It was aimed to understand the interleukin-4 (IL-4) role in etio-pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Two approaches were adopted. In the first one, a quantitative expression of IL4 gene was assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and such findings were correlated with some demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters, which included gender, duration of disease, disease activity score (DAS-28), rheumatoid factors (RFs), C-reactive protein (CRP) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (ACCP) antibodies. In the second approach, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of IL4 gene (rs2243250) was inspected by DNA sequencing using specific primers. Fifty-one Iraqi RA patients (22 males and 29 females) were enrolled in the study. They were under therapy, which was a single weekly subcutaneous dose of 25 mg of etanercept (Enbrel) for a period of 3-5 years. The results of gene expression (2-??Ct) revealed an increased expression of IL4 mRNA (Mean ± SEM: 8.247 ± 2.442), especially female patients compared to male patients (11.545 ± 3.928 vs. 3.537 ± 1.530; p = 0.03). The expression was also subjected to variations that were related to clinical and laboratory findings. With respect to IL4 gene SNP, allele and genotype frequencies showed no significant differences between RA patients and controls. In addition, the SNP genotypes had no effect on IL4 gene expression. In conclusion, an up-regulation of IL4 gene expression was observed in RA patients, and it was more pronounced in female than male patients by approximately four folds, while no association between the IL4 SNP alleles or genotypes and RA was observed.
Deep Learning Techniques For Skull Stripping of Brain MR Images
Reinforced concrete barriers have been commonly used in protecting the important building because the response of R.C. barriers subjected to blast loading is practically more acceptable than other materials used to build the barriers. In this study, the response of R.C. barriers was detected due to the blast effects caused by two charge weights (50 kg and 400 kg); ANSYS 14 was used to simulate the problem. A horizontal distance of 2 m between the explosive TNT charge and the front face of wall was taken. The pressure on the front face of the concrete barriers was measured at three levels. The R.C. barrier was entirely damaged when subjected to the blast effects caused by 400 kg TNT explosion bomb. However, the 50 kg TNT charge had
... Show MoreCadmium sulfide photodetector was fabricated. The CdS nano
powder has been prepared by a chemical method and deposited as a
thin film on both silicon and porous p- type silicon substrates by spin
coating technique. Structural, morphological, optical and electrical
properties of the prepared CdS nano powder are studied. The X-ray
analysis shows that the obtained powder is CdS with predominantly
hexagonal phase. The Hall measurements show that the nano powder
is n-type with carrier concentration of about (-5.4×1010) cm-3. The
response time of fabricated detector was measured by illuminating
the sample with visible radiation and its value was 5.25 msec. The
specific detectivity of the fabricated det
Currently, one of the topical areas of application of machine learning methods is the prediction of material characteristics. The aim of this work is to develop machine learning models for determining the rheological properties of polymers from experimental stress relaxation curves. The paper presents an overview of the main directions of metaheuristic approaches (local search, evolutionary algorithms) to solving combinatorial optimization problems. Metaheuristic algorithms for solving some important combinatorial optimization problems are described, with special emphasis on the construction of decision trees. A comparative analysis of algorithms for solving the regression problem in CatBoost Regressor has been carried out. The object of
... Show MoreThis research presents a new study in reactive distillation by adopting a consecutive reaction . The adopted consecutive reaction was the saponification reaction of diethyl adipate with NaOH solution. The saponification reaction occurs in two steps. The distillation process had the role of withdrawing the intermediate product i.e. monoethyl adipate from the reacting mixture before the second conversion to disodium adipate occurred. It was found that monoethyl adipate appeared successfully in the distillate liquid. The percentage conversion from di-ester to monoester was greatly enhanced (reaching 86%) relative to only 15.3% for the case of reaction without distillation .This means 5 times enhancement . The presence of two layers in both the
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate the push-out bond strength of four different obturation materials to intraradicular dentin and to determine the failure mode. Materials and method: forty straight palatal roots of the maxillary first molars teeth were used in this study, the roots were instrumented using crown down technique and rotary EndoSequence system, the roots were randomly divided into four groups according to the materials used for obturation (n=10).Group (1): AH Plus sealer and gutta-percha. Group (2): Activ GP glass ionomer sealer and Activ GP gutta-percha (Activ GP system). Group (3): Bioceramic sealer and Bioceramic gutta-percha. Group (4): GuttaFlow2 sealer and gutta-percha. For all groups single cone obturatio
... Show MoreEconomic units can benefit from the cleaner production strategy, which aims to reduce the environmental impact of economic activities while improving efficiency and profitability. Accordingly, the aim of the research was to clarify the knowledge foundations of cleaner production costs and to indicate their role in reducing the costs of poor quality (the costs of failure). A set of conclusions has been reached, the most important of which is that cleaner production has achieved a reduction in the costs of external failure, represented by the costs of guarantee, by an amount of 12,339,000 dinars. Contributes to reducing the costs of failure, and based on the conclusions, a set of recommendations were presented, the most important of w
... Show MoreThis paper focuses firstly on the production of monomers bis (2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) and oligomers by using two different form of MgO light active and Nano Magnesium oxide with different weight ratio (0.15, 0.25 and 0.5) by using chemical recycling glass condenser at 190 ˚C. The second purpose is to study the effect of catalyst ratio, time of reaction and yield of products of the product. Elemental analysis for Carbon –Hydrogen and Nitrogen (CHN), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) have been investigated. Results indicated the catalytic activity was found to correlate with surface area; however, LA MgO has shown an exceptional activity, still it is h
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