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.
A new Ni(II) nanostructured chelating system (DHN) was introduced for selective optical heavy-metal ion sensing in an aqueous medium. The cooperative chelating system comprising 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) and dimethylglyoxime (DMG) has been developed for the first time in association with fibre optic sensing for selective optical heavy-metal ion sensing in an aqueous medium. The Ni(II) nanocompound fluoresces upon 578 nm excitation, showing a highly sensitive optical response with a linear calibration curve in the range 0–100 ng/mL. The regression equation of the calibration curve is y = 0.0035x + 0.9990, which indicates very good linearity, implying R2 = 0.999 with high sensitivity (calibration slope of 0.0035) and low baseline noise (bla
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus consists of a group of diseases characterized by abnormally high blood glucose levels. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) is a form of haemoglobin used to identify the average concentration of plasma glucose over prolonged periods of time. It is formed in a non-enzymatic pathway by normal exposure of hemoglobin to high levels of plasma glucose, The main alterations observed in the saliva of Type 1 diabetic patients are hyposalivation and alteration in its composition, particularly those related to the levels of glucose. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of Glycated haemoglobin level on the level of salivary glucose which may have an effect on oral health condition. Materials and methods
... Show MoreA mathematical method with a new algorithm with the aid of Matlab language is proposed to compute the linear equivalence (or the recursion length) of the pseudo-random key-stream periodic sequences using Fourier transform. The proposed method enables the computation of the linear equivalence to determine the degree of the complexity of any binary or real periodic sequences produced from linear or nonlinear key-stream generators. The procedure can be used with comparatively greater computational ease and efficiency. The results of this algorithm are compared with Berlekamp-Massey (BM) method and good results are obtained where the results of the Fourier transform are more accurate than those of (BM) method for computing the linear equivalenc
... Show MoreGas-lift technique plays an important role in sustaining oil production, especially from a mature field when the reservoirs’ natural energy becomes insufficient. However, optimally allocation of the gas injection rate in a large field through its gas-lift network system towards maximization of oil production rate is a challenging task. The conventional gas-lift optimization problems may become inefficient and incapable of modelling the gas-lift optimization in a large network system with problems associated with multi-objective, multi-constrained, and limited gas injection rate. The key objective of this study is to assess the feasibility of utilizing the Genetic Algorithm (GA) technique to optimize t
Now-a-days the Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) technology is very effective in improving the power flow along the transmission lines and makes the power system more flexible and controllable. This paper deals with the most robust type of FACTS devices; it’s a Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC). Many cases have been taken to study how the system behaves in the presence and absence of the UPFC under normal and contingency conditions. The UPFC is a device that can be used to improve the bus voltage, increasing the loadability of the line and reduce the active and reactive power losses in the transmission lines, through controlling the flow of real and reactive power. Both the magnitude and the phase angle of th
... Show MoreThe accumulation of sediment in reservoirs poses a major challenge that impacts the storage capacity, quality of water, and efficiency of hydroelectric power generation systems. Geospatial methods, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS), were used to assess Dukan Reservoir sediment quantities. Satellite and reservoir water level data from 2010 to 2022 were used for sedimentation assessment. The satellite data was used to analyze the water spread area, employing the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) to enhance the water surface in the satellite imagery of Dukan Reservoir. The cone formula was employed to calculate the live storag
... Show MoreIntroduction and Aim: Cancers are a complex group of genetic illnesses that develop through multistep, mutagenic processes which can invade or spread throughout the body. Recent advances in cancer treatment involve oncolytic viruses to infect and destroy cancer cells. The Newcastle disease virus (NDV), an oncolytic virus has shown to have anti-cancer effects either directly by lysing cancer cells or indirectly by activating the immune system. The green fluorescent protein (GFP) has been widely used in studying the anti-tumor activity of oncolytic viruses. This study aimed to study the anticancer effect of a recombinant rNDV-GFP clone on NCI-H727 lung carcinoma cell line in vitro. Materials and Methods: The GFP gene was inserted t
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