Background: The nail organ has an important functional and aesthetic importance. Nail Growth Rate (NGR) has attracted the attention of many investigators not only due to the importance of the nail apparatus but also as a tool to reflect health.
Objective: To study the effects of smoking and age on nail growth.
Patients and methods:The study was conducted at the Department of Physiology and the Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, University of Baghdad during the period from January 2011 to May 2011.
Nail growth measurement was performed by etching a T – mark on the nail plate of the right and the left thumbs with a wide bore needle. The vertical distance between the point of meeting of the T and the proximal nail fold was measured using (vernier). A second measurement was performed one month later. The difference between the 2 readings was divided by the number of days between the readings to give the NGR.
Results:The NGR was measured in a total of 106 subjects. The subjects were divided into 3 groups:
Group1 (Smoker male subjects): 23 subjects were included in this group. Their ages ranged between 20 and 59 years with a mean of 35.87 +11.72 years. Group 2 (Non-smoker male subjects): 34 subjects were included. Their ages ranged between 13 and 52 years with a mean of 31.76 + 10.16 years.Group 3 (Non-smoker female subjects): 49 subjects were included. Their ages ranged between 8 and 58 years with a mean of 27.49 +11.66 years. NGR measurement in:
Group 1:The mean growth rate in the right thumb was 95.4 + 28.8 microns/day, and for the left thumb was 96 + 34 microns/day.
Group 2:The NGR was 105.6 + 34.35, and 103.4 + 34.24 microns /day, for the right thumb and the left thumb respectively. .
Group 3: The NGR was 100 .5 + 33.52 microns/day for the right thumb and 101.6 + 31.77 microns /day for the left thumb.
Conclusion: Age was inversely correlated with nail growth in right and left thumbs in all groups. The duration of smoking and number of cigarettes was inversely related to nail growth, but it did not reach statistical significance.
Fifty-four Sprague-Dawley albino adult male rats were classified into three main groups each of 18 rats treated for a particular duration (1,2, and 4) weeks respectively. Each group was subdivided into three subgroups each of six rats treated as follows; group (1) serve as normal control, group (2, and 3) intra-peritoneal treated with TiO2NPs (50,200) mg/kg respectively, body *weight of all rats was measured before and after the experiment, then rats were dissected at the end of each experiment and the weights of the thyroid was measured. The result showed a highly significant decrease (p<0.01) in thyroid gland weight, a highly significant increase (p<0.01) in body weights and TSH, while a highly significant decrease (p&
... Show MoreIncident laser power and concentration effects on fluorescence emission from DCM dye in PMMA polymer have been investigated. Different concentrations of the dye were used. It was found that the fluorescence intensity increased with increasing of the concentration of the dye, with a red shift. In addition, it was found that the fluorescence intensity increased with the increase of the incident laser power I0.
Nutlets of 22 taxa of Stachys (13 species and seven subspecies and two varieties), representing seven of the currently recognized sections distributed in northern Iraq were examined by light microscope. The basic shape of nutlets in most taxa studied is Obovoid, but Oblong also found in S.megalodanta Hausskn.& Bornm. ex P.H.Davis, S.setirefa C.A.Mey. subsp daenensis (Gandog.) Rech.f.and S. kurdica Boiss.& Hohen. var.kurdica, while the Subgloboid shape found in S. iberica M.Bieb. and S. inflata Benth., more over the Broad triangular shape was found in S. nephrophylla Rech.f. and S.lanigera (Bornm.) Rech.f.., the biggest size of nutlets was found in S.inflata L. and the smallest was in S.melampyroides Hand.-Mzt. Regarding sculpturing pa
... Show MoreBackground: Ureteral stone can cause obstructive uropathy and subsequent deterioration of renal function. There are four treatment options for ureteral calculi: lithotripsy, ureteroscopy, laparoscopic ureterolithotomy, and open stone surgery. Holmium YAG laser is an excellent intracorporial lithotripter for all kinds of stones. Accordingly, there is steady increase in number of ureteroscopic laser lithotripsy operations in the managmant of Ureteral stone.
Objectives: this study was designed to demonstrate the effect of ureteric stone location on the success rate of ureteroscopic Holmium laser lithotripsy in the management of ureteric stones.
Patients and Methods: Ninety m
... Show MoreSteps were taken to obtain the Kojic acid crystals from local fungal isolation A. flavus WJF81 by separating the fermentation products from the fungus mycelium from the production plant at the centrifuge at a speed of 5000 cycles for 10 minutes. The extraction was followed by ethyl acetate then supernatant concentrate by using rotary evaporator, and dried with heat oven 37ºC. Long, yellowish, pristine acid crystals were obtained that examined the optical microscope with a magnification force of 10x and 40x. The melting point of kojic acid was determined between 152.9-153.5 °C Results of the diagnosis of Kojic acid by applying High pressure liquid chromatography HPLC technique showed that the acid was at one peak, which was close to the
... Show MoreExperimental and numerical investigations of the centrifugal pump performance at non-cavitating and cavitating flow conditions were carried out in the present study. Experiments were performed by applying a vacuum to a closed-loop system to investigate the effects of the net positive suction head available (NPSHa), flow rate, water temperature and pump speed on the centrifugal pump performance. Accordingly, many of the important parameters concerning cavitation phenomenon were calculated. Also, the noise which is accompanied by cavitation was measured. Numerical analysis was implemented for two phase flow (the water and its vapor) using a 2-D simulation by ANSYS FLUENT software to investigate the internal flow of centrifugal pump under c
... Show MoreThe skull is one of the largest bones in the body. It is classified into flat bones that maintain the important organic structures; which are the brain, eyes, and tongue. The skull is a strong support for preserving these organs but they are various according to the type of animals and the environments in which they live and the nature of their nutrition. There are many differences among living organisms in terms of the bones in the skull, their difference or disappearance and their length in the shape of the head. The samples were taken from the scientific storage in the Iraq Natural History Research Center and Museum; Cape hare Lepus capensis (Linnaeus, 1758) and Red fox Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) and the study was conducted o
... Show MoreThe skull is one of the largest bones in the body. It is classified into flat bones that maintain the important organic structures; which are the brain, eyes, and tongue. The skull is a strong support for preserving these organs but they are various according to the type of animals and the environments in which they live and the nature of their nutrition. There are many differences among living organisms in terms of the bones in the skull, their difference or disappearance and their length in the shape of the head. The samples were taken from the scientific storage in the Iraq Natural History Research Center and Museum; Cape hare Lepus capensis (Linnaeus, 1758) and Red fox Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) and the study was conducted o
... Show MoreIn the past infectious diseases affected the quality of lifestyle during home confinement. The study conducted examines the influence of home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak on lifestyle, mental wellbeing, nutritional status, and sleeping pattern.
An online multicategorical questionnaire was distributed to collect demographic information combined with the following tools: Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), WHO-5 wellbeing score, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). A snowball non-discriminate sampling procedure was