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.
This literary review addresses the status of the most famous Israeli writer, Amos Oz, through the analysis of relevant articles that highlight various aspects of his literary and political orientations, reflecting his ideological and social background. Oz's literature encompasses a mix of political orientations that many critics view as extreme, while others see them as moderate stances indicative of the author's awareness. And these are what strengthened his literary status in modern Hebrew literature.These trends emphasized the contribution of Oz's works to shaping Israeli cultural consciousness and reflect the challenges facing identity in multiple contexts. He was an advocate for equality between Palestinians and Israelis and
... Show MorePhytoplankton assemblage in relation to physical and chemical characteristics of water in Al-Auda marsh of Maysan province southern Iraq was assessed from November 2012 to July 2013. Six sampling sites were chosen to examine all phytoplankton species in the study area. A total of 246 species and seventy-five genera have been recognized belonging to twelve phytoplankton classes as follows: Bacillariophyceae (106 taxa), Chlorophyceae (34 taxa), Euglenophyceae (29 taxa), Cyanophyceae (29 taxa), Conjugatophyceae (19 taxa), Mediophyceae (10 taxa), Cryptophyceas (5 taxa), Coscinodiscophyceae (4 taxa), Chrysophyceae (4 taxa), Dinophyceae (3 taxa), Trebouxiophyceae (2 taxa) whereas Compsopogonophyceae record
Fencing sport coaches seek fencers who have high velocity and work hard to develop it through training. The research problem lies on when measuring movement abilities through some tests. Manual measurement does not give reasonable impartiality of timing because there is a time-frame between the movement of the fencer and the speed of the movement of the human time setter. Therefore, the authors sought to design an electronic vest to evaluate movement abilities in foil fencers. The study design was experimental, with 12 Iranian foil fencers of the national team, who were divided into two equal groups of 6 fencers. Moreover, there were 12 students from Physical Education and Sport Sciences that worked on the scientific f
... Show MoreTranslation is both a social and cultural phenomenon, it can neither exist outside a social community and it is within society, nor it can be viewed as a medium of cross-cultural fertilization. This paper aims to investigate the difficulties that a translator may face when dealing with legal texts such as marriage and divorce contracts. These difficulties can be classified according to the present paper into syntactic, semantic, and cultural. The syntactic difficulties include word order, syntactic arrangement, unusual sentence structure, the use of model verbs in English, and difference in legal system. As to the semantic difficulties, they involve lack of established terminology, finding functional and lexical equivalence, word for word t
... Show MoreThe decorative supplements added are important factors in determining many decorative effects and how to implement them, whether in fabrics or fashion, and also work to determine the nature of perception for both the designer and the recipient and have a key role in shaping the human personality and determining his motives and emotional tendencies in the acquisition of fabrics and fashion and the vocabulary they carry A design that has certain connotations and symbols that gain its value from the effects it leaves on the physical formations of women. The problem of the research came with the following question (What are the decorative supplements and their role in the designs of fabrics and women’s fashion?) The research also dealt wit
... Show Moreتتحقق اهداف الدول عبر توظيف امكانياتها ومواردها ، وهذا التوظيف يقترن بوسائل مختلفة باختلاف الامكانيات المتاحة. وتتفاوت هذه الوسائل ما بين الاكراه والترغيب ، واحياناً من الممكن استخدام كلا الوسيلتين ، وتندرج هذه الوسائل من حيث تصنيفها ضمن نوعين رئيسين هما: القوة الصلبة ]القوة العسكرية والاقتصادية[ والقوة الناعمة ]استخدام جميع ادوات الترغيب وتسخيرها من اجل ان تُعجب بها الدول الاخرى وتنصاع
... Show MoreLiving in sustainable residential place is one of the most important factors affecting the quality of life in neighborhood complex within the vertical housing complexes. This research focuses on indicators of social sustainability because of their effective impact in achieving a good quality of life . The most prominent of these indicators include: (social interaction, neighborhood grouped and trust, social cohesion, security and safety, privacy, connectivity opportunities for meeting and , and community participation, and cultural diversity). This was done through a questionnaire (for the residents of the Al-Salam residential complex in the city of Baghdad), and the form includes a set of questions related to indicators of social sustai
... Show MoreFinding orthogonal matrices in different sizes is very complex and important because it can be used in different applications like image processing and communications (eg CDMA and OFDM). In this paper we introduce a new method to find orthogonal matrices by using tensor products between two or more orthogonal matrices of real and imaginary numbers with applying it in images and communication signals processing. The output matrices will be orthogonal matrices too and the processing by our new method is very easy compared to other classical methods those use basic proofs. The results are normal and acceptable in communication signals and images but it needs more research works.