Abstract Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a prevalent chronic microvascular diabetic complication. As inflammation plays a vital role in the development and progress of DN the macrophages migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a proinflammatory multifunctional cytokine approved to play a critical function in inflammatory responses in various pathologic situations like DN. This study aimed To assess serum levels of MIF in a sample of Iraqi diabetic patients with nephropathy supporting its validity as a marker for predicting nephropathy in T2DM patients. In addition, to evaluate the nephroprotective effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in terms of their influence on MIF levels. This is a case-control study involving ninety subjects that have been divided into three groups: twenty apparently healthy control group and seventy patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus divided into two equal groups according to the presence of diabetic nephropathy that has been further divided into two groups according to the use of ACE inhibitors or not. Serum MIF, urea, creatinine, RBS, HbA1c, BMI, eGFR, and urinary albumin to creatinine ratio have been measured for each subject. Serum MIF’s highest levels were observed in the diabetic nephropathy patients (24.9 ng/ml) followed by the diabetics (14. 1 ng/ml) with the lowest level observed in the control group (4.8 ng/ml). There was a significant relation between MIF levels and ACE inhibitors (p-value <0.05) with reduced MIF levels in ACE inhibitors users. The ROC curve showed that MIF has a good performance in disease prediction. These findings support the reliability of MIF as a biomarker for the prediction of diabetic nephropathy and the possible reducing effect of ACE inhibitors on MIF levels.
There are two main categories of force control schemes: hybrid position-force control and impedance control. However, the former does not take into account the dynamic interaction between the robot’s end effector and the environment. In contrast, impedance control includes regulation and stabilization of robot motion by creating a mathematical relationship between the interaction forces and the reference trajectories. It involves an energetic pair of a flow and an effort, instead of controlling a single position or a force. A mass-spring-damper impedance filter is generally used for safe interaction purposes. Tuning the parameters of the impedance filter is important and, if an unsuitable strategy is used, this can lead to unstabl
... Show MoreThis study investigated the treatment of dairy wastewater using the electrocoagulation method with iron filings as electrodes. The study dealt with real samples collected from local factory for dairy products in Baghdad. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to optimize five experimental variables at six levels for each variable, for estimating chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. These variables were the distance between electrodes, detention time, dosage of NaCl as electrolyte, initial COD concentration, and current density. RSM was investigated the direct and complex interaction effects between parameters to estimate the optimum values. The respective optimum value was 1 cm for the distance between electrodes, (6
... Show MoreThe Non-thermal plasma has a wide range of applications in different areas. In this study, the oxidation of a model fuel containing organo-sulfur compounds (benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene) was investigated using plasma. The process involved ozone generation through dielectric barrier discharge, followed by extraction using acetonitrile. The results demonstrated the efficient oxidation and removal of dibenzothiophene and benzothiophene by non-thermal plasma. The desulfurization efficiency reached 93.78% under the optimum conditions, including a voltage of 11Kv, temperature of 50ºC, duration of 4 hours, and a flow rate of 75 ml/min.
Solar collectors, in general, are utilized to convert the solar energy into heat energy, where it is employed to generate electricity. The non-concentrating solar collector with a circular shape was adopted in the present study. Ambient air is heated under a translucent roof where buoyant air is drawn from outside periphery towards the collector center (tower base). The present study is aimed to predict and visualize the thermal-hydrodynamic behavior for airflow under inclined roof of the solar air collector, SAC. Three-dimensional of the SAC model using the re-normalization group, RNG, k−ε turbulence viscus model is simulated. The simulation was carried out by using ANSYS-FLUENT 14.5. The simulation
... Show MoreThe importance of algae as a natural source of various bioactive compounds continues to grow due to their diverse biological activities. One of such compounds is n-hexadecanoic acid, more commonly known as palmitic acid; it is more lipidous than many algal species. It is one of the most common saturated fatty acids in nature. One can find it in algal, animal, and plant oils and is extracted from numerous natural sources. Its chemical and biological attributes enable its widespread use in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries. Numerous studies have found that palmitic acid is effective for fungal activities and does have pharmaceutical and environmental promising antioxidant capabilities.
Wearable sensors are a revolutionary tool in agriculture because they collect accurate data on plant environmental conditions that affect plant growth in real-time. Moreover, this technology is crucial in increasing agricultural sustainability and productivity by improving irrigation strategies and water resource management. This review examines the role of wearable sensors in measuring plant water content, leaf and air humidity, stem flow, plant and air temperature, light, and soil moisture sensors. Wearable sensors are designed to monitor various plant physiological parameters in real-time. These data, obtained through wearable sensors, provide information on plant water use and physiology, making our agricultural choices more informed an
... Show MoreThis paper aims to propose a hybrid approach of two powerful methods, namely the differential transform and finite difference methods, to obtain the solution of the coupled Whitham-Broer-Kaup-Like equations which arises in shallow-water wave theory. The capability of the method to such problems is verified by taking different parameters and initial conditions. The numerical simulations are depicted in 2D and 3D graphs. It is shown that the used approach returns accurate solutions for this type of problems in comparison with the analytic ones.
Nigella sativa has various pharmacological properties and has been used throughout history for a variety of reasons. However, there is limited data about the effects of N. sativa (NS) on human cancer cells. This study aimed at observing the roles of methanolic extract of N. sativa on apoptosis and autophagy pathway in the Human PC3 (prostate cancer) cell line. The cell viability was checked by MTT assay. Clonogenic assay was performed to demonstrate clonogenicity and Western blot was used to check caspase-3, TIGAR, p53, and LC3 protein expression. The results demonstrated that PC3 cell proliferation was inhibited, caspase-3 and p53 protein expression was induced, and LC3 protein expression was modulated. The clonogenic assay showed that PC3
... Show MoreIonic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have been found to be highly effective as electrolytes in TiO2 NTAs-graphite cells when combined with additives that enhance conductivity by reducing the viscosity of these liquids. The presence of CaCl2.6H2O: Acetamide DES with DI water as an additive resulted in a cell voltage of 1.31V and an internal resistance of 19 ohm. This can be attributed to the concentration and quality of the ionic species. The cells exhibited an interesting response to the AlCl3-chloroacetamide IL with dichloromethane DCM as an additive, with a cell voltage of 1.81V and an internal resistance of 5.0 ohm. Once again, this is influenced by the quality and concentration of the ionic species. Furthermore,
... Show MoreSecond language learner may commit many mistakes in the process of second language learning. Throughout the Error Analysis Theory, the present study discusses the problems faced by second language learners whose Kurdish is their native language. At the very stages of language learning, second language learners will recognize the errors committed, yet they would not identify the type, the stage and error type shift in the process of language learning. Depending on their educational background of English as basic module, English department students at the university stage would make phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic and lexical as well as speech errors. The main cause behind such errors goes back to the cultural differences
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