The objectives of this study were to review the literature covering the perceptions about influenza vaccines in the Middle East and to determine factors influencing the acceptance of vaccination using Health Belief Model (HBM).

Background: The gene encoding a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain 33 (ADAM33) is known to be associated with asthma in different ethnic groups. In Iraq, among the Arab ethnic background, this association has not yet been highlighted. Methods: One hundred and ninety-two asthmatics were examined; 118 males and 74 females (mean age 38.23 ± 9.13 years). The control group was 183; 110 males and the rest were females. The SNP of rs2280091 A/G (T1) was studied here to determine adam33 genotyping status using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP). The level of total IgE was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Significant differences (p = 0.004) in the frequencies of

The objectives of this study were to review the literature covering the perceptions about influenza vaccines in the Middle East and to determine factors influencing the acceptance of vaccination using Health Belief Model (HBM).

a laser ablation Q-switched Nd: YAG laser with a wave-length of 355 nm at a variety of laser pulse energies (E) and deposited on porous silicon (PS). Optical emission spectrometer was used to diagnosed medium air to study gold plasma characteristics and prepared Au nanoparticles. The laser pulse energy influence has been studied on the plasma characteristics in air. The data showed the emergence of the ionic (Au II) spectral emission lines in the gold plasma emission spectrum. XRD has been utilized to examine structural characteristics. Moreover, AFM results 37.2 nm as the mean value of the diameter that is coordinated in a shape similar to the rod that appears for Au NPs, in addition to that, TEM has been an indication of the fact that syn

This work involved the co-substitution of the two bioactive ions of strontium and magnesium into the hydroxyapatite (HA) coating which was then electrochemically deposited on Ti-6Al-4V ELI dental alloy (Gr.23) before and after treatment by Micro Arc Oxidation (MAO). The deposited layers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The adhesion strength of the coating layer was estimated by using pull-off adhesion test. The adhesion strength of Sr/Mg-HA on the Ti-6Al-4V ELI dental alloy after MAO treatment was 1.79 MPa, which was higher than that before MAO treatment (1.62 MPa). The corrosion behavior of th

Back ground: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a common chronic musculo-skeletal disorder resulting in chronic widespread pain impacting on quality life.
Objectives: To assess the relationship between FMS and knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and to evaluate the predictors of this relationship if present.
Patients and Methods: One hundred Iraqi KOA patients and 100 healthy controls were included in this cross-sectional study. Full history was taken and complete clinical examination was done for all patients. Baseline characteristics [age, sex, duration, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, family history (Hx) of KOA, smoking history, and drug history.] were also documented. Laboratory analysis included complete blood count, erythrocyte

Gas Lasers are important tools that are used in variety purposes, for their low and (cw) output power. The aim of this study was to prepare a way to calculate an optimum stimulated emission cross-section in a gas laser containing a mixture of Xenon and Neon by (30%-70%). The process was a theoretical study of each gas in separate in terms of their physical properties as an active medium. The results of these calculations are logic and more convenient than other mixtures used before

Background: Avascular necrosis (AVN) is defined as cellular death of bone components due to interruption of the blood supply; the bone structures then collapse, resulting in bone destruction, pain, and loss of joint function. AVN is associated with numerous conditions and usually involves the epiphysis of long bones, such as the femoral head. In clinical practice, AVN is most commonly encountered in the hip. Early diagnosis and appropriate intervention can delay the need for joint replacement. However, most patients present late in the disease course. Without treatment, the process is almost always progressive, leading to joint destruction within 5 years.Treatment of a vascular necrosis depends mainly on early diagnosis which mainly base

Background: Cytokines have long been implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diabetes in a number of studies, and playing a role in the initiation of β-cell damaging process. The objective of this study is to gain more understanding about the role of cytokines in initiation of T1DM, through assessment of IFN-γ, IL-10 and IL-6 in diabetic patients.
Patients and methods: A total of 60 patients who were newly diagnosed as having T1DM (diagnosed less than five months) were included in the present study. Fifty apparently healthy control subjects were underwent the measurement of serum IFN-γ, IL-10 and IL-6 by ELISA.
Results: Higher serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-10, and Il-6 were observed in the investigated

In this paper, a simple medical image compression technique is proposed, that based on utilizing the residual of autoregressive model (AR) along with bit-plane slicing (BPS) to exploit the spatial redundancy efficiently. The results showed that the compression performance of the proposed techniques is improved about twice on average compared to the traditional autoregressive, along with preserving the image quality due to considering the significant layers only of high image contribution effects.