Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and s

Fatigue failure is almost considered as the predominant problem affecting automotive parts under dynamic loading condition. Thus, more understanding of crack behavior during fatigue can strongly help in finding the proper mechanism to avoid the final fracture and extent the service life of components. The main goal of this paper is to study the fracture behavior of low carbon steel which is used mostly in automotive industry. For this purpose, the fractography of samples subjected to high and low stress levels in fatigue test then was evaluated and analyzed. Hardness and tensile tests were carried out to determine the properties of used steel. Also, the samples were characterized by microstructure test and XRD analysis to examine the con

The present study aimed to determine the serum sex hormone levels among Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) patients before and after 3 months of oral administration of 5-α reductase inhibitor(finasteride). Forty BPH patients and 40 healthy men from Amara city were involved in this study, their ages were between 40-59 year. They were all subjected  to direct estimation of hormones by MinVidas method including Testosterone (T), Estradiol (E2), Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Prolactin (PRL), and Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) before and after 3 months of treatment with 5α-reductase inhibitor (finasteride) (the healthy individuals didn’t take finasteride).The results showed that T level was significantly lo

Stress is an inevitable part of life. Stress occurs when stressful events of self, environmental, or social origin affect the individual's resilience and threaten to collapse his psychological and physical systems. The stress represents difficulties and obstacles that may exceed the individual's ability to bear them and deal with them, which causes him stress and causes negative effects on his psychological and physical health. Therefore, the current research aimed to identify the negative effects of psychological stress on the psychological and physical health of the individual through the literature that dealt with this topic. It was among the results of the research that one of the negative effects of stresses on mental health is the

Incremental forming is a flexible sheet metal forming process which is performed by utilizing simple tools to locally deform a sheet of metal along a predefined tool path without using of dies. This work presents the single point incremental forming process for producing pyramid geometry and studies the effect of tool geometry, tool diameter, and spindle speed on the residual stresses. The residual stresses were measured by ORIONRKS 6000 test measuring instrument. This instrument was used with four angles of (0º,15º,30º, and 45º) and the average value of residual stresses was determined, the value of the residual stress in the original blanks was (10.626 MPa). The X-ray diffraction technology was used to measure the residual stresses

Through the early childhood and after the ablactating the child learns acquired food habbits that might studying with him throughout his life. Here the parents role arises: teaching the child the sound food habits and hygienic styles and whatever beneficial to the health and with the sufficient quantities for the body. In this way the experiences the child learns at home will be of great help in his future life in choosing the suitable food after becoming more dependent in making his decisions and choices away from his parents. The results in this study showed that the averages of the children’s consumption of the high energy foods in comparison with the other highest consumption average , after that comes the con sumption of soft drills

Objectives To tailor composites of polyethylene–hydroxyapatite to function as a new intracanal post for the restoration of endodontically treated teeth (ETT). Methods Silanated hydroxyapatite (HA) and zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) filled low-density polyethylene (LDPE) composites were fabricated by a melt extrusion process and characterised using infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The flexural strength and modulus were determined in dry state and post ageing in simulated body fluid and fractured surfaces analysed by SEM. The water uptake and radiographic appearance of the experimental composites were also measured and compared with a commercially known endodontic fibre