Evaluation of ELectrolytes in Adult Patients with Acute Leukemia before and after Chemotherapy

Abstract:Leukemia is a cancer of early blood forming cells. Most of them are cancers of white blood cells , however some leukemias start in other blood cell types.Electrolytes have modulatory effects on several biological mechanisms in the body namely as stabilizers,element of structures, essential element for hormonal function and also co-factors for a number of enzymes.In this study serum electrolytes levels were measured in patients with acute leukemia (AL) disorders before and after chemotherapy(anthracycline, doxorubicin, cytarabine ,prednisone, vincristine and doxorubicin) during one month and compared with that of control group. Blood samples were obtained from (43) patients (28 males and 15 females) aged (15-55)years;juset before and after chemotherapy. The control group contained samples from (40) healthy volunteers (26 males and 14 females) aged (15-55) years.Serum electrolytes levels(sodium Na+1,potassium K+1,calcium Ca+1,chloride Cl-1,magnesium Mg+2and phosphate PO4-3) were estimated using flame atomic absorbtion photometry. Serum levels of Na, K,Ca and Cl were significantly decreased in patients before chemotherapy in comparasion with that of control group. The mean concentration of serum phosphoruse and magnesium in acute leukemia patients was non significant compared with that of control group. In this study, determination of serum electrolytes in leukemic patients indicates an abnormal metabolic process in these patient

Ecopolis Strategy in the Sustainable Urban Regeneration of Historic City Centers

تمثل مراكز المدن التاريخية الجزء الأقدم من المدينة والتي تعكس أهميتها وتاريخها من خلال الهوية الثقافية الملموسة ذات الملامح الثابتة. تعرضت تلك المراكز إلى الكثير من العوامل التي أثرت على بنيتها ولاسيما البنية الفيزياوية، الأمر الذي تطلب ظهور سياسة لإحياء تلك المناطق الحيوية من المدينة بإسلوب مستدام. إهتمت سياسة الإحياء الحضري المستدام بالأبعاد المتعددة للبيئة الحضرية في المركز التاريخي والمتمثلة بـ (البعد البيئي-الفيزياوي والبعد الإقتصادي، والبعد الإجتماعي والبعد الثقافي والبعد الحوكمي-المؤسساتي)، مع التركيز على البعد البيئي- الفيزياوي وعده البعد الأهم في إحياء المراكز التاريخية. إهتمت العديد من إستراتيجيات الاستدامة الحضرية  بإحياء المركز التاريخي تحت مظلة الإحياء الحضري المستدام غير إنها لم تركز على البينة الفيزياوية كأساس لإحياء بنية المركز التاريخي ككل. في تسعينيات القرن المنصرم ظهرت إستراتيجية الايكوبولس والتي عنت بالبعد البيئي-الفيزياوي للبنية الحضرية والتي يمكن إعتمادها في المركز التاريخي لزيادة الجذب المكاني وبالتالي تحسين نوعية الحياة في مراكز المدن التاريخية. يهدف البحث إلى إستخلاص آليات ومؤشرات إستراتيجية الإيكوبولس في البعد البيئي-الفيزياوي من خلال العناصر الثلاث والمتمثلة بـ: الشكل الحضري والفعالية الحضرية والعناصر المتدفقة أو المنتشرة في بنية  المركز التاريخي، والتي تعمل  على خلق بيئة جاذبة مكانياً تحقق رفاهية الساكنين ومن ثم تطبيق المؤشرات في بيئة منتخبة (مركز الكرخ التاريخي).Historical city centers represent the oldest part of the city that reflect its importance and history through a concrete cultural identity with fixed features. These centers maintain their authenticity by maintaining their continuity. However, historical city centers have been exposed to many factors that have affected their structure, especially the physical structure, which required the emergence of a policy to regenerate these vital areas of the city in a sustainable manner. The Sustainable Urban Regeneration Policy has focused on the multiple dimensions of the urban environment of the historical center represented by - the physical dimension, the economic dimension, the social dimension, the cultural dimension and the institutional dimension-, focusing on the physical dimension considering it the most important in the regeneration of historical city centers. Many urban sustainability strategies have focused on regenerating the historical center under the umbrella of sustainable urban regeneration. However, they have not focused on physical aspect as a basis for regenerating the structure of the historical center as a whole. In the 1990s, the Ecopolis strategy has emerged, concentrating on the environmental -physical dimension of the urban structure, that promotes the spatial attraction, thereby improving the quality of life in historic city centers. The objective of the research is to extract the mechanisms and indicators of the Ecopolis strategy in the environmental-physical dimension through three aspects; the urban form, urban efficiency and the flow of elements in the historical center structure, which create a spatial environment that achieves the well-being of the inhabitants. As well as the application of the indicators on an elected environment (Al-Karkh Historical Center)

