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.
Identification of pathogens and locating their inocul¬um source (S) are the first strategies toward successful disease management program the pretransplating seedl¬ing damping - off problem on vegetable crops was found to be caused by Pythium aphanidermatum and Rhizocto¬nia solani. Both fungi were isolated from peat (moss) for the first time in Iraq. In addition, considerable num¬ber of pathogenic fungi was found as contaminants in soil samples from Alrashidiah vegetable covered farming station. Among the isolated fungi were: Pythium apha¬nidermatum, Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani phialophora spp., Cephalisporium spp Rizopus stolonfier and Botrytis cine¬rea, in addition to several
... Show MoreSuccinic acid is an essential base ingredient for manufacturing various industrial chemicals. Succinic acid has been acknowledged as one of the most significant bio based building block chemicals. Rapid demand for succinic acid has been noticed in the last 10 years. The production methods and mechanisms developed. Hence, these techniques and operations need to be revised. Recently, an omnibus rule for developing succinic acid is to find renewable carbohydrate Feedstocks. The sustainability of the resource is crucial to disintegrate the massive use of petroleum based-production. Accordingly, systematically reviewing the latest findings of bacterial production and related fermentation methods is critical. Therefore, this paper aims to stud
... Show MoreThe current study aimed to adopt a method for inducing callus cells and regenerating the important common red bean using different types of growth regulators such as N6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), and Thidiazuron (TDZ). Different types of common bean pinto cultivar explants, such as internodes, cotyledons and roots, were inoculated on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) provided with different combinations of plant growth regulators, including 1- BAP (5 mg/l) 2-BAP (4.5 mg/l) NAA (0.5 mg/l), 3- BAP (4.5 mg/l), and TDZ (0.1mg/l). Callus was initiated on MS culture medium supplied with 5 mg/l BAP for all explants (internodes, cotyledons, and roots) at 50, 20, and 10% respectively, while adding NAA with 0.5mg/l showed
... Show MoreThe oncolytic viruses are promising form of cancer therapy which is based on the selectively killing of the cancer cells. This study was aimed to investigate the role of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) Iraqi strain AD2141 in apoptosis. Firstly, the virulence of AD2141 was detected in embryonated chicken eggs after 48hrs of infection. It was observed a hemorrhage in the skin of infected embryos that led to death. Then, the ability of this strain for regression cancer cell lines was examined. By using cytotoxicity test, it was found 128 HAU/ml of AD2141 had a potent inhibition against growth of RD and AMN3 after 72hrs of exposure time; the inhibition rate was 86.8% and 86.98% respectively. Moreover, the apoptotic activity of AD2141 was exami
... Show MoreIn this study, silver-tungsten oxide core–shell nanoparticles (Ag–WO3 NPs) were synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in liquid employing a (1.06 µm) Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, at different Ag colloidal concentration environment (different core concentration). The produced Ag–WO3 core–shell NPs were subjected to characterization using UV–visible spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy, electrical analysis, and photoluminescence PL. The UV–visible spectra exhibited distinct absorption peaks at around 200 and 405 nm, which attributed to the occurrence of surface Plasmon reson
Gas and downhole water sink-assisted gravity drainage (GDWS-AGD) is a new process of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in oil reservoirs underlain by large bottom aquifers. The process is capital intensive as it requires the construction of dual-completed wells for oil production and water drainage and additional multiple vertical gas-injection wells. The costs could be substantially reduced by eliminating the gas-injection wells and using triple-completed multi-functional wells. These wells are dubbed triple-completion-GDWS-AGD (TC-GDWS-AGD). In this work, we design and optimize the TC-GDWS-AGD oil recovery process in a fictitious oil reservoir (Punq-S3) that emulates a real North Sea oil field. The design aims at maximum oil recovery us
... Show MoreThe current research aimed to identify the tasks performed by the internal auditors when developing a business continuity plan to face the COVID-19 crisis. It also aims to identify the recovery and resuming plan to the business environment. The research followed the descriptive survey to find out the views of 34 internal auditors at various functional levels in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Spreadsheets (Excel) were used to analyze the data collected by a questionnaire which composed of 43 statements, covering the tasks that the internal auditors can perform to face the COVID-19 crisis. Results revealed that the tasks performed by the internal auditors when developing a business continuity plan to face the COVID-19 crisis is to en
... Show MoreThe gas material balance equation (MBE) has been widely used as a practical as well as a simple tool to estimate gas initially in place (GIIP), and the ultimate recovery (UR) factor of a gas reservoir. The classical form of the gas material balance equation is developed by considering the reservoir as a simple tank model, in which the relationship between the pressure/gas compressibility factor (p/z) and cumulative gas production (Gp) is generally appeared to be linear. This linear plot is usually extrapolated to estimate GIIP at zero pressure, and UR factor for a given abandonment pressure. While this assumption is reasonable to some extent for conventional reservoirs, this may incur
Anemia in pregnancy can considerably elevate the maternal mortality risk and can negatively distress the development of fetus.
To assess the association between neonatal outcomes and maternal anemia (MA) among pregnant women (PW).
The present work is a clinical prospective one performed at Al-Elwiya Maternity
A widespread variety of toxicants modify miRNAs profiles in target tissues. Five rat treatment groups were selected for this study, each consisting of five animals and an additional one left untreated used as a control. Administration of the carcinogen 4-Nitroquinoline (4-NQO) lasted for 5 months with four weeks intervals separating the successive groups. When the carcinogen intake period ended, the animals were euthanized and renal tissue was collected for both histopathological and molecular investigations. The results showed no significant difference (p=0.65) between the animal groups that showed kidney tissue toxicity and those that did not. Conversely, a statistically significant difference emerged if the m
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