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.
In this paper a stirred-bed performed of the copper catalyzed synthesis of ethylchlorosilanes from silicon and ethyl chloride was described. A Si-catalyst mixture prepared by reaction of CuCl and Si was employed. The compositions of products were mainly ethyltrichlorosilane, diethyldichlorosilane, and ethyldichlorosilane and mainly depended on the extent of Cu in the mixture and the reaction temperature. A promoting effect on the extent of adsorption was observed on the addition of certain additives. The kinetic data revealed the direct depended of the reaction rate on C2H5Cl pressure.
Risk identification and assessment can be analysed using many risk management tools. Fishbone diagram is one of these techniques which can be employed, for the identification of the causes behind the construction failure, which has become a phenomenon that often gets repeated in several projects. If these failures are not understood and handled scientifically, it may lead to disputes between the project parties. Additionally, the construction failure also leads to an increase in the project budget, which in turn causes a delay in the completion of the projects. Punching shear in reinforcement slab may be one of the reasons for construction failures. However, there are many doubts about other causes that lead to this failure as w
... Show MoreThis study suggests using the recycled plastic waste to prepare the polymer matrix composite (PMCs) to use in different applications. Composite materials were prepared by mixing the polyester resin (UP) with plastic waste, two types of plastic waste were used in this work included polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with varies weight fractions (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 %) added as a filler in flakes form. Charpy impact test was performed on the prepared samples to calculate the values of impact strength (I.S). Flexural and hardness tests were carried out to calculate the values of flexural strength and hardness. Acoustic insulation and optical microscope tests were carried out. In general, it is found that UP/PV
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to evaluate the rate of contamination in soils by using accurate numerical method as a suitable tool to evaluate the concentration of heavy metals in soil. In particular, 2D –interpolation methods are applied in the models of the spread the metals in different direction.The paper illustrates the importance of the numerical method in different applications, especially nvironment contamination. Basically, there are many roles for approximating functions. Thus, the approximating of function namely the analytical expression may be expressed; the most common type being is polynomials, which are the easy implemented and simplest methods of approximation. In this paper the divided difference formula is used and extended
... Show MoreIn this research, the region in the south-west of Iraq is classified using a fuzzy inference system to estimate its desertification degree. Three land cover indices are used which are the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Normalized Multi-Band Drought Index and the top of atmosphere surface temperature to build a fuzzy decision about the desertification degree using eight decision roles. The study covers a temporal period of 38 years, where about every 10 years a sample is elected to verify the desertification status of the region, starting from 1990 to 2018. The results show that the desertification status varied every 10 years, wherein 2000 encountered the highest desertification in the south-west of Iraq.
In the present study twenty samples of human urine were taken
from healthy male and female with different of: ages, occupation and
place of residence. These samples were collected from the hospital to
measure the concentration of radon gas in human urine by using one
of solid state nuclear track detectors LR-115.
The results obtained of the concentrations of radon in healthy human
urine are varying from 2.12×10-3 Bq.l-1 to 4.42×10-3 Bq.l-1 and
these values are less than the allowed limits 12.3×10-3 Bq.l-1.