Background: Periodontal diseases are initiated by microbial plaque, which accumulates in the sulcular region and induces an inflammatory response. The Receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand / osteoprotegerin (RANKL/OPG) axis is involved in the regulation of bone metabolism in periodontitis, in which an increase in receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand or a decrease in osteoprotegerin can tip the balance in favor of osteoclastogenesis and the resorption of alveolar bone that is the hallmark of periodontitis. This study was performed to investigate the role of salivary levels of RANKL and OPG in pathogenesis of chronic periodontitis. Subjects and Methods: Fifty five subjects with chronic periodontitis with ages rang

The study focuses on assessment of the quality of some image enhancement methods which were implemented on renal X-ray images. The enhancement methods included Imadjust, Histogram Equalization (HE) and Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE). The images qualities were calculated to compare input images with output images from these three enhancement techniques. An eight renal x-ray images are collected to perform these methods. Generally, the x-ray images are lack of contrast and low in radiation dosage. This lack of image quality can be amended by enhancement process. Three quality image factors were done to assess the resulted images involved (Naturalness Image Quality Evaluator (NIQE), Perception based Image Qual

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or kala-azar is one of the worlds most neglected tropical diseases in mortality and fourth in morbidity, rK39 dipstick was used to diagnose the suspected infected patients as cheapest simple technique which can differentiate recent from chronic infection, for disease out-coming, naïve T-lymphocyte cells should be differentiated into pathogen-specific immunity responses, such as T-helper 1(Th-1) or (Th-2). HLA-G is a special protein defined as nonclassical HLA class I molecule can suppress the immune system through prevention of T-cell function by foul all T-cell mechanisms. So, this study aimed to detect and evaluate the level of sHLA-G in the sera of patients infected with VL. The results showed that there was

Objectives: To assess the quality of life for adult patients with peptic ulcers in the city of Sulaimani.
Methodology: A descriptive study, using the assessment approach was conducted on patients with peptic ulcer
disease from January 12th, 2009 to September 30th, 2009. A purposive "non-probability" sample of (100) paƟents
(males and females) with peptic ulcers who attended Kurdistan Center for Gastroenterology and Hepatology were
selected for the study. A questionnaire was adapted from the World Health Organization quality of life questionnaire
(1998) for the purpose of the study. It is comprised of (3) parts that included sociodemographic characteristics form,
medical history form and adult peptic ulcers patients' qu

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder that involves autoantibodies attacking and weakening joints. RA is characterized by leukocyte (Monocyte, Lymphocyte mast cell .etc) infiltrations into the synovial compartment leading to inflammation in the synovial membrane.   Synovitis leads to the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases, chemokines, complement proteins, and growth factors. Objective: The current study pointed to verify the diagnostic values of interleukin -17 A and interleukin -18 in Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and the effect of treatment thereon. Study subjects and methods: A total of 88 samples with RA were selected from the health clinics of AL-Yarmouk

In this study, a predicated formula is been proposed to find the shear strength of non-prismatic beams with or without openings. It depends on the contributions of concrete shear strength considering the beam depth variation and existing openings, shear steel reinforcements and defines the critical shear section, the effect of diagonal shear reinforcement, the effect of inclined tensile steel reinforcement, and the compression chord influence. The verification of the proposed formula has been conducted on the experimental test results of 26 non-prismatic beams with or without openings at the same loading conditions. The results reflect that the predicted formula finds the shear capacity of non-prismatic beams with openings, it is co

The nature and intensity of the association of myasthenia gravis (MG) with distinct human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotypes differ between ethnic populations, so this study determined the association of HLA class II antigens with myasthenia gravis (MG) in Iraq.The study included Iraqi patients diagnosed with MG and two control groups the first of 54 insulin dependent diabetes mellitus patients and the second of 237 subjects as a normal control group. The test used was microlymphocytotoxicity test.The work was done in the Teaching Laboratories/Medical City/Baghdad.Results: positive associations were observed (etiological risk factors) as follows: 1. HLA-DR locus showed one positively associated allele when compared to healthy control and th

Researchers have recently increased their focus on the link between autoimmune diseases and infections. Most of the recent research indicates that silent human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), may have diverse roles in the initiation, development, and exacerbation of autoimmune diseases, such as coeliac Disease (CD) and inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of HCMV infection in Iraqi patients with CD. Serum samples were obtained from 60 patients with CD, and from 60 healthy subjects. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the Anti-Transglutaminase IgG/IgA, Anti-gliadin IgA/ IgG, as well as the HCMV IgM/ IgG levels in the serum samples. Significantly higher percentage of positivity for seru