Background. Alopecia areata (AA) is a common form of noncicatricial hair loss of unknown cause, affecting 0.1-0.2% of the general population. Most evidence supports the hypothesis that it is disease of the hair follicle of autoimmune nature mediated by T-cells, with important cytokine role. Objective of the Study. The objective of this study is to study the association and changes in serum levels of interleukin-15 (IL-15) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in patients with AA in relation to the type, activity, and disease duration. Patients and Methods. Thirty-eight patients with AA and 22 individuals without the disease as controls were enrolled in this case-controlled study conducted in the Department of Dermatology in the Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital and Baghdad Medical City, Iraq, during a period from the 1st of April 2021 to the 1st of December 2021. Serum concentrations of IL-15 and TNF-α assessed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results. The mean serum concentration values for IL-15 and TNF-α were higher significantly in patients with AA than in controls (2.35 versus 0.35 pg/mL and 50.11 versus 20.92 pg/mL, respectively). IL-15 and TNF-α showed no statistically significant differences in level in terms of the type, duration, and activity of the disease, but TNF-α significantly higher in those with totalis-type than in other types. Conclusion. Both IL-15 and TNF-α are markers for alopecia areata. The level for these biomarkers was not affected by duration or disease activity, but it was affected by the type of disease, as the concentrations of IL-15 and TNF-α were higher in patient with Alopecia totalis than in other types of Alopecia.
Objectives: This study explored knowledge, attitude, and practice of infection control by dental students at College of Dentistry/ University of Baghdad, Iraq. Material and Methods: Three hundred dental students participated in this study. A self administrated questionnaire with 21 close ended questions related to use of personal protective equipments, infection control awareness, vaccination status, percutaneous exposures, and attitude towards treatment of patients with hepatitis B (HBV)/ or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was distributed to dental students. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Fisher exact and Chi-square test were used with significance level set to 0.05. Results: The
... Show MorePhytochemical Screening and Antibacterial Effect of Stevia Rebaudiana (Bertoni) Alcoholic Leaves Extract on Streptococcus Oralis (Dental Plaques Primary Colonizer), Manar Ibrahim
Background: The polymethyl methacrylate is the most reliable material for the construction of complete and partial dentures, despite satisfying esthetic demand itsuffered from having unsatisfactory properties like impact strength and transverse strength. This study was designed to improve the impact strength and transverse strength of heat cure acrylic resin by adding untreated and oxygen plasma treated polypropylene fibers and investigate the effect of this additive on some properties of acrylic resin materials. Materials and methods: Untreated and oxygen plasma treated polypropylene fibers was added to PMMA powder by weight 2.5 %. Specimens were constructed and divided into 5 groups according to the using tests; each group was subdivided
... Show MoreThis study aimed to develop an oral drug delivery system for gastro-retentive sustained drug release of baclofen by using a 3D printed capsular device since baclofen has a short half-life of 2.5 to 4 hours and has a narrow absorption window. Firstly sustained-release tablets of baclofen were formulated through the hot-melt extrusion of various thermoplastic polymers and direct compression of the extrudate, then a capsular device was designed and 3D printed to contain two air pockets to enable floating of the device and has four windows for drug release.
3D printing of the capsular device was done by an FDM printer using biodegradable PLA filament, and the sustained release tablets were inserted into the device to allow the medici
... Show MoreReverse Osmosis (RO) has already proved its worth as an efficient treatment method in chemical and environmental engineering applications. Various successful RO attempts for the rejection of organic and highly toxic pollutants from wastewater can be found in the literature over the last decade. Dimethylphenol is classified as a high-toxic organic compound found ubiquitously in wastewater. It poses a real threat to humans and the environment even at low concentration. In this paper, a model based framework was developed for the simulation and optimisation of RO process for the removal of dimethylphenol from wastewater. We incorporated our earlier developed and validated process model into the Species Conserving Genetic Algorithm (SCG
... Show MoreIn this paper, the dynamics of scavenger species predation of both susceptible and infected prey at different rates with prey refuge is mathematically proposed and studied. It is supposed that the disease was spread by direct contact between susceptible prey with infected prey described by Holling type-II infection function. The existence, uniqueness, and boundedness of the solution are investigated. The stability constraints of all equilibrium points are determined. In addition to establishing some sufficient conditions for global stability of them by using suitable Lyapunov functions. Finally, these theoretical results are shown and verified with numerical simulations.
In this golden age of rapid development surgeons realized that AI could contribute to healthcare in all aspects, especially in surgery. The aim of the study will incorporate the use of Convolutional Neural Network and Constrained Local Models (CNN-CLM) which can make improvement for the assessment of Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (LC) surgery not only bring opportunities for surgery but also bring challenges on the way forward by using the edge cutting technology. The problem with the current method of surgery is the lack of safety and specific complications and problems associated with safety in each laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedure. When CLM is utilize into CNN models, it is effective at predicting time series tasks like iden
... Show MoreDenture cleansing is an essential step that can stop cross‑contamination and adds to the health of the patient, denture durability, and the general quality of life. A disinfection technique must be practical and devoid of damaging effects on the material's properties used to construct the denture base. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of three concentrations of electrolyzed water denture cleanser on heat cure acrylic and polyamide after immersion in electrolyzed water. The evaluation is based on their efficacy on surface hardness, wettability, and color stability compared with one submerged in distilled water as a control group. The method consists of eighty samples of heat-cured acrylic and polyamide material.
... Show MoreElectronic properties such as density of state, energy gap, HOMO (the highest occupied molecular orbital) level, LUMO (the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) level and density of bonds, as well as spectroscopic properties like infrared (IR), Raman scattering, force constant, and reduced masses for coronene C24, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) C24O5and interaction between C24O5and NO2gas molecules were investigated. Density functional theory (DFT) with the exchange hybrid function B3LYP with 6-311G** basis sets through the Gaussian 09 W software program was used to do these calculations. Gaussian view 05 was em
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