Plasma D-Dimer Value Corrected with Some Physiological and Inflammatory Markers (C-Reactive Protein and Ferritin) in Iraqi Patients with COVID-19 Infection

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic it has been observed that patients have elevated plasma levels of D-dimer and some inflammatory markers (ferritin, interleukine 6, C-reactive protein (CRP) or fibrinogen). Some studies point to the existence of a certain correlation between those markers and D-dimer. CRP is a protein discovered in the 1930s by Tillett and Francis and is an acute phase reactant. It is a pentameric protein which is synthesized by the liver under the action of cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6). D-dimers are multiple peptide fragments produced as a result of degradation of crosslinked fibrin, mediated by plasmin. A total of 60 patients were recruited and categorized into :1- group1 (controls), 2- group 2 (COVID-19 patients). 5 ml of blood was obtained from each patient by vein puncture, using 5 ml disposable syringes, then centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes to collect the serum.  D- dimer, C-reactive protein were measured by using (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany). At the same time, the Ferritin was assessed by using a miniVIDAS analyzer for the fluorescent enzymatic detection of β2-microglobulin (β2M) using the technique. Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay (ELFA) (BioMerieux). Our results showed that there was a non- significant difference in the P-values between control and patients males and females. The Mean ± SE of age in control group was 45.90 ± 3.34, while the Mean ± SE of age in patients was 45.35 ± 2.52. There was a non- significant difference between the two groups, the Mean ± SE of CRP in control group was 5.04 ±0.81, while the Mean ± SE of CRP in COVID-19 patients was 37.16 ±3.24, there was a highly Significant differences between them (P≤0.01). The CRP of COVID-19 patients were compared with those of control patients, the results shows significant increased CRP in covid-19 patients group as a compression with the control group, the findings of the study is similar to Jacob Lentner, etal findings. In response to infections, the liver synthesizes significant quantities of acute-phase proteins (APPs), such as CRP. This acute inflammatory protein is a highly sensitive biomarker for inflammation, tissue damage, and infection. It has been shown that CRP levels are correlated with levels of inflammation. CRP levels can promote phagocytosis and activate the complement system. In other words, CRP binds to microorganisms and promotes their removal through phagocytosis. D-dimers are one of the fragments produced when plasmin cleaves fibrin to break down clots. Our study showed that the serum D-dimer concentrations in patients significantly higher than those in control group which is similar to Mamta Soni, etal, 2020 findings. Elevated D-dimer levels have emerged as a consistent finding in severely ill COVID-19 patients, Multiple studies have identified an association between higher D-dimer levels and an increased risk of mortality in the COVID-19 patient population. Ferritin is an iron-storing protein; its serum level reflects the normal iron level and helps the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia. Circulation ferritin level increases during viral infections and can be a marker of viral replication. Our study showed a significant increase in ferritin level in covid-19 patients group compared to control group, which consider similar to [] results. Although the exact cause for elevated ferritin in COVID-19 infection is unknown, it could be influenced by cytokine release or cellular damage that results in the leakage of intracellular ferritin. It has been previously shown that ferritin is a direct indicator of cellular damage suggestive of an association between organ damage and ferritin production. This could later cause cell death, known as ferroptosis. It is suggested that inflammation associated with sepsis could alter iron metabolism and deficiency to facilitate the immune system, which could be an early sign of COVID

ROLE OF DATA MINING IN E-GOVERNMENT FRAMEWORK

In e-government, the mining techniques are considered as a procedure for extracting data from the related webapplication to be converted into useful knowledge. In addition, there are different methods of mining that can be applied to differentgovernment data. The significant ideas behind this paper are to produce a comprehensive study amongst the previous research workin improving the speed of queries to access the database and obtaining specific predictions. The provided study compares datamining methods, database management, and types of data. Moreover, a proposed model is introduced to put these different methodstogether for improving the online applications. These applications produce the ability to retrieve the information, matching keywords,indexing database, and performing the prediction from a vast amount of data

Role of E-Commerce in Reducing Marketing Costs of Industrial Companies in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

The study aimed to show the role of e-commerce in reducing marketing costs in the Jordanian industrial companies after the tremendous developments that took place in the commercial fields and the congestion of markets in companies and products and diverse and intensified competition among these companies to achieve profits emerged as one of the modern means of trade that contributed significantly to Changing the future of the business and contributed by facilitating the process of selling and buying electronically to increase the efficiency of companies and strengthen the competitive position and contributed through its role in marketing the company's products electronically to facilitate the process of Obtain products and services by customers at the specified time and speed and reduce the cost of marketing the company's products to a minimum. The researcher used the descriptive analytical method based on the previous studies related to e-commerce and marketing costs and the preparation of a questionnaire distributed to industrial companies to measure the impact of e-commerce on the marketing costs of advertising and promotion costs, storage and distribution costs, sales and distribution costs in industrial companies and the costs of marketing studies and research in companies Jordan Industrial Company. The study found that there is a significant impact on the use and application of e-commerce on the marketing costs of advertising and promotion costs, storage and distribution costs, selling and distribution costs in industrial companies and the costs of marketing studies and researches in Jordanian industrial companies Keywords: Marketing Costs ,E-Commerce,Jordanian industrial companies,E-Marketing DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/10-20-06 Publication date:October 31st 201

