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.
Huwaiza marsh is considered the largest marsh in the southern part of Iraq. It is located between 31° and 31.75° latitude and extends over the Iraqi-Iranian border; but the largest part lies in Iraq. It is located to the east of Tigris River in Messan and Basra governorates.
In this research, the variation of some water quality parameters at different locations of Huwaiza marsh were studied to find out its efficacy in the treatment of the contamination coming from the wastewater outfall of Kahlaa brokendown sewage treatment plant which lies on the Kahlaa River. This rive is the main feeder of Huwaiza marsh. Ten water quality sampling locations were chosen in this marsh. The water samples were taken during 2009 for three months; Janu
The city of Ghana is one of the important commercial cities in the country of Sudan, as it was a major source of commercial exchanges, and a commercial mediator across the countries of the Maghreb and the metropolises of the countries of Sudan. Many, and most of them take the desert road, Which traders had to endure the hardships of these roads from the insecurity, high winds and dust that sometimes destroyed the trade convoys, in order to obtain gold, which is one of the most important minerals that Ghana traded with various countries, in addition to the different goods that the merchants carried In particular, salt and its trade with Ghana, and also taxes, which were an important financial resource imposed by some gov
... Show MoreRate of zinc consumption during the cathodic protection of copper pipeline which carries saline water was measured by weight loss technique in the absence and presence of bacteria. Variables studied were solution flow rate, temperature, time and NaCl concentration. It was found that within the present range of variables; the rate of zinc consumption increases with the increase of all operating conditions. The presence of bacteria increases the zinc consumption. Fourth order multi-term model and one-term model were suggested to represent the consumption data. Nonlinear regression analysis was used to estimate the coefficients of these models, while statistical analysis was used to determine the effect of each coefficient. Both models were re
... Show MoreThe electrochemical behavior of carbon steel in water sweetening station in Libya has been studied in the range of ( 293–333 oC) using weight loss technique. Measurements were carried out over a range of Reynolds number (5000 – 25000).An apparatus was designed for studying the corrosion process in the turbulent regime, which is of industrial significance. It was found that The corrosion rate of carbon steel in water sweetening station is under diffusion control and increases with increasing Reynolds number. On the other hand the variation of corrosion rate with temperature in the range of (293–333 oC) was found to follow Arrhenius equation and the activation energy approximately the same except at low Reynolds
... Show MoreAt the heart of every robust economy is a vital banking system. The functional banking system can effectively perform several functions such as mobilizing savings, allocating credit, monitoring managers, transforming risks, and facilitating the financial transactions. This paper aims to measure the impact of banking system development on economic growth in Iraq. Credit to private sector divided by GDP used as a proxy of banking development. Real per capita GDP used as a proxy of economic growth. By using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, the paper finds that the undeveloped Iraqi banking system could not promote economic growth in the country. Therefore, a variety of policies need to be taken to spur the role of bankin
... Show MoreBackground: Ejection fraction have been used frequently
for assessment of the left ventricular function, but can be
associated with errors in which myocardial performance
index have been used as another parameter to measure the
left ventricular function.
Objective: selecting another echocardiography parameter
for the assessment of myocardial in function instead of the
ejection fraction.
Methods: 160 patients referred to the echocardiogram unit
from the period december 2007 to august 2008 requesting
assessment of left ventricular function. After clinical
examination, routine blood tests; chest x-ray and
electrocardiographic recording have been completed. All
patients informed to come for this unit af
In this research, that been focused on the most important economic benefits expected when applying the three standards of sustainability in construction projects (economic, environmental and social). Fuzzy AHP, a multi-decision decision-making technique for evaluating construction projects. Which when used we get the speed and accuracy in the results. Using this technique will reduce uncertainties decisions significantly (fuzzy environment), that found in most projects .The results of the data analysis showed that the economic standards take the greatest relative importance (60%) among the three sustainability standards. Therefore, the implementation of any standards need a cost so the economic benefit of any proje
... Show MoreThe search involve the synthesis of some new 1,3-oxazepine and 1,3-diazepine derivatives were synthesized from Schiff base. The Schiff base (VIII) prepared from reaction of aldehyde (IV) derived from L-ascorbic acid with aromatic amine ([2-(4- nitrophenyl)-5-(4-aminophenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole] (VII). Oxazepine compounds (IX-XI) were synthesized from the cyclic condensation of Schiff base (VIII) with (maleic, phthalic and 3-nitrophthalic) anhydride, compounds (IX-XI) that were reacted with p-methoxyaniline to give diazepine derivatives (XII-XIV). The structures of the new synthesized compounds have been confirmed by physical properties and spectroscopy measurements such as FTIR, and some of them by 1 H-NMR, 13 CNMR, Mass, and evaluated
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