Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and secondly, non-diabetic controls (11 male, 9 female) were selected from the patients attending Ibn AL-Haitham hospital for ophthalmology and a specialized center for endocrinology and diabetes. Venous blood samples of all participants were drawn after an overnight fast, and serum samples were stored at -20ºC until DKK-1 assay. Results: Serum DKK-1 showed significantly lower levels in diabetic patients with (6.1 ± 2 ng/mL) or without DR (14 ± 6.2 ng/mL) when compared to those of controls (34 ± 12.25 ng/mL) (p 0.05). Furthermore, serum DKK-1 levels were lower in the late stage of DR compared to the early stage 5.6 ± 1.7 and 7 ± 1.9 ng/mL, respectively. Furthermore, DPP-4 inhibitors cause a better increment in DKK-1 levels when compared to SU in the NDR group. Conclusions: Reduced serum levels of DKK-1 are related to the existence and worsening of DR and have the prospect to serve as an indicator for this condition.
Old Iraq includes the first experiences in establishing the first residential settlements in the Mesopotamian, and model villages designed and the pulp units in it and their natural matter, that made it perennial, and construction continues until now with it. These experiences were the basis for the emergence of the Iraqi civilization and thus the world and the beginning of writing, trade and the religions of the divine since before history, and then the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations, and their villages that formed the Fertile Crescent.
There is a lack of knowledge and disregard for the distant and near history of Iraq in the field of rural housing, despite Iraq's leadership in this field, with the aim of the re
... Show MoreTo cite the short stories of Kathrine Mansfield, all contain characters who are
revealed through their own thoughts. In her stories, the world is always seen through
the eyes of her characters in the form of points of view presented to the readers
through the characters' minds. This way of revealing characters and figuring out the
world, through the presentation of the characters' thoughts, is linked to the 'stream of
consciousness.' Kathrine Mansfield has been compared with Virginia Woolf in
particular in that both writers used the thoughts and the points of view of their
characters as material for their work through the stream of consciousness.
According to Leech and Short (1981), there are five linguistic techn
Feminism is a diverse set of social theories, political movements and ethos driven by women's causes. Feminists and feminists agree that the ultimate goal is to eliminate the forms of gender-related oppression It should be noted that feminism originated at the beginning as an emancipation movement aimed only at lifting the injustice and suffering of European women, but over time evolved and crystallized to form an independent thought in itself swimming against all the universals known to humanity in the relationship between male and female nature This study posits a hypothesis that the feminist movement is characterized by multiple and varied trends, different in its analyzes of the causes of women's oppression, but all agreed on the need t
... Show MoreLeiomyosarcoma (smooth muscle tumor) is a rare type of a malignant neoplasm of smooth
muscle. It is a resistant cancer, generally not very responsive to chemotherapy, radiationand surgery.The
aim of this study was to evaluate photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a possible basis for treatment using
(650 nm)diode laser with methyleneblue (MB) as a photosensitizer on leiomyosarcoma (LMS)cell line
(L20B) in vitro. The cytotoxic effects of 650nm diode laser 0.052 W/cm2 (power density) at different
exposure time (10, 20, and 30 min) with methylene blue at different concentrations (0.01% ,0.1 % ,1%)
was investigated on LMS cell line (L20 B). The cytotoxic effect of laser was increased with increasing
irradiation time for a certai
In this paper, we use concepts and results from percolation theory to investigate and characterize the effects of multi-channels on the connectivity of Dynamic Spectrum Access networks. In particular, we focus on the scenario where the secondary nodes have plenty of vacant channels to choose from-a phenomenon which we define as channel abundance. To cope with the existence of multi-channels, we use two types of rendezvous protocols: naive ones which do not guarantee a common channel and advanced ones which do. We show that, with more channel abundance, even with the use of either type of rendezvous protocol, it becomes difficult for two nodes to agree on a common channel, thereby potentially remaining invisible to each other. We model this
... Show MoreIn the 20th century, the concept of "sarcasm" has relatively prevailed, and in this sense, it is a method in the art of conversation that wants to keep the question about the intended meaning, that is, "saying something and suggesting its opposite."
There are other concepts that indicate that sarcasm is saying something in a way that provokes the recipient of the statement an infinite number of different interpretations, with multiple readers of different interpretations. While the philosophy of irony stands by the standards of things, exaggeration or minimization, this manipulation takes place within the enjoyment. However, it's a method to present sharp criticism in an atmosphere of criticism that differs from generation to gener
Energy is one of the components of the national security of countries and is of particular importance to the industrialized countries, including Germany. Energy policy includes many areas and has an impact on various sectors such as the environment, climate, agriculture and others. During the past few years, Germany has witnessed many transformations, the most important of which is the energy transition towards renewable energy, and it was strengthened in the strategy that was It was developed in 2010, which aims to achieve a long-term energy transformation, and sales of the German energy technology sector have evolved from 2010 to 2020, and this issue is related on the other hand to the concept of energy security and because of its strateg
... Show MoreIn pre- Islamic poetry, there are a lot of words that indicate
peacefulness of one sort of another, in addition to the inspirations of semantic
modeling in which the poet sets himself in various horizons.
Among these words: brother, comrade, friend, companion, lover,
people, prince, home, land, country, blessing, honesty, contract, company,
justice, thankfulness, forgiveness, pardoning, guest, goodness, faithfulness,
silence, death, peace,….
In addition, there are their derivatives from various aspects that indicate
peacefulness either directly or indirectly.
The Islamic art is filled with precious and holiness contents for what it carries of spiritual meanings represented by the Holy Quran, Hadith and texts which inspired the Calligrapher fertile imagination draw from it a wide space for holiness and spiritual expression with artistic explanation of aesthetic and decorative nature, its issuance pivots depended on decoration and calligraphy elements. The main elements which enriched the aesthetic and expressional side are the texts which used by the Calligraphers whom tried to be perfect and creative by presentation techniques and issuance treatments hold within the beauty of the shape and content. The most remarkable artistic achievements are honorable prophetic decoration for what it has of
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