Chitosan/Polyacrylamide Green Gels for Water Control in High-Temperature Reservoirs

The rheology of a gel system composed of polyacrylamide (PAM) and chitosan is studied under typical reservoir conditions. The impacts of the degree of chitosan deacetylation, temperature, and salinity on the gelation behavior are assessed. The said system was prepared under ambient conditions and matured for 24 h at altered temperatures ranging from 50 up to 125 °C. An optimum formulation has been identified considering the rheological response and the initial viscosity constraints. The increase in the degree of syneresis with the degree of deacetylation indicates the long-Term thermal stability of the gels. Ammonium chloride was an effective retarder for the PAM/chitosan gelant, which delayed the gelation time from 60 to 210 min when 2 wt % is used; however, it compromised the final gel strength. The chitosan/PAM system showed a good rheological behavior and potential as a green plugging agent in high-Temperature oil and gas wells. Chitosan could be an alternative for commercial crosslinkers, such as polyethyleneimine

Development Of Eco-friendly Chitosan-g-polyacrylamide Preformed Particle Gel For Conformance Control In High-temperature And High-salinity Reservoirs

Oil and gas extraction has become challenging nowadays due to the accompanying amount of excess produced water that results in poor recoverability of hydrocarbon, besides other environmental and economic isues. A recent and efficient technology for conformance control is the injection of preformed particle gels (PPGs), which results in a more practical production process. Nevertheless, existing treatments fail in high-temperature reservoirs, are extremely sensitive to salinity, and are hazardous. The characteristics of the designed PPG, such as mechanical strength and thermal durability, is mainly depend on their crosslinking method. Polysaccharides-based gels prepared by physical crosslinking are weaker than the ones crosslinked by strong covalent bonding. This paper uses one of the polysaccharides and proposes an environmentally friendly PPG for water shutoff applications in reservoirs of high temperature (≤130 °C) and high salinity (200,000 ppm), named chitosan grafted polyacrylamide crosslinked with N, N′-methylene bisacrylamide, synthesized chemically by microwave assisted method. The PPG\u27s chemical compositions, grafting and crosslinking mechanism have been investigated by FTIR spectroscopy and SEM techniques. Swelling kinetics, swelling capacity, and mechanical strength measurements were conducted in different conditions to evaluate the influence of the reservoir conditions, such as salinity, temperature, and pH, on the PPG stability. TGA experiments were also performed to examine the thermal stability. Results have shown that the grafting method has produced a PPG with improved mechanical strength, thermal durability, and salt insensitivity. These results are consistent with the testing observations, where the swelling capacities and the storage modulusof Cs/PAMBA samples, with different MBA content, in deionized water were 2.72–11.64 g/g and 4272.1–22,687 Pa, respectively, while they are 2.52–13.82 g/g and 3699.6–22,910, respectively, in saline solution of TDS 67.2976 g/L. The PPGs are thermally stable and resist temperatures up to 130 °C. Besides being eco-friendly, the Cs/PAMBA showed good long-term thermal stability in high-temperature and high-salinity environments

Impact Of Composition And Salinity On Swelling And Gel Strength Of Poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic Acid) Preformed Particle Gel

The effects of various material compositions and reservoir environments on the ultimate strength and swelling kinetics of a commercial preformed particle gel (PPG) have been investigated. This study used different ratios of acrylamide and acrylic acid copolymers with a specific crosslinker concentration. Results have indicated that increasing the acrylic acid proportion enhances the PPGs\u27 ability to swell but weakens their network structure. In contrast, increasing the crosslinker content decreases the swelling ratio and increases the gel strength. The highest equilibrium swelling capacity among the six preformed particle gel samples was obtained for PPG2, which has the highest acrylic acid amount and the lowest crosslinker content, with a swelling ratio of 2400 g/g in deionized water and 59.8 g/g in brine 1 (67535.8 mg/l). On the contrary, PPG5, with the lowest acrylic acid and highest crosslinker content, has a swelling capacity of 239 g/g and more than 17 g/g in distilled and brine 1, respectively. Yet, PPG5 has the highest swollen gel strength of 615.5 Pa in deionized water and 3344 Pa in brine 1. The PPGs\u27 swelling ratios showed stepwise improvements along with increasing temperature, notably after 50 °C, yet the storage modulus (G′) was negatively affected. The PPGs revealed the highest swelling behavior in pH 6–8, decreasing dramatically in more acidic and basic conditions. The swelling ratios of the PPGs in brine 1 at 50 °C were between 12 and 32 g/g, having strengths in the range of 566–5508 Pa, depending on the crosslinker ratio. The PPGs also demonstrated the ability to compete with other commercial PPGs as they have shown physical and thermal stability when aging at 50 °C, specifically those with high crosslinker content (PPG5)

