Background: Psoriasis is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease with unknown aetiology that may be associated with the defect in proliferation and differentiation of the keratinocytes related to inflammatory cell infiltration. According to published reports, it is universal in occurrence; its prevalence in different populations varies from 0.1% to 11.8%. Receiving Apremilast resulted in a strong reduction in interleukin 17 and interleukin 23, as well as reduced expression of other inflammatory cytokines and improvement of psoriatic lesions. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of Apremilast on levels of IL-17, IL-23, and lipids in obese psoriatic patients. Methods: Thirty obese patients with psoriasis were included in

The consumption of fresh fruits has increased nowadays due to the lifestyle of the consumers. Maintaining the quality and nutritional value of cut fruits during storage is difficult compared to whole fruits. Deterioration of internal and external quality usually occurs in freshly harvested fruits. It is necessary to use different techniques to maintain the quality and increase the shelf life of the freshly cut product. This research studied the effect of treating apple slices with cold plasma once and with filtered water again on quality characteristics (hardness, moisture content, sugar content, carbohydrate content, and color) after being stored for five days. The best treatment was determined using two different pressures of the plasma j

Background: Ejection fraction have been used frequently
for assessment of the left ventricular function, but can be
associated with errors in which myocardial performance
index have been used as another parameter to measure the
left ventricular function.
Objective: selecting another echocardiography parameter
for the assessment of myocardial in function instead of the
ejection fraction.
Methods: 160 patients referred to the echocardiogram unit
from the period december 2007 to august 2008 requesting
assessment of left ventricular function. After clinical
examination, routine blood tests; chest x-ray and
electrocardiographic recording have been completed. All
patients informed to come for this unit af

The aim of this research sought to assess the background radiati on levels of medicinal plant samples in Iraq.The D, AED, and ELCRThe D values are 0.164 ± 0.006 µSv/h.The radiation dose outputs from the afore mentioned research were juxtaposed with the safety threshold of 0.247 µSv/h set by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) in 2008 and the National Council on Radiation Pr otection and Measurements (NCRP) in 2009.The radiation exposure for all samples in this investigation is within the permissible limits.Additionally, t he AED values obtained from microsieverts per hour are (1.31 ±0.0326 mS v/y), indicating variability, with a maximum permissible limit of 2.4 mSv/y ear, as per t

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the impact of rabbit serum on skin wound healing with the help of histological examination. Materials and Methods: A total of ten indigenous rabbits were used in this study. The animals were divided into two groups: control and serum- treated. The histological assessment was done with a paraffin embedding technique and the histological sections were stained with H&E stain. Results: Severe infiltration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes with severe fibrin deposits were seen in serum treated group at 2 days post-injury; at 7 days post-injury the changes revealed moderate fibroplasia, fibrin deposit and severe infiltration of both mononuclear and polymorphonuclear leukocytes; at 14 days post-inju

Um-Al-Naaj region in Al-Hawiezah Marsh, Southern Iraq was chosen to study the environmental variations of some water characteristics during 2008, seasonally. The results showed clear seasonal changes in values of some environmental variables (temperature, depth, light penetration, turbidity, total suspended solids, pH, dissolved oxygen, reactive phosphate, reactive nitrite, and reactive nitrate), while there were no clear seasonal changes in electrical conductivity and salinity values. In addition, high nutrients concentrations and light penetration were noted. Statistical analysis showed significant positive relationship between air and water temperature; electrical conductivity and salinity. Water turbidity was significantly affecte

Background: Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis (RAS) is the most common painful oral mucosal disease, affecting approximately 20% of the population. RAS presents with a wide spectrum of severity ranging from a minor nuisance to complete debility. Many of factors thought to have been involved in its etiology; that might have at the same time a direct or indirect impact upon oxidant/antioxidant system and trigger free radicals production. The aim of this study was to determine the possible association of oxidant/total antioxidant status and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). Subjects, materials and methods: The study consisted of thirty patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis and thirty healthy controls from which saliva and blood samples we

The relationship of hyperuricemia to kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension and the risk of cardiovascular diseases remain controversial. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of uric acid (UA) levels to find the higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with end stage renal disease that have diabetic nephropathy (DN), nephropathy with hypertension (NH) and patients with both diabetic nephropathy with hypertension (DNH). This study deals with 115 patients with end-stage renal disease under hemodialysis sub-grouped into 35 patients with (DN), 40 patients with (NH), and 40 patients with (DNH). Some biochemical parameters were determined in the serum of all participants such as HbA1c, fasting blood glucose (FBG), UA, urea,