Background: The SARS-CoV-2 virus causes COVID-19, a respiratory syndrome. It causes inflammation and damages several organs in the body. miRNAs play a role in regulating the infection resulting from SARS-CoV-2. MicroRNA-155, a kind of microRNA linked to viral defences, can affect the immune responses during COVID-19. Objectives: Examination of the involvement of microRNA-155 in the development and severity of COVID-19, as well as finding the correlation between microRNA-155 and viral load (copies/mL) in severe cases of the disease. Materials and Method: A case-control research study was performed between October 2022 and June 2023. It included a cohort of 120 hospitalised individuals with severe cases of COVID-19, together with 115 individuals with mild cases of COVID-19 and apparently healthy individuals. A real-time PCR procedure was applied to determine microRNA-155 expression in the studied groups and the viral load (copies/mL) in severe cases of the disease. Results: MicroRNA-155 was expressed in severe cases threefold more than its expression in mild cases of COVID-19 and healthy individuals. Also, a strong association was demonstrated between microRNA-155 and viral load (copies/mL) in severe COVID-19. Conclusion: MicroRNA-155 could be used as a biomarker for severe COVID-19 conditions and could have a role in disease severity and infectious particles of the virus. Since it is positively correlated with viral load (copies/mL) in severe cases of the disease
A Spectroscopic study has been focused in this article to study one of the main types of active galaxies which are quasars, and to be more precise this research focuses on studying the correlation between the main engine of Quasi-Stellar Objects (QSO), the central black hole mass (SMBH) and other physical properties (e.g. the star formation rate (SFR)). Twelve objects have been randomly selected for “The Half Million Quasars (HMQ) Catalogue” published in 2015 and the data collected from Salon Digital Sky survey (SDSS) Dr. 16. The redshift range of these galaxies were between (0.05 – 0.17). The results show a clear linear proportionality between the SMBH and the SFR, as well as direct proportional between the luminosit
... Show MoreBackground: the difference in expression of type IV collagen in borderline tumors and ovarian carcinomas has been studied, but the association with adhesion molecules like CD44 have not gain enough interest. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assess the expression of CD44v6 and type IV collagen status in borderline tumors and invasive ovarian carcinomas and the correlation between them to define the role of these molecules in tumor invasion and metastasis. Type of the study: A cross sectional study Methods: The study included a total of (101) formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded ovarian tissue blocks; of which (19) cases were borderline tumors and (82) cases were overt ovarian carcinomas. Sections from each block were immunohistoche
... Show MoreBackground: Visfatin is a novel adipokine that mainly secreted by visceral adipose tissue, had an important role in inflammation and immune system. Creatine Kinase (CK) which is an enzyme that is involved in energy metabolism, found in large amounts in myocardium, brain and skeletal tissues. This study is carried out To evaluate the periodontal health status of the study groups (chronic periodontitis and chronic periodontitis with coronary atherosclerosis) and control groups, to measure the salivary levels of visfatin and Creatine Kinase in these groups and compare between them, and to determine the correlations between salivary visfatin and Creatine Kinase levels with the periodontal parameters in the three groups. Materials and Methods: e
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The covid-19 global pandemic has influenced the day-to-day lives of people across the world. One consequence of this has been significant distortion to the subjective speed at which people feel like time is passing. To date, temporal distortions during covid-19 have mainly been studied in Europe. The current study therefore sought to explore experiences of the passage of time in Iraq. An online questionnaire was used to explore the passage of time during the day, week and the 11 months since the first period of covid-19 restrictions were imposed in Iraq. The questionnaire also measured affective and demographic factors, and task-load. The results showed that distortions to the passage of time were widespread in Iraq. Participants co
... Show MoreThe Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) has recently emerged as a human pathogen caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus was first reported from Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019. Upon study, it has been used molecular docking to binding affinity between COVID-19 protease enzyme and flavonoids with evaluations based on docking scores calculated by AutoDock Vina. Results showed that naringin suppressed COVID-19 protease, as it has the highest binding value than other flavonoids including quercetin, hesperetin, garcina and naringenin. An important finding in this study is that naringin with neighboring poly hydroxyl groups can serve as inhibitors of COVID-19 protease bind to the S pocket of protein, it is shown that residues His163, Glu166, Asn142, His41and
... Show MoreBackground: Periodontal diseases are inflammatory diseases affecting the supporting tissues of the teeth. One of the leading environmental factors that are closely related not only to the risk but also to the prognosis of periodontitis is smoking. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of smoking on periodontal health status and to measure the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in smokers and nonsmokers chronic periodontitis patients, also it aimed to test the correlation between the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and the clinical periodontal parameters. Materials and Methods: Five milliliters samples of un-stimulated whole saliva and full-mouth clinical periodontal recordings (plaque index, gingival index, bleeding on probing,
... Show MoreBackground Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Ischemic heart disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Lack of blood supply to the brain can cause tissue death if any of the cerebral veins, carotid arteries, or vertebral arteries are blocked. An ischemic stroke describes this type of event. One of the byproducts of methionine metabolism, the demethylation of methionine, is homocysteine, an amino acid that contains sulfur. During myocardial ischemia, the plasma level of homocysteine (Hcy) increases and plays a role in many methylation processes. Hyperhomocysteinemia has only recently been recognized as a major contributor to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) owing to its eff
... Show MoreBackground: COVID-19 is an ongoing disease that caused, and still causes, many challenges for humanity. In fact, COVID-19 death cases reached more than 4.5 million by the end of August 2021, although an improvement in the medical treatments and pharmaceutical protocols was obtained, and many vaccines were released. Objective: To, statistically, analyze the data of COVID-19 patients at Alshifaa Healthcare Center (Baghdad, Iraq). Methods: In this work, a statistical analysis was conducted on data included the total number, positive cases, and negative cases of people tested for COVID-19 at the Alshifaa Healthcare Center/Baghdad for the period 1 September – 31 December 2020. The number of people who got the test was 1080, where 424 w
... Show MoreThe COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the healthcare sector and the productivity of medical staff and doctors. This study employs machine learning to analyze the post-COVID-19 impact on the productivity of medical staff and doctors across various specialties. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 960 participants from different specialties between June 1, 2022, and April 5, 2023. The study collected demographic data, including age, gender, and socioeconomic status, as well as information on participants' sleeping habits and any COVID-19 complications they experienced. The findings indicate a significant decline in the productivity of medical staff and doctors, with an average reduction of 23% during the post-COVID-19 period. T
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