This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on emergencies and pain among orthodontic patients attending a teaching hospital. The study was conducted among orthodontic patients receiving active orthodontic treatment or in a retention period at the College of Dentistry, University of Baghdad, Iraq. Their participation was voluntary, and they filled out an Arabic-translated questionnaire. The survey included general information, orthodontic problems, and a numerical rating scale for pain assessment. We used descriptive and inferential statistics (frequencies and intersecting frequencies), chi-square test and linear regression. Out of 75 orthodontic patients, only 54 (15 males and 39 females) were included in the s

Background: Treatment of malocclusions using removable orthodontic appliances may prepare new stagnant areas susceptible for colonization and retention of Candida species, therefore; the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of upper removable orthodontic appliances on the mucosal Candidal count in group of apparently healthy orthodontic patients. Materials and Methods: Patients enrolled in this study were children aged 8-12 years having upper removable orthodontic appliances. Candidal counts at six mucosal sites were estimated using Imprint Culture method before, 14 and 28 days during orthodontic therapy. Results: Whole mouth and individual mucosal sites for Candidal counts increase significantly during treatment with upper remov

Background: Neudesin is a peptide secreted in brain and adipose tissues that has neural and metabolic functions. Its role as regulator of energy expenditure leads to assumption that its level may be regulated depending on thyroid gland pathology. Objective: This study aimed to investigate serum neudesin levels in patients with thyroidism and to evaluate1 any possible relationship between plasma neudesin levels and thyroid hormone levels. Methods: The study included 100 women with newly diagnosed thyroidisim were subdivided into two groups: hyperthyroidism group (50 female patients with age ranged from 18 to 60 years) and hypothyroidism group (50 female patients with age ranged from 18 to 75 years). A control group (30 healthy females with a

This paper studies the behavior of reinforced Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) two-way slabs under static and repeated load. The experimental program included testing six simply supported RPC two-way slabs of 1000 mm length, 1000 mm width, and 70 mm thickness. All the tested specimens were identical in their material properties, and reinforcement details except their steel fibers content. They were cast in three pairs, each one had a different steel fibers ratio (0.5 %, 1 %, and 1.5 %) respectively. In each pair, one specimen was tested under static load and the other under five cycles of repeated load (loading-unloading). Static test results revealed that increasing steel fibres volume fraction from 0.5 % to 1 % and from 1% to 1.5%,

Non thermal argon plasma needle at atmospheric pressure was constructed. The experimental set up was based on simple and low cost electric components that generate electrical field sufficiently high at the electrodes to ionize various gases which flow at atmospheric pressure. A high AC power supply was used with 9.6kV peak to peak and 33kHz frequency. The plasma was generated using two electrodes. The voltage and current discharge waveform were measured. The temperature of Ar gas plasma jet at different gas flow rate and distances from the plasma electrode was also recorded. It was found that the temperature increased with increasing frequency to reach the maximum value at 15 kHz, and that the current leading the voltage, which demonstra

This paper presents stochastic analysis using the perturbation method to model the structure of a container to verify the distributions of probability of maximum and minimum axial forces reactions in piles. The proposed simulation of a container port terminal under 11 scenarios of load combinations was presented. The probability distributions for live loads are assigned according to the input parameters of simulation data. Part of the load itself is implicitly combined such as vertical live load which includes the weight of equipment and containers and wind load. The structural model was simulated in the software STAAD Pro., while the statistical analyses were performed with MATLAB. The results demonstrated that, the most significant extern

Abstract: The premise of the study is that populism is a process of building political views and critical intellectual orientations among the general public. It is transformed into mass beliefs by mobilizing the society ideologically and continuously in order to reach or control the circle of authority. We distributed the study topics to four sections: In the second, we will discuss the contents of contemporary populism and how other forms of populism evolved historically. The third is to discuss the political discourse of populism among the military regimes and the comparative Islamic parties in the Middle East, especially in terms of the essence and the intellectual foundations. The fourth section seeks to examine the characteristics o