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.
Portland Cement is manufactured by adding 3% gypsum to clinker which is produced by grinding, pulverizing, mixing, and then burning a raw mix of silica, and calcium carbonate. Limestone is the main source of carbonates, while clay collected from arable land is the main source of silica. The marl in the Euphrates Formation was studied as an alternative to arable lands. Nine boreholes drilled and penetrated the marl layer in selected locations at the Kufa cement quarry. Forty-one samples of marl from boreholes and four samples of limestone from the closed area were collected. The chemical content of the major oxides and the hardness of the marl layer was very encouraging as a raw material for Portland Cement as they are SiO2 (17.60),
... Show MoreThe species of Opilio kakunini Snegovaya, Cokendolpher & Mozaffarian, 2018 was recorded for the first time in Iraq; as well as to four species belonging to this order which were recorded previously. In this paper, we added a new species to the checklist of Iraqi opilionid fauna with a description of the most important characteristics, along with genitalia, for both males and females are presented with digital photographs. Specimens of males and females were collected from Al- Rifai district northern of Dhi-Qar Province, southern of Iraq.
Neuro-ophthalmic disorders are often documented individually for each illness, with little data available on their overall incidence and pattern. The overall incidence of neuro-ophthalmic illnesses in Iraq is still not recorded. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical, demographic, and etiological features of patients seeking consultation at an Iraqi neuro-ophthalmology clinic. A prospective cross-sectional observational research was conducted at the Janna Ophthalmic Center in Baghdad, Iraq. The center serves a diverse patient population from various governorates. All newly diagnosed patients with neuro-ophthalmic disorders who visited the neuro-ophthalmological clinic, regardless of gender or age group, were included. The neuro-ophthalmo
... Show MoreThe Al-Kindy College Medical Journal (KCMJ) is an Iraqi scholarly journal published by the Al-Kindy College of Medicine, University of Baghdad. It was officially founded in 2004. It is a peer-reviewed journal, published in both online and printed forms. It has a mission to offer a publication platform that mirrors recent knowledge and findings in the field of medicine and medical sciences. It publishes various types of articles, including editorial, review article, research article, brief report, case report, and letter to editor. It accepts articles in the English language. It was biannually published till 2021 when it started to launch three issues per year. The journal is registered with numerous partners, including Iraqi Academi
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to know the effect of using locally manufactured fishmeal and its nutritional value note that its manufactured from uneconomical local fish are not for human consumption. Cyprinus carpio fed with three different diets levels of locally manufactured fishmeal at a rate of 0.03 and 0.05 of the body weight. For control treatment (C1), the second treatment (C2) and the third treatment (C3). It was found that the C3 was superior to the first two parameters, control (C1) and (C2), in most of the studied standards with a high significance level (P≥0.05). The average final weight of the fish in the third parameter (C3) was 7.75g. The daily growth rate (DGR) of the th
This paper aims to decide the best parameter estimation methods for the parameters of the Gumbel type-I distribution under the type-II censorship scheme. For this purpose, classical and Bayesian parameter estimation procedures are considered. The maximum likelihood estimators are used for the classical parameter estimation procedure. The asymptotic distributions of these estimators are also derived. It is not possible to obtain explicit solutions of Bayesian estimators. Therefore, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, and Lindley techniques are taken into account to estimate the unknown parameters. In Bayesian analysis, it is very important to determine an appropriate combination of a prior distribution and a loss function. Therefore, two different
... Show MoreA batch adsorption system was applied to study the adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous solution by Iraqi bentonite and treated bentonite with different amount of zinc oxide (ZnO). The adsorption capacities of methylene blue onto bentonite were evaluated. The equilibrium between liquid and solid phase was described by Langmuir model better than the Freundlich model. Langmuir and Freundlich constants have been determined. The separation factor or equilibrium parameter, RL which is used to predict if an adsorption system is favourable or unfavourable was calculated for all cases.
Tin Selenide (SnSe) Nano crystalline thin films of thickness 400±20 nm were deposited on glass substrate by thermal evaporation technique at R.T under a vacuum of ∼ 2 × 10− 5 mbar to study the effect of annealing temperatures (as-deposited, 100, 150 and 200) °C on its structural, surface morphology and optical properties. The films structure was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) which showed that all the films have polycrystalline in nature and orthorhombic structure, with the preferred orientation along the (111) plane. These films was synthesized of very fine crystallites size of (14.8-24.5) nm, the effect of annealing temperatures on the cell parameters, crystallite size and dislocation density were observed.
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