Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the association between polymorphisms in the promoter region of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene at locations -308G/A, -857C/T, and -863C/A with the tendency of being non-responder to etanercept.

Patients and methods: Between October 2020 and August 2021, a total of 80 patients (10 males, 70 females; mean age: 50 years; range, 30 to 72 years) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving etanercept for at least six months were included. The patients were divided into two groups responders and non-responders, based on their response after six months of continuous treatment. Following polymerase chain reac

Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov2) which utilizes angiotensin converting enzyme2 (ACE2) to invade the host cells. This membrane-bound peptidase is widely distributed in the body; its activity antagonizes the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). Once SARS-Cov2 enters the cell, it causes downregulation of ACE2, resulting in the unopposed activation of RAAS. The unregulated activity of the RAAS system can deteriorate the prognosis in COVID-19 patients. A soluble form of ACE2 (sACE2) was reported to have a role in the SARS-Cov2 invasion of the susceptible cells.

Aim of the study: This study aims to inve

A simple low-cost approach at various exposure times was utilized to generate cold plasma in the aim to fabricate AuNPs. UV-Visible spectra and X-ray diffraction were used to characterize the nanoparticles (XRD). Surface Plasmon resonance was observed in the synthesized AuNPs at 530, 540, and 533 nm. For all samples, the patterns of XRD show very intensive peaks implying the fcc crystalline structure of AuNPs. The average crystallite size of AuNPs is ranging between 20-30 nm. The observation of morphology by FESEM revealed the spherical formation of AuNPs. Doses of 100 and 200 ppm of AuNPs were adapted to investigate their effect on the blood-mixture with and without a 20-second of cold plasma exposure. The WBC components in the blood

Purpose: In view of the trend toward using international financial reporting standards when generating financial statements, we looked at the interaction between audit services and non-audit services for auditors in the context of actuarial services for insurance firms. CPAs are authorized to work in banks and insurance businesses, but those with a practicing license obtained after earning a higher academic degree are not. Design/methodology/approach: A small number of auditing firms control the decisions issued by the Iraqi Accountants Association, monopolizing audit services in banks and insurance businesses. In the case of actuarial services used in reserve estimation, they are credited to an external party's account withou

Water one of the most important sources Which is no doubt essential for life surviving, water is vital in many sectors of life e.g. ( agriculture, industrial, power and so many things can’t be restricted on the mentioned items, water has become major problem facing the world today. Competition over water resources between nations has made it as a vital commodity and a justification for waging wars against its neighbor’s countries, there are currently 263 rivers that either cross or demarcate international political boundaries. Geographically, Europe has the largest number of international basins (69), followed by Africa (59), Asia (57), North America (40), and South America (38).The absolute numbers of international basins, as well as t

Background: lip lengthening procedure is one of the surgical options for the correction of gummy smile in patients with short upper lip. Methods: A comparative clinical study was conducted on 15 patients requiring lip lengthening procedure for the esthetic correction of excessive gingival exposure with gummy smile. Scalpel was used in seven patients and diode laser in the remaining eight patients. Under infiltration anesthesia, about one cm strip of mucosa was excised at the vestibular depth and the mucosa of the lip was sutured to the alveolar mucosa. Results: The diode laser group demonstrated less postoperative pain and swelling. Regarding postoperative ecchymosis, three patients in the scalpel group developed ecchymosis and no cases

This research discussed, the process of comparison between the regression model of partial least squares and tree regression, where these models included two types of statistical methods represented by the first type "parameter statistics" of the partial least squares, which is adopted when the number of variables is greater than the number of observations and also when the number of observations larger than the number of variables, the second type is the "nonparametric statistic" represented by tree regression, which is the division of data in a hierarchical way. The regression models for the two models were estimated, and then the comparison between them, where the comparison between these methods was according to a Mean Square