Placental calcification is an aging process that is increasingly linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes when it occurs prematurely. Vitamin D has immunomodulatory properties and may play a role in placental calcification. This study explored the association between maternal vitamin D, inflammatory cytokines, and placental calcification. A total of 46 pregnant women aged 16–40 years were included in this study. They were divided into four groups: Group 1 (control group; n = 10, without placental calcification), Group 2 (n = 12, Grade 1 placental calcification), Group 3 (n = 12, Grade 2 placental calcification), and Group 4 (n = 12, Grade 3 placental calcification). Serum vitamin D (25(OH)D) and cytokine (TNF-α, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10) levels were measured by ELISA, while serum calcium levels were measured by colorimetric analysis. Vitamin D levels declined gradually with increasing placental calcification (
Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov2) which utilizes angiotensin converting enzyme2 (ACE2) to invade the host cells. This membrane-bound peptidase is widely distributed in the body; its activity antagonizes the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). Once SARS-Cov2 enters the cell, it causes downregulation of ACE2, resulting in the unopposed activation of RAAS. The unregulated activity of the RAAS system can deteriorate the prognosis in COVID-19 patients. A soluble form of ACE2 (sACE2) was reported to have a role in the SARS-Cov2 invasion of the susceptible cells.
Aim of the study: This study aims to inve
... Show MoreAs many expensive and invasive procedures are used for the diagnosis or follow-up of clinical conditions, the measurement of cell-free DNA is a promising, noninvasive method, which considers using blood, follicular fluid, or seminal fluid. This method is used to determine chromosomal abnormalities, genetic disorders, and indicators of some diseases such as polycystic ovary syndrome, pre-eclampsia, and some malignancies. Cell-free DNA, which are DNA fragments outside the nucleus, originates from an apoptotic process. However, to be used as a marker for the previously mentioned diseases is still under investigation. We discuss some aspects of using cell-free DNA measurements as an indicator or marker for pathological conditions.
A cross-sectional study was conducted on 80 type 2 diabetic patients aged 20-60 years in Baghdad and 20 non diabetic persons as controls. Laboratory assessment of glucose related parameters; Fasting blood sugar (FBS), Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), Insulin and Insulin resistance (IR), renal function test; Blood urea, serum creatinine, Calcium (Ca) and Phosphorus (P), Calcium regulating hormones; Parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin and vitamin D, cytokines, Adiponectin and Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and comparison these parameters between patients and controls. The results: a high significant (p˂0.01) increase in FBG level in the patients (211.34 ± 11.20 mg/dl) as compared with control (85.89 ± 3.07 mg/dl). A high significant (p˂0.01
... Show MoreThe problem of research is to identify the uses of Iraqi women for Facebook and the motives of these uses and the innovations that have been achieved from them, in view of the increasing role-played by social networking sites in the lives of individuals in general and women in particular.The research seeks to identify the following: Identify the extent to which Iraqi women use Facebook and the usage motives and innovations achieved by the interviewees When they using Facebook. This study belongs to the descriptive studies that are interested in monitoring the characteristics of a particular phenomenon to identify its characteristics and characteristics.This study adopted the survey methodology to test the hypotheses of the study and how
... Show MoreMany international studies indicated that the polymorphisms of some genes disturbed the folate homocysteine (Hcy) metabolism and increased the vulnerability to Down syndrome (DS). We aimed to measure the serum levels of folate and Hcy in DS children and compare the levels with age and sex-matched apparently normal healthy children. We also aimed to study the A80G polymorphism of the gene reduced folate carrier (RFC1) in the DS children as a risk factor. Forty children with DS (24 were boys, and 16 were girls) with the age range between 5-13 years, and 26 normal healthy children (16 boys and ten girls) were included in this study. The results show that the highest genotype in the control group was AG (53.85%) followed by AA and GG (30.
... Show MoreThis work aims to see the positive association rules and negative association rules in the Apriori algorithm by using cosine correlation analysis. The default and the modified Association Rule Mining algorithm are implemented against the mushroom database to find out the difference of the results. The experimental results showed that the modified Association Rule Mining algorithm could generate negative association rules. The addition of cosine correlation analysis returns a smaller amount of association rules than the amounts of the default Association Rule Mining algorithm. From the top ten association rules, it can be seen that there are different rules between the default and the modified Apriori algorithm. The difference of the obta
... Show MoreTwo experiments were carried out, the first at the College of Agriculture - University of Baghdad during spring season 2017 Everest cv. class (Elite) was used to study the effect of foliar application of calcium and magnesium and addition of humic acid to the soil on potato growth and yield, The layout of the experiment was factorial within RCBD design using three replicates. Calcium and Magnesium sprayed with concentrations (0, 500, 1000 mg.L-1), while the humic acid was added to the soil with (0, 0.75 gm.m2), The second experiment included storage of tubers produced from the spring season, with to study the effect of field treatments on improving the storability of the tubers. The results showed that the treatment of calci
... Show MoreThis case–control study aimed to investigate the relationship between the hypoxia‐related biomarker hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) and the epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT)–associated markers E‐cadherin (E‐CAD) and N‐cadherin (N‐CAD) in saliva among smokers and nonsmokers with and without periodontitis and to assess their association with clinical periodontal parameters.
A case–control study was conducted, including 88 participants equally a