Background : Knee flexors tightness has been documented in apparently healthy adults and in those with musculoskeletal problems, but the influence of age on the tightness has not been studied in Iraq. This study was therefore designed to determine the influence of age on knee flexors tightness in apparently healthy subjects.Methods: Knee flexors tightness was measured using the active knee extension test (AKET) in 200 apparently healthy male and female subjects, aged 13 to 59 years. The subjects were recruited into 5 age groups using the purposive sampling technique.Knee flexors tightness was compared across the age groups using one-way analysis ofvariance (ANOVA). The independent t-test was used to compare knee flexors tightness on both

ABSTRACT Background: One of the methods used in the treatment of maxillofacial fracture is intermaxillary fixation(IMF), the most common type is the Erich arch bar with interdental wiring. This study was conducted to investigate the impact of intermaxillary fixation on gingival health condition among a group of patients with facial fracture in relation to salivary physical properties. Materials and methods: Thirty patients with an age range of (17-37) years old with facial fractures and indicated for IMF. Plaque index and gingival index (Loe, 1967) were used to assess both of them before application and after removal of IMF. Unstimulated saliva sample collection was carried out under standardized conditions according to Navazesh and Kum

Alopecia areata is a common disorder, hypothesized to be autoimmune in etiology. Cortisone taken orally may stimulate new hair growth. Prednisone (orally administered steroid (has proved effective for patients with alopecia areata, but its potential side effects include weight gain, metabolic abnormalities, acne and menstrual problems.

This clinical study was designed to assess the clinical significance of the nutrient antioxidants (vitamin A, vitamin E and vitamin C) in reducing the dose of corticosteroids (prednisolone), and as a consequence, their side effects in patient with alopecia. The results of this study reveal the potential clinical significance of the therapy for two months with these antioxidants in reducing the dose

Sewer systems are used to convey sewage and/or storm water to sewage treatment plants for disposal by a network of buried sewer pipes, gutters, manholes and pits. Unfortunately, the sewer pipe deteriorates with time leading to the collapsing of the pipe with traffic disruption or clogging of the pipe causing flooding and environmental pollution. Thus, the management and maintenance of the buried pipes are important tasks that require information about the changes of the current and future sewer pipes conditions. In this research, the study was carried on in Baghdad, Iraq and two deteriorations model's multinomial logistic regression and neural network deterioration model NNDM are used to predict sewers future conditions. The results of the

Background: Atrophic postoperative and traumatic scarring are common cosmetic problems for patients. Combining CO2 laser ablation with a fractional photothermolysis system in a treatment known as ablative fractional resurfacing fulfilling the new demands for a lesser risk of side effects and minimal or no downtime.Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of ablation fractional CO2 laser treatments for surgical scarring .methods: Twenty one patient ( 14 women, and 7 men ) with various skin types , I to IV , aged 3 to 48 years , presents with 24 scars between June and December 2012 , four patients excluded from study because they are not continued in follow up , the remaining 17 patient completed all 3 treatments & 6 months follow

Rehabilitation robots are widely recognized as vital for restoring motor function in patients with lower-limb impairments. A Modified Fractional-Order Proportional-Integral-Derivative (MFOPID) controller is proposed to improve trajectory tracking of a 2-DoF Lower Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeleton Robot (LLRER). The classical FOPID is augmented with a modified control formulation by which steady-state error is reduced and the transient response is sharpened. Controller gains and fractional orders were tuned offline using a hybrid metaheuristic Improved Elk Herd Optimization hybridized with Grey Wolf and Multi-Verse Optimization algorithms (IElk-GM) so that exploration and exploitation are balanced. Superiority over the classical FOPID

Photonic Crystal Fiber Interferometers (PCFIs) are widely used for sensing applications. This work presents the fabrication and the characterization of a relative humidity sensor based on a polymer-coated photonic crystal fiber that operates in a Mach- Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) transmission mode. The fabrication of the sensor involved splicing a short (1 cm) length of Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) between two single-mode fibers (SMF). It was then coated with a layer of agarose solution. Experimental results showed that a high humidity sensitivity of 29.37 pm/%RH was achieved within a measurement range of 27–95%RH. The sensor also showed good repeatability, small size, measurement accuracy and wide humidity range. The RH sensitivity o

Self- curing is the potential of lightweight aggregate to absorption great amount of water thru mixing which prominently can moves to the paste during hydration process. Self- curing empowers a water to be distributes more evenly act out the cross section. Whereas, the external curing water is only able to penetrate several millimetres into concrete with low water cement ratio. Brick dust accumulates in the demolish site creates serious environmental contamination. This study investigates the effect of brick dust recovered from construction site on the Properties of mortar cured in three curing conditions. Mortar in this study produced using BD as cement additive with (2, 4, 6, and 8) % by weight of cement. BD was used a

The nonlinear optical properties response of nematic liquid crystal (6CHBT) and the impact of doping with two kinds of nanoparticles; Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles and SbSI ferroelectric nanoparticles have been studied using the non-linear dynamic method through z-scan measurement technique. This was achieved utilizing CW He-Ne laser. The pure LC and magnetic LC nanoparticle composite samples had a maximum absorption while the ferroelectric LC nanoparticle composite had a minimum absorption of the incident light. The nonlinear refractive index was positive for the pure LC and the rod-like ferronematic LC composite samples, while it was negative for the ferroelectric LC composite. The studying of the nonlinear optical