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 ng/ml, the TNF-a level which was 123.6 ng/ml, and the IL-1B level which was 204.365 pg/dl were significantly higher in patients compared to control 3.28 (1.58–4.99) ng/ml, 56.47 (9.38–77.01) ng/ml and 67.887 (15.493–122.689)pg/dl respectively. There was no correlation between serum YKL-40 and disease activity, while there were significant associations observed with TNF-α (r=0.5,p =0.0001) and IL-1β (r=0.41, p=0.001). YKL-40 indicating good levels of RA prediction at 2.47 ng/ml, sensitivity 87.9%, specificity 58.6%, accuracy 78.1%, PPV 80.9%, and NPV 70.8%. In conclusion, a higher level of serum YKL-40 is found in RA patients. The findings from our study suggest a strong association between YKL-40 and the proinflammatory biomarkers. As a result, these biomarkers together might play a role in RA pathogenesis, and YKL-40 may be used as a potential diagnostic biomarker for RA.
Titanium alloy surface properties have an essential role in the interaction of dental implants with bone, and alteration of the surface of the implant could improve osseointegration. This study was designed to investigate the effect of different heat treatment temperatures on titanium alloy surface properties for dental implants. The effect of different temperatures of heat treatment (750°C, 850°C, 950°C and 1050°C) were investigated on the surface topography, surface chemistry, titanium oxide layer thickness, blood contact angle, & blood drop diameter of titanium alloy. The disks were prepared from titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) and the samples were divided into five groups depending on the different temperatures of heat treatment. The hea
... Show MoreThis paper aims to study the damage generated due to creep-fatigue interaction behaviors in solid polyamide 6,6 and its composites that include 1%wt of carbon nanotubes or 30% wt short carbon fiber prepared by an injection technique. The investigation also includes studying the influence of applied temperatures higher than the glass transition temperatures on mechanical properties. The obtained results showed that the addition of reinforcement materials increased all the mechanical properties, while the increase in test temperature reduced all mechanical properties, especially for polyamide 6,6. The creep-fatigue interaction resistance also improved due to the addition of reinforcement materials by inc
... Show MoreThe efficiency of internal combustion engines (ICE) is usually about thirty percent of the total energy of the fuel. The residual energy is lost in the exhaust gas, the lubrication, and the cooling water in the radiators. Recently much of the researcher’s efforts have focused on taking advantage of wasted energy of the exhaust gas. Using a thermoelectric generator (TEG) is one of the promising ways. However, TEG depends entirely on the temperature difference, which may be offered by the exhaust muffler. An experimental test has been conducted to study the thermal performance of a different muffler internal design. The researchers resort to the use of lost energy in an ICE using TEG, which is one of the ways to take adv
... Show MoreThe aim of this research is to study the effect of high concentrations of salts, pressure and temperature on the performance of the RO membrane with time. Four different (Na2CO3) concentrations (5000, 15000, 25000 and 35000) ppm and various pressures such as (1, 3 and 5) bars at different temperatures of the feed solution (i.e., 25, 35 and 45) ◦C were used in this work. It was found that, as the concentration of salt and feed temperatures increase, the rejection of the salt decrease. While the salt rejection of the membranes increases with increase of transmembrane pressure.
This study investigates the digestion of cow dung (CD) for biogas production at laboratory scales. The study was carried out through anaerobic fermentation using cow dung as substrate. The digester was operated at ambient temperatures of 39.5 °C for a period of 10 days. The effect of iron powder in controlling the production of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been tested. The optimum concentration of iron powder was 4g/L with the highest biogas production. A Q – swatch Nd:YAG laser has been used to mix and homogenize the components of one of the six digesters and accelerate digestion. At the end of digestion, all digestions effluent was subjected to 5 laser pulses with 250mJ/pules to dispose waste biomass.
The synchronization of a complex network with optoelectronic feedback has been introduced theoretically, with use of 2×2 oscillators network; each oscillator considered is an optocoupler (LED coupled with photo-detector). Fixing the bias current (δ) and increasing the feedback strength (Ԑ) of each oscillator, the dynamical sequence like chaotic and periodic mixed mode oscillations has been observed. Synchronization of unidirectionally coupled of light emitting diodes network has been featured when coupling strength equal to 1.7×10-4. The transition between non-synchronization and synchronization states by means of the spatio-temporal distribution has been investigated.
A new two-way nesting technique is presented for a multiple nested-grid ocean modelling system. The new technique uses explicit center finite difference and leapfrog schemes to exchange information between the different subcomponents of the nested-grid system. The performance of the different nesting techniques is compared, using two independent nested-grid modelling systems. In this paper, a new nesting algorithm is described and some preliminary results are demonstrated. The validity of the nesting method is shown in some problems for the depth averaged of 2D linear shallow water equation.