Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and s

Background: Plaque retention during fixed orthodontic therapy is an important cause of developing enamel demineralization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different brackets types on the count of Streptococcus Mutans in orthodontic patients using conventional fluoridated toothpaste. Materials and Methods: Plaque samples were collected from maxillary 1st premolar teeth of twenty right handed patients (using split mouth technique) before bonding, after 48 hrs of bonding using tooth brush only, and after 2 weeks of using fluoridated toothpaste. Stainless steel bracket was bonded on right first premolar while the left one was bonded with sapphire bracket. The calculation of the Streptococcus Mutans count was done usin

The study aims to use the European Excellence Model (EFQM) in assessing the institutional performance of the National Center for Administrative Development and Information Technology in order to determine the gap between the actual reality of the performance of the Center and the standards adopted in the model, in order to know the extent to which the Center seeks to achieve excellence in performance to improve the level of services provided and the adoption of methods Modern and contemporary management in the evaluation of its institutional performance.

The problem of the study was the absence of an institutional performance evaluation system at the centre whereby weaknesses (areas of improvement) and st

In this research, the electrical characteristics of glow discharge plasma were studied. Glow discharge plasma generated in a home-made DC magnetron sputtering system, and a DC-power supply of high voltage as input to the discharge electrodes were both utilized. The distance between two electrodes is 4cm. The gas used to produce plasma is argon gas which flows inside the chamber at a rate of 40 sccm. The influence of work function for different target materials (gold, copper, and silver), - 5cm in diameter and around 1mm thickness - different working pressures, and different applied voltages on electrical characteristics (discharge current, discharge potential, and Paschen’s curve) were studied. The results showed that the discharge cur

 The distribution of chilled water flow rate in terminal unit is a major factor used to evaluate the performance of central air conditioning unit. In this work, a theoretical chilled water distribution in the terminal units has been studied to predict the optimum heat performance of terminal unit. The central Air-conditioning unit model consists of cooling/ heating coil (three units), chilled water source (chiller), three-way and two-way valve with bypass, piping network, and pump. The term of optimization in terminal unit ingredient has two categories, the first is the uniform of the water flow rate representing in statically permanents standard deviation (minimum value) and the second category is the maximum heat transfer rate fro

High temperature superconductor with nominal composition Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr1.8Ba0.2Ca2 Cu3O10+? was prepared by solid state reaction method. Two sets of samples have been prepared .The first one was quenched in air; the second set was quenched in liquid nitrogen. X-ray diffraction analyses showed an orthorhombic structure with two phases, high –Tc phase (2223) and low-Tc phase (2212) in addition to that impure phase was found. It has been observed that quenched in air samples display a sharp superconducting transition and a higher-Tc phase than that of the quenched in liquid nitrogen samples.

Abstract:

                The aim of this research is to highlight the importance of reducing the cost of a flight ticket by using information technology and the Internet, in the process of purchasing tickets for electronic flights, and to shift from the traditional method of purchasing and payment operations to the electronic method, to reduce the financial and non-financial risks associated with the traditional purchase process, as well as saving the cost Time, effort and money for the customer, and the researcher used the deductive approach in linking the variables (Internet of Things technology and reducing the costs of air tickets) wi

The current study was conducted to demonstrate the effects of air pollution on different biochemical parameters inCitrus aurantium plant and calculation the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI). Five sites were selected tocollect plant leaves, four of them within the city of Baghdad, namely Al-Jadriya, Al-Andlous, Al-Doura and closeto the private generators to represent the urban areas and Abu Ghraib site to represent the rural area. Seasonalsamples were collected for the period from October 2016 to June 2017. Eleven biochemical parameters totalchlorophyll, ascorbic acid, leaf extract pH, relative water content, total nitrogen, total protein content, total sugarcontent, proline, electrical conductivity, cadmium and lead. The results of Citr