Background: Psychological stress is considered the major etiological factor precipitating myofacial pain and temporomandibular disorders.It is known that stress induce various adaptational responses of physiologic systems. The process includes increase in the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis which promotes cortisol secretion. Salivary cortisol has been used as a measure of free circulating cortisol levels.The use of salivary biomarkers has gained increased popularity since collecting samples is non-invasive and painless. The aim of thisstudy was to evaluate the level of cortisol in saliva among sample of university students having myofacial pain, during the final exam period and whether this finding could have a significant value as a symptomatic psychobiological marker. Materials and Methods: Ninety eight (98) university students were enrolled in this study. Fifty(50) were with myofacial pain (symptomatic) and forty eight (48) were without myofacial pain (asymptomatic) as a control group.Each student with myofacial pain was examined according to Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders. Saliva sample were collected from each subject before final examination and three months later for biochemical analysis of cortisolusing ELISA test. Results: A highly significant difference in salivary cortisol level between the two periods for both the study and control groups, and a non-significant difference between the two groups in before examination period. A negative association has been observed between the level of salivary cortisol and severity of pain and a highly significant improvement of pain between the final examination periods and three months later. Conclusions: Dental students perceived a higher level of stress prior to the final exam was associated with raised salivary cortisol levels which could be considered as a useful non-invasive biomarker for measuring acute stress.
Abstract. Full-waveform airborne laser scanning data has shown its potential to enhance available segmentation and classification approaches through the additional information it can provide. However, this additional information is unable to directly provide a valid physical representation of surface features due to many variables affecting the backscattered energy during travel between the sensor and the target. Effectively, this delivers a mis-match between signals from overlapping flightlines. Therefore direct use of this information is not recommended without the adoption of a comprehensive radiometric calibration strategy that accounts for all these effects. This paper presents a practical and reliable radiometric calibration r
... Show MoreCipher security is becoming an important step when transmitting important information through networks. The algorithms of cryptography play major roles in providing security and avoiding hacker attacks. In this work two hybrid cryptosystems have been proposed, that combine a modification of the symmetric cryptosystem Playfair cipher called the modified Playfair cipher and two modifications of the asymmetric cryptosystem RSA called the square of RSA technique and the square RSA with Chinese remainder theorem technique. The proposed hybrid cryptosystems have two layers of encryption and decryption. In the first layer the plaintext is encrypted using modified Playfair to get the cipher text, this cipher text will be encrypted using squared
... Show MoreThis paper presents experimental investigations on buried Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) pipes with a diameter of 1400 mm. The tested pipes were buried in dense, gravelly sand and subjected to traffic loads to study the effects of backfill cover on pipe deflection. The experimental program included tests on three GRP pipes with backfill covers of 100 cm, 75 cm, and 50 cm. The maximum traffic loads applied to the pipe–soil system corresponded to Iraqi Truck Type 3 (AASHTO H type). Vertical deflections of the pipes were monitored during the application of these loads. The experimental results showed that, as the backfill cover increased, the maximum vertical deflection of the pipe decreased. Deflection reductions were 38.0% and 33.3
... Show MoreThe drill bit is the most essential tool in drilling operation and optimum bit selection is one of the main challenges in planning and designing new wells. Conventional bit selections are mostly based on the historical performance of similar bits from offset wells. In addition, it is done by different techniques based on offset well logs. However, these methods are time consuming and they are not dependent on actual drilling parameters. The main objective of this study is to optimize bit selection in order to achieve maximum rate of penetration (ROP). In this work, a model that predicts the ROP was developed using artificial neural networks (ANNs) based on 19 input parameters. For the
Objectives: A cross sectional analytic study was carried out to identify the maternal risk factors which
contribute to occurrence of low birth weight, and to determine the statistical significant differences between low
birth weight and maternal risk factors.
Methodology: A purposive sample of (400) woman was selected from AL-Elwyia Maternity Teaching Hospital
and Fatima Al-Zaharia Maternity and Pediatric Teaching Hospital. Data was collected through the interview of
mothers. Questionnaire format was designed and consisted seven parts, demographic variables, and reproductive
variables , Reproductive health variables, complications during the current pregnancy, the mother newborn
variables nutritional status for the m
The influence of the reaction gas composition during the DC magnetron sputtering process on the structural, chemical and optical properties of Ce-oxide thin films was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed that all thin films exhibited a polycrystalline character with cubic fluorite structure for cerium dioxide. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses revealed that cerium is present in two oxidation states, namely as CeO2 and Ce2O3, at the surface of the films prepared at oxygen/argon flow ratios between 0% and 7%, whereas the films are completely oxidized into CeO2 as the aforementioned ratio increases beyond 14%. Various optical parameters for the thin films (including an optical band gap in the range of 2.25–3.
... Show MoreBrainstorming has been a common approach in many industries where the result is not always accurate, especially when procuring automobile spare parts. This approach was replaced with a scientific and optimized method that is highly reliable, hence the decision to optimize the inventory inflation budget based on spare parts and miscellaneous costs of the typical automobile industry. Some factors required to achieve this goal were investigated. Through this investigation, spare parts (consumables and non-consumables) were found to be mostly used in Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM), Nigeria but incorporated miscellaneous costs to augment the cost of spare parts. The inflation rate was considered first due to the market's
... Show MoreRation power plants, to generate power, have become common worldwide. One such one is the steam power plant. In such plants, various moving parts of heavy machines generate a lot of noise. Operators are subjected to high levels of noise. High noise level exposure leads to psychological as well physiological problems; different kinds of ill effects. It results in deteriorated work efficiency, although the exact nature of work performance is still unknown. To predict work efficiency deterioration, neuro-fuzzy tools are being used in research. It has been established that a neuro-fuzzy computing system helps in identification and analysis of fuzzy models. The last decade has seen substantial growth in development of various neuro-fuzzy systems
... Show MoreQuercetin, one of the flavonoids family member, can be found in many vegetables, fruits, and beverages with a noticeable nutritional pharmacological properties. This study was aimed to evaluate the ability of quercetin to inhibit lipopolysaccharide (LPS) that induced lethal toxicity in vivo, and to elucidate the importance of the quercetin as an antitumor agent in breast cancer cell line MCF-7.In vivo experiments included the effect of hesperidin and LPS on the liver and spleen of male mice. In the liver, the antioxidant activity was measured by estimating the concentration of glutathione (GSH), and catalase (CAT), while in the spleen, the concentration of cytokines was measured including IL-33 and TNF-α. In vitro experiments included MTT
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