PERANCANGAN DAN REALISASI ANTENA MIKROSTRIP DENGAN FREKUENSI 1,4-4,4 GHz UNTUK GROUND PENETRATING RADAR

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) merupakan radar yang berfungsi untuk mendeteksi benda yang ada di dalam tanah. Dalam perkembangannya, GPR memiliki berbagai macam aplikasi, diantaranya mendeteksi kerusakan di dalam tembok hingga mendeteksi pipa didalam tanah. Dalam pendeteksian pipa dibutuhkan resolusi yang baik agar dapat membedakan pipa didalam tanah dengan objek disekitarnya. Maka dibutuhkan Antena yang memiliki bandwidth yang lebar untuk mengakomodir hal tersebut. Selain itu diperlukan juga antena yang memiliki pola radiasi unidirecitonal, sehingga radar dapet berkerja dengan optimal. Pada penelitian ini dirancang antenna mikrostrip jenis vivaldi. Antena Vivaldi memiliki kelebihan yaitu bekerja dengan baik pada Ultra Wide-Band (UWB). Karakteristik UWB yang memiliki pulsa yang sempit akan menghasilkan resolusi yang baik. Penambahan beban sirkular pada lengan vivaldi akan meningkatkan bandwidth dari antena, dan untuk pencatuan antena menggunakan pencatuan microstrip line. Perancangan antena dimulai dengan simulasi perangkat lunak, kemudian di fabrikasi, dengan bahan substrat FR-4 dengan konstanta dielektrik 4,4 yang memiliki ketebalan 1,6mm. Hasil perancangan memiliki nilai return loss dibawah -10 dB dan nilai VSWR dibawah 2 dengan gain 8,038 dBi untuk simulasi, dan untuk hasil fabrikasi memiliki return loss dibawah -10 dB dan nilai VSWR dibawah 2 dengan bandwidth 3GHz dan gain 6,384 dBi. Sehingga antena yang dirancang memenuhi spesifikasi yang diperlukan

Using mobile to send an Environmental Report to the environmental database

The purpose of this research to create an application on Mobile allows volunteers and official staff sends information about various environmental problems suffered by the Iraqi individual in his environment and sends it to the relevant environmental authorities for the purpose of storage and archiving electronically with the ability to display this data and retrieved and modified or deleted. The application is a client - server system and the application development for mobile device is Android Studio while environmental database created on the local host xampp server with web php pages to view reports and search or by using the Capabilities of the local host xampp server itself. Use the application allows the participation of the largest number of volunteers and environmental staff and notification directly about the problems and environmental damage at low cost, and improve the interaction between society and environmental authorities and to increase environmental awareness and improve the popular environmental control and provide the possibility of environmental remediation faster and achieve a something of Sustainable development social and environmental dimensions

2D-HEC-RAS Modeling of Flood Wave Propagation in a Semi-Arid Area Due to Dam Overtopping Failure

Dam overtopping failure and the resulting floods are hazardous events that highly impact the inundated areas and are less predictable. The simulation of the dam breach failure and the flood wave propagation is necessary for assessing flood hazards to provide precautions. In the present study, a two-dimensional HEC-RAS model was used to simulate the flood wave resulting from the hypothetical failure of Al-Udhaim Dam on Al-Udhaim River, Iraq, and the propagation of the resulting dam-break wave along 100 km downstream the dam site for the overtopping scenario. The main objective is to analyze the propagation of the flood wave so that the failure risk on dam downstream areas can be assessed and emergency plans may be provided. The methodology consisted of two sub-models: the first is the dam breach failure model for deriving the breach hydrograph, and the second is the hydrodynamic model for propagating the flood wave downstream of the dam. The breach hydrograph is used as an upstream boundary condition to derive the flood impact in the downstream reach of Al- Udhaim River. The flood inundation maps were visualized in RAS-Mapper in terms of water surface elevation, water depth, flow velocity, and flood arrival time. The maximum recorded values were: 105 m (a.m.s.l.), 18 m, 5.5 m/s, and, respectively. The flow velocity decreased from upstream to downstream of the terrain, which means less risk of erosion in the far reaches downstream of the study area. The inundation maps indicated that the water depth and flow velocity were categorized as Catastrophic limits on the terrain's area. The results offer a way to predict flood extent and showed that the impact of a potential dam break at Al-Udhiam Dam will be serious, therefore, suitable management is needed to overcome this risk. Moreover, the maps produced by this study are useful for developing plans for sustainable flood management. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091739 Full Text: PD

The Effect of a Training Program in a Reading Course in Developing English Language Learning Strategies among University Students

This study aimed at identifying the effect of a training program in developing the use of learning English language strategies among a sample of the Hashemite University students, and the differences in using these strategies due to gender and the type of group (experimental and control groups). The study sample consisted of 76 male and female students from the Department of English Language, divided into two groups (an experimental group of 34 male and female students and a control group of 42 male and female students). To achieve the aims of the study, Oxford's language learning strategies scale was used. The study used a quasi-experimental research design with pre-test and post-tests. ANCOVA and T-tests were used to analyze the data. The results of the study revealed that there is a statistical significant difference between the two groups in developing language learning strategies in favor of the experimental group. Also, results showed that there is no statistically significant difference in using language learning strategies attributed to gender

