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.
The study includes collection of data about cholera disease from six health centers from nine locations with 2500km2 and a population of 750000individual. The average of infection for six centers during the 2000-2003 was recorded. There were 3007 cases of diarrhea diagnosed as cholera caused by Vibrio cholerae. The percentage of male infection was 14. 7% while for female were 13. 2%. The percentage of infection for children (less than one year) was 6.1%, it while for the age (1-5 years) was 6.9%and for the ages more than 5 years was 14.5%.The total percentage of the patients stayed in hospital was 7.7%(4.2%for male and 3.4%for female). The bacteria was isolated and identified from 7cases in the Central Laboratory for Health in Baghdad. In
... Show MorePatch in transdermal drug delivery(TDDS) used to overcome the hypodermic drawback, but these patch also have absorption limitation for hydrophilic and macromolecule like peptide and DNA. So that micronized projection have the ability for skin penetration developed named as microneedle. Microneedle drug delivery system is a novel drug delivery to overcome the limitation of TDDS like skin barrier restriction for large molecule. Microneedle patch can penetrate through skin subcutaneous into epidermis, avoiding nerve fiber and blood vessel contact. There are many type of microneedle patch like solid, polymer, hallow, hydrogel forming microneedle and dissolving microneedle with different method of microfabrication
Cubosomes are nanosized structures self-assembled nanostructured materials used for controlling the release of the entrapped drug molecule. Lornoxicam (LXM) is a potent analgesic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drug with a short half-life (3-4) hours. The present study aims to prepare LXM-loaded cubosomes with well-defined morphology, particle size, PDI, high entrapment efficiency, sustained drug release, and high zeta potential value, as a transdermal drug delivery system.
Twelve formulas of LXM-loaded cubosomal dispersions were prepared by a solvent dilution method using Glyceryl monooleate ( GMO) as polar lipid with different stabilizers as Pluronic® F127 or tween 80 and different types o
... Show MoreBackground: Mental health of children has recently been
receiving increased attention in many parts of the world.
However, such attention has been lacking in developing
countries, particularly in the form of systematic research
Aim: The study aimed to find out the frequency of
behavior disorders in a sample of primary school children
and the different social and demographic factors that might
be related to this disorder.
Methods: The study is a cross-sectional one that included
918 primary school pupils in both urban and rural areas of
Baghdad. Rutter's questionnaire teacher's version was used
to assess the pupils, and the demographic data was obtained
by special questionnaire sent to the parents to be
The representations of the Holy in Christian painting Art represents a penalty of eternal relationship between any human society and sacred representations and forms that he belives in what is characterized by its clear tendency to knowledge and aclear focus on the spiritual experience that make up the human relationship with holy spirit and essence. Search has ment to study the forms of its presence in the art work of the middle ages.Research involved four shapters .first chapter includes research problem which centered around the following question;what is holy ? whats its represetations in Christian painting? And the importance and need of the study .and the goal of research and definitaions of the terms of research.Second chapter con
... Show MoreAbstract
The research aims at achieving a set of objectives, which is to study a vital variable in the organizations which is the talent management and its impact on encouraging and empowering employees to take part in making appropriate decisions with their heads in the Iraqi Cement State Company. The problem of this research is in finding solutions to the weaknesses that face the managers in attracting talented employees and keep them in the company, and this leads to a weak capacity of the company on authorizing talented employees and giving them the needed confidence to participate in decision making process. The research sample was included (45) managers in the researched company. Th
... Show MoreWarfarin dosing is challenging due to a multitude of factors affecting its pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD). A novel personalised dosing algorithm predicated on a warfarin PK/PD model and incorporating CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genotype information has been developed for children. The present prospective, observational study aimed to compare the model with conventional weight-based dosing. The study involved two groups of children post-cardiac surgery: Group 1 were warfarin naïve, in whom loading and maintenance doses were estimated using the model over a 6-month duration and compared to historical case-matched controls. Group 2 were already established on maintenance therapy a
A lack of adequate building maintenance is a significant obstacle faced by governmental hospitals. This paper evaluates factors that negatively impact building-maintenance practices in Iraq. A literature review was conducted to identify factors affecting maintenance. A list of 42 factors affecting hospital-buildings was collected from previous studies and tested using a structured questionnaire distributed to hospital-maintenance experts. During the data analysis, 76 valid questionnaires were used. Based on the respondents’ ratings, the relative-importance index (RII) was used to determine the level of importance of each factor. From the results, it was concluded that twelve factors affect maintenance practices in hospital buildin
... Show MoreAutomation is one of the key systems in modern agriculture, providing potential solutions to the challenges related to the growing world population, demographic shifts, and economic situation. The present article aims to highlight the importance of precision agriculture (PA) and smart agriculture (SA) in increasing agricultural production and the importance of environmental protection in increasing production and reducing traditional production. For this purpose, different types of automation systems in the field of agricultural operations are discussed, as well as smart agriculture technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), big data analysis, in addition to agricultural robots,
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