Background: Despite the importance of vaccines in preventing COVID-19, the willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccines is lower among RA patients than in the general population. Objective: To determine the extent of COVID-19 knowledge among RA patients and their attitudes and perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines. Methods: A qualitative study with a phenomenology approach was performed through face-to-face, individual-based, semi-structured interviews in the Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, rheumatology unit. A convenient sample of RA patients using disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs was included until the point of saturation. A thematic content analysis approach was used to analyze the obtained data. Results: Twenty-five RA patients participated in this study. Regarding knowledge about COVID-19, most participants were able to define COVID-19, realize its contagious nature, and see the need for masks to get protection from this infection, while only a minority knew COVID-19 symptoms. Most participants obtained information about COVID-19 from TV programs and the public. Regarding COVID-19 vaccines, about 1/4 of the participants knew vaccine side effects, and only 12% of them had positive attitudes toward the vaccine. Additionally, 19 participants were unwilling to take the vaccine. The most common reasons behind this reluctance to take the vaccine include fear of the vaccine's short- and long-term side effects and the worsening of RA. Conclusion: RA patients' knowledge about COVID-19 and its vaccines was poor, and their attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines were negative.
Emotions are part of the personality of the individual and affect many different aspects of the personality, and it is an important element of social and psychological adaptation, especially if it is within the limits of nature, and if the methods used to express them are appropriate and moderate.
Submission is one of the characteristics that express the way an individual relies upon in dealing with others and in dealing with matters of life. An individual who complies with instructions and orders and abides by them, and performs what is required of him without hesitation or delay. Adolescence is an important and accurate stage in the constructive development of an individual and in his psychological and social life.
The
... Show MoreBackground: Type two diabetic patients have higher risk of cardiovascular and periodontal disease. Furthermore, patients with more severe periodontal disease have higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to assess the association between periodontal health status and the risk of vascular disease in type 2 diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: One hundred type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and fifty apparently healthy males were enrolled in this study. Oral examinations conducted were; plaque Index, calculus index, gingival index, probing pocket depth, and clinical attachment level. For the assessment of vascular risk, arterial stiffness index was used. Results: According to arterial stiffness index, type 2 diabetic p
... Show MoreBackground: Tooth wear is one of the most concerning problems of the current dental practice especially among older subjects. The aim of this study is to determine the severity of tooth wear and its relation with selected salivary variables (salivary pH and vitamin C level) among a group of older adults in Mosul city/Iraq. Materials and methods: All subjects (30 subjects) of both gender tookpart in the current study; sixteen of them were older adults (55-65 years) and compared with fourteen middle-aged adults (30-40 years) at Textile factory in Mosul city/Iraq. Unstimulated salivary samples were collected and salivary pH was immediately measured. Salivary vitamin C level was determined colormetrically. Severity of tooth wear was determined
... Show MoreBackground: pregnancy as a systemic condition causes changes in the functioning of human body as a whole and specifically in the oral cavity and it also is considered as a stressful condition. These changes may favor the increase of oxidative stress. Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the level of marker of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde) and antioxidant (uric acid) in saliva of pregnant compared to non-pregnant women and to assess the gingival health condition in both groups. Additionally, unstimulated salivary flow rate was determined in both groups. Subjects, materials and methods: The study group consisted of sixty pregnant women, they were divided into three equal groups according to trimester (20 pregnant women for each
... Show MoreTwo decades after replacing the OAU, the AU’s record is best measured not by communiqués but by how fast it converts rules into results on the ground. In March 2022, the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) authorised the transition from AMISOM to ATMIS in Somalia — a reminder that, two decades after the African Union (AU) replaced the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the Union’s rules are judged by execution, not intent. This article argues that the AU’s legal and institutional redesign shortened the warning‑to‑decision cycle and raised the credibility of enforcement, but performance still hinges on finance, logistics and political will. Where mandates are matched with money, enabling capabilities and enforc
... Show MoreThe paper presents a highly accurate power flow solution, reducing the possibility of ending at local minima, by using Real-Coded Genetic Algorithm (RCGA) with system reduction and restoration. The proposed method (RCGA) is modified to reduce the total computing time by reducing the system in size to that of the generator buses, which, for any realistic system, will be smaller in number, and the load buses are eliminated. Then solving the power flow problem for the generator buses only by real-coded GA to calculate the voltage phase angles, whereas the voltage magnitudes are specified resulted in reduced computation time for the solution. Then the system is restored by calculating the voltages of the load buses in terms
... Show MoreIn this paper a system is designed and implemented using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to move objects from a pick up location to a delivery location. This transportation of objects is done via a vehicle equipped with a robot arm and an FPGA. The path between the two locations is followed by recognizing a black line between them. The black line is sensed by Infrared sensors (IR) located on the front and on the back of the vehicle. The Robot was successfully implemented by programming the Field Programmable Gate Array with the designed system that was described as a state diagram and the robot operated properly.