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.
A low-cost reverse flow plasma system powered by argon gas pumping was built using homemade materials in this paper. The length of the resulting arc change was directly proportional to the flow rate, while using the thermal camera to examine the thermal intensity distribution and demonstrating that it is concentrated in the centre, away from the walls at various flow rates, the resulting arc's spectra were also measured. The results show that as the gas flow rate increased, so did the ambient temperature. The results show that the medium containing the arc has a maximum temperature of 34.1 ˚C at a flow rate of 14 L/min and a minimum temperature of 22.6 ˚C at a flow rate of 6 L/min.
The aim of this research is to determine the most important and main factors that lead to Preeclampsia. It is also about finding suitable solutions to eradicate these factors and avoid them in order to prevent getting Preeclampsia. To achieve this, a case study sample of (40) patients from Medical City - Oncology Teaching Hospital was used to collect data by a questionnaire which contained (17) reasons to be investigated. The statistical package (SPSS) was used to compare the results of the data analysis through two methods (Radial Bases Function Network) and (Factorial Analysis). Important results were obtained, the two methods determined the same factors that could represent the direct reason which causes Preecla
... Show MoreThe effect of heat treatment using different annealing temperatures on optical properties of bulk heterojunction blend (BHJ) Alq3: C60 thin films which are fabricated by the spin coating technique were investigated in this study. The films have been coated on a glass substrate with speed of 2000 rpm for one min and treated with different annealing temperature (373, 423 and 473) K under vacuum. The optical properties and the chemical bonds structure of blends as-deposited and heat treated have been studied by UV-Vis spectroscopic and Fourier Transform-Infra Red (FTIR) measurements respectively. The results of UV visible show that the optical energy gap decreasing with increasing the annealing temperature for the ratio (100:1) while decrea
... Show MoreFlexible pavements are considered an essential element of transportation infrastructure. So, evaluations of flexible pavement performance are necessary for the proper management of transportation infrastructure. Pavement condition index (PCI) and international roughness index (IRI) are common indices applied to evaluate pavement surface conditions. However, the pavement condition surveys to calculate PCI are costly and time-consuming as compared to IRI. This article focuses on developing regression models that predict PCI from IRI. Eighty-three flexible pavement sections, with section length equal to 250 m, were selected in Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq, to develop PCI-IRI relationships. In terms of the quantity and severity of eac
... Show MoreIn this study, sulfur was removed from imitation oil using oxidative desulfurization process. Silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO-11) was prepared using the hydrothermal method with a concentration of carbon nanotubes (CNT) of 0% and 7.5% at 190 °C crystallization temperature. The final molar composition of the as-prepared SAPO-11 was Al2O3: 0.93P2O5: 0.414SiO2. 4% MO/SAPO-11 was prepared using impregnation methods. The produced SAPO-11 was described using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms). It was found that the addition of CNT increased the crystallinity of SAPO-11. The results showed that the surface area of SAPO-11 containing 7.5% CNT was 179.54 m2/g, and the pore volume was 0.31
... Show MoreThe presence of antibiotic residues such as ciprofloxacin (CIPR) in an aqueous environment is dangerous when their concentrations exceed the allowable. Therefore, eliminating these residues from the wastewater becomes an essential issue to prevent their harm. In this work, the potential of efficient adsorption of ciprofloxacin antibiotics was studied using eco-friendly ZSM-5 nanocrystals‑carbon composite (NZC). An inexpensive effective natural binder made of the sucrose-citric acid mixture was used for preparing NZC. The characterization methods revealed the successful preparation of NZC with a favorable surface area of 103.739 m2/g, and unique morphology and functional groups. Investigating the ability of NZC for adsorbing CIPR antibioti
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