Chitinase-3-like 1 protein (YKL-40) is a glycoprotein primarily produced in the arthritic joint and plays a crucial role in inflammatory processes. The aim of the study is to establish the role of YKL-40 as a biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to proinflammatory biomarkers and disease activity. The study included 58 patients and 18 control. Diseases activity score (DAS-28) and clinical disease activity index (CDAI) were measured. Serum level of YKL-40, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1B (IL-1β), erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF), C-reactive protein (CRP), and anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) were assessed. The results showed that the median serum YKL-40 level which was 5.42 

Background Commonly heard statements such as “Christmas comes around more quickly each year” suggest that the passage of time between annual events can become distorted, leading to the sensation of time passing more quickly than normal. At present however, it is unclear how prevalent such beliefs are and, what factors are predictive of it. Aim To explore the prevalence of beliefs that annual events such as Christmas (Study 1 UK sample) and Ramadan (Study 2 Iraqi sample) feel like they come around more quickly each year. To establish the association between distortions to the passage of time between annual events and emotional wellbeing, event specific enjoyment, memory function and self-reported attention to time. Methods Participants c

Acromegaly is ametabolic disorder characterized by an acquired progressive somatic disfigurement, mainly involving the face, extremities and many other organs, that are associated with systemic manifestations, caused by excessive secretion of growth hormone and a resultant persistent elevation of insulin-like growth factor-I concentrations. In more than 90% of cases originates from a monoclonal benign pituitary adenoma. Aim of this study to assess the level of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in saliva of acromegalic patients, and to compare it with the basal levels of serum IGF-I. Sixty specimens of serum and saliva collected from two groups of subjects (forty acromegalic patients and twenty healthy persons). The specimens were

The research aims to apply the activities of the green value chain as one of the modern administrative techniques that economic units resort to develop solutions to the pollution problems that occur due to the activity of economic units and their products that may cause damage to the environment as well as the waste of natural resources and to identify the production of environmentally friendly products and reduce the costs of environmental failure of both types Internal and external that may be borne by economic units such as taxes, fines and compensation due to nonobservance of environmental requirements and the preservation of human health and protection of the environment. To achieve the goal of the research, the researchers rel

              The environmental references represented by the intellectual, social, economic, political and religious pressures are considered fundamental factors for the artistic achievement whose importance comes from their multiplicity and branching into natural and psychological pressures that affect the multiplicity, diversity and variability of the artistic and performative methods.  Thus they determine the artist's orientations and the creative artistic visions are summoned through symbols and semantic signs of the visual surface, because the societal thought  in   art in general and the fine art in specific occupies an influential position 

Face Identification system is an active research area in these years. However, the accuracy and its dependency in real life systems are still questionable. Earlier research in face identification systems demonstrated that LBP based face recognition systems are preferred than others and give adequate accuracy. It is robust against illumination changes and considered as a high-speed algorithm. Performance metrics for such systems are calculated from time delay and accuracy. This paper introduces an improved face recognition system that is build using C++ programming language with the help of OpenCV library. Accuracy can be increased if a filter or combinations of filters are applied to the images. The accuracy increases from 95.5% (without ap

The Electrocardiogram records the heart's electrical signals. It is a practice; a painless diagnostic procedure used to rapidly diagnose and monitor heart problems. The ECG is an easy, noninvasive method for diagnosing various common heart conditions. Due to its unique advantages that other humans do not share, in addition to the fact that the heart's electrical activity may be easily detected from the body's surface, security is another area of concern. On this basis, it has become apparent that there are essential steps of pre-processing to deal with data of an electrical nature, signals, and prepare them for use in Biometric systems. Since it depends on the structure and function of the heart, it can be utilized as a biometric attribute