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.
This study aimed at identifying the trend to applying the Joint Audit as an approach to improve the financial reports quality with all their characteristics (Relevance, Reliability, Comparability, Consistency), as well as enclose the difficulties that faced the auditors in the Gaza Strip in implementing the Joint Audit. In order to achieve the study aims, a measure was used to identify the trend to apply the Joint Audit and it was distributed to the study sample which is consisting of (119) individuals and retrieved thereof (99) valid for analysis, approximately (83.2%), (69) of them are Auditors, (30) financial managers and accountants. The researcher used the analytical descriptive method, and after analyzing the results, the s
... Show Moreيناقش هذا البحث مشكلة التعدد الخطي شبه التام في انموذج الانحدار اللاخطي ( انموذج الانحدار اللوجستي المتعدد) ، عندما يكون المتغير المعتمد متغير نوعيا يمثل ثنائي الاستجابة اما ان يساوي واحد لحدوث استجابة او صفر لعدم حدوث استجابة ، من خلال استعمال مقدرات المركبات الرئيسية التكرارية(IPCE) التي تعتمد على الاوزان الاعتيادية والاوزان البيزية الشرطية .
اذ تم تطبيق مقدرات هذا ا
... Show MoreThis paper tackles with principal component analysis method (PCA ) to dimensionality reduction in the case of linear combinations to digital image processing and analysis. The PCA is statistical technique that shrinkages a multivariate data set consisting of inter-correlated variables into a data set consisting of variables that are uncorrelated linear combination, while ensuring the least possible loss of useful information. This method was applied to a group of satellite images of a certain area in the province of Basra, which represents the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Shatt al-Arab in the province of Basra.
... Show MoreThe presented work includes the Homotopy Transforms of Analysis Method (HTAM). By this method, the approximate solution of nonlinear Navier- Stokes equations of fractional order derivative was obtained. The Caputo's derivative was used in the proposed method. The desired solution was calculated by using the convergent power series to the components. The obtained results are demonstrated by comparison with the results of Adomain decomposition method, Homotopy Analysis method and exact solution, as explained in examples (4.1) and (4.2). The comparison shows that the used method is powerful and efficient.
The derivation of 5th order diagonal implicit type Runge Kutta methods (DITRKM5) for solving 3rd special order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) is introduced in the present study. The DITRKM5 techniques are the name of the approach. This approach has three equivalent non-zero diagonal elements. To investigate the current study, a variety of tests for five various initial value problems (IVPs) with different step sizes h were implemented. Then, a comparison was made with the methods indicated in the other literature of the implicit RK techniques. The numerical techniques are elucidated as the qualification regarding the efficiency and number of function evaluations compared with another literature of the implic
... Show MoreIn this paper , two method which deal with finding the optimal value for adaptive smoothing constant, are compared .This constant is used in adaptive Single Exponential Smoothing (ASES).
The comparing is between a method uses time domain and another uses frequency domain when the data contain outlier value for autoregressive model of order one AR(1) , or Markov Model, when the time series are stationary and non stationary with deferent samples .
Lattakia city faces many problems related to the mismanagement of solid waste, as the disposal process is limited to the random Al-Bassa landfill without treatment. Therefore, solid waste management poses a special challenge to decision-makers by choosing the appropriate tool that supports strategic decisions in choosing municipal solid waste treatment methods and evaluating their management systems. As the human is primarily responsible for the formation of waste, this study aims to measure the degree of environmental awareness in the Lattakia Governorate from the point of view of the research sample members and to discuss the effect of the studied variables (place of residence, educational level, gender, age, and professional status) o
... Show MoreSentiment analysis is one of the major fields in natural language processing whose main task is to extract sentiments, opinions, attitudes, and emotions from a subjective text. And for its importance in decision making and in people's trust with reviews on web sites, there are many academic researches to address sentiment analysis problems. Deep Learning (DL) is a powerful Machine Learning (ML) technique that has emerged with its ability of feature representation and differentiating data, leading to state-of-the-art prediction results. In recent years, DL has been widely used in sentiment analysis, however, there is scarce in its implementation in the Arabic language field. Most of the previous researches address other l
... Show MoreThis paper focuses on Load distribution factors for horizontally curved composite concrete-steel girder bridges. The finite-element analysis software“SAP2000” is used to examine the key parameters that can influence the distribution factors for horizontally curved composite steel
girders. A parametric study is conducted to study the load distribution characteristics of such bridge system due to dead loading and AASHTO truck loading using finite elements method. The key parameters considered in this study are: span-to-radius of curvature ratio, span length, number of girders, girders spacing, number of lanes, and truck loading conditions. The results have shown that the curvature is the most critical factor which plays an important
The research problem revolves around the failure of Maysan Oil Company to have a strategy that enables it to keep up with work in a mysterious and highly dynamic environment. Therefore, the research aims to present a proposed strategy that is comprehensive and realistic to the Maysan Oil Company for the next five years (2020-2024) based on the position and conditions of the company Current and future by adopting the scientific foundations for formulating the strategy, and the importance of research lies in the company's situational analysis to know its internal capabilities from strengths or weaknesses and diagnosing the surrounding elements of opportunities or threats so that this analysis represents a s
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