Statistical analysis of birth weight in Awassi sheep in Iraq

In the Awassi flock raised at the Hammam Al-Alil Experiment Station, Mosul University, Iraq, 336 single and 62 twin births were recorded over the years 1968-1972. The environmental factors, year of birth, sex of lamb, age of dam, weight of dam, month and type of birth were assessed with respect to their influence on birth weight, and repeatability of birth weight was estimated. Month of birth, sex of lamb, type of birth and weight of dam were highly significant effects (P \u3c .01). However, in this study, year of birth appeared to have less significant (0.1 \u3c P \u3c 0.25) influence on birth weight of lambs since all lambs were born in the same season of each year and feeding and management were quite similar in all years. The phenotypic correlation between birth weight of lamb and weight of dam was 0.32, and repeatability of birth weight as a trait of the dam was estimated to be 0.23. The results provide a good illustration of the general level of management and environment prevailing in the ewe flock, with birth weight as indicator

Study Natural Convection in a Porous Trapezoidal Cavity with a Square Body at the Center of the Enclosure

Steady state free convection heat transfer in a two dimensional trapezoidal enclosure filled with a fluid-saturated porous medium with a square solid body located at the center of cavity, is performed in this study. The bottom wall of the cavity was heated with a sinusoidal temperature distributionq = l(1 - cos( 2pX )) , the inclined walls are insulated (adiabatic) and the top wall is maintained at q = 0. To obtain the effects of the presence of a square body on heat transfer and fluid flow inside the enclosure, three different temperature boundary conditions were applied for the body as cold ( θbody=0) , heated (θbody=1) and adiabatic ( = 0) ¶ ¶ n q at different Ra numbers. In this study, the governing equations were solved numerically using finite element software package (FLEXPDE). Results for the mean Nusselt number, Num, the contour maps of the streamlines and isotherms are presented. It is observed that fluid flow and temperature fields strongly depend on thermal boundary conditions of the body. A comparison of the flow field, isotherm field and averaged Nusselt number, Num with previous work, which revealed a good agreement

Prevalence of thinness cases and dietary diversity among learners of various education stages in Taif Region, Saudi Arabia

Monitoring nutritional status during infancy, childhood, and adulthood is essential because good quality diet during growth is vital to cover the cognitive and physical demands, supply enough energy stores for illnesses and pregnancy and avoid adult nutrition-associated diseases. Thinness cases and lack of dietary diversity among learners in various education stages are common nutritional problems. A cross-sectional survey was carried out for the assessments of thinness cases and dietary diversity among the learners in various education stages in Taif Region, Saudi Arabia in August, 2020. A total of randomly selected 1602 respondents who fulfilled the exclusion and inclusion criteria (n=364 primary schools, n=410 middle schools, n=321 high schools, and n=507 university students) were examined and efficiently completed the survey. The survey comprised of socio-demographic characteristics, questions about health problems, adequate dietary diversity, habits, food item consumption, and nutritional knowledge test based on the student's theory and behaviors. The prevalence of thinness status among university students was very obvious (22%) and found to be mild followed by moderate (11%) and (0.4%) severely thin. The prevalence of severe thinness was the highest among primary school participants (28%). The prevalence of moderate thinness was reported slightly similar among middle and high school participants (29% and 32%, respectively). The highest prevalence of thinness cases was found in students from rural areas, while the lowest values were observed in those from urban areas. Students from large family size were more likely to be thin as compared to students from small size families. Students whose mothers were illiterate or had low formal education were more likely to be thin compared to those students whose mothers had completed university education or above. Further, 78% of primary school students reported meal skipping due to lack of appetite, while shape maintaining for the meal was accounted for 50% for middle school students as the main reason for the meal skipping. Snacking was also reported to be at a high rate among primary and high school students as 76% and 83% of the students mentioned having snacks, respectively. A higher frequency of light physical exercise was established for primary school pupils (81%), while university students reported (34%) as moderate. Almost all students had a low level of eating cereals, fruits and vegetables, while high schools and university students had a high-level consumption of fruits, animal-based foods and nutritional supplements. High school students had an excellent score 37% for nutrition knowledge. Education stage of learners was found to have direct influence on thinness, dietary diversity and food consumption frequency of the respondents. Consequently, nutritional education may positively affect the whole student's ability for good diet choices in the way to ensure a healthier status. The knowledge of nutrition education combined with physical exercise programmers may contribute to strengthening of the healthy eating messages at the various educationstages

The Role of Hyposthenuria in Enuresis among Paediatric Patients with Sickle Cell Disease