The Smart Extensions Curriculum from an Islamic Educational Perspective

Objectives: This study aimed to reveal the foundations of the smart extensions curriculum and to clarify the concept behind it, its main elements, and the stages of building it, all from an Islamic educational perspective. Methods: Both inductive and deductive approaches were followed to study the smart extensions curriculum from an Islamic educational perspective. This involved first extrapolating the texts and referring to recent educational literature and studies to note the main features that indicate the nature of the curriculum. Additionally, educational deduction was directed towards inducted religious law texts and modern educational literature. The researchers also worked on tabulating the matrix of educational deductions in successive topics. Results: The foundations of the smart extensions approach are embodied in the legislative basis, which expresses the system of concepts and facts related to the beliefs and rulings brought by the Islamic religion. Furthermore, the psychological basis is expressed as a set of principles that take into account the conditions of individuals in terms of innate preparations, capabilities, needs, motives, desires and trends in light of authentic Islamic rules. The process of building the smart extensions curriculum has a number of stages, represented by the foundational framing stage, the formative organization stage, and the structural approval stage. Conclusions: This study recommends directing researchers to conduct scientific studies that are concerned with demonstrating the impact of revelation directives on building Islamic educational curriculums

Improvement of Criminal Identification by Smart Optimization Method

Data-mining methods, which can be optimized via different methods, are applied in crime detection. This work, the decision tree algorithm is used for classifying and optimizing its structure with the smart method. This method is applied to two datasets: Iraq and India criminals. The goal of the proposed method is to identify criminals using a mining method based on smart search. This contribution helps in the acquisition of better results than those provided by traditional mining methods via controlling the size of the tree through decreasing leaf size

The Prevalence of S. Aureus Nasal Colonisation and its Antibiotic Sensitivity Pattern amongst Primary School Pupils

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most adaptable human pathogens. Nasal Staphylococcus aureus is the main cause of community-associated staphylococcal infections. This project aimed to study the prevalence of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus and community-associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) and evaluate their antibiotic susceptibility tests among primary school children at Zakho city, Kurdistan region, Iraq. Nasal swabs were taken from a total of 300 primary school pupils aged 8-12 years. Collected nasal swabs were processed according to the standard bacteriological culture and isolates were identified using mannitol fermentation, Gram stain, catalase test and coagulase test. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was carried out on Muller-Hinton agar (MHA) to determine the susceptibility of S. aureus and CA-MRSA towards antibiotics. 30% (90/300) of the primary school children carried S. aureus. The nasal carriage of MRSA was 4% (12/300) among participants. All MRSA isolates were sensitive to vancomycin, doxycycline, amikacin and ciprofloxacin. This study showed that the incidence of S. aureus and CA-MRSA is comparable with reports from elsewhere. Measures are needed to keep the emergence and transmission of these pathogens to a lowest. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of all S. aureus isolates is crucial for treatment of MRSA. Further studies are required to detect the risk factors of the acquisition of MRSA

Water-pipe smoking and serum testosterone levels in adult males in Qatar.

Water-pipe (WP) smoking is the most common method of tobacco consumption in the Middle-East and is rapidly spreading on a global scale. Although, water-pipe smoking is linked to various diseases, such as emphysema and various types of cancers, its effect on testosterone levels has yet to be investigated. This study explores the effect of water-pipe smoking on serum testosterone levels in males in Qatar. In this cross-sectional sample within a cohort study, we retrieved data for a total of 1000 male volunteers from the Qatar BioBank (QBB) project. A self-reported questionnaire was used to determine the water-pipe smoking status of participants. Moreover, participants were stratified based on the frequency of smoking. Total testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) were measured clinically, whereas free testosterone and bioavailable testosterone were calculated using Vermeulen's equation. Hormone values of 541 males (277 water-pipe smokers and 264 non-smokers) were compared using multiple regression analysis based on water-pipe smoking status after adjusting for confounding factors. No statistically significant difference was observed between WP smokers and non-water-pipe smokers in the likelihood of having lower or higher total testosterone, after adjustment for confounding factors. Similar results were found in free testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, and sex hormone binding globulin (all p>0.05). When compared with the reference group, both light and heavy water-pipe smokers had a similar likelihood of circulating low total testosterone levels (OR=0.83, 95% CI: 0.46-1.49; and OR=0.80, 95% CI: 0.43-1.49; respectively). Our results reveal, for the first time, that there is no significant change in total testosterone, free testosterone, bioavailable testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin in waterpipe smokers compared to non-water-pipe smokers. Therefore, we believe that further studies are needed to confirm the effect of water-pipe smoking on testosterone in different populations.This work was supported by the College of Medicine of Qatar University and grant QUST-2-CMED-2018-1 from Qatar University