Introduction and Aim: The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-39, a member of the IL-12 family plays a key role in the inflammatory response by modulating immune cell activity and inflammation. A literature search shows no study undertaken for the effect of IL-39's on arthritis so far. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of IL-39 in rheumatoid arthritis. Materials and Methods: This study involved 80 patients with rheumatoid arthritis registered at the Rheumatology Clinic at Baghdad teaching hospital. The patients were divided into three groups based on treatments received. Group 1 included patients who were not on any treatment for arthritis, Group 2 with patients on hydroxychloroquine and or prednisone treatment, and Group 3 that received Enbrel® (etanercept) and HUMIRA® (adalimumab) treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. A control group was included in the study. Patients in all groups were assessed for their serum IL-39 concentration, C - reactive protein, Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (ACCP) and ESR. Results: The patient age and BMI were not significantly different between the groups receiving treatment for Rheumatoid arthritis. A significant increase in the interleukin 39 concentration was observed in treatment groups (G1, G2, G3) as compared to normal healthy controls regardless of whether they were positive or negative for the anti-CCP test. Conclusion: This study showed that the serum interleukin IL-39 levels significantly increased in patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis thus suggesting that IL-39 could be considered as a potential inflammatory biomarker of RA.
This study conducted an analytical investigation on the behavior of concrete beams with openings reinforced by glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars. In this study, five proposed beams reinforced by GFRP bars as flexural and shear reinforcement with openings were numerically examined. The variables were the opening orientation (vertical and horizontal) and the number of openings. These openings were located within the flexural zone of the proposed beams. The result shows that the vertical openings had a significant effect over the horizontal openings on reducing the ultimate load and increasing the mid-span deflection compared with the control beam. Moreover, the results showed t
This work investigates generating of pure phase Faujasite-type zeolite Y at the ranges chosen for this study via a static aging step in the absence of seeds synthesis. Nano-sized crystals may result when LUDOX AS-40 is used as a silica source for gel composition of range 6 and the crystallization step may be conducted for a period of 4 to 19 hr at 100 ⁰C. Moreover, large-crystals with high crystallinity pure phase Y zeolite can be obtained at hereinabove conditions but when hydrous sodium metasilicate is used as a silica source. The other selected ranges also offer pure phase Y zeolite at the same controlled conditions.
In this paper, a miniaturized 2 × 2 electro-optic plasmonic Mach– Zehnder switch (MZS) based on metal–polymer–silicon hybrid waveguide is presented. Adiabatic tapers are designed to couple the light between the plasmonic phase shifter, implemented in each of the MZS arms, and the 3-dB input/output directional couplers. For 6 µm-long hybrid plasmonic waveguide supported by JRD1 polymer (r33= 390 pm/V), a π-phase shift voltage of 2 V is obtained. The switch is designed for 1550 nm operation wavelength using COMSOL software and characterizes by 2.3 dB insertion loss, 9.9 fJ/bit power consumption, and 640 GHz operation bandwidth
Background: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) enterococci have become a major problem in recent times and have been reported increasingly around the world. Lytic phages infect bacteria leading to rapid host death with limited risk of phage transduction, underlining the increasing interest in potential phage therapy in the future. Objective (s): The aim of this study is to use phage therapy as alternative approach for treatment of Enterococcus faecalis infections that recorded as MDR in Iraq to tackle this problem. Materials and Methods: Thirty E. faecalis isolates were collected from patients with different infectious diseases such as urinary tract infection (UTI), diabetic foot, septicemia, and wound infections. The isolation of specific l
... Show MoreIn this paper, a cognitive system based on a nonlinear neural controller and intelligent algorithm that will guide an autonomous mobile robot during continuous path-tracking and navigate over solid obstacles with avoidance was proposed. The goal of the proposed structure is to plan and track the reference path equation for the autonomous mobile robot in the mining environment to avoid the obstacles and reach to the target position by using intelligent optimization algorithms. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithms are used to finding the solutions of the mobile robot navigation problems in the mine by searching the optimal paths and finding the reference path equation of the optimal
... Show MoreA laboratory experiment was carried out at the College of Agriculture University of Baghdad in 2017. The aim was to improve the anatomical and physiological traits of broad bean seedling under salt stress by soaking it in salicylic acid. The concentrations of salicylic acid were 0, 10, and 20 mg L-1 and the electrical conductivity levels were 0, 3, and 6 dS m-1. The complete randomized design was used with four replications. The increasing of salicylic acid concentration up to 10 mg L-1 led to increasing the stem cortex thickness, stem vascular bundles thickness, and root cortex thickness significantly by (34.9,36.7,and 55 μm) respectively, while the treatment of 20 mg L-1 led to decreasing these traits by (28.2, 27.8, and 48.1 μm), compa
... Show MoreBackground: Anaemia is a major public health concern and is one of the most prevalent health issue in women within reproductive age group.
Objective: to assess maternal knowledge related to anaemia during pregnancy.
Type of the study: A cross –sectional study.
Method: The study including 200 mothers who attended selected primary health care centres, Baghdad during November and December 2015, they completed a previously prepared questionnaire coveringsocio-demographic characteristics and knowledge regarding anaemia in 4 main domains. The responses were analysed by using frequency, percentage and percent score for each statement a
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