Objective: Atorvastatin therapy is now recommended for reduction of cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetic patients (T2DM), based on convincing evidence of reductions in mortality and vascular events in major clinical outcome trials. The aim is to evaluate the effects of atorvastatin on proinflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6), HbA1c andleptin in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Sixty fivenewly diagnosed T2DM patients were randomly allocated into 2 groups; group I treated with metformin only; in group II atorvastatin was added with metformin. Twenty healthy subjects were enrolled as control group. While maintaining their usual eating habits, fasting blood samples were collected at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment. Results: HbA1c levelswere decreased significantlyonly in group I compared with baseline value; while serum levels of leptin, TNF-α and IL-6 were decreased significantly in both groups compared to baseline values. Conclusion: Atorvastatin is effective in reducing leptin and pro-inflammatory cytokines levels but associated with an increased risk of worsening HbA1c in patients with T2DM.
Cardiovascular disorders are refer to the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels (arteries and veins). While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system. Cholesterol is classified as a sterol (a contraction of steroid and
... Show MoreIn this study, performance characteristics such as power take off (PTO) power consumption, fuel consumption, fuel consumption for the unit field-unit product were determined at different working speeds with two different PTO applications (540 and 540E) in a single row disc type silage machine. In particular, the 540E PTO application greatly reduces fuel consumption for unit work. The best results in terms of hourly fuel consumption were achieved in 540E PTO application and V1 working speed. When the field - product fuel consumption is evaluated, the best results were obtained with the 540E PTO application at the V3 working speed. When an evaluation is made considering all the parameters, it is concluded that the 540E PTO application will p
... Show MoreThe present research aims to study the effect of friction stir welding (FSW) parameters on temperature distribution and tensile strength of aluminum 6061-T6. Rotational and traverse speeds used were (500,1000,1400 rpm) and (14,40,112 mm/min) respectively. Results of mechanical tests showed that using 500rpm and 14mm/min speed give the best strength. A three- dimensional fully coupled thermal-stress finite element model via ANSYS software has been developed. The Rate dependent Johnson-Cook relation was utilized for elasto-plastic work deformations. Heat-transfer is formulated using a moving heat source, and later used the transient temperature outputs from the thermal analysis to determine equivalent stresses in the welde
... Show MoreIn this work, the effects of solvent properties on the characteristics of absorption and fluorescence for two laser dyes was studied. Dyes used in this work include Coumarin 5400 and DCM, while the solvents include ethanol, methanol, acetone, propanol and chloroform. Coumarin 5400 dye shows sharp fluorescence peaks in the green band of visible region while the DCM dye shows relatively wide band within 590-630 nm. Therefore, the selection of any dye for random gain medium applications should be performed after determining the most appropriate solvent as the optimum fluorescence characteristics are obtained.
The aim of this study is to compare the effects of three methods: problem-based learning (PBL), PBL with lecture method, and conventional teaching on the understanding of thermodynamics, group work and self-directed learning skills among physics undergraduates. The actual sample size comprises of 122 students, who were selected randomly from the Physics Department, College of Education in Iraq, for academic year 2011-2012. In this study, the pre and posttest were done and the instruments were administered to the students for data collection. Inferential statistics were employed to analyze data. The independent variables were the PBL, the PBL with lecture method, and the conventional teaching. Dependent variables of statistical analysis were
... Show MoreThe current study examines the combined impacts of ultrasonic waves and nano silica (NS) on reducing the viscosity Sharqy Baghdad heavy crude oil with an API gravity of 20.32. NS of an average particle size of 59.93 nm and 563.23 m²/g surface area were produced utilizing the sol-gel technique from Iraqi sand. The XRD analysis indicates the existence of an amorphous silica, the SEM analysis showed that NS tends to agglomerate, and the FTIR spectra exhibited the presence of siloxane and silanol groups. In addition, the TGA analysis demonstrated a total weight loss of 15.62%, validating the thermal stability of the NS. The experiments included a study of the impact of ultrasonic power, exposure time, duty cycle, temperature, and the c
... Show MoreIn this paper the effect of nonthermal atmospheric argon plasma on the optical properties of the cadmium oxide CdO thin films prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis was studied. The prepared films were exposed to different time intervals (0, 5, 10, 15, 20) min. For every sample, the transmittance, Absorbance, absorption coefficient, energy gap, extinction coefficient and dielectric constant were studied. It is found that the transmittance and the energy gap increased with exposure time, and absorption. Absorption coefficient, extinction coefficient, dielectric constant decreased with time of exposure to the argon plasma
This research aims to study the effect of microwave furnace heat on the mechanical properties and fatigue life of aluminum alloy (AA 2024-T3). Four conditions were used inside microwave furnace (specimens subjected to heat as dry for 30 and 60min. and specimens subjected to heat as wet (water) for 30 and 60 min.), and compared all results with original alloy (AA 2024-T3). Tensile, fatigue, hardness and surface roughness tests were used in this investigation. It is found that hardness of dry conditions is higher than wet conditions and it increases with increasing of time duration inside microwave furnace for dry and wet conditions. Also, tensile strength has the same behavior of hardness, but it increases with decreasing
... Show MoreTumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) antagonists’ therapy are expensive and has a non-responsive rate between 30% to 40% in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Genetic variation plays a vital role in the responsiveness to this type of therapy.The aim of this study is to investigate if the presence of genetic polymorphism in the TNF-α gene promoter region at locations -376 G/A (rs1800750), -806 C/T (rs4248158), and -1031 T/C (rs1799964) affects rheumatoid arthritis patient's tendency to be a non-responder to etanercept.
Eighty RA patients on etanercept (ETN) for at least six months were recruited from the Rheumatology Unit at Baghdad Teaching Hospital. Based on The European League Against Rheumatism response (EULAR) criteria, patient
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