Inflammation of the tonsils could be described as acute tonsillitis, mainly due to infection. Recurrent tonsillitis could be defined as 3-7 episodes during the first 3 years of age. Vitamin D, which is a neuro-hormone with pleiotropic biological activities may modulate the immune response by alleviation, and stimulation of Th1 and Th2 cell proliferation, respectively, that influence the stimulation, synthesis, and secretion of both pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines. In this study we aimed to shed light on the levels of vitamin D in children with different episodes of tonsillitis in association with levels of interleukins (TNFα, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10). Blood samples were collected from 48 participants in 3 groups: control, acute tonsillitis (1-2 episodes/year), chronic tonsillitis (more than 7 episodes/year), serum was separated and the levels of Vitamin D, TNFα, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 were estimated using ELISA technique. Vitamin D decreased significantly as the episodes of tonsillitis increased, with level of 16.38± 2.41ng/ml in acute and, 14.13± 2.15 ng/ml in chronic tonsillitis as compared to control (30.91± 2.31 ng/ml), while pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFα and IL-2) significantly increased (46.88± 14.05 and 44.55± 9.24, 1267.25± 111.85 and 1191.72± 121.52 ng/ml, respectively) as compared to control (9.45 and 138.48 ng/ml respectively). Anti-inflammatory (IL-4, IL-10) cytokines in control group were (243.08± 28.72 and 24.27± 1.83 ng/ml, respectively), which increased non-significantly in acute and chronic tonsillitis (302.76± 38.93, 290.12± 44.69 and 28.16± 2.01, 26.29± 1.99 ng/ml, respectively). Significant direct correlation was observed between the levels of vitamin D and anti-inflammatory cytokines in chronic tonsillitis (P<0.05). In conclusion, deficiency of vitamin D may affect the number of episodes of tonsillitis in children by modulation of the secretion of some cytokines.
Epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (
Expansive soil is one of the most serious problems that face engineers during the execution of any infrastructure projects. Soil stabilization using chemical admixture is one of the most traditional and widespread methods of soil improvement. Nevertheless, soil improvement on site is one of the most economical solutions for many engineering applications. Using construction and demolishing waste in soil stabilization is still under research., The aim of this study is to identify the effect of using concrete demolishing waste (CDW) in soil stabilization. Serious tests were conducted to investigate the changes in the geotechnical properties of the natural soil stabilized with CDW. From the results, it is concluded that the
... Show MoreBackground: 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
... Show MoreIn this study tungsten oxide and graphene oxide (GO-WO2.89) were successfully combined using the ultra-sonication method and embedded with polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) to prepare novel low-fouling membranes for ultrafiltration applications. The properties of the modified membranes and performance were investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle (CA), water permeation flux, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection. It was found that the modified PPSU membrane fabricated from 0.1 wt.% of GO-WO2.89 possessed the best characteristics, with a 40.82° contact angle and 92.94% porosity. The permeation flux of the best membrane was the highest. The pure water permeation f
... Show MoreDoxorubicin (DOX) is an efficient antineoplastic agent with a broad antitumor spectrum; however, doxorubicin-associated cardiotoxic adverse effect through oxidative damage and apoptosis limits its clinical application. Cafestol (Caf) is a naturally occurring diterpene in unfiltered coffee with unique antioxidant, antimutagenic, and anti-inflammatory activities by activating the Nrf2 pathway. The present study aimed to investigate the potential chemoprotective effect of cafestol on DOX-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. Wistar albino rats of both sexes were administered cafestol (5 mg/kg/day) for 14 consecutive days by oral gavage alone or with doxorubicin which was injected as a single dose (15 mg/kg intraperitoneally at day 14) to i
... Show MoreThis paper presents a novel inverse kinematics solution for robotic arm based on artificial neural network (ANN) architecture. The motion of robotic arm is controlled by the kinematics of ANN. A new artificial neural network approach for inverse kinematics is proposed. The novelty of the proposed ANN is the inclusion of the feedback of current joint angles configuration of robotic arm as well as the desired position and orientation in the input pattern of neural network, while the traditional ANN has only the desired position and orientation of the end effector in the input pattern of neural network. In this paper, a six DOF Denso robotic arm with a gripper is controlled by ANN. The comprehensive experimental results proved the appl
... Show MoreThis current research aims to reveal the difference between the levels of teaching expertise of physics teachers according to the years of service by answering the following question: does the educational skill level of physics teachers work according to the service? The sample of the study consisted of (225) physics teachers by (125) females (56%), and (100) males (44%), distributed on (4) education directorates in Baghdad governorate on both sides of al-Karkh and al-Rusafa. In order to achieve the aim of the study, the researcher prepared a note card for expertise teaching, consisting of (39) paragraphs distributed into (5) fields. The apparent validity and reliability of the card were verified through an agreement (the researcher hers
... Show MoreTwo oil wells were tested to find the abnormal pressure zones using sonic log technique. We found that well Abu-Jir-3 and Abu-Jir-5 had an abnormal pressure zones from depth 4340 to 4520 feet and 4200 to 4600 feet, respectively. The maximum difference between obtained results and the field measured results did not exceed 2.4%.
In this paper, the formation pressures were expressed in terms of pressure gradient which sometimes reached up to twice the normal pressure gradient.
Drilling and developing such formations were dangerous and expensive.
The plotted figures showed a clear derivation from the normal trend which confirmed the existence of abnormal pressure zones.
Portland cement concrete is the most commonly used construction material in the world for decades. However, the searches in concrete technology are remaining growing to meet particular properties related to its strength, durability, and sustainability issue. Thus, several types of concrete have been developed to enhance concrete performance. Most of the modern concrete types have to contain supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) as a partial replacement of cement. These materials are either by-products of waste such as fly ash, slag, rice husk ash, and silica fume or from a geological resource like natural pozzolans and metakaolin (MK). Ideally, the utilization of SCMs will enhance the concrete performance, minimize
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