Cytokines are signaling molecules between inflammatory cells that play a significant role in the pathogenesis of a disease. Among these cytokines are interleukins (ILs) 17A and 33, and accordingly, the current case-control study sought to investigate the role of each of the two cytokines in the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Sixty-eight relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) Iraqi patients and twenty healthy individuals (control group) were enrolled. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits were used to determine serum levels of IL-17A and IL-33. Results revealed that IL-17A and IL-33 levels were significantly higher in MS patients than in controls (14.1 ± 4.5 vs. 7.5 ± 3.8 pg/mL; p < 0.001 and 65.3 ± 16.3 vs. 49.3 ± 20.0 pg/mL; p < 0.001, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated that IL-17A was a very good predictor of MS (area under curve [AUC] = 0.869; 95% CI = 0.779 - 0.960; p < 0.001; cut-off value = 10.2 pg/mL; sensitivity = 80.8%; specificity = 75.0%). A similar prediction was presented by IL-33, but the AUC value was lower (AUC = 0.762; 95% CI = 0.63 - 0.89; p < 0.001; cut-off value = 56.4 pg/mL; sensitivity = 70.6%; specificity = 70.0%). Multinomial logistic regression analysis confirmed the significance of IL-17A and IL-33 in MS risk, and under three models of analysis, the estimated odds ratios for IL-17A (1.50, 1.49 and 1.50, respectively) and IL-33 (1.05, 1.05 and 1.06) were above 1.0. Patients stratified by gender (male and female), expanded disability status scale (EDSS: < 3 and ≥ 3) or medication (pre- and post-medication) showed no significant differences in serum levels of IL-17A and IL-33 for each stratum. However, with regard to response to medication, it was found that responding patients showed significantly higher levels of IL-33 than non-responders (70.9 ± 12.2 vs. 57.2 ± 18.2 pg/mL; p = 0.018). This difference was not observed when considering IL-17A. Pearson correlation analysis between IL-17A and IL-33 revealed that both cytokines were not significantly correlated. In conclusion, the study indicated that IL-17A and IL-33 were up-regulated in serum of MS patients, and this up-regulation was not influenced by age, gender, EDSS or medication status, but the elevated level of IL-33 was more pronounced in patients who responded to medication.
The research aimed to prepare a measure to evaluate the academic achievement of graduates working in the field of physical education from their point of view, to identify the extent to which graduating students benefit from the curriculum of the College of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of Baghdad/Al-Jadriya, and to identify the impact of academic subjects in the practical and theoretical fields. The researchers used the descriptive approach in the research procedures as it is an appropriate approach in achieving the research objectives. The following questions are: What are the academic subjects that have the most impact on graduating students? What are the academic subjects that have the least impact on the are
... Show MoreEarth dams are constructed mainly from soil. A homogenous earth dam is composed of only one material. The seepage through such dams is quite high. Upstream impervious blanket is one of the methods used to control seepage through the dam foundations. Bennet's method is one of the commonly used methods to design an impervious upstream blanket. Design charts are developed relating the length of blanket, total reservoir head, total base width of the dam (excluding downstream drainage), the coefficient of permeability of the blanket material, blanket thickness, foundation thickness, and coefficient of permeability of the foundation soil, based on the equations governing the Bennet's method for a homogenous earth dam with a blanket of uniform
... Show MoreThe present study aims to detection optimal conditions of production of amylase enzyme from isolate of B. subtillis A4. Nine carbonic sources were represented by starch, maltose, fructose, sucrose, glucose, arabinose, xylose, sorbitol and mannitol) at concentration of 1% for each source. It was found that the best was represented by starch carbonic, which showed higher activity and qualitative activity of 7.647 Unit/ ml and 461.56 Unit/ mg. Ten nitrogen sources were selected, including yeast extract, peptone, trypton, gelatin, urea and meat extract as organic sources Ammonium sulphate, Sodium nitrate, Potassium nitrate and Ammonium chloride as inorganic sources. These sources were added at aconcentration of 0.5% to the production medium. Th
... Show MoreIn this study; the genus of Sinoxylon Duftschmid, 1825 (Coleoptera, Bostrichidae) was revised. There were 3 species registered in our investigations: S. anale Lesne, 1897; S. ceratoniae (Linnaeus, 1758) and S. muricatum (Olivier, 1790), the last species was redescribed as being found for the first time for the Iraqi faunal insects. Key to the species were constructed and supported by figures of the main diagnostic characters and some morphological features.
The cervical cancer considered as the fourth female prevalent disease worldwide, it was once the most extensively recognized female cancer two in many low-income countries. Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) exhibits broader tropism and can cause infection in most of the human body organs. Although, human cytomegalovirus HCMV is not yet considered an oncogenic virus, there is increased evidences of HCMV infection implication in malignant diseases of different cancer types. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of CMV infection on the development of HPV16 positive cervical cancinoma. The current retrospective study enrolled a number of paraffinized cervical cancer tissues .included 30 cervical carcinomatous tissues and 10 biopsies from an
... Show MoreThe inhibition of mild steel corrosion in 1.0M HCl by 1-propanol and the synergistic effect of potassium iodide (KI) was investigated using weight loss and polarization techniques in the temperature range (30 ‒ 50) ̊ C. A matrix of Doelhert to three factors was used as the experimental design, adopting weight loss results as it permits the use of the response surface methodology which exploited in determination of the synergistic effect as inhibition on the mild steel. The results were confirmed using electrochemical polarization measurements. Experimental results showed that the inhibition efficiency (IE%) increases with increase in concentration of inhibitor and with increasing of temperature. The addition iodide ions t
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the level of educational supervisors' practices of their supervisory duties according to the requirements of comprehensive quality from the viewpoint of teachers in Oman. Moreover, identify the differences between the responses of the sample about these practices, which are attributed to gender, and years of experience. Thus, a questionnaire was administered to teachers, consisting of (48) items distributed on (5) main fields related to the educational supervisor's practices. The sample consisted of (220) teachers who were randomly chosen from the schools in Dhofar region. Data were analyzed using means, standard divisions, T-test, and One Way ANOVA. The research concluded that the level of educational super
... Show MoreThe research aimed to prepare a measure to evaluate the academic achievement of graduates working in the field of physical education from their point of view, to identify the extent to which graduating students benefit from the curriculum of the College of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of Baghdad/Al-Jadriya, and to identify the impact of academic subjects in the practical and theoretical fields. The researchers used the descriptive approach in the research procedures as it is an appropriate approach in achieving the research objectives. The following questions are: What are the academic subjects that have the most impact on graduating students? What are the academic subjects that have the least impact on the are
... Show MoreAnalyze the relationship between genetic variations in the MTHFR gene at SNPs (rs1801131 and rs1801133) and the therapy outcomes for Iraqi patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study was conducted on a cohort of 95 RA Iraqi patients. Based on their treatment response, the cohort was divided into two groups: the responder (47 patients) and the nonresponder (48 patients), identified after at least three months of methotrexate (MTX) treatment. A polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) technique was employed to analyze the MTHFR variations, specifically at rs1801133 and rs1801131. Overall, rs1801131 followed both codominant and dominate models, in which in