Background: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that mostly involves the spine and sacroiliac joints. It is associated with a decreased quality of life. Biological medicines such as infliximab and its biosimilar are the mainstay treatments for active ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: The study objective was to conduct a pharmacoeconomic study comparing the cost-effectiveness of the reference infliximab with its biosimilar in ankylosing spondylitis patients visiting public hospitals.

Subjects and Method: This is a two-center pharmacoeconomic study performed at two large teaching governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, which s

Background: The objective of this in vitro study was to evaluate the vertical marginal fit of crowns fabricated with ZrO2 CAD/CAM, before and after porcelain firing cycles and after glaze cycles. Materials and Methods: An acrylic resin model of a left maxillary first molar was prepared and duplicated to have Nickel-Chromium master die. Ten die stone dies were sent to the CAD/CAM (Amann Girrbach) for crowns fabrication. Marginal gaps along vertical planes were measured at four indentations at the (mid mesial, mid distal, mid buccal, mid palatal) before (Time 0) and after porcelain firing cycles (Time 1) and after glaze cycles (Time 2) using a light microscope at a magnification of ×100. One way ANOVA LSD tests were performed to determine wh

Near-ideal p-CdS/n-Si heterojunction band edge lineup has been investigated for the first time with aid of I-V and C-V measurements. The heterojunction was manufactured by deposition of CdS films prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis technique (CSP) on monocrystalline n-type silicon. The experimental data of the conduction band offset Ec and valence band offset Ec were compared with theoretical values. The band offset Ec=530meV and Ev=770meV obtained at 300K. The energy band diagram of p-CdS/n-Si HJ was constructed. C-V measurements depict that the junction was an abrupt type and the built-in voltage was determined from C-2-V plot

Abstract

In this manuscript, a simple new method for the green synthesis of platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) utilizing F. carica Fig extract as reducing agent for antimicrobial activities was reported. Simultaneously, the microstructural and morphological features of the synthesized Pt NPs were thoroughly investigated. In particular, the attained Pt NPs exhibited spherical shape with diameter range of 5-30 nm and root mean square of 9.48 nm using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), respectively. Additionally, the final product (Pt NPs) was screened as antifungal and antibacterial agent against Candida and Aspergillus species as well as Gram-positive Staphyllococcus aureus and G

Peer-Reviewed Journal

Air pollution is one of the important problems facing Iraq. Air pollution is the result of uncontrolled emissions from factories, car exhaust electric generators, and oil refineries and often reaches unacceptable limits by international standards. These pollutants can greatly affect human health and regular population activities. For this reason, there is an urgent need for effective devices to monitor the molecular concentration of air pollutants in cities and urban areas. In this research, an optical system has been built consisting of aHelium-Neonlaser,5mWand at 632.8 nm, a glass cell with a defined size, and a power meter(Gentec-E-model: uno) where a scattering of the laser beam occurs due to air pollution. Two pollutants were examin

The refractive index sensors based on tapered optical fiber are attractive for many industries due to sensing capability in a variety of application. In this paper, we proposed a refractive index sensor based on multicore fiber (MCF) sandwiched between two standard single mode fibers (SMF). The sensor consisting of three sections, SMF- MCF-SMF is structurally simple and can be easily produced by joining these parts. The MFC contains seven cores and these cores are surrounded by a single cladding. The sensing region is obtained by tapering the MCF section where the evanescent field is generated. The single mode propagating along the SMF is stimulated at the first joint and is coupled to the cladding modes. These modes interfere with the core