Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the association between polymorphisms in the promoter region of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene at locations -308G/A, -857C/T, and -863C/A with the tendency of being non-responder to etanercept.

Patients and methods: Between October 2020 and August 2021, a total of 80 patients (10 males, 70 females; mean age: 50 years; range, 30 to 72 years) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving etanercept for at least six months were included. The patients were divided into two groups responders and non-responders, based on their response after six months of continuous treatment. Following polymerase chain reac

Efficient and cost-effective drilling of directional wells necessitates the implementation of best drilling practices and advanced techniques to optimize drilling operations. Failure to adequately consider drilling risks can result in inefficient drilling operations and non-productive time (NPT). Although advanced drilling techniques may be expensive, they offer promising technical solutions for mitigating drilling risks. This paper aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of advanced drilling techniques in mitigating risks and improving drilling operations when compared to conventional drilling techniques. Specifically, the advanced drilling techniques employed in Buzurgan Oil Field, including vertical drilling with mud motor, managed pres

Using the Neural network as a type of associative memory will be introduced in this paper through the problem of mobile position estimation where mobile estimate its location depending on the signal strength reach to it from several around base stations where the neural network can be implemented inside the mobile. Traditional methods of time of arrival (TOA) and received signal strength (RSS) are used and compared with two analytical methods, optimal positioning method and average positioning method. The data that are used for training are ideal since they can be obtained based on geometry of CDMA cell topology. The test of the two methods TOA and RSS take many cases through a nonlinear path that MS can move through that region. The result

The paper aims to propose Teaching Learning based Optimization (TLBO) algorithm to solve 3-D packing problem in containers. The objective which can be presented in a mathematical model is optimizing the space usage in a container. Besides the interaction effect between students and teacher, this algorithm also observes the learning process between students in the classroom which does not need any control parameters. Thus, TLBO provides the teachers phase and students phase as its main updating process to find the best solution. More precisely, to validate the algorithm effectiveness, it was implemented in three sample cases. There was small data which had 5 size-types of items with 12 units, medium data which had 10 size-types of items w

Institutions and companies are looking to reduce spending on buildings and services according to scientific methods, provided they reach the same purpose but at a lower cost. On this basis, this paper proposes a model to measure and reduce maintenance costs in one of the public sector institutions in Iraq by using performance indicators that fit the nature of the work of this institution and the available data. The paper relied on studying the nature of the institution’s work in the maintenance field and looking at the type of data available to know the type and number of appropriate indicators to create the model. Maintenance data were collected for the previous six years by reviewing the maintenance and financial dep

Using the Neural network as a type of associative memory will be introduced in this paper through the problem of mobile position estimation where mobile estimate its location depending on the signal strength reach to it from several around base stations where the neural network can be implemented inside the mobile. Traditional methods of time of arrival (TOA) and received signal strength (RSS) are used and compared with two analytical methods, optimal positioning method and average positioning method. The data that are used for training are ideal since they can be obtained based on geometry of CDMA cell topology. The test of the two methods TOA and RSS take many cases through a nonlinear path that MS can move through that region. The result

Facial recognition has been an active field of imaging science. With the recent progresses in computer vision development, it is extensively applied in various areas, especially in law enforcement and security. Human face is a viable biometric that could be effectively used in both identification and verification. Thus far, regardless of a facial model and relevant metrics employed, its main shortcoming is that it requires a facial image, against which comparison is made. Therefore, closed circuit televisions and a facial database are always needed in an operational system. For the last few decades, unfortunately, we have experienced an emergence of asymmetric warfare, where acts of terrorism are often committed in secluded area with no

The necessities of steganography methods for hiding secret message into images have been ascend. Thereby, this study is to generate a practical steganography procedure to hide text into image. This operation allows the user to provide the system with both text and cover image, and to find a resulting image that comprises the hidden text inside. The suggested technique is to hide a text inside the header formats of a digital image. Least Significant Bit (LSB) method to hide the message or text, in order to keep the features and characteristics of the original image are used. A new method is applied via using the whole image (header formats) to hide the image. From the experimental results, suggested technique that gives a higher embe

Forest fires continue to rise during the dry season and they are difficult to stop. In this case, high temperatures in the dry season can cause an increase in drought index that could potentially burn the forest every time. Thus, the government should conduct surveillance throughout the dry season. Continuous surveillance without the focus on a particular time becomes ineffective and inefficient because of preventive measures carried out without the knowledge of potential fire risk. Based on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), formulation of Drought Factor is used just for calculating the drought today based on current weather conditions, and yesterday's drought index. However, to find out the factors of drought a day after, the data

Using the Neural network as a type of associative memory will be introduced in this paper through the problem of mobile position estimation where mobile estimate its location depending on the signal strength reach to it from several around base stations where the neural network can be implemented inside the mobile. Traditional methods of time of arrival (TOA) and received signal strength (RSS) are used and compared with two analytical methods, optimal positioning method and average positioning method. The data that are used for training are ideal since they can be obtained based on geometry of CDMA cell topology. The test of the two methods TOA and RSS take many cases through a nonlinear path that MS can move through tha