Tuberculosis (TB) still remains an important medical problem due to high levels of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A series of innate immune mechanisms that create a cytokine network control the pathogenesis of tuberculosis and this response has the capacity to modify the host genomic DNA structure through epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation which could constantly alter the local gene expression pattern that can modulate the metabolism of the tissues and the immune-response. Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is an important pro-inflammatory cytokine regulator of the innate immune response to TB. This study aims to determine DNA methylation patterns of INF-γ gene promoter and measure serum IFN- γ level in newly diagnosed TB patients, relapse TB patients, and healthy control, in order to study the possibility of using these as a biomarker for the prognosis of TB stages in patients. The current case-control study included 66 patients with TB and 33 healthy control subjects. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood(PB) of included subjects and modified using sodium bisulfate specific kit. DNA methylation patterns of IFN-γ gene promoter was determine by using methylation specific polymerase chain reaction(MS-PCR).Serum IFN-γ level was determined using enzyme linked immune-sorbent assay(ELISA). Results showed that percentages of DNA methylation patterns in normal controls, newly diagnostic TB patients and relapse TB patients were (63.3%, 18.2% and 21.2% respectively). Also, higher significant differences (P≤0.0001) of un-methylated IFN-γ gene promoter patterns in newly diagnostic TB patients than relapse TB patients comparison with healthy controls. The percentage of un-methylated DNA patterns in healthy controls, newly diagnostic TB patients and relapse TB patients were (9.9%, 39.4% and 51.5%, respectively). The mean of serum IFN-γ levels (pg/ml) for normal controls, newly diagnostic TB patients and relapse TB patients were (59.3± 13.8,75.8±24.3 and 69.6±18.7,respectively).In conclusion, there is a relative association between methylation of IFN-γ gene promoter and predisposing to TB progression.
The impacts of numerous important factors on the Energy Absorption (EA) of torsional Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams strengthened with external FRP is the main purpose and innovation of the current research. A total of 81 datasets were collected from previous studies, focused on the investigation of EA behaviour. The impact of nine different parameters on the Torsional EA of RC-beams was examined and evaluated, namely the concrete compressive strength (f’c), steel yield strength (fy), FRP thickness (tFRP), width-to-depth of the beam section (b/h), horizontal (ρh) and vertical (ρv) steel ratio, angle of twist (θu), ultimate torque (Tu), and FRP ultimate strength (fy-FRP). For the evaluation of the energy absorption capacity at di
... Show MoreA crucial area of research in nanotechnology is the formation of environmentally benign nanoparticles. Both unicellular and multicellular play an important role in synthesis nanoparticles through the production of inorganic materials either intracellularly or extracellularly. The agents (pigments, siderophores, cell extracted metabolites and reducing compounds) were used to prepare silver nanparticles with different sizes and shapes. The color variations (dark yellow, slightly dark yellow and golden yellow) arising from changes in the composition, size, and shape of nanoparticles, surrounding medium can be monitored using UV-visible spectrophotometer. These effects are due to the phenomena called surface plasmon resonance. The silver nanopa
... Show MoreToday, there are large amounts of geospatial data available on the web such as Google Map (GM), OpenStreetMap (OSM), Flickr service, Wikimapia and others. All of these services called open source geospatial data. Geospatial data from different sources often has variable accuracy due to different data collection methods; therefore data accuracy may not meet the user requirement in varying organization. This paper aims to develop a tool to assess the quality of GM data by comparing it with formal data such as spatial data from Mayoralty of Baghdad (MB). This tool developed by Visual Basic language, and validated on two different study areas in Baghdad / Iraq (Al-Karada and Al- Kadhumiyah). The positional accuracy was asses
... Show MoreIn this work, an efficient energy management (EEM) approach is proposed to merge IoT technology to enhance electric smart meters by working together to satisfy the best result of the electricity customer's consumption. This proposed system is called an integrated Internet of things for electrical smart meter (2IOT-ESM) architecture. The electric smart meter (ESM) is the first and most important technique used to measure the active power, current, and energy consumption for the house’s loads. At the same time, the effectiveness of this work includes equipping ESM with an additional storage capacity that ensures that the measurements are not lost in the event of a failure or sudden outage in WiFi network. Then then these measurement
... Show MoreA series of experiments were conducted for the first time in Iraq to evaluate the efficiency of five plant leaves extracts (Ibicella lutea, Nerium oleander, Clerodendron inerme, Allium cepa and Eucalyptus spp.) in treating the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) infected with monogenetic trematodes of genera Dactylogyrus. Five different concentrations of such extracts were used to bathe fishes for 5,10,15,20 and 25 minutes. A concentration of 15% A. cepa for 25 minutes of bath exposure was affective in trematode eradication. Extracts of both Eucalyptus and N. oleander at a concentration of 10% each were also affective for ten minutes exposure. Extracts of C. inerme had no any effect on such parasites. On the otherhand, extracts of 1. hitea caused
... Show MoreThe construction project is a very complicated work by its nature and requires specialized knowledge to lead it to success. The construction project is complicated socially, technically and economically in its planning, management and implementation aspects due to the fact that it has many variables and multiple stakeholders in addition to being affected by the surrounding environment. Successful projects depend on three fundamental points which are cost-time, performance and specifications. The project stakeholder's objective to achieve best specifications and the cost-time frame stipulated in the contract.
The question is, was the optimum implementation accomplished? The provision for the success of the project
... Show MoreRoller Compacted Concrete is a type of concrete that is environmentally friendly and more economical than traditional concrete. Roller Compacted Concrete is typically used for heavy-duty and specialist constructions, such as hydraulic structures and pavements, because of its coarse surface. The main difference between RCC and conventional concrete mixtures is that RCC has a more significant proportion of fine aggregates that allow compaction and tight packing. In recent years, it has been estimated that several million tons of waste demolished material (WDM) produced each year are directed to landfills worldwide without being recycled for disposal. This review aimed to study the literature about creating a Roller-Comp
... Show MoreAn experimental study is conducted on the utilization of the inlet ethanol injection technique in order to evaluate its impact on the performance of a two-shaft T200D mini-gas turbine engine. The maximum degradation recorded in power output was 32.8% at the climate temperature of 45oC. Nevertheless, at that temperature, adding ethanol with Eth/LPG ratio of 20% by volume brought an enhancement in power output of 19.2% compared to normal LPG run. SFC of the dual-fuel engine ranked a level of 22% higher than that with pure LPG consumption. The overall efficiency suffered a maximum reduction of 14.4% with Eth/LPG fuel ratio of 20%, but when the loading was raised beyond 70% of the engine full load; the efficiency of dual-fuel engi
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