Incidence of Toxoplasmosis in Psoriasis Patients and Possible Correlation with Tumor Necrosis Factor-α

               المقوسات الكوندية هي طفيليلت اجبارية داخل خلوية وتعتبر طفيليًا غازيا في الأفراد الذين يعانون من نقص المناعة. تهدف هذه الدراسة تحديد مدى انتشار داء المقوسات في مرضى الصدفية. بالإضافة إلى ذلك ، دراسة دور العقاقير البيولوجية ETN في نشاط الصدفية وداء المقوسات من خلال تقييم عامل نخر الورم - ألفا (TNF- α) قبل وبعد العلاج في المرضى من مختلف الأعمار والاجناس.   تم جمع عينات الدم من 130 شخصا من بينهم 60 عينة كمجموعة سيطرة  و 70 عينة لاشخاص مصابين بالصدفية يراجعون مستشفى مدينة الطب في محافظة بغداد من شهرأكتوبر 2017 إلى شهريناير 2018. تم اختبار الأمصال لتحديد الأجسام المضادة لـداء المقوسات (IgM  و IgG) وعامل نخر الأورام - ألفا (TNF- α) باستخدام الإنزيم المرتبط وقد لوحظ أعلى معدل إيجابي للاجسام المضادة لـداء المقوسات (IgG)  في المرضى الذين يعانون من الصدفية قبل المعالجة والتي كانت 45 (64 .29٪) مقارنة مع السيطرة التي كانت 33 (55.00٪) ، في حين كان أعلى معدل إيجابي للمصل ولوحظ للاجسام المضادة لـداء المقوسات (IgM)  في مجموعة السيطرة  14 (23.33 ٪) مقارنة مع المرضى الذين يعانون من الصدفية 10 (14.29 ٪). وفقا للفئات العمرية ، كان معدل الانتشار المصلي لمرض المقوسات الكوندية الأعلى في الفئة العمرية (21-30) سنة في مرضى الصدفية التي كانت 14 (31.82٪). بالإضافة إلى ذلك ، كانت مستويات الـ TNF- α في مرضى الصدفية قبل المعالجة 180.2 ± 2.2 ميكروغرام / مل ، وبعد المعالجة كانت 223.3 ± 41.1 ميكرغرام / مل مقارنة مع مجموعة السيطرة الصحية 90.5 ± 1.9 ميكروغرام / مل. هذه النتائج تشير إلى أن معدل  داء المقوسات هو أعلى في مرضى الصدفية. وبالتالي ، يمكن اعتبار الاصابة بداء المقوسات مؤشرا على ارتفاع مخاطر الإصابة بالصدفية.            Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic parasite in immune-compromised persons. The prevalence of toxoplasmosis in psoriasis patients is investigated. In addition, the treatment effect on psoriasis patients infected with toxoplasmosis through evaluating Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) cytokine levels is studied. Blood samples were collected from 130 individuals who involved 60 control samples and 70 samples with psoriasis. They attended Medical City Hospital in Baghdad province from October 2017 - February 2018. Then, the anti- T. gondii antibodies (IgM and IgG) and TNF- α in the sera were determined via the enzyme linked immune-sorbent assay. The highest rate of anti-Toxoplasma IgG was in psoriasis patients before treatment, it was 45 (64.29%) compared with the control which was 33 (55.00%), while the highest sero-positive rate of T. gondii IgM in the control group was 14 (23.33%) compared with patients with psoriasis 10 (14.29%). The highest rate of toxoplasmosis was in the age group (21-30) years in psoriasis patients which was 14 (31.82%). In addition, the TNF- α levels in psoriatic patients before treatment were 180.2±2.2 µg/ml, and after treatment were 223.3±41.1 µg/ml compared with the healthy control group 90.5±1.9 µg/ml. These findings suggest that incidental rate of toxoplasmosis is higher in psoriasis patients. Thus, the incidental rate of toxoplasmosis could be considered as an indication to the high risk of psoriasis

Preparation, Characterization, and Electrical Conductivity Investigation of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube-filled Composite Nanofibres

