It was aimed to understand the interleukin-4 (IL-4) role in etio-pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Two approaches were adopted. In the first one, a quantitative expression of IL4 gene was assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and such findings were correlated with some demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters, which included gender, duration of disease, disease activity score (DAS-28), rheumatoid factors (RFs), C-reactive protein (CRP) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (ACCP) antibodies. In the second approach, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of IL4 gene (rs2243250) was inspected by DNA sequencing using specific primers. Fifty-one Iraqi RA patients (22 males and 29 females) were enrolled in the study. They were under therapy, which was a single weekly subcutaneous dose of 25 mg of etanercept (Enbrel) for a period of 3-5 years. The results of gene expression (2-??Ct) revealed an increased expression of IL4 mRNA (Mean ± SEM: 8.247 ± 2.442), especially female patients compared to male patients (11.545 ± 3.928 vs. 3.537 ± 1.530; p = 0.03). The expression was also subjected to variations that were related to clinical and laboratory findings. With respect to IL4 gene SNP, allele and genotype frequencies showed no significant differences between RA patients and controls. In addition, the SNP genotypes had no effect on IL4 gene expression. In conclusion, an up-regulation of IL4 gene expression was observed in RA patients, and it was more pronounced in female than male patients by approximately four folds, while no association between the IL4 SNP alleles or genotypes and RA was observed.
Aluminum alloys widely use in production of the automobile and the aerospace because
they have low density, attractive mechanical properties with respect to their weight, better
corrosion and wear resistance, low thermal coefficient of expansion comparison with traditional
metals and alloys. Recently, researchers have shifted from single material to composite materials
to reduce weight and cost, improve quality, and high performance in structural materials.
Friction stir processing (FSP) has been successfully researched for manufacturing of metal
matrix composites (MMCs) and functional graded materials (FGMs), find out new possibilities
to chemically change the surfaces. It is shown th
Solid waste generation and composition in Baghdad is typically affected by population growth, urbanization, improved economic conditions, changes in lifestyles and social and cultural habits.
A burning chamber was installed to burn cellulosic waste only. It was found that combustion reduced the original volume and weight of cellulosic waste by 97.4% and 85% respectively.
A batch composting study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of co-composting organic food waste with the cellulosic bottom ash in three different weight ratios (w/w) [95/5, 75/25, 50/50].
The composters were kept in controlled aerobic conditions for 7 days. Temperature, moisture, and pH were measured hourly as process succe
... Show MoreAn anal fissure which does not heal with conservative measures as sits baths and laxatives is a chronic anal fissure. Physiologically, it is the high resting tone of the internal anal sphincter that chiefly interferes with the healing process of these fissures. Until now, the gold standard treatment modality is surgery, either digital anal dilatation or lateral sphincterotomy. However, concerns have been raised about the incidence of faecal incontinence after surgery. Therefore, pharmacological means to treat chronic anal fissures have been explored. A Medline and pub med database search from 1986-2012 was conducted to perform a literature search for articles relating to the non-surgical treatment of chronic anal fissure. Pharmacological
... Show MoreWith wireless sensor network (WSN) wide applications in popularity, securing its data becomes a requirement. This can be accomplished by encrypting sensor node data. In this paper a new an efficient symmetric cryptographic algorithm is presented. This algorithm is called wireless sensor network wavelet curve ciphering system (WSN-WCCS). The algorithm idea based on discrete wavelet transformation to generate keys for each node in WSN. It implements on hierarchical clustering WSN using LEACH protocol. Python programming language version 2.7 was used to create the simulator of WSN framework and implement a WSN-WCCS algorithm. The simulation result of the proposed WSN-WCCS with other symmetric algorithms has show
... Show MoreThe research aims to present a proposed strategy for the North Oil Company, and the proposed strategy took into account the surrounding environmental conditions and adopted in its formulation on the basis and scientific steps that are comprehensive and realistic, as it covered the main activities of the company (production and exploration activities, refining and refining activities, export and transport of oil, research and development activity, financial activity, information technology, human resources) and the (David) model has been adopted in the environmental analysis of the factors that have been diagnosed according to a
... Show MoreAbstract
Pneumatic processes sequence (PPS) is used widely in industrial applications. It is common to do a predetermined PPS to achieve a specific larger task within the industrial application like the PPS achieved by the pick and place industrial robot arm. This sequence may require change depending on changing the required task and usually this requires the programmer intervention to change the sequence’ sprogram, which is costly and may take long time. In this research a PLC-based PPS control system is designed and implemented, in which the PPS is programmed by demonstration. The PPS could be changed by demonstrating the new required sequence via the user by following simple series of manual steps without h
... Show MoreThis paper presents a fully computerized method to backup the router configuration file. The method consists of a friendly graphical interface programmed by Java programming language.
The proposed method is compared with the two existing methods, namely: TFTP server method and Copy/Paste method. The comparison reveals that the proposed method has many advantages over the existing ones. The proposed method has been implemented on Cisco routers (series 2500, 2600 and 2800).
Robots have become an essential part of modern industries in welding departments to increase the accuracy and rate of production. The intelligent detection of welding line edges to start the weld in a proper position is very important. This work introduces a new approach using image processing to detect welding lines by tracking the edges of plates according to the required speed by three degrees of a freedom robotic arm. The two different algorithms achieved in the developed approach are the edge detection and top-hat transformation. An adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system ANFIS was used to choose the best forward and inverse kinematics of the robot. MIG welding at the end-effector was applied as a tool in this system, and the wel
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