Background׃ Halitosis is a common condition and is most often caused by a buildup of bacteria in the mouth because of gum disease, food, or plaque. It can result in anxiety among those affected, it is also associated with depression and symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder. The aim of this study isto assess the prevalence of self-reported halitosis and associated factors (dental plaque, gingival condition and dental caries) in 15 years old male students in Karbala city in Iraq. Additionally, we studied adolescents’ concern with their own breath and whether anyone had ever told them that they had halitosis. Methods׃ A cross sectional observational survey was conducted to15 years old high school students from public and p

Chlorine disinfection is a globally used method to ensure the safety of drinking water. However, it has not always been successful against viruses and, therefore, it is important to find new methods to disinfect water. Seventeen different coliphages were isolated from the treated municipal wastewater. These coliphages and MS2 were treated with different dosages of chlorine in drinking water, and a combined chlorine/ultraviolet irradiation treatment for the chlorine-resistant coliphages. Chlorine disinfection with 0.3–0.5 mg/L total chlorine (free Cl-dosage 0.12–0.21 mg/L) for 10 min achieved 2.5–5.7 Log10-reductions for 11 sensitive coliphages. The six most resistant coliphages showed no reduction with these chlorine concentra

One of the goals of adding adjuvants to agricultural spray solutions is to enhance the droplet size characteristics of this spray. Droplet size, in turn, has an influence in the deposited spray quality, in addition to the drift and losses of spray to off-target places. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of adding adjuvants to two types of water from different sources on the droplet size characteristics. Two types of adjuvants were employed in the tests: the active substance content of the first adjuvant was a 50% aqueous solution of sodium salt of alkylbenzenesulfonic acid—10% (HY), whereas the second was from rapeseed oil (natural origin)—85% (OL). Both adjuvants were tested in two concentrations: the first was

Background: Obesity increases the host’s susceptibility by modulating the immune and inflammatory systems in a manner that predisposes to inflammatory tissue destruction and leaves an individual at greater risk of periodontitis. Melatonin is a pineal secretory product involved in numerous actions, such as regulation of internal biological clocks and energy metabolism, and it functions as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. There exists a substantial amount of evidence supporting the beneficial effect of melatonin supplementation on obesity and its complications. Aim of the study: To investigate the effects of systemic melatonin intake on periodontal health status and lipid profiles in obese periodontitis patients. Subjects and met

This study was carried out in Kalar technical institute, Sulaimani Polytechnic University in Garmian region, Iraq during 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. Five hybrid genotypes of barley were tested under drought and irrigated conditions to detect the flag-leaf specific weight, chlorophyll content index (SPAD; The Soil Plant Analysis Development chlorophyll meter) and the period from anthesis to physiological maturity. Across both years 2016-17 and 2017-18, there was no effect of drought on flag-leaf specific weight, however, SPAD was reduced by 4.77 and the period between anthesis and maturity was shortened by almost two days. Genotype 3//14 scored the highest values of flag-leaf specific weight (7.765 mg cm^-2)and SPAD (25.56), an

     In this study, the gamma ray shielding properties of  shields prepared from polyvinyl alcohol as a base material reinforced with barium sulfate nanoparticles at different reinforcement ratios (5,15,25,35,45 %) and thickness  1 cm  were studied. To determine the acceptability of these shields for use in gamma ray protection, some parameters including linear attenuation coefficient (μ), mean free path (λ), and half value layer (HVL) were determined using¹³³Ba, ²²Na, ¹³⁷Cs, and ⁶⁰Co radioactive sources  that produced gamma rays with energies of (356, 662, 1173, 1275 and 1332 KeV).  The (NaI (Tl)) gamma system was employed for this purpose. The fabricated shields' effective atomic

     In this paper, the effect of iron oxide nanoparticles dust (Fe₂O₃ NPs) on the parameters of DC electric discharge plasma under vacuum in argon gas was studied with the presence of a mirror magnetron behind the electrodes (cathode and anode) at constant pressure and with different amounts of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. Calculations presented a reduction of the plasma emission intensity with the NPs content. Both the plasma density (calculated by Stark's broadening method) and the mean electron temperature (calculated using Boltzmann's equation) decreased with increasing the Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles dust content, which indicates clearly the effect of dust density on restricting