Background: Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is an inflammatory, systemic rheumatic condition that mostly affects the axial skeleton. Tenascin-C (TN-C) is a hexameric glycoprotein of considerable size, upregulated in many inflammatory conditions, while Interleukin-17 (IL-17) a cytokine that plays an important role in SpA symptoms. Objective: to investigate the upregulation between the serum levels of TN-C and IL-17 in Iraqi axSpA patients and the disease characteristics. Patients and Methods: Seventy-four axSpA patients and 28 matched controls were studied. Fifty-four patients received a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) and 20 did not. Serum TN-C and IL-17 concentrations were determined using the ELISA technique. The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) was assessed. For statistical tests, Chi Square, Mann Whitney, Independent Samples T, and Pearson's correlation tests are used. Results: Patients mean age was 35.6±0.9 years, 65 males and 9 females, and disease duration was 5.18±0.6 years. 47.4% were smokers, 47% had inflammatory low back pain, and HLA-B27 was present in 91%. BASDAI mean was 6.1±0.4 in non-TNFi and 2.6±0.3 in those on TNFi. The serum TN-C concentration was significantly increased in patients, especially those on non-TNFi (79±9.6 pg/mL) compared to those on TNFi (69.1±3.2 pg/mL) and control (53±3.9 pg/mL) (p=0.003). Serum IL-17 was significantly elevated in those receiving TNFi (877.9±257 pg/mL) compared to non-TNFi (487.2±234 pg/mL) and control (182.4±36.6 pg/mL) (p=0.033). The TN-C significantly correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r=0.27, p=0.02) and with hemoglobin (Hb) concentration (r=0.26, p=0.02). TN-C and IL-17 were non-significantly related (r=0.14, p=0.2). Conclusions: axSpA Patients demonstrated high levels of serum TN-C, particularly in those not receiving TNFi, and high IL-17 levels in those receiving TNFi, suggesting that there is an association with tissue injury from the disease and stimulation of immunological and resident tissue cells. Patients who had not received TNFi showed significantly higher disease activity than others.
This research aims to know the role and impact of participation in the capabilities of human resources programs, and for the purpose of measuring it has been determined the dimensions of these two variables by relying on standards for this purpose, was chosen as the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research / device supervision and scientific calendar as one of the important departments in the ministry and includes a large number of individuals at different organizational levels for the purpose of answering a questionnaire prepared for the purpose of measurement and access to the results and the achievement of the objectives of the research and which ha
... Show MoreAbstract Ternary Silver Indium selenide Sulfur AgInSe1.8S0.2 in pure form and with a 0.2 ratio of Sulfur were fabricated via thermal evaporation under vacuum 3*10-6 torr on glasses substrates with a thickness of (550) nm. These films were investigated to understand their structural, optical, and Hall Characteristics. X-ray diffraction analysis was employed to examine the impact of varying Sulfur ratios on the structural properties. The results revealed that the AgInSe1.8S0.2 thin films in their pure form and with a 0.2 Sulfur ratio, both at room temperature and after annealing at 500 K, exhibited a polycrystalline nature with a tetragonal structure and a predominant orientation along the (112) plane, indicating an enhanced de
... Show MoreThe researcher aims to Diagnose the reality of research variables, strategic leadership and decision support systems, and their impact on crisis management in the General Company for Steel Industries because of their important role in preventing crises and reducing their occurrence for the research company in particular and other companies in general affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, as well as clarifying theoretical concepts of research variables As it included the answer to questions related to the research problem, including (Is there an impact of the strategic leadership in managing crises if decision support systems are used), and the researcher adopted the descriptive and analytical approach in its comp
... Show MoreThe aim of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a proposed program to develop the creative abilities of the students of Tabuk University and its impact on the creative output of the NEOM project. The sample of the study consisted of (50) university students divided into two groups: an experimental group of 25 students who receive the proposed training program, and control group of (25) students.
To achieve these objectives, the researcher designed and developed tools to collect the required data, which were verified their validity and reliability.
The descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviations, correlation coefficient, T test for the associated sample were used in the analysis of the results of th
... Show Morethis research seeks to shed light on the study of the impact of Putinism on the Russian-Ukrainian war that broke out in early 2022, by studying the contents of the speeches of Russian President Vladimir Putin before the start of the war. This research uses the structural approach in analyzing the components of the Russian political regime. The research tools used in this research include case studies, content analysis of Russian speeches, and personal meetings of researchers and specialists in Russian affairs. It sums up a number of important conclusions, most notably are : 1) Putinism is a totalitarian regime that includes the political doctrine during the era of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 2) Duginism represents the totality of t
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Oil is considered a commodity and is still an important and prominent role in drawing and shaping the Iraqi economic scene. The revenues generated from the export of oil are considered the main source of the general budget in cash flows.
Since the revenues consist of quantity and price and the latter is an external factor which is difficult to predict, The effect of any commodity on its price, which is proven in the theory of micro-economic, but it is observed through the research that the response is slow, which means not to take advantage of the rise in prices, by increasing the quantity exported, the result of several facto
... Show MoreThe current study is considered a field study to measure the level of satisfaction of the academic programs of Media Masters students. That was accomplished through surveying the attitudes of the students who are enrolled in the faculties of media at the following universities: (Petra University, The Middle East University (MEU), and Al-Yarmouk University). Those students were enrolled in the master’s program within the formal educational system during the second semester of the academic year (2015 – 2016). This survey aims to identify the services, facilities and academic programs provided by the concerned faculties. It, also, aims to identify the public relations, administrative, educational and services aspects of those faculties.
... Show MoreIraq has seen many changes at the social, economic and political levels. This led to cause many shifts in the structure of its society and imposed great challenges reflected in the behavior and awareness of that society in general and youth in particular.
Those changes made the Iraqi society undergoing the transformation of value and culture aspects formed a political awareness that caused cultural and political diversity within the family and society. A greater openness to the outside world caused by the communication revolution, as the world has witnessed during the past two decades, has helped in making that change. Iraq had its share of media and political openness, which were included after the US occupation in 2003. As a re
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