Background Commonly heard statements such as “Christmas comes around more quickly each year” suggest that the passage of time between annual events can become distorted, leading to the sensation of time passing more quickly than normal. At present however, it is unclear how prevalent such beliefs are and, what factors are predictive of it. Aim To explore the prevalence of beliefs that annual events such as Christmas (Study 1 UK sample) and Ramadan (Study 2 Iraqi sample) feel like they come around more quickly each year. To establish the association between distortions to the passage of time between annual events and emotional wellbeing, event specific enjoyment, memory function and self-reported attention to time. Methods Participants completed an online questionnaire exploring their subjective experience of time in relation to Christmas and Ramadan. In addition, measures of attention to time, memory function, quality of life and event specific emotion were also taken. Findings There was widespread agreement that Christmas and Ramadan appeared to come around more quickly each year. In both countries, this belief was associated with greater prospective memory errors, greater attention to time and greater enjoyment of the event. Furthermore, in the UK greater belief that Christmas comes around more quickly was associated with lower social quality of life and in Iraq, greater belief that Ramadan comes around more quickly each year was associated with lower age and female gender. Conclusions Distortions to the passage of time for annual events are widespread, occur across multiple cultures and are consistently predicted by prospective function, event enjoyment and attention to time. The absence of an association between older age (above 55 years) and a faster passage of time suggests that caution should be taken when concluding that time passes more quickly with increasing age. Citation: Ogden R, Alatrany SSJ, Flaiyah AM, ALi Sayyid ALdrraji H, Musa H, Alatrany ASS, et al. (2024) Distortions to the passage of time for annual events: Exploring why Christmas and Ramadan feel like they come around more quickly each year. PLoS ONE 19(7): e0304660. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0304660 Editor: Ellen L. Idler, Emory University, School of Public Health, UNITED STATES Received: September 26, 2023; Accepted: May 15, 2024; Published: July 10, 2024 Copyright: © 2024 Ogden et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting information files. Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (FAAS) was used in this study to determine the concentrations of heavy metals such as Ca, Fe, Mn, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb and Zn in some food additives of Iraq. The order of metal contents in food additives was found to be Ca ˃ Mn ˃ Fe ˃ Cu ˃ Zn ˃ Pb ˃ Cr ˃ Ni ˃ Co ˃ Cd. The concentration level of each metal was compared with that recommended by food agriculture organisation (FAO) and world health organisation (WHO). Calibration curves were linear for all standard solutions of heavy metals in the range starting from 0.02-0.4 mg/kg for Cd to 11-100 mg/kg for Ca. The correlation coefficients values (R2) of calibrations were investigated and ranged from 0.9971 for Cr to 0.9999 for Ca. Th
... Show MoreThe current study included the isolation, purification and cultivation of blue-green alga Oscillatoria pseudogeminata G.Schmidle from soil using the BG-11liquid culture medium for 60 days of cultivation. The growth constant (k) and generation time (G) were measured which (K=0.144) and (G=2.09 days).
Microcystins were purified and determined qualitatively and quantitatively from this alga by using the technique of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa Kits). The alga showed the ability to produce microcystins in concentration reached 1.47 µg/L for each 50 mg DW. Tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) aged two months were irrigated with three concentrations of purified microcystins 0.5 , 3.0 and 6.0
... Show MoreThis study aims at creating an analogy between Quran text Contents as meanings that have representations as visional shapes within ornamental figures in Islamic architecture. The theoretical framework of the study deals with the concept of semantics and its parts, artistic contents of Quran texts, and ornamental figures in Islamic architecture. The study procedures included a population of (69) figures, (5) of them were chosen deliberately for analysis in accordance with a form that had been presented to a number of experts to ensure its validity. The study reached a number of conclusions, the most significant among them are: adopting natural denotation of direct reference in order to link the ornamental figure to the source it was taken
... Show MoreIn Iraq, the domestic goat
Breast cancer (BC) is first of the top 10 malignancies in Iraq. Dose‐volume histograms (DVHs) are most commonly used as a plan evaluation tool. This study aimed to assess DVH statistics using three‐dimensional conformal radiotherapies in BC in an adjuvant setting.
A retrospective study of 70 histologically confirmed women diagnosed with BC was reviewed. The study was conducted between November 2020 and May 2021, planning for treatment with adjuvant three‐dimensional conformal radiotherapies. The treatment plan used for each woman was based on an analysis of the volumetric dose, inclu
Background: There is a clear debate about the role of bad oral habits (thumb-sucking and biting nails) and on oral health and the state of the dental caries, but there is no doubt that continuing these bad habits until advanced ages will lead to deep and difficult problems to solve. Objective: The purpose of study was to evaluate the effect of bad habits, include finger sucking and nail biting on dental caries among children aged from 6 to 10 years old. Subjects and methods: In Al-Hilla city, Iraq, a comparative study was conducted in which (200) primary school students aged between 6 to10 years old were involved. A questionnaire filled out by their parents was used to gather information related to the bad oral habit, and then all the stude
... Show MoreThe ciliate species isolated from midgut and hindgut of Rough-tailed gecko Cyrtopodion scabrum (Heyden, 1827), identified as Nyctotherus hardwickii was collected from many regions of Baghdad, Iraq. The current study deals with a description and comparison of the morphology and morphometric characters of this species for the first time in Iraq.