Background: Preterm labor and related prematurity are predisposing factors that increase perinatal morbidity and mortality. Acute phase reactants are inflammatory markers which are positive and negative reactants explained by the reaction of reactants to the subclinical infection that are commonly associated with preterm labor. Objectives: To assess the role of acute phase reactants in pregnant women with preterm delivery. Patients and method: A case control study conducted in Gynecological Department of Baghdad Teaching Hospital from 1st February 2021 to 30th October 2021, on one hundred pregnant women with gestational age (28weeks - 36weeks+6days) who attended outpatient clinic; fifty pregnant women with established preterm labor as case group and fifty pregnant women with no signs and symptoms of preterm labor as control group. Data was collected using structured questionnaire included demographic features, and biochemical parameters (serum ferritin (ng/ml), albumin (gm/dl), fibrinogen (mg/dl), and calcium (mg/dl) . Results: Mean±SD serum ferritin in control group was (46.2 ± 16.2 ng/ml) while in case group (52.47 ± 11.6ng/ml) with significant difference between both groups (P=0.03), mean±SD serum albumin in control group (3.18 ± 0.31 ng/ml) while in case group (2.92 ± 0.39) with highly significant difference between both groups (P<0.001). Validity test of serum ferritin at cutoff ≥ 52.7 (ng/ml) in case group was as follows: Sensitivity (94%), specificity (90%), negative predictive value (94%), positive predictive value (90%) and the accuracy was (92%). The validity test of serum albumin at cutoff ≤ 3.06 (gm/dl) to detect the preterm labor as follows: Sensitivity (78%), specificity (86%), negative predictive value (78%), positive predictive value (83%) and the accuracy was (84%). Mean±SD serum fibrinogen in control group was (400.9 ± 38.1) while in case group was (410.7 ± 51.2) with no significant difference between both groups (P=0.1). Mean±SD serum calcium in control group was (8.1 ± 0.7) while in case group was (7.92 ± 0.5) with no significant difference between both groups (P=0.1). Conclusion: serum ferritin and albumin can be used in prediction of preterm labor in 3rd trimester.
Radon and its daughters are of the natural radioactive decay of the uranium series. Exposure to radon gas leads to lung cancer, so the risks are significantly higher for smokers than for non-smokers. Therefore, the risk of radon increases for both active and passive smokers. The radioactivity of alpha particles emitted by radium 226, the main source of radon 222, has become harmful because its prevalence and inhalation increase with increased smoking. In this study, a CR-39 detector was used to measure radon, radium, and uranium concentrations and then calculate risk parameters in seven cigarette-smoking females in vitro study of human blood samples, and three normal females with no actual and passive cigarette smoking. The
... Show MoreApplying a well-performing heat exchanger is an efficient way to fortify the relatively low thermal response of phase-change materials (PCMs), which have broad application prospects in the fields of thermal management and energy storage. In this study, an improved PCM melting and solidification in corrugated (zigzag) plate heat exchanger are numerically examined compared with smooth (flat) plate heat exchanger in both horizontal and vertical positions. The effects of the channel width (0.5 W, W, and 2 W) and the airflow temperature (318 K, 323 K, and 328 K) are exclusively studied and reported. The results reveal the much better performance of the horizontal corrugated configuration compared with the smooth channel during both melti
... Show MoreA simple, environmental friendly and selective sample preparation technique employing porous membrane protected micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) loaded with molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) is described. After the extraction, the analyte was desorbed using ultrasonication and was analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits of OTA for coffee, grape juice and urine were 0.06 ng g−1, 0.02 and 0.02 ng mL−1, respectively while the quantification limits were 0.19 ng g−1, 0.06 and 0.08 ng mL−1, respectively. The recoveries of OTA from coffee spiked at 1, 25 and 50 ng g−1, grape juice and urine samples at 1, 25 and 50 ng mL
... Show MoreThe current study aimed to reveal the role of the high school (boys) in the Governorate of Qurayyat (KSA) in promoting intellectual security of students, and whether there were differences in the estimates of the study sample due to the variables; the current position, academic qualification, teaching specialization and years of experience. This study was conducted by applying the analytical descriptive method, and used questionnaire as a tool for data collection. The survey consisted of (44) ite
... Show MoreMany countries, including the Arab countries, have sought to establish the free zones because of their important economic importance to diversify financial income, especially in rentier countries, in light of the trend towards the capitalist economy in light of what has been produced by economic globalization, in addition to that many Arab countries have turned towards establishing the free zones that many countries of the world have turned to, to support their economy, especially in the field of attracting foreign investments for these regions, and using them in transferring modern technology, and operating the national workers of the countries that have established those areas, and adopting their products in meeting the needs of t
... Show MoreThe current research aims to analyze the role of participatory budgeting in improving performance, especially during crises such as the Covid-19 crisis. The research used the descriptive analytical method to reach the results by distributing 100 questionnaires to a number of employees in Iraqi joint stock companies and at multiple administrative levels. The research came to several important conclusions, the most important of which is that the bottom-up approach to budgeting produces more achievable budgets than the top-down approach, which is imposed on the company by senior management with much less employee participation. Additionally, there is a better information flow from the lower levels of the organization to the upper management
... Show MoreSeveral studies have indicated an unprecedented increase in the number of Arab youth who watch music videos. It is also a custom in Arab countries to broadcast songs at their happy parties such as weddings, engagements and birthdays. We see that guests and party owners interact by dancing and singing with the songs, while the viewership rates of Arab music videos have reached millions on YouTube. The researcher decided to study the image of women through the lyrics of these songs, due to their importance in shaping the image of women in the minds of young people and shaping the (self-image) of young women. Twenty songs were selected from the most watched songs on YouTube for the year 2024, and it was found that the negative qualities of t
... Show MoreIn this work, mesoporous silica SBA-15 was prepared and functionalized with amine groups (i.e., NH2) to form NH2/SBA-15. The curcumin (CUR) was encapsulated into the surface and pore of NH2/SBA-15 to create CUR@NH2/SBA-15 as an efficient carrier in drug delivery systems (DDSs). The three samples (i.e., SBA-15, NH2/SBA-15, and CUR@NH2/SBA-15) were characterized. The study investigated the effect of the carrier dose, initial CUR concentration, pH, and contact time on the CUR loading efficiency (DLE%) via adsorption. The best DLE% for the SBA-15 and NH2/SBA-15 were found to be 45% and 89.7%, respectively. The Langmuir isotherm had a greater correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.998 for SBA-15. A pseudo-secondorder kinetic model seemed to fit well
... Show MoreGlobally, over forty million people are living with Human Immunodeficiency Viral (HIV) infections. Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) consists of two or three Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and has been used for more than a decade to prolong the life of AIDS-diagnosed patients. The persistent use of HAART is essential for effectively suppressing HIV replication. Frequent use of multiple medications at relatively high dosages is a major reason for patient noncompliance and an obstacle to achieving efficient pharmacological treatment. Despite strict compliance with the HAART regimen, the eradication of HIV from the host remains unattainable. Anatomical and Intracellular viral reservo