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.
The response of floating stone columns of different lengths to diameter ratio (L/D = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10) ratios exposed to earthquake excitations is well modeled in this paper. Such stone column behavior is essential in the case of lateral displacement under an earthquake through the soft clay soil. ABAQUS software was used to simulate the behavior of stone columns in soft clayey soil using an axisymmetric finite element model. The behavior of stone column material has been modeled with a Drucker-Prager model. The soft soil material was modeled by the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion assuming an elastic-perfectly plastic behavior. The floating stone columns were subjected to the El Centro earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.1 an
... Show MoreExperts have given much attention on the use of waste in asphalt paving because of its significance from a sustainability perspective. This paper evaluated the performance properties of asphalt concrete mixes modified with Crumb Rubber (CR) as a partial replacement for two grade sizes of fine aggregate (2.36, and 0.3 mm) at six replacement rates: 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% by weight. Asphalt concrete mixes were prepared at their Optimum Asphalt Content (OAC) and then tested for their engineering properties. Marshall properties, fatigue, rutting, ideal CT index test, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Energy-Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy were deployed to examine the crystalline structure and elemental composition of the C
... Show MoreEnzyme activity were studied in the sera of children with leukemia than healthy children, where 31 cases were studied, including 21 cases of patients with acute lymphatic leukemia
In any language there is some amount of difference between written language (planned) and spoken language (spontaneous). Since planned speech could be considered a form of written language, it could be inferred that there are also differences between planned speech and spontaneous speech. Some of these differences are very clear in terms of syntax, lexis, phonology and discourse. These differences are highlighted in order to make a clear distinction between spontaneous and planned speech.
This paper is an attempt to show the differences between the two forms of a language (written & spoken English) as far as number of linguistic features are tackle
... Show MoreOne wide-ranging category of open source data is that referring to geospatial information web sites. Despite the advantages of such open source data, including ease of access and cost free data, there is a potential issue of its quality. This article tests the horizontal positional accuracy and possible integration of four web-derived geospatial datasets: OpenStreetMap (OSM), Google Map, Google Earth and Wikimapia. The evaluation was achieved by combining the tested information with reference field survey data for fifty road intersections in Baghdad, Iraq. The results indicate that the free geospatial data can be used to enhance authoritative maps especially small scale maps.
Hollow core photonic bandgap fibers provide a new geometry for the realization and enhancement of many nonlinear optical effects. Such fibers offer novel guidance and dispersion properties that provide an advantage over conventional fibers for various applications. Dispersion, which expresses the variation with wavelength of the guided-mode group velocity, is one of the most important properties of optical fibers. Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) offer much larger flexibility than conventional fibers with respect to tailoring of the dispersion curve. This is partly due to the large refractive-index contrast available in the silica/air microstructures, and partly due to the possibility of making complex refractive-index structure over the fibe
... Show MoreOne of the most important problems in concrete production in Iraq and other country is the high sulfate content in sand that led to damage of concrete and hence reduces its compressive strength and may leads to cracking due to internal sulfate attack and delay ettringite formation. The magnetic water treatment process is adopted in this study. Many samples with different SO3 content are treated with magnetic water (12, 8, 4 and 2)L that needed for each 1kg of sand with the magnetic intensity (9000 and 5000) Gaus. The magnetic water needed is reduced with less SO3 content in sand. The ACI 211.1-91 concrete mix design was used in this research with slump range (75- 100) mm and the specified compressive strength (35MPa). The compressive streng
... Show MoreIn recent years, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are attracting more attention in many fields as they are extensively used in a wide range of applications, such as environment monitoring, the Internet of Things, industrial operation control, electric distribution, and the oil industry. One of the major concerns in these networks is the limited energy sources. Clustering and routing algorithms represent one of the critical issues that directly contribute to power consumption in WSNs. Therefore, optimization techniques and routing protocols for such networks have to be studied and developed. This paper focuses on the most recent studies and algorithms that handle energy-efficiency clustering and routing in WSNs. In addition, the prime
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