Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a common disease, and a major determinant of morbidity and mortality in all races. The pleiotropic effects of the receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL) such as modulation of cell survival, mineralization and inflammation, make it an interesting candidate mediator in the progression and destabilization of atherosclerotic lesions.Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the role of RANKL in the pathogenesis of ACS.Methods: The levels of RANKL were measured by ELISA method in sera of 60 ACS patients, 31 patients with unstable angina (UA) and 29 patients with myocardial infarction (MI) in comparison with 20 apparently healthy controls.Results: Current data indicate

Some physical and chemical characteristics of Jurf Al- Sakar drinking water plant in Babylon governorate have been studied. Seven locations for this plant were selected. These were the drinking water treatment plant source on Euphrates River before entering the plant, precipitation, filtration and collection tanks, and also after leaving the plant at distances of one meter, 4 and 8 km. The samples were collected bimonthly from October, 2002 to August, 2003. Some results match with the national and international standard characters while the other characters (Turbidity, total hardness, calcium, nitrate, phosphate and the biological oxygen demand values) were not match. The present study showed that drinking water treatment plant is undrinka

The diesel oil type S-3 specified for diesel engine has limited the suitability for diesel trucks for 8000 km, but didn't clarify its suitability if used in tractor engines.It is known that the work style of farm tractor differs from that of other vehicles where tractors are used for all the activities in sever conditions and under the complete usage of the available power and capability, so there is no sign or indication of the usage period of this oil in tractor's engine. The oil has been used on Cirta C6806 tractors. The manual book of the tractor's engine, Deutz recommends changing the oil every 100 hrs. Therefore the main goal of this research is to give the recommended working hours for S-3 diesel oil when used in farm tractor engines

Reservoir rock typing integrates geological, petrophysical, seismic, and reservoir data to identify zones with similar storage and flow capacities. Therefore, three different methods to determine the type of reservoir rocks in the Mushrif Formation of the Amara oil field. The first method represents cluster analysis, a statistical method that classifies data points based on effective porosity, clay volume, and sonic transient time from well logs or core samples. The second method is the electrical rock type, which classifies reservoir rocks based on electrical resistivity. The permeability of rock types varies due to differences in pore geometry, mineral composition, and fluid saturation. Resistivity data are usually obtained from w

Background: Pleural effusion is a common clinical
problem.
Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the
diagnostic utility of Carcino embryonic antigen
(CEA), CA 15- 3, and alpha-feto protein ( AFP ) as
a tumor markers in serum and pleural effusion and
evaluate the value of combining them as a diagnostic
tools that are complementary to cytology in the
diagnosis of malignancies .
Methods: Forty patients (18 malignant and 22 benign
pleural effusion) were included in this study .The
serum and effusion levels of CEA, CA 15 – 3 and
AFP were measured using immunoradiometric assay
Results: from the 40 effusions studied 26 were
exudates and 14 were transudates. The level of
pleural effusions

In this study water quality index (WQI) was calculated to classify the flowing water in the Tigris River in Baghdad city. GIS was used to develop colored water quality maps indicating the classification of the river for drinking water purposes. Water quality parameters including: Turbidity, pH, Alkalinity, Total hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Chloride, Sulfate, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia, Orthophosphate and Total dissolved solids were used for WQI determination. These parameters were recorded at the intakes of the WTPs in Baghdad for the period 2004 to 2011. The results from the annual average WQI analysis classified the Tigris River very poor to polluted at the north of Baghdad (Alkarkh WTP) while it was very poor to very polluted in t