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.
In this research, the use of natural materials like wool and cannabis as intermediate reinforcement for prosthetic limbs due to their comfort, affordability, and local availability was discussed. As part of this study on below-the-knee (BK) prosthetic sockets, two sets of samples were made using a vacuum method. These sets were made of natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites with lamination 80:20: group (Y) had 4 perlon, 1 wool 4 perlon, and group (G) had 4 perlon, 1 cannabis 4 perlon. The two groups were compared with a socket made of polypropylene. Tensile testing was used to determine the mechanical characteristics of the socket materials. The Y group has a yield stress of 17 MPs, an ultimate strength of 18.75 MPa, and an elastic
... Show MoreThe Zubair reservoir in the Abu-Amood field is considered a shaly sand reservoir in the south of Iraq. The geological model is created for identifying the facies, distributing the petrophysical properties and estimating the volume of hydrocarbon in place. When the data processing by Interactive Petrophysics (IP) software is completed and estimated the permeability reservoir by using the hydraulic unit method then, three main steps are applied to build the geological model, begins with creating a structural, facies and property models. five zones the reservoirs were divided (three reservoir units and two cap rocks) depending on the variation of petrophysical properties (porosity and permeability) that results from IP software interpr
... Show MoreEichhornia, or water hyacinth represents a serious threat to potable water basins. This problem is materialized majorly in consuming large amounts of water and dissolved Oxygen that is necessary for aquatic life, and minorly in hindering water streams. Even there are limited trials to overcome such pests, none of them presents an acceptable solution economically and logically. Chlorine is a well-known biocide and broadly used in water industry. It could give a possible method to fight such weed. To investigate that, concentration-time plot should be introduced similar to any other microorganisms; especially, bacteria in water. In this work, various doses of Chlorine along various time
The deployment of UAVs is one of the key challenges in UAV-based communications while using UAVs for IoT applications. In this article, a new scheme for energy efficient data collection with a deadline time for the Internet of things (IoT) using the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) is presented. We provided a new data collection method, which was set to collect IoT node data by providing an efficient deployment and mobility of multiple UAV, used to collect data from ground internet of things devices in a given deadline time. In the proposed method, data collection was done with minimum energy consumption of IoTs as well as UAVs. In order to find an optimal solution to this problem, we will first provide a mixed integer linear programming m
... Show MoreA study of some mite species of alfalfa. wheat, and barley was conducted in central Iraq.
The mites were extracted using a tullgren funnel method. Twelve species were recorded. 10 of
them belong to suborder Trombidiformes and 2 belong to suborder Sarcoptiforms. Three
mites, Irnpar(pes hystricinus, Scutacarus longitarsus, and Rhizoglyphus echin opus are new
records for Iraqi mite fauna, and 11 are new host records in alfalfa soil.
Building a geological model is an essential and primary step for studying the reservoir’s hydrocarbon content and future performance. A three-dimensional geological model of the Asmari reservoir in Abu- Ghirab oil field including structure, stratigraphy, and reservoir petrophysical properties, has been constructed in the present work. As to underlying Formations, striking slip faults developed at the flank and interlayer normal. Abu Ghirab oilfields are located on the eastern anticlinal band, which has steadily plunged southward. 3D seismic interpretation results are utilized to build the fault model for 43 faults of the Asmari Formation in Abu Ghirab Oilfield. A geographic facies model with six different rock facies types
... Show MoreReading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension. The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode meaning. The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that meaning is. Reading comprehension is much more than decoding; it results when the reader knows which skills and strategies are appropriate for the type oftext, and understands how to apply them to accomplish the reading purpose.Reading comprehension is important because without it reading is nothing more than tracking symbols on a page with your eyes and sounding them out leaving the reader with no information. Instead of promoting traditional approaches, reading should be taught
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