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.
Background: The grading systems of salivary mucoepidermoid carcinoma depend on different histologic and morphologic features. The aim of this study was to compare between Auclair and Brandwein systems according to their histologic criteria, and the type of cell predominant. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one case included hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) stained tissue slides that were diagnosed as MEC, originally categorized into low and high grade type regardless of the grading system, have meticulously undergone histopathologic review. The sample was graded according to criteria owing to Auclair and Brandwein methods. The predominant type of cells was determined by microscopic examination according to grade of tumor. Results: Regarding the
... Show MoreThe convergence speed is the most important feature of Back-Propagation (BP) algorithm. A lot of improvements were proposed to this algorithm since its presentation, in order to speed up the convergence phase. In this paper, a new modified BP algorithm called Speeding up Back-Propagation Learning (SUBPL) algorithm is proposed and compared to the standard BP. Different data sets were implemented and experimented to verify the improvement in SUBPL.
Solvents are important components in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, and they are increasingly being used in catalytic reactions. Solvents have a significant influence on the kinetics and thermodynamics of reactions, and they can significantly change product selectivity. Solvents can influence product selectivity, conversion rates, and reaction rates. However, solvents have received a lot of attention in the field of green chemistry. This is due to the large amount of solvent that is frequently used in a process or formulation, particularly during the purification steps. However, neither the solvent nor the active ingredient in a formulation is directly responsible for the reaction product's composition. Because these ch
... Show MoreThe effect of linear thermal stratification in stable stationary ambient fluid on free convective flow of a viscous incompressible fluid along a plane wall is numerically investigated in the present work. The governing equations of continuity, momentum and energy are solved numerically using finite difference method with Alternating Direct implicit Scheme. The velocity, temperature distributions
and the Nusselt number are discussed numerically for various values of physical parameters and presented through graphs. ANSYS program also used to solve the problem. The results show that the effect of stratification parameter is marginalized with the increase in Prandtl number, and the increase in Grashof number does not practically vary the
The performance quality and searching speed of Block Matching (BM) algorithm are affected by shapes and sizes of the search patterns used in the algorithm. In this paper, Kite Cross Hexagonal Search (KCHS) is proposed. This algorithm uses different search patterns (kite, cross, and hexagonal) to search for the best Motion Vector (MV). In first step, KCHS uses cross search pattern. In second step, it uses one of kite search patterns (up, down, left, or right depending on the first step). In subsequent steps, it uses large/small Hexagonal Search (HS) patterns. This new algorithm is compared with several known fast block matching algorithms. Comparisons are based on search points and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). According to resul
... Show MoreThis paper proposes feedback linearization control (FBLC) based on function approximation technique (FAT) to regulate the vibrational motion of a smart thin plate considering the effect of axial stretching. The FBLC includes designing a nonlinear control law for the stabilization of the target dynamic system while the closedloop dynamics are linear with ensured stability. The objective of the FAT is to estimate the cubic nonlinear restoring force vector using the linear parameterization of weighting and orthogonal basis function matrices. Orthogonal Chebyshev polynomials are used as strong approximators for adaptive schemes. The proposed control architecture is applied to a thin plate with a large deflection that stimulates the axial loadin
... Show MoreThe heat exchanger is a device used to transfer heat energy between two fluids, hot and cold. In this work, an output feedback adaptive sliding mode controller is designed to control the temperature of the outlet cold water for plate heat exchanger. The measurement of the outlet cold temperature is the only information required. Hence, a sliding mode differentiator was designed to estimate the time derivative of outlet hot water temperature, which it is needed for constructing a sliding variable. The discontinuous gain value of the sliding mode controller is adapted according to a certain adaptation law. Two constraints which imposed on the volumetric flow rate of outlet cold (control input) were considered within the rules of the proposed
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