Haruki Murakami (1949-present) is a contemporary Japanese writer whose works have been translated into fifty languages and won him plenty of Japanese and international awards. His short stories are well constructed in a weird realistic manner and are mixed with elements of surrealism. His novels and short stories fall under the genre of magical realism. One of the major revolving themes that Murakami wrote about was the haunting feeling of emptiness and disconnectedness in a world which seems to care much for materialism and self-interests.

    The paper explores two of Murakami’s short stories in his book After the Quake (2000) and the relevance of their themes and characters to Iraq after the q

Background: To evaluate the ISO depth of cure of bulkfill composites and depth of cure which determined by Vickers microhardness test. Materials and Methods: Bulkfill resin composite specimens (n=150) were prepared of three bulkfill composite materials (TetricEvo Ceram, Quixfil and SDR) and light cured by Flash max p3 for 3, 10, 20 seconds and by wood pecker for 10, 20 seconds respectively, a mold was filled with one of the three bulkfill composites and light cured. The specimens removed from the mold and scraped by plastic spatula and the remaining length (absolute length) was measured which represent the ISO depth of cure. After that the specimens were returned into the mold and a microhardness indentation device applied on the specimen

Background: The microhardness of a composite resin is a vital parameter that is used to determine its clinical behavior. Measuring the microhardness of a composite resin has been used as an indirect method to assess its degree of conversion and extent of polymerization. The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of three curing distances (0, 2, and 4 mm) on the microhardness of the top and bottom surfaces of three types of flowable bulk-fill composite resins (smart dentin replacement, Opus bulk fill flow, and Tetric N). Material and method: Sixty-three specimens from the three types of composite resins (n=21) were fabricated using Teflon mold with a 4mm depth and a 5 mm internal diameter and cured for 20 seconds. For e

 In this work polymeric composites were done from unsaturated polyester as a matrix reinforced with glass fiber type (E-glass) with two different volume fraction 20% & 40%. Fatigue tests showed that the number of fatigue cycles to failure limit for samples reinforced with uniform (woven Roving 0-90°) E-glass fiber and random (continuous fibers) with volume fraction 40% more than that for the same samples with volume fraction 20%. Also the fatigue results showed that the uniform samples failed with fatigue cycles more than that of random.

Composite materials are widely used in the engineered assets as aerospace structures, marine and air navigation owing to their high strength/weight ratios. Detection and identification of damage in the composite structures are considered as an important part of monitoring and repairing of structural systems during the service to avoid instantaneous failure. Effective cost and reliability are essential during the process of detecting. The Lamb wave method is an effective and sensitive technique to tiny damage and can be applied for structural health monitoring using low energy sensors; it can provide good information about the condition of the structure during its operation by analyzing the propagation of the wave in the

The exercise of activities and sports are of great importance to public health and to maintain the ideal health weight as well as the psychological and mental comfort of humans. The aim of this study is to determine the contribution and participation of educated females in physical activities at the University of Baghdad hall for the years 2011-2016, and to show the factors that influence women's contribution to physical activities at the university by selecting 100 students of males and 100 females' students randomly. During the questioning questions and statistical analysis of the questioning to find out the reasons for the discouraging contribution of the women to the various physical activities and try to find solutions and r

Background: Irrigation has a central role in endodontic treatment. Several irrigating solutions have the antimicrobial activity and actively kill bacteria and yeasts when introduced in direct contact with the microorganisms. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effectiveness of Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) root and leaf extracts as possible irrigant solutions, used during endodontic treatments, and both were compared to Sodium hypochlorite, Propolis and Ethyl alcohol. Materials and Method: Forty seven human extracted single rooted teeth were selected. The teeth were decoronated using a diamond disk to have a length of 15 mm ±1 mm and they were instrumented using the hybrid technique. All roots were sterilized

Background: Eucalyptus extracts and derivatives are natural substances with potent antimicrobial properties. This study investigated the in- vitro effects of non-nutritive sweeteners on the antifungal activity of alcoholic and aqueous Eucalyptus extracts against Candida albicans, a common oral pathogen. Materials and Method: Ten isolates of Candida albicans were isolated from dental students’ salivary samples. The alcoholic and aqueous extracts were prepared from fresh Eucalyptus leaves using maceration. The sensitivity of Candida albicans isolates to various concentrations of Eucalyptus extracts ranging from 50 to 250 (mg/mL) was evaluated via agar well diffusion method, while the agar streaking method  was used to assess the minimum