Hydrophilic Acrylic versus Polymethylmethacrylate Intraocular Lens Implantation for Pediatric Cataract Surgery: Iraqi Study

الغرض لعمل دراسة و مقارنة بين الزرع الابتدائي للعدسة  الأكرليك المطوية والعدسة الصلبة داخل العين لجراحة الماء الابيض للاطفال فيما يتعلق بالنتائج البصرية والمضاعفات . طريقة العمل دراسة سريرية شملت 40 عيناً لـ 31 مريضا تتراوح اعمارهم ما بين سنة الى ست سنوات كانو يعانون من الماء الابيض لعين واحدة او لكلتا العينين سواء كان ولاديا او مكتسبا .هناك نوعان من العدسات تم استخدامهما : المطوية والصلبة حيث  ان عملية فتح محفظة العين الامامية وعملية قص السائل الزجاجي الامامي تم اجراؤها في جميع المرضى و بعد اجراء الجراحة تمت متابعة المرضى  لمدة عام كامل . النتائج في هذه الدراسة كان متوسط عمر الاطفال لمجموعة العدسات المطوية 3.2 سنة  ولمجموعة العدسات الصلبة 3.7 ومعدل متابعة المريض بعد العملية 19.6 شهرا  (12-29) وفيما يخص المضاعفات فان المضاعفات اثناء اجراء العملية الجراحية لم تحدث اما ما يتعلق بالمضاعفات بعد العملية فان التهاب القزحية تم ملاحظته بنسبة 2% من اطفال مجموعة العدسات المطوية بينما 25% من اطفال مجموعة العدسات الصلبة. ومن المضاعفات الاخرى التي تم ملاحظتها من خلال المتابعة: تصبغ القرنية 30% والتصاقات القرنية الخلفية 10% والتصاقات القرنية بالقزحية 10% وهذه المضاعفات تم مشاهدتها بالعدسات الصلبة فقط اما بالنسبة للنتائج البصرية فقد كانت جيدة بشكل عام. الاستنتاج الاطفال الذين خضعوا لعملية رفع العدسة و عملية فتح محفظة العين الامامية وعملية قص السائل الزجاجي الخلفية تمت مقارنة النتائج البصرية والمضاعفات بين العدسات المستخدمة لهم (المطوية و الصلبة) وقد وجد خلال الدراسة ان العدسة المطوية افضل بالنتائج واقل مضاعفات.Purpose To make a comparison between the primary implantation of the foldable hydrophilic acrylic and the polymethylmethacrylate intraocular lenses of pediatric cataract surgery that generally includes short term complications and visual results. Methods This clinical study includes 40 eyes of 31 consecutive patients who aged from 1 to 6 years complaining from unilateral or bilateral, congenital or developmental cataracts. Two kinds of IOLs, including foldable hydrophilic acrylic and PMMA were randomly implanted in the capsular bag during surgery. Primary posterior capsulotomy and anterior vitrectomy were performed in all eyes. Patients were followed up for at least 1 year. Perioperative complications, visual results and refractive errors were compared between the study categories. Results In the study, regarding age, it was 3.2±1.8 years of the hydrophilic acrylic group and 3.7±1.3 years of the PMMA group. Regarding follow up mean period was 19.6±5 (12–28) months. Intraoperative complications don’t occurr in any group. Postoperative uveitis was observed in 2 (10%) eyes in the acrylic group patient versus 5 (25%) eyes in the PMMA group patient (P=0.40). Other postoperative complications include pigment deposition (30%), posterior synechiae formation (10%) and iridocorneal adhesions (10%), were observed only in the PMMA group. Visual outcomes in these groups study were good and comparable and the visual axis was completely clear Conclusion In pediatric eyes in whom lensectomy was doing with the primary posterior capsulotomy and anterior vitrectomy, the comparison between the hydrophilic acrylic IOLs and PMMA IOLs was made including biocompatibility and visual axis. The observation was that hydrophilic acrylic IOLs is less frequent postoperative complications

EFFECT OF PROTEASE SUPPLEMENTATION IN BROILER FEED ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, CARCASS YIELD AND TOTAL NITROGEN RETENTION IN FECAL MATTER AND LITTER

