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 new form of 2D-plane curves is produced and graphically studied. The name of my daughter "Noor" has been given to this curve; therefore, Noor term describes this curve whenever it is used in this paper. This curve is a form of these opened curves as it extends in the infinity along both sides from the origin point. The curve is designed by a circle/ ellipse which are drawing curvatures that tangent at the origin point, where its circumference is passed through the (0,2a). By sharing two vertical lined points of both the circle diameter and the major axis of the ellipse, the parametric equation is derived. In this paper, a set of various cases of Noor curve are graphically studied by two curvature cases;
... Show MoreObjective: To study the effect of epidural spinal injection over one year in case of spinal stenosis. Methodology: This prospective study included 566 patients with spinal stenosis seen at Al-Kindy Teaching and Al-Sader, Hospitals who were treated by local epidural steroid injection. They were followed up for at least five subsequent visits after seven days, one month, three months, six months, and one year to assess efficacy. Result: Mean age of patients was 49.5 years, with a predominance of females (65%). L4/L5 was the most involved level in the spinal stenosis (70%). Grade II stenosis accounted for (45.4%) of cases. The pairwise comparison revealed that there was significant decrease in proportions of patients with pain in day
... Show MoreThe gas sensing properties of Co3O4 and Co3O4:Y nano structures were investigated. The films were synthesized using the hydrothermal method on a seeded layer. The XRD, SEM analysis and gas sensing properties were investigated for Co3O4 and Co3O4:Y thin films. XRD analysis shows that all films are polycrystalline in nature, having a cubic structure, and the crystallite size is (11.7)nm for cobalt oxide and (9.3)nm for the Co3O4:10%Y. The SEM analysis of thin films obviously indicates that Co3O4 possesses a nanosphere-like structure and a flower-like structure for Co3O4:Y.
The sen
... Show MoreBackground: Polymers are very rarely used in their form. These modifications are carried out in order to improve the properties of polymers.Recently silver have been used successfully as antimicrobial (medical and dental) biomaterials that can prevent caries and infection of implants Purposes: The aim of the present in vitro study is to evaluate the effect of addition of silver nitrate to acrylic resin in different concentrationsthrough several tests part of these are: The effect of this additive on impact strength, transverse strength, and tensile strength of AgNO3 – loaded resin, and to assess any effect of addition of silver nitrate on coloration of acrylic resin. Materials and methods: Different concentrations of silver nitrate
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This paper describes DC motor speed control based on optimal Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) technique. Controller's objective is to maintain the speed of rotation of the motor shaft with a particular step response.The controller is modeled in MATLAB environment, the simulation results show that the proposed controller gives better performance and less settling time when compared with the traditional PID controller.
In the current analysis, the effects of circumferential scratches along the inner surface of a 170ᵒ -arc partial journal bearing has been numerically investigated. Their impact on the thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic performance characteristics, including maximum pressure, temperature, deformation, and stress, has been examined thoroughly. The ANSYS Fluent CFD commercial code was employed to tackle the iterative solution of flow and heat transfer patterns in the fluid film domain. They are then applied to the ANSYS Static Structure solver to compute the deformation and stress resulted in the solid bearing zone. A wide range of operating conditions has been considered, including the eccentricity ratio ( ) and scratch depth (
... Show MoreThis research presents a method of using MATLAB in analyzing a nonhomogeneous soil (Gibson-type) by
estimating the displacements and stresses under the strip footing during applied incremental loading
sequences. This paper presents a two-dimensional finite element method. In this method, the soil is divided into a number of triangle elements. A model soil (Gibson-type) with linearly increasing modulus of elasticity with depth is presented. The influences of modulus of elasticity, incremental loading, width of footing, and depth of footing are considered in this paper. The results are compared with authors' conclusions of previous studies.
The effluent quality improvement being discharged from wastewater treatment plants is essential to maintain an environment and healthy water resources. This study was carried out to evaluate the possibility of intermittent slow sand filtration as a promising tertiary treatment method for the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) effluent. Laboratory scale slow sand filter (SSF) of 1.5 UC and 0.1 m/h filtration rate, was used to study the process performance. It was found that SSF IS very efficient in oxidizing organic matter with COD removal efficiency up to 95%, also it is capable of removing considerable amounts of phosphate with 76% and turbidity with 87% removal efficiencies. Slow sand filter efficiently reduced the mass of suspended
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