The study aimed to assess the level of ANG‑2 in MM patients at diagnosis and in remission state and elaborate on its correlation with interleukin‑6 (IL‑6) and beta‑2 microglobulin (B2M) levels. Sixty MM patients; 20 newly diagnosed (ND), and 40 patients in remission were included. Twenty healthy individuals were included as a control group. Plasma levels of ANG‑2, B2M, and IL‑6 were tested by enzyme‑lin ked immunosorbent assay. There are significant statistical differences between ND patients and those in remission in hemoglobin, neutrophil count, blood urea, serum creatinine, glomerular filtration rate, B2M, IL6, and ANG‑2 (P = 0.001, 0.033, 0.005, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0.004, and 0.001, respectively). ANG‑2 showed signifi

The current trend worldwide is searching plant extracts towards prevention of neurodegenerative disorders. This study aimed to investigate the neuroprotective effect of Alpinia galanga leaves (ALE), Alpinia galanga rhizomes (ARE), Vitis vinifera seeds (VSE), Moringa oleifera leaves (MLE), Panax ginseng leaves (PLE) and Panax ginseng rhizomes (PRE) ethanolic extracts on human neuroblastoma (SHSY5Y) cells. The 1‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging of VSE and MLE were 81% and 58%, respectively. Ferric‐reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) of ALE and MLE (33.57 ± 0.20 and 26.76 ± 0.30 μmol Fe(ΙΙ)/g dry wt., respectively) were higher than for the other extracts. Liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time‐of‐fli

Introduction: The stringent response is a bacterial adaptation mechanism triggered by stress conditions, including nutrient limitation. This response helps bacteria survive under harsh conditions, such as those encountered during infection. A key feature of the stringent response is the synthesis of the alarmone (p)ppGpp, which influences various bacterial phenotypes. In several bacterial species, stringent response activation significantly affects biofilm formation and maintenance. Methods: Clinical specimens were collected from multiple hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq. Staphylococcus aureus was identified using conventional biochemical tests. The PCR technique was applied to detect mecA, icaA, and icaD genes, while the Vitek 2 compac

In the resent years, there is a robust scientific interest in discovery of new anti-septic and anti-oxidant naturally products with no/or limited side effects. The current study aimed to investigate the protective role of the quercetin on inflammations induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in male mice A number of criteria included i.e. liver and spleen index and IL-6 and IL1-β cytokines level in spleen homogenate were considered. Sixty male mice (8-9 week age) was divided into six groups and treated for 5 days as the following: the first group represented control, the second and third group were injected with 5, 10 mg/kg b.w doses of quercetin respectively. While the fourth and fifth groups were co-treatment with (5, 10 mg/kg b.w.) intraper

In the case where a shallow foundation does not satisfy with design requirements alone, the addition of a pile may be suitable to improve the performance of the foundation design. The lack of in-situ data and the complexity of the issues caused by lagging in the research area of pile foundations are notable. In this study, different types of piles were used under the same geometric conditions to determine the load-settlement relationships with various sandy soil relative densities. The ultimate pile capacity for each selected pile is obtained from a modified California Bearing Ratio (CBR) machine to be suitable for axial pile loading. Based on the results, the values of Qu for close-ended square pile were increased by 15

The Skyrme–Hartree–Fock (SHF) method with MSK7 Skyrme parameter has been used to investigate the ground-state properties for two-neutron halo nuclei 6He, 11Li, 12Be and 14Be. These ground-state properties include the proton, neutron and matter density distributions, the corresponding rms radii, the binding energy per nucleon and the charge form factors. These calculations clearly reveal the long tail characterizing the halo nuclei as a distinctive feature.

The effect of nitrogen fertilizer and the planting distance on growth and yield of the sunflower cultivar (Taka) was investigated. The experiment was conducted in the field using five nitrogen fertilizer levels (0, 50, 100, 150, 200) kg/donum and three planting distances (10, 20, 30) cm/plant. The experiment design was split-plot by using RCBD with four replicates. The level of fertilizer as the main plot, while the planting distance as the sub plot. Plant high and yield components were measured. Results indicated that using 200 kg/donum of nitrogen and 30 cm/plant of planting distance gave the highest rate of 1000 seeds weight and the number of seeds/ head. While using 200 kg/donum of nitrogen fertilizer with 10 cm/plant of planting dista