Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the possible the association between +3061 (G>A, rs1143676) missense mutation in exon 24 of the integrin α-4 subunit (ITGA-4) gene and the response to natalizumab in a sample of Iraqi multiple sclerosis patients. Methods: A sample of 59 patients with multiple sclerosis (16 males and 43 females; mean age of 32 years; age range of 15 to 52 years) receiving natalizumab for at least 12 consecutive months were involved in the study between March and August/ 2022. The sample was categorized into two groups according to their response to natalizumab treatment (responders and non-responders). Polymerase chain reaction and Sanger’s sequencing for the extracted deoxyribonucleic acid was performed to identify the polymorphism at ITGA-4 gene promoter region. Results: The 3061 AA and AG genotypes were present in both groups (responders and non-responders to natalizumab treatment) with the lack of the wild form GG genotype. The AG genotype was significantly present in the non-responders’ group and appeared to have a significant impact on the responsiveness to natalizumab by increasing the propensity of being non-responder with a positive correlation (Phi-coefficient of 0.294) on the contrary of AA genotype. Conclusion: The +3061 (G.A) missense mutation is related to the response to natalizumab in multiple sclerosis patients with the AG genotype, thereby increasing the likelihood of non-response significantly.
A systematic approach is presented to achieve the stable grasping of objects through a two-finger robotic hand, in which each finger cavity was filled with granular media. The compaction of the latter, controlled by vacuum pressure, was used to adjust the structural and contact stiffness of the finger. The grasping stability was studied under the concurrent effect of an external torque and applied vacuum pressure. Stable grasping was defined as the no slippage condition between the grasped object and the two fingers. Three control schemes were adopted and applied experimentally to ensure the effectiveness of the grasping process. The results showed that stable and unstable grasping regions exist for each combination of applied torqu
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to identify learning difficulties and their role in children's perception of self-concept. The researcher adopted the descriptive and analytical approach method in this study. A questionnaire was designed by the researcher to collect some related information such as biodata, family, health, diagnostic and behavioral patterns of the case. In addition, the researcher adopted the scale of learning difficulties for elementary school students prepared by Zaidan Ahmed Al-Sartawi (1995), the scale of student appreciation for the survey of learning difficulties for primary school students by Michael Best, which was translated to the Arabic language by (Saeed Abdullah Debis). The researcher adopted also the Self-Concept
... Show MoreThis work deals with the production of light fuel cuts of (gasoline, kerosene and gas oil) by catalytic cracking treatment of secondary product mater (heavy vacuum gas oil) which was produced from the vacuum distillation unit in any petroleum refinery. The objective of this research was to study the effect of the catalyst -to- oil ratio parameter on catalytic cracking process of heavy vacuum gas oil feed at constant temperature (450 °C). The first step of this treatment was, catalytic cracking of this material by constructed batch reactor occupied with auxiliary control devices, at selective range of the catalyst –to- oil ratio parameter ( 2, 2.5, 3 and 3.5) respectively. The conversion of heavy vacuum gas
... Show MoreThe dual nature of asphalt binder necessitates improvements to mitigate rutting and fatigue since it performs as an elastic material under the regime of rapid loading or cold temperatures and as a viscous fluid at elevated temperatures. The present investigation assesses the effectiveness of Nano Alumina (NA), Nano Silica (NS), and Nano Titanium Dioxide (NT) at weight percentages of 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8% in asphalt cement to enhance both asphalt binder and mixture performance. Binder evaluations include tests for consistency, thermal susceptibility, aging, and workability, while mixture assessments focus on Marshall properties, moisture susceptibility, resilient modulus, permanent deformation, and fatigue characteristics. NS notably im
... Show MoreThe dual nature of asphalt binder necessitates improvements to mitigate rutting and fatigue since it performs as an elastic material under the regime of rapid loading or cold temperatures and as a viscous fluid at elevated temperatures. The present investigation assesses the effectiveness of Nano Alumina (NA), Nano Silica (NS), and Nano Titanium Dioxide (NT) at weight percentages of 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8% in asphalt cement to enhance both asphalt binder and mixture performance. Binder evaluations include tests for consistency, thermal susceptibility, aging, and workability, while mixture assessments focus on Marshall properties, moisture susceptibility, resilient modulus, permanent deformation, and fatigue characteristics. NS notably im
... Show MoreDesigning machines and equipment for post-harvest operations of agricultural products requires information about their physical properties. The aim of the work was to evaluate the possibility of introducing a new approach to predict the moisture content in bean and corn seeds based on measuring their dimensions using image analysis using artificial neural networks (ANN). Experimental tests were carried out at three levels of wet basis moisture content of seeds: 9, 13 and 17%. The analysis of the results showed a direct relationship between the wet basis moisture content and the main dimensions of the seeds. Based on the statistical analysis of the seed material, it was shown that the characteristics
Documentary Credit passes through many practical phases starting from Opening credit and matching documents and payment of the amount of credit……etc. It is worthy to mention that there are several aspects that are varied and differed from Bank to another one which can offer Competitive Advantage for the bank …This will be shown in this research.
For the purpose of achieving the objective of this research within the theoretical aspect, the researcher had seen and briefed several books and researches which are mainly related to the subject of the research.
As for the practical aspect, has included Questionnaire which included many questions that are fit and suitable to the hypotheses.
Research sample has
... Show MoreThis study aims to find out the effectiveness of instructional scaffolding strategy in the development of academic achievement and critical thinking of female second grade secondary mathematics students. Semi-experimental and relational descriptive method was used. The sample of the study consisted of (50) students divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group was taught using scaffolding strategy whereas the control group was taught using traditional method. Pre- and Post-tests were used to achieve the objective of the study. The results of the study revealed that there are statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the experimental and control groups in the posttest for both the academi
... Show MoreInternational satellite channels in Arabic are targeted to the region with their news bulletins and their innovative programs, attracting the interest of the Arab viewers in their news articles and programs with new ideas and methods as well as high technology in the production and synthesis of videos. Therefore, they work on framing the above, And the media policy that governs, so focused the problem of the study to try to answer the question of the President is how to frame the international satellite channels in Arabic to the phenomenon of terrorism? What are the aspects that are working to highlight and aspects that try to hide? The study adopted the survey methodology for the main news bulletins in the Russian channel today for the
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