Background: EOS (encoded by the IKZF4 gene) is a member of the zinc finger transcription factor IKaros family, and plays a critical role in Treg suppressor functions, and maintaining Treg stability. IL-6 is a soluble mediator with a pleiotropic effect on inflammation, immune response, and hematopoiesis. Aim: To estimate serum IL-6 level and EOS gene expression in Iraqi patients with psoriasis. Method: Twenty-two patients with psoriasis (8 females, 14 males) with age ranged 18-72 years, were recruited from Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Dermatology Clinic, Baghdad, and 24 healthy donors. The serum levels of IL-6 by ELISA and the gene expression of IKZF4 (EOS gene) by RT-qPCR technique. Results: The results showed a non-significant difference in the level of IL-6 in those treated with topical therapy and others treated with Etanercept compared to control. A non-significant increase in patients treated with topical therapy was reported compared to patients treated with Etanercept. There was a higher significant percentage of IKZF4 gene expression folding in psoriasis patients treated with Etanercept compared to control group, while no significant differences reported between patients treated with topical therapy, Etanercept, and the control group. Conclusion: Activation of Regulatory T cells (Tregs) with Etanercept enhances EOS expression and decreases IL-6 production more than topical treatment in patients with psoriasis.
Concrete is widely used in construction materials since early 1800's. It has been known that concrete is weak in tension, so it requires some addition materials to have ductile behavior and enhance its tensile strength and strain capacity to improve their uses. In this study reactive powder concrete (RPC) was used with steel fiber by using different types of cement; (Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and/or Portland- Limestone cement (PLC)) with three types of mixtures (OPC at the first mix, 50 % OPC and 50 % PLC at the second mix and PLC at the third mix). The behavior of RPC with steel fibers on compressive strength and tensile strength of concrete with different ages of curing (7, 14, 28 and 60) days and shrinkage have been studied. The clo
... Show MoreThe wastewater arising from pulp and paper mills is highly polluted and has to be treated before discharged into rivers. Coagulation-flocculation process using natural polymers has grown rapidly in wastewater treatment. In this work, the performance of alum and Polyaluminum Chloride (PACl) when used alone and when coupled with Fenugreek mucilage on the treatment of pulp and paper mill wastewater were studied. The experiments were carried out in jar tests with alum, PACl and Fenugreek mucilage dosages range of 50-2000 mg/L, rapid mixing at 200 rpm for 2 min, followed by slow mixing at 40 rpm for 15 min and settling time of 30 min. The effectiveness of Fenugreek mucilage was measured by the reduction of turbidity and Chemical Oxygen Demand
... Show MoreThe aim of the work is the synthesis and characterization of the tridentate Schiff base (HL) containing (N and O) as donor atoms type (ONO). The ligand is: (HL) phenyl 2-(2-hydroxybenzylidenamino)benzoate . This ligand was prepared by the reaction of (phenyl 2-aminobenzoate) with salicylaldehyde under reflux in ethanol and few drops of glacial acetic acid which gave the ligand (HL). The prepared ligand was characterized by (FT IR,UV–Vis) spectroscopy, Elemental analysis of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen (C.H.N.) and melting point. The ligand was reacted with some metal ions under reflux in ethanol with (1 metal :2 ligand )mole ratio which gave complexes of the general formula: [M(L)2]Cl , M = Cr III La III and , Pr III Products were found
... Show MoreTo create a highly efficient photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) system and maximise the energy and exergy efficiency, this study aims to propose an innovative configuration of a PV-T system comprising wavy tubes with twisted-tape inserts. Following the validation of a numerical model, a parametric study has been conducted to assess the geometrical effects of twisted tape and wavy tubes, as well as the coolant fluid type and velocity, on the overall performance of a PV-T system, located in Shiraz, Iran. It is found that employing twisted tape improves the energy and exergy efficiency by approx. 6.3%. The best configuration yields 12.4% and 16.8% increase in energy and exergy efficiency compared to conventional PV systems. This is achieved at 15% vo
... Show MoreEnsuring reliable data transmission in Network on Chip (NoC) is one of the most challenging tasks, especially in noisy environments. As crosstalk, interference, and radiation were increased with manufacturers' increasing tendency to reduce the area, increase the frequencies, and reduce the voltages. So many Error Control Codes (ECC) were proposed with different error detection and correction capacities and various degrees of complexity. Code with Crosstalk Avoidance and Error Correction (CCAEC) for network-on-chip interconnects uses simple parity check bits as the main technique to get high error correction capacity. Per this work, this coding scheme corrects up to 12 random errors, representing a high correction capac
... Show MoreNew series of metal ions complexes have been prepared from the new ligand [4-Amino-N-(5-methyl-isaxazol-3-yl)-benzenesulfonamide] derived from Sulfamethoxazole and 3-aminophenol. Accordingly, mono-nuclear Mn(II), Fe(III), Co (II), and Rh(III) complexes were prepared by the reaction of previous ligand with MnCl2.4H2O, CoCl2.6H2O, FeCl3.6H2O and RhCl3H2O, respectively. The compounds have been characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis), mass, 1H-, and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA& DSC) curve, Bohr magnetic (B.M.), elemental microanal
... Show MoreSince the Internet has been more widely used and more people have access to multimedia content, copyright hacking, and piracy have risen. By the use of watermarking techniques, security, asset protection, and authentication have all been made possible. In this paper, a comparison between fragile and robust watermarking techniques has been presented to benefit them in recent studies to increase the level of security of critical media. A new technique has been suggested when adding an embedded value (129) to each pixel of the cover image and representing it as a key to thwart the attacker, increase security, rise imperceptibility, and make the system faster in detecting the tamper from unauthorized users. Using the two watermarking ty
... Show MoreIn a report by Transparency Organization in 2010, Iraq has 200 newspapers, magazines, sixty-seven radio stations and 45 satellite TV channels. The increase in these figures is measured in days or weeks and not months and years. This fact confirms the importance of studying content providers, especially youth sports content, for two reasons: the first is that young people constitute the highest percentage in Iraqi society, with all the potential involved in shaping the future aspects; the second reason is that for years sport has become an important pillar in people's lives not only in the entertainment aspect as it was seen in the past; Rather, sport has an influential presence in politi
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to present the first record of ctenophore species Pleurobrachia pileus (O. F. Müller, 1776) in the coral reef as was recently found in Iraqi marine waters. The specimens were collected from two sites, the first was in Khor Abdullah during May 2015, and the second site was located in the pelagic water of the coral reef area, near the Al-Basrah deep sea crude oil marine loading terminal. Three samples were collected at this site during May 2015, February and March 2018 which showed that P. pileus were present at a densities of 3.0, 2.2 and 0.55 ind./ m3 respectively. The species can affect on the abundance of other zooplankton community through predation.
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In the present work, the efficiency of Tri-octyl Methyl Ammonium Chloride (TOMAC) ionic liquid was investigated as new and green demulsifier for three types of Iraqi crude oil emulsions (Nafut Khana (NK), Kirkuk and Basrah). The separation efficiency was studied at room temperature and by using microwave heating technique. Several batch experiments were done to specify the suitable conditions for the emulsification and demulsification which were specified as 45 minutes and 3000 rpm for crude oil emulsification while the ionic liquid doses were (500,300,150,50) ppm and the conditions of microwave heating were 1000 watt and 50 second as irradiation time. The results were very encouraging especially for NK and Kirkuk crude oil emulsions whe
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