The mean age of AS patients was (35.0 ± 9.8) years.When the patients and control subjects were divided into different age groups (>40, 30-40, <30 years), the differences were not significantin terms of disease prevalence. The results also showed that the percentage of male patients is higher than that of females. There was no significant difference (P?0.05) between patients and controls in the distribution of males and females.Most of the patients had the disease for a period of 5 years or higher, with a disease severity of ? 2.1 and functional disability degree of I, II. The resultsshoweddifferent patterns of distribution for the three tested cytokines. A significant increase in the level of TNF-?, anon-significantincrease i

Background: The scarce literature regarding oral hygiene attitude and periodontal awareness in Iraqi adults warranted the conduction of this study in order to provide a public profile and a baseline data for further researches. Aims of the study: assessing the oral hygiene attitude and periodontal awareness in a sample of Iraqi adults. Materials and Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 500 adults. Results: Out of the 500 questionnaires distributed, 482 were included in the study.92% of the sample practiced tooth brushing, 69% out of them reported a daily brushing pattern with variable frequency,69% of the sample did not receive oral hygiene education from any source ,more than half of the sample 60 % used the hori

Background: Opportunistic viral infections make an important threat to renal transplantation recipients (RTRs), and with the use of more intense newly-developed immunosuppressive drugs; the risk of renal allograft loss due to reactivation of these viruses has increased considerably. At the top priority of these viruses lie BK polyomavirus (BKV) and human cytomegalovirus (CMV). Reactivation of these viruses in these chronically immunosuppressed RTRs can lead to renal impairment and subsequently allograft loss, unless early detected and properly treated. Objectives: The study aimed to detect and quantify plasma viral load of BKV and CMV in RTRs using quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR), in order to study the prevalence of these two viruses i

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has variety of virulence factors that contribute to its pathogenicity. Therefore, rapid detection with high accuracy and specificity is very important in the control of this pathogenic bacterium. To evaluate the accuracy and specificity of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay, ETA and gyrB genes were targeted to detect pathogenic strains of P. aeruginosa. Seventy swab samples were taken from patients with infected wounds and burns in two hospitals in Erbil and Koya cities in Iraq. The isolates were traditionally identified using phenotypic methods, and DNA was extracted from the positive samples, to apply PCR using the species specific primers targeting ETA, the gene encoding for exotoxin A, and gyrB gene. The res

A new method for determination of allopurinol in microgram level depending on its ability to reduce the yellow absorption spectrum of (I-3) at maximum wavelength ( ?max 350nm) . The optimum conditions such as "concentration of reactant materials , time of sitting and order of addition were studied to get a high sensitivity ( ? = 27229 l.mole-1.cm-1) sandal sensitivity : 0.0053 µg cm-2 ,with wide range of calibration curve ( 1 – 9 µg.ml-1 ) good stability (more then24 hr.) and repeatability ( RSD % : 2.1 -2.6 % ) , the Recovery % : ( 98.17 – 100.5 % ) , the Erel % ( 0.50 -1.83 % ) and the interference's of Xanthine , Cystein , Creatinine , Urea and the Glucose in 20 , 40 , 60 fold of analyate were also studied .

Background: Biologically active substances, such as Cathepsin B (CAB) which is a lysosomalcystein protease may be involved in periodontal metabolism in the degradation of organic bone matrix containing collagen fibers in response to mechanical stress from orthodontic appliance. The aims of study were to determine and compare salivary levels of CAB, pH as well as clinical periodontal parameters (Plaque index PLI and gingival index GI) with different orthodontic force magnitudes at different time intervals. Materials and methods: A twenty-four patients (both gender) with age range (17-23) years had Angle's Class II division 1 malocclusion with GI >0.5 enrolled in this study. The level of salivary CAB and pH, in addition to the clinical period

Strategic Cost Management Tools Under Technological Development and Change in Customer Tastes Critical Studies