space. Research roblem was: The lack of knowledge about the effect of Openness on learner engagement with learning spaces. The two concepts were applied on three types of learning spaces in the Department of the Architectu