Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the new respiratory virus SARS-CoV2. It has a tropism in the lung tissues where excess target receptors exist. Periostin plays a role in subepithelial fibrosis associated with bronchial asthma. Since the Coronavirus's target is the human respiratory system, Periostin has been recently described as a valuable new biomarker in the diagnosis and evaluation of disease in patients with COVID-19 lung involvement. Objectives: To assess the level of Periostin in the serum of COVID-19 patients and to correlate its role in disease severity and prognosis. Subjects and Methods: Periostin serum levels were measured for 63 patients attending three main COVID

In the current study, synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) before and after functionalization with ampicillin antibiotic and their application as anti-pathogenic agents towards bacteria were investigated. AgNPs were synthesized by a green method from AgNO3 solution with glucose subjected to microwave radiation. Characterization of the nanoparticles was conducted using UV-Vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), zeta potential determination and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. From SEM analysis, the typical silver nanoparticle particle size was found to be 30 nm and Zeta potential measurements gave information about particle stability. Analysis of FTIR patterns and UV-VIS spectroscopy con

We demonstrate that the selective hydrogenation of acetylene depends on energy profile of the partial and full hydrogenation routes and the thermodynamic stability of adsorbed C₂H₂ in comparison to C₂H₄.

This study illustrates in vitro effect of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) on the treatment of Leishmania. In addition, the study evaluated the effect of drug treatment (pentostam) and the combination treatment of pentostan and CAP at different doses and incubation time 24 h in order to assess the most effective treatment. The duration of the cold plasma doses was 1 min, 2 min and 3 min, while the pentostam doses were 2.5 µg/ml and 5 µg/ml. The combinations therapies included combining the three cold plasma doses with the pentostam doses to test 6 combinations of treated in vitro. The maximum growth inhibition was given by combination treated 46% and 44% for donovani and tropica leishamnia respectively; these results give an indi

This research is an attempt to achieve the following objectives: 1. identifying the nature of the non-verbal communication skills practiced by educational counselors in individual guidance. 2. Identifying the significant differences between non-verbal communication skills exercised by educational counselors from their point of view in regard to their gender (male-female). The researcher used a questionnaire as a tool prepared based on exploratory questions of educational counselors and literature. It has consisted of (26) items over four domains applied to a sample of (50) educational counselors (male and female) who have been chosen randomly from schools located in Baghdad Education Directorate Rusafa / 2. It was treated statistically u

This paper analyzes a piled-raft foundation on non-homogeneous soils with variable layer depth percentages. The present work aims to perform a three-dimensional finite element analysis of a piled-raft foundation subjected to vertical load using the PLAXIS 3D software. Parametric analysis was carried out to determine the effect of soil type and initial layer thickness. The parametric study showed that increasing the relative density from 30 % to 80 % of the upper sand layer and the thickness of the first layer has led to an increase in the ultimate load and a decrease in the settlement of piled raft foundations for the cases of sand over weak soil.  In clay over weak soil, the ultimate load of the piled raft foundation w