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.
Exogenous levothyroxine dose modulation and euthyroidism achievement is a persistent challenge in clinical settings. This study strives to assess the adequacy of treatment and identify the patients’ factors that can be used to estimate the euthyroid levothyroxine dose. A secondary objective was to assess vitamin D supplementation impact on thyroid status.
A review of a prospectively collected information from 142 female patients from Baghdad Center of Nuclear Medicine from June 2019 until March 2020 who were receiving levothyroxine for different causes was done. After a follow-up period, the patients’ thyroid tests were assessed and the euthyroid doses for each cause category were statistically analyzed. Thyroid function was
... Show MoreBackground: Sex variations in coronary artery disease (CAD) are well documented. However, sex differences in coronary artery calcium (CAC) and its role in the detection of coronary artery stenosis remain controversial. Objective: To assess the impact of sex variation on coronary artery calcification and its efficacy in predicting coronary artery stenosis. Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study including 230 consecutive patients with suspected CAD (120 men and 110 women) referred for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). The study analyzed sex-based differences in the sensitivity and specificity of coronary artery calcification (CAC) for detecting moderate to severe stenosis across various coronary arteries
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The current research aims to identify the level of organizational relaxation among the employees of educational directorates in the Sultanate of Oman. The descriptive approach was used, as well as a questionnaire of two parts to collect data. The questionnaire consists of (15) items divided into three themes about the relaxing level. It was applied on a sample of (406) male & female employees of the educational directorates who were randomly selected. The results of the study showed that the level of organizational relaxation was low. The study results also found that there were no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α ≤ 0.05) of the study sample in the level of org
... Show MoreThis research aims to shed light on the necessity of establishing an information security management system through which banking security risks are managed in the light of the ISO (IEC 27001) standard, through which bank departments seek to demonstrate the management of their security systems and their controls in accordance with the specifications of the standard to obtain an internationally recognized security certificate And the need for senior management in banks to an independent person with scientific and practical qualification and who has accredited certificates in the field of information technology for the purpose of helping them to verify the level of compatibility between the policies and procedures applied and the p
... Show MorePurpose: The research aims to determine the relationship between E-Learning and Total Quality Management (TQM) in Educational institutions in Nineveh Governorates.
Methodology / Design: The researchers distributed (30) questionnaires to employees (teachers and administrators) of Nineveh Governorate education who represent the community of the research sample, as they were analyzed using the SPSS V.20
The importance of research: The importance of the research in the fact that it focuses on one of the educational methods represented in integrating the traditional method and relying on modern technologies using computers and the Internet in the field of education to improve the reali
... Show MoreThe goal of the research is to highlight the role of the governance and its characteristics in increasing the tax outcome by implementing the laws, regulations and annual controls issued annually from the general authority for taxation for the financing of the general treasury of the state, Additional development and economic capacity, As the search shares a view of the governance and its characteristics and its ideas from increasing tax output. The analytical transparent approach was used by adopting the practice of practicalities of the general authority for tax For quotations in the senior cabinet section ,the revealing of the ongoing operations was relied on the revenue for each financial year, The tools adopted in the process of ana
... Show MoreThis study aims to identify the role of forensic accounting in the Iraqi environment, banking stability, and to achieve this goal, we used the field survey method, as it is the most appropriate for studying the phenomenon in question and achieving its objectives.
Where we selected a sample consisting of (50) male and female employees, distributed among five private banks in Baghdad governorate, namely (Ashur International Bank, Development Investment Bank, Iraqi Middle East Investment Bank, Hammurabi Commercial Bank, Khaleej Commercial Bank), and the questionnaire tool was applied to them Designed for this purpose, which consisted of
... Show MoreObjectives: The present study aims at detecting the depression among nurses who provide care for infected patients with corona virus phenomenon and to find out relationships between the depression and their demographic characteristics of age, gender, marital status, type of family, education, and years of experience of nurses in heath institutions, infection by corona virus, and their participation in training courses.
Methodology: A descriptive study is established for a period from October 10th, 2020 to April 15th, 2021. The study is conducted on a purposive (non-probability) sample of (100) nurse who are providing care for patients with COVID-19 and they are selected from the isolation wards. The instrument of the study is develope
The fundamental problem in determining the role of television programs in broadcasting the culture of community for peace through studying almosamig kareem program by studying the topics addressed in this program. It is a descriptive study and it follows the approach survey method. In this study, the spatial framework is limited to the program of almosamih kareem on YouTube, while the temporal framework is concerned with the episodes that are raised on YouTube from the second half of 2014 to 2015 of almosamih kareem program. The fundamental problem in determining the role of television programs in broadcasting the culture of community for peace through studying almosamig kareem program by studying the topics addressed in this
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