Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), is an autoimmune, and inflammatory disease that is closely related to the destruction of cartilage and bone. DC-SIGN are important types of C-type lectin receptors (CLRs), expressed on dendritic cells and macrophages, and have a central role in regulating innate and adaptive immunity, function as pattern recognition receptors, and as cell adhesion molecules. Recent evidence has demonstrated that DC-SIGN is involved in the pathophysiological of chronic inflammation, so DC-SIGN has been linked to several autoimmune and may play an essential indicator in the pathogenesis and progression of RA. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the serum level of DC-SIGN in RA patients, as well as the level of DC-SIGN based on demographic characteristics. Fifty Iraqi RA patients were enrolled in the study, and a control sample of 38 healthy individuals (ascertain by laboratory and clinical tests) were included and matched by gender, age, and ethnicity with the patients. The DC-SIGN concentration was calculated in the patients’ serum and compared to control using the ELISA assay and the results revealed significantly increased serum level of DC-SIGN (12.047 ± 1.114 vs. 6.863 ± 0.806 ng/ml) was recorded in RA patients compared to controls. When correlating results, it was shown that the concentration of DC-SIGN in the serum did not record a significant difference between gender and age, as well as the blood groups. To determine the impact of the therapeutic status in RA patients on the DC-SIGN level, it was found that the concentration of DC-SIGN level was higher in untreated patients compared to treated patients. Regarding viral infection, when an investigation was conducted in RA patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, the serum level of DC-SIGN in RA patients with COVID-19 showed no change in concentrations compared to uninfected RA patients.
Nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate is important for high yield and good quality of potato tubers. In this dissertation, I seek to study the response of different potato cultivars under different N fertilizer rates and how that can impact tuber quality, examine the performance of active optical sensors in improving a potato yield prediction algorithm, and evaluate the ability of active optical sensors (GreenSeeker (GS) and Crop Circle (CC)) to optimize a N recommendation algorithm that can be used by potato growers in Maine. This research was conducted at 11 sites over a period of two years (2018–2019) in Aroostook County, Maine; all sites depended on a rainfed system. Three potato cultivars, Russet Burbank, Superior, and Shepody, were planted u
... Show MoreNew, easy, simple, and fast spectral method for estimation of sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) in pure and pharmaceutical forms. The proposed method is based on the azotization of the drug compound by sodium nitrite in an acidic medium and then coupling with 2,3dimethyl phenol reagent (DMP) in a basic medium to yield an orange-coloured dye which shows λmax at 402 nm. Different affection of the optimization reaction has been completed, following the classical univariate sequence. The concentration of sulfamethoxazole about (1-15) μg. mL-1 with molar absorptivity of (14943.461) L.mol1 .cm-1 that obeyed Beer’s law. The detection and quantification limits were (0.852, 2.583) μg. mL-1 respectively, while the value of Sandell’s sensitivity (
... Show MoreForty different samples (water and soil) were collected from different places in Iraq and Syria. Only (6) isolates showed the ability to grow and utilize agar as a sole source of carbon and energy. Morphological, cultural characterization and biochemical tests confirmed that These isolates belonging to genus Pseudomonas (HK1-HK6) .Plasmid profiles results showed that these isolates were harbored (2 -3) small Plasmids . HK1 isolate was selected because of its efficiency and ability to grow in high density on agar media for transformation and curing experiments, these were checked by transformation experiments after their expression in E. coli MM294. The genes responsible for agar utilization were located on thes
... Show MorePhysicians are infrequently selected to serve in the yearlong role of Jefferson Science Fellow (JSF) as senior science advisor for the US Department of State or the United States Agency for International Development. The authors discuss the role of a JSF in promoting “science diplomacy” from the perspective of one alumnus, who sites examples of ongoing, long-term collaborative projects including one focusing on medical education reform in Iraq that would not have been possible without the JSF program. More than 3 decades of political and social unrest, terrorism, the internal displacement of millions of Iraqi citizens, the arrival of Syrian refugees, international sanctions, and the effect of fluctuating oil prices that fund education i
... Show MoreOne of the management accounting tools is responsible accounting. In this system, the organisation is divided into responsibility centres that help to connect an individual performance responsible to perform through a combined system of reports according to the implementation of the mechanism of exception tools which gives assistance in planning. The exploitation of the organisation's available resources is achieved through the application of responsible accounting. Also, the best exploitation will lead to the provision of low-cost products through the disposal of all types of waste or loss during the cost centres. By providing products at a lower cost and satisfying the wishes of the needs of customers, the result reflects the competitive
... Show MoreStatic reservoir modeling is the interacting and analysis of the geological data to visualize the reservoir framework by three-dimensional model and distribute the static reservoir properties. The Petrel E&P software used to incorporate the data. The interpreted log data and core report used in distribution of petrophysical properties of porosity, water saturation and permeability for Zubair reservoir in Luhais oil field.
The reservoir discretized to 274968 cells in increments of 300, 200 and 1 meter in the direction of X, Y, and Z respectively. The geostatistical approach used in the distribution of the properties of porosity and water saturation overall the reservoir units. The permeability has been calculated
... Show MoreIn this research, the geotechnical properties of the soil profile in Hilla city within Babylon Governorate in the middle parts of Iraq are described. The geotechnical data at the specific sites were collected from some geotechnical investigation reports performed at some selected locations. This article is devoted to studying the distribution of soil properties (the physical and mechanical) in the horizontal and vertical directions. Moreover, a correlation between different physical and mechanical properties is performed. The correlation is executed using statistical analysis by Microsoft Excel Software (2016). From the regression results, it was found that the nature of the soil is c