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.
Background: Fibromyalgia syndrome and psoriasis share various soft problems. In addition, patients with psoriasis can experience subjective joint swelling and pain (Fibromyalgia syndrome) and objective swelling (Psoriatic arthritis) with the latter requiring systemic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs while the former requires anti-fibromyalgia measures.
Objective: To assess the rate of fibromyalgia syndrome in a sample of Iraqi patients with psoriasis.
Patients and Method: A sample of one hundred and twenty Iraqi patients with psoriasis and another one hundred and twenty healthy individuals matched for age and sex, serving as control group were studied. Full history was taken and complete clinical examination was done and vario
Background:Breast carcinoma is the most common malignant tumor and the leading cause of carcinoma death in women, with more than 1,000,000 cases occurring worldwide annually.(1) as a matter of fact , the mortality rate for breast carcinoma changed very little from the 1930s to the early 1990s, because of the combined action of earlier diagnosis and improved therapy .<br />Materials and methods: The prospective study included 500 cases of breast carcinoma who went total mastectomy , between October 2006- April 2007, where taken from private pathology laboratory , sections(4microns) are taken and stained with H&E stain and over-reviewed.<br />Results: Clinicopathological analysis of the 500 cases of breast carcinoma, includ
... Show MoreReducing the drag force has become one of the most important concerns in the automotive industry. This study concentrated on reducing drag through use of some external modifications of passive flow control, such as vortex generators, rear under body diffuser slices and a rear wing spoiler. The study was performed at inlet velocity (V=10,20,30,40 m/s) which correspond to an incompressible car model length Reynolds numbers (Re=2.62×105, 5.23×105, 7.85×105 and 10.46×105), respectively and we studied their effect on the drag force. We also present a theoretical study finite volume method (FVM) of solvi
Developing an efficient algorithm for automated Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) segmentation to characterize tumor abnormalities in an accurate and reproducible manner is ever demanding. This paper presents an overview of the recent development and challenges of the energy minimizing active contour segmentation model called snake for the MRI. This model is successfully used in contour detection for object recognition, computer vision and graphics as well as biomedical image processing including X-ray, MRI and Ultrasound images. Snakes being deformable well-defined curves in the image domain can move under the influence of internal forces and external forces are subsequently derived from the image data. We underscore a critical appraisal
... Show MoreIn this research, we make an attempt to derive theoretically 1-D linear dispersion relation of ion-acoustic waves in uniform unmagnetized dusty plasma valid in the long wavelength limits. This equation matched previously special equation of acoustic modes of a general form in magnetized dusty plasma. Depending on previously mentioned experimental data, we numerically consider various parameters that affect the properties of these waves in dusty plasma. The study has shown that the presence of dust grains is to modify the properties of ion acoustic waves and affect the behavior of the plasma in which they are immersed.
The rate of gas induction was measured in gas-inducing type mechanically agitated contactors provided with two impellers. A reactor of 0.5 m i.d. was used with a working capacity of 60 liters of liquid. Tap water was used as the liquid phase, and air was used as the gas phase. The bioreactor mixing system consists of two equal diameter stirrers; the top impeller is shrouded-disk/curved-blade turbine with six evacuated bending blades, while the bottom impeller was disk turbine. The impeller speed was varied in the range of 50 to 800 rpm. The ratio of impeller diameter to tank diameter (D/T) and the submergence (S) of upper impeller from the top were varied. The effects of clearance of lower impeller from the tank bottom (C2) an
... Show MoreFifty celiac disease (CD) patients (21 males and 29 females) with an age range of 2-35 years and 25 apparently healthy controls were investigated for 10 autoantibodies (anti-tissue transglutaminase IgA antibody; ATA, anti-tissue transglutaminase IgG antibody; ATG, anti-gliadine IgA antibody; AGA, anti-gliadine IgG antibody; AGG, anti-nuclear antibody; ANA, anti-double strand DNA antibody; AdsDNA, anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody; ATP, anti-phospholipid antibody; APP, anti-myeloperoxidase antibody; AMP and anti-proteinase 3 antibody; AP3) in their sera. Six autoantibodies (ATA, ATG, AGA, AGG, AMP and AP3) showed significant variations between CD patients and controls. The first four antibodies were not detected in sera of controls, while
... Show MoreTrickle irrigation is one of the most conservative irrigation techniques since it implies supplying water directly on the soil through emitters. Emitters dissipate energy of water at the end of the trickle irrigation system and provide water at emission points. The area wetted by an emitter depends upon the discharge of emitter, soil texture, initial soil water content, and soil permeability. The objectives of this research were to predict water distribution profiles through different soils for different conditions and quantify the distribution profiles in terms of main characteristics of soil and emitter. The wetting patterns were simulated at the end of each hour for a total time of application of 12 hrs, emitter disch
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