Background and objectives: This study aimed at testing the effect of plastic sleeve or barrier, used to cover the guide of the light cure unit to prevent cross-infection, on the shear bond strength and site of bond failure of stainless steel and ceramic orthodontic brackets. Materials and methods: Forty orthodontic brackets; twenty stainless steel and twenty ceramic brackets bonded to forty extracted human maxillary first premolars using light cure adhesive cured with and without the use of a protective plastic barrier on the guide. Comparing the effect of this barrier on the shear bond strength and adhesive remnant index was performed using an independent t-test and Chi-square test. Results: The protective barrier had decreased the shear b

In this work, synthesis of conducting polymeric films namely, PVC thin films was carried out containing Schiff base (L) with Cu²⁺, Cr³⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, in addition to inspecting the possibilities of measuring energy gap values of PVC-L-M with variety metal ions. These new polymeric films (PVC-L-M) were characterized by FTIR spectrophotometry, energy gap and surface morphology. The optical data recorded that the band gap values are influenced by the type of metals. All modified films have a red shift in optical properties in the ultraviolet region. The PVC-L-Co(II) was the lowest value of the optical band gap, 3.1 eV.

The present paper investigates the role of fear and predator dependent refuge in the prey-predator system. The system describes the interaction between prey and a stage structure of predator that incorporates Holling II functional response. The predator splits into two compartments immature (juvenile) and mature (adult). The mature predators can hunt and reproduce but this capability is not found in the immature predators, the immature depend on their parents. The growth rate of prey decreases due to the existence of mature predators. The existence, uniqueness, and boundedness of the solution of the system are investigated. Three equilibrium points of the system are determined. The local stability of the system is studied. The global stabil

Nowadays, cloud computing has attracted the attention of large companies due to its high potential, flexibility, and profitability in providing multi-sources of hardware and software to serve the connected users. Given the scale of modern data centers and the dynamic nature of their resource provisioning, we need effective scheduling techniques to manage these resources while satisfying both the cloud providers and cloud users goals. Task scheduling in cloud computing is considered as NP-hard problem which cannot be easily solved by classical optimization methods. Thus, both heuristic and meta-heuristic techniques have been utilized to provide optimal or near-optimal solutions within an acceptable time frame for such problems. In th

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of vitamin D3 levels on bone density, primary dental implant stability, and successful osseointegration.

Materials and Methods: Clinical and radiological examination with a standardized cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) machine and laboratory investigation for serum levels of vitamin D3 were performed for all patients. Only patients in need of single or multiple straightforward dental implant surgery in either jaw with no history of systemic disease or condition that may interfere with bone healing were included in this study to receive the dental implant by the same oral and maxillofacial surgeon, which re‐opened

Background: One way to target polypharmacy and inappropriate medication in hemodialysis (HD) patients is with medication deprescribing. Objective: To assess the impact of implementing a pharmacist-led deprescribing program on medication adherence among HD patients. Method: A prospective interventional, one-group pretest-posttest-only design study was conducted at a hemodialysis center in Wasit Governorate, Iraq. Medication reconciliation followed by medication review based on the deprescribing program was done for all eligible patients, and the patients were monitored for three months for any possible complications. Results: Two hundred and seventy patients were screened for eligibility. Only one hundred and eighteen were enrolled i