Background׃ Halitosis is a common condition and is most often caused by a buildup of bacteria in the mouth because of gum disease, food, or plaque. It can result in anxiety among those affected, it is also associated with depression and symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder. The aim of this study isto assess the prevalence of self-reported halitosis and associated factors (dental plaque, gingival condition and dental caries) in 15 years old male students in Karbala city in Iraq. Additionally, we studied adolescents’ concern with their own breath and whether anyone had ever told them that they had halitosis. Methods׃ A cross sectional observational survey was conducted to15 years old high school students from public and private schools in the city of Karbala, Iraq. The random sample consisted of 400 adolescents from 44 schools. An interview with a structured questionnaire was administered along with measurement of oral parameters (PI, GI, DMF). Results׃ The prevalence of self-reported halitosis was 48.50% according to question one. Prevalence of halitosis according to total score of questionnaire was 86.5%. 13.5% reported that they didn’t have halitosis. It is concluded that there is high prevalence of self-reported halitosis, which is associated with a socioeconomic pattern. Most adolescents report concern with their own breath. Dental plaque and gingival status are associated significantly with self-reported halitosis. The high prevalence of self-reported halitosis according to questionnaire among the students may be due to the consumption of garlic or spicy food, in addition dental plaque, gingivitis and dental caries cause increase in volatile silver compound level which cause increase in halitosis. Conclusion׃ Self-reported halitosis is a prevalent situation in about 50% of adolescents in Karbala city. Patients’ self-reported halitosis is found to be associated with dental plaque, gingivitis and dental caries.
Fiber Bragg Grating has many advantages where it can be used as a temperature sensor, pressure sensor or even as a refractive index sensor. Designing each of this fiber Bragg grating sensors should include some requirements. Fiber Bragg grating refractive index sensor is a very important application. In order to increase the sensing ability of fiber Bragg gratings, many methods were followed. In our proposed work, the fiber Bragg grating was written in a D-shaped optical fiber by using a phase mask method with KrFexcimer. The resultant fiber Bragg grating has a high reflectivity 99.99% with a Bragg wavelength of 1551.2 nm as a best result obtained from a phase mask with a grating period of 1057 nm. In this work it was found that the rota
... Show MoreThe use of Near-Surface Mounted (NSM) Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strips is an efficient technology for increasing flexural and shear strength or for repairing damaged Reinforced Concrete (RC) members. This strengthening method is a promising technology. However, the thin layer of concrete covering the NSM-CFRP strips is not adequate to resist heat effect when directly exposed to a fire or at a high temperature. There is clear evidence that the strength and stiffness of CFRPs severely deteriorate at high temperatures. Therefore, in terms of fire resistance, the NSM technique has a significant defect. Thus, it is very important to develop a set of efficient fire protection systems to overcome these disadvantages. This pape
... Show MoreThis study was done to find a cheap, available and ecofriendly materials that can remove eosin y dye from aqueous solutions by adsorption in this study, two adsorbent materials were used, the shells of fresh water clam (Cabicula fluminea) and walnut shells. To make a comparison between the two adsorbents, five experiments were conducted. First, the effects of the contact time, here the nut shell removed the dye quickly, while the C. flumina need more contact time to remove the dye. Second, the effects of adsorbent weight were examined. The nut shell was very promising and for all used adsorbent weight, the R% ranged from 94.87 to 99.29. However C. fluminea was less effective in removing the dye with R% ranged from 47.59 to 55.39. The thi
... Show MoreThe present research was conducted to reduce the sulfur content of Iraqi heavy naphtha by adsorption using different metals oxides over Y-Zeolite. The Y-Zeolite was synthesized by a sol-gel technique. The average size of zeolite was 92.39 nm, surface area 558 m2/g, and pore volume 0.231 cm3/g. The metals of nickel, zinc, and copper were dispersed by an impregnation method to prepare Ni/HY, Zn/HY, Cu/HY, and Ni + Zn /HY catalysts for desulfurization. The adsorptive desulfurization was carried out in a batch mode at different operating conditions such as mixing time (10,15,30,60, and 600 min) and catalyst dosage (0.2,0.4,0.6,0.8,1, and 1.2 g). The most of the sulfur compounds were removed at 10 min for all catalyst ty
... Show MoreA novel demountable shear connector for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents bolts from slipping within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes the typical construction tolerance issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly. Therefore, it can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow including the following: (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (
... Show MoreThe temperature control process of electric heating furnace (EHF) systems is a quite difficult and changeable task owing to non-linearity, time delay, time-varying parameters, and the harsh environment of the furnace. In this paper, a robust temperature control scheme for an EHF system is developed using an adaptive active disturbance rejection control (AADRC) technique with a continuous sliding-mode based component. First, a comprehensive dynamic model is established by using convection laws, in which the EHF systems can be characterized as an uncertain second order system. Second, an adaptive extended state observer (AESO) is utilized to estimate the states of the EHF system and total disturbances, in which the observer gains are updated
... Show MoreThis work investigates experimentally the effect of using a skirt with a square foundation of 100 mm width resting on dry gypseous soil (i.e., loose soil with 33% relative density), and subjected to an inclined load. Previous works did not study the use square skirted foundation rested on gypseous soil and subjected to inclined load. The investigated soil was brought from Tikrit city with 59% gypsum content. Standard physical and chemical tests on selected soil were carried out. Model laboratory tests were carried out to determine the effect of using a skirt with a square foundation on the load-settlement behavior of gypseous soil and subjected to inclined load with various Skirt depth (Ds) to foundation width (B) ratio
... Show MoreIn this paper a comparison of the experimental of evacuated tube solar water heater systems with and without mirror flat reflector. The aim of using the reflector to improve thermal efficiency, and the data gathered which are (temperature, solar irradiation and time) for three days were compared. the results from compared data the temperature lower increase in evacuated tube solar water heater system without reflector than the temperature increase in evacuated tube solar water heater system with reflector .The results show (53, 39, 35) % for three days respectively that the evacuated tube solar water heater system with reflector has higher thermal efficiencies than the results (47, 28, 30) % for three days respectively thermal efficiencies
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