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 determ

Background: Acute appendicitis is a common surgical
problem that is associated with an acute-phase reaction.
Previous studies have shown that cytokines and acutephase proteins are activated and may serve as indicators for
appendicitis.
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate of serum
levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in correlation to the severity
to acute appendicitis.
Methods: This is a prospective study from December 2008
to March 2009 of patients who had appendectomy in
Department of Surgery, Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital -
Baghdad/Iraq. Serum for estimating levels of interleukin-6
(IL-6) was taken pre-operatively. Depending on the
macroscopic evidence during the operation and the
histopathol

In this research, titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) were prepared through the sol-gel process at an acidic medium (pH3).TiO₂ nanoparticles were prepared from titanium trichloride (TiCl₃) as a precursor with Ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH) with 1:3 ratio at 50 °C. The resulting gel was dried at 70 °C to obtain the Nanocrystalline powder. The powder from the drying process was treated thermally at temperatures 500 °C and 700 °C. The crystalline structure, surface morphology, and particle size were studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The results showed (anatase) phase of titanium dioxide with the average grain size

Considering the expanding frequency of breast cancer and high incidence of vitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] insufficiently, this investigate pointed to explain a relation between serum [25(OH)D3] (the sunshine vitamin) level and breast cancer hazard. The current study aimed to see how serum levels of each [25(OH)D3], HbA1c%, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) were affected a woman’s risk of getting breast cancer. In 40 healthy volunteers and 69 untreated breast cancer patients with clinical and histological evidence which include outpatients and hospitalized admissions patients at the Oncology Center, Medical City / Baghdad - Iraq. Venous blood samp

Background: Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of using a hot material in the root canal and its potential for causing damage to the tooth supporting structure. Materials and methods: thirty permanent premolars were obturated with thermoplasticized Gutta-Percha using three different obturation techniques: soft core, Thermafil, and obtura to evaluate the rise in temperature on the root surface using a multipurpose digital thermometer. Results: temperature increases was significantly greater for Obtura versus Soft core (p<0.003), not significant for Thermafil versus Soft core (p<0.087), and Thermafil versus Obtura (p<0.125). Conclusions: temperatures rise on the root surface were below the critical level and, therefore, s

The melting duration in the photovoltaic/phase-change material (PV/PCM) system is a crucial parameter for thermal energy management such that its improvement can realize better energy management in respect to thermal storage capabilities, thermal conditions, and the lifespan of PV modules. An innovative and efficient technique for improving the melting duration is the inclusion of an exterior metal foam layer in the PV/PCM system. For detailed investigations of utilizing different metal foam configurations in terms of their convective heat transfer coefficients, the present paper proposes a newly developed mathematical model for the PV/PCM–metal foam assembly that can readily be implemented with a wide range of operating condition

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, immune mediated disease of the central nervous system, mostly affecting young adults with mean age of 30 years, twice as high in women compared to men. The etiology of MS is not fully elucidated. MS symptoms are directly related to demyelination and axonal loss, along with other psychological symptoms, can result in functional limitations, disability and reduced quality of life (QoL).  The QoL assessments in patients with a chronic disease may contribute to improving treatment and could even be of prognostic value. The goals  of this study were  to  compare the QoL of  Iraqi patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS),using three different diseas

Enhancement of heat transfer in the tube heat exchanger is studied experimentally by using discrete twisted tapes. Three different positions were selected for inserting turbulators along tube section (horizontal position by α= 0⁰, inclined position by α= 45 ⁰ and vertical position by α= 90⁰). The space between turbulators was fixed by distributing 5 pieces of these turbulators with pitch ratio    PR = (0.44). Also, the factor of constant heat flux was applied as a boundary condition around the tube test section for all experiments of this investigation, while the flow rates were selected as a variable factor (Reynolds number values vary from 5000 to 15000). The results s