Background: With the increasing demand on esthetic orthodontic appliances, discoloration of clear elastomeric chains and modules remains an issue which concerns both orthodontics and patients. This in vitro study was conducted to evaluate the effect of exposing stretched clear elastomeric chains from six different companies (Ortho Technology, Ormco, Ortho Organizer, American Orthodontics, Opal and G&H companies) to three types of dietary media (tea, coffee and turmeric). Materials and methods: A total of 960 lengths of six modules were cut from short type elastomeric chain; 160 pieces from each brand. The specimens were stretched 50%, placed on plastic boards, and incubated in water at 37°C for 1 day, 7 days, 14 days and 28 days. Once a

Objective: To identify barriers to healthcare access, to assess the health literacy levels of the foreign-born Arabic speaking population in Iowa, USA and to measure their prevalence of seeking preventive healthcare services. Methods: A cross-sectional study of native Arabic speaking adults involved a focus group and an anonymous paper-based survey. The focus group and the Andersen Model were used to develop the survey questionnaire. The survey participants were customers at Arabic grocery stores, worshippers at the city mosque and patients at free University Clinic. Chi-square test was used to measure the relationship between the characteristics of survey participants and preventive healthcare services. Thematic analysis was

Purpose – The Cloud computing (CC) and its services have enabled the information centers of organizations to adapt their informatic and technological infrastructure and making it more appropriate to develop flexible information systems in the light of responding to the informational and knowledge needs of their users. In this context, cloud-data governance has become more complex and dynamic, requiring an in-depth understanding of the data management strategy at these centers in terms of: organizational structure and regulations, people, technology, process, roles and responsibilities. Therefore, our paper discusses these dimensions as challenges that facing information centers in according to their data governance and the impa

Background: The Initial (primary) stability is one of the factors that play an important role in the success of the dental implants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the initial stability of dental implant with horizontal plate by using five analytical tests: insertion torque, removal torque, resonance frequency analysis, push-in test and pull-out test. Materials and methods: Two different lengths of dental implants (5mm and 10mm) were tested in this study; each dental implant was 4mm in diameter with a square threads shape of 1mm pitch and 0.5mm depth. The crestal area was 4.2mm diameter contained a right angle margin circumferential ring while the apical area was tapered with two self-tapping grooves. In this study, the initial s

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common malignancy characterized by poor prognosis and low survival rate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Immunohistochemical expressions of BAD, MDM2, and P21as apoptotic markers in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and methods: This study was performed on forty formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks which histopathologically diagnosed as Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma. All cases were collected from the Histopathological Laboratory from patients treated surgically at Maxillofacial surgery Department at Ramadi Teaching Hospital, Iraq. Results: The immunohistochemical staining of BAD showed positive expression in 39 (97.5%), MDM2 showed positive expression in 39(97.5%)

The applications of herbal medicine have recently acquired growing interest in range of the prophylaxis and treatment of diseases. Olibanum has been used since ancient eras and several reports studied the pharmacological characteristics of boswellic acid, particularly their effect on the inflammatory response, analgesic properties, and anti-arthritic activity mostly in cell lines, but new approaches include animal models to assess these natural derivatives effects taking into consideration of being safer than synthetic preparations.  The impact of olibanum oil on several parameters was studied in rats during this study. These included white blood cell (WBC) count, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and C reactive protein (CRP), as well a

     Community detection is an important and interesting topic for better understanding and analyzing complex network structures. Detecting hidden partitions in complex networks is proven to be an NP-hard problem that may not be accurately resolved using traditional methods. So it is solved using evolutionary computation methods and modeled in the literature as an optimization problem.  In recent years, many researchers have directed their research efforts toward addressing the problem of community structure detection by developing different algorithms and making use of single-objective optimization methods. In this study, we have continued that research line by improving the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm using a

Iraqi EFL students face difficulties in writing composition, especially academic writing, which affects negatively their exam results. This study has been conducted in the Department of English at College of Education for Women, University of Baghdad, in order to identify first year EFL students’ incompetence in writing. This may enhance their achievement by some weekly writing activities. It deals with Iraqi EFL students’ difficulties in writing paragraphs such as descriptive, process, opinion, and factual paragraphs. The study aims to identify these difficulties and to suggest suitable solutions for them. The researcher perceives that it is necessary to enhance students’ skills in writing because it i

An optoelectronic flow-through detector for active ingredients determination in pharmaceutical formulations is explained. Two consecutive compact photodetector’s devices operating according to light-emitting diodes-solar cells concept where the LEDs acting as a light source and solar cells for measuring the attenuated light of the incident light at 180˚ have been developed. The turbidimetric detector, fabricated of ten light-emitting diodes and five solar cells only, integrated with a glass flow cell has been easily adapted in flow injection analysis manifold system. For active ingredients determination, the developed detector was successfully utilized for the development and validation of an analytical method for warfarin determination