Background: Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is an inflammatory, systemic rheumatic condition that mostly affects the axial skeleton. Tenascin-C (TN-C) is a hexameric glycoprotein of considerable size, upregulated in many inflammatory conditions, while Interleukin-17 (IL-17) a cytokine that plays an important role in SpA symptoms. Objective: to investigate the upregulation between the serum levels of TN-C and IL-17 in Iraqi axSpA patients and the disease characteristics. Patients and Methods: Seventy-four axSpA patients and 28 matched controls were studied. Fifty-four patients received a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) and 20 did not. Serum TN-C and IL-17 concentrations were determined using the ELISA technique. The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) was assessed. For statistical tests, Chi Square, Mann Whitney, Independent Samples T, and Pearson's correlation tests are used. Results: Patients mean age was 35.6±0.9 years, 65 males and 9 females, and disease duration was 5.18±0.6 years. 47.4% were smokers, 47% had inflammatory low back pain, and HLA-B27 was present in 91%. BASDAI mean was 6.1±0.4 in non-TNFi and 2.6±0.3 in those on TNFi. The serum TN-C concentration was significantly increased in patients, especially those on non-TNFi (79±9.6 pg/mL) compared to those on TNFi (69.1±3.2 pg/mL) and control (53±3.9 pg/mL) (p=0.003). Serum IL-17 was significantly elevated in those receiving TNFi (877.9±257 pg/mL) compared to non-TNFi (487.2±234 pg/mL) and control (182.4±36.6 pg/mL) (p=0.033). The TN-C significantly correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r=0.27, p=0.02) and with hemoglobin (Hb) concentration (r=0.26, p=0.02). TN-C and IL-17 were non-significantly related (r=0.14, p=0.2). Conclusions: axSpA Patients demonstrated high levels of serum TN-C, particularly in those not receiving TNFi, and high IL-17 levels in those receiving TNFi, suggesting that there is an association with tissue injury from the disease and stimulation of immunological and resident tissue cells. Patients who had not received TNFi showed significantly higher disease activity than others.
Background: The purposes of this study were to determine the photogrammetric soft tissue facial profile measurements for Iraqi adults sample with class II div.1 and class III malocclusion using standardized photographic techniques and to verify the existence of possible gender differences. Materials & methods: Seventy five Iraqi adult subjects, 50 class II div.1 malocclusion (24 males and 26 females), 25 class III malocclusion (14 males and 11 females), with an age range from 18-25 years. Each individual was subjected to clinical examination and digital standardized right side photographic records were taken in the natural head position. The photographs were analyzed using AutoCAD program 2007 to measure the distances and angles used in t
... Show MoreThis study is concerned with the effect of adding two kinds of ceramic materials on the mechanical properties of (Al-7%Si- 0.3%Mg) alloy, which are zirconia with particle size (20μm > P.S ≥ 0.1μm) and alumina with particle size (20μm > P.S ≥ 0.1μm) and adding them to the alloy with weight ratios (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1%). Stirring casting method has been used to make composite material by using vortex technique which is used to pull the particles to inside the melted metals and distributed them homogenously.
After that solution treatment was done to the samples at (520ºC) and artificial ageing at (170ºC) in different times, it has been noticed that the values of hardness is increased with the aging time of the o
... Show MoreThe developments and transformations taking place in the era and the growth of knowledge economies and communication technology led this development to compel higher education institutions in Iraq to reconsider their objectives to keep pace with development. And one of the most important tools of development was the application of e-learning standards and its long-term impact on the performance of the educational institution. Performance auditing plays an important role in verifying the extent to which these institutions have implemented their activities and programs that auditing performance by adopting e-learning standards helps the institutions’ management by providing appropriate information on the extent to which they achieve thei
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It highlights the importance of assessing the demand for money function in Iraq through the understanding of the relationship between him and affecting the variables by searching the stability of this function and the extent of their influence in the Iraqi dinar exchange rate in order to know the amount of their contribution to the monetary policies of the Iraqi economy fee, as well as through study behavior of the demand for money function in Iraq and analyze the determinants of the demand for money for the period 1991-2013 and the impact of these determinants in the demand for money in Iraq.
And that the problem that we face is how to estimate the total demand for money in
... Show MorePure cadmium oxide films (CdO) and doped with zinc were prepared at different atomic ratios using a pulsed laser deposition technique using an ND-YAG laser from the targets of the pressed powder capsules. X-ray diffraction measurements showed a cubic-shaped of CdO structure. Another phase appeared, especially in high percentages of zinc, corresponding to the hexagonal structure of zinc. The degree of crystallinity, as well as the crystal size, increased with the increase of the zinc ratio for the used targets. The atomic force microscopy measurements showed that increasing the dopant percentage leads to an increase in the size of the nanoparticles, the particle size distribution was irregular and wide, in addition, to increase the surfac
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Abstract:
The models of time series often suffer from the problem of the existence of outliers that accompany the data collection process for many reasons, their existence may have a significant impact on the estimation of the parameters of the studied model. Access to highly efficient estimators is one of the most important stages of statistical analysis, And it is therefore important to choose the appropriate methods to obtain good estimators. The aim of this research is to compare the ordinary estimators and the robust estimators of the estimation of the parameters of
... Show MoreA new Schiff base [1-((2-(1H-indol-3-yl)ethylimino)methyl)naphthalene-2-ol] (HL) has been synthesized by condensing (2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde) with (2-(1H-indol-3-yl)ethylamine). In turn, its transition metal complexes were prepared having the general formula; [Pt(IV)Cl2(L)2], [Re(V)Cl2(L)2]Cl and [Pd(L)2], 2K[M(II)Cl2(L)2] where M(II) = Co, Ni, Cu] are reported. Ligand as well as metal complexes are characterized by spectroscopic techniques such as FT-IR, UV-visible, 13C & 1H NMR, mass, elemental analysis. The results suggested that the ligand behaves like a bidentate ligand for all the synthesized complexes. On the other hand, theoretical studies of the ligand as well its metal complexes were conducted at gas phase using Hyp
... Show MoreOxazepine [1] is non – nomologous seven –member ring that contain two netroatoms (oxygen and nitrogen ). Meanwhile diazepine [2] contains to nitrogen atoms in seven – member ring.
Diazepam (valium) [3] is used to relive anxiety tension associated with anxiety disorder and muscle spasms (1, 2, 3
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