Background: Bell's palsy was defined as facial weakness of lower motor neuron type caused by idiopathic facial nerve involvement outside the central nervous system without evidence of aural or more widespread neurologic disease. The cause is unclear, but the disorder occurs more commonly in diabetics.Objectives: to differentiate cases of idiopathic Bell's palsy from diabetic mononeuropathy presented with Facial nerve palsy by assessing the taste, because they differ in etiology, management & prognosis.Patients &Methods: One hundred and fifteen consecutive patients were referred for the treatment of facial palsy, from May the 5th 2012 to April 12th 2013 in Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital and The Neurosciences Hospital, in Baghdad / Iraq. 70 diabetic patients and 45 non diabetics were involved to assay the taste.RESULTS: of the 115 patients with facial nerve palsy 70 (61%) were diabetics&45(39%) non-diabetics.No differences of age or gender were found between the two groups. From those 70 diabetic patients 15(34.9%) had change in taste, and , 55(76.4%)had no change in taste, while for non-diabetics; from total 45 patients 28(65.1) had change in taste, and 17 (23.6%) had no change, and this was statistically significant (p<0.001)CONCLUSION :Diabetic patients with isolated facial nerve palsy with sparing of taste sensation may be cases of diabetic mononeuropathy due to diabetic small vessel disease rather than concurrent cases of Bell’s palsy.
Background: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukins play important roles in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Genetic research has been employed to find many of the missing connections between genetic risk variations and causal genetic components. Objective: The goal of this study is to look at the genetic variations of TNF-α and interleukins in Iraqi RA patients and see how they relate to disease severity or response to biological therapy. Method: Using specific keywords, the authors conducted a systematic and comprehensive search to identify relevant Iraqi studies examining the genetic variations of TNF-α and interleukins in Iraqi RA patients and how they relate to disease severity or response to biolo
... Show MoreThe present study was conducted with a view to determine whether focal laser therapy result in visual recovery and regression of macular edema in patients with non proliferative diabetic retinopathy and maculopathy ,and whether combined focal and scatter laser therapy in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and maculopathy results in visual recovery ,regression of macular edema and regression of the risk factors. In the present work, a frequency doubled Nd: YAG laser was used for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. The study evaluates 41 eyes of 33 diabetic patients both with Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus IDDM, (n=16) and Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus NIDDM, (n=17) with diabetic retinopathy divided into two
... Show MoreAim: To determine the expression of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP-2) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and the difference in its expression level between positive and negative HPV-16 (human papilloma virus- 16) OSCC patients. Methods: This study was conducted on 33 biopsies obtained from patients with OSCC and 10 normal oral mucosa as controls. In situ hybridization (ISH) was used to investigate the presence of HPV-16, while immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to estimate the expression level of TIMP-2. Results: The TIMP-2 was expressed in 27 (81.8%) of OSCC sections with no significant difference between its expression level in HPV-16 positive and HPV-16 negative OSCC cases (p=0.058). TIMP-2 was found to be hig
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One of the most suitable materials to be used in latent heat thermal energy storage system (LHTES) are Phase change materials, but a problem of slow melting and solidification processes made many researchers focusing on how to improve their thermal properties. This experimental work concerned with the enhancing of thermal conductivity of phase change material. The enhancing method was by the addition of copper Lessing rings in phase change material (paraffin wax). The effect of diameter for the used rings was studied by using two different diameters (0.5 cm and 1cm). Also, three volumetric percentages of rings addition (3%, 6% and 10%) were tested for each diameter. The discharging process was done with
... Show MoreLand use change, particularly the expansion of urban areas and associated human activities at the expense of natural and semi-natural areas, is a major ecological issue in urban areas around the world. Climate change being a very strong additional driver for changing the temperature and habitat in the cities. This also applies to Baghdad, Iraq, where urbanisation and climate change exerts a major pressure on the natural habitats of the city, and thus may affect the ability of city planners to adapt to future climate change scenarios. Here we present evidence of substantial growth in urban areas, increases in temperature, and degradation of natural vegetation within Baghdad city by using Remote Sensing techniques and an assessment for the
... Show MorePhase change material (PCM) is considered as one of the most effective thermal energy storage (TES) systems to balance energy supply and demand. A key challenge in designing efficient PCM-based TES systems lies in the enhancement of heat transmission during phase transition. This study numerically examines the privilege of employing twisted-fin arrays inside a shell-and-tube latent heat storage unit to improve the solidification performance. The presence of twisted fins contributes to the dominating role of heat conduction by their curved shapes, which restricts the role of natural convection but largely aids the overall heat-transfer process during solidification. The heat-discharge
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a growing health concern that usually appears during the second and third trimester stage of pregnancy and is characterized by carbohydrate intolerance of variable severity. The aim of the present study was to scrutinize the relationship between the G972R polymorphism of the insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) gene with GDM in the Iraqi female population. One hundred and twenty of blood samples taken from healthy women (control) and women with gestational diabetes mellitus in 3rd trimester stage of pregnancy, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and HbA1c% measured to diagnose GDM, lipid profile (cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, LDL, and VLDL), insulin concentration, insulin resistance and beta cell function to
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