All major organs may be impacted by the connective disease systemic lupus erythematosus, a separate risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Adhesion molecules like intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAM) and vascular cell adhesion molecules (VCAM) can detect endothelial damage and dysfunction, which appear to play a crucial role. This study investigated whether people with SLE had elevated subclinical and clinical atherosclerosis risk factors. Traditional CAD risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia cannot entirely explain this elevation. It is thought that immunological dysfunction also increases CAD risk in SLE patients. The study aimed to assess early endothelial changes in SLE Iraqi female patients without previous coronary artery lesions by exploring a potential relationship between circulating VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 as risk factors for atherosclerosis and the relationship of CAD with SLE disease and its severity; further, the study explained the effect of the hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) on the lipid profile levels of the patients. 92 female SLE patients were divided into mild, moderate, and severe, according to the SLE disease activity index 2000 (SLEDAI-2k), compared with 30 apparently healthy control individuals. All of them need a history of CAD. Serum VCAM-1, ICAM-1 level, VCAM-1/ICAM1 ratio, TC, HDL, LDL levels TC/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios were measured. sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 levels and VCAM-1/ICAM-1 ratio were significantly and gradually increased in patient groups compared with control. Serum TC, HDL and LDL levels were significantly reduced in the SLE patients compared to the control. At the same time, the TC/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios were significantly elevated with the severity of the SLE disease. sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 level and VCAM1/ICAM-1 ratio together with serum TC/HDL and LDL/HDL may improve coronary artery disease risk categorization in SLE patients without acute coronary syndromes. Furthermore, they were more sensitive in severe SLE instances than in moderate and mild ones, suggesting that they may be related to the extent of coronary lesions in SLE patients. VCAM-1 had a higher sensitivity than ICAM-1 in detecting and severity screening for CAD in SLE patients. Keywords: VCAM-1, ICAM-1, SLE, Atherosclerosis
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant neoplasm of the oral mucosa. Human papillomavirus (HPV) virus cause a broad scope of diseases from benign to invasive tumors, types 16 and 18 classified as carcinogenic to humans. This study aimed to provide the first molecular characterization of HPV types in Iraq. Thirty-five unstimulated whole saliva samples were collected from histopathologically confirmed patients with oral cancer were enrolled in this study. Genomic DNA was extracted from exfoliating cells to amplify HPV-DNA using HPV-L1 gene sequence primers by polymerase chain reaction method (PCR), the viral genotyping was performed using direct sequencing method. HPV genotypes identified were deposited in Gen
... Show MoreBackground: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the new respiratory virus SARS-CoV2. It has a tropism in the lung tissues where excess target receptors exist. Periostin plays a role in subepithelial fibrosis associated with bronchial asthma. Since the Coronavirus's target is the human respiratory system, Periostin has been recently described as a valuable new biomarker in the diagnosis and evaluation of disease in patients with COVID-19 lung involvement. Objectives: To assess the level of Periostin in the serum of COVID-19 patients and to correlate its role in disease severity and prognosis. Subjects and Methods: Periostin serum levels were measured for 63 patients attending three main COVID
... Show MoreAverage interstellar extinction curves for Galaxy and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) over the range of wavelengths (1100 A0 – 3200 A0) were obtained from observations via IUE satellite. The two extinctions of our galaxy and LMC are normalized to Av=0 and E (B-V)=1, to meat standard criteria. It is found that the differences between the two extinction curves appeared obviously at the middle and far ultraviolet regions due to the presence of different populations of small grains, which have very little contribution at longer wavelengths. Using new IUE-Reduction techniques lead to more accurate result.
This paper includes a comparison between denoising techniques by using statistical approach, principal component analysis with local pixel grouping (PCA-LPG), this procedure is iterated second time to further improve the denoising performance, and other enhancement filters were used. Like adaptive Wiener low pass-filter to a grayscale image that has been degraded by constant power additive noise, based on statistics estimated from a local neighborhood of each pixel. Performs Median filter of the input noisy image, each output pixel contains the Median value in the M-by-N neighborhood around the corresponding pixel in the input image, Gaussian low pass-filter and Order-statistic filter also be used. Experimental results shows LPG-PCA method
... Show MoreThis paper includes a comparison between denoising techniques by using statistical approach, principal component analysis with local pixel grouping (PCA-LPG), this procedure is iterated second time to further improve the denoising performance, and other enhancement filters were used. Like adaptive Wiener low pass-filter to a grayscale image that has been degraded by constant power additive noise, based on statistics estimated from a local neighborhood of each pixel. Performs Median filter of the input noisy image, each output pixel contains the Median value in the M-by-N neighborhood around the corresponding pixel in the input image, Gaussian low pass-filter and Order-statistic filter also be used.
Experimental results shows LPG-
... Show MorePeroxidase is a class of oxidation-reduction reaction enzyme that is useful for accelerating many oxidative reactions that protect cells from the harmful effects of free radicals. Peroxidase is found in many common sources like plants, animals and microbes and have extensive uses in numerous industries such as industrial, medical and food processing. In this study, P. aeruginosa was harvested to utilize and study its peroxidases. P. aeruginosa was isolated from a burn patient, and the isolate was verified as P. aeruginosa using staining techniques, biochemical assay, morphological, and a sensitivity test. The gram stain and biochemical test result show rod pink gram-ne
... Show MoreGovernment spending is the tool that the state uses to achieve its various goals. The research aims to identify the most important determinants of government spending in Iraq and to indicate the type and nature of the relationship between government spending and its determinants, which will contribute to understanding the movement of government spending. The results of the co-integration test using the border test methodology showed that the variables of population growth and oil prices have a long-term effect on government spending while inflation is not significant in the long run, and that 47% of the equilibrium imbalance (short-term imbalance) in government spending in the previous period (t-) can be corrected in the current period (t)
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Debate is a teaching strategy in nursing education that enhances students' critical thinking. Although debate can be an effective teaching strategy, it is not without limitations. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of debate as a teaching strategy in nursing. Also, evaluating debates and choosing topics are highlighted.
Government-sponsored projects in Iraq significantly improve the economic situation and provide services but face high rates of troubling blocks. This work aims to identify indicative factors of the Troubled Project using periodic health check reports based on a literature review and interviews with Iraqi experts. As a result, a questionnaire was prepared that included four sections. The first is personal information; the second section is information about knowing the level of institutions’ implementation of project management through prepared documents. The third section is about indicative factors for the project's trouble, including 25 workers; the fourth section is about the questions in the periodic reports to che
... Show MoreThis paper signifies the contradictory point of view in John Clare’s poetry. Clare (1794-1864) is an English romantic poetry in the nineteenth century, who writes more than ten volumes about nature. So, this study highlights the concept of Psychoanalytic theory which is ‘ambivalence’ and how through this theory can interpret any literary text on the basis of utilizing psychoanalytic methods to literary texts in order to reveal the author's inner emotions such as motives, dreams, as well as wishes. Consequently, the concept of ‘ambivalence’ has a lot in common with the human psyche and its struggles. Sometimes the reader finds the author/poet talking about something real or a notion with pleasant sentiments
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