Introduction and Aim: The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-39, a member of the IL-12 family plays a key role in the inflammatory response by modulating immune cell activity and inflammation. A literature search shows no study undertaken for the effect of IL-39's on arthritis so far. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of IL-39 in rheumatoid arthritis. Materials and Methods: This study involved 80 patients with rheumatoid arthritis registered at the Rheumatology Clinic at Baghdad teaching hospital. The patients were divided into three groups based on treatments received. Group 1 included patients who were not on any treatment for arthritis, Group 2 with patients on hydroxychloroquine and or prednisone treatment, and Group 3 that received Enbrel® (etanercept) and HUMIRA® (adalimumab) treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. A control group was included in the study. Patients in all groups were assessed for their serum IL-39 concentration, C - reactive protein, Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (ACCP) and ESR. Results: The patient age and BMI were not significantly different between the groups receiving treatment for Rheumatoid arthritis. A significant increase in the interleukin 39 concentration was observed in treatment groups (G1, G2, G3) as compared to normal healthy controls regardless of whether they were positive or negative for the anti-CCP test. Conclusion: This study showed that the serum interleukin IL-39 levels significantly increased in patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis thus suggesting that IL-39 could be considered as a potential inflammatory biomarker of RA.
The pharmacist's role in the community is currently directed towards providing drug information and patient care rather than drug compounding and dispensing. Patient counseling is an essential skill for pharmacists. So as to improve the pharmacist role in the community and enhance the patient's education and counseling skills, many continuing education programs are established. The aim of this study is to assess the perceptions and tendency of community pharmacists in Iraq regarding patients counseling and continuing pharmacists’ educational programs.
The cement industry is considered one of the strategic industries, because it is directly related to construction work and cement is used as a hydraulic binder. However, it is a simple industry compared to major industries and depends on the availability of the necessary raw materials. This study focuses on optimizing and coordinating the location of raw materials needed for the cement manufacturing in Wasit Governorate in Iraq. Field works include detailed reconnaissance, topographic work, and description and sampling of 24 lithological sections that represent the carbonate deposits, which crop out in the area. The investigated area has the following specifications: The weighted aver
Reconstruction project management in the cities of Mosul, Anbar, and Tikrit, in Iraq still faces major obstacles that impede the comprehensive performance of these projects. It is thus necessary to improve the arising challenge estimation in the implementation of reconstruction projects and evaluate their components: time, cost, quality, and scope. This study used the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to prioritize major and minor criteria in the influential causes of challenges and formulate a mathematical model to help decision-makers estimate them. Using the Super Decisions software, the final results indicated that changes in scope reached 40.8%, which is the greatest difficulty, followed by changes in cost at 27.6%, changes in
... Show MoreSome types of the fungus Aspergillus were isolated from some hospitals in the city of Baghdad (Imam Ali Hospital and Sadr General Hospital). The samples were taken by Transport media at a rate of three replicates of each place isolated from samples from different places within the hospital (waste, baths, the sick beds, corridors and room floors) for the purpose of isolating and diagnosing the fungus on the Czapeck Dox Agar media. It was noticed that the spread rate of fungus Aspergillus was 70% compared to other species that have emerged during the isolation process of the Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar media. The species A.niger (56.25%) was considered the most common type of fungus visible during the isolation process of the Imam Ali Hospit
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to know the characteristics of both variables in order to be able the to construct the integrated framework of its paragraphs through the available information on both inspirational leadership and organizational health. as fundamental variables of research, as well as the extent of the influence of the inspirational variable as an independent variable in the organizational health variable as a variable in its three physical, mental and social dimensions. The research is important to stimulate the behavior side of the staff. Which is one of the top concerns of senior management in the ministry, because of its great importance in increasing the effectiveness of the performance of e
... Show MoreUrsolic acid (UA, 3 ?-hydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid) are isomeric triterpenic acids. The high quantities of pentacyclic triterpenoids in Scabiosa species seems to be obvious and there is an evidence that most of pentacyclic triterpenoids that have been isolated are saponins. This is one of the most important characteristic of the genus Scabiosa, the main aglycones are ursolic acid and oleanolic acid. In the current study, isolation from the aerial part and roots of Scabiosa palaestina L. was performed using Preparative HPLC. Furthermore, detection and quantitation of ursolic acid was performed by high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). The identification of isolated triterpenoid involves two methods including FT-IR coupl
... Show MoreThe reality of the field of construction projects in Iraq refers to needing for the development of performance in order to improve quality and reduce defects and errors and to control the time and cost, so there is needing for the application of effective methods in this area, one of the methods that can be applied in this area is the manner of Six Sigma. This research aims to enhance the performance and quality improvement for the construction projects by improving performance in the work of the implementation of the concrete structure depending on the Six Sigma methodology, and for the purpose of achieving the aim of the research, the researcher firstly depends on the theoretical study that include the concepts of qual
... Show MoreFormed leadership skills and organizational trust Based on intellectual that underpinned the current research, as represented leadership skills variable interpretative represented in organizational trust-response variable.
The research aims to test the relationship and the impact of leadership skills dimensions in organizational trust dimensions for the purpose of achieving its objectives were formulated hypotheses main relate to test the effect and the relationship between the variables of research for the purpose of testing those hypotheses applied research on a sample of heads of departments and officials of the people at the center of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, where th
... Show MoreThe Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) measures the reflected solar radiation in the ultraviolet and visible part in the spectral range that is between 270 and 500 nm, using two channels with a spectral resolution of about 0.5 nm. Ground-level tropospheric ozone is one of the air pollutants of most concern. In the troposphere, near the Earth's surface, human activities lead to ozone concentrations several times higher than the natural background level. To evaluate the ozone distribution over Iraq, the ozone data from OMI were analyzed using geostatistical techniques. Theoretical spherical models provided the best fit for all monthly experimental variograms. The parameters of these variograms (sill, range and nugget) wer
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