The mean age of AS patients was (35.0 ± 9.8) years.When the patients and control subjects were divided into different age groups (>40, 30-40, <30 years), the differences were not significantin terms of disease prevalence. The results also showed that the percentage of male patients is higher than that of females. There was no significant difference (P?0.05) between patients and controls in the distribution of males and females.Most of the patients had the disease for a period of 5 years or higher, with a disease severity of ? 2.1 and functional disability degree of I, II. The resultsshoweddifferent patterns of distribution for the three tested cytokines. A significant increase in the level of TNF-?, anon-significantincrease in the level of CXCL-8, and a significant decrease in the level of IL-10 were observed in the sera of patients with AS compared with the control.The patients also demonstrated significant decreases in the serum ALT and AST enzyme levels, hemoglobin (Hb) level, white blood cells (WBC) count, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (P?0.05).The percentage of HLA-B27-positive Iraqi patients was lower than that of the HLA-B27-negative patients. Some of these patterns were also exposed to changes related to some determinants in patients, which included age, sex, disease duration, disease severity, functional disability, and HLA-B27 positivity,along with association with clinical subtypes of AS.The area under the curve was determined for the parameters of ESR, IL-10, TNF-? and CXCL-8.The most significant factor was found to beESR, followed by IL-10, and then TNF-?, with the presence of significant differences, while there was no diagnostic significance for CXCL-8 ,which showed no significant difference (p?0.05).
Background: This study comprises0two parts, the first one dealt with epidemiology, etiology and clinical picture of"brain abscess. This part describes diagnostic investigations,
management and final outcome of brain abscess during a 10 years period.
Methods: The case records of patients with brain abscess admitted to the neurosurgical specialties hospital in Baghdad over a 10 years period extending from 1 " Jan. 1993 to 3 1 " Dec.
2002, inclusive were reviewed. Data obtained included demographic and clinical data.
Results: Results of peripheral leukocytes count, ESR and CSF were supportive in 16.7%, 67.9% 78` o ol'cases in which tests were applied, respectively. CT scan was suggestive in 100%
of cases.
Background: This study comprises two parts. "['his part deals with epidemiology, aetiology and clinical features of brain abscess during a 10 years period, while the second will deal
with diagnostic investigation, management and final outcome of brain abscess
Methods: The case records of patients with brain abscess admitted to the neurosurgical specialties hospital in Baghdad over a 10 years period extending from 1" Jan. 1993 to 31S`
Dec. 2002, inclusive were reviewed. Data obtained included demographic and clinical data.
Results: A total of 78 cases (1.2% of total admission) of brain abscess were admitted. Their age ranged from one month to 68 years. The most common' aetiological (actor was cyanotic
heart d
The 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 MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder affecting people worldwide, which require constant monitoring of their glucose levels. Commonly employed procedures include collection of blood or urine samples causing discomfort to the patients. Necessity arises to find alternative non invasive technique is required to monitor glucose levels. Saliva is one of most abundant secretions in the human body and its collection is easy, noninvasive and painless technique. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of saliva as a diagnostic tool by study the correlation between blood and salivary glucose levels and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c%) in diabetes and non diabetes, and the comparison of salivary glucose level
... Show MoreChitinase-3-like 1 protein (YKL-40) is a glycoprotein primarily produced in the arthritic joint and plays a crucial role in inflammatory processes. The aim of the study is to establish the role of YKL-40 as a biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to proinflammatory biomarkers and disease activity. The study included 58 patients and 18 control. Diseases activity score (DAS-28) and clinical disease activity index (CDAI) were measured. Serum level of YKL-40, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1B (IL-1β), erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF), C-reactive protein (CRP), and anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) were assessed. The results showed that the median serum YKL-40 level which was 5.42
... Show MoreHalf of the oil production of the worldwide is a result of the water flooding project. But the main concern of this process is mobility control of the injected fluid, because the unfavorable mobility ratio leads to fingering effect. Adding polymer to the injection water increase the water viscosity, therefore, the displacement will be more stable and have a greater sweep efficiency.
Using of polymer flooding has received more attention these days. Polymer has great potential in the Middle East region, especially in reservoir with high temperature and salinity.
The main objective of this work is to show the effect of shear rate, salinity, temperature, polymer concentration on polymer v
... Show MoreRice is a major staple food for more than two thirds of the world population. Pathogenesis-related proteins-10 (PR10) have a range of 154 to 163 amino acid with molecular weight ~ 17 kDa. They are acidic and generally intracellular and cytosolic proteins accumulate in plants in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. In the present study, a PR10 gene and its corresponding protein were characterized in O. sativa, O. barthii, O. glaberrima, O. glumipatula, O. meridionalis, O. nivara, O. rufipogon and O. punctata. The results revealed a narrow range of variation at both DNA and protein levels in all examined species except O. glumipatula. The latter showed a relatively
... Show MoreIn this study, light elements Li ,10B for (a,n) and (n,a) reactions
as well as o-particle energy from threshold energy to 10 MeV are
used according to the available data of reaction cross sections. The
more recent cross sections data of (a,n) and (n,a) reactions are
reproduced in fine steps 42 Kev for 10B(n,o) Li in the specified
energy range, as well as cross section (o,n) Values were derived from
the published data of (n,a) as a function of a-energy in the same fine
energy steps by using the principle inverse reactions. This calculation
involves only the ground state of Li OB in the reactions 'Li(a,n) B
B (n,a) Li
Introduction
When two charged nuclei overcome their Coulomb repulsion, a
rearrangement