Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are the two most important types of anemia in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Functional iron deficiency in ACD can be attributed to overexpression of the main iron regulatory hormone hepcidin leading to diversion of iron from the circulation into storage sites resulting in iron-restricted erythropoiesis. The aim is to investigate the role of circulating hepcidin and to uncover the frequency of IDA in RA. The study included 51 patients with RA. Complete blood counts, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, ferritin, and hepcidin- 25 were assessed. ACD was found in 37.3% of patients, IDA in 11.8%, and combined (ACD/IDA) in 17.6%. Serum hepcidin was higher in ACD than in con

This paper presents the effect of Cr doping on the optical and structural properties of TiO2 films synthesized by sol-gel and deposited by the dip- coating technique. The characteristics of pure and Cr-doped TiO2 were studied by absorption and X-ray diffraction measurement. The spectrum of UV absorption of TiO2 chromium concentrations indicates a red shift; therefore, the energy gap decreases with increased doping. The minimum value of energy gap (2.5 eV) is found at concentration of 4 %. XRD measurements show that the anatase phase is shown for all thin films. Surface morphology measurement by atomic force microscope (AFM) showed that the roughness of thin films decrease with doping and has a minimum value with 4 wt % doping ratio.

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that mostly involves the spine and sacroiliac joints. It is associated with a decreased quality of life. Biological medicines such as infliximab and its biosimilar are the mainstay treatments for active ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: The study objective was to conduct a pharmacoeconomic study comparing the cost-effectiveness of the reference infliximab with its biosimilar in ankylosing spondylitis patients visiting public hospitals.

Subjects and Method: This is a two-center pharmacoeconomic study performed at two large teaching governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, which s

Background: Diabetes and periodontitis are considered as chronic diseases with a bidirectional relationship between them. This study aimed to determine and compare the severity of periodontal health status and salivary parameters in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: Seventy participants were enrolled in this study. The subjects were divided into three groups: Group I: 25 patients had type 2 diabetes mellitus with chronic periodontitis, Group 2: 25 patients had chronic periodontitis and with no history of any systemic diseases, Group 3: 20 subjects had healthy periodontium and were systemically healthy. Unstimulated whole saliva was collected for measurement of salivary flow rate and pH.

The 17 α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) adsorption from aqueous solution was examined using a novel adsorbent made from rice husk powder coated with CuO nanoparticles (CRH). Advanced analyses of FTIR, XRD, SEM, and EDSwere used to identify the classification parameters of a CRH-like surface morphology, configuration, and functional groups. The rice husk was coated with CuO nanoparticles, allowing it to create large surface area materials with significantly improved textural qualities with regard to functional use and adsorption performance, according to a detailed characterization of the synthesized materials. The adsorption process was applied successfully with elimination effectiveness of 100% which can be kept up to 61.3%. The parameters of ads

The melting duration in the photovoltaic/phase-change material (PV/PCM) system is a crucial parameter for thermal energy management such that its improvement can realize better energy management in respect to thermal storage capabilities, thermal conditions, and the lifespan of PV modules. An innovative and efficient technique for improving the melting duration is the inclusion of an exterior metal foam layer in the PV/PCM system. For detailed investigations of utilizing different metal foam configurations in terms of their convective heat transfer coefficients, the present paper proposes a newly developed mathematical model for the PV/PCM–metal foam assembly that can readily be implemented with a wide range of operating condition

Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) refer to a group of symptoms where pain is the most leading cause to demand a treatment by the patient. Light therapies are of great importance at current times due to its biosafety and non-invasive quality when used for the management of TMD symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of red LED light with low-level LASER in treating TMD patients.