Objectives: This study aimed to identify and analyse ATP7B variants in Iraqi adults with Wilson disease (WD) by long-read next-generation sequencing. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Poisoning Consultation Center at Ghazy Al-Hariri Hospital for Surgical Specialties and the Gastroenterology Consultation Clinic at Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Medical City in Baghdad, Iraq. Unrelated patients with clinical and biochemical features suggestive of WD were recruited between October 2022 and October 2023. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples. Variants in the ATP7B gene were identified using long-read next-generation sequencing and then analysed by in-silico tools. Results: A total of 45 patients were recruited in which 59 unique variants were detected; of them, 47 were deleterious, 9 were variants of uncertain significance (VUS) and 3 had a conflicting interpretation of pathogenicity. Those variants were detected in 80 out of 90 alleles of the ATP7B gene. Of the participants, 23 (51.1%) patients had 2 deleterious variants (8 in homozygous and 15 in compound heterozygous state); 12 (26.7%) patients had 1 deleterious variant plus 1 VUS or 1 with conflicting pathogenicity; and 10 (22.2%) patients were carriers of a single disease-causing variant. The most frequent variant, c.4021G>A (p.Gly1341Ser), was detected in 5 alleles, while c.3191A>C (p.Glu1064Ala) was detected in 4 alleles, followed by c.2165dupT (p.Arg723GlufsTer32) and c.3247C>T (p.Leu1083Phe), each detected in 3 alleles. Among the 59 variants, 42 were missense, 9 were frameshift, 6 were stop-gain, 2 were splice-donors and 1 was an in-frame deletion. The variant H1069Q, which is common worldwide, was not detected in this study. Conclusions: The ATP7B mutational spectrum in Iraqi patients with WD is significantly diverse, despite high rates of consanguinity. Evidence was provided for 8 variants to be considered for reclassification as deleterious. The diagnostic criteria for those with high Leipzig scores with only a single deleterious variant remain questionable.
Mass transfer has been studied at rotating cylinder electrodes fabricated with spiral-wound woven-wire meshes using reduction of copper as a test reaction. The experimental data were correlated by an empirical expression between the Sherwood number and the Reynolds number, both regarding the hydraulic diameter as a characteristic length. It was found that the Sherwood number was dependent upon the Reynolds number to the power of 0.521. An enhancement factor was adopted to compare the efficiency of the new rotating cylinder electrode with previous three-dimensional rotating cylinder electrodes. The results showed that the new type has a mass-transfer enhancement factor 2.3 times higher than those obtained with smooth rotating cylinder electr
... Show MoreRapid worldwide urbanization and drastic population growth have increased the demand for new road construction, which will cause a substantial amount of natural resources such as aggregates to be consumed. The use of recycled concrete aggregate could be one of the possible ways to offset the aggregate shortage problem and reduce environmental pollution. This paper reports an experimental study of unbound granular material using recycled concrete aggregate for pavement subbase construction. Five percentages of recycled concrete aggregate obtained from two different sources with an originally designed compressive strength of 20–30 MPa as well as 31–40 MPa at three particle size levels, i.e., coarse, fine, and extra fine, were test
... Show MoreHypothesis CO2 geological storage (CGS) involves different mechanisms which can store millions of tonnes of CO2 per year in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and deep saline aquifers. But their storage capacity is influenced by the presence of different carboxylic compounds in the reservoir. These molecules strongly affect the water wetness of the rock, which has a dramatic impact on storage capacities and containment security. However, precise understanding of how these carboxylic acids influence the rock’s CO2-wettability is lacking. Experiments We thus systematically analysed these relationships as a function of pressure, temperature, storage depth and organic acid concentrations. A particular focus was on identifying organic acid conce
... Show MoreThe consumption of dried bananas has increased because they contain essential nutrients. In order to preserve bananas for a longer period, a drying process is carried out, which makes them a light snack that does not spoil quickly. On the other hand, machine learning algorithms can be used to predict the sweetness of dried bananas. The article aimed to study the effect of different drying times (6, 8, and 10 hours) using an air dryer on some physical and chemical characteristics of bananas, including CIE-L*a*b, water content, carbohydrates, and sweetness. Also predicting the sweetness of dried bananas based on the CIE-L*a*b ratios using machine learn- ing algorithms RF, SVM, LDA, KNN, and CART. The results showed that increasing the drying
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