A case–control study (80 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection and 96 controls) was performed to evaluate the association of an IL12A gene variant (rs582537 A/C/G) with HBV infection. Allele G showed a signifcantly lower frequency in patients compared to controls (31.2 vs. 46.9%; probability [p]=0.009; corrected p [pc]=0.027) and was associated with a lower risk of HBV infection (odds ratio [OR]=0.49; 95% confdence interval [CI]=0.29–0.83). A similar lower risk was associated with genotypes CG (17.5 vs. 29.2; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.08–0.81; p=0.02) and GG (10.0 vs. 16.7; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.07–0.91; p=0.036), but the pc value was not signifcant (0.12 and 0.126, respec‑ tively). Serum IL35 levels showed signifcant difere

The design of coordination compounds with solvent-responsive optical properties remains a central challenge in molecular photonics. Here, we describe the synthesis and full characterisation of a symmetrical tetradentate diamine ligand, 3,3′-((1,2-phenylenebis(azanediyl))- bis(methanylylidene))bis(pentane-2,4-dione) (H₂L), and its neutral square-planar complexes [M(L)] (M(II) = Co, Ni, Cu). The Cu(II) complex crystallised as [Cu(L)]⋅0.5 (pyrazine), adopting a nearly square-planar geometry (τ₄ = 0.06) in the solid state, as confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In DMSO solution, UV–Vis spectra revealed reversible axial coordination of two solvent molecules, driving a transformation to a distorted octahedral geometry. Struc

AbstractOBJECTIVES: To evaluate the long-term remission efficacy and safety of isotretinoin in the treatment of Behcet's disease (BD). PATIENTS and METHODS: This single-blind, controlled therapeutic study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology and Venereology at Baghdad Teaching Hospital from February 2011 to January 2012. Thirty patients with BD were included in this work. Each patient received isotretinoin 20 mg orally once daily for 3 months. They were assessed at week 2 and then monthly depending on the Clinical Manifestation Index (CMI) and to record any side effects. At week 12, isotretinoin was stopped and patients were given placebo therapy in a form of glucose capsules for another 3 months. RESULTS: Thirty patients were tre

In this work, the effects of size, and temperature on the linear and nonlinear optical properties in InGaN/GaN inverse parabolic and triangular quantum wells (IPQW and ITQW) for different concentrations at the well center were theoretically investigated. The indium concentrations at the barriers were fixed to be always x_max = 0.2. The energy levels and their associated wave functions are computed within the effective mass approximation. The expressions of optical properties are obtained analytically by using the compact density-matrix approach. The linear, nonlinear, and total absorption coefficients depending on the In concentrations at the well center are investigated as a function of the incident photon energy for different

The researchers have discovered weaknesses in the rotational phase of the 100-meter freestyle event, including a lack of proper movement direction and control of biomechanical variables necessary for swimmers to achieve high rotational accuracy, which leads to outperforming competitors. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of using a laser device on improving the performance of the rotational phase among swimmers on the Iraqi national team. The experimental approach was conducted on a sample of 6 swimmers, representing 100% of the target population. The researchers concluded that the utilization of a proposed laser device in the rotational phase resulted in positive differences in biomechanical variables, contri

The 3-parameter Weibull distribution is used as a model for failure since this distribution is proper when the failure rate somewhat high in starting operation and these rates will be decreased with increasing time .

In practical side a comparison was made between (Shrinkage and Maximum likelihood) Estimators for parameter and reliability function using simulation , we conclude that the Shrinkage estimators for parameters are better than maximum likelihood estimators but the maximum likelihood estimator for reliability function is the better using statistical measures (MAPE)and (MSE) and for different sample sizes.

Note:- n_s : small sample ; n_m=median sample

English

The objective of this study is to apply Artificial Neural Network for heat transfer analysis of shell-and-tube heat exchangers widely used in power plants and refineries. Practical data was obtained by using industrial heat exchanger operating in power generation department of Dura refinery. The commonly used Back Propagation (BP) algorithm was used to train and test networks by divided the data to three samples (training, validation and testing data) to give more approach data with actual case. Inputs of the neural network include inlet water temperature, inlet air temperature and mass flow rate of air. Two outputs (exit water temperature to cooling tower and exit air temperature to second stage of air compressor) were taken in ANN.