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
In this paper, a compact genetic algorithm (CGA) is enhanced by integrating its selection strategy with a steepest descent algorithm (SDA) as a local search method to give I-CGA-SDA. This system is an attempt to avoid the large CPU time and computational complexity of the standard genetic algorithm. Here, CGA dramatically reduces the number of bits required to store the population and has a faster convergence. Consequently, this integrated system is used to optimize the maximum likelihood function lnL(φ1, θ1) of the mixed model. Simulation results based on MSE were compared with those obtained from the SDA and showed that the hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) and I-CGA-SDA can give a good estimator of (φ1, θ1) for the ARMA(1,1) model. Anot
... Show MoreTitanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V or Gr.23) was widely used as a dental alloy. In the current study, polymerization of eugenol (PE) on Gr.23 titanium alloys was conducted by an electrochemical process before and after being treated by Micro Arc Oxidation (MAO). The formed films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The corrosion behavior of Gr.23 alloy in an artificial saliva environment at a temperature range of 293–323 K has been studied and assessed by means of electrochemical polarization and impedance spectroscopy techniques. Three cases are taken into consideration; bare Gr.23, Gr.23 coated by PE, and Gr.23 coated by PE after MAO treatment. The maxi
... Show MoreInitially-produced isotopes during the course of the
The research aims to measure the impact of positive and negative fiscal policy shocks on monetary stability in Iraq, which represents monetary stability as an indicator of real and price stability. Fiscal policy shocks are quantitative changes in public spending and public revenue affecting the output and price cycle, and fiscal policy despite the accompanying time gaps, but it remains a policy Influential and has a significant degree of impact on economic growth and development in developing countries. The fiscal policy represents a numerical translation of the economic and social objectives planned in the state's general budget tool consistent with the GDP cycle. The economic and social goals stem from the core of the functions and the ma
... Show MoreReflect the sustainable development of the interaction of three key elements are the economic component and the social component and the environmental component while focusing economic component to achieve economic growth and focuses social element to achieve social justice in the distribution of income and achieve prosperity, the environmental component related fields and including emphasizes the protection of the environment and to ensure the continuation and sustainability of resources physical, biological and form in which it believes the interaction required for development process real and effective and sustainable, and is considered the province of Kurdistan Iraq of important areas where the movement of developmental mount
... Show MoreNano TiO2 thin films on glass substrates were prepared at a constant temperature of (373 K) and base vacuum (10-3 mbar), by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm wavelength. The effects of different laser energies between (700-1000)mJ on the properties of TiO2 films was investigated. TiO2 thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements have shown that the polycrystalline TiO2 prepared at laser energy 1000 mJ. Preparation also includes optical transmittance and absorption measurements as well as measuring the uniformity of the surface of these films. Optimum parameters have been identified for the growth of high-quality TiO2 films
... Show MoreIn this study, the activity concentrations of indoor radon, thoron
and their progeny have been measured in air for 61 different
locations of Al-Maddan city using twin cup dosimeter. Furthermore,
some useful parameters concerning the health hazards have been
estimated; working level month (WLM), annual effective dose (Eff),
and excess lung cancer per million person per year (ELC).The results
show that the values of radon gas levels in the investigated districts
varied from 56.28 to 194.43Bq/m3with an overall average value
132.96Bq/m3, while 0.313 to 1.085 for WLM with an overall average
0.740, respectively. The value of Eff and ELC have been found to
vary from 1.420 to 4.918 mSv/y with an overall average valu
A simulation study is used to examine the robustness of some estimators on a multiple linear regression model with problems of multicollinearity and non-normal errors, the Ordinary least Squares (LS) ,Ridge Regression, Ridge Least Absolute Value (RLAV), Weighted Ridge (WRID), MM and a robust ridge regression estimator MM estimator, which denoted as RMM this is the modification of the Ridge regression by incorporating robust MM estimator . finialy, we show that RMM is the best among the other estimators
Traumatic spinal cord injury is a serious neurological disorder. Patients experience a plethora of symptoms that can be attributed to the nerve fiber tracts that are compromised. This includes limb weakness, sensory impairment, and truncal instability, as well as a variety of autonomic abnormalities. This article will discuss how machine learning classification can be used to characterize the initial impairment and subsequent recovery of electromyography signals in an non-human primate model of traumatic spinal cord injury. The ultimate objective is to identify potential treatments for traumatic spinal cord injury. This work focuses specifically on finding a suitable classifier that differentiates between two distinct experimental
... Show MorePushover analysis is an efficient method for the seismic evaluation of buildings under severe earthquakes. This paper aims to develop and verify the pushover analysis methodology for reinforced concrete frames. This technique depends on a nonlinear representation of the structure by using SAP2000 software. The properties of plastic hinges will be defined by generating the moment-curvature analysis for all the frame sections (beams and columns). The verification of the technique above was compared with the previous study for two-dimensional frames (4-and 7-story frames). The former study leaned on automatic identification of positive and negative moments, where the concrete sections and steel reinforcement quantities the
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