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 this paper a decoder of binary BCH code is implemented using a PIC microcontroller for code length n=127 bits with multiple error correction capability, the results are presented for correcting errors up to 13 errors. The Berkelam-Massey decoding algorithm was chosen for its efficiency. The microcontroller PIC18f45k22 was chosen for the implementation and programmed using assembly language to achieve highest performance. This makes the BCH decoder implementable as a low cost module that can be used as a part of larger systems. The performance evaluation is presented in terms of total number of instructions and the bit rate.
Background. Nanocoating of biomedical materials may be considered the most essential developing field recently, primarily directed at improving their tribological behaviors that enhance their performance and durability. In orthodontics, as in many medical fields, friction reduction (by nanocoatings) among different orthodontic components is considered a substantial milestone in the development of biomedical technology that reduces orthodontic treatment time. The objective of the current research was to explore the tribological behavior, namely, friction of nanocoated thin layer by tantalum (Ta), niobium (Nb), and vanadium (V) manufactured using plasma sputtering at 1, 2, and 3 hours on substrates made of 316L stainless steel (SS),
... Show MoreThis work aims to analyze a three-dimensional discrete-time biological system, a prey-predator model with a constant harvesting amount. The stage structure lies in the predator species. This analysis is done by finding all possible equilibria and investigating their stability. In order to get an optimal harvesting strategy, we suppose that harvesting is to be a non-constant rate. Finally, numerical simulations are given to confirm the outcome of mathematical analysis.
In this study some generic commercial products of Atorvastatin tablets were evaluated by dissolution test in acid medium by comparing with that of parent drug Lipitor of Pfizer Company. Some of solubilizing agents were studied in formulation of Atorvastatin tablet including; surface active agent and PEG 6000 .The most effective factor was the use of PEG6000 in formulation of Atorvastatin tablet which improved the dissolution and the results of dissolution profile of formulated tablet in this work was bioequivalent to that of Lipitor .The quantitative analysis of this work was performed by using reversed phase liquid chromatography and a proper mixture of  
... Show MoreIn this study, the performance of the adaptive optics (AO) system was analyzed through a numerical computer simulation implemented in MATLAB. Making a phase screen involved turning computer-generated random numbers into two-dimensional arrays of phase values on a sample point grid with matching statistics. Von Karman turbulence was created depending on the power spectral density. Several simulated point spread functions (PSFs) and modulation transfer functions (MTFs) for different values of the Fried coherent diameter (ro) were used to show how rough the atmosphere was. To evaluate the effectiveness of the optical system (telescope), the Strehl ratio (S) was computed. The compensation procedure for an AO syst
... Show MoreSimulation experiments are a means of solving in many fields, and it is the process of designing a model of the real system in order to follow it and identify its behavior through certain models and formulas written according to a repeating software style with a number of iterations. The aim of this study is to build a model that deals with the behavior suffering from the state of (heteroskedasticity) by studying the models (APGARCH & NAGARCH) using (Gaussian) and (Non-Gaussian) distributions for different sample sizes (500,1000,1500,2000) through the stage of time series analysis (identification , estimation, diagnostic checking and prediction). The data was generated using the estimations of the parameters resulting f
... Show MoreDifferent solvents (light naphtha, n-heptane, and n-hexane) are used to treat Iraqi Atmospheric oil residue by the deasphalting process. Oil residue from Al-Dura refinery with specific gravity 0.9705, API 14.9, and 0.5 wt. % sulfur content was used. Deasphalting oil (DAO) was examined on a laboratory scale by using solvents with different operation conditions (temperature, concentration of solvent, solvent to oil ratio, and duration time). This study investigates the effects of these parameters on asphaltene yield. The results show that an increase in temperature for all solvents increases the extraction of asphaltene yield. The higher reduction in asphaltene content is obtained with hexane solvent at operating conditions of (90 °C, 4/1
... Show MoreThe extraction of Basil oil from Iraqi Ocimum basillicum leaves using n-hexane and petroleum ether as organic solvents were studied and compared. The concentration of oil has been determined in a variety of extraction temperatures and agitation speed. The solvent to solid ratio effect has been studied in order to evaluate the concentration of Ocimum basillicum oil. The optimum experimental conditions for the oil extraction were established as follows: n-hexane as organic solvent, 60 °C extraction temperature, 300 rpm agitation speed and 40:1mL:g amount of solvent to solid ratio.