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: Nursing interventions tailored to the smoking triggers in patients with non-communicable chronic diseases are essential. However, these interventions are scant due to the nature of factors associated with smoking cessation and the poor understanding of the effect of nurse-led intervention in Iraq.Purpose: This study aimed to determine the dominant smoking triggers and examine the effects of a tailored nursing intervention on smoking behavior in patients with non-communicable chronic diseases.Methods: Convenience samples of 128 patients with non-communicable chronic diseases, male and female patients, who were 18-70 years old, were recruited in this quasi-experimental, randomized comparative trial in the outpatient clinic
... Show MoreThe quality of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) networks are considerably influenced by the configuration of the observed baselines. Where, this study aims to find an optimal configuration for GNSS baselines in terms of the number and distribution of baselines to improve the quality criteria of the GNSS networks. First order design problem (FOD) was applied in this research to optimize GNSS network baselines configuration, and based on sequential adjustment method to solve its objective functions.
FOD for optimum precision (FOD-p) was the proposed model which based on the design criteria of A-optimality and E-optimality. These design criteria were selected as objective functions of precision, whic
... Show MoreThe effect of thickness variation on some physical properties of hematite α-Fe2O3 thin films was investigated. An Fe2O3 bulk in the form of pellet was prepared by cold pressing of Fe2O3 powder with subsequent sintering at 800 . Thin films with various thicknesses were obtained on glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. The films properties were characterized by XRD, and FT-IR. The deposited iron oxide thin films showed a single hematite phase with polycrystalline rhombohedral crystal structure .The thickness of films were estimated by using spectrometer to be (185-232) nm. Using Debye Scherrerś formula, the average grain size for the samples was found to be (18-32) nm. Atomic force microscopy indicated that the films had
... Show MoreIn this paper mildly-regular topological space was introduced via the concept of mildly g-open sets. Many properties of mildly - regular space are investigated and the interactions between mildly-regular space and certain types of topological spaces are considered. Also the concept of strong mildly-regular space was introduced and a main theorem on this space was proved.
The using of the parametric models and the subsequent estimation methods require the presence of many of the primary conditions to be met by those models to represent the population under study adequately, these prompting researchers to search for more flexible models of parametric models and these models were nonparametric models.
In this manuscript were compared to the so-called Nadaraya-Watson estimator in two cases (use of fixed bandwidth and variable) through simulation with different models and samples sizes. Through simulation experiments and the results showed that for the first and second models preferred NW with fixed bandwidth fo
... Show MoreCorpus linguistics is a methodology in studying language through corpus-based research. It differs from a traditional approach in studying a language (prescriptive approach) in its insistence on the systematic study of authentic examples of language in use (descriptive approach).A “corpus” is a large body of machine-readable structurally collected naturally occurring linguistic data, either written texts or a transcription of recorded speech, which can be used as a starting-point of linguistic description or as a means of verifying hypotheses about a language. In the past decade, interest has grown tremendously in the use of language corpora for language education. The ways in which corpora have been employed in language pedago
... Show MoreMicrobiological contamination by fungi impacts the quality and safety of wheat grain storage. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of cold plasma in restricting the growth of the fungus, Aspergillus niger, which was isolated from wheat grains. A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) operating at atmospheric pressure generated cold plasma that was used to treat the fungus, and the impact of this treatment was investigated at various periods 1, 2, 4, 6, and 15 minutes. The results revealed a highly significant decrease in the growth and number of spores of Aspergillus niger compared to the controls. This study revealed an efficient technique for enhancing wheat grain storage that could be a foundation for further large-scale studies.
... Show MoreIn this study, we prove that let N be a fixed positive integer and R be a semiprime -ring with extended centroid . Suppose that additive maps such that is onto, satisfy one of the following conditions belong to Г-N- generalized strong commutativity preserving for short; (Γ-N-GSCP) on R belong to Г-N-anti-generalized strong commutativity preserving for short; (Γ-N-AGSCP) Then there exists an element and additive maps such that is of the form and when condition (i) is satisfied, and when condition (ii) is satisfied
This research work aims to the determination of molybdenum (VI) ion via the formation of peroxy molybdenum compounds which has red-brown colour with absorbance wave length at 455nm for the system of ammonia solution-hydrogen peroxide-molybdenum (VI) using a completely newly developed microphotometer based on the ON-Line measurement. Variation of responses expressed in millivolt. A correlation coefficient of 0.9925 for the range of 2.5-150 ?g.ml-1 with percentage linearity of 98.50%. A detection limit of 0.25 ?g.ml-1 was obtained. All physical and chemical variable were optimized interferences of cation and anion were studied classical method of measurement were done and compared well with newly on-line measurements. Application for the use
... Show MoreFinding Masculinity in the "Great War": An Analytical Study of A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry Abstract This paper intends to show the relation between war and masculinity, through drawing a sketch of the masculine identity of the soldiers during the First World War (also known as the Great War). It studies the association between “ideal manhood” and wartime duties. The paper travels though the experience of Willie Dunne, a young Irish soldier in A Long Long Way (2005) by the Irish writer, Sebastian Barry. Through the paper, the researcher traces the social and familial pressures that lead Willie to enlist in the army, and to experience the atrocities of the First World War in order to search for his masculinity. Raywne Connell's co
... Show More