Background: 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-19 Control Centers in Baghdad, compared to 25 healthy subjects, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from January 2021 to April 2022. Results: Serum levels of Periostin among studied groups with (mild - moderate, severe - critical, post-COVID, and controls) were (17.3, 664, 597, and 48) ng/dl respectively. The serum concentration of Periostin was highly significant in (severe- critical and post-COVID) than in other groups. Conclusions: The elevated level of serum Periostin in COVID-19 patients correlated with disease severity and post-COVID lung complications. The high Periostin level is consistent with high inflammatory markers, which might be used as an indicator of COVID-19 severity and predict a bad prognosis.
The current study was designed to investigate the effect of Tilletia smut spores on histopathological changes in liver and kidney in mice. Twenty animals were divided into two equal groups, 10 mice each, control group fed on normal diet and the treated groups were fed on a mixture of 50% normal diet with 50% wheat infected with Tilletia for 30 days. Histopathological sections taken from liver and kidney treated with Tilletia revealed several alterations. The changes in liver included, multiple granulomatous lesions, area of coagulation necrosis, vacuolar degeneration in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes, proliferation of hepatocytes with formation of pseudolobull which initiates for procancer. Whereas in the kidney, the changes included
... Show MoreBackground: Breast cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease globally. Trace elements such as copper and zinc have a role in many biochemical reactions as micro source, their metabolism is profoundly altered in neoplastic diseases especially breast cancer which is ranked as the first of female cancersObjective: The aim of the present study is to study the impact of body mass index and some trace elements in Iraqi women with breast cancer.Patients and methods: The group of the study consisted of 25 breast cancer patients; their age range was (25–65) years recruited from the Al-Kadhimia Teaching Hospital and 25 apparently healthy women age matched, over a period of 6 months from January 2015 until June 2015. After the diagnosis was m
... Show MoreBackground: Preterm labor and related prematurity are predisposing factors that increase perinatal morbidity and mortality. Acute phase reactants are inflammatory markers which are positive and negative reactants explained by the reaction of reactants to the subclinical infection that are commonly associated with preterm labor. Objectives: To assess the role of acute phase reactants in pregnant women with preterm delivery. Patients and method: A case control study conducted in Gynecological Department of Baghdad Teaching Hospital from 1st February 2021 to 30th October 2021, on one hundred pregnant women with gestational age (28weeks - 36weeks+6days) who attended outpatient clinic; fifty pregnant women with established preterm labor
... Show MoreHypothyroidism has been associated with disorders of glucose and insulin metabolism..The present study was designed to evaluate the possible change in some hormones (free testosterone, estradiol, prolactin, insulin), glucose and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in women with primary hypothyroidism under thyroid hormone replacement therapy .This cross-sectional study was carried on 62 hypothyroid patients׳ women and 22 healthy women as control group at the specialized center for endocrinology and diabetes, AL-Rasafa Directorate of Health Baghdad, with age range(15-60 years), diagnosed as having primary hypothyroidism on thyroxine replacement therapy with duration not less than four months.
... Show MoreThe High Power Amplifiers (HPAs), which are used in wireless communication, are distinctly characterized by nonlinear properties. The linearity of the HPA can be accomplished by retreating an HPA to put it in a linear region on account of power performance loss. Meanwhile the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex signal is very rough. Therefore, it will be required a large undo to the linear action area that leads to a vital loss in power efficiency. Thereby, back-off is not a positive solution. A Simplicial Canonical Piecewise-Linear (SCPWL) model based digital predistorters are widely employed to compensating the nonlinear distortion that introduced by a HPA component in OFDM technology. In this paper, the genetic al
... Show MoreSea level rise (SLR) due to climate change is affecting the coastline, causing shoreline changes, the degradation of mangrove forests, and the destruction of coastal resources. This is the cause of a huge amount of mangrove degradation in many parts of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna delta. A total of 90% of people have been forced to migrate from the island due to extreme weather conditions. In this study, remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques were used for LULC change and shoreline shift analyses of Ghoramara Island. LULC classification was carried out using thirty years of Landsat datasets with intervals of ten years (1990 and 2000) and intervals of five years (2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020). The classific
... Show MoreThe aim of this research to show the role of some enzymes in pathological mechanism of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease. Sixty patients with RA and matched number of apparently healthy volunteers were included in the study. Spectrophotometric methods were used to determine Peroxy nitrite (ONOO), Nitric oxide (NO), Nitric oxide synthase activity (NOS) cycloxygenase-2 activity (COX-2), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in serum of both groups. Colorimetric assay kits were used to determine Iron. Rheumatoid factor (RF) was determined using Imuno-Latex kit. ONOO, NO levels, and NOS activity were significantly higher in the patients compared to the control group. Conversely, Iron level, SOD
... Show MoreLocal and global bifurcations of food web model consists of immature and mature preys, first predator, and second predator with the current of toxicity and harvesting was studied. It is shown that a trans-critical bifurcation occurs at the equilibrium point
In this paper, the general framework for calculating the stability of equilibria, Hopf bifurcation of a delayed prey-predator system with an SI type of disease in the prey population, is investigated. The impact of the incubation period delay on disease transmission utilizing a nonlinear incidence rate was taken into account. For the purpose of explaining the predation process, a modified Holling type II functional response was used. First, the existence, uniform boundedness, and positivity of the solutions of the considered model system, along with the behavior of equilibria and the existence of Hopf bifurcation, are studied. The critical values of the delay parameter for which stability switches and the nature of the Hopf bifurcat
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