Chitinase-3-like 1 protein (YKL-40) is a glycoprotein primarily produced in the arthritic joint and plays a crucial role in inflammatory processes. The aim of the study is to establish the role of YKL-40 as a biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to proinflammatory biomarkers and disease activity. The study included 58 patients and 18 control. Diseases activity score (DAS-28) and clinical disease activity index (CDAI) were measured. Serum level of YKL-40, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1B (IL-1β), erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF), C-reactive protein (CRP), and anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) were assessed. The results showed that the median serum YKL-40 level which was 5.42 

A robust and sensitive analytical method is presented for the extraction and determination of six pharmaceuticals in freshwater sediments.

An experimental and numerical study was carried out to investigate the heat transfer by natural convection in a three dimensional annulus enclosure filled with porous media (silica sand) between two inclined concentric cylinders with (and without) annular fins attached to the inner cylinder under steady state condition. The experiments were carried out for a range of modified Rayleigh number (0.2 ≤Ra*≤ 11) and extended to Ra*=500 for numerical study and for annulus inclination angle of (δ = 0˚, 30˚, 60˚ and 90˚). The numerical study was to give the governing equation under assumptions that used Darcy law and Boussinesq’s approximation and then it was solved numerically using finite difference approximation. It was found that t

This study aimed to extract, purify, and characterize the protease of local Okra Abelmoschus esculentus pods. The extraction process was conducted using ten extraction solutions with different pH and ionic strength values. Phosphate buffer solution with (pH 7, 0.05M, containing 2% sodium chloride) gave the highest activity which was (7.2 Unit/ml) as compared to other solutions, which ranged from 0.8-5.9 Unit/ml. The extracted enzyme purified by several stages. Being, precipitation by gradual addition of Ammonium sulphate from 20 to 85% saturation, then the precipitated enzyme was dialyzed and fractionated through DEAE-Cellulose (22X1.1cm), the enzymic fractions were pooled. The specific activity, purification fold and the enzyme yield value

The current research aims to identify the impact of the amputated story style in the collection of sixth graders in elementary in the written expression subject.

The researcher, intentionally, chose Al-Ameen primary hybrid school which belongs to the directorate of education in Baghdad / Karkh first.  The number of people of the sixth grade three classes. The researcher chose the two classes randomly to represent one of the experimental group, the number (32) pupils (male and female) have studied the expression subject by the amputated story style. Other control group, the number (32) pupils studied according to the traditional method.

The researcher prepared the lesson plans and presented to the experts, the researc

The contemporary ideas were characterized by the abundance and diversity of their knowledge, human and conceptual production, the strategy is both a general and a detailed framework covering all design disciplines both inside and outside the field of architecture. From here, many of these terraces emerged from fields outside the field of architecture, but soon moved to form an important nerve within the field of architecture. Hence the need to define a more comprehensive framework for studying one of the concepts that can frame the framework, namely the concept of "Alliteration", and its adoption as an architectural design strategy aimed at giving the resulting form a feature of rhetoric. So the research highlighted the

The dynamic thermomechanical properties, sealing ability, and voids formation of an experimental obturation hydroxyapatite-reinforced polyethylene (HA/PE) composite/carrier system were investigated and compared with those of a commercial system [GuttaCore (GC)]. The HA/PE system was specifically designed using a melt-extrusion process. The viscoelastic properties of HA/PE were determined using a dynamic thermomechanical analyser. Human single-rooted teeth were endodontically instrumented and obturated using HA/PE or GC systems, and then sealing ability was assessed using a fluid filtration system. In addition, micro-computed tomography (μCT) was used to quantify apparent voids within the root-canal space. The data were statistically analys