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 influence of fear on the dynamics of harvested prey-predator model with intra-specific competition is suggested and studied, where the fear effect from the predation causes decreases of growth rate of prey. We suppose that the predator attacks the prey under the Holling type IV functional response. he existence of the solution is investigated and the bounded-ness of the solution is studied too. In addition, the dynamical behavior of the system is established locally and globally. Furthermore, the persistence conditions are investigated. Finally, numerical analysis of the system is carried out.
This experiment was carried out in one of the fields (A) affiliated to the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences / University of Baghdad, for the spring season 2021, On hybrid tomato plants (Mayai Mayai) to test flower viability, using two factors, the first was three levels of irrigation interval (2, 4, 6) days, and the second factor three concentrations of compound Nano fertilizer with concentrations (0, 1.5, 2.5) gm liter-1, so that the number of treatments is 9 treatments and three replications, the number of experimental units is 27 experimental units distributed randomly according to the random drawing method to ensure reducing experimental error and obtaining the most accurate results. A factorial experiment 3 x 3 x 3 was carr
... Show MoreIn this study, geopolymer mortar was designed in various experimental combinations employing 1% micro steel fibers and was subjected to different temperatures, according to the prior works of other researchers. The geopolymer mortar was developed using a variety of sustainable material proportions (fly ash and slag) to examine the influence of fibers on its strength. The fly ash weight percentage was 50%, 60%, and 70% by slag weight to study its effect on the geopolymer mortar's properties. The optimal ratio produced the most significant results when mixed at a 50:50 ratio of fly ash and slag with 1% micro steel fibers at curing temperature 240oC for 4 hours through two days. The compressive strength of the geopolymer mortar increas
... Show MoreResearch includes evaluation of projects implemented and which entered into trial operation period in accordance with the evaluation criteria and of (cost, quality and time) to determine the size deviations gap for the sample of projects during the years of assessment (2011-2012-2013-2014) of each of the three evaluation criteria, and then followed by a calculation the size of the overall gap to the problem based on the research problem to determine deviations from the specific implementation of each project by answering several questions to answer turns out the reasons for these deviations occur.
The importance of research Focus on the evaluation of received projects from contractors executing the projec
... Show MoreSynthesis of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (A1) is performed from the reaction of o-aminothiophenol and carbon disulfide CS2 in ethanol under basic condition. Compound (A1) is reacted with chloro acetyl chloride to give compound (A2). Hydrazide acid compound (A3) is obtained from the reaction of compound (A2) with hydrazine hydrate in ethanol under reflux in the presence of glacial acetic acid .The reaction of hydrazide acid compound (A3) with ethyl acetoacetate gives pyrazole compound (A4). The new hydrazone compound (A5) was prepared from the reaction of compound (A3) with benzaldehyde. Reaction of compound
... Show MoreIn this work, p-n junctions were fabricated from highly-pure nanostructured NiO and TiO2 thin films deposited on glass substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The structural characterization showed that the prepared multilayer NiO/TiO2 thin film structures were highly pure as no traces for other compounds than NiO and TiO2 were observed. It was found that the absorption of NiO-on-TiO2 structure is higher than that of the TiO2-on-NiO. Also, the NiO/TiO2 heterojunctions exhibit typical electrical characteristics, higher ideality factor and better spectral responsivity when compared to those fabricated from the same materials by the same technique and with larger particle size and lower structural purity.
Metal complexes of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Hg(II), Pd(II), and Pt(II) with Schiff base ligand (LH) derived from 2,5-dichloroaniline and 2-hydroxy-5-metheylbenzalaldehyde were synthesized and characterized using a variety of spectrophotometric techniques The findings of the spectroscopic analysis indicated that (LH) behaved as a binary coordinating agent to the metal ion by the N and O atoms, and the geometry shape of the complexes was octahedral, with the exception of the Pd and Pt complexes, which had a square planar geometry. Using the DPPH radical scavenging method, we investigated the antimicrobial activity of the compound against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, as well as the antifungal activity of t
... Show MoreThe mixed ligand complexes of Schiff base ligand (Z)-2-(((4-bromo-2-methylphenyl) imino) methyl)-4-methylphenol (L) with some metals ion (II); Mn(1), Co(2), Ni(3), Cu(4), Zn(5) Cd(6) and Hg(7) and 1,10-Phenanthroline (phen) were Synthesis and characterized by the mass and 1HNMR spectrometry (ligand Schiff base), the FTIR, UV-visible and the flame atomic absorption (A.A) spectrum, the C.H.N analysis and the chlorine content, in addition to measuring the magnetic sensitivity of the complexes. All the complexes had octahedral geometry. The bioactivity activity for compounds against; Rhizopodium, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, the compounds showed different efficacy towards these microorganisms