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.
Background: Understanding the morphological characteristics between the floor of the maxillary sinus and the tips of the maxillary posterior roots is crucial in orthodontics involving diagnosis and treatment planning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the distances from the maxillary posterior root apices to the inferior wall of the maxillary sinus, thickness and density of maxillary sinus floor using cone-beam computed tomography images and the relationships between roots and maxillary sinus according to gonial angle and skeletal pattern. Materials and methods: Three-dimensional images of each root were checked, and the distances were measured along the true vertical axis from the apex of the root to the sinus floor, and the thickne
... Show MoreBackground: Most prevalent chronic liver disease in developed and developing nations is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. From fatty liver, which often has benign, non-progressive clinical history, to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, a more serious variant of fatty liver that can lead to cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease encompasses broad spectrum of diseases. The gold standard for determining extent of hepatic fibrosis is still liver biopsy; however, number of noninvasive tests have been established to make diagnosis and assess effectiveness of treatment.
Objective: Aim of study was to assess effectiveness of the combination of fibroscan and
... Show MoreABSTRACT Background: Viral hepatitis places a heavy burden on the health care. Large number of patient with bleeding disorders has chronic hepatitis C infection, while few are chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus. Aims of study: evaluate the prevalence of HBV, HCV infection among patient with Von Willebrand disease and to find factors that associated with the chance of getting the infection.
Background: Diabetic is a chronic systemic disorder of glucose metabolism. That could be diagnosed using fasting and/or random plasma glucose and Glycated Haemoglobin (HbA1c). Several biochemical and microbial alterations of saliva could affect dental caries occurrence and severity among diabetic patients. The aim of the present study was to assess the relation of salivary glucose with severity of dental caries and Mutans Streptococci, among uncontrolled and controlled diabetic groups in comparison with non-diabetic control group. Materials and Methods: The total sample composed of adults aged (18-22) years. Divided into 25 uncontrolled diabetic patients (HbA1c > 7), 25 controlled diabetic patients (HbA1c ≤ 7), in addition to 25 no
... Show MoreBackground: The association of olanzapine with hyperglycemia, an elevated lipid profile, and high blood pressure was early recognized after its approval and has become of increased concern. Objective: To determine the association of olanzapine use with blood sugar levels, lipid profiles, and blood pressure in hospitalized Iraqi patients with schizophrenia. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 50 hospitalized patients with schizophrenia who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-V diagnostic criteria and had taken olanzapine for at least two years was carried out between November 2022 and February 2023 at two facilities in Baghdad, Iraq (Ibn Rushd Psychiatric Teaching Hospital and Al Rashad Hospital
... Show MoreThe general crisis of research methods in the social sciences
Research methodology: philosophy and techniques, founded by philosophers and applied by scientists, and no accurate application of techniques except with a deep understanding of philosophy, as a prerequisite. This fact is almost completely absent from the Iraqi and Arab academic mentality. This constituted one of the dimensions of the double crisis - theoretical and applied - of research methods in the social sciences. As first, there is no philosophy of science, neither as an independent material nor as an introductory subject, but not even an oral confirmation. Secondly, the advancement of quantitative research methods are presented without a background philosophy, as sol
The exchanges in various fields,like economics, science, culture, etc., have been enhanced unceasingly among different countries around the world in the twenty-first century, thus, the university graduate who masters one foreign language does not meet the need of the labor market in most countries.So, many universities began to develop new programs to cultivate students who can use more foreign languages to serve the intercultural communication. At the same time, there is more scientific research emerged which is related to the relationship between the second and third languages. This humble research seeks to explain the relevant concepts and analyze the real data collected from Shanghai International Studies University in China, to expl
... Show MoreThe talk about the relationship between the media and industrialists can be the core of a bigger and deeper subject which is the role of these means in increasing sales : First, increasing the customer’s awareness of the importance of goods and the result of the promotion of products. Secondly, increasing investments which do require continuous studies and deep research in order to understand the constantly changing market conditions, and the public’s taste. In this research, we try to find out how industrialists see the role of media in the promotion of products in Iraq today, and how it develops in the future.
There was a reluctance of the industrialists to advertise in the local media, also industrialists see the role of t
... Show MoreThe current research aimed to identify psychological stability and its relationship to university integration and spiritual intelligence among university students. The research sample consisted of (158) students from the College of Education - Al-Mustansiriya University.
A scale was applied: psychological stability, university integration, and spiritual intelligence, and by using the (Pearson) correlation coefficient, and the t-test, the results showed: the sample members enjoy psychological stability, university integration, and spiritual intelligence, and there is a positive, statistically significant correlation between the research variables, and the results resulted in some recommendations and proposals.