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.
New series of 2-mecapto benzoxazole derivatives (1-20) incorporated into fused to different nitrogen and suphur containing heterocyclic were prepared from 2-meracpto benzoxazole, when treated with hydrazine hydrate to afford 2-hydrazino benzoxazol (1). Compound (1) converted to a variety of pyridazinone andphthalazinone derivatives (2-4) by reaction with different carboxylic anhydride. Also, reaction of (1) with phenyl isothiocyanate and ethyl chloro acetate afforded 3-phenyl-1,3-thiazolidin-2,4-dione-2-(benzoxazole-2-yl-hydrazone) (6). Azomethines (7-10) were prepared through reaction of (1) with aromatic aldehyde, then (7, 8) converted to thaizolidinone derivatives (11, 12). Treatment of (1) with active methylene compounds afforded deriva
... Show MoreA microbubble air flotation technique was used to remove chromium ions from simulated wastewater (e.g. water used for electroplating, textiles, paints and pigments, and tanning leather). Experimental parameters were investigated to analyze the flotation process and determine the removal efficiency. These parameters included the location of the sampling port from the bottom of the column, where the diffuser is located to the top of flotation column (30, 60, and 90 cm), the type of surfactant (anionic, SDS, or cationic, CTAB) and its concentration (5, 10, 15, and 20 mg/L), the pH of the initial solution (3, 5, 7, 9, and 11), the initial contaminant concentration (10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/L), the gas flow rate (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5 L/mi
... Show MoreThis paper aims to validate a proposed finite element model to be adopted in predicting displacement and soil stresses of a piled-raft foundation. The proposed model adopts the solid element to simulate the raft, piles, and soil mass. An explicit integration scheme has been used to simulate nonlinear static aspects of the piled-raft foundation and to avoid the computational difficulties associated with the implicit finite element analysis.
The validation process is based on comparing the results of the proposed finite element model with those of a scaled-down experimental work achieved by other researchers. Centrifuge apparatus has been used in the experimental work to generate the required stresses to simulate t
... Show MoreA novel encapsulated deep eutectic solvent (DES) was introduced for biodiesel production via a two-step process. The DES was encapsulated in medical capsules and were used to reduce the free fatty acid (FFA) content of acidic crude palm oil (ACPO) to the minimum acceptable level (< 1%). The DES was synthesized from methyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (MTPB) and p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA). The effects pertaining to different operating conditions such as capsule dosage, reaction time, molar ratio, and reaction temperature were optimized. The FFA content of ACPO was reduced from existing 9.61% to less than 1% under optimum operating conditions. This indicated that encapsulated MTPB-DES performed high catalytic activity in FFA esterificatio
... Show MoreRecently, important efforts have been made in an attempt to search for the cheapest and ecofriendly alternatives adsorbents. In the present work, waste molasses from Iraqi date palm (Zahdi) had been used as a provenance to produce charcoal for the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from water. The optimum prepared charcoal was obtained at 150 C, by increasing temperature to 175 C, the charcoal had almost converted to ash. The obtained charcoal have been inspected for properties using scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), porosity and surface area. Adsorption data were optimized to Langmuir and Freundlich and adsorption parameters have been evaluated. The thermodynamic parameters like a change
... Show MoreThis paper presents an application of a Higher Order Shear Deformation Theory (HOST 12) to problem
of free vibration of simply supported symmetric and antisymmetric angle-ply composite laminated plates.
The theoretical model HOST12 presented incorporates laminate deformations which account for the effects
of transverse shear deformation, transverse normal strain/stress and a nonlinear variation of in-plane
displacements with respect to the thickness coordinate – thus modeling the warping of transverse crosssections more accurately and eliminating the need for shear correction coefficients. Solutions are obtained in
closed-form using Navier’s technique by solving the eigenvalue equation. Plates with varying number of
This study was designed to evaluate the ability of bioemulsifier to inhibit the growth of some pathogenic microorganisms. Fourteen isolates belonged to Serratia sp. were collected and tested for their ability to produce bioemulsifier. Results showed that Serratia marcescens S10 (isolated from the gut of the American cockroach) had the highest ability to produce bioemulsifier, among 14 isolates belong to Serratia spp. and it had the ability to inhibit the growth of some microorganisms. The production of bioemulsifier was detected by determination of emulsification index (E24%), qualitative drop-collapse test, emulsification activity (E.A) and measuring the surface tension (S.T). The results of bioemulsifier produced by Serratia marcescens S1
... Show MoreCatalytic microwave-assisted pyrolysis of biomass is gaining popularity as an alternative to fossil fuels due to health, environmental, climate, and economic issues. This study conducted a catalytic pyrolysis process of the Albizia plant's branches using an Iraqi clay catalyst (bentonite) focusing on the variables including the biomass-particle size, experimental time, microwave power level, and the catalyst-to-biomass ratio. The physical and chemical properties of the resulting biofuel were analyzed presented by HHV, acidity, density, viscosity, GC-MS, FTIR for bio-oil and SEM, EDX, BET, HHV, FTIR for biochar. The study revealed that addition of bentonite as a catalyst led to enhanced production of biogas produced from 5% to 45% an
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