Background: Infection with Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) leads to activation of T-helper cells (Th-1 and Th-2) which are involved in the synthesis and release of different cytokines which may lead to endothelial dysfunction. Objectives: To evaluate the endothelial function in patients with acute toxoplasmosis. Methods: This case-control study involved 31 patients with toxoplasmosis aged 19 - 47 years matched with 20 healthy subjects. Anti-T. gondii antibody (IgG, IgM, IgA) was determined by direct antigen-antibody reaction. Interleukin-6(IL-6), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and human malondialdehyde (MDA) serum levels were measured. Results: IgM, IgG and IgA levels were high in the infected patients compared with controls (P < 0.01). Furthermore, IL-

Mixed Kirkuk and Sharki-Baghdad crude oils were distilled into narrow fractions. The range of these narrow fractions were 10oC, starting from IBP to 350oC. The total distillates from mixed Kirkuk and Sharki-Baghdad crude oils were 58.25 vol % and 44.65 vol %, respectively.The hydrocarbons compositions (paraffin, naphthene, aromatic) in light fractions starting from IBP to 250oC were determined by using PONA analysis method. The results show that the paraffin content decreases with increasing mid percent boiling point of the fraction, while the naphthene, and aromatic increase with the increase of mid percent boiling point of mixed Kirkuk and Sharki-Baghdad crude oils. Three groups of empirical equations were developed for the prediction

The present study investigated the impact of fuel kind on the emitted emissions at the idling period. Three types of available fuels in Iraq were tested. The tests conducted on ordinary gasoline with an octane number of 82, premium gasoline with an octane number of 92, and M20 (consist of 20% methanol and 80% regular gasoline). The 2 liters Mercedes-Benz engine was used in the experiments.

The results showed that engine operation at idle speed emits high levels of CO, CO₂, HC, NOx and noise. The produced emission levels depend highly on fuel type. The premium gasoline (ON=92) represents the lower emissions level except for noise at all idling speed. Adding methanol to ordinary gasoline (ON=82) showed high levels of emi

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

    Praise be to God, who has revealed the book, in which there are clear verses, insight and remembrance for the first people, and he promised those who learned it and did it with great rewards, and prayers and peace be upon those who pronounced the right and separated the speech, and on his family and companions the best of family and companions, and who followed them and guided them to the day of Moab .... ..
     And yet: If we ponder a brief period and look at our course at a glance, we will find that those who lead us are the prophets, and those who guide us are the guardians, and those who protect us are the martyrs, an

Active learning is a teaching method that involves students actively participating in activities, exercises, and projects within a rich and diverse educational environment. The teacher plays a role in encouraging students to take responsibility for their own education under their scientific and pedagogical supervision and motivates them to achieve ambitious educational goals that focus on developing an integrated personality for today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders. It is important to understand the impact of two proposed strategies based on active learning on the academic performance of first-class intermediate students in computer subjects and their social intelligence. The research sample was intentionally selected, consis

         In this study miconazole nitrate was formulated as topically applied emulgel; different formulas were prepared using sodium carboxymethylcellulose (SCMC) and carboxypolymethylene (carbomer 941) as gelling agents. The influence of type of gelling agent and concentration of both oil phase and emulsifying agent on drug release was studied and compared with commercially available miconazole nitrate cream (Mecozalen^®). The results of in vitro release showed that SCMC emulgel bases gave better release than carbomer 941 bases and the release of drug increase from both bases as a function of increasing the concentration of emulisifying agent. The oil phase had retardation effect when

     The diseases presence in various species of fruits are the crucial parameter of economic composition and degradation of the cultivation industry around the world. The proposed pear fruit disease identification neural network (PFDINN) frame-work to identify three types of pear diseases was presented in this work. The major phases of the presented frame-work were as the following: (1) the infected area in the pear fruit was detected by using the algorithm of K-means clustering. (2) hybrid statistical features were computed over the segmented pear image and combined to form one descriptor. (3) Feed forward neural network (FFNN), which depends on three learning algorithms of back propagation (BP) training, namely Sca

The present study is considered a pioneer investigation that deal with the terrestrial brown garden snail Cornu aspersum (Müller), in Iraq. Cornu aspersum however is considered an exotic species in many parts of the world ,The species is most probably infiltrates with plants transferred from one place to another. The species has gained importance in many ways. Nutritionally, the species is consumed as food item in many countries, but in other cases it is considered as pest for the damage it causes when feeding on valuable plant shoots. It also has medical importance for its role and ability in healing wounds, burns and remedy of other skin problems. This snail species however may act as a vector for some parasitic nematodes that