Background: The gene responsible for encoding the protein of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) has been found to be associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in different ethnic populations. But the association of +49A/G CTLA-4 polymorphism with susceptibility of RA among Iraqi Arab populations has not yet been determined. Methods: One hundred and seventy-eight patients were examined, 67 of them were males (mean age 54.71 ± 10.4 years), while 167 were examined for the control group, of whom 64 were males and the rest were females. CTLA-4 DNA genotyping was carried on to determine the +49 A/G (rs231775) polymorphism using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Enzyme-linked immunosor- bent assay (ELISA) was also applied here to measure the antibodies level for cyclic citrullinated peptides (anti- CCP) and Rheumatoid factor (RF). Results: The frequency of AG and GG genotypes in CTLA-4 + 49 were significantly higher among RA patients in comparing with controls (55.61% vs 42.51%, OR=2.18, 95% CI=1.62–3.79, P=0.003) and (20.22% vs 10.77%, OR = 2.61, 95% CI = 1.31–6.46, P = 0.002) respectively. G allele frequency was also significantly higher among RA cases (52.24% vs. 31.73%, OR = 3.02; 95% CI = 1.61–7.39, P = 0.001). The frequencies of the AA genotype and A allele, however, were significantly lower in cases than controls (24.15% vs 46.70%, P = 0.001) and (47.75% vs 68.26%, P = 0.001) respectively. Moreover, the levels of Anti-CCP and RF were raised signifi- cantly among RA patients than controls (P = 0.0001), but none of these parameters were correlated with ge- notypes of CTLA-4. Conclusions: Carries of CTLA-4 + 49 AG and GG alleles were at a high risk of developing functional disability of RA, unlike the AA allele carriers.
Background: Eucalyptus extracts and derivatives are natural substances with potent antimicrobial properties. This study investigated the in- vitro effects of non-nutritive sweeteners on the antifungal activity of alcoholic and aqueous Eucalyptus extracts against Candida albicans, a common oral pathogen. Materials and Method: Ten isolates of Candida albicans were isolated from dental students’ salivary samples. The alcoholic and aqueous extracts were prepared from fresh Eucalyptus leaves using maceration. The sensitivity of Candida albicans isolates to various concentrations of Eucalyptus extracts ranging from 50 to 250 (mg/mL) was evaluated via agar well diffusion method, while the agar streaking method was used to assess the minimum
... Show MoreBackground: Undergraduate dental students are more susceptible to situations of stress that affected quality of sleep, such profiles of stress may result in sleep bruxism and/or awake bruxism, parafunctions that can affect oral and general health. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association of sleep bruxism, awake bruxism and sleep quality among dental students. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed including 260 Iraqi dental students from university of Baghdad aged from 20to25years old. Students enrolled in the third and fifth class participated in the study. The Pittsburgh Sleep Questionnaire Index (PSQI) was used for data collection. The PSQI was distributed during lecture classes. Sleep bruxism and awake
... Show MoreAnalyzing sentiment and emotions in Arabic texts on social networking sites has gained wide interest from researchers. It has been an active research topic in recent years due to its importance in analyzing reviewers' opinions. The Iraqi dialect is one of the Arabic dialects used in social networking sites, characterized by its complexity and, therefore, the difficulty of analyzing sentiment. This work presents a hybrid deep learning model consisting of a Convolution Neural Network (CNN) and the Gated Recurrent Units (GRU) to analyze sentiment and emotions in Iraqi texts. Three Iraqi datasets (Iraqi Arab Emotions Data Set (IAEDS), Annotated Corpus of Mesopotamian-Iraqi Dialect (ACMID), and Iraqi Arabic Dataset (IAD)) col
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Preeclampsia (PE) is a possible etiology of obstetrical and neonatal complications which are increased in resource-limited settings and developing countries. AIM: We aimed to find out the prevalence of PE in Iraqi ladies and specific outcomes, including gestational weight gain (GWG), cesarean section (CS), preterm delivery (PD), and low birth weight (LBW). METHODS: All singleton pregnant women visiting our tertiary center for delivery were involved over 3 years. PE women were compared with non-PE ladies. Complete history and examination were done during pregnancy and after delivery by the attending obstetrician and neonatologist with full documentation in medical records. RESULTS: PE prevalence was 4.79
... Show MoreBackground: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a compound articulation formed from the articular surfaces of the temporal bone and the mandibular condyle.CBCT imaging of TMJ is that it allows accurate measurements of the volume and surface of the condyle. The aim of the study is to assess the sagittal position of mandibular condyle in patients with temporomandibulardysfunction using Cone Beam Computed Tomography in centric occlusion. Materials and Methods: CBCT images for all patients were obtained in an upright position using New Tom Giano CBCT with different field of view (11 x 8), (11 x 5), and (8 x 8) and exposure factors was changed accordingly using NNT version 5.1 software for sagittal reconstruction, anterior, superior and posterior
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the role of organizational identity in improving work teams, and to suggest ways to deal with the outputs of work teams in a way that achieves the goals of the Baghdad Traffic Directorate as it is the subject of the application of the research, while the research community was represented by its officers, while the research sample was embodied in (General Director, Associate The Director General, the directors of Rusafa and Karkh traffic and their assistants, as well as the heads of the divisions and the officials of the departments) in it. The sample was (200) observations. The descriptive exploratory approach was devoted to conducting the research, relying on the questionnaire in data collection, as well as e
... Show MoreThe effect of different cutting fluids on surface roughness of brass alloy workpiece during turning operation was carried out in this research. This was performed with different cutting speed, while other cutting parameters had been regarded as constants(feeding rate , and depth of cut). Surface roughness of machined parts that will be tested by electronic surface roughness tester .The results show that the standard coolant gives the best values of surface roughness for fixed cutting speed ,followed by sun flower oil that has approximately the same effect, while the air stream as a coolant gave unsatisfied results for the evaluation of surface roughness.
In the other hand the best values of surface roughness were recorded for max
... Show MoreObjective. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the force degradation of two types of elastomeric chains following different periods of immersion in zinc-containing mouthwashes. Materials and Methods. Four hundred and forty pieces of Elasto-Force and Super Elasto-Force elastomeric chains were divided into two control and eight experimental groups. The pieces were stretched to 25 mm on pins mounted on an acrylic block and stored in distilled water at 37°C. The experimental groups were immersed in four different types of mouthwash for one minute twice a day throughout the test period. Ten continuous thermocycles per day between cold and hot water baths (5–55°C) were carried out. Forces were measured at six-time intervals (in
... Show MoreThe game theory has been applied to all situations where agents’ (people or companies) actions are utility-maximizing, and the collaborative offshoot of game theory has proven to be a robust tool for creating effective collaboration strategies in a broad range of applications. In this paper first, we employ the Banzhaf values to show the potential cost to waste producers in the case of a cooperation and to reduce the overall costs of processing non-recyclable waste during cooperation between producers. Secondly, we propose an application of the methodology to study a case for five waste producers' waste management in the Al-Mahmudiya factory with the aim of displaying the potential cost to waste producers in case of cooperatio
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