ABSTRACT The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of protease supplementation on commercial broiler performance, carcass yield, and nitrogen retention in fecal matter and litter. Total of 4,800 female (Ross 708) birds split into 96 floor pens, and randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups. Birds were placed within 96, 5’x10’ floor pens in a randomized-block design at the SFASU Poultry Research Center. Birds were randomly divided among the pens at a stocking density of 1.00 ft2/bird (50 birds/pen*24 pens/treatment=1200 birds/treatment), and reared for 49 days on used pine shavings. The target average weight for the birds was 6.25lbs. Dietary treatments consisted of: treatment #1 positive control (PC) Pilgrim’s Standard Diet (Basal diet), treatment # 2 negative control (NC) Pilgrim’s Diet with Protease Matrix removed (only the amino acids’ credit – no energy credit), treatment # 3 (PC+ Protease) Pilgrim’s Diet (Basal diet) + Protease on top , and treatment # 4 (NC+ Protease) Pilgrim’s Diet with Protease Matrix removed + Protease on place . groups were analyzed for bird performance, carcass yield, and Nitrogen retention in fecal matter and litter. A yield study was completed at the end of the study to determine meat yield for all retail cuts. Results indicated that the protease addition on top of protein matrix in treatment 3 had significant effect on live body weight at day 49, and had no significant effect on feed conversion ratio (FCR) & adjusted feed conversion ratio (AFCR). Also, the protease had no significant effect on carcass yield. However, the inclusion of protease on low protein diet (NC+ Protease, Tx4) lowered the nitrogen retention in fecal matter

Towards a Policy Framework for Iraq’s Petroleum Industry and an Integrated Federal Energy Strategy

The “Policy Framework for Iraq’s Petroleum Industry” is a logical structure that establishes the rules to guide decisions and manage processes to achieve economically efficient outcomes within the energy sector. It divides policy applications between regulatory and regulated practices, and defines the governance of the public sector across the petroleum industry and relevant energy portfolios. In many “Rentier States” where countries depend on a single source of income such as oil revenues, overlapping powers of authority within the public sector between policy makers and operators has led to significant conflicts of interest that have resulted in the mismanagement of resources and revenues, corruption, failed strategies and the ultimate failure of the system. Some countries have succeeded in identifying areas for progressive reform, whilst others failed due to various reasons discussed in this thesis. Iraq fits into the category of a country that has failed to implement reform and has become a classic case of a rentier state. The primary aim of this research is to produce a policy framework applicable to the local settings of Iraq’s petroleum industry, together with an implementation strategy that helps the country in its transition from legacy practices to sustainable policies compatible with the federal constitution of 2005. Such a framework would observe the legislative applications that appeared in the aftermath of establishing a federal regime. The framework will help to rationalise the decisions and processes that sustain the governance and business practices across the energy value chain of Iraq. The development of a policy framework exemplified by the final setting of the Federal Energy Council (FEC) proposed in this thesis has to take into account the existing legal framework, the legacy of previous policies and the governance arrangements of developing policy under a new federal regime. A review of federal models of major resource holders that may share similar attributes to Iraq is subsequently necessary to identify the appropriate fiscal regime which fits Iraq’s legal system. Conflicts of interest and how they have been reduced or eliminated in case study countries, must be identified to instruct the final proposed framework. This research also examines key factors that influence the petroleum sector of a federalized major resource holder. Furthermore, qualitative in-depth case studies have been conducted to investigate the research problem. This research is complemented by numerous interviews that took place with high profile executives, policy makers and senior officials, as well as a review of data relevant to Iraq from an array of historical literature. The findings of this thesis will comprise a proposed “policy framework for Iraq’s petroleum industry,” exemplified by the FEC that the federal government of Iraq needs to adopt to transition energy institutions from the legacy of centralised rule to a modern and efficient petroleum industry in a democratic setting

Smoking cessation and depression in male Saudi smokers

ABSTRACT: This study looks at the relationship between smoking cessation and depression in Saudi male smokers. The study has found that there is a positive correlation between quitting smoking and decreasing the intensity of depression, as people who participated in this program had a higher chance to decrease their level of depression in comparison with those who did not. We highly recommend this program for people who want to quit their smoking habits and enjoy their lives. After conducting this study on 75 Saudi men, only 11 quit smoking, and 64 either reduced smoking, didn’t change, or smoked more. Before the clinical help, 30 of those participants had no depression, 33 had minimal depression, 10 had mild depression, and 2 had moderate depression. After 6 months, and after attending the smoke cessation clinic, 51 smokers had no depression, while 12 has minimal depression, 8 had mild depression, and 4 had moderate depression. This shows that effectively, smoking has a relationship to depression, as lots of smokers who quit (or reduced) smoking have lost or reduced depressive symptoms. • 30 of the 75 participants who started the process to quit smoking had no depression. After 6 months, 51 of the 75 participants had no more depression, as the process to quit has helped them significantly. • 33 participants had minimal depression before starting the process to quit. After 6 months, this number decreased significantly, and only 12 participants had mild depression, showing more of the positive effects of quitting. • The 10 participants that had mild depression decreased as well, to 8 participants, showing more of the positive effects of quitting. • 2 participants who had moderate depression however, increased to 4, due to the external stressors preventing them from becoming emotionally stable. Conclusion: we have found that Smoking Cessation Clinic has a positive effect on 58% of the participants, as 44% of them decreased smoking habits, 14% completely quit. However, we have found out that according to the study, the process of smoking cessation helped many of the minimally depressed, not the mild nor moderately depressed

