Abstract Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a prevalent chronic microvascular diabetic complication. As inflammation plays a vital role in the development and progress of DN the macrophages migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a proinflammatory multifunctional cytokine approved to play a critical function in inflammatory responses in various pathologic situations like DN. This study aimed To assess serum levels of MIF in a sample of Iraqi diabetic patients with nephropathy supporting its validity as a marker for predicting nephropathy in T2DM patients. In addition, to evaluate the nephroprotective effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in terms of their influence on MIF levels. This is a case-control study involving ninety subjects that have been divided into three groups: twenty apparently healthy control group and seventy patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus divided into two equal groups according to the presence of diabetic nephropathy that has been further divided into two groups according to the use of ACE inhibitors or not. Serum MIF, urea, creatinine, RBS, HbA1c, BMI, eGFR, and urinary albumin to creatinine ratio have been measured for each subject. Serum MIF’s highest levels were observed in the diabetic nephropathy patients (24.9 ng/ml) followed by the diabetics (14. 1 ng/ml) with the lowest level observed in the control group (4.8 ng/ml). There was a significant relation between MIF levels and ACE inhibitors (p-value <0.05) with reduced MIF levels in ACE inhibitors users. The ROC curve showed that MIF has a good performance in disease prediction. These findings support the reliability of MIF as a biomarker for the prediction of diabetic nephropathy and the possible reducing effect of ACE inhibitors on MIF levels.
Due to wind wave actions, ships impacts, high-speed vehicles and others resources of loading, structures such as high buildings rise bridge and electric transmission towers undergo significant coupled moment loads. In this study, the effect of increasing the value of coupled moment and increasing the rigidity of raft footing on the horizontal deflection by using 3-D finite element using ABAQUS program. The results showed that the increasing the coupled moment value leads to an increase in lateral deflection and increase in the rotational angle (α◦). The rotational angle increases from (0.014, 0.15 to 0.19) at coupled moment (120 kN.m), (0.29, 0.31 and 0.49) at coupled moment (240 kN.m) and (0.57, 0.63 and 1.03) at cou
... Show MoreAssessment the actual accuracy of laboratory devices prior to first use is very important to know the capabilities of such devices and employ them in multiple domains. As the manual of the device provides information and values in laboratory conditions for the accuracy of these devices, thus the actual evaluation process is necessary.
In this paper, the accuracy of laser scanner (stonex X-300) cameras were evaluated, so that those cameras attached to the device and lead supporting role in it. This is particularly because the device manual did not contain sufficient information about those cameras.
To know the accuracy when using these cameras in close range photogrammetry, laser scanning (stonex X-300) de
... Show MoreCadmium is one of the heavy metal found in the wastewater of many industries. The electrocoagulation offers many advantages for the removal of cadmium over other methods. So the removal of cadmium from wastewater by using electrocoagulation was studied to investigate the effect of operating parameters on the removal efficiency. The studied parameters were the initial pH, initial concentration, and applied voltage. The study experiments were conducted in a batch reactor with with two pairs of aluminum electrodes with dimension and 2mm in thick with 1.5 cm space between them. The optimum removal was obtained at pH =7, initial concentration = 50 mg/L, and applied voltage = 20 V and it was 90%.
The behavior of externally prestressed composite beams under short term loading has been studied. A computer program developed originally by Oukaili to evaluate curvature is modified to evaluate the deflection of prestressed composite beam under flexural load. The analysis model based on the deformation compatibility of entire structure that allows to determine the full history of strain and stress distribution along cross section depth, deflection and stress increment in the external tendons .
The evaluation of curvatures for the composite beam involves iterations for computing the strains vectors at each node at any loading stage. The stress increment determined using equations depended on the member deflection at points of connecti
Fractional Er: YAG laser resurfacing is increasingly used for treating rhytides and photo aged skin because of its favorable benefit‐risk ratio. The multi-stacking and variable pulse width technology opened a wide horizon of rejuvenation treatments using this type of laser. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the use of fractional 2940 nm Er: YAG laser in facial skin rejuvenation. Twelve female patients with mean age 48.3 years and multiple degrees of aging signs and solar skin damages, were treated with 2 sessions, one month apart by fractional Er: YAG laser. Each session consisted of 2 steps, the first step employed the use of the multi stack ablative fractional mode and the fractional long pulsed non-ablative mode settings were u
... Show MoreCompaction curves are widely used in civil engineering especially for road constructions, embankments, etc. Obtaining the precise amount of Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) that gives the Maximum Dry Unit weight gdmax. is very important, where the desired soil strength can be achieved in addition to economic aspects.
In this paper, three peak functions were used to obtain the OMC and gdmax. through curve fitting for the values obtained from Standard Proctor Test. Another surface fitting was also used to model the Ohio’s compaction curves that represent the very large variation of compacted soil types.
The results showed very good correlation between the values obtained from some publ
... Show MoreCopper, and its, alloys and composites (being the matrix), are broadly used in the electronic as well as bearing materials due to the excellent thermal and electrical conductivities it has.
In this study, powder metallurgy technique was used for the production of copper graphite composite with three volume perc ent of graphite. Processing parameters selected is (900) °C sintering temperature and (90) minutes holding time for samples that were heated in an inert atmosphere (argon gas). Wear test results showed a pronounced improvement in wear resistance as the percent of graphite increased which acts as solid lubricant (where wear rate was decreased by about 88% as compared with pure Cu). Microhardness and
... Show MoreThin films of ZnO nano crystalline doped with different concentrations (0, 6, 9, 12, and 18 )wt. % of copper were deposited on a glass substrate via pulsed laser deposition method (PLD). The properties of ZnO: Cu thin-nanofilms have been studied by absorbing UV-VIS, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopes (AFM). UV-VIS spectroscopy was used to determine the type and value of the optical energy gap, while X-ray diffraction was used to examine the structure and determine the size of the crystals. Atomic force microscopes were used to study the surface formation of precipitated materials. The UV-VIS spectroscopy was used to determine the type and value of the optical energy gap.
This study aims to investigate the possible role of circulating microRNA-142-3p (miR-142-3p) in the
development of graves disease (GD) and its association with the antibody directed against thyroid
stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR-Ab) production in patients with GD. Forty patients with positive
TSHR-Ab enrolled in this study were divided ,based on treatment, into (22 untreated (newly diagnosed) and
18 treated patients) and based on family history (30 with positive family history and 10 with negative family
history). In addition to forty healthy subjects with sex and age matching as a control group. The expression
level of circulating miR-142-3p was determined by two steps reverse transcription polymerase c
Changing oil-wet surfaces toward higher water wettability is of key importance in subsurface engineering applications. This includes petroleum recovery from fractured limestone reservoirs, which are typically mixed or oil-wet, resulting in poor productivity as conventional waterflooding techniques are inefficient. A wettability change toward more water-wet would significantly improve oil displacement efficiency, and thus productivity. Another area where such a wettability shift would be highly beneficial is carbon geo-sequestration, where compressed CO2 is pumped underground for storage. It has recently been identified that more water-wet formations can store more CO2. We thus examined how silica based nanofluids can induce such a wettabil
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