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.
The primary objective of this paper is to improve a biometric authentication and classification model using the ear as a distinct part of the face since it is unchanged with time and unaffected by facial expressions. The proposed model is a new scenario for enhancing ear recognition accuracy via modifying the AdaBoost algorithm to optimize adaptive learning. To overcome the limitation of image illumination, occlusion, and problems of image registration, the Scale-invariant feature transform technique was used to extract features. Various consecutive phases were used to improve classification accuracy. These phases are image acquisition, preprocessing, filtering, smoothing, and feature extraction. To assess the proposed
... Show MoreA simulation study of using 2D tomography to reconstruction a 3D object is presented. The 2D Radon transform is used to create a 2D projection for each slice of the 3D object at different heights. The 2D back-projection and the Fourier slice theorem methods are used to reconstruction each 2D projection slice of the 3D object. The results showed the ability of the Fourier slice theorem method to reconstruct the general shape of the body with its internal structure, unlike the 2D Radon method, which was able to reconstruct the general shape of the body only because of the blurring artefact, Beside that the Fourier slice theorem could not remove all blurring artefact, therefore, this research, suggested the threshold technique to eliminate the
... Show MoreWith the increasing reliance on microgrids as flexible and sustainable solutions for energy distribution, securing decentralized electricity grids requires robust cybersecurity strategies tailored to microgrid-specific vulnerabilities. The research paper focuses on enhancing detection capabilities and response times in the face of coordinated cyber threats in microgrid systems by implementing advanced technologies, thereby supporting decentralized operations while maintaining robust system performance in the presence of attacks. It utilizes advanced power engineering techniques to strengthen cybersecurity in modern power grids. A real-world CPS testbed was utilized to simulate the smart grid environment and analyze the impact of cyberattack
... Show MoreA method has been demonstrated to synthesise effective zeolite membranes from existing crystals without a hydrothermal synthesis step.
In this paper, a mathematical model was built for the supply chain to reduce production, inventory, and transportation in Baghdad Company for Soft Drink. The linear programming method was used to solve this mathematical model. We reduced the cost of production by reduced the daily work hours, the company do not need the overtime hours to work at the same levels of production, and the costs of storage in the company's warehouses and agents' stores have been reduced by making use of the stock correctly, which guarantees reducing costs and preserving products from damage. The units transferred from the company were equal to the units demanded by the agents. The company's mathematical model also achieved profits by (84,663,769) by re
... Show MoreUltraviolet photodetectors have been widely utilized in several applications, such as advanced communication, ozone sensing, air purification, flame detection, etc. Gallium nitride and its compound semiconductors have been promising candidates in photodetection applications. Unlike polar gallium nitride-based optoelectronics, non-polar gallium nitride-based optoelectronics have gained huge attention due to the piezoelectric and spontaneous polarization effect–induced quantum confined-stark effect being eliminated. In turn, non-polar gallium nitride-based photodetectors portray higher efficiency and faster response compared to the polar growth direction. To date, however, a systematic literature review of non-polar gallium nitride-
... Show MoreActive vibration control is the main problem in different structure. Smart material like piezoelectric make a structure smart, adaptive and self-controlling so, they are effective in active vibration control. In this paper piezoelectric elements are used as sensors and actuators in flexible structures for sensing and actuating purposes, and to control the vibration of a cantilever beam by using sliding mode control. The sliding mode controller (SMC) is designed to attenuate the vibration induced by initial tip displacement which is equal to 15 mm. It is designed based on the balance realization reduction method where three states are selected for the reduced model from the 24th states that describe the c
... Show MoreThis study proposed a biometric-based digital signature scheme proposed for facial recognition. The scheme is designed and built to verify the person’s identity during a registration process and retrieve their public and private keys stored in the database. The RSA algorithm has been used as asymmetric encryption method to encrypt hashes generated for digital documents. It uses the hash function (SHA-256) to generate digital signatures. In this study, local binary patterns histograms (LBPH) were used for facial recognition. The facial recognition method was evaluated on ORL faces retrieved from the database of Cambridge University. From the analysis, the LBPH algorithm achieved 97.5% accuracy; the real-time testing was done on thirty subj
... Show MoreLow oil extraction and early high water production are caused in part by reservoir heterogeneity. Huge quantities of water production are prevalent issues that happen in older reservoirs. Polyacrylamide polymer gel systems have been frequently employed as plugging agents in heterogeneous reservoirs to regulate water output and increase sweep efficiency. Polyacrylamide polymer gel systems are classified into three classes depending on their composition and application conditions, which are in-situ monomer gel, in-situ polymer gel, and preformed particle gel (PPG).
This paper gives a comprehensive review of PPG’s status, preparation, and mechanisms. Many sorts of PPGs are categorized, for example, millimeter-sized preformed p
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