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.
This study investigates the digestion of cow dung (CD) for biogas production at laboratory scales. The study was carried out through anaerobic fermentation using cow dung as substrate. The digester was operated at ambient temperatures of 39.5 °C for a period of 10 days. The effect of iron powder in controlling the production of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been tested. The optimum concentration of iron powder was 4g/L with the highest biogas production. A Q – swatch Nd:YAG laser has been used to mix and homogenize the components of one of the six digesters and accelerate digestion. At the end of digestion, all digestions effluent was subjected to 5 laser pulses with 250mJ/pules to dispose waste biomass.
Solar collectors, in general, are utilized to convert the solar energy into heat energy, where it is employed to generate electricity. The non-concentrating solar collector with a circular shape was adopted in the present study. Ambient air is heated under a translucent roof where buoyant air is drawn from outside periphery towards the collector center (tower base). The present study is aimed to predict and visualize the thermal-hydrodynamic behavior for airflow under inclined roof of the solar air collector, SAC. Three-dimensional of the SAC model using the re-normalization group, RNG, k−ε turbulence viscus model is simulated. The simulation was carried out by using ANSYS-FLUENT 14.5. The simulation
... Show MoreNanofluids, liquid suspensions of nanoparticles (Np), are an effective agent to alter the wettability of oil-wet reservoirs to water-wet thus promoting hydrocarbon recovery. It can also have an application to more efficient carbon storage. We present a series of contact angle (θ) investigations on initially oil-wet calcite surfaces to quantify the performance of hydrophilic silica nanoparticles for wettability alteration. These tests are conducted at typical in-situ high pressure (CO2), temperature and salinity conditions. A high pressure–temperature (P/T) optical cell with a regulated tilted surface was used to measure the advancing and receding contact angles at the desired conditions. The results showed that silica nanofluids can alte
... Show MoreThe current research includes the adsorption of Rhodmine-B Dye on the surface of Citrus Leaves using the technique of UV. Vis spectrophotometer to determine data of quantitative adsorption at various contact time, ionic strength, PH and temperature conditions. As a function of temperatures 25,35,45,55 0C, the dsorption phenomenon was examined, and the results showed that Rhodamine-B adsorption Citrus leaves rose with increasing temperatures on the surface (endothermic process). Using various NaCl solution concentrations, the effect of ionic strength on adsorption has also been studied. Increasing the importance of ionic strength has been shown to improve the amount of adsorption of Rhodamine-B on citrus leaves at constant temp
... Show MorePolyaniline organic Semiconductor polymer thin films have been prepared by oxidative polymerization at room temperature, this polymer was deposited on glass substrate with thickness 900nm, FTIR spectra was tested , the structural,optical and electrical properties were studied through XRD ,UV-Vis ,IR measurements ,the results was appeared that polymer thin film sensing to NH3 gas.
The synchronization of a complex network with optoelectronic feedback has been introduced theoretically, with use of 2×2 oscillators network; each oscillator considered is an optocoupler (LED coupled with photo-detector). Fixing the bias current (δ) and increasing the feedback strength (Ԑ) of each oscillator, the dynamical sequence like chaotic and periodic mixed mode oscillations has been observed. Synchronization of unidirectionally coupled of light emitting diodes network has been featured when coupling strength equal to 1.7×10-4. The transition between non-synchronization and synchronization states by means of the spatio-temporal distribution has been investigated.
This research describes the design & implementation of frequency synthesizer using single loop Phase lock loop with the following specifications: Frequency range (1.5 – 2.75) GHz,Step size (1 MHz), Switching time 36.4 µs, & phase noise @10 kHz = -92dBc & spurious -100 dBc
The development in I.C. technology provide the simplicity in the design of frequency synthesizer because it implements the phase frequency detector(PFD) , prescalar & reference divider in single chip. Therefore our system consists of a single chip contains (low phase noise PFD, charge pump, prescalar & reference divider), voltage controlled oscillator , loop filter & reference oscillator. The single chip
... Show More