Background: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are said to be inherited in a multifactorial fashion, i.e. genetic-environmental interaction. Maternal nutritional deficiencies had long been reported to cause NTDs, especially folate deficiency during early pregnancy. More attention had been paid to the exact mechanism by which this deficiency state causes these defects in the developing embryo. The most significant of all researches was that connecting reduced folate and increased homocysteine level in maternal serum on one hand and the risk of developing a NTD baby on the other hand. Objectives : to determine the significance of homocysteine level in Iraqi mothers who gave birth to babies with NTDs as compared to normal controls. Patients, Materials and Methods: Fifty Iraqi women having babies born with NTDS, referred to the genetic clinic in Baghdad Teaching Hospital, were included in this study (the study group) as well as 37 healthy women having normal children (the control group). This study was conducted from November, 2002 till October, 2003. Analysis of total serum homocysteine level for all women was done using a computerized HPLC system. Results : the age of women in both groups was comparable (mean+SD in the study group was 26.2+5.14 years vs. 26.3+4.57 years in the controls). Among the study group, 4 (8%) had normal tHcy level; 44 (88%) had mildly elevated level, and only 2 (4%) had moderately elevated tHcy level, while all (100%) women in the control group had their tHcy level within normal level. This difference was statistically highly significant (p<0.001). Conclusions : Women become at an increased risk of delivering a baby with NTD when having an elevated tHcy level in their sera, and that tHcy level is an important marker in maternal serum that is associated significantly with pregnancy outcome.
Excess alcohol consumption is associated with numerous metabolic changes and homeostasis disturbances of many macro- and micro-elements in the body. It has been associated with multiple pathologies at all levels. In the digestive apparatus, alcohol has generally been related to its toxic effects upon the liver. Alpha-1 antitrypsin (α-1 AT or AAT) plays an important role in controlling inflammation, coagulation and repair mechanisms in the body and most α-1 AT in the body is produced by the liver; from the other hand, Intrinsic factor (IF), which is a glycoprotein produced by the parietal cells of the stomach is necessary for the absorption of vitamin B12 in the small intestine. This study was designed to assess serum levels of α-1 AT and
... Show MoreCopper (Cu) Zinc (Zn) and Magnesium (Mg) in serum, RBC, urine and dialyzate fluids were
studied in 39 patients, who have been undergoing chronic haemodialysis treatment. They were
divided in to polyuric , oliguric and anuric depending on their urinary output. Elevated serum and
RBC Mg was observed before dialysis, while decreased serum and RBC level was noticed except
serum Mg of polyuric patients. Before dialysis elevated serum and RBC Zn were observed. While
after dialysis these parameters were increased. Normal RBC Cu value before dialysis was observed.
While low serum Cu was noticed. After dialysis serum Cu showed raised value, while RBC level
decreased in oliguric and increased in polyuric patients. Zn / Cu rati
The mean age of AS patients was (35.0 ± 9.8) years.When the patients and control subjects were divided into different age groups (>40, 30-40, <30 years), the differences were not significantin terms of disease prevalence. The results also showed that the percentage of male patients is higher than that of females. There was no significant difference (P?0.05) between patients and controls in the distribution of males and females.Most of the patients had the disease for a period of 5 years or higher, with a disease severity of ? 2.1 and functional disability degree of I, II. The resultsshoweddifferent patterns of distribution for the three tested cytokines. A significant increase in the level of TNF-?, anon-significantincrease i
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The quantitative determination of the estrogen E2, Progestron P4 & follicle stimulating hormones FSH in the serums of Albino mice used in the experiments & treated by crude alcoholic extracted 95% of the seeds & leaves of Apium graveolens was a significant increase in the concentration of estrogen of different kinds of the extracted in comparison with the values of the coefficient of the control group, that is the study recorded a significant increase of the concentration of estrogen; it was the highest in the mice which was administrated by the methanolic extracted 95%, then it was less in the mouse which was administrated by the ethanolic extracted., and it was the least in the mice which were administrated by the crude ethanolic-methano
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With the continuous progress of image retrieval technology, the speed of searching for the required image from a large amount of image data has become an important issue. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been used in image retrieval. However, many image retrieval systems based on CNNs have poor ability to express image features. Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) is a method of finding desired images from image databases. However, CBIR suffers from lower accuracy in retrieving images from large-scale image databases. In this paper, the proposed system is an improvement of the convolutional neural network for greater accuracy and a machine learning tool that can be used for automatic image retrieval. It includes two phases
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Image Fusion Using A Convolutional Neural Network
Large quantities of petroleum-contaminated soil are generated with increased global energy consumption and crude oil production. This theoretical study evaluates the treatment of 1 ton of petroleum-contaminated soil using seven methods: incineration, physical washing, chemical washing, thermal pyrolysis, Fenton-oxidation-pyrolysis, the biological treatment, and asphaltenes. Data were based on experimental results from the Nahran Bin Omar oil lake in Basra Governorate, Iraq, (2019–2021). The methods were compared by waste generation, treatment cost, and duration. Results indicate that using petroleum-contaminated soil as a raw material for asphalt manufacturing is most beneficial since it is sold as a raw material. Incineration is faster a
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Objectives: To assess the coping strategies of parents of children with autism and the relationship of
different strategies with their educational level.
Methodology: A descriptive analytical study was carried out from Feb. 14th, 2013 through April, 10th
, 2013 in
several private rehabilitation centers of autism in Baghdad city. A non- probability (purposive) sample of 100
autistic children and 100 of their parents (father or mother) was assessed by a questionnaire which consisted of
two parts; the first part is concerned with the demographic characteristics of the child and demographic
characteristics of the parents; the second part consisted of 50 questions about coping strategies that were
distributed on 8 doma