Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a nuclear transcription factor that controls gene expression. Its impaired expression was found to be related to different diseases. VDR also acts as a regulator of different pathways including differentiation, inflammation, calcium and phosphate absorption, etc. but there is no sufficient knowledge about the regulation of the gene itself. Therefore, a better understanding of the genetic and epigenetic factors regulating the VDR may facilitate the improvement of strategies for the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with dysregulation of VDR. In the present investigation, a set of databases and methods were used to identify putative functional elements in the VDR locus. Histone modifications, CpG Islands, epigenetic marks at VDR locus were indicated. In addition, repeated sequences, enhancers, insulators, transcription factor binding sites and targets of the VDR gene, as well as protein-protein interactions with bioinformatics tools, were reported. Some of these genetic elements had overlapped with CpG Islands. These results revealed important new insight into the molecular mechanisms of the VDR gene regulation in human cells and tissues.
Finite element method is the most widely numerical technique used in engineering field. Through the study of behavior of concrete material properties, various concrete constitutive laws and failure criteria have been developed to model the behavior of concrete. A feature of the Finite Element program (ATENA) is used in this study to model the behavior of UHPC corbel under concentrated load only. The Finite Element (FE) model is followed by verification against experimental results. Some variable effects on the shear capacity of the UHPC corbels are also demonstrated in a parametric study. A proposed design equation of shear strength of UHPC corbel was presented and checked with numerical results.
Optimum perforation location selection is an important study to improve well production and hence in the reservoir development process, especially for unconventional high-pressure formations such as the formations under study. Reservoir geomechanics is one of the key factors to find optimal perforation location. This study aims to detect optimum perforation location by investigating the changes in geomechanical properties and wellbore stress for high-pressure formations and studying the difference in different stress type behaviors between normal and abnormal formations. The calculations are achieved by building one-dimensional mechanical earth model using the data of four deep abnormal wells located in Southern Iraqi oil fields. The magni
... Show MoreWithin this work, to promote the efficiency of organic-based solar cells, a series of novel A-π-D type small molecules were scrutinised. The acceptors which we designed had a moiety of N, N-dimethylaniline as the donor and catechol moiety as the acceptor linked through various conjugated π-linkers. We performed DFT (B3LYP) as well as TD-DFT (CAM-B3LYP) computations using 6-31G (d,p) for scrutinising the impact of various π-linkers upon optoelectronic characteristics, stability, and rate of charge transport. In comparison with the reference molecule, various π-linkers led to a smaller HOMO–LUMO energy gap. Compared to the reference molecule, there was a considerable red shift in the molecules under study (A1–A4). Therefore, based on
... Show MoreAbstract Depending on their protective properties against different cases of Colorectal Cancer (CRC), vitamins C, D, and E are the main focus of this research. CRC is one of the global public health concerns. 30 healthy individuals provided serum samples, whereas the group of CRC patients was divided into three, totaling 90 individuals. Group I consisted of 30 newly diagnosed cases of CRC. Group II 30 consisted of consisted of 30 CRC patients who were administered three cycles of chemotherapy. Group III consisted of 30 diagnosed CRC patients who also have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The concentrations and groups of vitamins C, D, and E were evaluated using ELISA. The levels of Vitamin C were significantly lower (p &l
... Show MoreThe major objectives of this research are to analyze the behavior of road embankments
reinforced with geotextiles constructed on soft soil and describe the finite element analysis by using
ANSYS program ver. (5.4). The ANSYS finite element program helps in analyzing the stability of
geo- structure (embankment) in varied application of geotextiles reinforcement to enhance the best
design for embankment.
The results of analysis indicate that one of the primary function of geotextiles reinforcement was to
reduce the horizontal displacement significantly. With the inclusions of reinforcement, the horizontal
displacement reduced by about (81%), while the vertical displacement reduced by (32%). The effect
of geotextiles
Oral carcinoma is the 6th most common cancer in the world. MicroRNAs are small non-coding single stranded RNAs. They have been shown to be capable of altering mRNA expression; thus some are oncogenic or tumor suppressive in nature. The salivary microRNA-31 has been proposed as a sensitive marker for oral malignancy since it was abundant in saliva more than in plasma. A total of 55 whole saliva samples were collected from 35 cases diagnosed with OC their ages and gender matched with 20 healthy subjects. TaqManq RT-PCR was performed for RNA samples. Mean age was 52.23+13.73 years in cases (range:17-70 years) with male predominance represented 69%. Risk of smoking and alcoholism was highly significant. The median fold change of miR-31 was sign
... Show MoreBackground: Animal bites in humans are an important public health problem. Most of these bites are dog bites. Dog bites in humans are a complex problem embracing public health and animal welfare, both in developed and developing nations. .
Al-kindy Col Med J Vol.8 No.2 2012 P: 149
Objectives: in order to estimate the magnitude of the problem and to understand the epidemiological characteristics of dog bite victims registered in Baghdad city regarding their age, sex, number of registered dog bite victims per month and year along the studied period ( 2006-2010) and also to sniff out any seasonal variation in dog bite attacks .
Methods: A across-sectional study was carried out during January (2011), in the Anti-Rabies clinic of (Pa
Background: Animal bites in humans are an important public health problem. Most of these bites are dog bites. Dog bites in humans are a complex problem embracing public health and animal welfare, both in developed and developing nations. .
Al-kindy Col Med J Vol.8 No.2 2012 P: 151
Objectives: in order to estimate the magnitude of the problem and to understand the epidemiological characteristics of dog bite victims registered in Baghdad city regarding their age, sex, number of registered dog bite victims per month and year along the studied period ( 2006-2010) and also to sniff out any seasonal variation in dog bite attacks .
Methods: A across-sectional study was carried out during January (2011), in the Anti-Rabies clinic of (Pa
Hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver, has a number of infectious and non-infectious causes. Two of the viruses that cause hepatitis (hepatitis A and E) can be transmitted through water and food; hygiene is therefore important in their control. First, to assess the importance of HAV and HEV as a possible diagnosis for clinically diagnosed patients with acute viral hepatitis. Second, to assess the prevalence of hepatitis A and E in all provinces of Iraq and study its association with age, gender. This study consisted of two groups: The first group consisted of 2975 patients with a clinical diagnosis of acute viral hepatitis. The second group consisted of a total of 9610 persons, which were recruited by surveying a nationally representative
... Show MoreThe response of floating stone columns of different lengths to diameter ratio (L/D = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10) ratios exposed to earthquake excitations is well modeled in this paper. Such stone column behavior is essential in the case of lateral displacement under an earthquake through the soft clay soil. ABAQUS software was used to simulate the behavior of stone columns in soft clayey soil using an axisymmetric finite element model. The behavior of stone column material has been modeled with a Drucker-Prager model. The soft soil material was modeled by the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion assuming an elastic-perfectly plastic behavior. The floating stone columns were subjected to the El Centro earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.1 an
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