Background: Opportunistic viral infections make an important threat to renal transplantation recipients (RTRs), and with the use of more intense newly-developed immunosuppressive drugs; the risk of renal allograft loss due to reactivation of these viruses has increased considerably. At the top priority of these viruses lie BK polyomavirus (BKV) and human cytomegalovirus (CMV). Reactivation of these viruses in these chronically immunosuppressed RTRs can lead to renal impairment and subsequently allograft loss, unless early detected and properly treated. Objectives: The study aimed to detect and quantify plasma viral load of BKV and CMV in RTRs using quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR), in order to study the prevalence of these two viruses in the sole renal transplantation center in Baghdad, and correlate viral load with the diseases severity. Furthermore, the prevalence of BKV-CMV coexistence in RTRs, to find out whether infection by one of them is a risk factor for infection by the other was investigated. Patients and Methods:A total of 99 RTR were enrolled in the study, and 15 non-transplanted patients with chronic kidney diseases (CKD) together with 15 health living donors (LD) were taken as controls. Plasma samples were taken from all participants. From which viral DNA was extracted, and then real time PCR technique was used to measure the viral load. Results:Out of 99, 12 (12.12%) of RTR patients were positive for BK viremia with a viral load (VL) ranging from (1x102 to 1x109 copies/ml), while none of the control groups was BK positive, and 5 patients out of these 12 had BKV nephropathy. For CMV, 13.13% of RTR patients had positive CMV viremia with a VL ranging from (1.25x102 to 7.94x107 copies/ml), and only one of the CKD controls was CMV positive. Only 3 patients had BK-CMV coexistence, which was statistically not a significant risk factor for one another. Conclusion: Our study suggests that both BK polyomavirus and CMV should be considered important causes for nephropathy and allograft loss in RTRs in Iraq.
The aim of study was to explore pharmacist insights toward the impact of prospective implementation of the national health insurance program on patients, providers and Iraqi health system.
This was a qualitative study including semi-structured face-to-face (mostly) interviews with experienced pharmacists. The interview guide included open-ended questions about the impact of the national health insurance program on patients and healthcare providers at three levels: quality of services, costs, and frequency of visits. Potential challenges were also discussed. Interviews were conducted in four provinces from March to May 2022. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview findings and generate themes and subthemes.
The
... Show MoreA signature is a special identifier that confirms a person's identity and distinguishes him or her from others. The main goal of this paper is to present a deep study of the spatial density distribution method and the effect of a mass-based segmentation algorithm on its performance while it is being used to recognize handwritten signatures in an offline mode. The methodology of the algorithm is based on dividing the image of the signature into tiles that reflect the shape and geometry of the signature, and then extracting five spatial features from each of these tiles. Features include the mass of each tile, the relative mean, and the relative standard deviation for the vertical and horizontal projections of that tile. In the clas
... Show MoreTransportability refers to the ease with which people, goods, or services may be transferred. When transportability is high, distance becomes less of a limitation for activities. Transportation networks are frequently represented by a set of locations and a set of links that indicate the connections between those places which is usually called network topology. Hence, each transmission network has a unique topology that distinguishes its structure. The most essential components of such a framework are the network architecture and the connection level. This research aims to demonstrate the efficiency of the road network in the Al-Karrada area which is located in the Baghdad city. The analysis based on a quantitative evaluation using graph th
... Show MoreIn petroleum reservoir engineering, history matching refers to the calibration process in which a reservoir simulation model is validated through matching simulation outputs with the measurement of observed data. A traditional history matching technique is performed manually by engineering in which the most uncertain observed parameters are changed until a satisfactory match is obtained between the generated model and historical information. This study focuses on step by step and trial and error history matching of the Mishrif reservoir to constrain the appropriate simulated model. Up to 1 January 2021, Buzurgan Oilfield, which has eighty-five producers and sixteen injectors and has been under production for 45 years when it started
... Show MoreZubair Formation is one of the richest petroleum systems in Southern Iraq. This formation is composed mainly of sandstones interbedded with shale sequences, with minor streaks of limestone and siltstone. Borehole collapse is one of the most critical challenges that continuously appear in drilling and production operations. Problems associated with borehole collapse, such as tight hole while tripping, stuck pipe and logging tools, hole enlargement, poor log quality, and poor primary cement jobs, are the cause of the majority of the nonproductive time (NPT) in the Zubair reservoir developments. Several studies released models predicting the onset of borehole collapse and the amount of enlargement of the wellbore cross-section. However, assump
... Show MoreIn the present work, a density functional theory (DFT) calculation to simulate reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hybrid with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle's sensitivity to NO2 gas is performed. In comparison with the experiment, DFT calculations give acceptable results to available bond lengths, lattice parameters, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy gaps, Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, entropy, etc. to ZnO, rGO, and ZnO/rGO hybrid. ZnO and rGO show n-type and p-type semiconductor behavior, respectively. The formed p-n heterojunction between rGO and ZnO is of the staggering gap type. Results show that rGO increases the sensitivity of ZnO to NO2 gas as they form a hybrid. ZnO/rGO hybrid has a higher number of vacancies that can b
... Show MoreWithin this paper, we developed a new series of organic chromophores based on triphenyleamine (TPA) (AL1, AL-2, AL-11 and AL-22) by engineering the structure of the electron donor (D) unit via replacing a phenyle ring or inserting thiophene as a π-linkage. For the sake of scrutinizing the impact of the TPA donating ability and the spacer upon the photovoltaic, absorptional, energetic, and geometrical characteristic of these sensitizers, density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) have been utilized. According to structural characteristics, incorporating the acceptor, π-bridge and TPA does not result in a perfect coplanar conformation in AL-22. We computed EHOMO, ELUMO and bandgap (Eg) energies by performing frequency a
... Show MoreIn this research a bilateral tin oxide (SnO2) thin films was prepared by Sol-
Gel method, flow coating technique which is considered a simple and cheap
technique. The horizontal sample preparation with and without the use of
installed, and also with installed to vertical sample. Results of optical
spectroscopy that the biggest values of the transmittance T was for horizontal
films with an installed, as for the absorbance A was the biggest values of the
vertical sample. For the reflectivity R was value in the horizontal films with
installed, less than a horizontal films without Sticky as well as for films
vertical. The results of the energy gap Eg for that direct allowed and forbidden
transitions and for the ind
The rising temperatures are the most significant aspect in the period of climate variability. In this study PRECIS model data and observed data are used for assessing the temperature change scenarios of Sindh province during the first half of the present century. Observed data from various meteorological stations of Sindh are the primary source for temperature change detection. The current scenario (1961–1990) and future one (2010-2050) are acted by the PRECIS Regional Climate Model at a spatial resolution of 25 * 25 km. Regional Climate Model (RCM) can yield reasonably suitable projections to be used in the climate - scenario. The main objective of the study is to prepare maps. The simulated temperature as obtained from climate model-
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