Background: The formation of white spot lesions around fixed orthodontic attachments is a common complication during and after fixed orthodontic treatment, which hinders the result of a successfully completed orthodontic treatment. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of the Caries Infiltrant (ICON®) on prevention of caries on the smooth enamel surface when applied alone or combined with conventional adhesives. Materials and methods: Seventy eight human premolar enamel discs were randomly assigned to six groups (n=13). The discs were etched and treated with resins of different monomer content forming the following groups: (1)Untreated etched samples served as the negative control, (2) ICON® (DMG), (3) Adper™ S

In this work, a novel biocatalytic process for the production of 7-methylxanthines from theobromine, an economic feedstock has been developed. Bench scale production of 7-methlxanthine has been demonstrated. The biocatalytic process used in this work operates at 30 ^OC and atmospheric pressure, and is environmentally friendly. The biocatalyst was E. coli BL21(DE3) engineered with ndmB/D genes combinations. These modifications enabled specific N₇- demethylation of theobromine to 7-methylxanthine. This production process consists of uniform fermentation conditions with a specific metabolically engineered strain, uniform induction of specific enzymes for 7-methylxanthine production, uniform recovery an

Background: Various herbal extracts are known to provide therapeutic benefits in the oral cavity when used topically. One of these herbs is cardamom which is a dried fruit of the tall permanent herbaceous plant, have its place in the family Zingiberaceae.
Objectives: Test the effect of green and black cardamom extracts on Lactobacilli in comparison to chlorhexidine gluconate 0.2% and de-ionized water.
Materials and methods: Dried fruits of green and black cardamom were extracted by using alcohol 70% ethanol. Saliva was collected from seven volunteers. Agar well technique with different concentrations of green and black cardamom extracts was used to test the sensitivities of Lactobacilli, as well the effects

Background:The demand for esthetic orthodontic appliances is increasing so that the esthetic orthodontic archwires were introduced. This in vitro study was designed to evaluate the surface roughness offiber-reinforced polymer composite (FRPC) archwires compared to coated nickel-titanium (NiTi) archwires immersed in artificial saliva. Materials and Methods:Three types of esthetic orthodontic archwires were used: FRPC (Dentaurum), Teflon coated NiTi (Dentaurum) and epoxy coated NiTi (Orthotechnology). They were round (0.018 inch) in cross section and cut into pieces of 15 mm in length.Forty pieces from each type were divided into four groups; one group was left at a dry condition and the other three groups were immersed in artificial saliva (

Background: Doxorubicin is considered one of the most effective anticancer drugs, yet it is use is limited by its side effect mediated by the generation of reactive oxygen species. Omega-7, an antioxidant has shown to have a cardioprotective effect.

Aim of the study: evaluate a possible protective effect of omega-7 against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in male rats.

Methods: twenty-eight male rats were divided into 4 groups (7 for each group).  Group 1 (Negative control): healthy animals received normal saline orally as the vehicle for eight successive days and were sacrificed on day 9. Group 2 (positive control): animals that r

Background: Thyroid ultrasound has been widely used to differentiate benign from malignant nodules; many investigators have tried to point out few ultrasonographic features in order to identify those lesions, which are at a higher risk of malignancy.
Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of selected conventional ultrasound (US) features of thyroid focal lesions useful for predicting malignancy and establishing indications for fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC).
Patients and Methods:Two hundred and four consecutive patients with thyroid nodules who visited the outpatient clinic of the surgical department of Tikrit University teaching hospital for the period from January 2011 to April 2014, and who underwent surgery for clinical s

The fresh water green alga Chlorella vulgaris was selected to study its ability to degrade one of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs)known is anthracene (ANT). ANT is widely used in artificial products such as wood preservatives; insecticides; dye and coating materials. This algae was cultivated in CH-10 medium under constant laboratory conditions and exposed to different concentrations (1, 3, and 5 mg/l) of anthracene for 3, 5, 7, 9 and 15 days, with the concentration of ANT measured  by high performance liquid chromatographic analysis (HPLC). The results showed that C.vulgaris has high ability to reduce anthracene to 80% at 1mg/Lcon centration after 3 days and 100% after 5 days, while at 3 and 5 mg / L concent

It is evident from this study that Yamama Formation is reservoir rocks and source rocks at the same time, based on occurrences of crude oil and source rocks. Bulk properties of Yamama oil in six wells as well as comparing several samples of Yamama oil by using the biological mark have indicated multi source of hydrocarbons with some pay having Jurassic and Lower Cretaceouse source affinity that belongs to the Yamama Formation.

The electrode in the microbial fuel cell has a significant effect on cell performance. The treatment of the electrode is a crucial step to make the electrode surface more habitable for bacteria growth, thus, increases the power production as well as waste treatment. In the current study, two graphite electrodes were treated by a microwave. The first electrode was treated with 100W microwave energy, while the second one was treated with 600W microwave energy. There is a significant enhancement in the surface of the graphite anode after the pretreatment process. The results show an increase in the power density from 10 mW/m² to 15 mW/m² with 100w treatment and to 13.47 mW/m² with 600w treatment. An organic