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 Quiet American could be considered as one of Graham Greene’s most distinguished books; it is an epochal novel written during the phase of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The novel deals with the interference of the United States in Vietnam ten years before Vietnam’s war. The role the Americans played in arousing an inner political crisis in the country previous to her military invention. The book reflects that this action was not out of American government concern about Vietnamese people themselves but merely a political foreign affair. They wanted to stop communism from spreading widely and reducing its role in the East. This paper attempts to analyse the novel concentrating on the message Greene intend
... Show MoreThe resistance of Staphylococcus aureus to ciprofloxacin has complicated the problem of treating staphylococcal associated infections in which MRSA is the causative agent since ciprofloxacin was the drug of choice to treat such infections. Our study investigated the incidence of Ciprofloxacin resistant S. aureus isolates that were also methicillin resistant among Iraqi patients. The obtained bacterial isolates were tested for Ciprofloxacin resistance using agar dilution method and the sequence of gyrA and parC. The results revealed that about 8% of the isolated MRSA strains were Ciprofloxacin resistant and the resistance was due to mutation in gyrA rather than parC.
Background. Endodontic infections caused by remaining biofilm following disinfection with chemical fluids encourage secondary bacterial infection; hence, employing laser pulses to activate the fluids is advised to improve microbial biofilm clearance. This study investigated the performance of Er,Cr:YSGG laser in photon-induced photoacoustic streaming (PIPS) agitation of 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) to enhance the removal of mature Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) biofilms in complex root canal systems. Methods. The mesial roots of the lower first and second molars were separated and inoculated with E. faecalis bacteria for 30 days. The roots were irrigated with 5.25% NaOCl, some of them were agitated with passive ultrasonic
... Show MoreThe purpose of this study is to illuminate the role of CBCT in forensic dentistry through variations of mandibular measurements of Bonwill’s triangles in gender determination among the Iraqi population.
In this retrospective study 70 CBCT scans were analyzed to measure the Bonwill’s triangle, 35 for males and 35 for females aged between 20 and 50 years, all data were collected at the oral and maxillofacial radiology department in Ghazi AL-Hariri hospital for 3 months, and the data were obtained using a Kavo CBCT device (3D On De
Deception is an inseparable facet of political discourse in attaining strategic political gains though compromising public opinion. However, the employment of discursive deception strategies by the policy-making institutions of think tanks has not received due attention in the literature. The current study aims at exploring how the ideologizing deception strategies are utilized by the conservative American think tank of the Washington Institute to reproduce socio-political realities and re-shape public opinion. To fulfill this task, van Dijk’s (2000) notion of ideological polarization which shows positive self-representation and negative other representation is adopted to conduct a critical discourse analysis of four Arabic texts relea
... Show MoreSovereign wealth funds have attracted the attention of the governments of the oil and non-oil countries alike, with a variation of the size of those funds to those states, based on the size of the financial surpluses resulting from Alriadat oil or foreign reserves, or state revenues for other sovereign assets. Raj use these funds remarkably during the financial crises the world has seen, including the crisis of 2008-2007., And Iraq is a oil-producing countries, which has the third largest reserves of crude oil (Crude Oil) at the level of the Arab world and of 140 300)) million barrels after Saudi Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the fourth reserves of crude oil in the world after issued Venezuela to the reserve
... Show MoreMost pathological effects of lead on the body are due to ability of lead to bind with important cellular molecules of various tissues and organs leading to formation abnormal molecules and thus to emergence of pathological conditions. To evaluation the risk to the health status of Iraqi workers who work in the batteries industry, expression of three types of calmodulin related genes were examined. Blood samples were collected from worker working in Iraqi industry of batteries (located in Al-Waziriya), then RNAs extraction were done thereby gene expression for Calcium/Calmodulin- dependent protein kinase2 (CaMKK2), C-X-C Chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and mitogen activated protein kinase kinase 6 (MAP2K6) was done for each sample by using RT-q
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Abstract
Personality is one of the most important elements that should be developed in university student. Thus, we have to develop the positive traits and neutralize the negative traits of students as well as we have to pay attention to the level of student achievement at the same time, the researcher designed a scale to measure the traits of study sample. The research come out with a number of recommendations and proposals, the most important of which Enhancing the positive characteristics of university students in order to reach them to the level of mature personality with mental health. Enhancing the positive role of the high level of achievement by motivating the stude
... Show MoreAdsorption of lead ions from wastewater by native agricultural waste, precisely tea waste. After the activation and carbonization of tea waste, there was a substantial improvement in surface area and other physical characteristics which include density, bulk density, and porosity. FTIR analysis indicates that the functional groups in tea waste adsorbent are aromatic and carboxylic. It can be concluded that the tea waste could be a good sorbent for the removal of Lead ions from wastewater. Different dosages of the adsorbents were used in the batch studies. A random series of experiments indicated a removal degree efficiency of lead reaching (95 %) at 5 ppm optimum concentration, with adsorbents R2 =97.75% for tea. Three mo
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