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 s

Background: Repeated teenage pregnancy is a major burden on the healthcare system worldwide. Objective: We aimed to compare teenagers with their first and third pregnancies and to evaluate the likelihood of neonatal complications. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on female teenagers (aged ≤ 19 yr) with singleton pregnancies. The subjects (n = 298) were screened over 12 months. Ninety-six women were excluded, based on the exclusion criteria. The remaining subjects (n = 202) were divided into two groups: teenagers with first pregnancy (n = 96) and teenagers with third pregnancy (n = 47). The subjects were observed throughout pregnancy and delivery. The final sample size of the first and thi

Diversity of the aspects of analyzing a specific linguistic issue is considered to be a
familiar phenomenon in learning Arabic in which – at different levels- various linguistic
aspects and phases – sometimes – are involved in a linguistic issue . In this paper , the
problematic issues during linguistic analysis are taken into an account. The Holy Quran
interpretation books include many Quranic expressions which have a lot of meaning described
by different interpreters , from them this paper has selected only one expression ( = كفاتا
receptacle ) from the verse "Have we not made the earth a receptacle " ( Al- Mursalat verse 25
) , this paper believes that this expression is sufficient display the interpret

Plantation of humic acid nanoparticles on the inert sand through simple impregnation to obtain the permeable reactive barrier (PRB) for treating of groundwater contaminated with copper and cadmium ions. The humic acid was extracted from sewage sludge which is byproduct of the wastewater treatment plant; so, this considers an application of sustainable development. Batch tests signified that the coated sand by humic acid (CSHA) had removal efficiencies exceeded 98 % at contact time, sorbent dosage, and initial pH of 1 h, 0.25 g/50 mL and 7, respectively for 10 mg/L initial concentration and 200 rpm agitation speed. Results proved that physicosorption was the predominant mechanism for metals-CSHA interaction because the sorption data followed

Background: Obesity and dental caries are multifactorial diseases related to poor eating habits and show a close relationship with the sociodemographic characteristics of individuals presenting these diseases. This research aimed to investigate the severity of dental caries among group of obese boys aged 12 year in relation to salivary interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) of unstimulated whole saliva in comparison with normal weighted boys of the same age. Materials and Methods: The study group included 40 obese boys, with an age of 12 year. The control group included 40 normal weighted boys of the same age. The total sample involved for nutritional status assessment using Body Mass Index specific for age and gender according t

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disorder that is a serious health concern all over the globe, it is linked to Interleukin-10 (IL-10) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the promoter region. On the other hand, diabetes influences the cellular and humoral immunity predisposing the patient to a variety of opportunistic parasites one of them is Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), which may infect any nucleated cell, including pancreatic cells. The purpose of this research was to explore the association of IL-10 genetic polymorphisms with T2DM and latent toxoplasmosis among Iraqi patients with T2DM. Fifty-five and fifty-eight venous blood samples were taken from T2DM patients and age-matched non-diabetic person

Core decompression is one of the commonest used techniques in the handling of osteonecrosis of the pre-collapsed head of the femur. Core decompression had succeeded in preserving the hip joint and delaying the requisite for total hip replacement, but it had failed in the induction of osteogenesis in the necrotic area, thus augmenting core decompression with biological agents to induce osteogenic activity. To assess the effects of platelet-rich plasma in non-traumatic avascular necrosis of the hip joint (early stage) after core decompression. Interventional comparative study for twenty-four patients (32 hip joints) with AVN of the head of the femur was involved in this prospective study, and they were separated into two groups of 16

Improving in assembling technology has provided machines of higher evaluation with better resistances and managed behavior. This machinery led to remarkably higher dynamic forces and therefore higher stresses. In this paper, a dynamic investigation of rectangular machine diesel and gas engines foundation at the top surface of one-layer dry sand with various states (i.e., loose, medium and dense) was carried out. The dynamic investigation is performed numerically by utilizing limited component programming, PLAXIS 3D. The soil is accepted as flexible totally plastic material submits to Mohr-Coulomb yield basis. A harmonic load is applied at the foundation with amplitude of 10 kPa at a frequency of (10, 15 and 20) HZ and se