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.
According to the European Union Water Framework Directive requirements, diatom metrics were used to assess the ecological status of surface waters in the Gaziantep central catchment (Turkey). A total of 42 diatom taxa were identified. A few environmental factors (especially lead, copper, orthophosphate, and chromium) played significant roles on the distribution of diatom assemblages among the sampling stations. The first two axes of the canonical correspondence analysis elucidated 91.6 % of the species–environment correlations with 13.9 % of the cumulative variance of species. The applied diatom indices (TIT – Trophic Index Turkey, TI – Trophic Index, and EPI-D – Eutrophication and/or Pollution Index-Diatom) showed different results
... Show MoreThe atmospheric air cold plasma has been used to manufacture gold nanomaterials for treating parasitic leishmaniasis. This study experimentally assessed the treatment of Leishmania parasites (L. donovani and L. tropica) by gold nanoparticles. Specifically, atmospheric pressure nonthermal plasma was generated using different diameters (1.0, 2.8, 3.8 and 4.3 mm) of high voltage electrode. Aqueous gold tetrachloride salts (HAuCl4·4H2O) were used as precursor to produce gold nanoparticles. UV-vis spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction were conducted for characterization of the nanoparticles. The optimum condition (a diameter of 1 mm) was chosen to prepare gold nanoparticles, where the grain size was found to be 17 nm. Accordingly, the nanoparticle
... Show MoreThis study is achieved in the local area in Eridu oil field, where the Mishrif Formation is considered the main productive reservoir. The Mishrif Formation was deposited during the Cretaceous period in the secondary sedimentary cycle (Cenomanian-Early Turonian as a part of the Wasia Group a carbonate succession and widespread throughout the Arabian Plate. There are four association facies are identified in Mishrif Formation according the microfacies analysis: FA1-Deep shelf facies association (Outer Ramp); FA2-Slope (Middle Ramp); FA3-Reef facies (Shoal) association (Inner ramp); FA4-Back Reef facies association. Sequence stratigraphic analysis show there are three stratigraphic surfaces based on the abrupt changing in depositional
... Show MoreBiomedical alloy 316L stainless steel enhancing to replace biological tissue or to help stabilize a biological structure, such as bone tissue, enhancing were coated with deposition a thin layer of silver nanoparticles as anti-bacterial materials by using DC- magnetron sputtering device. The morphology surface of The growth nanostructure under the influence of different working pressure were studied by atomic force microscope. The average grain size decrease but roughness of the silver thin layer was increased with‖ ―increasing the working pressure. The thickness of silver thin layer was increased from 107 nm at 0.08 mbar to 126 nm at 1.1 mbar. Antimicrobial activity of silver thin layers at different working pressure were studied. Th
... Show More<p>In combinatorial testing development, the fabrication of covering arrays is the key challenge by the multiple aspects that influence it. A wide range of combinatorial problems can be solved using metaheuristic and greedy techniques. Combining the greedy technique utilizing a metaheuristic search technique like hill climbing (HC), can produce feasible results for combinatorial tests. Methods based on metaheuristics are used to deal with tuples that may be left after redundancy using greedy strategies; then the result utilization is assured to be near-optimal using a metaheuristic algorithm. As a result, the use of both greedy and HC algorithms in a single test generation system is a good candidate if constructed correctly. T
... Show MoreThe problems of modeling the signal and dispersion properties of a second order recursive section in the integer parameter space are considered. The formulation and solution of the section synthesis problem by selective and dispersive criteria using the methods of integer nonlinear mathematical programming are given. The availability of obtaining both positive and negative frequency dispersion of a signal in a recursive section, as well as the possibility of minimizing dispersion distortions in the system, is shown.
Low salinity (LS) water flooding is a promising EOR method which has been examined by many experimental studies and field pilots for a variety of reservoirs and oils. This paper investigates applying LS flooding to a heavy oil. Increasing the LS water temperature improves heavy oil recovery by achieving higher sweep efficiency and improving oil mobility by lowering its viscosity. Steam flooding projects have reported many problems such as steam gravity override, but override can be lessened if the steam is is alternated with hot LS water. In this study, a series of reservoir sandstone cores were obtained from Bartlesville Sandstone (in Eastern Kansas) and aged with heavy crude oil (from the same reservoir) at 95°C for 45 days. Five reservo
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