Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative autoimmune disease mediated by autoreactive T cells against myelin-basic proteins. Cytokines are suggested to play a role in the etiopathogenesis of the disease. Among these cytokines is interleukin-2 (IL-2). Aim of the study: To investigate the association between IL2+166 G/T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP: rs2069763) and MS in Iraqi patients. Serum level of IL-2 was also detected. Anti-rubella IgG antibody was further determined in the sera of patients. Patients and methods: Eighty MS patients (28 males and 52 females; age mean ± SD: 39.2 ± 16.1 years) and 80 healthy control matched patients for age (32.15 ± 16.13 years) and gender (28 males and 52 females) were en

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the cause of the major world health issue, tuberculosis (TB). The cytokine, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) has been implicated in protection against TB in the early stages of the disease. TNF-α is an effective cytokine in the killing of intracellular M. tuberculosis. This study inducted to investigate whether there is any relationship between levels of TNF-α in sera of TB patients and their recovery, and is there any difference in the level of this cytokine in sera of female and male TB patients. This study included 29 patients with pulmonary TB (18 female and 11 male), their ages ranging from 37 to 59 years. All of them received first line TB therapy. They were consulted at Pasture Center during Septem

A random laser is a non-conventional laser whose feedback mechanism is based on dissorder-induced light. However, random lasers occur in gain media with numerous scatterers and produce coherent laser emission without any predesigned cavity. The generation of coherent emission from multiple scattering is quite general and its basic principles are shown here using sulforhodamine B-TiO suspensions system. These suspensions were pumped with 337.1 nm pulses from N2 laser and the spectral and temporal behavior of light emitted from the pumped surface was recorded. When we pump power above a certain threshold a dramatic narrowing of the emission line width and a shortening of the emitted pulses were observed. We have experimentally found that i

The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 unleashed the repressed national aspirations of the Kurdish people. After the colonial powers, especially Britain, failed to establish a homeland of scattered Kurds in Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran, Iraq's Kurds managed to establish a semi-independent state in the north of the country Which lasted decades against the central authority in Baghdad in protest against what they call the forced integration of Kurds in the Iraqi state, and to obtain more rights and privileges as partners in this country. The federal region in the Kurdistan region of Iraq has become a reality, and it is eager not to strengthen its authority in return for the authority of the central government, but to annex other areas inhabited b

Numerous regions in the city of Baghdad experience the congestion and traffic problems. Due to the religious and economic significance, Al-Kadhimiya city (inside the metropolitan range of Baghdad) was chosen as study area. The data gathering stage was separated into two branches: the questionnaire method which is utilized to estimate the traffic volumes for the chosen roads and field data collection method which included video recording and manual counting for the volumes entering the selected signal intersections. The stage of analysis and evaluation for the seventeen urban roads, one highway, and three intersections was performed by HCS-2000 software.The presented work plots a system for assessing the level of service

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitusand chronic periodontitis hold a close relationship that has been the focus of many researches. Currently there is an appreciation to the role of adipose tissue-derived substances "the adipokines" in immune-inflammatory responses; also, there is an interest in using the simple non-invasive saliva in diagnosing and linking oral and general health problems. The current study aims to determine the periodontal health status in the chronic periodontitis patients with and without poorly or well controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus, measure the salivary levels of two adipokines "leptin and resistin", pH and flow rate and then correlate between these clinical periodontal, biochemical and physical parameters in eac

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that mostly involves the spine and sacroiliac joints. It is associated with a decreased quality of life. Biological medicines such as infliximab and its biosimilar are the mainstay treatments for active ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: The study objective was to conduct a pharmacoeconomic study comparing the cost-effectiveness of the reference infliximab with its biosimilar in ankylosing spondylitis patients visiting public hospitals.

Subjects and Method: This is a two-center pharmacoeconomic study performed at two large teaching governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, which s

Background: Saliva is a specific bio-fluid with important biomarkers. Analyzing any alternation in these markers could give valuable information, in relation to oral health status parameters. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of α -amylase in unstimulated whole saliva of healthy, primary school children in relation to some oral health parameters. Materials and Methods: A questionnaires consisted of demography and medical histories of participants were filled by children families. Saliva samples were collected for 5- minutes between 9:00 -11:00 AM from 114 healthy students aged 6-13 years, divided into four age groups. Flow- rate, Plaque and Gingival Index were assessed and dentition status was investigated by DMFT/dmft