Elevated Interleukin-13 (IL-13) may play an important role in the pathophysiology of COVID-19, yet, the attenuated response did not notice across all severe cases. Susceptibility to asthma in specific populations is associated with several SNPs of multifunctional cytokines, such as IL-13, IL-31 and IL-33. This prospective case-control study is designed to investigate the extent of genetic susceptibility in subsets of Iraqi patients with COVID-19 by targeting the variants of interleukin IL-13rs20541 polymorphism in relation to disease susceptibility and severity of clinical presentation. One hundred samples were obtained from the throat, nasopharyngeal and nasal swabs enrolled in this study. Eighty samples of the throat, nasopharyngeal and nasal localization swabs were obtained from patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (both COVID-19 and non-COVID19 patients), while other 20 nasopharyngeal swabs were included as a healthy control group (AHC). Detection of IL-13rs20541 polymorphism was done by ARMS technique. The frequencies of GG- genotype in ARDS- patients with COVID-19, non-COVID19-, and AHC groups were respectively 14%, 12% and 3%, where, and as compared to the control group, showed a significant increase in COVID-19 patients. The AA- genotype in patients with COVID-19 group, non- COVID-19 group and healthy control group documented the frequency of 9%, 7%, and 14%, respectively, where the frequency decreased in the patient's groups as compared to the AHC group. Finally, and among the studied groups, an increase of AG- genotype (as rate OR=1.89) was documented compared to genotype GG and A-. Genetic polymorphisms in the IL-13rs20541 gene might influence its functions in patients with SARS-associated respiratory tract infection and thus might involve the pathogenicity of patients with COVID-19.
Nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate is important for high yield and good quality of potato tubers. In this dissertation, I seek to study the response of different potato cultivars under different N fertilizer rates and how that can impact tuber quality, examine the performance of active optical sensors in improving a potato yield prediction algorithm, and evaluate the ability of active optical sensors (GreenSeeker (GS) and Crop Circle (CC)) to optimize a N recommendation algorithm that can be used by potato growers in Maine. This research was conducted at 11 sites over a period of two years (2018–2019) in Aroostook County, Maine; all sites depended on a rainfed system. Three potato cultivars, Russet Burbank, Superior, and Shepody, were planted u
... Show MoreCollective C2 transitions in 32S are discussed for higher
energy configurations by comparing the calculations of transition
strength B(CJ )with the experimental data. These configurations
are taken into account through a microscopic theory including
excitations from the core orbits and the model space orbits with nħω
excitations.
Excitations up to n=10 are considered. However n=6 seems to
be large enough for a sufficient convergence. The calculations
include the lowest seven 2+0 states of 32S.
Otitis media with effusion (OME) is the long-term deposition of mucus in the middle ear cleft. It is the leading cause of childhood hearing loss and a common childhood infection. It can impair communication and life quality. OME's direct and indirect costs are also crucial. Improving OME care is crucial. This study examines intranasal mometasone's efficacy in treating otitis media with effusion. A clinical trial study was conducted during a period from January 2021 to June 2022. It included 80 patients suffering from otitis media with effusion bilaterally (160 ears) who had an intact tympanic membrane and tympanometry type B. These patients were included only if they had a hearing change or loss noted by the parents or by the patien
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Today, the Islamic nation is going through a phase that is one of the most dangerous that it has never experienced before. This phase was characterized by the following:
The nation is divided into states and its weakness in most of its doctrinal, political, social, economic and moral aspects.
Enemies targeting the nation's faith and capabilities, and the emergence of loyalty to the enemies of the nation from some groups of society, spreading misconceptions in the Muslim community.
Spreading the spirit of rebellion in all segments of society and striving to stir up the people against the rulers and put pressure on the rulers.
All these manifestations and others require the nation's wise men
... Show MoreVisceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a parasitic infection caused by an intracellular growth of Leishmania spp. in macrophage cells. The autoimmune disorder is a condition takes place when the immune system produces antibodies which incorrectly attacked its own body tissues. VL has been involved as an effect or on the autoimmune aspect. This study was conducted to identify the auto antibodies profile in patients infected with VL. The presences of auto antibodies in 21 Iraqi children infected with VL were tested for laboratory autoimmune aspect. The highest percentage of seropositive in Leishmania patients was observed for anti-ds DNA, anti-Mi-2, anti-Ku and anti-PCNA antibodies (90.5%, 90.5%, 90.5% and 61.9%) respectively, while the lowest percen
... Show MoreBackground: Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a rare cerebrovascular disease characterized by bilateral stenosis starting at the supraclinoid internal carotid artery (ICA), with the development of a collateral network of vessels. It is an established cause of stroke in the pediatric age group. Despite its increasing prevalence in various parts of the world, it remains largely underrecognized in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq. This is the first case of MMD in an Iraqi patient undergoing surgery. Case description: A 12-year-old boy presents with a 3-months history of progressive behavioural changes. MRI revealed diffuse infarcts of different ages. MRA and CT angiography revealed extensive asymmetrical steno-occlusive changes of t
... Show MoreRealizing robust interconnectivity in a rapidly changing network topology is a challenging issue. This problem is escalating with the existence of constrained devices in a vehicular environment. Several standards have been developed to support reliable communication between vehicular nodes as the IEEE 1609 WAVE stack. Mitigating the impact of security/mobility protocols on limited capability nodes is a crucial aspect. This paper examines the burden of maintaining authenticity service that associated with each handover process in a vehicular network. Accordingly, a network virtualization-based infrastructure is proposed which tackles the overhead of IEEE 1906 WAVE standard on constrained devices existed in vehicular network. The virtualized
... Show MoreCrop yield prediction is a critical measurement, especially in the time when parts of the world are suffering from farming issues. Yield forecasting gives an alert regarding economic trading, food production monitoring, and global food security. This research was conducted to investigate whether active optical sensors could be utilized for potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) yield prediction at the mid.le of the growing season. Three potato cultivars (Russet Burbank, Superior, and Shepody) were planted and six rates of N (0, 56, 112, 168, 224, and 280 kg ha−1), ammonium sulfate, which was replaced by ammonium nitrate in the 2nd year, were applied on 11 sites in a randomized complete block design, with four replications. Normalized difference ve
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