Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory condition that primarily affects the skin, hair, and joints and is associated with significant humanistic and economic consequences. This work induced psoriasis in mice using an imiquimod 5% cream, an immune response modifier that can cause psoriasis-like skin inflammation when given orally. Paquinimod is prepared as an ointment and has been topically given to mice before imiquimod application. In this study, albino mice were allocated into five groups and treated as follows: the control group received only a daily application of cream based on shaved back (62.5mg/2cm) with a daily topical dose of ointment for 14 consecutive days with the oral vehicle. The Imiquimod group received a daily topical dose of vehicle one hour before imiquimod 5% application on shaved back (62.5mg/2cm) for 14 consecutive days. The paquinimod-treated group received daily topical doses of paquinimod one hour before imiquimod 5% application on shaved back (62.5mg/2cm) for 14 consecutive days. Clobetasol -treated group received a daily topical dose of clobetasol ointment (62.5mg/2cm) one hour before imiquimod 5% application on shaved back (62.5mg/2cm) for 14 consecutive days. Paquinimod, the only group that received a daily oral dose of paquinimod for 14 consecutive days. The current study found that the administration of paquinimod ointment resulted in a significant decline in TNF-α, IL-23, IL17 level, reduced psoriasis area and severity index, spleen index, skin thickness, and gene expression of TNF-α, Nf-KB, IL-1B, IL-17in the (Paquinimod ointment+imiquimod) group substantially more than that in the (vehicle ointment+imiquimod) groups. In conclusion, paquinimod has a powerful ameliorating effect that can reduce the IMQ-induced psoriasis-like inflammation in a mouse model. As a result, we have every reason to believe that paquinimod will be utilized to treat psoriasis. Keywords: Psoriasis; Paquinimod; Imiquimod; IL-23; IL-17; TNF-α.
The aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of workplace stress on employee engagement within Iraqi universities through the mediator role of leadership style. Work-related stress and non-work-related stress were identified as representing workplace stress. Employee engagement has been measured through three types: social engagement, affective engagement, and intellectual engagement. Two types of leadership styles have been tested: directive and participative leadership. the structural equation Modeling was used to test the study model. A sample of 245 employees in Iraqi universities, including university professors, was targeted. Only 214 respondents participated in the survey. The results showed that non-work-relate
... Show MoreThe field experiment was conducted at botanical garden of Department of Biology, College of Education for Pure Science/ Ibn-Al-Haitham, University of Baghdad to study the effect of Lepidium sativum leaves extract and pumpkin seeds Cucurbita pepo in two concentrations 10% and 20% on physiological characters ofPimpinella anisum. The results showed that in either concentration plant heights, dry weight, biological yield, economic yield, weight of 100 fruits, harvest index, absolute growth rate (AGR) were all increased and percentage of oil in fruits as compared with control plants
Low- and medium-carbon structural steel components face random vibration and dynamic loads (like earthquakes) in many applications. Thus a modification to improve their mechanical properties, essentially damping properties, is required. The present study focuses on improving and developing these properties, significantly dampening properties, without losing the other mechanical properties. The specimens used in the present study are structural steel ribbed bar ISO 6935 subjected to heating temperatures of (850, 950, and 1050) ˚C, and cooling schemes of annealing, normalizing, sand, and quenching was selected. The damping properties of the specimens were measured experimentally with the area under the curve for the loadi
... Show MoreReactive Powder Concrete (RPC) could be considered as the furthermost significant modern high compressive strength concrete. In this study, an experimental investigation on the impact of micro steel fiber volume fraction ratio and gamma ray irradiation duration influence upon the compressive strength of RPC is presented. Three volume fraction ratios (0.0, 1.0 and 1.5) % was implemented. For each percentage of the adopted fiber ratios, six different irradiation duration was considered; these are (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) days. Gamma source (Cs-137) of energy (0.662) MeV and activity (6) mci was used. In a case of zero volume fraction ratio, the experimental results showed that gamma ray had a significant influence on the reducing of the
... Show MoreThe dewatering arrangement is required in execution works and it needs more attention due to the additional vertical settlement produced on the adjacent pile foundations. Raft foundations are being increasingly utilized for construction in cases of subsoil conditions with a high water table. Also, soil displacements in adjacent un-braced deep open pit may be a reason for high damages to the close buildings and foundations systems. The aim of this study is to examine the behaviour of piled raft foundations considering different pile locations under the effect of line drain and stage drilling of nearby open foundation pit. The line drain was used as dewatering process through the soil i
In this research, the structural and optical measurements were made on the Zinc oxide (ZnO) films prepared by two methods once by using chemical spray pyrolysis technique, and another by using thermal evaporation technique before and after irradiation by Gamma –Ray (γ – rays) from source type (Cs 137) with an energy (0.611)MeV as a function of gamma dose (0.15,0.3 and 0.45) Gy. The thickness of all films prepared by two method was about (300 ± 50) nm. XRD is used to characterize the structural properties, the results demonstrated that all samples prepared by two method before and after irradiation have polycrystalline structure with a preferred orientation (002).Also it showed that the structural properties are weakly
... Show MoreThis study was aimed to reduce the amount of the sprayed solution lost during trees spraying. At the same time, the concentration of the sprayed solution on the target (tree or bush) must be ensured and to find the best combination of treatments. Two factors controls the spraying process: (i) spraying speed (1.2 km/h, 2.4 km/h, 3.6 km/h), and (ii) the type of sensor. The test results showed a significant loss reduction percentage. It reached (6.05%, 5.39% and 2.05%) at the speed (1.2 km/h, 2.4 km/h, 3.6 km/h), respectively. It was noticed that when the speed becomes higher the loss becomes less accordingly. The interaction between the 3.6 km/h speed and the type of Ultrasonic sensor led to a decrease in the percentage of the spray
... Show MoreIn this paper, SiO2 nanoparticles thin films were synthesised at different PH values of solution by sol gel method at fixed temperature (25oC) and molar ratio (R =H2O/precursor) of (Tetra Ethyl Ortho Silicate) TEOS as precursor at (R=1). The structure and optical properties of the thin films have been investigated. All thin films were tested by using X-RAY diffraction. All X-RAY spectrum can be indexed as monoclinic structure with strong crystalline (110) plane. The morphological properties of the prepared films were studied by SEM. The results indicate that all films are in nano scale and the particle size around (19-62) nm .The size of silica particles increases with increasing PH value of solution where both the rate of hydrolysis and
... Show MoreIn this research the effect of cooling rate and mold type on mechanical properties of the eutectic
and hypoeutectic (Al-Si) alloys has been studied. The alloys used in this research work were (Al- 12.6%Si
alloy) and (Al- 7%Si alloy).The two alloys have been melted and poured in two types of molds with
different cooling rates. One of them was a sand mold and the other was metal mold. Mechanical tests
(hardness, tensile test and impact test) were carried out on the specimens. Also the metallographic
examination was performed.
It has been found that the values of hardness for the alloys(Al-12.6%Si and Al-7%Si) which poured in
metal mold is greater than the values of hardness for the same alloy when it poured in a heated