Background: The genetic polymorphisms of vitamin D receptor (VDR) have an association with thalassemia development, additionally to the environmental elements that elicited the disorder in the genetically predisposed individuals. As well, VDR functions responsible for the regulation of bone metabolism, such its part in immunity. Aim: The sitting study intended to inspect the association between thalassemia disease and the genetic polymorphisms of VDR among the Iraqi population then compared these findings to other findings of thalassemia patients in other different ethnic populations. Materials and methods: The restriction enzymes Bsm-I and Fok-I were applied to determine the genetic polymorphisms frequencies of VDR by a Polymerase Chain Reaction – Random Fragment Length Polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) techniques of the targeted parts (rs2228570 and rs1544410) in 70 Iraqi patients suffering from thalassemia (18 males and 52 females) and 75 Iraqi healthy participants as a control group (18 males and 52 females). Also, the comparison between the present findings of VDR genetic polymorphisms in Iraqi thalassemia patients and other previous findings for thalassemia patients in different ethnic populations for the selected VDR Bsm-I and Fok-I sites were done. Results: The present findings manifested a significant difference of VDR Bsm-I and Fok-I genetic polymorphisms frequency (rs2228570 and rs1544410) in the thalassemia patient's group contrasted to the healthy control group. In VDR rs2228570, the AA genotype and A allele frequency were significantly increased in the patients' group contrasted to the healthy control group (44.29 vs. 8.0%, OR: 9.14, 95% CI: 3.53–23.68, p: 4.1 × 10−7; 69.0 vs. 27.0%, OR: 6.02, 95% CI: 3.27–11.06, p: 3.9 × 10−9, respectively). while, the results of VDR genetic polymorphisms rs1544410 manifested that the CC and CT genotyping and C allele frequency were significantly increased among the patient's group contrasted to the healthy control group (28.75 vs. 6.67%, OR: 5.60, 95% CI: 1.98–15.81, p: 7.2 × 10−4; 57.14 vs. 24.0, OR: 4.22, 95% CI: 2.08–8.55, p: 8.1 × 10−5; and 57.0 vs. 19.0%, OR: 6.39, 95% CI: 3.0–10.66, p: 3.9 × 10−9, respectively). Also, it manifested the genetic polymorphisms variance of VDR rs2228570 and rs1544410 between the Iraqi thalassemia patients and other ethnic thalassemia patients. The results showed different variants among the Iraqi thalassemia patients' polymorphisms and other ethnic thalassemia patients' polymorphisms. Conclusions: The present results demonstrated a significant association between the genetic polymorphisms of VDR and thalassemia disease, the AA genotype and A allele frequency was significantly increased among the thalassemia patients' group compared to the controls in VDR Bsm-I polymorphism (rs2228570). While the CC and CT genotypes and C allele frequency were significantly increased among the thalassemia patients' group compared to the controls in VDR Fok-I polymorphism (rs1544410). As well, it indicates the variance of VDR Bsm-I and Fok-I genetic polymorphisms frequencies between the Iraqi thalassemia patients and other thalassemia patients from different ethnic populations.
