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
Artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA) is one of the critical swarm intelligent algorithms. In this
paper, the authors decide to enhance AFSA via diversity operators (AFSA-DO). The diversity operators will
be producing more diverse solutions for AFSA to obtain reasonable resolutions. AFSA-DO has been used to
solve flexible job shop scheduling problems (FJSSP). However, the FJSSP is a significant problem in the
domain of optimization and operation research. Several research papers dealt with methods of solving this
issue, including forms of intelligence of the swarms. In this paper, a set of FJSSP target samples are tested
employing the improved algorithm to confirm its effectiveness and evaluate its ex
Companies compete greatly with each other today, so they need to focus on innovation to develop their products and make them competitive. Lean product development is the ideal way to develop product, foster innovation, maximize value, and reduce time. Set-Based Concurrent Engineering (SBCE) is an approved lean product improvement mechanism that builds on the creation of a number of alternative designs at the subsystem level. These designs are simultaneously improved and tested, and the weaker choices are removed gradually until the optimum solution is reached finally. SBCE implementations have been extensively performed in the automotive industry and there are a few case studies in the aerospace industry. This research describe the use o
... Show MoreMany cities suffer from the large spread of slums, especially the cities of the Middle East. The purpose of the paper is to study the reality of informal housing in Al-Barrakia and the most important problems that it suffers from. The paper also seeks to study the presence or absence of a correlation between urban safety indicators and urban containment indicators as one of the methods of developing and planning cities. This can be achieved through sustainable urban management. The slums are a source of many urban problems that threaten the security and safety of the residents and represent a focus for the concentration of crimes and drugs. The paper seeks to answer the following question: How can urban safety be improved through urban cont
... Show MoreCalcium carbonate is predominantly present in aqueous systems, which is
commonly used in industrial processes. It has inverse solubility characteristics
resulting in the deposition of scale on heat transfer surface. This paper focuses on
developing methods for inhibition of calcium carbonate scale formation in cooling
tower and air cooler system where scaling can cause serious problems, ZnCl 2 and ZnI
2 has been investigated as scale inhibitor on AISI 316 and 304. ZnCl 2 were more
effective than ZnI 2 in both systems, and AISI 316 show more receptivity to the
chlorides salt compared to AISI 304. The inhibitors were more effective in cooling
tower than air cooler system. AISI 316 show more constant inhibition effic
This study is unique in this field. It represents a mix of three branches of technology: photometry, spectroscopy, and image processing. The work treats the image by treating each pixel in the image based on its color, where the color means a specific wavelength on the RGB line; therefore, any image will have many wavelengths from all its pixels. The results of the study are specific and identify the elements on the nucleus’s surface of a comet, not only the details but also their mapping on the nucleus. The work considered 12 elements in two comets (Temple 1 and 67P/Churyumoy-Gerasimenko). The elements have strong emission lines in the visible range, which were recognized by our MATLAB program in the treatment of the image. The percen
... Show MoreRutting has a significant impact on the pavements' performance. Rutting depth is often used as a parameter to assess the quality of pavements. The Asphalt Institute (AI) design method prescribes a maximum allowable rutting depth of 13mm, whereas the AASHTO design method stipulates a critical serviceability index of 2.5 which is equivalent to an average rutting depth of 15mm. In this research, static and repeated compression tests were performed to evaluate the permanent strain based on (1) the relationship between mix properties (asphalt content and type), and (2) testing temperature. The results indicated that the accumulated plastic strain was higher during the repeated load test than that during the static load tests. Notably, temperatur
... Show MoreThe unstable and uncertain nature of natural rubber prices makes them highly volatile and prone to outliers, which can have a significant impact on both modeling and forecasting. To tackle this issue, the author recommends a hybrid model that combines the autoregressive (AR) and Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models. The model utilizes the Huber weighting function to ensure the forecast value of rubber prices remains sustainable even in the presence of outliers. The study aims to develop a sustainable model and forecast daily prices for a 12-day period by analyzing 2683 daily price data from Standard Malaysian Rubber Grade 20 (SMR 20) in Malaysia. The analysis incorporates two dispersion measurements (I
... Show MoreSeveral previous investigations and studies utilized silica fume (SF) or (micro silica) particles as supplementary cementitious material added as a substitute to cement-based mortars and their effect on the overall properties, especially on physical properties, strength properties, and mechanical properties. This study investigated the impact of the inclusion of silica fume (SF) particles on the residual compressive strengths and microstructure properties of cement-based mortars exposed to severe conditions of elevated temperatures. The prepared specimens were tested and subjected to 25, 250, 450, 600, and 900 °C. Their residual compressive strengths and microstructure were evaluated and compared with control samples (C
... Show More
