Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and s

The stability and releasing profile of 2:1 core: wall ratio ibuprofen microcapsules prepared by aqueous coacervation (gelatin and acacia polymers coat) and an organic coacervation methods (ethyl cellulose and sodium alginate polymers coat) in weight equivalent to 300mg drug, were studied using different storage temperatures 40°C, 50°C ,60°C and refrigerator temperature 4°C in an opened and closed container for three months (releasing profile) and four months (stability study).It was found that, these ibuprofen microcapsules were stable with expiration dates of 4.1 and 3.1 years for aqueous and an organic method respectively.Aqueous prepared ibuprofen microcapsules were found more stable than those microcapsules prepared by or

Reliability analysis methods are used to evaluate the safety of reinforced concrete structures by evaluating the limit state function 𝑔(𝑋𝑖). For implicit limit state function and nonlinear analysis , an advanced reliability analysis methods are needed. Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) can be used in this case however, as the number of input variables increases, the time required for MCS also increases, making it a time consuming method especially for complex problems with implicit performance functions. In such cases, MCS-based FORM (First Order Reliability Method) and Artificial Neural Network-based FORM (ANN FORM) have been proposed as alternatives. However, it is important to note that both MCS-FORM and ANN-FORM can also be time-con

The Dynamic Load Factor (DLF) is defined as the ratio between the maximum dynamic and static responses in terms of stress, strain, deflection, reaction, etc. DLF adopted by different design codes is based on parameters such as bridge span length, traffic load models, and bridge natural frequency. During the last decades, a lot of researches have been made to study the DLF of simply supported bridges due to vehicle loading. On the other hand, fewer works have been reported on continuous bridges especially with skew supports. This paper focuses on the investigation of the DLF for a highly skewed steel I-girder bridge, namely the US13 Bridge in Delaware State, USA. Field testing under various load passes of a weighed load vehicle was u

The current research aims to identify the level of impact of strategic improvisation as an independent variable on organizational health. The dependent variable in the Department of Health of Dhi Qar to reach appropriate mechanisms in order to reach appropriate mechanisms and recommendations proposed to contribute to the achievement of organizational health in the Department of Health of Dhi Qar (the research department) and based on the importance of the subject of research in government institutions and the important and service role of the Department of Health of Dhi Qar in the Iraqi society. The descriptive analytical approach was adopted in the completion of the research based on the opinions of the leaders in the surveyed depa

  Functionally graded materials (FGMs), with ceramic –ceramic constituents are fabricated using powder technology techniques. In this work three different sets of FGMs samples were designed in to 3 layers, 5 layers and 7 layers. The ceramic constituents were represented by hard ferrite (Barium ferrite) and soft ferrite (lithium ferrite). All samples sintered at constant temperature at 1100^oC for 2 hrs. and characterized by FESEM. Some physical properties were measured for fabricated FGMs include apparent density, bulk density, porosity, shrinkage and hardness. The results indicated that the density increase with the increase the number of layer. Lateral shrinkage is one of the important parameter f

Random throwing of industrial waste has a significant impact on the environment unless it takes into account the conditions of engineered destroying and/or re-used. Taking the advantage of re-using waste materials in engineering projects represents a well-planned project in order to resolve a lot of engineering problems for some difficult soils. The objective of this study was to evaluate the capability and effects of Rubber Shreds (RS) from scrap torn belts towards improving the shear strength of soft clay. A direct shear tests were conducted on soft clay-RS mixture. The following parameters were investigated to study the influence of RS content, water content, normal stress, and dilation ratio. From experimental test results it was fou

    Soft clays are generally sediments deposited by rivers, seas, or lakes. These soils are fine-grained plastic soils with appreciable clay content and are characterized by high compressibility and low shear strength. To deal with soft soil problems there is more than one method that can be used such as soil replacement, preloading, stone column, sand drains, lime stabilization and Prefabricated Vertical Drains, PVDs. A numerical modeling of PVD with vacuum pressure was analyzed to investigate the effect of this technique on the consolidation behavior of fully and different depths of partially saturated soft soils.  Laboratory experiments were also conducted by using a specially-designed large consol

In this paper, we will focus to one of the recent applications of PU-algebras in the coding theory, namely the construction of codes by soft sets PU-valued functions. First, we shall introduce the notion of soft sets PU-valued functions on PU-algebra and investigate some of its related properties.Moreover, the codes generated by a soft sets PU-valued function are constructed and several examples are given. Furthermore, example with graphs of binary block code constructed from a soft sets PU-valued function is constructed.

This study was aimed to explore the impact of a practical program on supporting and reducing
symptoms of school bulling victims in a sample of student in the sixth grade. The study sample consisted of (18)
students that have been chosen from two schools (Al-Abass and Alataa’) it was an intended sample, because
there were enough student with high scores in bulling victims diagnostics test, the sample was divided into two
groups: the control group of (9) student from (Alataa’) school, and the experimental group consisted of (9)
student from Alabass) school keeping in mind to keep the two groups equivalent in maintaining equal controls.
The researcher applied the practical program which is based on cognitive behavioral