Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) were investigated in 143 pretreatment orthodontic patients (43 males and 102 females) whose age ranged between 10-25 years at the College of Dentistry, University of Baghdad, Iraq. The study was undertaken to elucidate the prevalence and severity of TMDs in malocclusion patients and to defme the relationships between malocclusion and TMDs. The clinical signs and subjective symptoms were recorded according to the principles introduced by Helkimo (1974b). Subjective symptoms were reported by 65.7% of the patients with 22.40/0 described as severe, and the most common symptoms were TMJ sounds and feeling offatigue. Clinical signs were observed in 81.8% of the sample with 22.4 and 6.3% described as moderate and severe, respectively, and the most common signs were muscle and TMJ tenderness to palpation. Significant sex differences were few and weak. However, tenderness to palpation decreased with age and dysfunction increased with age. Recurrent headache was reported by 38.5% ofthe sample, significantly more by females than males. Oral parafunctions were found in 78.3% ofthe patients, with females significantly more aware of orofacial parafunctions than males. Dental wear was observed in nearly all the patients increasing in severity significantly with age for all dental regions~ Class II malocclusion, both divisions 1 and 2, were unrelated to TMDs, while an overjet greater than 8 mm and an overbite of 5 mm or more predisposed to TMDs. True class III malocclusion and reversed overjet were associated with TMDs, while postural class III malocclusion, forward mandibular displacement and open bite were not. Inverted incisors and posterior crossbite were positively associated with TMDs signs, especially bilateral posterior crossbite. Upper anterior crowding appeared to predispose to TMDs, while lower anterior crowding, upper and lower anterior spacing were negatively associated with TMDs. The results of this study show that TMDs are more prevalent in orthodontic patients than in general population indicating the adverse effect of malocclusion on the function ofthe masticatory system; and that the incisor relationship is more important than the general occlusion (Angle's classification) in predisposing to TMDs.
Surface water samples from different locations within Tigris River's boundaries in Baghdad city have been analyzed for drinking purposes. Correlation coefficients among different parameters were determined. An attempt has been made to develop linear regression equations to predict the concentration of water quality constituents having significant correlation coefficients with electrical conductivity (EC). This study aims to find five regression models produced and validated using electrical conductivity as a predictor to predict total hardness (TH), calcium (Ca), chloride (Cl), sulfate (SO4), and total dissolved solids (TDS). The five models showed good/excellent prediction ability of the parameters mentioned
... Show MoreAlice Walker (1944) ranks among the greatest American writers of the twentieth century. Through her novels Meridian and the color Purple, Alice outlines many issues concerning the effect of authoritarian thinking upon its often innocent victims, and the possibility of meaningful, productive resistance. Walker's texts aim at giving a voice to those who have no voice especially those poor, rural black women who are robbed of power and the right to make decisions about their own lives by a range of forces standing against them. These texts also aim at clarifying how Walker's female protagonists, Meridian and Celia try to free themselves from oppression, misery , fear and underestimation
... Show MoreDeception is an inseparable facet of political discourse in attaining strategic political gains though compromising public opinion. However, the employment of discursive deception strategies by the policy-making institutions of think tanks has not received due attention in the literature. The current study aims at exploring how the ideologizing deception strategies are utilized by the conservative American think tank of the Washington Institute to reproduce socio-political realities and re-shape public opinion. To fulfill this task, van Dijk’s (2000) notion of ideological polarization which shows positive self-representation and negative other representation is adopted to conduct a critical discourse analysis of four Arabic texts relea
... Show MoreBackground: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the most common diagnoses in hospitalized patients. Increased plasma hemostatic markers were noted in acute myocardial infarction, indicating that the blood coagulation system is highly activated in those patients. Aims of the study: To study the level of intrinsic coagulation factors including (FVIII:C, FIX:C ,FXI:C ,FXII:C ) in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Type of the study: Cross –sectional study. Methods: Thirty patients (their age range is 48-68 years) were included in this study (9 female, 21 male) who were just admitted to the coronary care unit in AL-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital and diagnosed as having acute myocardial infarction patients, blood samples were tak
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus type 2 has been known for many years as the most common endocrine metabolic disorder that affect the oral cavity and cause many oral diseases including candidiasis. In this study, the incidence of Candida spp. in the saliva of controlled and uncontrolled diabetic patients were determined and compared with non diabetic group. Material and method: The sample consists of 200 subjects: 100 diabetic patients [57 (28.5%) uncontrolled diabetes, 43 (21.5%) controlled diabetes] and 100 (50%) non diabetic groups. Saliva samples was obtained from the subjects and cultured on selective media using appropriate microbiological method to observe the presence of Candida spp. Results: The results revealed a significant associat
... Show MoreBackground: Multifactor affect the pathogenesis of thrombosis in solid malignancy; however, a significant role is attributed to the cancer cells ability to interact with and activate the host hemostatic system. [1]
Hemostasis is highly correlated to tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis, modulation of these pathways reflects interesting and promising treatment options in the future. [1]
Most patients with cancer frequently suffer from chronic compensated DIC and have abnormal laboratory coagulation tests without clinical manifestations of thrombosis, which is a subclinical hypercoagulable state that can be detected by varying degrees of activation of blood clotting. The results of laboratory tests in th
... Show MoreThis study included a group of (15) chronic renal failure patients (CRF), an addition group of (15) healthy individual was concluded in this study for control. Trace and essential elements ( Zn, Cu , Ca , K , Na) were measured by atomic absorption and flam analyzer in sera of CRF patients pre and post dialysis and control groups. The results showed a significant ( p < 0.05) increase in Zn and k+ concentration in sera of CRF patients pre and post dialysis compared to the control group. While there is a significant decrease for copper concentration in sera of CRF patients pre and post dialysis compared to the control group. There was no significant alte
... Show MoreABSTRACT : Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common inflammatory neurodegenerative diseases linked with dementia, it is characterized by the deposition of amyloid beta-peptide (Ab) in the brain. The present study aims to innovate a biochemical relationship between AD and interleukin 38 (IL-38) as an anti-inflammatory cytokine, expose novel mechanisms and concepts regarding other biochemical parameters studied previously or recently in AD patients and also examine the biochemical action of memantine (10 mg daily) on AD patients. Sixty (60) diagnosed AD patients participated in the present study and classified into four (4) groups: G3 were composed of (15) newly diagnosed males (52-78) years / without treatment, G4 composed of (15
... Show MoreBackground: Treatment modalities of acromegaly and disease control impact differently on glucose homeostasis and lipid changes, and consequently on cardiometabolic risk. Aim: To investigate the possible association of lipid profile changes with the glycemic control status in acromegaly patients treated with octreotide LAR. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 52 Iraqi patients with acromegaly treated with octreotide LAR and not using statins. Demographic, anthropometric, and clinical data were collected, as well as the duration of Octreotide LAR administration. The glycemic state was assessed and classified as DM, prediabetes, or normal. Plasma levels of triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and non-HDL were evalu
... Show MoreBackground: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is inflammation of the sacroiliac joints and spine, associated with clinical symptoms such as pain and stiffness in the vertebral column, after which, in a considerable number of individuals, new bone growth occurs. Objective: The current research study attempted to find out whether the presence of SNPs in TNF receptor [TNFRSF1A (rs767455), TNFRSF1B (rs1061622)] encoding genes could influence patients' outcomes to etanercept in a specimen of Iraqi AS patients. Patients and methods: Sixty patients with established AS receiving only etanercept were selected to be enrolled in this research with a mean age of 40.75 ± 8.67 years, 51 patients of them were males and only 9 patients were females. Patients we
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