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
The ongoing research to improve the clinical outcome of titanium implants has resulted in the implementation of multiple approaches to deliver osteogenic growth factors accelerating and sustaining osseointegration. Here we show the presentation of human bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP-7) adsorbed to titanium discs coated with poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA). We have previously shown that PEA promotes fibronectin organization into nanonetworks exposing integrin- and growth-factor-binding domains, allowing a synergistic interaction at the integrin/growth factor receptor level. Here, titanium discs were coated with PEA and fibronectin and then decorated with ng/mL doses of BMP-7. Human mesenchymal stem cells were used to investigate cellular resp
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of Nd:YAG laser shock processing (LSP) on micro-hardness and surface roughness of 86400Cu-Zn alloy. X-ray fluorescence technique was used to analyze the chemical composition of this alloy. LSP treatment was performed with a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm. The results show that laser shock processing can significantly increase. The micro-hardness and surface roughness of the LSP-treated sample. Vickers diamond indenter was used to measure the micro-hardness of all samples with different laser pulse energy and the different number of laser pulses. It is found that the metal hardness can be significantly increased to more than 80% by increasing the laser energy and t
... Show MoreAbstract
Dame Ngaio Edith Marsh (1899-1982), a writer of detective fiction, was born
at Christchurch, New Zealand. Her hero, Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn,
appears in her first novel, A Man Lay Dead (1934), and in subsequent novels
including Death and the Dancing Footman (1942). She wrote twenty detective novels.
The Dancing Footman, Thomas, listening to a playful song from the smokingroom's
radio where William lay dead after being killed by his brother, Nicholas,
provides the most suspected guest at Highfold with badly needed alibi. The murderer,
Nicholas, plans an almost perfect crime, but the dance of this footman spoils his
scheme. When Alleyn and his group of policemen stage a show in which the
In this work, the Whittaker wave functions were used to study the nuclear density distributions and elastic electron scattering charge form factors for proton-rich nuclei and their corresponding stable nuclei (10,8B, 13,9C, 14,12N and 19,17F). The parameters of Whittaker’s basis were fixed to generate the experimental values of available size radii. The Whittaker basis was connected to harmonic-oscillator basis through boundary condition at match point. The nuclear shell model was opted with pure configuration for all studied nuclei to compute aforementioned studied quantities except 10
The aim of this study is to compare the effects of three methods: problem-based learning (PBL), PBL with lecture method, and conventional teaching on self-directed learning skills among physics undergraduates. The actual sample size comprises of 122 students, who were selected randomly from the Physics Department, College of Education in Iraq. In this study, the pre- and post-test were done and the instruments were administered to the students for data collection. The data was analyzed and statistical results rejected null hypothesis of this study. This study revealed that there are no signifigant differences between PBL and PBL with lecture method, thus the PBL without or with lecture method enhances the self-directed learning skills bette
... Show MoreThis paper describes the digital chaotic signal with ship map design. The robust digital implementation eliminates the variation tolerance and electronics noise problems common in analog chaotic circuits. Generation of good non-repeatable and nonpredictable random sequences is of increasing importance in security applications. The use of 1-D chaotic signal to mask useful information and to mask it unrecognizable by the receiver is a field of research in full expansion. The piece-wise 1-D map such as ship map is used for this paper. The main advantages of chaos are the increased security of the transmission and ease of generation of a great number of distinct sequences. As consequence, the number of users in the systems can be increased. Rec
... Show MoreA theoretical study to design a conformal microstrip antennas was introduced in this work. Conformal microstrip antennas define antennas which can be conformed to a certain shape or to any curved surface. It is used in high-speed trains, aircraft, defense and navigation systems, landing gear and various communications systems, as well as in body wearable. Conformal antennas have some advantages such as a wider-angle coverage compared to flat antennas and low radar cross-sectional (RCS) and they are suitable for using in Radome. The main disadvantage of these antennas is the narrow bandwidth. The FDTD method is extremely useful in simulating complicated structures because it allows for direct integration of Maxwell's equations depending o
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