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 ng/ml, the TNF-a level which was 123.6 ng/ml, and the IL-1B level which was 204.365 pg/dl were significantly higher in patients compared to control 3.28 (1.58–4.99) ng/ml, 56.47 (9.38–77.01) ng/ml and 67.887 (15.493–122.689)pg/dl respectively. There was no correlation between serum YKL-40 and disease activity, while there were significant associations observed with TNF-α (r=0.5,p =0.0001) and IL-1β (r=0.41, p=0.001). YKL-40 indicating good levels of RA prediction at 2.47 ng/ml, sensitivity 87.9%, specificity 58.6%, accuracy 78.1%, PPV 80.9%, and NPV 70.8%. In conclusion, a higher level of serum YKL-40 is found in RA patients. The findings from our study suggest a strong association between YKL-40 and the proinflammatory biomarkers. As a result, these biomarkers together might play a role in RA pathogenesis, and YKL-40 may be used as a potential diagnostic biomarker for RA.
In The Bluest Eye (1970), the American-African writer, Toni Morrison explores how
Western standards of ideal beauty are created and propagated with and among the black
community. The novel not only portrays the lives of those whose dark skinned and Negroid
features blight their lives; it also shows how the standard of white beauty, when imposed on
black youth, can drastically damage one’s self-love and esteem which usually occurs when
beauty goes unrecognized. Morrison in this novel focuses on the damage that the black
women characters suffer through the construction of femininity in a racialised society where
whiteness is used as a standard of beauty.
All modern critical approaches attempt to cover the meanings and overtones of the text, claiming that they are better than others in the analysis and attainment of the intended meanings of the text. The structural approach claims to be able to do so more than any other modern critical approach, as it claimed that it is possible to separate what is read from the reader, on the presumed belief that it is possible to read the text with a zero-memory. However, the studies in criticism of criticism state that each of these approaches is successful in dealing with the text in one or more aspects while failing in one or more aspects. Consequently, the criticism whether the approach possesses the text, or that the text rejects this possession, r
... Show MoreProverbs and preaching Sermons in Pre-Islamic Poetry and their indications Peacefulness
François Mauriac’s novel The Desert of Love (1949) puts the reader before an experienced sociologist who is skillfully able to analyze the most mysterious human emotions and feelings. The writer's starting point is that people are similar in feelings but different in behavior. He severely criticized the aristocratic class and uncovered its defects and faults.
The novelist presents Courege's family as an example of the aristocratic class. It is a family torn by hatred, selfishness and disagreements due to absence of intimacy and love. This poisoned environment pushes the father and his son, Raymond, to search away for emotional ventures and banned relations
... Show MoreThe study was planned to evaluate the effect of adding Guanidinoacetic acid in some characteristics of the sperm of the rams. This study was conducted in the animal field of the Animal Production Department / Faculty of Agricultural Engineering Sciences / University of Baghdad, for the period from 5/8/2018 to 28/2/2019. In this experiment, 3 rams were used at the age of 2-2.5 years and weighed 50-54 kg. The semen was collected early in the morning and once a week and the semen was pooled to remove the individual differences. The treatments were divided: GAA-free control group, treatment T1 (0.05 mg / 100 ml GAA), T2 treatment (0.1 mg / 100 ml GAA) and T3 treatment (0.2 mg / 100 ml GAA). The results of the study showed a significant decrease
... Show MoreAnd the necessity for the progress of modern societies Because the scientific and objective characteristics that characterize modern societies and distinguish them from traditional societies, Is represented by the extent of its innovative achievements in the theoretical, applied and material scientific and spiritual fields. It should be noted that quality and innovation in modern societies is based on two main pillars, Standard measures for measuring and evaluating innovations to achieve their high quality, And the dissemination of the culture of innovation to spread awareness of the importance and conditions of success, and this is done by the advanced industrial countries, However, despite the great disparity between developed industri
... Show MoreThe whole world and the Arab world, especially an important part of this international system, is undergoing a radical transformation at all levels. This mosaic of political, economic, social and military relations and alliances, whether based on the special interests of the major Powers or on the basis of mutual interests, The major transformations to social, economic, political and military conflict and these transformations still bear more surprises, at all levels, nothing remains constant, all changed, relations changed and alliances changed and loyalties fell and the principles of the M changed and the spectacular imperial economies collapsed and the will of the masses was no longer fixed.
Research summary
Perhaps the methods of mask that Arab poets resorted to in our time are due to the conditions of oppression and political and social repression that the Arab poet suffered from; So he strived to circumvent it, and it became a justification for hiding behind it. The research is available on a number of topics that lead to the definition of the mask technique and the beginning of its prevalence in Arabic literature after the Second World War, especially in recent decades by benefiting from historical stories, fairy tales and legends of all kinds. As well as defining the mask idiomatically and linguistically, and the beginning of its use in ancient religious rituals, and the special place it had in Greek plays. Poets
... Show Moreحضيت القيادة باهتمام كبير من قبل الباحثين ودورها الإيجابي في التأثير على الموظفين ونجاح المنظمات، في الآونة الأخير بدأت الدراسات تركز على الجانب المظلم للقيادة وتأثيرها على التابعين وبيئة العمل، وقد تم تحديد القيادة السامة بأنها أخطر الأساليب القيادية التي تتسبب بتكاليف مادية ومعنوية على المنظمات بمختلف جوانبها، ان القيادة السامة تأثر على دوافع المرؤوسين وقدرتهم على انجاز المهام، ورغبتهم في الاستمرار في
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