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
In this research, geopolymer mortar had to be designed with 50% to 50% slag and fly ash with and without 1% micro steel fiber at curing temperature of 240℃. The molarity of alkaline solution adjusted with 12 molar sodium hydroxid to sodium silicate was 2 to 1, reaspectivly. The heat of curing increased the geopolymerization proceses of geoplymer mortar, which led to increasing strength, giving the best result and early curing age. The heat was applied for two days by four hours each day. It was discovered in the impact test that the value first crack of each mix was somewhat similar, but the failure increased 72% for the mixture that did not contain fiber. For the energy observation results it was shown that the mixt
... Show MoreThe Halabja earthquake occurred on 12/11/2017 in Iraq, with a magnitude of 7.3 Mw, which happened in the Iraqi-Iranian borders. This earthquake killed and injured many people in the Kurdish region in the north of the country. There is no natural disaster more dangerous than earthquake, especially it occurs without warning, great attention must be paid to the impact of earthquakes on the soil and preparing for a wave of earthquakes. Numerical modeling using specific elements is considered a powerful tool to investigate the required behavior of structures in Geotechnical engineering, and the main objective of this is to assess the response of the Al-Wand dam to the Halabja earthquake, as this dam is located in an area that has been su
... Show MoreIn this work, laboratory experiments were carried out to verify direct contact membrane distillation system’s performance in highly saline water desalination. The study included the investigation of various operating conditions, like feed flow rate, temperature and concentration of NaCl solution and their impact on the permeation flux were discussed. 16 cm2 of a flat sheet membrane module with commercial poly-tetra-fluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane, which has 0.22 μm pore size, 96 µm thickness and 78% average porosity, was used. A high salt rejection factor was obtained greater than 99.9%, and the permeation flux up to 17.27 kg/m2.h was achieved at 65°C for hot feed side and 20°C for cold side stream.
The mass attenuation coefficient for beta particles through pure Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and flax fibers- reinforced PVC composite were investigated as a function of the absorber thickness and the absorber to source distance. The beta particles mass attenuation coefficients were obtained using a NaI(Tl) energy selective scintillation counter with 90Sr/ 90Y beta source having an energy range from (0.546-2.275) MeV. Pure PVC polymer samples were prepared by compacting the PVC powder in a mould at high pressure (10bar) and temperature about 140°C for 30 minutes. A hot press system was used for this process. The experimentally obtained values of mass attenuation coefficients for 90Sr and 90Y were found to be 7.72 cm2.g-1and 0.842 cm2.g-1 r
... Show MoreThe research aims to determine the role of the training strategy with its dimensions of (strategic analysis, formulation of training strategy, implementation of training strategy, evaluation) in the pioneering performance of the organization with its dimensions of (pre-planning , renewal and modernization, efficiency, effectiveness). Important and modern in pioneering performance and training strategy, and in recognition of the importance of the subject and the expected results of the surveyed banks, an analysis was made of the data obtained through field visits in addition to the questionnaire and interviews ,and the most prominent results that were reached were taking the research sample into consideration all the requirements of the trai
... Show MoreThis investigation aimed to explain the mechanism of MFCA by applying this method on air-cooled engine factory which was suffering from high production cost. The results of this study revealed that MFCA is a useful tool to identify losses and inefficiencies of the production process. It is found that the factory is suffering from high losses due to material energy and system losses. In conclusion, it is calculated that system losses are the highest among all the losses due to inefficient use of available production capacity.
Five rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars (N22, Amber, Moroberekan, Kinandang Patong, and Azucena) underwent path coefficient analysis across three plant spacings (15 cm × 15 cm, 20 cm × 20 cm, and 25 cm× 25 cm) in the summer of 2017 at the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad, Al-Jadriya, Iraq. The experiment proceeded in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with a split-plot arrangement and three replications. The main plots included three planting distances, and the subplot comprised five varieties. The traits studied were plant height, flag leaf area, number of tillers, panicle number, length and branches, grains per panicle, 1000-grain weight, and the percentage of unfilled grains. The results
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