The pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which represents over 90% of pancreatic cancer cases,
has the highest proliferative and metastatic rate in comparison to other pancreatic cancer compartments. This
study is designed to determine whether small nucleolar RNA, H/ACA box 64 (snoRNA64) is associated with
pancreatic cancer initiation and progression. Gene expression data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)
repository have shown that snoRNA64 expression is reduced in primary and metastatic pancreatic cancer as
compared to normal tissues based on statistical analysis of the in Silico analysis. Using qPCR techniques,
pancreatic cancer cell lines include PK-1, PK-8, PK-4, and Mia PaCa-2 with different levels of snoRNA64,
including PK-1, PK-8, PK-4, and Mia PaCa-2. The level of expression is correlated with the cell line epithelial
or mesenchymal characteristics. Cell lines displaying epithelial characteristics such as PK-1, PK-8 show high
levels of snoRNA64 meanwhile, cell lines displaying mesenchymal characteristics such as PK-4, Mia PaCa-2
show low levels of snoRNA64. The level of expression is correlated with the cell line epithelial or
mesenchymal characteristics. After knocking down the PK-8 with high snoRNA64 expression, the epithelial
markers E. cadherin (E-cad) and Cytokeratin-8 (CK-8) are decreased, while mesenchymal markers Vimentin
(Vim), Cytokeratin-19 (CK-19), Metalloprotease -2 (MMP-2), and Metalloprotease-3 (MMP-3) are activated.
Those changes suggest that PK-8 responding to the snoRNA64 knock down protocol and increase in
mesenchymal function. Together, snoRNA64 expression may participate in epithelial to mesenchymal
transition (EMT) and mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET), in which during metastasis these processes
are crucial. In addition, snoRNA64 may be considered as a potential diagnostic biomarker for both early and
invasive stages of PDAC. And due to its gradual expression decreases, it may be considered a barrier in tumor
progression.
A novel demountable shear connector is proposed to link a concrete slab to steel sections in a way that resulting steel-concrete composite floor is demountable, i.e. it can be easily dismantled at the end of its service life. The proposed connectors consist of two parts: the first part is a hollow steel tube with internal threads at its lower end. The second part is a compatible partially threaded bolted stud. After linking the stud to the steel section, the hollow steel tube can be fastened over the threaded stud, which create a complete demountable shear connector. The connector is suitable for use in both composite bridges and buildings, and using cast in-situ slabs, precast solid slabs, or hollow-core precast slabs. A series of push-off
... Show MoreThe increasing demand for energy has encouraged the development of renewable resources and environmentally benign fuel such as biodiesel. In this study, ethyl fatty esters (EFEs), a major component of biodiesel fuel, were synthesized from soybean oil using sodium ethoxide as a catalyst. By-products were glycerol and difatty acyl urea (DFAU), which has biological characteristics, as antibiotics and antifungal medications. Both EFEs and DFAU have been characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. The optimum conditions were studied as a function of reaction time, reactant molar ratios, catalyst percentage and the effect of organic solvents. The conversion ratio of soybea
... Show MoreChoosing antimicrobials is a common dilemma when the expected rate of bacterial resistance is high. The observed resistance values in unequal groups of isolates tested for different antimicrobials can be misleading. This can affect the decision to recommend one antibiotic over the other. We analyzed recalled data with the statistical consideration of unequal sample groups. Data was collected concerning children suspected to have typhoid fever at Al Alwyia Pediatric Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. The study period extended from September 2021 to September 2022. A novel algorithm was developed to compare the drug sensitivity among unequal numbers of Salmonella typhi (S. Typhi) isolates tested with different antibacterials.
... Show MoreThe advancements in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), within the previous decades, has significantly changed people’s transmit or store their information over the Internet or networks. So, one of the main challenges is to keep these information safe against attacks. Many researchers and institutions realized the importance and benefits of cryptography in achieving the efficiency and effectiveness of various aspects of secure communication.This work adopts a novel technique for secure data cryptosystem based on chaos theory. The proposed algorithm generate 2-Dimensional key matrix having the same dimensions of the original image that includes random numbers obtained from the 1-Dimensional logistic chaotic map for given con
... Show MoreStenography is the art of hiding the very presence of communication by embedding secret message into innocuous looking cover document, such as digital image, videos, sound files, and other computer files that contain perceptually irrelevant or redundant information as covers or carriers to hide secret messages.
In this paper, a new Least Significant Bit (LSB) nonsequential embedding technique in wave audio files is introduced. To support the immunity of proposed hiding system, and in order to recover some weak aspect inherent with the pure implementation of stego-systems, some auxiliary processes were suggested and investigated including the use of hidden text jumping process and stream ciphering algorithm. Besides, the suggested
... Show MoreAbstract:
The paper aims to measure an aggregated banking stability index reflecting the degree of stability of the banking system to help policy makers to take the necessary actions to avoid financial crises facing banks and to achieve a banking system with high efficiency in terms of banking risk.
Therefore, the problem of paper is that the Central Bank of Iraq did not seek until 2016 to build a aggregated index for the purpose of identifying the stability of the banking situation in Iraq, but rather on the adoption of scattered indicators, which depend on the mechanism of relative changes in those indicators for the purpose of identifying the situation of b
... Show MoreIn this research work, a new type of concrete based on sulfur-melamine modification was introduced, and its various properties were studied. This new type of concrete was prepared based on the sulfur-melamine modification and various ingredients. The new sulfur-melamine modifier was fabricated, and its fabrication was confirmed by IR spectroscopy and TG analysis. The surface morphology resulted from this modifier was studied by SEM and EDS analysis. The components ratios in concrete, chemical and physical characteristics resulted from sulfur-melamine modifier, chemical and corrosion resistance of concrete, stability of concrete against water adsorption, stability of concrete against freezing, physical and mechanical properties and durabi
... Show MoreBackground: The COVID-19 virus outbreak had a massive effect on many parts of people's lives, as they were advised to quarantine and lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading, which had a big impact on people's mental health, anxiety, and stress. Many internal and external factors lead to stress. This negatively influences the body's homeostasis. As a result, stress may affect the body's capacity to use energy to defend against pathogens. Many recent investigations have found substantial links between human mental stress and the production of hormones, prohormones, and/or immunological chemicals. some of these researches have verified the link between stress and salivary cortisol levels. The aim of this study is to measure salivary corti
... Show MoreVarious methods are utilized providing complexity for cryptosystem with the aim to increase the security and avoiding hacker attack. Hybrid cryptosystem is one of these cryptosystems which is used two types of cryptosystems and has many applications in data transmitted. This research, proposed a novel method that used power exponent instead of using the prime number directly and also providing complexity of asymmetric cryptosystems. This method has been applied theoretically in two public systems RSA and EL-Gamal. Power RSA and Power EL-Gamal are modified asymmetric cryptosystems, in which the power number is kept by the sender and the receiver. Moreover, we use group theory to prove that these cryptosystems work properly. Our exten
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