BACKGROUND: CRC is one of the most common cancers in the world. K-ras is proto-oncogene with GTPase activity that is lost when the gene is mutated. Analysis of K-ras mutational status is very important for CRC treatment, being the most important predictors of resistance to targeted therapy. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the frequency and spectrum of K-ras mutation among Iraqi patients with sporadic CRC. PATIENTS, MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study enrolled 35 cases with sporadic CRC; their clinicopathological parameters were analyzed. The FFPE blocks were used for DNA extraction; PCR amplification of K-ras gene and hybridization of allele-specific oligoprobes were performed. The assay covers 29 mutations in the K-ras gene (codons 1

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that mostly involves the spine and sacroiliac joints. It is associated with a decreased quality of life. Biological medicines such as infliximab and its biosimilar are the mainstay treatments for active ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: The study objective was to conduct a pharmacoeconomic study comparing the cost-effectiveness of the reference infliximab with its biosimilar in ankylosing spondylitis patients visiting public hospitals.

Subjects and Method: This is a two-center pharmacoeconomic study performed at two large teaching governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, which s

4 Blood Res 2018;53:314-319. Received on August 11, 2018 Revised on August 30, 2018 Accepted on August 30, 2018 Background Iron overload is a risk factor affecting all patients with thalassemia intermedia (TI). We aimed to determine whether there is a relationship of serum ferritin (SF) and alanine ami- notransferase (ALT) with liver iron concentration (LIC) determined by R2 magnetic reso- nance imaging (R2-MRI), to estimate the most relevant degree of iron overload and best time to chelate in patients with TI. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 119 patients with TI (mean age years) were randomly se- lected and compared with 120 patients who had a diagnosis of thalassemia major (TM). Correlations of LIC, as determined by R2-MRI, with SF

Systemic lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology affecting multiple organ system. Reactive nitrogen and oxygen species are claimed to play a role in this disease. However, the potential of Nitrosative/Oxidative Stress to elicit an autoimmune, response remain till now largely unexplored in humans. This study was done to investigate the status and contribution of nitrosative/oxidative stress in Iraqi patients for systemic lupus erythematosus. Blood samples from 19 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and 19 age-and sex- matched apparently healthy controls were evaluated for serum levels of nitrosative/oxidative stress markers including nitric oxide, peroxynitrite and malondialdehyde. Nitric oxide levels were

Introduction: We aimed to evaluate the shear bond strength of acrylic denture teeth to flexible and heat-cured denture base material after surface treatments with argon plasma, chemical bonding agent (PALFIQUE universal), and combination. Methods: A total of 80 incisor acrylic denture teeth were treated with a argonplasma, chemical bond (PALFIQUE universal bond), and a combination with 10 samples for each group. The neck (gingival portion) of teeth was cut at a 45° angle, and the teeth were attached to heat-cured acrylic resin and flexible denture base material. All the specimens were stored in artificial saliva for 7 days in an incubator (37 °C). A shear

Abstract
The current research aims to identify mental health and its role in promoting self-confidence and positive behavior of female university students. The researcher adopted the descriptive analytical approach in this research. The researcher depended on the availability of sources and references, literature, and previous field studies to analyze and study all aspects related to mental health and its role in promoting self-confidence and positive behavior of university students and then expand its importance and identify the areas of mental health, self-confidence, positive behavior, and university. The second chapter included the concept of mental health, the importance of the study, the most important factors of health and psyc

In this work, the effect of aluminum (Al) dust particles on the DC discharge plasma properties in argon was investigated. A magnetron is placed behind the cathode at different pressures and with varying amounts of Al. The plasma temperature (Te) and density (ne) were calculated using the Boltzmann equation and Stark broadening phenomena, which are considered the most important plasma variables through which the other plasma parameters were calculated. The measurements showed that the emission intensity decreases with increasing pressure from 0.06 to 0.4 Torr, and it slightly decreases with the addition of the NPs. The calculations showed that the ne increased and Te decreased with pressure. Both Te and ne were reduced by increasing

In recent years, there has been growing interest in using Nanosystems in different biomedical applications. Among all metal nanoparticles, selenium nanoparticles have attracted the attention of many researchers due to its low toxicity and nutritional supplementation value. The purpose of the current study was designed to examine the possible effect of selenium nanoparticles in combination with fenugreek leaves extract (an edible herb with good medicinal properties) in the treatment of oxidative stress status-related to polycystic ovary syndrome in letrozole-induced PCOS (an imbalance of reproductive hormones that causes infertility) in adult female rats. Cold plasma was used in the preparation of selenium nanoparticles subsequently the prod