Background: Chronic cigarette smoking is one of the major risk factors for coronary artery disease. However, it has additional cardiac adverse effects independent of coronary atherosclerosis. Patient and Methods: After informed consent and perm- ission from the review board of the hospital, 80 healthy subjects who were classified as smokers or non-smokers were included in the study. They were examined by standard echocardiography protocol which was followed by two-dimensional speckle tracking to assess the functions of the right ventricle. Results: The tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) was significantly reduced in smokers as compared to non-smokers (P < 0.05). The tricuspid flow peak late diastolic velocity (A wave) was sig

Severe periodontitis is ranked as the sixth most prevalent disease affecting humankind, with an estimated 740 million people affected worldwide. The diagnosis of periodontal diseases mainly relies upon assessment of conventional clinical parameters. However, these parameters reflect past, rather than current, clinical status or future disease progression and, likely, outcome of periodontal treatment. Specific and sensitive biomarkers for periodontal diseases have been examined widely to address these issues and some biomarkers have been translated as point-of-care (PoC) tests. The aim of this review was to provide an update on PoC tests for use in the diagnosis and management of periodontal diseases. Among the PoC tests developed so

Background: Cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14) is a serum/cell surface glycoprotein; and it is a pattern recognition receptor. CD14 expressed on the surface of various cells, or it found soluble in saliva and other body fluids. It has been proposed that soluble CD14 (sCD14) may play a protective role by controlling Gram negative bacterial infections through its capacity to bind lipopolysaccharide. This study was conducted to assess the level of soluble CD14 in saliva of patients with different periodontal diseases and healthy subjects and determine its correlation with clinical periodontal parameters. Materials & Methods: A total of 80 subjects, age ranged (25-50) years old, divided into three main groups, group ? consisted of 45 chronic

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm arises from Bcr-Abl gene translocation (called Ph chromosome) in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). This genetic abnormality results in constitutive activation of tyrosine kinase and subsequent uncontrol growth and multiplication of granulocytes. The cornerstone in treatment of CML are tyrosine kinase inhibitors, of which imatinib is the most effectively used. JAK2V617F mutation is an acquired single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) occurs in JAK2 gene and is associated with many hematological malignancy other than CML. It was thought that the two genetic abnormalities (Bcr-Abl and JAK2V617F) occur mutually; however, growing body of evidences suggested the reverse. This study a

Background: This study aimed to determine whether there is a relationship among the bite force with facial dimensions and dental arches in a sample of Iraqi adults with Class I skeletal and dental relations. Materials and methods: Forty dental students (20 males and 20 females) were selected under certain criteria. For those individuals, dental impressions, frontal facial photographs and maximum bite force at molar and incisor regions were taken. The dental arches widths and facial dimensions were measured using the AutoCAD program 2007, while the bite force was determined using special device. Descriptive statistics for the measured variables were performed and gender difference was determined using independent sample t-test, while the rel

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignant tumor in women and the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. This work was conducted to estimate the roles of oxidative stress, vitamin B12, homocysteine (HCY), and DNA methylation in BC disease progression. Sixty BC patients (age range 33–80 years) and 30 healthy controls were recruited for this study. Patients with BC were split to group 1 consisted of stage II BC women (low level), and group 2 consisted of patients in stages III and IV (high level). Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPX3), HCY, and vitamin B12 levels in the study groups were measured. Also, the 5-methylcytosine (5mC) global DNA methylation levels were evaluated. The results showed a significant

     The purpose of this  paper is to show that for a holomorphic and univalent function in class S, an omitted –value transformation  yields a class of starlike functions as a rotation transformation of  the Koebe function, allowing both the image and rotation of the function

   to be connected. Furthermore, these functions have several properties that are not far from a convexity properties. We also show that Pre- Schwarzian derivative is not invariant since the convexity property of the function   is so weak.

Numerous blood biomarkers are altered in COVID-19 patients; however, no early biochemical markers are currently being used in clinical practice to predict COVID-19 severity. COVID-19, the most recent pandemic, is caused by the SRS-CoV-2 coronavirus.  The study was aimed to identify patient groups with a high and low risk of developing COVID-19 using a cluster analysis of several biomarkers. 137 women with confirmed SARS CoV-2 RNA testing were collected and analyzed for biochemical profiles. Two-dimensional automated hierarchy clustering of all biomarkers was applied, and patients were sorted into classes. Biochemistry marker variations (Ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase LDH, D-dimer, and C- reactive protein CRP) have split COVID-19 patien

This work concerns the thermal and sound insulation as well as the mechanical properties of polymer matrix composite reinforced with glass fibers. These fibers may have dangerous effect during handling, for example the glass fibers might cause some damage to the eyes, lungs and even skin. For this reason the present work, investigates the behavior of polymer composite reinforced with natural fibers (Plant fibers) as replacement to glass fibers. Unsaturated Polyester resin was used as matrix material reinforced with two types of fibers, one of them is artificial (Glass fibers) and the other type is natural (Jute, Fronds Palm and Reed Fibers) by hand lay-up technique. All fibers are untreated with any chemical solvent. The Percentage of mi