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.
Abstract
This paper discusses the essence of the developmental process in auditing firms and offices at the world today. This process is focused on how to adopt the audit concepts which is based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), including the Continuous Auditing (CA) in particular. The purpose of this paper is to design a practical model for the adoption of CA and its requirements according to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This model will serve as a road map for manage the change and development in the Iraqi auditing firms and offices. The paper uses the analytical approach in reaching to the target results. We design the logical and systematic relations between the nine variable
... Show MorePermeability estimation is a vital step in reservoir engineering due to its effect on reservoir's characterization, planning for perforations, and economic efficiency of the reservoirs. The core and well-logging data are the main sources of permeability measuring and calculating respectively. There are multiple methods to predict permeability such as classic, empirical, and geostatistical methods. In this research, two statistical approaches have been applied and compared for permeability prediction: Multiple Linear Regression and Random Forest, given the (M) reservoir interval in the (BH) Oil Field in the northern part of Iraq. The dataset was separated into two subsets: Training and Testing in order to cross-validate the accuracy
... Show MoreIn Iraq, because of the dramatic turnovers facing the country for three decades, pharmacists continue to experience significant professional challenges in both the public and private sectors. The present study aimed to explore the professional challenges and obstacles facing Iraqi pharmacists working in public hospitals. This qualitative study included face-to-face semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions with hospital pharmacists. The participants were selected purposefully (with ≥ 3 years of experience) to work at governmental hospitals in Karbala province between December 2022 and April 2023. The audio-recording interviews were scripted. Thematic analyses were used to generate themes and subthemes from the interview
... Show MoreAbstract. Shatt Al-Arab River was the most important tide river in Iraq, it suffered from neglect and lack of maintenance in the past decades. The river embankment is constantly exposed to erosion processes due to several factors, one of the most important of these factors is the movement of water currents due to the tidal energy coming from the Arabian Gulf. In this study, one dimension unsteady-state model was implemented to study river flood capacity simulation by using HEC-RAS (5.0.7) software in Shatt Al Arab River and its tributaries. The data included flow rate, water level records were collected daily from 2018 to 2020 at different stations along the mentioned river and its feeders, additionally, the considered flood discharge data
... Show MoreEuphemisms are advantageous in people’s social life by turning sensitive into a more acceptable ones so that resentful feelings and embarrassment can be avoided. This study investigates the ability of Iraqi English learners in using euphemistic expressions, meanwhile, raising their awareness and the faculty members in English teaching faculties regarding the relevance of discussing the topics that demand euphemisation. This study comprised three stages: initial test, explicit instruction with activities, and a final test for the students’ development in this domain. A test has been distributed among 50 respondents, who are at the fourth year of their undergraduate study at the University of Babylon/ College of Basic Education. The lo
... Show MoreThis is a descriptive study that used the survey method, it’s aimed to identify the topics and frameworks of diplomatic and political issues covered by the news of the website of the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the content analysis method applied on a sample selected in a systematic random manner for news published in the year 2021. The sample included (191) news equivalent to (20%) of the total study population of (942). The study reached some results, the most important of which were as follows: The political issue, in its general sense, grabbed the most prominent attention among the various issues and events focused on by Iraqi diplomacy: "international cooperation", "bilateral cooperation", and then "regional politic
... Show MoreBACKGROUNDS Nasoalveolar molding (NAM) application is among presurgical management (PSM) techniques used for infants with cleft lip and palate (CLP). It helps to approximate the palatal cleft and to reshape the nasoalveolar complex prior to primary lip repair. This study aimed to explore types of PSM and the dental speciality provision for infants with CLP in Baghdad. The status of NAM usage and surgeons’ perceptions toward NAM usage were assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a cross-sectional paper-based questionnaire study that collected responses of surgeons perform primary lip and nose repair regarding PSM. The questionnaire was distributed amongst public and private hospitals in Baghdad. Twenty surgeons were enrolled (only those su
... Show MoreThrough this descriptive study of the image of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the independent Iraqi press, the researcher relies on surveys, content analysis, and observation tools. The research community selected was the Iraqi independent press, represented by the Al-Zaman, Al-Dustour, and Al-Mada newspapers. The researcher adopts the comprehensive inventory method for newspaper issues produced between October 2019 and January 2020.
The results of this study show that Iran's interference in Iraq's internal affairs was one of the most prominent components of the picture that independent Iraqi newspapers seek to paint about the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Association rules mining (ARM) is a fundamental and widely used data mining technique to achieve useful information about data. The traditional ARM algorithms are degrading computation efficiency by mining too many association rules which are not appropriate for a given user. Recent research in (ARM) is investigating the use of metaheuristic algorithms which are looking for only a subset of high-quality rules. In this paper, a modified discrete cuckoo search algorithm for association rules mining DCS-ARM is proposed for this purpose. The effectiveness of our algorithm is tested against a set of well-known transactional databases. Results indicate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the existing metaheuristic methods.