ANALYSIS OF TWO CLASSES OF CROSS DIFFUSION SYSTEMS

A mathematical and numerical analysis has been carried out for two cross diffusion systems arising in applied mathematics. The first system appears in modelling the movement of two interacting cell populations whose kinetics are of competition type. The second system models axial segregation of a mixture of two different granular materials in a long rotating drum. A fully practical piecewise linear finite element approximation for each system is proposed and studied. With the aid of a fixed point theorem, existence of the fully discrete solutions is shown. By using entropy-type inequalities and compactness arguments, the convergence of the approximation of each system is proved and hence existence of a global weak solution is obtained. Providing further regularity of the solution of the axial segregation model, some uniqueness results and error estimates are established. The long time behaviour of both systems is investigated and estimates between the weak solutions and the mean integrals of the corresponding initial data are derived. Finally, a practical algorithm for computing the numerical solutions of each system is described and some numerical experiments are performed to illustrate and verify the theoretical results

Water Statistics and Accounts for Jordan: Part I

Jordan ranked as one of the world’s poorest countries in terms of water availability. In the face of scarcity of water and the opportunities to increase supply are few and very expensive, the government is trying to solve part of the problem through redistributing the available sources of water to different uses. Presently, the redistribution of available sources and the usage of sewage treated water for agricultural purposes is enough to meet the demand for water. Population and industries development and increase of demand for food will grow the demand for water. Such increase requires radical and efficient solutions. The government’s planning and future projects take into consideration alternative sources for water supply. Some of these projects depend on dams building, while others depend on the usage of non-traditional sources such as the reuse of treated water and desalinization of sea water.

Water Statistics and Accounts for Jordan: Part II

Water accounts considered one of the tools that can be used to evaluate the input and output of water in different sectors. The objective of this paper is to highlight some economic aspects of water use in Jordan. The paper was concerned with two parts. The first economics of water use in different sectors while the second concerned with the emissions evolved. The results of this paper showed that the most profit of water use is through the industrial sector.

The Impact of Leadership Style on Innovation in Iraq's Higher Education Institutions: The Role of Knowledge Sharing

Today, the higher education sector in developing countries is facing challenges from a dynamic environment characterised by rapid technological change and increased demand. As innovation becomes critical to the survival of organisations, transformational leadership (TL) has been found to have an important influence on innovation, leading to increased goal-directed behaviour on the part of followers, promoting organisational change, and a spirit of trust, and helping followers to exceed their performance expectations. Knowledge and knowledge sharing are recognised as the most significant resources for competitive advantage and the key to enhancing innovation. It has been shown that knowledge management and the promotion of knowledge sharing among the members of an organisation are an important part of the learning process as they help to convert the tacit knowledge embedded in individuals into explicit knowledge through interaction. Prior literature has pointed out that transformational leadership is one of the most important factors affecting knowledge sharing and enhanced innovation in an organisation. However, there is a lack of models linking transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, and innovation within higher education institutions (HEIs) in general within developing countries, particularly Iraq. This study sought to examine the impact of transformational leadership on innovation through the mediating role of knowledge sharing, and the differences between these impacts in public and private HEIs in Iraq. A mixed-methods approach was taken (quantitative and qualitative) and 486 (253 public and 233 private) valid responses were collected to test the causal relationships between transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, and innovation. Then, 10 interviews were conducted with the leaders of HEIs to explain the unexpected findings from the quantitative stage regarding the differences in transformational leadership practice and the effect relationships. Employing structural equation modelling (SEM) with AMOS 20, the study found that knowledge sharing plays a pivotal role in the relationship between transformational leadership and innovation, and that transformational leadership would be ideal in an educational context, promoting knowledge sharing activities and influencing innovation in both the public and the private sector. The multi-group SEM and the interviews revealed similarities and differences between Iraqi public and private HEIs in terms of the effect relationships. The findings contribute significantly to the theory on the mediating role of knowledge sharing in supporting the relationship between transformational leadership and innovation. They also provide a better understanding of these relationships in the educational environment within developing countries, specifically Iraq, a context that has been neglected in previous studies. The study has further detected sector-based differences, and similarities in terms of the transformational leadership exhibited, and has provided a clearer picture of the status of the HEI system in Iraq. Regarding practical implications, the findings show that leaders in higher education who are looking to establish strategies for achieving innovation would benefit from expending their efforts on promoting knowledge-sharing practices among their teaching staff.Iraqi government/Ministry of Higher Education and scientific researc

