Collagen triple helix repeat containing-1 (CTHRC1) is an essential marker for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), but its relationship with pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory, and inflammatory markers has been scantily covered in extant literature. To evaluate the level of CTHRC1 protein in the sera of 100 RA patients and 25 control and compare levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 10 (IL-10), RA disease activity (DAS28), and inflammatory factors. Higher significant serum levels of CTHRC1 (29.367 ng/ml), TNF-α (63.488 pg/ml), and IL-10 (67.1 pg/ml) were found in patient sera as compared to that in control sera (CTHRC1 = 15.732 ng/ml, TNF-α = 33.788 pg/ml, and IL-10 = 25.122 pg/ml). There was no significant correlati

         Fibromyalgia (FM) is a common, debilitating, and chronic pain syndrome. The women are more likely to have more tender points on examination than are their male counterparts. Iraqi study showed that FM occur in 1.5% among adolescents of Iraqi population. In compare to normal healthy women, present study was revealed that Iraqi women with FM have significant elevation of calcium (p = 0.003) with significant reduction of magnesium (p = 0.001), whereas the inorganic phosphorous was not differs (p = 0.31). In conclusion, magnesium and calcium would play a crucial role in etiopathogenesis of fibromyalgia.

Key words: calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, Fibromyalgia.

Background: Psoriatic arthritis is a type of arthritis that can often affect some patients who suffer from psoriasis. Approximately 40-50% of individuals with psoriatic arthritis have the HLA-B27 genotype

Objective: To investigate whether we could confirm the role of HLA-B27 alleles and psoriatic arthritis in Iraqi Arab Muslims patients.

Method: A cross sectional case control comparative study included thirty Iraqi Arab Muslims who had psoriatic arthritis that consulted the Dermatological and Rheumatological Department in AL-Kindy Teaching Hospital from November 2014 to June 2015. HLA-genotyping for HLA-B27 were assessed. A control group consisted of fifty-one healthy vol

Cigarette smoke contains a lot of toxic and oxidizing materials which causes body toxicity and reduces antioxidant that results in many diseases. In this study, levels of Zinc and Copper (which are antioxidant) were measured in serum of smokers and nonsmokers. It was found that the level of Zinc in serum of smokers was significantly lower than nonsmokers because nitric oxide which is one of cigarette contents acts to increase zinc loss, also a significantly lower copper levels were found in smokers than nonsmokers due to consumption of copper in reducing cadmium toxicity which is a cigarette smoke content

Alginate from Large brown seaweeds act as natural polymer has been investigated as polymer and has been added to concrete in different percentages ( 0% , 0.5% , 1% and 1.5% ) by the cement weight and the study show the effect of using alginate biopolymer admixtures on  some of the fresh properties of the concrete (slump &  the density  fresh) also in the hardened state (  Compressive strength , Splitting tensile strength  and Flexural strength ) at 28 days. The mix proportion was (1:2.26:2.26) (cement: sand: gravel) respectively and at constant w/c equal to 0.47. The results indicate that the use of alginate as a percent of the cement weight possess a positive effect on fresh properties of co

Porcelain is one of the most important ceramic materials with a wide range of traditional and technical applications. Since most mixtures of porcelain have a high sintering temperature, bentonite has been added in this research to improve the characteristics of sintering and burning. The porcelain mixture consisted of the following Iraqi raw materials: 30% wt kaolin, 30 wt% non-plastic clay (grog), 10% wt sodium feldspar, 10 wt% potassium feldspar and 20 wt% flint. After the mechanical mixing process and transfer the powder mixture to the slurry by adding distilled water, then different weight percentage of the sodium bentonite(0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10) wt% was added. The specimens were prepared by using the solid casting m

The permanent deformation of flexible pavement represent serious problem in hot climate region. Numerous efforts are devoted to mitigate this distress such as modifying asphalt binder by polymers. The present study demonstrate the effect of utilizing four types of polymers to reduce the permanent deformation, these polymers are Polyethylene Wax (PEW), Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR), Ethylene Propylene Dien Monomer (EPDM) and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA). The prepared mixtures composed of 4.9 % of 40/50 asphalt binder, 12.5 mm nominal aggregate maximum size and limestone dust as filler. The permanent and resilient strains have been recorded when the cylindrical specimens, 101.6 mm in diameter and 203.2 mm in height, tested by repeated loa

This research deals with study of the effect of additives on rheological properties (yield point, plastic viscosity ,and apparent viscosity) of emulsions. Twenty seven emulsion samples were prepared; all emulsions in this investigation are invert emulsions when water droplets are dispersed in diesel oil. The resulting emulsions are called water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions. The rheological properties of these emulsions were investigated using a couett coaxial cylinder rotational viscometer (Fann-VG model 35 A), by measuring shear stress versus shear rate. It was found that the effect of additives on rheological properties of emulsions as follow: the increase in the concentration of asphaltic material tends to increase the rheological propertie

Background: Laser is a novel physical therapy technique used to treat various conditions, including wound healing, inhibition of bacterial growth, and postoperative wounds. High-power pulsed alexandrite laser therapy is one of the most prevalent forms of laser therapy, which is a noninvasive method for treating various pathological conditions, thereby enhancing functional capacities and quality of life. It is a modern medical and physiotherapeutic technology. Generally, the Alexandrite laser emits infrared light with a wavelength of 755 nm, allowing it to propagate and penetrate tissues. Objective: This study focused on the application of a high-power pulsed alexandrite laser in vitro to evaluate the effect of a pulsed alexandrite l