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
Examining of passeriform birds collected in Baghdad area revealed presence of seven species of blood parasites belonging to three genera, Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, and Plasmodium. Records of microfilariae (larval nematodes) were also indicated. Results showed wide distribution of Plasmodium relictum among passerine hosts.
Fallacies are incorrect reasoning that make an argument seem less logically credible and easier to be identified as unsound. They are widespread; individuals commit them while engaging in various activities, including at work, at home, while creating advertisements, and in the media. This study aims to investigate the rhetorical strategies accompanied with producing the fallacious arguments selected from the American Film “12 Angry Men (1957)”. The study adopts Damer’s (2009) model for the identification of fallacy. As for rhetorical analysis, the study adopts Aristotle’s triangle of rhetoric and McGuigan’s (2007) taxonomy of rhetorical devices. The results uncover that the most violated criteria are relevance, acceptabili
... Show MoreA number of pulsed experiments have been carried out using a high-voltage circuit containing R,L, and C in certain arrangements. A spherical spark gap of steel electrodes was used as a high-current switch operated by a voltage of up to 8kV and triggered in both self-triggering and third-electrode triggering modes. Current measurements were carried out by using both current-viewing resistor and Rogowski coils designed for this purpose. Typical current waveforms have shown obvious dominating inductance effect of the circuit components in an underdamped oscillation. The behavior of the circuit impedance was studied by recording both pulsed current peaks and the charging voltages when currents of up to 2.5kA were recorded. The dur
... Show MoreConjugate heat transfer has significant implications on heat transfer characteristics, particularly in thick wall applications and small diameter pipes. In this study, a three-dimensional numerical investigation was carried out using commercial CFD software “ANSYS FLUENT” to study the influence of conjugate heat transfer of laminar flow in mini channels at constant heat flux wall conditions. Two parameters were studied and analyzed: the wall thickness and thermal conductivity and their effect on heat transfer characteristics such as temperature profile and Nusselt number. Thermal conductivity of (0.25, 10, 202, and 387) W/m2C and wall thickness of (1, 5, and 50) mm were used for a channel of (1*2) mm cross
... Show MoreTheoretical trends have appeared Which posed the concept of biological structures in contemporary architecture concept, Spread through the emergence of architectural production that reflect and indicate the nature of the construction structures based on the ideas and principles of biological structures in biological science: Despite the emergence of many architectural proposals that tried to explain the concept in the field of architecture, but it is not dealt with in depth and not given a comprehensive definition: So there was need to search for the concept and its beginning in the biological field as a general framework down to the field of architecture for the purpose of reducing the limits of their search framework T
... Show MoreWith the advancement of technology ,the study of cross-cultural communication via on line has become an important and researchable topic in linguistic theory and its applications.The aims of this study are two- fold (a) exploring the influence of cultural diversity on on-line interaction between American native speakers (NSs) and Iraqi non-native speakers (NNSs) of English which, together with other factors might potentially lead to what Thomas(1983) calls "pragmatic failure" (PF), a main cause of communication breakdowns and (b) specifying which type of PF occurs more frequently between the two groups along with the reasons behind such failures. To achie
... Show MoreOne of the most opportunistic mycosis globally is the Candida ssp., which is considered as the most agent that cause nosocomial urinary tract infections (UTIs), oral candidiasis and genitourinary candidiasis. This study included 100 samples of Iraqi subjects suffering from urinary tract infections. Identification of Candida have been done by different methods such as; characteristic of colony on culture, gram stain, and microscopically. This study aimed to isolation and identification of Candida spp from urine sample of UTI patients and find the relevance of ages and blood group of patients with the infections rate, also determine the effect of age on ESR and CRP levels in the patients. The results showed the higher frequency of
... Show MoreBackground and Objective: Public demand for procedures to rejuvenate photodamaged facial skin have stimulated the use of fractional CO2 laser as a precise and predictable treatment modality. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of fractional CO2 laser system for reducing periorbital rhytids.
Materials and Methods: twenty seven subjects with mild periocular wrinkles, and photoaged skin of the face were prospectively treated two to three times (according to clinical response) in the periorbital area with a fractional CO2 laser device equipped with a scanning hand piece. Improvements in eyelid wrinkles was evaluated clinically and photographically. Subjects also scored satisfaction and
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