Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disorder that constitutes a major health problem worldwide. Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite that may infect any nucleated cell. Toxoplasmosis is becoming a worldwide health threat, infecting 30–50% of the world’s human population. The studies that have been undertaken to investigate the link between T. gondii infection and diabetes have shown contradictory fi ndings. This research aimed to look at the possible link between T2DM and T. gondii infection. Methods and Subjects: The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) approach was used to screen for T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies in 69 patients with T2DM and 92 seemingly healthy persons as controls. Resul

Background: osteoporosis is characterized by a reduction in bone mineral density, skeletal microstructure breakdown, increased bone fragility, and fracture susceptibility. Osteopenia is the preceding step to osteoporosis because it causes a decrease in bone mass, osteoporosis reduces a person's quality of life. Periostin (encoded by Postn), its name is derived from the fact that it was first detected in periosteal osteocytes and osteoblasts. Periostin deficiency has been linked to osteoporosis and weak bones. Study objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine periostin levels in serum of Iraqi patients with osteoporosis and osteopenia, and it is also possible to consider periostin as a diagnostic factor to follow the progression o

The parasite tapeworm (Raillietina echinobothrida) belonges to the class Cestoda, it is responsible for nodular tapeworm disease in poultry .The aim of this study was to determine tapeworm parasites infections in Columba livia from two markets in the province of Baghdad for the period from May to December 2014. From a total of thirty five sample of Columba livia were randomly selected and then examined the elementary canal of these samples. The present study showed that the collected rock pigeon were found six infected with the cestode Raillietina echinobothrida with infection rate (17.14%). The statistical analysis for the characters of the cestode showed significant differences in all recipes, but there were no significant difference

Cisplatin (CP), a platinum compound, is one of the most active cytotoxic drugs used for cancer treatment. Nephrotoxicity is severe dose limiting side effect of this drug. Abnormal production of reactive oxygen species (ROSs) leading to oxidative stress has been implicated in kidney toxicity by Cisplatin. Here the study was aimed to evaluate nephroprotective effect of ethanolic extract of Terminalia arjuna bark (EETAB) at the doses (200 & 400 mg/kg, body weight) against Cisplatin (7.5 mg/kg, i.p) induced nephrotoxicity in rats. The evaluation was done by measuring % change in body weight, renal function tests such as Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN), Serum Creatinine (Cr), Serum Total Protein (TP) and also Kidney SOD (Super

Background: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukins play important roles in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Genetic research has been employed to find many of the missing connections between genetic risk variations and causal genetic components. Objective: The goal of this study is to look at the genetic variations of TNF-α and interleukins in Iraqi RA patients and see how they relate to disease severity or response to biological therapy. Method: Using specific keywords, the authors conducted a systematic and comprehensive search to identify relevant Iraqi studies examining the genetic variations of TNF-α and interleukins in Iraqi RA patients and how they relate to disease severity or response to biolo

Shear lag is the phenomenon that occurs when a supported slender member undergoes deformation from lateral loading, causing in-plane non-uniform distribution of stresses that results in reducing the member’s minimum strength capacity. This paper investigates the behaviour of shear distribution in steel I-section and box girders when subjected to both static and impact loadings. Three-dimensional finite element analysis models were prepared in Strand7 and validated against experimental results providing a basis for further comparison research into shear lagging effects. A parametric study was conducted comparing the effects of impact loading through certain specified velocities at the midspan of restrained ends. It provided new ins

Zygapophyseal joints (or facet joints), are a plane synovial joint which located between the articular facet processes of the vertebral arch which is freely guided movable joints. Ten dried vertebrae were used for the lumbar region and taking (L₄) as a sample to reveal stress pathways across the joints by using ANSYS program under different loading conditions which used Finite Elements Analysis model. Results obtained from the ANSYS program are important in understanding the boundary conditions for load analysis and the points of stress concentration which explained from the anatomical point of view and linked to muscle and ligament attachments. This model used as a computational tool to joint biomechanics and to prosthetic im