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.
Contracaecum rudolphii Hartwich, 1964 is a nematode which causes major concerns to human and wildlife animal’s health. However, the population genetics of C. rudolphii has been poorly studied in Iraq. In order to gain a deeper understanding in the outline of the genetic diversity of the nematode C. rudolphii that were isolated from its host cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758), in the middle areas of Iraq, twenty specimens of C. rudolphii adults were isolated from nine individuals of P. carbo. The first (ITS-1) internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of C. rudolphii were amplified using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR); then, the amplicons were subjected to sequencing. Concatenation of ITS-1 (rD
... Show MoreThe productivity of oil wells may be improved by determining the value of enhancing well productivity and the likely reasons or sources of formation damage after the well has been recognized as underperforming. Oil well productivity may be improved, but the economics of this gradual improvement may be compromised. It is important to analyze the influence of the skin effect on the recovery of the reserve. The acid treatment evaluated for the well AD-12, primarily for the zone Mi4; using a license of Stimpro Stimulation Software to validate the experimental work to the field scale, this software is considered the most comprehensive instrument for planning and monitoring matrix acid treatments and utilizing actual data to provide a far
... Show MoreThis research aims to use chemical reaction to determine some of beta lactam antibiotics which include cephalexin and ceftriaxone in some pharmaceuticals by formation Prussian Blue complexes and using them for the UV-Vis., determination of drugs at wavelengths range (700- 720)nm by reaction them with FeCl3 in the presence of reagent K3[Fe(CN)6] in acid media . The optimal experimental conditions for the complex formation have been studied such as volume of HCl , K3[Fe(CN)6] , FeCl3 ,temperature and reaction time .Analytical figures of merits obtained on applying the developed procedure for cephalexin and ceftriaxone resp. are Linearity,(2-10),(1-7)?g.ml-1 LOD(0.0601,0.0330) ?g.ml-1. The de
... Show MoreAcuaria skrjabini Ozerskaya, 1926 and Dispharynx nasuta (Rudolphi, 1819) Stiles and Hassall, 1920, were found embedded in the mucosa of the gizzards of 26.97% of house sparrows, Passer domesticus biblicus collected in Baghdad City. Their morphometric and meristic features were expressed and compared with that reported in other studies.
We propose an intraguild predation ecological system consisting of a tri-trophic food web with a fear response for the basal prey and a Lotka–Volterra functional response for predation by both a specialist predator (intraguild prey) and a generalist predator (intraguild predator), which we call the superpredator. We prove the positivity, existence, uniqueness, and boundedness of solutions, determine all equilibrium points, prove global stability, determine local bifurcations, and illustrate our results with numerical simulations. An unexpected outcome of the prey's fear of its specialist predator is the potential eradication of the superpredator.
Learning the vocabulary of a language has great impact on acquiring that language. Many scholars in the field of language learning emphasize the importance of vocabulary as part of the learner's communicative competence, considering it the heart of language. One of the best methods of learning vocabulary is to focus on those words of high frequency. The present article is a corpus based approach to the study of vocabulary whereby the research data are analyzed quantitatively using the software program "AntWordprofiler". This program analyses new input research data in terms of already stored reliable corpora. The aim of this article is to find out whether the vocabularies used in the English textbook for Intermediate Schools in Iraq are con
... Show MoreThe Dynamic Load Factor (DLF) is defined as the ratio between the maximum dynamic and static responses in terms of stress, strain, deflection, reaction, etc. DLF adopted by different design codes is based on parameters such as bridge span length, traffic load models, and bridge natural frequency. During the last decades, a lot of researches have been made to study the DLF of simply supported bridges due to vehicle loading. On the other hand, fewer works have been reported on continuous bridges especially with skew supports. This paper focuses on the investigation of the DLF for a highly skewed steel I-girder bridge, namely the US13 Bridge in Delaware State, USA. Field testing under various load passes of a weighed load vehicle was u
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