The study targets exploring the similarities and differences between Iraqi and Malaysian learners of English in refusing marriage proposals. Also, it examines the favored politeness strategies that learners use to protect their interlocutors’ face, heeding both their social distance and status. Data were gathered by a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) which contained six marriage situations. Responses were analyzed based on Beebe et al.’s (1990) refusal taxonomy and Scollon et al.’s (2012) politeness system. The findings indicated that both the Iraqi and Malaysian learners preferred the indirect refusal strategies in marriage proposals, as well as the hierarchical politeness in the form of independence strategies regardless of t

Shear lag is the phenomenon that occurs when a supported slender member undergoes deformation from lateral loading, causing in-plane non-uniform distribution of stresses that results in reducing the member’s minimum strength capacity. This paper investigates the behaviour of shear distribution in steel I-section and box girders when subjected to both static and impact loadings. Three-dimensional finite element analysis models were prepared in Strand7 and validated against experimental results providing a basis for further comparison research into shear lagging effects. A parametric study was conducted comparing the effects of impact loading through certain specified velocities at the midspan of restrained ends. It provided new ins

Purpose: Despite the high clinical accuracy of dynamic navigation, inherent sources of error exist. The purpose of this study was to improve the accuracy of dynamic navigated surgical procedures in the edentulous maxilla by identifying the optimal configuration of intra-oral points that results in the lowest possible registration error for direct clinical implementation. Materials and methods: Six different 4-area configurations were tested by 3 operators against positive and negative controls (8-areas and 3-areas, respectively) using a skull model. The two dynamic navigation systems (X-Guide® and NaviDent®) and the two registration methods (bone surface tracing and fiducial markers) produced four registration groups. The accuracy of the

Background. Alopecia areata (AA) is a common form of noncicatricial hair loss of unknown cause, affecting 0.1-0.2% of the general population. Most evidence supports the hypothesis that it is disease of the hair follicle of autoimmune nature mediated by T-cells, with important cytokine role. Objective of the Study. The objective of this study is to study the association and changes in serum levels of interleukin-15 (IL-15) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in patients with AA in relation to the type, activity, and disease duration. Patients and Methods. Thirty-eight patients with AA and 22 individuals without the disease as controls were enrolled in this case-controlled study conducted in the Department of Dermatology in the Al-K

Background: Medical-surgical nurses are responsible of providing competent care to clients with a wide-array of acute and chronic health problems. This challenging task requires arming nurses with advanced competencies of health literacy to effectively educate their clients. However, evidence about medical-surgical nurse’s health literacy-related knowledge and experience is limited.  Purposes: This study aimed to determine the level of the health literacy-related knowledge and experience among medical-surgical nurses.Design: A descriptive-cross-sectional study was conducted among a total sample of 177 nurses who were practicing in medical-surgical wards in teaching hospitals in Iraq. A convenience sampling method was used to sele

Background: Oocytes are susceptible to alterations in the various fatty acid contents of follicular fluid (FF), which may influence maturation and embryogenesis. Different fatty acids exert various effects on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which needs further studies to uncover the involved mechanisms. Objectives: To assess FF fatty acids in women undergoing ICSI and to correlate them with ICSI parameters, namely the total count of aspirated oocytes, oocyte maturation rate, fertilization rate and percentage of good-quality embryos. Methods: Fifty women undergoing ICSI were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. FF samples were collected during oocyte retrieval and were analyzed for fatty acids using gas chromatography. Fa