BACKGROUND: Sickle cell nephropathy, a heterogeneous group of renal abnormalities resulting from complex interactions of sickle cell disease (SCD)-related factors and non-SCD phenotype characteristics, is associated with an increased risk for morbidity and mortality. AIMS: The aims of this study were to determine the frequency of microalbuminuria (MA) among pediatric patients with SCD and to determine risk factors for MA among those patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A case–control study was carried out on 120 patients with SCD, 2–18 years old, registered at Basrah Center for Hereditary Blood Diseases, and 132 age-and sex-matched healthy children were included as a control group. Investigations included complete blood panel, blood urea, se

Stereolithography (SLA) has become an essential photocuring 3D printing process for producing parts of complex shapes from photosensitive resin exposed to UV light. The selection of the best printing parameters for good accuracy and surface quality can be further complicated by the geometric complexity of the models. This work introduces multiobjective optimization of SLA printing of 3D dental bridges based on simple CAD objects. The effect of the best combination of a low-cost resin 3D printer’s machine parameter settings, namely normal exposure time, bottom exposure time and bottom layers for less dimensional deviation and surface roughness, was studied. A multiobjective optimization method was utilized, combining the Taguchi me

In this article, we developed a new loss function, as the simplification of linear exponential loss function (LINEX) by weighting LINEX function. We derive a scale parameter, reliability and the hazard functions in accordance with upper record values of the Lomax distribution (LD). To study a small sample behavior performance of the proposed loss function using a Monte Carlo simulation, we make a comparison among maximum likelihood estimator, Bayesian estimator by means of LINEX loss function and Bayesian estimator using square error loss (SE) function. The consequences have shown that a modified method is the finest for valuing a scale parameter, reliability and hazard functions.

Immunization is one of the most cost-effective and successful public health applications. The results of immunization are difficult to see as the incidence of disease occurrence is low while adverse effects following the immunization are noticeable, particularly if the vaccine was given to apparently healthy person. High safety expectations of population regarding the vaccines so they are more prone to hesitancy regarding presence of even small risk of adverse events which may lead to loss of pub

Incremental Sheet Metal Forming (ISMF) is a modern sheet metal forming technology which offers the possibility of manufacturing 3D complex parts of thin sheet metals using the CNC milling machine. The surface quality is a very important aspect in any manufacturing process. Therefore, this study focuses on the resultant residual stresses by forming parameters, namely; (tool shape, step over, feed rate, and slope angle) using Taguchi method for the products formed by single point incremental forming process (SPIF). For evaluating the surface quality, practical experiments to produce pyramid like shape have been implemented on aluminum sheets (AA1050) for thickness (0.9) mm. Three types of tool shape used in this work, the spherical tool ga

The need for participants’ performance assessments in academia and industry has been a growing concern. It has attendance, among other metrics, is a key factor in engendering a holistic approach to decision-making. For institutions or organizations where managing people is an important yet challenging task, attendance tracking and management could be employed to improve this seemingly time-consuming process while keeping an accurate attendance record. The manual/quasi-analog approach of taking attendance in some institutions could be unreliable and inefficient, leading to inaccurate computation of attendance rates and data loss. This work, therefore, proposes a system that employs embedded technology and a biometric/ w

The issue of insurance against unlawful risks raises a jurisprudential and judicial debate between two opposing trends: the first considers coverage of these risks invalid due to their impact on public order or morals, while the second—which this research analyses—calls for the possibility of covering these risks in specific circumstances, based on contractual considerations in accordance with the principle that the contract is the law of the contracting parties, and based on the obligation to compensate the harmed third party—the victim—who has no connection to the unlawful act. In this context, our research highlights that contractual considerations can justify coverage of some unlawful risks, provided that the goal is to achieve