The Transformation of Yerevan's Urban Landscape After Independence

Like most of the world's cities, Yerevan's landscape has changed dramatically over the past 25 years, particularly as a result of post-soviet Armenia's sociopolitical shifts. Although these urban transformations have been and continue to be widely discussed in the local media, there is insufficient research and writing on this process and its circumstances. This article attempts to cover some aspects of these transformations from 1991 to 2016, with a specific focus on urban planning and policy aspects

Acute Myocardial Infarction: Melatonin, Apelin, and Visfatin as Predictors of Disease

Background: Acute myocardial infarction continues to be a major health concern. It contributes to morbidity and may end fatally. Objective: To evaluate Visfatin, apelin melatonin, and interleukin-6 levels in patients with acute myocardial. Patients and Methods: The study included 30 AMI patients (group :I)and 30 as healthy control group(group: II). Visfatin, apelin melatonin, interleukin-6 levels were assessed. Results: Significantly higher levels of serum apelin, IL-6, cholesterol, and triglyceride, while significantly lower levels of serum melatonin, visfatin , and HDL were observed in the cases than in the controls. Receiver operator characteristic curve investigation shown the levels of melatonin and apelin are the best biomarkers differentiating subjects with AMI.(AUC=0.997; 95% CI: 0.933  to 1.000, cutoff value ≤ pg/ml) ], (AUC =0.952; 95% CI: 0.863 to 0.990, cutoff value >3.21 pg/ml respectively) ]. Conclusion: This study shows a significantly increase in apelin, IL-6 while a significantly decrease melatonin, visfatin in the circulation of G:I as compared with G:II. The results obtained in the present study indicate that serum melatonin; apelin might play an important pathogenic role not only in the occurrence but also in the severity of AMI. The circulating level of melatonin provides highly specific biomarker for AMI more than apelin

Digital images for road surface monitoring

Road networks are regarded as probably the most-important infrastructure in modern day travel. Regular assessment of their condition is necessary for implementing proper maintenance and minimizing the cost. For example, early crack detection and maintenance has proved to be an effective technique of prolonging the age of roads and maintaining safe travel conditions. Although, detection of the cracks has been the aim of a number of researches in recent years, many challenges still exist. For example, crack detection in rough texture surfaces needs more attention and investigation, as rough texture can make crack detection difficult in a digital image. In addition, the pavement surface texture can change rapidly within a few metres which affects the ride quality, skid resistance, and road safety. Existing traditional surface texture measurement techniques such as the Sand Patch Test (SPT) tend to be time consuming and of variable quality. Whereas, modern methods which include Mobile Laser Scanning Sensors (MLSS) can provide accurate results but are often regarded as too expensive. In this study an alternative method for measuring pavement surface texture will be investigated, with the aim of testing the potential of digital images for road surface monitoring and pavement evaluation. This method is based on the rapid advances in the field of image processing and image-based 3D modelling. This research is aimed to investigate the possibility of identifying road surface distresses due to cracks and potholes, as well as characterising surface texture depth. This project is split into two parts, the first part is to investigate or examine the use of digital images in video mode for identifying the cracks and potholes. In the second part, the project will concentrate on using digital still images for characterising the road surface texture in order to extract relevant safety parameters such as texture depth. This research showed that it is possible to measure the texture depth from digital images using different cameras with comparable results to SPT. A good accuracy and high correlation with SPT were achieved even with smartphone cameras. It has also been shown that it is possible to assemble a system with cost effective tools such as camera and hand-held GPS. Then, through algorithm development, it was possible to detect important road damages such as cracks and potholes with good accuracy when compared with measured trust data

Serum Fibroblast Growth Factors 23, Chemerin, and Vitamin D Levels in Patients with Psoriasis

The aim of the study was to compare the levels of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) and chemerin, as well as Vitamin D in psoriasis sufferers and healthy controls. From 2021 to 2022, ninety subjects were studied. The study comprised 45 individuals with psoriasis and 45 healthy controls. Serum fasting FGF23 and chemerin levels of the study group were examined by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results demonstrate that the mean serum FGF23 and chemerin quantities in psoriasis patients were greater than in controls, with a statistically significant. Patients with psoriasis, on the other hand, had considerably lower blood Vitamin D levels than healthy controls. These findings demonstrate that psoriatic patients have lower Vitamin D levels than healthy controls, and they add to the growing body of data linking FGF23, chemerin Vitamin D levels, and the course of psoriasis

Evaluation of serum concentration Interleukins in Patients with Myocardial Infarction by ELISA Technique.

To evaluate the serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-18), tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP), and anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 10 (IL-10) regulatory in patients with AMI, and to assess the correlation between anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines in AMI. Thirty patients (13 women and 17 men) with (AMI) enrolled in this study and 30 as control group (10 women and 20 men). There aged varied between 40-60 years old. In this study were measured serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL-6, IL-1, IL-18, and IL-8), TNF-α, and anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 10 (IL-10) in both patient and in control groups by using ELISA technique. Serum levels of interleukine-6, IL-1α, IL-8, and IL-18, CRP, and TNF-α were significantly higher whereas serum IL-10 L level in AMI patients in compares with control group. This study shows a significantly increase in IL-1, IL-18,IL-6,andIL-18 and decrease in IL-10 in the circulation of AMI

Determination of Some Biochemical Parameters of Patients with Hepatitis B in Kirkuk City

Hepatitis B infection is a worldwide healthcare problem, especially in developing areas. The current study was to evaluate the alterations in different biochemical parameters including paraoxonase (PON), 5′-Nucleotidase (5NT), total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, indirect bilirubin, Prothrombin time (PT), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Total serum protein (TSP), albumin (Alb), Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ɣ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) in the serum samples of the viral hepatitis patients (n=100) compared with healthy controls(n=100). This study shown that there were significant increase (

Effect of Glibenclamide and Tomato lycopene extract on some biochemical parameters in serum of alloxan Induced diabetic rabbits

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycaemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both, and occurs in almost all populations of the world a variable prevalence. In the present study we evaluated the effect of glibenclamide, and tomato lycopene extract on blood glucose, enzymatic antioxidants, glycated hemoglobin(HbA1c), and malondialdehyde(MDA) in 50 alloxan induced diabetic rabbits. The results showed a significant(P < 0.001) increase in the level of glucose, HbA1c, MDAin alloxan diabetic rabbits in comparison to the control rabbits. A Significant decrease in the level of serum glucose, HbA1c,and MDAin alloxan diabetic rabbits when received glibenclamide daily as single dose 0.5 mg/kg body weight for 20 weeks, and2and 4 mg/kg of tomato lycopene extract for 20 weeks respectively. The result of this study showed a significant (

Masonry compressive strength prediction using artificial neural networks

The masonry is not only included among the oldest building materials, but it is also the most widely used material due to its simple construction and low cost compared to the other modern building materials. Nevertheless, there is not yet a robust quantitative method, available in the literature, which can reliably predict its strength, based on the geometrical and mechanical characteristics of its components. This limitation is due to the highly nonlinear relation between the compressive strength of masonry and the geometrical and mechanical properties of the components of the masonry. In this paper, the application of artificial neural networks for predicting the compressive strength of masonry has been investigated. Specifically, back-propagation neural network models have been used for predicting the compressive strength of masonry prism based on experimental data available in the literature. The comparison of the derived results with the experimental findings demonstrates the ability of artificial neural networks to approximate the compressive strength of masonry walls in a reliable and robust manner.- (undefined