Imaging of Bioprosthetic Valve Dysfunction after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become the standard of care in elderly high-risk patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. Recently, TAVI has been increasingly performed in younger-, intermediate- and lower-risk populations, which underlines the need to investigate the long-term durability of bioprosthetic aortic valves. However, diagnosing bioprosthetic valve dysfunction after TAVI is challenging and only limited evidence-based criteria exist to guide therapy. Bioprosthetic valve dysfunction encompasses structural valve deterioration (SVD) resulting from degenerative changes in the valve structure and function, non-SVD resulting from intrinsic paravalvular regurgitation or patient-prosthesis mismatch, valve thrombosis, and infective endocarditis. Overlapping phenotypes, confluent pathologies, and their shared end-stage bioprosthetic valve failure complicate the differentiation of these entities. In this review, we focus on the contemporary and future roles, advantages, and limitations of imaging modalities such as echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography angiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography to monitor the integrity of transcatheter heart valves

Autoantibodies enhance ADAMTS-13 clearance in patients with immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

Background Severe deficiency in ADAMTS-13 (<10%) and the loss of von Willebrand factor–cleaving function can precipitate microvascular thrombosis associated with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Patients with immune-mediated TTP (iTTP) have anti-ADAMTS-13 immunoglobulin G antibodies that inhibit ADAMTS-13 function and/or increase ADAMTS-13 clearance. Patients with iTTP are treated primarily by plasma exchange (PEX), often in combination with adjunct therapies that target either the von Willebrand factor-dependent microvascular thrombotic processes (caplacizumab) or the autoimmune components (steroids or rituximab) of the disease. Objectives To investigate the contributions of autoantibody-mediated ADAMTS-13 clearance and inhibition in patients with iTTP at presentation and through the course of the PEX therapy. Patients/Methods Anti-ADAMTS-13 immunoglobulin G antibodies, ADAMTS-13 antigen, and activity were measured before and after each PEX in 17 patients with iTTP and 20 acute TTP episodes. Results At presentation, 14 out of 15 patients with iTTP had ADAMTS-13 antigen levels of <10%, suggesting a major contribution of ADAMTS-13 clearance to the deficiency state. After the first PEX, both ADAMTS-13 antigen and activity levels increased similarly, and the anti-ADAMTS-13 autoantibody titer decreased in all patients, revealing ADAMTS-13 inhibition to be a modest modifier of the ADAMTS-13 function in iTTP. Analysis of ADAMTS-13 antigen levels between consecutive PEX treatments revealed that the rate of ADAMTS-13 clearance in 9 out of 14 patients analyzed was 4- to 10-fold faster than the estimated normal rate of clearance. Conclusion These data reveal, both at presentation and during PEX treatment, that antibody-mediated clearance of ADAMTS-13 is the major pathogenic mechanism that causes ADAMTS-13 deficiency in iTTP. Understanding the kinetics of ADAMTS-13 clearance in iTTP may now enable further optimization of treatment of patients with iTTP

Developing national obesity policy in middle-income countries: a case study from North Africa

Background The prevalence of overweight and obesity is a rapidly growing threat to public health in both Morocco and Tunisia, where it is reaching similar proportions to high-income countries. Despite this, a national strategy for obesity does not exist in either country. The aim of this study was to explore the views of key stakeholders towards a range of policies to prevent obesity, and thus guide policy makers in their decision making on a national level. Methods Using Multicriteria Mapping, data were gathered from 82 stakeholders (from 33 categories in Morocco and 36 in Tunisia) who appraised 12 obesity policy options by reference to criteria of their own choosing. Results The feasibility of policies in practical or political terms and their cost were perceived as more important than how effective they would be in reducing obesity. There was most consensus and preference for options targeting individuals through health education, compared with options that aimed at changing the environment, i.e. modifying food supply and demand (providing healthier menus/changing food composition/food sold in schools); controlling information (advertising controls/mandatory labelling) or improving access to physical activity. In Tunisia, there was almost universal consensus that at least some environmental-level options are required, but in Morocco, participants highlighted the need to raise awareness within the population and policy makers that obesity is a public health problem, accompanied by improving literacy before such measures would be accepted. Conclusion Whilst there is broad interest in a range of policy options, those measures targeting behaviour change through education were most valued. The different socioeconomic, political and cultural contexts of countries need to be accounted for when prioritizing obesity policy. Obesity was not recognized as a major public health priority; therefore, convincing policy makers about the need to prioritize action to prevent obesity, particularly in Morocco, will be a crucial first step