Chitinase-3-like 1 protein (YKL-40) is a glycoprotein primarily produced in the arthritic joint and plays a crucial role in inflammatory processes. The aim of the study is to establish the role of YKL-40 as a biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to proinflammatory biomarkers and disease activity. The study included 58 patients and 18 control. Diseases activity score (DAS-28) and clinical disease activity index (CDAI) were measured. Serum level of YKL-40, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1B (IL-1β), erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF), C-reactive protein (CRP), and anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) were assessed. The results showed that the median serum YKL-40 level which was 5.42 

Abstract

       The grey system model GM(1,1) is the model of the prediction of the time series and the basis of the grey theory. This research presents the methods for estimating parameters of the grey model GM(1,1) is the accumulative method (ACC), the exponential method (EXP), modified exponential method (Mod EXP) and the Particle Swarm Optimization method (PSO). These methods were compared based on the Mean square error (MSE) and the Mean Absolute percentage error (MAPE) as a basis comparator and the simulation method was adopted for the best of the four methods, The best method was obtained and then applied to real data. This data represents the consumption rate of two types of oils a he

Iraqi EFL college instructors, who supervise the teaching practice of EFL student teachers, commonly experience the inefficient teaching performance of prospective teachers. This inefficiency is usually due to their inability to make connections between the practical experience and the theoretical knowledge of TEFL. One of the reasons behind this inability may be the employment of traditional ways of training and instructing student teachers. Moreover, it is usually noticed that many Iraqi EFL student teachers have a negative attitude toward the teaching profession. They explicitly state that they would join the teaching force only if they fail to work in any other field.

    Synthesis of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (A₁) is performed from the reaction of  o-aminothiophenol and carbon disulfide CS₂ in ethanol under basic condition. Compound (A₁)  is reacted with chloro acetyl chloride to give compound (A₂). Hydrazide acid compound (A₃) is obtained from the reaction of compound (A₂) with  hydrazine hydrate in ethanol under reflux in the presence of glacial acetic acid .The reaction of hydrazide acid compound (A₃) with ethyl acetoacetate gives pyrazole compound (A₄). The new hydrazone  compound (A₅) was prepared from the reaction of compound (A₃) with  benzaldehyde. Reaction of compound

A survey of blood parasites among members of two species of Iraqi babblers Timaliidae,
Turodoides caudatus salvadori (de Fillipi, 1865) and Turdoides alterostris (Hartert, 1909)
was carried out in the middle and south of Iraq. Two species of haematozoa were recovered,
Haemoproteus turdoidus sp. nov. and Plasmodium relictum Grassi &Felleti. The description
of the new taxon is provided and discussed with pertinent literature.

Growth is a multifactorial process influenced by genetic, nutritional, hormonal, psychosocial and other factors including the general health of a child. Epilepsy defined as a chronic condition characterized by recurrent clinical events or epileptic seizures, which occur in the absence of a metabolic or toxic disease the drugs that use in the treatment of this condition can affect patients growth due to their mechanisms of action. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of some antiepileptic drugs on growth (height and weight) in children with epilepsy. This work involved 51 newly diagnosed children with a different form of epilepsy (Generalized, absent and partial). Patients divided into three groups according to the treatment (group one

The primary aim of the present study was to prepare a set of exercises on the multi-resistor VertiMax device and to identify the effect of these exercises on the development of the endurance of discus throwers under 16 years old. The design of the present study was experimental. Participants were selected using purposive sampling method. A total of 5 discuss players constituted the sample of the study. The authors found a significant improvement in the levels of endurance and performance as a result of the training on the VertiMax device. Therefore, it is recommendable to use exercises on the VertiMax device to improve the endurance and performance of under 16-years of age discus throwers.