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.
Evidences indicate that human beings were preoccupied with extreme forms of mental and psychic experiences long before they were recorded in literature. Greek myths and legends appear to include symbolizations of delusions, mania, and other bizarre forms of thought and behaviuor. The figure of the mad man or woman is analogous to the wild man, or the imaginary being who appears in various forms throughout western literature and art. Various studies refer to the notion of the wild man as a response to a persistent psychological urge. This urge gives an external expression and a valid form to the impulses of reckless physical self-assertion which is believed to be hidden in all of us, but is normally kept under control. Such impulses were exp
... Show MoreThis study focusses on the effect of using ICA transform on the classification accuracy of satellite images using the maximum likelihood classifier. The study area represents an agricultural area north of the capital Baghdad - Iraq, as it was captured by the Landsat 8 satellite on 12 January 2021, where the bands of the OLI sensor were used. A field visit was made to a variety of classes that represent the landcover of the study area and the geographical location of these classes was recorded. Gaussian, Kurtosis, and LogCosh kernels were used to perform the ICA transform of the OLI Landsat 8 image. Different training sets were made for each of the ICA and Landsat 8 images separately that used in the classification phase, and used to calcula
... Show MoreBackground: 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
... Show MoreThe levels of circulating angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors, namely vascular endothelial growth factor–A (VEGF-A) and soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (sVEGFR-1), have been linked to the development of renal dysfunction due to the proliferation of microvasculature within the kidneys of type 2 diabetic (T2DM) patients. The study aims to scrutinize serum levels of VEGF and sVEGFR-1 in a sample of Iraqi diabetic nephropathy patients to support their reliability as markers for the prediction of nephropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients as well as to assess the ACE inhibitor’s effect on the levels of these two markers. Method: The ninety participants of this case-control study were split into three gr
... Show MoreBreastfeeding (BF) serves as a complete nutritional source for the first six months of infant’s life. Breast milk contains all essential nutrients that necessary for the physiological growth and development of infants. The aim of this study was to compare the physiological growth of infants including weight, height and head circumference who were exclusively breastfed for 6 months and those who were given bottle-fed or mixed fed and to find a percentage of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers who contributed in this study in Sulaimani city. This study was carried out in Sulaimani city/ Kurdistan region of Iraq and the cases were enrolled between the first of October 2018 and first of October 2019. The infants’ weight, height and hea
... Show MoreThe products of composites material are very sesetive to many variables, such as manufacturing process, additive materials, …. etc. Filler or additive plays a major role to determine the formation of the properties and behavior of the composites. In this study, polyethylene terephthalate-based compounds were produced and characterized. The work is concerned to prepare samples of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - zinc-ferrite (ZnFe2O4) with different addition ratio as zinc-ferrite (1, 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20) wt% obtained from mixing the solution with a hot pressing method applied under optimum conditions. The densities of the composites for all samples were calculated. Through the work the diffusion of zinc-ferrite i
... Show MoreThis study was aimed to reduce the amount of the sprayed solution lost during trees spraying. At the same time, the concentration of the sprayed solution on the target (tree or bush) must be ensured and to find the best combination of treatments. Two factors controls the spraying process: (i) spraying speed (1.2 km/h, 2.4 km/h, 3.6 km/h), and (ii) the type of sensor. The test results showed a significant loss reduction percentage. It reached (6.05%, 5.39% and 2.05%) at the speed (1.2 km/h, 2.4 km/h, 3.6 km/h), respectively. It was noticed that when the speed becomes higher the loss becomes less accordingly. The interaction between the 3.6 km/h speed and the type of Ultrasonic sensor led to a decrease in the percentage of the spray
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