Background: During Ramadan, Muslims fast throughout daylight hours. There is a direct link between fasting and increasing incidence of infections. Antibiotic usage for treatment of infections should be based on accurate diagnosis, with the correct dose and dosing regimen for the shortest period to avoid bacterial resistance. This study aimed to evaluate the practices of physicians in prescribing suitable antibiotics for fasting patients and the compliance of the patients in using such antibiotics at regular intervals. Materials and methods: An observational study was carried out during the middle 10 days of Ramadan 2014 in two pharmacies at Baghdad. A total of 34 prescriptions (Rx) for adults who suffered from infections were examined. For each included Rx, the researchers documented the age and sex of the patient, the diagnosis of the case, and the name of the given antibiotic(s) with dose and frequency of usage. A direct interview with the patient was also done, at which each patient was asked about fasting and if he/she would like to continue fasting during the remaining period of Ramadan. The patient was also asked if the physician asked him/her about fasting before writing the Rx. Results: More than two-thirds of participating patients were fasting during Ramadan. Antibiotics were prescribed at a higher percentage by dentists and surgeons, for which a single antibiotic with a twice-daily regimen was the most commonly prescribed by physicians for patients during the Ramadan month. Conclusion: Physicians fail to take patient fasting status into consideration when prescribing antibiotics for their fasting patients. Antibiotics with a twice-daily regimen are not suitable and best to be avoided for fasting patients in Iraq during Ramadan – especially if it occurs during summer months – to avoid treatment failure and provoking bacterial resistance. Keywords: fasting, Ramadan, antibiotics, dosing regimen
Crop coefficient for cherries was evaluated by measure the water consumption in Michigan State to find its variation with time as the plant growth. Crop coefficients value (Kc) for cherries were predicated by Michigan State University (MSU) and also by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) according to consume of water through the season. In this paper crop coefficients for cherries are modified accordingly to the actual measurements of soil moisture content. Actual evapotranspiration (consumptive use) were measured by the soil moisture readings using Time Domain Reflectometers (TDR), and compared with the actual potential evapotranspiration that calculated by using modified Penman-Monteith equation which depends on metrological statio
... Show MoreLong memory analysis is one of the most active areas in econometrics and time series where various methods have been introduced to identify and estimate the long memory parameter in partially integrated time series. One of the most common models used to represent time series that have a long memory is the ARFIMA (Auto Regressive Fractional Integration Moving Average Model) which diffs are a fractional number called the fractional parameter. To analyze and determine the ARFIMA model, the fractal parameter must be estimated. There are many methods for fractional parameter estimation. In this research, the estimation methods were divided into indirect methods, where the Hurst parameter is estimated fir
... Show MoreUse of computer simulation to quantify the effectiveness of blowing agents can be an effective tool for optimizing formulations and for the adopting of new blowing agents. This paper focuses on a mass balance on blowing agent during foaming including the quantification of the amount that stays in the resin, the amount that ends up in the foam cells, and the pressure of the blowing agent in the foam cells. Experimental data is presented both in the sense of developing the simulation capabilities and the validating of simulation results.
One of the diseases on a global scale that causes the main reasons of death is lung cancer. It is considered one of the most lethal diseases in life. Early detection and diagnosis are essential for lung cancer and will provide effective therapy and achieve better outcomes for patients; in recent years, algorithms of Deep Learning have demonstrated crucial promise for their use in medical imaging analysis, especially in lung cancer identification. This paper includes a comparison between a number of different Deep Learning techniques-based models using Computed Tomograph image datasets with traditional Convolution Neural Networks and SequeezeNet models using X-ray data for the automated diagnosis of lung cancer. Although the simple details p
... Show More<span>As a result of numerous applications and low installation costs, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have expanded excessively. The main concern in the WSN environment is to lower energy consumption amidst nodes while preserving an acceptable level of service quality. Using multi-mobile sinks to reduce the nodes' energy consumption have been considered as an efficient strategy. In such networks, the dynamic network topology created by the sinks mobility makes it a challenging task to deliver the data to the sinks. Thus, in order to provide efficient data dissemination, the sensor nodes will have to readjust the routes to the current position of the mobile sinks. The route re-adjustment process could result in a significant m
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