Studies in medieval Iraqi architecture

The period covered by this thesis extends from the mid- 6th/12th century to the late 8th/14th century. These centuries saw the development, maturity and apogee of Islamic architecture in Iraq as regards plan, structure and ornament. They also saw the heyday of the atabeg system, the fall of the Abbasid caliphate with the sack of Baghdad, and the establishment and decline of Mongol power. Long and comparatively peaceful reigns, such as those of the Caliphs al-Nasir and al-Mustansir, Badr al-Din Lulu' and Shaikh Uwais, generated many notable buildings. Occasionally a ruler's change of creed might affect his patronage of architecture. Thus the conversion of Badr al-Din Lulu' to Shi'ism, possibly intended as a move against the 'Adawiya sect, caused not only the conversion of many Atabikid madrasas to maqams and mashads, but also the erection of mausolea to Shi'ite imams. This thesis was undertaken in the hope of shedding light on the comparatively little-known mediaeval architecture of Iraq. The majority Of the foreign scholars who have worked in Iraq ao far have concentrated on tbe pre-Islamic past and even specialists in Islamic art have tended to concentrate on the Umayyad and early Abbasid periods. Thus there seemed to be room for a comprehena1ve work which would not only summarise the present state ot knowledge about already published buildings and their decoration but would also fill in the picture by dealing with little known and in some cases completely unpublished structures

An investigation of the early effects of fixed orthodontic treatment on dietary intake and body weight in adolescent patients

PhDAim: To investigate the effects of fixed orthodontic treatment on dietary intake and body weight. Methods: A hospital-based prospective cohort design undertaken in two distinctive parts: An initial qualitative study in which semi-structured one-to-one interviews using a topic guide, with 10 adolescent patients (4 male; 6 female) with a mean age of 13.21 (SD 0.71) years, were used to identify changes in dietary behaviour and intake in response to fixed appliance treatment. The topic guide was tested, in 4 pilot interviews (1 male; 3 female) with a mean age of 12.5 (SD 0.98), before using it in the final test sample. A framework analysis method was used for data analysis. A supplementary questionnaire was developed to assess dietary behaviour based on the main themes and subthemes identified. The second part was a quantitative study in which a total of 124 adolescent patients (41.9% male; 58.1% female) aged 11-14 (mean 13.1, SD 0.91) years were consecutively recruited and allocated to test and control groups. Both groups completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and child perception questionnaire (CPQ11-14) at baseline, 4-6 weeks and 3 month follow-up periods. On each occasion body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage were measured. Patients completed a pain diary during the study period. In addition, the test group completed the supplementary questionnaire at both the 4-6 week and 3 month follow-up periods. Results: Qualitative study: All patients reported varying degrees of pain levels which declined within the first 2 weeks. All patients reported that their diet changed in response to pain, inability to bite and chew and in response to the dietary instructions given to them by their orthodontist. Patients felt that their eating habits had become healthier during treatment. Quantitative study: The response rate was 96.8% and the drop out was 12.1%. Both groups were comparable in relation to socio-demographic characteristics and baseline measurements. Patients adapted to pain by days 3 and 2 during the first and second follow-up periods, respectively (P<0.001), with pain intensity during the first period being the greatest. There was no significant difference between both 4 groups with respect to changes in energy, macro-nutrient intakes and BMI. Changes in fat percentage were significant between both groups (P<0.001). However, after adjusting for BMI status at baseline, changes in fat percentage between both groups were not significant. The impact on dietary behaviour was significantly higher at 4-6 weeks compared to 3 months (P<0.002). Only the oral symptoms domain of the CPQ11-14 worsened significantly during the first period of follow-up (P<0.001). BMI status at baseline appeared to be the only marginally significant moderator of change in fat percentage and impacts on dietary behaviour (P<0.05 and P<0.049, respectively) at follow-up. Conclusion: There were no significant statistical or clinical changes in dietary intake and behaviour, BMI and fat percentage during the first 3 months of fixed orthodontic treatment