Sam Shepard is considered as one of the modern American playwrights who combined the individual and the social in his plays to draw an image of a postmodern American society, and American family in particular by focusing on uniquely American aspects of culture. He is concerned with the individual in America rather than the institution. Shepard investigates, in almost all of his plays, the functions and dysfunctions of his characters, as well as the connections of individuals within the context of the family system and other social structures. The majority of his plays center on the struggle and conflict that occurs between father and son, husband and wife, and brother and brother as they strive for supremacy or for survival in a fra

Background: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is one of the most common oral mucosa diseases characterized by recurrent, shallow, round or oval painful oral ulcers surrounded by inflammatory erythematous halos, the condition is chronic and self-limiting in immunocompetent patients. Aim of the study: to investigate the serum vitamin D levels in Iraqi female patients with RAS and the relationship between vitamin D levels and the severity of RAS. In this cross sectional study 30 female patients with idiopathic RAS, and 30 age and sex matched healthy controls were included, the severity of RAS is assessed by the number of oral aphthous ulcers in each attack and the frequency of attacks. Serum 25(OH) D levels were determined by the Enzy

Naproxen is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, which has antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effect. It is extensively bound to plasma albumin, and exhibits gastric toxicity, so it may be more efficient to deliver the drug in its sustained release dosage form and adequate blood level is achieved. Three liquid formulations with in situ gelling properties have been assessed for their potential for the oral sustained delivery of naproxen . The formulations were dilute solutions of: (a) pectin; (b) gellan gum and; (c) sodium alginate, all containing complexed calcium ion that form gels when these ions are released in the acidic environment of the stomach . The viscosity of the sols and drug release were measured, and was found to be depende

Titanium dioxide nanotubes were synthesized by anodizing Ti sheets in the ethylene glycol solution and were covered in Pt nanoparticles onto the surface of TiO₂NTs using electrodeposition method from using five derivatives of Mannich base Pt complexes which have been used as precursor of platinum. The mean size, shape, elemental composition of the titanium dioxide nanotubes and platinum deposited on the template were evaluated by different techniques such as field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) technique. From all these analyses, the TiO₂NTs prepared and Ptnanoparticles deposited on it were ide

With the advancement of technology ,the study of cross-cultural communication via on line has become an important and researchable topic in linguistic theory and its applications.The aims of this study are two- fold (a) exploring the influence of cultural diversity on on-line interaction between American native speakers (NSs) and Iraqi non-native speakers (NNSs) of English which, together with other factors might potentially lead to what Thomas(1983) calls "pragmatic failure" (PF), a main cause of communication breakdowns and (b) specifying which type of PF occurs more frequently between the two groups along with the reasons behind such failures. To achieve these objectives , a number of online chats conducted between

With the advancement of technology ,the study of  cross-cultural communication via on line  has become  an important and researchable topic in linguistic theory and its applications.The  aims of  this study are two- fold (a)  exploring the influence of cultural diversity on on-line interaction between American  native  speakers (NSs) and  Iraqi non-native speakers (NNSs) of English which, together with other factors might potentially lead to what Thomas(1983) calls  "pragmatic failure" (PF), a main cause of communication breakdowns  and (b) specifying  which  type of PF  occurs more frequently between the two groups along with the reasons behind such failures. To achie

Objectives: To determined the levels of lipid profile (TC, TG, HDL-c, LDL-C, VLDL) in diabetic and diabetic neuropathy patients and compare the results with control group. Also, to compare Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP) levels in these groups that may be predict prone of patients to cardiovascular disease. Methodology: Ninety subjects were enrolled in this study with aged ranged (40-65) years and BMI with (30-35) Kg/m2 that divided into three groups as follows: group one (G1) consists of 30 healthy individuals as a control group, group two (G2) consists of 30 patients with diabetes and group three (G3) consists of 30 patients with diabetes and neuropathy as complication. Electrochemical Skin Conductance (Feet Mean), Electrochemic

Paronomasia is a recognized rhetorical device by which poets could play with words that are similar or identical in form but different in meaning. The present study aims to identify paronomasia in Arabic and English. To achieve the aim of the study, a corpus of selected verses chosen from two famous figures in Arabic and English literatures and analyzed thoroughly. The analysis of data under investigation reveals that paronomasia is a crucial aid used by poets to portrait the real world as imaginative. It further shows that the concept of paronomasia in English is not the same as in Arabic. In English, there are echoes of the Arabic jinās, i.e., there are counterpart usages of similar devices, yet English rhetoricians have not defined or c

Although the term' tautology' predicts negative connotation, it is often employed by poets and lyric writers to communicate more implied meanings. Through the use of tautological expressions, they exchange ideas, give more possibilities to readers to detect the meaning behind the tautological words and thus suggest details not openly communicated in the poem. Ten American song lyrics and ten American poems have been selected to be the data for the study. Data analysis is conducted on the basis of three steps:(i) identifying the type of tautology used ,(ii) detecting the syntactic realization of the tautology  and (iii) finding the functions of the use of tautology in these lyrics and poems. The study concludes that song lyrics and p

The prolactin hormone played role in the many autoimmune disorders. To determine the importance of high levels of prolactin in triggering rheumatoid arthritis, thirty patient's women with hyperprolactinemia aged (20-45) years old have been investigated and compared with twenty five healthy individuals. All the studied groups were carried out to measure the concentration of citrulinated peptide(CCP) by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay( ELISA), antikeratin antibodies (AKA)and antinuclear antibodies(ANA) by indirect fluorescent assay IFAT. There was a significant elevation of CCP concentration compared with control groups (P< 0.05). The percentage of antikeratin antibodies and antinuclear antibodies was (20%, 10%) respectively, and