Background: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is the
most common rheumatic cause of diffuse pain and
multiple regional musculoskeletal pain and disability.
Objective: is to assess the contribution of serum
lipoprotein (A) in the pathogenesis of FMS patients.
Methods: One hundred twenty two FMS patients
were compared with 60 healthy control individuals
who were age and sex matched. All FMS features and
criteria are applied for patients and controls; patients
with secondary FMS were excluded. Serum
Lipoprotein (A): [Lp(A)], body mass index (BMI), &
s.lipid profile were determined for both groups.
Results: There was a statistical significant difference
between patients &controls in serum lipoprotein

Background: Zinc is involved in a variety of
metabolic processes and it has a well known
antioxidant activity, so the measurement of its serum
level can have a special value in several diseases.
Objectives: The study is designed to determine the
serum zinc level in heart failure patients and to
compare it with that of healthy individuals and to
study the significance of the results obtained.
Methods: Atomic absorption spectrometer
technique was used to determine serum zinc level in
fifty heart failure patients and fifty healthy individuals
who were age and sex matched.
Results: The mean serum zinc level in healthy
individuals was about 45.5% greater than that of heart
failure patients. This diffe

Sn effect on the phase transformation behavior, microstructure, and micro hardness of equiatomic Ni-Ti shape memory alloy was studied. NiTi and NiTiSn alloys were produced using vacuum induction melting process with alloys composition (50% at. Ni, 50% at.Ti) and (Ni 48% at., Ti 50% at., Sn 2% at.). The characteristics of both alloys were investigated by utilizing Differential Scanning Calorimetry, X- ray Diffraction Analysis, Scanning Electron Microscope, optical microscope and vicker's micro hardness test. The results showed that adding Sn element leads to decrease the phase transformation temperatures evidently. Both alloy samples contain NiTi matrix phase and Ti₂Ni secondary phase, but the Ti₂Ni phase content dec

     Acromegaly is a condition that results from excessive growth hormone production by the anterior pituitary gland. Prolidase (PLD) is the only known human enzyme that can hydrolyze dipeptides with an amino acid at their C terminus. Reports indicate that PLD activity serves as a marker for oxidative stress in numerous disorders such as diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, chronic liver diseases, and osteoporosis. The current study aims to estimate the values of PLD, its correlation with the rest of the parameters, and ROC in acromegaly patients. A group of 61 patients with confirmed acromegaly were collected from the National Diabetic Center, Mustansyrriah University, and 60 control groups were analyzed in the same place for the par

The diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) sometimes is illusive and the accompanying clinical and laboratory manifestations cannot be used for definitive diagnosis. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in detection of AA. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included a total of 80 adult patients with AA and 62 age- and gender-matched patients with abdominal pain due to causes other than AA. Three milliliter of peripheral blood were collected from each participant. The NLR was calculated by dividing the absolute neutrophil count by the absolute lymphocyte count. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to assess the diagnostic value of NLR in detection

The reactions of ozone with 2,3-Dimethyl-2-Butene (CH3)2C=C(CH3)2 and 1,3-Butadiene CH2=CHCH=CH2 have been investigated under atmospheric conditions at 298±3K in air using both relative and absolute rate techniques, and the measured rate coefficients are found to be in good agreement in both techniques used. The obtained results show the addition of ozone to the double bond in these compounds and how it acts as function of the methyl group substituent situated on the double bond. The yields of all the main products have been determined using FTIR and GC-FID and the product studies of these reactions establish a very good idea for the decomposition pathways for the primary formed compounds (ozonides) and give a good information for the effe

An easy, eclectic, precise high-Performance Liquid Chromatographic (HPLC) procedure was evolved and validated to estimate of Piroxicam and Codeine phosphate. Chromatographic demarcation was accomplished on a C₁₈ column [Use BDS Hypersil C₁₈, 5μ, 150 x 4.6 mm] using a mobile phase of methanol: phosphate buffer (60:40, v/v, pH=2.3), the flow rate was 1.1 mL/min, UV detection was at 214 nm. System Suitability tests (SSTs) are typically performed to assess the suitability and effectiveness of the entire chromatography system. The retention time for Piroxicam was found to be 3.95 minutes and 1.46 minutes for Codeine phosphate. The evolved method has been validated through precision, limit of quantitation, specificity,

In the present work, leaching process studiedusing organic acids (acetic acid and lactic acid) to extract phosphate from the Iraqi Akashat phosphate ore by separation of calcareous materials (mainly calcite). This approach characterized by energy conservation, environmental enhancement by recovery of calcite as calcium sulfate (gypsum), keeping the physical and chemical properties of apatite. Samples were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectrophotometer. From the obtained experimental data it was found that using the two organic acids yields closed purity values of the produced apatite at the optimum conditions, while at different acid concentrations, it was found that the efficiency of acetic acid is higher at the low acid co

Image quality has been estimated and predicted using the signal to noise ratio (SNR). The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between body mass index (BMI) and SNR measurements in PET imaging using patient studies with liver cancer. Three groups of 59 patients (24 males and 35 females) were divided according to BMI. After intravenous injection of 0.1 mCi of 18F-FDG per kilogram of body weight, PET emission scans were acquired for (1, 1.5, and 3) min/bed position according to the weight of patient. Because liver is an organ of homogenous metabolism, five region of interest (ROI) were made at the same location, five successive slices of the PET/CT scans to determine the mean uptake (signal) values and its standard deviat