Objectives: Enuresis in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) is common. Many risk factors have been postulated but its relation to hyposthenuria is debatable. This study aims to determine the prevalence of enuresis inchildren with SCD in Basrah, Iraq and to examine its relation with hyposthenuria. Methods: A cross-sectional epidemiological study was performed on children with SCD who met the inclusion criteria at the Basrah Center for Hereditary Blood Diseases over the period from the first of December 2020 through May 2021. A questionnaire was used to collect relevant data. Blood samples were tested for hemoglobin genotype, certain blood indices, and serum hemoglobin. Urine was tested for albumin and creatinine, and the specific gravity was measured using urine dipsticks. The relationships between enuresis and various sociodemographic and clinical variables were assessed. Binary logistic regression analysis was done to examine the independent risk factors of enuresis. Results: Out of 200 eligible children, 161 were studied after exclusion of 39 based on the exclusion criteria, yielding an 80.5% response rate, 60.9% of them were males. The mean age of the participants was 10.9 ± 2.9 years. Enuresis was reported in 50 (31.1%) patients. The independent risk factors for enuresis were; family history of enuresis (OR, 5.94; 95% CI, 2.54-13.89; P<0.001), hyposthenuria (OR, 3.76, 95% CI, 1.25-11.30; P= 0.018), and sleep disorders (OR, 2.90; 95% CI, 0.19-7.06; P= 0.019). Conclusion: Enuresis is common among children with SCD. Hyposthenuria was significantly associated with enuresis. Family history of enuresis, and sleep disorders were also found to be significantly related to enuresis. Keywords: Enuresis, sickle cell disease, children, prevalence, hyposthenuri

Preparation and in vitro evaluation of synthetic high-density lipoproteins as parenteral drug delivery system for tamoxifen citrate

The aim of this study was to develop a bioinspired drug delivery system for tamoxifen citrate (TC) based on synthetic high density lipoproteins (sHDL). For this purpose, sHDL nanoparticles were prepared from a mimetic peptide (5A peptide) and different lipids using thin film hydration method followed by sonication and thermal cycling. Various formulation parameters including lipid composition, lipid to peptide ratio, and drug to carrier ratio had a remarkable impact on the properties and the release pattern of the nanoparticles. The optimized formula (F14) displayed a spherical morphology, average diameter of (35.7±12.4) nm, and a zeta potential (ζ) equals to (-48.4± 0.5) mV. The encapsulation efficiency and drug loading of F14 were (96.5±0.7%) and (9.65±0.1%), respectively. Besides, F14 showed a good stability in human plasma for 24 hours. The encapsulation of the lipophilic drug within the hydrophobic core of the nanocarrier enabled a slow drug release from nanoparticles which follows a near zero order controlled mechanism. The promising results of this study opens an avenue for using sHDL as a delivery system for administration of TC intravenously. Therefore, the optimized formula is suggested to be subject for future analyses in terms of in vitro cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells and in vivo evaluation in tumor bearing animals

Solvability of Semilinear Initial Value Perturbed Control Problems with Unbounded Control Operators

In this paper the local existence and uniqueness of the mild solution to some operator semi-linear initial value control problem were studied and developed by using the theory of perturbation, composite, admissibility and "Banach contraction principle", in arbitrary Hilbert space H via perturbation composite semigroup approach

Output-Feedback Stochastic Nonlinear Stabilization and Inverse Optimality

Output-feedback (observer-based) robust and optimal control law which guarantees global (local) asymptotic stability in probability for nonlinear stochastic dynamic system are stated, developed and proved with the help of stochastic Lyapunov function approach supported by necessary theorems and an illustrative example. The inverse optimal stabilization in probability with suitable performance index has also been stated and developed

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD) is a benign and self-limited disorder, characterized by regional cervical lymphadenopathy with tenderness, usually accompanied with mild fever and night sweats. Less frequent symptoms include weight loss, nausea, vomiting, sore throat. Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease is an extremely rare disease known to have a worldwide distribution with higher prevalence among Japanese and other Asiatic individuals. The clinical, histopathological and immunohistochemical features appear to point to a viral etiology, a hypothesis that still has not been proven. KFD is generally diagnosed on the basis of an excisional biopsy of affected lymph nodes. Its recognition is crucial especially because this disease can be mistaken for systemic lupus erythematosus, malignant lymphoma or even, though rarely, for adenocarcinoma. Clinicians' and pathologists' awareness of this disorder may help prevent misdiagnsois and inappropriate treatment. The diagnosis of KFD merits active consideration in any nodal biopsy showing fragmentation, necrosis and karyorrhexis, especially in young individuals presenting with posterior cervical lymphadenopathy. Treatment is symptomatic (analgesics-antipyretics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and, rarely, corticosteroids). Spontaneous recovery occurs in 1 to 4 months. Patients with Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease should be followed-up for several years to survey the possibility of the development of systemic lupus erythematosus