Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common, highly heritable inflammatory arthritis affecting primarily the spine and pelvis. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between the rs27044 polymorphism in Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase-1 (ERAP-1) with the susceptibility and severity of AS correlated with some biochemical markers such as hematological parameter (Erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR)) and immunological parameters (C-reactive protein (CRP), Human leukocyte antigen-B27 (HLA-B27), Interlukin-6 (IL-6) and Interlukin-23 (IL-23)), and oxidative stress parameters (Glutathione (GSH) and Malondialdehyde (MDA)) in a sample of Iraqi population. A total of 60 blood samples were collected from AS patients requited Rhe

BACKGROUND: Tribulus terrestris has been commonly used in folk medicine to energize, vitalize and improve sexual function and physical performance in men and laboratory rats. OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of Tribulus terrestris on the number of Leydig cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tribulus terrestris was given to mature male rats as an oral single herbal suspension in a dose of 2.0mg /1000gbody weight for 14 days to stimulate spermatogenesis. Formalin fixed paraffinembedded tissue sections were performed for histological, immunohistochemical and morphometrical studies. RESULTS: Histological study revealed wider seminiferous tubules and increased spermatocytes population with an increased sperm density inside the lumen of the tubul

Background: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the most commonly encountered valve lesion in modern clinical practice. Severe mitral regurgitation may cause systolic dysfunction. Left ventricular ejection fraction may not be an accurate measurement of LV function in patients with mitral insufficiency. Myocardial performance index (MPI) is a simple non invasive measure of myocardial function. Methods: The study involved 50 patients with valvular mitral regurgitation and 50 healthy subjects as a control group. Transthoracic echocardiography was carried out for all patients and control group. The echocardiographic measurements included left ventricular end diastolic and end systolic dimensions, left atrial diameter, ejection fraction (EF), and myoca

Consequence of thermal and concentration convection on peristaltic pumping of hyperbolic tangent nanofluid in a non‐uniform channel and induced magnetic field is discussed in this article. The brief mathematical modeling, along with induced magnetic field, of hyperbolic tangent nanofluid is given. The governing equations are reduced to dimensionless form by using appropriate transformations. Exact solutions are calculated for temperature, nanoparticle volume fraction, and concentration. Numerical technique is manipulated to solve the highly non‐linear differential equations. The roll of different variables is graphically analyzed in terms of concentration, temperature, volume fraction of nanoparticles, axial induced magnetic fie

Abstract:- Cyberspace is a new arena for conflict between international powers, especially since the cost of cyber-conflict is less than its traditional warfare counterparts regardless of the nature of the weapons used, whether traditional or non-traditional. Cyber conflict is necessarily based on strategies to deter, attack, and defend. The aim of the cybercrime conflict is to ensure the defensive sufficiency of the state, ensuring its national security and safeguarding its supreme interests. Despite Japan-China relations characterized by convergence and cooperation in post-Cold War economic spheres, Japan continues to retain the growing Chinese influence in East Asia. These variables prompted Japan to announce a hedging strategy due to un

This paper presents a cognition path planning with control algorithm design for a nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. The aim of this work is to propose the circular roadmap (CRM) method to plan and generate optimal path with free navigation as well as to propose a nonlinear MIMO-PID-MENN controller in order to track the wheeled mobile robot on the reference path. The PSO is used to find an online tune the control parameters of the proposed controller to get the best torques actions for the wheeled mobile robot. The numerical simulation results based on the Matlab package show that the proposed structure has a precise and highly accurate distance of the generated refere

Abstract Background: Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is an angioproliferative neoplastic disorder that occurs in different epidemiological forms. Human Herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) is established as a causative agent of KS that has been mentioned in textbooks and literature. In the last two decades, KS cases were up searched through many Iraqi medical researches which have been published, but unfortunately, none of which had confirmed this association. Objectives: To assess the association of latent nuclear antigen-1(LANA-1) of HHV-8 among KS patients with clinicopathological parameters and to evaluate if this procedure is valuable for diagnosing this disease through the first immunohistochemical study in Iraq. Methods: This is a clinico-immunohis

Objective: Atorvastatin therapy is now recommended for reduction of cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetic patients (T2DM), based on convincing evidence of reductions in mortality and vascular events in major clinical outcome trials. The aim is to evaluate the effects of atorvastatin on proinflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6), HbA1c andleptin in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Sixty fivenewly diagnosed T2DM patients were randomly allocated into 2 groups; group I treated with metformin only; in group II atorvastatin was added with metformin. Twenty healthy subjects were enrolled as control group. While maintaining their usual eating habits, fasting blood samples were collected at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment. Results