Background: This in vitro study compares a novel calcium-phosphate etchant paste to conventional 37% phosphoric acid gel for bonding metal and ceramic brackets by evaluating the shear bond strength, remnant adhesive and enamel damage following water storage, acid challenge and fatigue loading. Material and Methods: Metal and ceramic brackets were bonded to 240 extracted human premolars using two enamel conditioning protocols: conventional 37% phosphoric acid (PA) gel (control), and an acidic calcium-phosphate (CaP) paste. The CaP paste was prepared from β-tricalcium phosphate and monocalcium phosphate monohydrate powders mixed with 37% phosphoric acid solution, and the resulting phase was confirmed using FTIR. The bonded premolars were exp
... Show MoreBackground: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) enterococci have become a major problem in recent times and have been reported increasingly around the world. Lytic phages infect bacteria leading to rapid host death with limited risk of phage transduction, underlining the increasing interest in potential phage therapy in the future. Objective (s): The aim of this study is to use phage therapy as alternative approach for treatment of Enterococcus faecalis infections that recorded as MDR in Iraq to tackle this problem. Materials and Methods: Thirty E. faecalis isolates were collected from patients with different infectious diseases such as urinary tract infection (UTI), diabetic foot, septicemia, and wound infections. The isolation of specific l
... Show MoreThe public budget is regarded a main tool for economic and social development. The preparation of the public budget constitute an important stream which enriches the developmental efforts and the definition of its priorities, therefore it is the focus point of many specializations. The public budget has numerous functions. It is a means to precise and to execute the political and economic goals of the executive authority, a mirror of the economic structure which reflects its strength and weakness points, specifies its revenues and others. Since the parliament is the voice of the society which expresses its interests, then, it must monitor the performance of the government so that the participation of the legislative authority in
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus a major factor that has adverse effects on the vascular system and the heart. It causes an increase in cardiac muscle thickness, resulting in decreased compliance and increased peripheral arterial stiffness. This study aims to assess the left ventricular mass (LVM) and left ventricular hemodynamic changes in diabetic patients measured by Doppler echocardiography. Patients and Methods: The study included 50 diabetic patients ranging in age between 25 and 80 years, (mean age: 54.1 ± 15.10, 19 males, 31 females) and 50 healthy subjects, aged 25 to 80 years (mean age: 48.52 ± 14.45, 11 males, 39 females). Doppler echocardiography was used to assess left ventricular function. The measurements included
... Show MoreThe Sequencing Batch Reactor system (SBR) is a major component of the municipal wastewater biological treatment system and water reclamation that provides high-quality water that could be reused in restricted plants that which require large quantities of water despite the lack of water. The research aims to investigate the performance of a pilot plant SBR unit under real operation conditions that was installed and operated in Al-Rustamiya Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), Baghdad, Iraq. Results showed that the BOD5/COD ratio of the raw wastewater was within the average value at 0.66 emphasizing the organic nature of the influent flow and hence the amenability to biological treatment. The results also ensured that the treatment pro
... Show MoreTo assess the effect of Nigella sativa oil as a topical preparation for treatment of oro- genital ulceration of Behcet's disease. This is a double blinded therapeutic trial in which 40 patients with Behcet's disease manifested as recurrent episodes of oral and genital ulceration were enrolled into 2 groups; Nigella sativa oil was applied as 10% in glycerin topically 3 times / daily to the first 20 patients. The other 20 were given glycerin only. Assessment was done 4 days then 8 days after treatment.Results were recorded as they appeared in clinical examination and those records were arranged in tables for both groups concerning oral and genital ulceration cases.Nigella sativa oil is a new topical agent for promotion of healing of o
... Show MoreBackground: The immune system of the oral cavity suffers alterations due to fixed orthodontic treatment which act as potent stimulus for oral secretory immunity. The aims of this study are to estimate the effect of fixed orthodontic appliance on the level of salivary sIgA at different time intervals, and to verify the gender difference. Materials and method: The patient's history, clinical examination, and fixed orthodontic appliances were placed for 30 Iraqi orthodontic adult patients had class II division 1 and/ or class I malocclusion (15 males and 15 females) aged 18-25 years old. The unstimulated whole saliva was collected from each sample immediately before wearing fixed appliance (control group T0 as base line), and after 2 weeks (T1
... Show MoreBackground: Calcaneus is a spongy cancellous bone with rich blood supply , its fracture heals more rapidly providing no occurrence of infection and soft tissue injury around ,no gross malposition of fragments. The associated pain leads to a major impairment in life quality. The aim of treatment for calcaneal fractures is the decrease of pain and rebuilding of walking ability for patients with normal foot shape and the ability to wear normal foot wear. To reduce complications, a minimally invasive technique for the treatment of displaced intra-articular fractures of the calcaneus was preferred to use.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether the closed reduction and percutaneous K. wire fixation of displ
... Show MoreTo investigate the efficacy of polyether‐ether‐ketone (PEEK) wire as a fixed orthodontic retainer, by comparing its performance to other retainer wires and optimizing its adhesion to composite bonding materials.
Retainer wires of 15 mm segments were used, PEEK wires were prepared in cylindrical form with 0.8 mm diameter, and had two surface treatments namely air‐abrasion and conditioning with adhesive system. Three different metallic retainer wires were used for comparison and three tests were performed; two tests measured debonding force and associated wire deflec
One of the most important problems facing the world today is the energy problem. The solution was in finding renewable energy sources such as solar energy. The solar energy applications in Iraq is facing many problems . One of the most important problems is the accumulation of dust on the solar panels surface which causes decreasing its performance sharply. In the present work, a new technique was presented by using two-axis solar tracking system to reduce the accumulated dust on the solar panel surface and compared it with the fixed solar panels which installed at tilt angles 30° and 45°. The results indicated that the maximum losses of the output power due to accumulation of dust on the fixed solar panels is about 31.4% and 23.1% res
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