Static loads exposing to mechanical components can cause cracks, which are lead to form stress concentration regions causing the failure of structure. Generally, from 80% to 90% of structure failure is due to initiation of the cracks. Therefore, it is necessary to repair the crack and reduce its effect on the structure where the effect of the crack is modelled as an additional flexibility to the structure. In the last few years, piezoelectric materials have been considered as one of the most favourable repairing techniques. The piezoelectric material converts the applied voltage on it to a bending moment to counter the bending moment caused by the external load on the beam at the crack location. In this study, the design of the piez
... Show MoreBackground: Type two diabetic patients have higher risk of cardiovascular and periodontal disease. Furthermore, patients with more severe periodontal disease have higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to assess the association between periodontal health status and the risk of vascular disease in type 2 diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: One hundred type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and fifty apparently healthy males were enrolled in this study. Oral examinations conducted were; plaque Index, calculus index, gingival index, probing pocket depth, and clinical attachment level. For the assessment of vascular risk, arterial stiffness index was used. Results: According to arterial stiffness index, type 2 diabetic p
... Show MoreEarth’s climate changes rapidly due to the increases in human demands and rapid economic growth. These changes will affect the entire biosphere, mostly in negative ways. Predicting future changes will put us in a better position to minimize their catastrophic effects and to understand how humans can cope with the new changes beforehand. In this research, previous global climate data set observations from 1961-1990 have been used to predict the future climate change scenario for 2010-2039. The data were processed with Idrisi Andes software and the final Köppen-Geiger map was created with ArcGIS software. Based on Köppen climate classification, it was found that areas of Equator, Arid Steppes, and Snow will decrease by 3.9 %, 2.96%, an
... Show MoreThe objective of this research is to study experimentally and theoretically the girder vertical load share of the curved I-Girder bridges subjected to the point load in addition to the self-weigh and supper imposed dead loads. The experimental program consist of manufacturing and testing the five simply supported bridge models was scaled down by (1/10) from a prototype of 30m central span. The models carriageway central radii are 30 m, 15m or 10m. The girder spacing of the first two models is 175 mm with an overall carriageway width of 650mm. The girder spacing of the other three bridge models is 200mm with the overall carriageway width of 700 mm. The overall depth of the composite section was 164 mm. To investigate the effect of live load
... Show MoreMany cities suffer from the large spread of slums, especially the cities of the Middle East. The purpose of the paper is to study the reality of informal housing in Al-Barrakia and the most important problems that it suffers from. The paper also seeks to study the presence or absence of a correlation between urban safety indicators and urban containment indicators as one of the methods of developing and planning cities. This can be achieved through sustainable urban management. The slums are a source of many urban problems that threaten the security and safety of the residents and represent a focus for the concentration of crimes and drugs. The paper seeks to answer the following question: How can urban safety be improved through urban cont
... Show MoreGlass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) beams have gained attention due to their promising mechanical properties and potential for structural applications. Combining GFRP core and encasing materials creates a composite beam with superior mechanical properties. This paper describes the testing encased GFRP beams as composite Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams under low-velocity impact load. Theoretical analysis was used with practical results to simulate the tested beams' behavior and predict the generated energies during the impact loading. The impact response was investigated using repeated drops of 42.5 kg falling mass from various heights. An analysis was performed using accelerometer readings to calculate the generalized inertial load
... Show MoreThis paper investigates the experimental response of composite reinforced concrete with GFRP and steel I-sections under limited cycles of repeated load. The practical work included testing four beams. A reference beam, two composite beams with pultruded GFRP I-sections, and a composite beam with a steel I-beam were subjected to repeated loading. The repeated loading test started by loading gradually up to a maximum of 75% of the ultimate static failure load for five loading and unloading cycles. After that, the specimens were reloaded gradually until failure. All test specimens were tested under a three-point load. Experimental results showed that the ductility index increased for the composite beams relative to the refe
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The types of development potential in the city vary, from the nature of city, to its society, environment, economy, and history. The city of Baghdad contains many historical development potentials out of using, and most of them towards declining, this will be the research problem, within the aim of trying to clarify how to invest one of the important historical elements in the development of the city, based on the hypothesis that the sustainable development of the city should be stand on the activation of its historical assets. The historical wall of Baghdad is located on the Rusafa side, which is a wall that has not been left except for one gate and the site of another gate from it is f
... Show MorePre-eclampsia is the most common medical complication of pregnancy associated with increased maternal and infant mortality and morbidity. Its exact etiology is not known, although several evidences indicate that various elements might play an important role in pre-eclampsia. This study was carried out to analyze and to compare the concentration of calcium, in mild pre-eclampsia and in normal pregnant women , and to determine the effect of oral supplementation with calcium on mild pre-eclampsia , and whether this effect is related to the change in the level of serum calcium. Forty- five women in the third trimester of pregnancy were selected to participate in this study and divided into: fifteen apparently healthy, normo
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