Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with various clinical types. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is significantly elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of MS patients compared with that of healthy controls. The aim of this study is to evaluate serum levels of GFAP in relation to disease activity in relapsing-remitting MS patients and to compare them with those of healthy controls. Method: This study involved 58 MS patients of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) type, 22 in an active stage of the disease and 36 in remission, and 50 healthy individuals as age- and sex-matched controls. Blood samples were taken from the patients at the MS Clinic of the Baghdad Teaching Hospital, and the serum levels of GFAP were determined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Results: Mean GFAP serum levels in 22 patients presenting in the active state of the disease (6.47±3.39 ng/ml) and 36 cases in remission were (5.33±2.82 ng/ml) (p=0.074) were determined as indicated. When RRMS patients (n=58) were compared with the healthy controls (n=50, 1.89±1.21), the difference in serum levels of GFAP was statistically significant (p<0.001). The area under the curve of the serum measures of GFAP obtained through the receiver operating characteristics was 0.903, which was also statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: GFAP biomarker is an indicator of disease activity in RRMS patients, and its serum level may correlate with the state of remission or exacerbation.
Background and Aim: Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) is a highly contagious virus that infects wild and domestic canines. Despite the use of a routine vaccination protocol, it is endemic in Iraq. The genetic drift of CPV-2 is a major issue worldwide because it abrogates virus control. In Iraq, there is a knowledge gap regarding the genetic sequences of asymptomatic and symptomatic CPV-2 cases. Therefore, this study aimed to perform a genetic analysis of viral capsid protein 1 (VP1) and viral capsid protein 2 (VP2), two major capsid-encoding genes, to demonstrate the possible role of certain mutations in triggering infection. Materials and Methods: Symptomatic and asymptomatic cases (n = 100/each) were tested by a polymerase chain reacti
... Show MoreA disease of the reproductive system known as "infertility" is characterized by the inability to conceive after twelve months or more of sexual activity. This study was carried out to investigate the level of the DAZ protein in “Azoospermia” Iraqi patients. One hundred and fifty human blood samples were collected from different regions in Baghdad governorate include (private medicals Labs and “high institute for infertility diagnosis” assisted reproductive techniques and Kamal Al- Samara'ay IVF Hospital). The control group (fertile) consists of 50 males with an age range between 22-51 years old, while the patient (infertile group) consists of 100 sample males with ages ranging between 25-51 years old. The correlation of mean age for
... Show MoreDouble-layer micro-perforated panels (MPPs) have been studied extensively as sound absorption systems to increase the absorption performance of single-layer MPPs. However, existing proposed models indicate that there is still room for improvement regarding the frequency bands of absorption for the double-layer MPP. This study presents a double-layer MPP formed with two single MPPs with inhomogeneous perforation backed by multiple cavities of varying depths. The theoretical formulation is developed using the electrical equivalent circuit method to calculate the absorption coefficient under a normal incident sound. The simulation results show that the proposed model can produce absorption coefficient with wider absorption bandwidth compared w
... Show MoreThis study deals with the corrosion inhibition of metal corrosion process of medium carbon steel using 1M HCl for kinetic studies and rate reaction determination. The weight loss method is applied to pieces of Medium carbon steel divided to Cubans with dimensions (0.4*2*2.4) cm , and use Tafel Extrapolation Method, the samples were polished using carbide silicon paper with dimensions of (180,200,400,600,800,1000). The samples were immersed in the alcoholic medium ethanol at a temperature 293K for 3hr. Natural inhibitor Kujarat Tea (Hibiscus sabdarriffa L.) is used which is extracted in aqueous and alcoholic medium, different concentrations (1000،2000, 3000) ppm have been used ; The best concentration found through the results is a
... Show MoreThis study deals with the corrosion inhibition of metal corrosion process of medium carbon steel using 1M HCl for kinetic studies and rate reaction determination. The weight loss method is applied to pieces of Medium carbon steel divided to Cubans with dimensions (0.4*2*2.4) cm , and use Tafel Extrapolation Method, the samples were polished using carbide silicon paper with dimensions of (180,200,400,600,800,1000). The samples were immersed in the alcoholic medium ethanol at a temperature 293K for 3hr. Natural inhibitor Kujarat Tea (Hibiscus sabdarriffa L.) is used which is extracted in aqueous and alcoholic medium, different concentrations (1000،2000, 3000) ppm have been used ; The best concentration found through the results is a conce
... Show MoreIt is well-known that the existence of outliers in the data will adversely affect the efficiency of estimation and results of the current study. In this paper four methods will be studied to detect outliers for the multiple linear regression model in two cases : first, in real data; and secondly, after adding the outliers to data and the attempt to detect it. The study is conducted for samples with different sizes, and uses three measures for comparing between these methods . These three measures are : the mask, dumping and standard error of the estimate.
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a heterogenous plasma cell malignancy with various complications. Sclerostin is a Wingless-type (Wnt) inhibitor specifically expressed by osteocytes; it acts as a negative regulator of bone formation.
To assess plasma sclerostin level in MM patients and find its correlations with clinical and laboratory data, including osteolytic bone disease and international staging system (ISS).
This cr