The high mobility group A1 gene (HMGA1) rs139876191 variant has been related to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, but data are lacking in Middle Eastern populations. The study aimed to assess whether the HMGA1 rs139876191 variant is associated with metabolic syndrome risk and whether this variant predicts the risk of insulin resistance. This case-control study was carried out at single center in Kirkuk city/ Iraq from February to August 2022. Polymorphisms in HMGA1 and genotyping were identified by Sanger sequencing of genomic DNA obtained from 91 Iraqi participants (61 patients with metabolic syndrome and 30 control). Lipid profile, serum (glucose and insulin), glycated hemoglobin, blood pressure, body mass index, and waist circumference were also measured. The high prevalence of the del/del genotype of rs139876191 was found. Minor allele frequency of rs139876191 was 0.16 in both metabolic syndrome and the control group. A non-significant difference in genotyping was identified between total metabolic syndrome and the control group. The del/ins variant was associated with significantly higher waist circumference, triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (P=0.03, 0.041, 0.007, 0.034, and 0.001, respectively), and significantly lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (p=0.000). Linear regression analysis showed no significant effect of the variant (del/ins) on developing insulin resistance. Thus, rs139876191 polymorphism with del/ins genotype in the HMGA1 gene was not associated with metabolic syndrome risk but it was associated with indices of metabolic syndrome including waist circumference, TG, HDL, LDL, VLDL, and HbA1c. Besides, this variant did not predict the risk of insulin resistance
Haruki Murakami (1949-present) is a contemporary Japanese writer whose works have been translated into fifty languages and won him plenty of Japanese and international awards. His short stories are well constructed in a weird realistic manner and are mixed with elements of surrealism. His novels and short stories fall under the genre of magical realism. One of the major revolving themes that Murakami wrote about was the haunting feeling of emptiness and disconnectedness in a world which seems to care much for materialism and self-interests.
The paper explores two of Murakami’s short stories in his book After the Quake (2000) and the relevance of their themes and characters to Iraq after the q
... Show MoreAn environmental study conducted on diatoms in Al Yusifiya river beyond its branching from Euphrates river. Four sites were selected along the river for the period from march 2013 to September 2013. The present study involved the measurement of physicochemical parameters, also the qualitative and quantities of diatoms. The studied parameters values ranged as follows: 19-44Cº and 16-30 Cº for air and water temperature respectively, 6.9-8.7, 595-1248 µS/cm, 6.4-8.0 mg/l for pH, electric conductivity and dissolved oxygen respectively. A total of 74 taxa were recorded for diatoms, where the pinnate diatom was the predominant and recorded 64 taxa while 10 taxa for centric diatoms. The total number of diatoms was 1197.55*104 cell /l. The tota
... Show MoreBackground: The use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) during pregnancy warrants several side effects and also deleterious effects on fetal development, the antiepileptic drugs have potential to affect the fetal development throughout the pregnancy although, the majority of infants born to epileptic pregnant women are normal but more expose to the malformations. Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of carbamazepine drug on the kidney development at day 7 postnatally in the Albino Rat (Rattus rattus) as a mammalian model. Material & Methods: 20 healthy pregnant female rats were divided into two groups, 10 pregnant rats in each group; group one served as control group administrated distal water while group two used as experimenta
... Show MoreThis experiment was carried out at a private field in the eastern Radwaniyah Baghdad for the fall season 2020/2021 and spring 2021 to study the effects of adding mineral fertilizers, spraying salicylic acid and amino acids on some growth traits and yield of industrial potato plants. 200 kg N h-1 , 100 kg P2O5 h-1, 100 kg K2O h-1 and F2 consist of 275 kg N h-1, 180 kg P2O5 h-1, 200 K2O h-1 and F3 consist of 350 kg N h-1, 360 kg P2O5 h-1, 300 K2O h-1 and salicylic acid in three concentrations of 0,50 and 100 mg L-1 ( S1, S2, S3) and amino acids in three concentrations of 0, 1.25 and 2.5 ml L-1 ( A1, A2 , A3) It was carried out as a factorial split plot experiment, where the fertilizer levels (F1, F2 and F3) are in the main plot and th
... Show MoreIn this research, Zinc oxide (ZnO)/epoxy nanocomposite was synthesized by simple casting method with 2wt. % ZnO concentration. The aim of this work was to study the effect of pH and composite dosage on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO/ epoxy nanocomposite. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique images proof the homogeneous distribution of ZnO nanoparticles in epoxy. A synthesized nanocomposite samples were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer (FTIR) measurements. Two spectra for epoxy and 2wt.% ZnO/epoxy nanocomposites were similar and there are no new bonds formed from the incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles. Using HCl and NaOH were added to Methylene blue (MB) dye (5ppm) to gat pH values 3 and 8. The degradat
... Show MoreBackground : It had been indentified by histological, histochemical and morphometrical studies that peganum harmala is a mammogenic herb and borage officinalis is a lactogenic one . To complete our investigation about these two herbs , we performed electron microscopical study . Materials and methods : Rats were grouped according to their physiological status into three groups . Each group was subdivided in to three subgroups : one control and two experimental . The two experimental group were treated daily; the 1st one with an aqueous extract of peganum harmala seeds and the 2nd with an aqueous extract of borage officinalis flowers . After two weeks of treatment , mammary glands were employed for electron microscopical study . Resu
... Show MoreThe purpose of present work is to study the relationship of the deformed shape of the nucleus with the radioactivity of nuclei for (Uranium-238 and Thorium-232) series. To achieve our purposes we have been calculated the quadruple deformation parameter (β2) and the eccentricity (e) and compare the radioactive series with the change of the and (e) as indicator for the changing in the nucleus shape with the radioactivity. To obtain the value of quadruple deformation parameter (β2), the adopted value of quadruple transition probability B (E2; 0+ → 2+) was calculated from Global Best fit equation. While the eccentricity (e) was calculated from the values of the minor and major ellipsoid axis’s (a & b). From the results, it is obvi
... Show MoreThis study aims to employ modern spatial simulation models to predict the future growth of Al-Najaf city for the year 2036 by studying the change in land use for the time period (1986-2016) because of its importance in shaping future policy for the planning process and decision-making process and ensuring a sustainable urban future, using Geographical information software programs and remote sensing (GIS, IDRISI Selva) as they are appropriate tools for exploring spatial temporal changes from the local level to the global scale. The application of the Markov chain model, which is a popular model that calculates the probability of future change based on the past, and the Cellular Automa