There is a growing interest in carbon nanofibre materials especially for applications that require high surface area, excellent chemical inertness, and good electrical conductivity. However, in certain applications a much higher electric conductivity is required before one can take the full advantage of the nanofibre network. Therefore, incorporating superconductive materials such carbon nanotubes is thought to be a feasible approach to enhance the electrical properties of the carbon nanofibres. The objectives of this study were to prepare and characterize multi-walled carbon nanotube-filled composite nanofibres. Carbon nanofibres were produced via electrospinning technique using precursor solutions of polyacrylonitrile in dimethylformamide loaded with different amount of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). The electrospun fibre samples were then pyrolyzed in a nitrogen-filled laboratory tube furnace. Characterization process was performed using scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and four-point probe method. It was found that the incorporation of MWCNT into the carbon nanofibre structures could significantly increase the electric properties of the nanofibres. The composite nanofibres with 0.1 wt.% of MWCNT loading has the highest electrical conductivity of 155.90 S/cm compared to just 10.71 S/cm of the pure carbon nanofibres. However, the electrical conductivity of the composite fibres reduced drastically when higher weight percentages of MWCNT were used. This was caused by agglomeration of MWCNT causing premature percolation, and broken fibre network as evidenced by SEM and TEM examinations. The results obtained from this study may facilitate improvements in the development of superconductive high surface area materials for electronic applications

Modelling the COVID-19 pandemic in context : An international participatory approach

Funding RA is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1193472). LW is funded by the Li Ka Shing Foundation. CF is funded by grant #2017/26770-8, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). The CoMo Consortium has support from the Oxford University COVID-19 Research Response Fund (ref: 0009280). Scientific writing assistance and editorial support was provided by Adam Bodley, according to Good Publication Practice guidelines.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Potential health and economic impacts of dexamethasone treatment for patients with COVID-19

Acknowledgements We thank all members of the COVID-19 International Modelling Consortium and their collaborative partners. This work was supported by the COVID-19 Research Response Fund, managed by the Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford. L.J.W. is supported by the Li Ka Shing Foundation. R.A. acknowledges funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1193472).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Measurement of the top quark mass using events with a single reconstructed top quark in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV

Abstract:A measurement of the top quark mass is performed using a data sample en-riched with single top quark events produced in thetchannel. The study is based on proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1, recorded at√s= 13TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016. Candidate events are selectedby requiring an isolated high-momentum lepton (muon or electron) and exactly two jets,of which one is identified as originating from a bottom quark. Multivariate discriminantsare designed to separate the signal from the background. Optimized thresholds are placedon the discriminant outputs to obtain an event sample with high signal purity. The topquark mass is found to be172.13+0.76−0.77GeV, where the uncertainty includes both the sta-tistical and systematic components, reaching sub-GeV precision for the first time in thisevent topology. The masses of the top quark and antiquark are also determined separatelyusing the lepton charge in the final state, from which the mass ratio and difference aredetermined to be0.9952+0.0079−0.0104and0.83+1.79−1.35GeV, respectively. The results are consistentwithCPTinvariance

Designing 2-phase prevalence studies in the absence of a "gold standard" test

10.1093/aje/kwp122American Journal of Epidemiology1703369-37

Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of ethyl acetate leaf extract of Vitex simplicifolia in alloxan induced diabetic wister rats

No AbstractKeywords: Vitex simplicifolia, hyperglycemic, hypolipidemi

An ontology-based knowledge model for software experience management

The efficient management of experience knowledge is vital in today�s knowledge-based economy. This paper is concerned with proposing a model for software experience knowledge. The model is aimed to represent the backend of knowledge management tools that support organisational learning activities in a typical software organisation. Generic knowledge models have failed to produce good quality software experience management tools. The diversity in the types and forms of software experience knowledge makes it necessary to establish customised knowledge models to effectively accommodate such domain-specific knowledge. Our model extends the simple generic knowledge models that usually rely on non parameterised knowledge (i.e. free text) or that just reflect certain types of software experience knowledge (tacit or explicit). In contrast, our model aims to strike a delicate balance between explicit and tacit knowledge that in a way act as correlated information sources

Note sur la pullorose en République démocratique de Somalie

Les auteurs signalent que la pullorose sévit, en République Démocratique de Somalie, dans les élevages aviaires industriels aussi bien que dans les élevages ruraux traditionnels qui peuvent constituer un important réservoir potentiel de la maladie alors que cet élevage représente une importante source de protéines pour la populatio