Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune diseasecharacterized by chronic inflammationthat affects joints and cartilage. Bone complications such asRA-relatedosteoporosis are one of the most extra-articular manifestations. Many inflammatory mediators are released during RA disease pathophysiology; these mediators stimulate osteoclast genesis of bone by direct effects on RANKL and OPG. The study aimedto measure RANKL, OPG in RA patients treated with Etanercept only and other groups treated with Methotrexate onlyat baseline and after three months to evaluate bone state. An observational case-control prospective study was done on 30 RA patients who received MTX, 30 RA patients who received ETN, and 30 healthy,age-matched control groups. The level of RANKL and OPG was measured at baseline and after three months of therapy by immunoenzymatically assay (ELISA). The results were tabulated and statistically analyzed usingthe statistical package for social science. The result demonstrated that RANKL level had a positive correlation with age and disease duration in contrast to OPG level showed a negative correlation with age and duration of disease. In the patients group treated with MTX at baseline, the RANKL level was significantly higher (181.336±65.583) than post-therapy (166.097±69.229), while the OPG level at baseline significantly lower (594.398±133.238) than post therapy (614.499±150.879). In ETN treated patients, the level of RANKL in baseline was significantly higher than (231.247±73.134) RANKL level post-therapy (200.363±76.807), while OPG level in baseline waslower (463.263±96.392) than post therapy (503.608±107.692). The study demonstrated in baseline RANKL/OPG ratio significant higher (0.4340±0.234) than post therapy (0.3690±0.222). All RA patients had or were at high risk for osteoporosis.Both Etanarcept and methotrexate produce insignificant differences on OPG and RANKL levels, in the same time this biomarkers are not good indicators for bone state.
In this paper, An application of non-additive measures for re-evaluating the degree of importance of some student failure reasons has been discussed. We apply non-additive fuzzy integral model (Sugeno, Shilkret and Choquet) integrals for some expected factors which effect student examination performance for different students' cases.
A computerized investigation has been carried out to design an immersion lens
with low aberration operating under zero magnification condition using inverse problem.
The aberration is highly dependent on the shape of electrodes, for a preassigned electron
beam trajectory the paraxial-ray-equation is solved to determine the electrostatic potential
and field distribution.
From the knowledge of the potential and its first and second derivative the
electron optical properties were computed, the electrode geometry was determined from
the solution of Laplace equation.
The current work is concerned with preparing cobalt manganese ferrite (Co1-xMnxFe2O4) with different concentrations of cobalt and manganese (x=0.2, 0.4, and 0.6) and decorating it with polyaniline (PAni) for use in supercapacitive applications. The results of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) manifested a broad peak of PAni and a cubic structure of cobalt manganese ferrite having crystal size between 60 nm and 138 nm, which decreases with increasing concentration of Mn. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images evidenced that the PAni has nanofiber (NF) structures, according to the method of preparation, where the hydrothermal method was used. The magnetic properties of the prepared ferrite, as well as the prepared PAni/Co1-x
... Show MoreZiziphora persica Bunge is recorded as a new Study in Iraq. This species has been collected from Jabal Sinjar in Nineveh province in the north western part of Iraq. The morphological characters, habitat and geographical distribution of the species with a key to Ziziphora L. species in Iraq have been provided.
Urban land uses of all kinds are the constituent elements of the urban spatial structure. Because of the influence of economic and social factors, cities in general are characterized by the dynamic state of their elements over time. Urban functions occur in a certain way with different spatial patterns. Hence, urban planners and the relevant urban management teams should understand the future spatial pattern of these changes by resorting to quantitative models in spatial planning. This is to ensure that future predictions are made with a high level of accuracy so that appropriate strategies can be used to address the problems arising from such changes. The Markov chain method is one of the quantitative models used in spatial planning to ana
... Show MoreHealth and environmental factors as well as operational difficulties are major challenges facing the development of an anaerobic digestion process. Some of these problems relate to the use of sludge collected from primary and secondary clarifier units in wastewater treatment plants for laboratory purposes.
The present study addresses the preparation of sludge for laboratory purposes by using a mixture that consists of the digested sludge, which is less pathogenic, compared to the collected sludge from the primary or secondary clarifier, and food wastes. The sludge has been tested experimentally for 19 and 32 days under mesophilic conditions. The results show a steady methane production rate from the anaerobic dig
... Show MoreThis study investigated the feasibility of anaerobic co-digestion of giant reed (GR) inoculated with waste manure as a co-substrate for biogas production. The performance of co-digestion was evaluated in 4 anaerobic digesters operated in batch mode at different conditions. The effects of alkali pretreatment with NaOH (4% w/v) solution, inoculum type, and thermal condition were studied. The results demonstrated that the alkali-pretreatment of GR enhanced the biogas generation by about 15% at mesophilic conditions. Thermophilic conditions enhanced the biogas recovery from both alkali-free and alkali pretreated GR by 15% and 127%, respectively. The kinetic study of the co-digestion process of GR for biogas recovery suggeste
... Show MoreThis study aims to analyze spectra in real-time for λ Draconids, σ Hydrids, μ Virginid, and one sporadic meteor using spectroscopic chemical analysis and diagnose plasma parameters. Good-resolution spectroscopy and a CCD camera for meteor observation were used concurrently to examine the ablation spectra of these meteorites in situ. The Boltzmann and Lorentz methods were then used to determine the temperature and density of electrons, the length of Debye, and the frequency of plasma. Furthermore, spectra data can be analyzed and compared to data from other sources. Spectrum tests can be utilized to identify the chemical structure of meteorites' plasma.
Empirical equation has been presented to predict the optimum hydrodynamic
pressure gradient with optimum mud flow rate (one equation) of five Iraqi oil wells
to obtain the optimum carrying capacity of the drilling fluid ( optimum transport
cuttings from the hole to the surface through the annulus).
This equation is a function of mud flow rate, mud density and penetration
rate without using any charts or graphs.
The correlation coefficient accuracy is more than 0.9999.