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Objectives : this study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the bacillus calmette-guérin (BCG) vaccine with topical salicylic acid (SA) in the treatment of viral warts. methods : this non-randomised controlled trial was conducted at the al-Sader teaching hospital, Basra, Iraq, from January 2016 to April 2017. a total of201 patients with viral warts were injected with an intradermal purified protein derivative. subsequently, those with negative tuberculin test results received an intradermal BCG vaccination, while those with positive results underwent conventional treatment with topical SA. patients were assessed for any signs of improvement at one, two and three months. results : overall, 190 patients completed the trial; of these, 133 (70%) received the BCG vaccine and 57 (30%) were treated with topical SA. complete response to treatment was observed in 9.8% and 5.3% of patients in the BCG and SA groups, respectively (p <0.001). cure rates were significantly higher for patients with genital (22.2% versus 7.7%; p = 0.002) and common warts (8.5% versus 0%; p = 0.001) treated with the BCG vaccine ; however, the reverse was true for flat warts (12.9% versus 25%; p = 0.041). a binary logistic regression analysis indicated that BCG therapy was the only significant independent predictor of positive treatment response (odds ratio: 7.56, 95% confidence interval: 3.72–15.36; p <0.001). conclusion : the BCG vaccine was more effective than topical SA for treating viral warts, with the best response noted in the treatment of genital warts, followed by flat warts. however, plantar warts demonstrated least response to this treatment.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) on the serum level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in men in Basrah, Iraq. Patients and Methods: A case-control study was done including 70 confirmed type 2 diabetic patients and 70 non-diabetic persons. Data about age and family history of diabetes were collected. For diabetic patients, data related to disease history were also enquired about. Weight and height were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Blood examination was done to estimate fasting plasma glucose and PSA. Results: The mean ages of diabetic and non-diabetic patients were 55.2 ± 10.5 and 55.9 ± 10.9 years, respectively. The mean total serum PSA was significantly lower among diabetic than non-diabetic men (1.97 ± 1.05 ng/ml vs. 2.60 ± 1.22 ng/ml, respectively, P = 0.001). The multivariate linear regression analysis showed that age, DM and BMI were independent predictors of serum PSA variation. Age was significantly related to PSA in non-diabetics, but not in diabetic patients. Conclusion: Serum PSA level is significantly lower and less age dependent in type 2 diabetic patients than in non-diabetics. Therefore, DM should be considered in setting of PSA threshold when screening for prostate cancer.

Studies from various parts of the world have shown that teachers are likely to suffer from burnout. So far, there has been no research on burnout among primary school teachers in Basrah, Iraq. We aimed to determine the prevalence and predisposing factors of self-reported burnout among primary school teachers in Basrah. This was a cross-sectional study in 32 governmental primary schools during November 2014-February 2015. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic and work-related data using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. Of 800 questionnaires distributed, 706 (88.3%) were completed; 58.4% were from women. The prevalence of burnout was 24.5% (95% CI: 21.5-27.8). A statistically significant association was found between burnout and age, sex and marital status. Work-related factors that showed significant association with burnout were: work overload, problems related to career advancement, high number of students per class and student misbehaviour. Burnout is an important health problem among primary school teachers in Basrah. A number of risk factors, particularly those related to work, are amenable to modification since they are related to the education policy.

To identify the diagnostic role of total and free prostate-specific antigen (TPSA and FPSA) in breast cancer in women. Blood samples of 55 women with breast cancer were prospectively analyzed for PSA before and after breast surgery, with a control group of 82 healthy women. Total and free PSA levels were significantly higher in women with breast cancer (preoperatively) than in healthy women (P<0.001). Both serum TPSA and FPSA showed a significant decline in their pre-surgical values after surgical removal of the tumor (P<0.001). A significant proportion of breast cancer patients (83.6%) had free PSA as the predominant molecular form in serum as compared to 0% of controls and 1.8% of postoperative groups (P<0.001). TPSA and FPSA levels were significantly associated with younger age and earlier cancer stage, whereas no significant association was found between these two variables and FPSA as a predominant molecular form. This study indicated a clinical significance of preoperative measurement of serum TPSA and FPSA in the diagnosis of women with breast cancer, and may be a useful marker for monitoring the response to treatment.

Cancer in a family member can be a major source of psychological disorders, especially for the parents of children diagnosed with cancer. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and levels of depression among parents of children with cancer in Basrah, Iraq. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2014 and April 2015 at the Specialist Paediatric Hospital in Basrah City, Iraq. One parent each of 384 children with cancer admitted to the hospital for treatment or follow-up during the study period were invited to participate in the study. Age, gender, years of education, occupation, monthly income, place of residence and the overall number of children in a family were recorded. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale was used to identify depression and assess levels of depression. Results: A total of 336 parents participated in the study (response rate: 87.5%). Of these, 70.5% were depressed, 54.1% of which had major depression. Depression was significantly more common (77.2% versus 57.1%) and more severe (60.7% versus 41.1%) among mothers compared to fathers (P = 0.001). Parents with fewer years of education were more likely to be depressed; this association was significant for mothers but not fathers (P = 0.001 and 0.814, respectively). Depression was significantly inversely associated with monthly income (P = 0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of depression among the parents of children with cancer was high. Depression was significantly more severe among mothers compared to fathers and among mothers who were less educated. Income also had a significant association with levels of depression among parents.

Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) are growing into more desirable targets for malicious individuals due to the quick rise in the number of automated vehicles around the roadside. Secure data transfer is necessary for VANETs to preserve the integrity of the entire network. Federated learning (FL) is often suggested as a safe technique for exchanging data among VANETs, however, its capacity to protect private information is constrained. This research proposes an extra level of security to Federated Q-learning by merging Blockchain technology with VANETs. Initially, traffic data is encrypted utilizing the Extended Elliptic Curve Cryptography (EX-ECC) technique to enhance the security of data. Then, the Federated Q-learning model trains the data and ensures higher privacy protection. Moreover, interplanetary file system (IPFS) technology allows Blockchain storage to improve the security of VANETs information. Additionally, the validation process of the proposed Blockchain framework is performed by utilizing a Delegated Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (DPBFT) based consensus algorithm. The proposed approach to federated Q-learning offered by Blockchain technology has the potential to develop VANET safety and performance. Comprehensive simulation tests are performed with several assessment criteria considered for number of vehicles 100, Throughput (102465.8 KB/s), Communication overhead (360.57 Mb), Average Latency (864.425 ms), Communication Time (19.51 s), Encryption time (0.98 ms), Decryption time (1.97 ms), Consensus delay (50 ms) and Validation delay (1.68 ms), respectively. As a result, the proposed approach performs significantly better than the existing approaches.