Background: It's believed that HBD-3 is involved in the tissue remodeling process of articular cartilage. Also, HBD-3 has anti-inflammatory properties. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assay human beta-defensine-3 (HBD-3) in serum from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and investigate its correlation with proinflammatory cytokines. Methods: In this case-control study, fifty-eight RA patients were aged 20–65 years, and 29 age-matched healthy subjects (HS) had no inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The disease activity score-28 joint erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) was used to measure RA activity. CRP, ACPA, HBD-3, TNF-α, and IL-1β were assessed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique (ELISA). Res

            The research is dealing with the absorption and fluorescence spectra for the hybrid of  an Epoxy Resin doped with organic dye Rhodamine (R6G) of different concentrations (5*10^-6, 5*10^-5, 1*10^-5, 1*10^-4, 5*10^-4) Mol/ℓ at room temperature. The Quantum efficiency Q_fm, the rate of fluorescence emission K_fm (s^-1), the non-radiative lifetime τ_fm (s), fluorescence lifetime τ_f and the Stokes shift were calculated. Also the energy gap (Eg) for each dye concentration was evaluated. The results showed that the maximum quantum effi

Background: Gingivitis is one of the most common and widely spread oral diseases in adolescents after dental caries occur in both developed and developing countries. Dental plaque is the main etiological factor of gingivitis. Another oral problem is enamel defect. The aim of this study was to estimate the oral hygiene (dental plaque), and determine the prevalence and severity of gingivitis and enamel defects among 16-17 years old secondary school female students in urban areas of Kirkuk city/Iraq. Materials and methods: A representative sample included in this study consisted of 750 secondary school female students distributed into 387 for the age sixteen and 363 for the age seventeen, they were selected randomly from different female secon

The liver is one of the largest glands in the digestive system and performs 13 various functions, including the secretion of hormones and enzymes. The gallbladder serves as a storage reservoir for secretions before they are released into the digestive system through the duodenum. The bile ducts branch from the liver’s lobes and ultimately connect to the digestive system, making this structure significant and distinct among different animal species. This review focuses on the differences between dogs and cats, highlighting the importance of these differences from both health and pathological perspectives. After conducting a detailed scientific review of the biliary tree in dogs and cats, we concluded that cats are more susceptible to the d

Aim. We investigate, in the mid-infrared, the spatial properties of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emission in the disk of HD 179218, an intermediate-mass Herbig star at ~300 pc.

Methods. We obtained mid-infrared images in the PAH-1, PAH-2 and Si-6 filters centered at 8.6, 11.3, and 12.5 μm, and N-band low-resolution spectra using CanariCam on the 10-m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). We compared the point spread function (PSF) profiles measured in the PAH filters to the profile derived in the Si-6 filter, where the thermal continuum emission dominates. We performed radiative transfer modeling of

The embryonic development of the Mosquito fish(Gambusia affinis) eye lens was investigated using light microscopy .The results indicated that the embryonic development of the lens does not correspond to that of the non spherical lenses of terrestrial vertebrates .This study showed that a very small cavity in the lens vesicle appears during development ,but it differs from that of the mammalian lens. The most important aspect in this study is that ,the posterior edge of the simple cuboidal epithelium which covers the anterior half of the surface of the lens is situated well beyond the equatorial region of the lens .As a result , the germinal and transitional zones became closer to the posterior pole rather than the anterior pole of the le

The aim: In this study, we present and evaluate the vest-over-pants technique as a simple way to correct urethrocutaneous fistulas after hypospadias. Materials and methods: Between October 2018 and June 2020, twenty male patients aged 5 to 20 years came to us with post hypospadias repair fistula, these patients underwent vest-over-pant repair of their fistula. The size of fistula was ranging between 2.5-5 mm. The distribution of fistula was coronal (3 patients), distal penile (9 patients), midshaft (2 patients) and proximal penile (6 patients). In 14 patients there were single fistula and 6 patients had more than one fistula. Eleven of patients were exposed to a previous failed fistula repair procedure. Results: Six months after the operati

This study offers additional evidence for the occurrence of oil residues within fractures of the basement rocks in the Upper Benue Trough, Nigeria. The data suggests that the observed oil residues were originally generated as light oils, which were later biodegraded into heavy oils. These Upper Benue Trough's oil stains are a valuable tool for hydrocarbon exploration in the region as they indicate the existence of a petroleum system in the basin. We find a strong similarity to the proportions of C27, C28, and C29 regular steranes of oils found in the sandstones and shales of the Bima Formation in the Upper Benue Trough when we plot the relative quantities of these steranes of the investigated basement rock oil types on a ternary gra

Abdominal fat synthesizes a variety of adipokines, including vaspin and chemerin, that affect the resistance to insulin. This research was conducted to demonstrate the effect of pioglitazone, one insulin sensitizer used to decrease insulin resistance, on these adipokines in   obese patients with polycystic ovary (PCOS). Twenty-five obese women with PCOS were treated with pioglitazone 15mg/bid for 12 weeks. Modifications in fasting blood glucose (FBG), serum fasting insulin (FSI), chemerin and vaspin serum levels, follicle stimulation hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (T), and in baseline and post-therapy were assessed. Body mass index decreased without any substantial variance after 12 weeks of piogl