Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common, highly heritable inflammatory arthritis affecting primarily the spine and pelvis. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between the rs27044 polymorphism in Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase-1 (ERAP-1) with the susceptibility and severity of AS correlated with some biochemical markers such as hematological parameter (Erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR)) and immunological parameters (C-reactive protein (CRP), Human leukocyte antigen-B27 (HLA-B27), Interlukin-6 (IL-6) and Interlukin-23 (IL-23)), and oxidative stress parameters (Glutathione (GSH) and Malondialdehyde (MDA)) in a sample of Iraqi population. A total of 60 blood samples were collected from AS patients requited Rheumatology Consultation Clinic in Baghdad Teaching Hospital in Baghdad Governorate. Those patients are males and females with age ranged between 26- 32 years for early diagnosed patients (10 samples) and other medically treated patients with age ranged between 22-52 years (50 samples). The rest (30 blood samples) were collected from healthy controls with age ranged between 16-68 years. Results showed that there is a significant increase in Erythrocytes Sedimentation Rate (ESR) as a hematological parameter in newly diagnosed and medically treated patients. For the immunological parameters, results showed that C-reactive protein (CRP) was detected in all serum samples taken from newly diagnosed patients, and 80% positive were detected in medically treated patients in comparison with 100% negative results in healthy controls. On the other hand, Human leukocyte antigen-B27 (HLA-B27) was also detected in all serum samples taken from newly diagnosed patients and 76% positive were recorded in medically treated patients as compared with negatively resulted in healthy controls. For the Interleukins (IL-6 and IL-23), results showed that there is a significant increase in levels of both interleukins in serum samples of newly diagnosed patients compared with healthy controls and medically treated patients, in which any significant difference was recorded. Results of oxidative stress parameters showed that there is a significant decrease in Glutathione (GSH) levels in serum samples of newly diagnosed patients compared with its level in serum sample of controls and medically treated patients, in which significantly not different. Results also showed that there is a significant increase in Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in serum samples of newly diagnosed patients compared with its levels in healthy controls and medically treated patients, in which no significant difference in MDA levels in serum samples of both groups. Genetic polymorphism of ERAP-1 gene (rs27044 SNP) in exon15 within chromosome 5 was studied. The genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples for controls and AS patients at concentrations of extracted DNA was ranged between 100-200 ng/μl with purity of 1.8-2.0. Exon 15 was amplified by using specific primers results showed that a single band of 298 bp was obtained after electrophoresis on agarose gel (2%) represents the complete nucleotide sequence of exon 15. Results showed that the single nucleotide polymorphism (rs27044) was cSNP in all controls, while gSNP was found in 64% of polymorphic AS patients with a significant difference than non-polymorphic AS patients (36%).
Background: Tubal ligation, recognized as a surgical intervention that ensures permanent contraception, has established itself as an option for women seeking a definitive solution for family planning. Objective: To assess the psychosexual implications of tubal ligation in a sample of women in Baghdad, Iraq. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in a teaching hospital for 2 years, from the first of January 2022 to the end of December 2023, in which 203 women who underwent tubal ligation were included. Results: In the present study, we found that 158 (77.8%) had no depression, mild depression presented in 27 (13.3%), and moderate depression in only 15 (7.4%). While 163 (80.3%) of women did not suffer from anxiety, 32 (15.8
... Show MoreThe current study is concerned with investigating the difficulties that Iraqi EFL learners of English may face when translating English collective nouns. Such collective nouns as committee, government, , jury , Parliament , etc. are considered singular when the concept of the unity as a group is emphasized , but when the concept of the individuals or numbers is emphasized they are treated as plural. A sample of twenty undergraduate students have been selected randomly to translate certain English collective nouns in some selected political texts in order to find out the difficulties they might face in rendering them into Arabic. It is hypothesized that most of the testees have used the singular form rather than the plural ignoring the
... Show MoreIntroduction: Dental fear is defined as the patient’s specific reaction towards stress related to dental treatment in which the stimulus is unkn..
Philosophy of Abstraction and Construction of Space in Contemporary Iraqi Theater Abstract The aesthetic and stylistic features in the theatrical play develop according to the changes of the age and its developments. Stylistic forms different from the prevailing and familiar in the visions of contemporary theatre directors emerged which adopt the removal of traditional awareness in the creation of the visual space of theatrical discourse, through adopting contemporary formats and structures which depend on the abstraction representations in the aesthetic construction of the contemporary theatre show which is one of the prerequisites of the postmodern theater, that produces aesthetic data based on abstract metaphors in the formation of th
... Show MoreThe present paper is a qualitative descriptive study. It aims to examine the macro-cultural schemata addressing the concept of violence against women in Iraq from a cognitive linguistic point of view. To meet this objective, a number of Iraqi social caricatures have been selected from two popular and active Iraqi caricaturists, Odeh Al-Fahdawi and Nasser Ibrahim. The selection and the analysis of data have been achieved following the validity and reliability procedures and the ethical considerations. To meet this objective, Sharifian’s Model (2011) of Cultural Schemata has been adopted in data analysis. The study has concluded that the macro-cultural schemata regarding the concept of violence in the selected panels reveals that violenc
... Show MoreThe ceiling of the midbrain has a couple of optic lobes which are prominent and used as an optic center that reflex what it receives from eye retina fibers. The histology of optic tectum has been studied in Iraqi water snake natrix tesselata tesselata . It was found that the number of optic tectum were seven main strata organized from the outside to the inside as follows : the stratum zonula (SZ), the stratum opticum (SO), the stratum fibrosum et griseum superficialis (SFGS), the stratum griseum central (SGC), the stratum album central (SAC), the stratum griseum periventricular (SGP), and the stratum album periventricular (SAP). the three last strata consider deep layers on the optic tectum It was noticed that the thinnest strata was the fi
... Show MoreThe importance of kick tolerance in well operations has recently increased due to its implications in well design, in drilling and well control. To study a simple method for the application of kick tolerance concept in an effective way on the basis of field data, this research purpose is to improve knowledge about Kick Tolerance and represents a technical basis for the discussion on revision of standard procedure. The objective of this work is to review and to present a methodology of determination the kick tolerance parameters using the circulation kicks tolerance concepts. The proposed method allows to know, to evaluate and to analyze the kick tolerance problem in order to make the drilling execution safer and more economical by reducin
... Show MoreBackground: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare congenital condition that results in bone fragility, recurrent fractures, and various extra-skeletal manifestations. Currently, intravenous bisphosphonate is the mainstay of medical treatment in OI. Objective: To identify the effect of current management strategies on Iraqi children diagnosed with OI. Methods: A retrospective study enrolled OI patients who were registered in Central Child Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, from January 2015 to December 2022. We enrolled confirmed OI cases (either clinically and/or radiologically) who received cyclic pamidronate therapy for at least 3 cycles. They neither received other types of bisphosphonates nor underwent surgical intervention. Res
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