Background: Polymorphisms in the TNF-α gene affect the development and progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Objective: To investigate the associations between (-806 T/C) and (-857 T/C) SNPs with rheumatoid arthritis severity and susceptibility in a sample of Iraqi patients. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Baghdad, Iraq. Twenty healthy controls and 63 patients confirmed to be newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis were included. Those are divided into two groups (patients and controls), and the patients were further subdivided into severe and mild-moderate groups. Samples from those participants were analyzed for clinical and inflammatory parameter measurements. Genotyping by the Sanger method was performed to study the SNPs. Results: No associations were demonstrated between rheumatoid arthritis and polymorphisms at positions -806 and -857. Additionally, there were no differences in the distribution of those SNP genotypes and alleles among the severe and mild-moderate groups. Also, the (-806 C/T) SNP was found to be correlated with DAS 28 in all patients and with hs-CRP in the mild-moderate group. Finally, the -857 C/T SNP was found to be correlated with TNF-α within the mild-moderate group. Conclusions: Polymorphisms at positions -806 and -857 were not associated with rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility, and the CT genotype of -806 C/T SNP was associated with disease activity.
Functionalized-multi wall carbon nanotubes (F-MWCNTs) and functionalized-single wall carbon nanotubes (F-SWCNTs) were well enhanced using CoO Nanoparticles. The sensor device consisted of a film of sensitive material (F-MWCNTs/CoONPs) and (F-SWCNTs/CoO NPs) deposited by drop- casting on an n-type porous silicon substrate. The two sensors perform high sensitivity to NO2 gas at room temperatures. The analysis indicated that the (F-MWCNTs/CoONPs) have a better performance than (F-SWCNTs/CoONPs). The F-SWCNTs/CoONPs gas sensor shows high sensitivity (19.1 %) at RT with response time 17 sec, while F-MWCNTs/CoONPs gas sensor show better sensitivity (39 %) at RT with response time 13 sec. The device shows a very reproducible sensor p
... Show MoreLevan is an exopolysaccharide produced by various microorganisms and has a variety of applications. In this research, the aim was to demonstrate the biological activity of levan which produced from B. phenoliresistens KX139300. These were done via study the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antileishmanial activities in vitro. The antioxidant levan was shown 80.9% activity at 1250 µg/mL concentration. The efficient anti-inflammatory activity of 88% protein inhibition was noticed with levan concentration at 35 µg/mL. The cytotoxic activity of levan at 2500 µg/mL concentration showed a maximum cytotoxic effect on L20B cell line and promastigotes of Leishmani tropica. Levan has dose-dependent anticancer and antileishman
... Show MoreIntroduction: Methadone hydrochloride (MDN) is an effective pharmacological substitution treatment for opioids dependence, adopted in different countries as methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programmes. However, MDN can exacerbate the addiction problem if it is abused and injected intravenously, and the frequent visits to the MMT centres can reduce patient compliance. The overall aim of this study is to develop a novel extended-release capsule of MDN using the sol-gel silica (SGS) technique that has the potential to counteract medication-tampering techniques and associated health risks and reduce the frequent visits to MMT centres. Methods: For MDN recrystallisation, a closed container method (CCM) and hot-stage method (HSM) were conduc
... Show MoreThe coefficient of charge transfer at heterogeneous devices of Au metal with a well-known dyeis investigations using quantum model.Four different solvent are used to estimation the effective transition energy. The potential barrier at interface of Au and dye has been determined using effective transition energy and difference between the Fermi energy of Au metal and ionization energy of dye. A possible transfer mechanism cross the potential barrier dyeand coupling strength interaction between the electronic levels in systems of Au and is discussed.Differentdata of effective transition energy and potential barrier calculations suggest that solvent is more suitable to binds Au with dye.
The applications of hot plasma are many and numerous applications require high values of the temperature of the electrons within the plasma region. Improving electron temperature values is one of the important processes for using this specification in plasma for being adopted in several modern applications such as nuclear fusion, plating operations and in industrial applications. In this work, theoretical computations were performed to enhance electron temperature under dense homogeneous plasma. The effect of power and duration time of pulsed Nd:YAG laser was studied on the heating of plasmas by inverse bremsstrahlung for several values for the electron density ratio. There results for these ca
... Show MoreTest results of eight reinforced concrete one way slab with lacing reinforcement are reported. The tests were designed to study the effect of the lacing reinforcement on the flexural behavior of one way slabs. The test parameters were the lacing steel ratio, flexural steel ratio and span to the effective depth ratio. One specimen had no lacing reinforcement and the remaining seven had various percentages of lacing and flexural steel ratios. All specimens were cast with normal density concrete of approximately 30 MPa compressive strength. The specimens were tested under two equal line loads applied statically at a thirds part (four point bending test) up to failure. Three percentage of lacing and flexural steel ratios wer
... Show MoreIncreasing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of silicon solar cells by improving their junction properties or minimizing light reflection losses remains a major challenge. Extensive studies were carried out in order to develop an effective antireflection coating for monocrystalline solar cells. Here we report on the preparation of a nanostructured cerium oxide thin film by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) as an antireflection coating for silicon solar cell. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of a cerium oxide nanostructure film are investigated as a function of the number of laser pulses. The X-ray diffraction results reveal that the deposited cerium oxide films are crystalline in nature and have a cubic fluorite. The field
... Show MoreThe purpose of this study is to underline the progression and development of research regarding oxygen-containing heterocycles as well as the contribution that some oxygen-containing heterocycles have made as anticancer medicines. A series of publications about the antitumor effects of derivatives of heterocyclic compounds containing an oxygen atom, such as furan, benzofuran, oxazole, benzoxazole, and oxadiazole, were evaluated, and their anticancer activities showed encouraging results when compared to those of established standard treatments.