All major organs may be impacted by the connective disease systemic lupus erythematosus, a separate risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Adhesion molecules like intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAM) and vascular cell adhesion molecules (VCAM) can detect endothelial damage and dysfunction, which appear to play a crucial role. This study investigated whether people with SLE had elevated subclinical and clinical atherosclerosis risk factors. Traditional CAD risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia cannot entirely explain this elevation. It is thought that immunological dysfunction also increases CAD risk in SLE patients. The study aimed to assess early endothelial changes in SLE Iraqi female patients without previous coronary artery lesions by exploring a potential relationship between circulating VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 as risk factors for atherosclerosis and the relationship of CAD with SLE disease and its severity; further, the study explained the effect of the hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) on the lipid profile levels of the patients. 92 female SLE patients were divided into mild, moderate, and severe, according to the SLE disease activity index 2000 (SLEDAI-2k), compared with 30 apparently healthy control individuals. All of them need a history of CAD. Serum VCAM-1, ICAM-1 level, VCAM-1/ICAM1 ratio, TC, HDL, LDL levels TC/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios were measured. sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 levels and VCAM-1/ICAM-1 ratio were significantly and gradually increased in patient groups compared with control. Serum TC, HDL and LDL levels were significantly reduced in the SLE patients compared to the control. At the same time, the TC/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios were significantly elevated with the severity of the SLE disease. sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 level and VCAM1/ICAM-1 ratio together with serum TC/HDL and LDL/HDL may improve coronary artery disease risk categorization in SLE patients without acute coronary syndromes. Furthermore, they were more sensitive in severe SLE instances than in moderate and mild ones, suggesting that they may be related to the extent of coronary lesions in SLE patients. VCAM-1 had a higher sensitivity than ICAM-1 in detecting and severity screening for CAD in SLE patients. Keywords: VCAM-1, ICAM-1, SLE, Atherosclerosis
Trickle irrigation is one of the most conservative irrigation techniques since it implies supplying water directly on the soil through emitters. Emitters dissipate energy of water at the end of the trickle irrigation system and provide water at emission points. The area wetted by an emitter depends upon the discharge of emitter, soil texture, initial soil water content, and soil permeability. The objectives of this research were to predict water distribution profiles through different soils for different conditions and quantify the distribution profiles in terms of main characteristics of soil and emitter. The wetting patterns were simulated at the end of each hour for a total time of application of 12 hrs, emitter disch
... Show MoreThe purpose of this paper is to model and forecast the white oil during the period (2012-2019) using volatility GARCH-class. After showing that squared returns of white oil have a significant long memory in the volatility, the return series based on fractional GARCH models are estimated and forecasted for the mean and volatility by quasi maximum likelihood QML as a traditional method. While the competition includes machine learning approaches using Support Vector Regression (SVR). Results showed that the best appropriate model among many other models to forecast the volatility, depending on the lowest value of Akaike information criterion and Schwartz information criterion, also the parameters must be significant. In addition, the residuals
... Show MoreThe lower Cretaceous sandstones of Zubair and Nahr Umr formations are the main producing reservoirs in Subba oilfield in southern Iraq. Key differences in their petrophysical and depositional attributes exist affecting their reservoir characteristics. The evaluation of well logs and core porosity-permeability data show better reservoir properties in Nahr Formation. The Litho-saturation logs indicate greater thickness of oil-saturated reservoir units for Nahr Unr Formation associated with lower values of shale volume, and higher values of effective porosity. In addition, higher values of permeability for Nahr Umr Formation is suggested by applying porosity-irreducible water saturation cross plot. The reducing reservoir quality of Zub
... Show MoreThe present study was carried out to compare the physicochemical characteristics of eggs of guinea fowl, turkeys and domestic chickens outdoor reared in traditional farms in Baghdad, Iraq. A total of 166 fresh eggs; 32 eggs from guinea fowls (Numida meleagris), 44 eggs from turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) and 90 eggs from domestic chickens; were collected. Egg weight, percentage of egg components, chemical composition (protein, lipids, and ash), and lipid profile were determined. Results revealed the significant differences in egg weight among studied birds. The average egg weights for guinea fowl, turkey, and indigenous chicken were 48.51 ± 0.72, 52.15 ± 0.74 and 61.24 ± 0.22 g, respectively. No significant differences were found in egg c
... Show MoreBackground: Colonic cancer is a very common disease world-wide being fourth most common cancer characterized by abnormal proliferation of the inner wall of colon then taking full colon wall thickness then spreading to surrounding lymph nodes and tissues and finally distant metastasis. It is one of most complicated diseases with debilitating symptoms which becomes more sever , prominent and specific with advancing stage with high percent of fatality and relatively short survival if diagnosed late or if left untreated.Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of serum CEA & sAPRIL levels in the diagnosis and screening of colon cancer and their validity for this.Patients and methods: This study was applied on 35 patients with colonic can
... Show MoreBackground: Patients with decompensated cirrhosis are often given therapeutic and prophylactic drugs. Polypharmacy raises both the likelihood of prescription errors and the complications associated with drugs. Clinical pharmacists are excellent at recognizing, addressing, and preventing clinically significant drug-related problems.
Objectives: Identification types of pharmacist interventions to address drug-related problems in patients with decompensated cirrhosis and assess the acceptance/implementation of these recommendations. And identify patient factors associated with accepting pharmacist recommend
... Show MoreBackground :Atherosclerosis is the most
frequent underlying cause of ischemic heart
disease and a major cause of death all over the
world. This study was carried out to analyze and
compare the angiographic findings in patients
with diabetes mellitus versus non diabetics with
coronary heart disease , and to correlate these
findings with some risk factors for coronary
heart disease.
Methods: A total of 100 patients were studied,
50 with diabetes mellitus, and 50 non diabetics.
This study was carried out at Al-Sadr teaching
hospital in Basrah, Southern Iraq during the
period April 2009- September 2009. All patients
were known to have coronary heart disease. Risk
factors for coronary heart disease
Background: Patients with chronic kidney
disease have different grades of sensorineural
deafness .
Objective: To study the incidence of
sensorineural hearing loss and possible contributing
factors in patients with chronic kidney disease.
Methods: A total of 100 patients with chronic
kidney disease were studied. All of them were
males. 92 of them were on regular haemodialysis
programme. Only 8 patients were on conservative
management the age range of the study patients was
18-40 year patients were divided into three groups
according to age. All patients were assessed
clinically and were evaluated by audiometry , and
analysis was made on bone conduction threshold
.The mean follow up period was 2
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease. Inflammation leads to joint damage and increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a measure of inflammation in many diseases. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of NLR to detect inflammation in RA, and its correlation to RA disease activity indices and some hematological parameters. A cross-sectional study involving 24 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are using MTX participated in this study. All patients were clinically evaluated using disease activity score of 28 joints (DAS28) and simplified disease activity index (SDAI), whereas functional disability was assessed by health assessment questionnaire di
... Show MoreThe goal of the research is to develop a sustainable rating system for roadway projects in Iraq for all of the life cycle stages of the projects which are (planning, design, construction and operation and maintenance). This paper investigates the criteria and its weightings of the suggested roadway rating system depending on sustainable planning activities. The methodology started in suggesting a group of sustainable criteria for planning stage and then suggesting weights from (1-5) points for each one of it. After that data were collected by using a closed questionnaire directed to the roadway experts group in order to verify the criteria weightings based on the relative importance of the roadway related impacts
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