Background: It's believed that HBD-3 is involved in the tissue remodeling process of articular cartilage. Also, HBD-3 has anti-inflammatory properties. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assay human beta-defensine-3 (HBD-3) in serum from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and investigate its correlation with proinflammatory cytokines. Methods: In this case-control study, fifty-eight RA patients were aged 20–65 years, and 29 age-matched healthy subjects (HS) had no inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The disease activity score-28 joint erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) was used to measure RA activity. CRP, ACPA, HBD-3, TNF-α, and IL-1β were assessed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique (ELISA). Res

The rapid increase in the number of older people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other forms of dementia represents one of the major challenges to the health and social care systems. Early detection of AD makes it possible for patients to access appropriate services and to benefit from new treatments and therapies, as and when they become available. The onset of AD starts many years before the clinical symptoms become clear. A biomarker that can measure the brain changes in this period would be useful for early diagnosis of AD. Potentially, the electroencephalogram (EEG) can play a valuable role in early detection of AD. Damage in the brain due to AD leads to changes in the information processing activity of the brain and the EEG which ca

Common walnut (Juglans regia L.) has a long cultivation history, given its highly valuable wood and rich nutritious nuts. The Iranian Plateau has been considered as one of the last glaciation refugia and a centre of origin and domestication for the common walnut. However, a prerequisite to conserve or utilize the genetic resources of J. regia in the plateau is a comprehensive evaluation of the genetic diversity that is conspicuously lacking. In this regard, we used 31 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to delineate the genetic variation and population stru

Back ground: A urinary tract infection is one of the most common diseases occurring from neonate up to geriatric age groups
Patients and Methods: A total of (100) Midstream urine (MSU) samples were collected from patients having signs and symptoms of Lower urinary tract infection. These patients were attending Urology Clinic, Ramadi General Hospital.
Result: Culturing of (100) MSU samples on MacConky and blood agar resulted in (5) types of bacteria which included: Escherichia coli (46%) and it was found the most frequent bacteria causing LUTI. This is followed by Klebsiella pneumonia (23%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (13%), Proteus mirabilis (10%) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (8%).
Conclusion: Out of

    The present work aims to evaluate the content of some toxic metals in chemical and organic fertilizers purchased from local markets in Baghdad, Iraq. The analysis was performed by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system. The emission spectral lines of lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd) and cobalt (Co) have been recorded to determine the best peak representing each element according to the NIST database. The validity of the LIBS procedure was checked by cross-validating the obtained results using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) with a maximum relative error of 5.3%. Moreover, for qualitative analysis, Pb I 296.64 nm emission line was determined to be superior for the evaluation of lead content in terms of three

    The objective of this paper is determining the petrophysical properties of the Mauddud Formation (Albian-Early Turonian) in Ratawi Oil Field depending on the well logs data by using interactive petrophysical software IP (V4.5). We evaluated parameters of available logs that control the reservoir properties of the formation, including shale volume, effective porosity, and water saturation. Mauddud Formation is divided into five units, which are distinguished by various reservoir characteristics. These units are A, B, C, D, and E. Through analyzing results of the computer processed interpretation (CPI) of available wells, we observed that the main reservoir units are B and D, being distinguished by elevated values of eff

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a pathogen of the Enterobacteriaceae family that causes healthcare-associated infections and has recently emerged as one of the most antibiotic-resistant organisms responsible for outbreaks in both community and healthcare settings. The aim of this study is to determine the resistance pattern of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from selected tertiary hospitals in Osun state, Nigeria. A total of 62 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were obtained from 1056 samples of urine, wound swab, ear swab, eye swab and other collection sites that were routinely submitted to the diagnostic laboratories of the selected tertiary
hospitals. Susceptibility to twelve (12) antibiotics (Oxoid) was det

Granular  Pile  Anchor  (GPA)  is  one  of  the  innovative  foundation  techniques,  devised  for mitigating heave of footing resulting from the expansive soils. This research attempts to study the heave behavior of (GPA-Foundation System) in expansive soil. Laboratory tests have been conducted on an experimental model in addition to a series of numerical modeling and analysis using the finite element package PLAXIS software. The effects of different parameters, such as (GPA) length (L) and diameter (D), footing diameter (B), expansive clay layer thickness (H) and presence of non-expansive clay are studied. The results proved the efficiency of (GPA) in reducing the heave of exp