Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and secondly, non-diabetic controls (11 male, 9 female) were selected from the patients attending Ibn AL-Haitham hospital for ophthalmology and a specialized center for endocrinology and diabetes. Venous blood samples of all participants were drawn after an overnight fast, and serum samples were stored at -20ºC until DKK-1 assay. Results: Serum DKK-1 showed significantly lower levels in diabetic patients with (6.1 ± 2 ng/mL) or without DR (14 ± 6.2 ng/mL) when compared to those of controls (34 ± 12.25 ng/mL) (p 0.05). Furthermore, serum DKK-1 levels were lower in the late stage of DR compared to the early stage 5.6 ± 1.7 and 7 ± 1.9 ng/mL, respectively. Furthermore, DPP-4 inhibitors cause a better increment in DKK-1 levels when compared to SU in the NDR group. Conclusions: Reduced serum levels of DKK-1 are related to the existence and worsening of DR and have the prospect to serve as an indicator for this condition.
The test considers from important methods and tools when we using the evaluation because it is a basic role in diagnosis & classification & motive & selection &guiding &prediction and the problem was formatted in some questions like ( what is physical variables that tall players needs n the game and effect on the game ? what is the tests that measures these variables also the defense rebound variable and is there a references standard specialized in that ?) , the aims of research represented by knowing to some physical abilities for tall players in basketball school and their tests and putting new tests to measure defense rebound to one player and tow tall players also limiting the standards degrees ( modified un following method ) to resul
... Show MoreSeeds of the two rice genotypes namely Amber 33 (A33) and Amber Baghdad (AB) were divided into two groups; the first was presoaked in different concentrations of ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) as chemical mutagen for different duration times (3, 6 and 12) hrs, and the other was exposed to different exposure times of ultra violate (UV-B) radiation (280-320 nm) as physical mutagen for different times (20, 40 and 60) min at room temperature. Treated and non-treated seeds were transferred into the callus induction medium containing 2.5 mg/L 2,4- dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) and 0.5 mg/L benzyl adenine (BA) under aseptic conditions. Calli were divided into two groups the first was treated with several EMS concentrations (0.0, 0.50. 1.0, 1
... Show MoreBackground: Birth weight is a powerful predictor of infant growth and survival. Evidence now shows that children born with low birth weight face an increased risk of chronic diseases and have many health problems including oral health. The aims of this study were to assess the salivary flow rate, viscosity, and salivary cortisol among low birth weight kindergarten children aged 5 years old in Hilla centre, in relation to dental caries and compares them with the normal birth weight children of the same age and gender. Materials and methods: The total sample involved 80 children (40 low birth weights and 40 normal birth weights) aged 5 years old. The diagnosis and recording of severity of dental caries was recorded through the application of
... Show MoreBackground: Lowering the amount of iodinated contrast material and tube voltage may increase pulmonary artery opacification and thrombus identification without compromising picture quality.
Objectives: To explore the efficiency of using lower tube voltage and a lower contrast medium dose for conducting computed tomography for pulmonary angiography (CTPA) aiming to increase its accuracy in detecting pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE).
Subjects and Methods:100 patients scheduled for CTPA with a preoperative diagnosis of PTE were grouped into two: group A, (50 patients) got 1 mL/kg at 120 kV and group B, (50 patients) received 0.5 mL/kg at 80 kV.The tec
... Show MoreBackground: A Catheter-associated with candidiasis infection is the most common nosocomial infection and the objective of this work is to isolate and identify Candida species from catheterized patients by ordinary culture and PCR.Objective:To study the isolation and identification of Candida species from catheterized patients by culture media and polymerase chain reaction(PCR).Methods: One hundred and thirty five Candida species isolates were obtained from urine culture of catheterized specimens from male and female patients , During the period between October 2011 to April 2012 , attending AL-Ramadi general teaching Hospital. A quantitative urine culture for isolation and identification of Candida species was. The isolation of Candida s
... Show MoreActivation of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) markedly attenuates development of atherosclerosis in animal models. However, the underlying mechanism is not well elucidated. Here, we show that the FXR agonist, obeticholic acid (OCA), increases fecal cholesterol excretion and macrophage reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) dependent on activation of hepatic FXR. OCA does not increase biliary cholesterol secretion, but inhibits intestinal cholesterol absorption. OCA markedly inhibits hepatic cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase (
Accurate prediction and optimization of morphological traits in Roselle are essential for enhancing crop productivity and adaptability to diverse environments. In the present study, a machine learning framework was developed using Random Forest and Multi-layer Perceptron algorithms to model and predict key morphological traits, branch number, growth period, boll number, and seed number per plant, based on genotype and planting date. The dataset was generated from a field experiment involving ten Roselle genotypes and five planting dates. Both RF and MLP exhibited robust predictive capabilities; however, RF (R² = 0.84) demonstrated superior performance compared to MLP (R² = 0.80), underscoring its efficacy in capturing the nonlinear genoty
... Show MoreThe rise of edge-cloud continuum computing is a result of the growing significance of edge computing, which has become a complementary or substitute option for traditional cloud services. The convergence of networking and computers presents a notable challenge due to their distinct historical development. Task scheduling is a major challenge in the context of edge-cloud continuum computing. The selection of the execution location of tasks, is crucial in meeting the quality-of-service (QoS) requirements of applications. An efficient scheduling strategy for distributing workloads among virtual machines in the edge-cloud continuum data center is mandatory to ensure the fulfilment of QoS requirements for both customer and service provider. E
... Show MoreIn this work, the possibility of a multiwavelength mode-locked fiber laser generation based on Four-Wave Mixing (FWM) induced by Fe2O3-SiO2 nanocomposite material is investigated for the first time. A multiwavelength mode-locked pulses fiber laser are generated from Ytterbium–doped fiber laser (YDFL) due to the combined action of high nonlinear absorption and high refractive coefficients of Fe2O3-SiO2 nanocomposite incorporated inside YDFL ring cavity. Up to more than 20 lasing lines in the 1040–1070 nm band with an equally lines separation of ~0.6 nm have been observed by just simple variation of passive modulation of the state of the polarization and the pump power altogether. Moreover, a passively mode-locked operation of YDFL laser
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