Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and systemic autoimmune disease that is characterized by severe synovial inflammation, cartilage erosion, bone loss, and generalized vasculopathy. Although the immunologic mechanism of RA is still unclear, it is now thought to be a primarily Th17-driven disease. Along with other factors, IL-23 stimulates the expansion of Th17 cells from naive CD4+ T cells.

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the circulating levels of interleukin (IL)-23 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and determine the correlation between plasma/serum IL-23 levels and disease activity. So, we performed a systematic review with meta-analysis comparing

A paraffin wax and copper foam matrix were used as a thermal energy storage material in the double passes air solar chimney (SC) collector to get ventilation effect through daytime and after sunset. Air SC collector was installed in the south wall of an insulated test room and tested with different working angles (30^o, 45^o and 60^o). Different SC types were used; single pass, double passes flat plate collector and double pass thermal energy storage box collector (TESB). A computational model based on the finite volume method for transient tw dimensional domains was carried out to describe the heat transfer and storage in the thermal energy storage material of collector. Also, equivalent specific heat metho

Sewer system plays an indispensable task in urban cities by protecting public health and the environment. The operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of this network have to be in a sustainable and scientific manner. For this purpose, it is important to support operators, decision makers and municipalities with performance evaluation procedure that is based on operational factors. In this paper, serviceability and performance indicator (PI) principles are employed to propose methodology comprising two enhanced PI curves that can be used to evaluate the individual sewers depending on operational factors such as flowing velocity and wastewater level in the sewers. In order to test this methodology; a case study of al-Ru

Al-Rustamiyah plant is the oldest and biggest sewage treatment plant in Iraq; it locates in the south of Baghdad city. The plant suffers from serious problems associated with overflow and low capacity. The present work aims to upgrade the heart of biological treatment process through suggesting the use of membrane bioreactor; (MBR). In this work, fouling of membrane during sewage treatment has been analyzed experimentally and theoretically by fouling mechanisms. Aeration has been applied in order to control fouling through producing effective diameters of air bubbles close to the membrane walls. Effect of air flow rate on flux decline was investigated. Hermia's models were used to investigate the fouling mechanisms. The results showed th

Water is necessary for sustainable development and healthy society.  Groundwater, often, is not sufficient and protected for direct human consumption. Due to increase in the density of population the requirement of water is increasing.  In this work, the assessment of groundwater quality was conducted in the south-west part of Basrah province. Spatial variations in the quality of groundwater in the study area have been analyzed utilizing GIS technique. The geochemical parameters of groundwater samples including pH, EC, TDS, Ca, Mg, Na, Cl, HCO₃, SO₄, and NO₃ were assessed in this study. Information maps of the study area have been actually prepared to make use of the GIS spatial

Sewer system plays an essential task in urban cities by protecting public health and the environment. The operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of this network have to be sustainable and scientifically. For this purpose, it is crucial to support operators, decision makers and municipalities with performance evaluation procedure that is based on operational factors. In this paper, serviceability and performance indicator (PI) principles are employed to propose methodology comprising two enhanced PI curves that can be used to evaluate the individual sewers depending on operational factors such as flowing velocity and wastewater level in the sewers. To test this methodology; a case study of al-Rusafa in Baghdad city is

A Raman spectroscopy method was optimised to examine the chemical changes of aspirin tablets after interaction with helium temperatures. Several aspirin tablets were exposed to plasma-assisted desorption ionisation flame for different times (10, 30, 50, 60, 180 and 300s) and then analysed by Raman spectroscopy using optimal conditions. The changes in chemistry between exposed and fresh (without exposure to plasma) tablets were compared. The vibrational peaks of the aspirin molecule in the Raman spectrum were identified by checking the peak position. The results showed clear spectra with increases in intensity of vibrational peaks until 30s, whereas no spectra were measured for the exposed tablets to plasma flame after 50s. It can, the

This study presents a rapid, sensitive, and straightforward approach to measure chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) by using turbidity CFIA. The method involves CPM reacting with sodium nitroprusside (Nitropress) to produce a pale white precipitate. The NAG-SSP-5S1D analyzer was used to measure turbidity at 0°–180° angle to detect the attenuation of incident light as a result of collision on the surfaces of the precipitate particles. The linear range of CPM measurements was between 0.008 and 11 m.mol/L, with correlation coefficient of 0.9983 and R2% = 99.65. The limit of detection was determined to be 0.0328 µg/sample from the lowest concentration in the calibration curve, and the repeatability of the method (RSD%) was less than 0.4% (n = 6