This study focused on determining the markers of Macrophage migration inhibitor (MIF), as well as the N-telopeptides of type I bone collagen (NTX), and some other parameters (alkaline phosphatase (ALP), vitamin D (Vit D), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and magnesium (Mg), and their correlation with other parameters in osteoporosis. One hundred ten subjects were involved in the current study. There were two groups of patients: group I (30) women with severe osteoporosis and group II (30) women with mild osteoporosis. For comparison, 50 apparently healthy individuals were included as a control. Serum levels of MIF, and NTX were significantly higher in groups I and II as compared to the control group, which indicate that these two parameters were related to disease. Moreover MIF, and NTX were organized in one cluster when applying cluster analysis test to all the studied groups. This indicates that in most of the studied samples the two parameters were related to each other as well as to osteoporosis. Magnesium showed a significant decrease in its level in both groups as compared to the control. On the other hand, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) showed a significant increase in its activity in both studied groups as compared to the control. Vitamin D level manifested significant difference between group I and group II, with a significant decrease in its level when comparing group II with the control group. The MIF, NTX was highly associated with osteoporosis patients, in addition to Mg and Vit-D. On the other hand, Ca and P levels did not alter in a significant way with osteoporosis which may be considered as a risk factor as long as they are organized in one cluster with MIF, NTX, Mg, and Vit D in all the studied patients. Both markers showed a clear cut-off value using the ROC curve in which the best cutoff value of NTX was 166.8 pg/ml, and the best cutoff value of MIF was 6.6 ng/ml according to ROC analysis.
The second leading cause of death and one of the most common causes of disability in the world is stroke. Researchers have found that brain–computer interface (BCI) techniques can result in better stroke patient rehabilitation. This study used the proposed motor imagery (MI) framework to analyze the electroencephalogram (EEG) dataset from eight subjects in order to enhance the MI-based BCI systems for stroke patients. The preprocessing portion of the framework comprises the use of conventional filters and the independent component analysis (ICA) denoising approach. Fractal dimension (FD) and Hurst exponent (Hur) were then calculated as complexity features, and Tsallis entropy (TsEn) and dispersion entropy (DispEn) were assessed as
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is considered a highly infectious and life threatening disease. OBJECTIVE: The present paper aims to evaluate various aspects of preventive measures and clinical management of the scheduled visits for orthodontic patients to the dental clinics during the outbreak of COVID-19, and to assess how orthodontists dealt with this challenge. METHODS: Orthodontists in private and public clinics were invited to fill a questionnaire that addressed infection control protocols and concerns about clinical management of patients in the clinics during the pandemic. Frequncies and percentages of the responses were obtained and compared using Chi-square tests. RESULTS: About 77% of those working in private clinics, a
... Show MoreAbstract
The effect of physical and mental health on the feelings of personal welfare are known as health-related quality of life. Infection with hepatitis B virus is a major global health problem. Health-related quality of life was emerged as an important consideration in the care of patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. The aim of the current study was to measure health-related quality of life among a sample of chronic hepatitis B patients in AL-Najaf city/Iraq. The current study was cross-sectional study carried out on (104) already diagnosed chronic viral hepatitis B patients who attended the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Center/Al-Sader Medical City/Najaf during November 2018 to May
... Show MoreBackground: Obesity is considered an important risk factor for periodontal disease. It has been reported that reactive oxygen species linking both diseases, systemic melatonin supplementation as antioxidant therapy, was addressed as an adjuvant to scaling and root surface debridement (SRP) to enhance the treatment of periodontitis. Objective: To investigate the efficacy of systemic melatonin administration in periodontitis-obese patients as an adjuvant to scaling and root surface debridement (SRP). Methods: A randomized clinical trial was conducted at a dental-specialized center. Eighty subjects were included and allocated into group-I: twenty periodontium-healthy, normal-weight people; group-II: 30 obese patients with stage-III tre
... Show MoreSome feline intestinal parasites such as Toxocara, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium can spread to humans through feces. Therefore, it is important to prevent exposure of family members by screening cat fecal samples twice per year for potential treatment regimes. This study was initiated to compare and identify gastrointestinal parasites of domestic and stray cats (Felis domesticus) in Baghdad City, Iraq. Parasite eggs and oocysts were identified under light microscopy by applying standard laboratory techniques (flotation and sedimentation). Overall, 59 of 121 (48.7%) fecal samples were positive for intestinal parasites. The rate of infection by Toxoplasma gondii was (3.31%), Isospora spp. (6.61%), Cryptosporidium spp. (31.4%), and Toxocara spp
... Show MoreRapid, reproducible and accurate method has been developed for the assay for of mebendazol (MBZ) residual assay. The method is based on alkaline hydrolysis of MBZ with sodium hydroxide then oxidation with N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) followed by coupling with 4-Bromoaniline (4-BA) to yield a highly colored product absorbed at maximum 434 nm. Regression analysis of linearity range was found (0.6-2.8) µg.ml-1. The optimum conditions that affect the oxidation were studied. The developed method was found to be precise with mean value of relative standard deviation (1.153- 1.303) and accurate with relative error (-0.5940-1.7821) .The calculated molar absorptivity and sandal sensitivity values of (29825 L.mol-1.cm-1), 0.0099 µg.cm-2 respe
... Show MoreIn this work dithine complexes prepared from dithiol benzil ligand and central ion to the Ni,Pd,Pt, element the ligand and complexes have been investigated using FTIR spectrophotometer and uv-vis-NIR spectral reigns show higher intensity represents the ?-?* transition in the chromopher cycle .These absorption which appear in visible and near IR spectral regions ,According to the complexes of one group ,the spectral shifting due to the change of central ion has been found to be related to atomic number of central ion .This shifting is increased while decreasing the central ion atom number These complexes have been implemented in Nd+2:YAG cavity because each posses resonant absorption band near Nd+2:YAG, Nd+2:Glass emitting at (106
... Show MoreABSTRACT Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis is rare infiltrative pulmonary disease characterized by intra-alveoli deposition of microliths. We present a familial case of an adult female with complaint of progressive shortness of breath on exertion. Chest radiograph showed innumerable tiny dense nodules, diffusely involving both lungs mainly the lower zones. High-resolution CT scan illustrated widespread intra-alveolar microliths, diffuse ground-glass attenuation areas and septal thickening predominantly in the basal regions. Chest radiograph is all that is needed for the diagnosis of this case but CT scan was done to demonstrate the extent and severity of this disease