Twenty five vaginal swabs from outpatients' healthy women were collected from Kamal Al-Samarai Hospital, Baghdad, to isolate and identify of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Three isolates were diagnosed as L. acidophilus which represents 15% of the total number of lactic acid bacterial (LAB) isolates; other LAB types represent 65% (20 isolates).The ability of L. acidophilus to produce surlactin was detected after measuring its biological activity to inhibit the adhesion of biofilm formed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa to surfaces using test tube method. It was found that all isolates were able to produce surlactin but the activity of surlactin was varying in each isolate. Surlactin produced by isolates 1 and 13 was the most effective. Biological appl

Straight tendons in pretensioned members can cause high-tensile stresses in the concrete extreme fibers at end sections because of the absence of the bending stresses due to self-weight and superimposed loads and the dominance of the moment due to prestressing force alone. Accordingly, the concrete tensile stresses at the ends of a member prestressed with straight tendons may limit the service load capacity of the member. It is therefore important to establish limiting zone in the concrete section within which the prestressing force can be applied without causing tension in the extreme concrete fibers. Two practical methods are available to reduce the stresses at the end sections due to the prestressing force. The first method based

Achieving high achievement in the sport of fencing requires thinking, awareness and visual tracking, as visual tracking is one of the important visual abilities that a fencing player needs and is considered one of the special visual abilities as it contributes and helps in the correct motor, mental and mental performance and gives the fencing the ability to perfect and accomplished performance in training and competition. Where the research problem lies in the weak skill performance of the fencing players as a result of the weakness in possessing visual and mental abilities. The two researchers used the experimental method in a controlled manner (experimental and control groups) with a pre and post-test. The research community was identifie

Background: Psoriasis is a common inflammatory condition worldwide, with an average prevalence ranging from 2% to 3%. However, the incidence of psoriasis varies among different ethnic groups and regions. Elevated leptin levels have been associated with increased cellular proliferation, including T-cells. Additionally, high leptin levels may stimulate the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines such as ILـ6 and TNFـα. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of Apremilast on Leptin in obese psoriatic patients. Subjects and Methods: Thirty patients with psoriasis were included in This prospective cohort study to measure the levels of serum Leptin by using the ELISA technique, before and after receiving Apremilast. Result: The present work

Helicobacter pylori (HP) is the etiopathogenic agent of gastric and duodenal disorders ranging from gastritis to malignancy. It is also associated with many extraintestinal diseases, including cardiovascular disease and its associated risk factors. To evaluate the link between HP infection and some cardiovascular risk factors by studying the effects of HP infection on body mass index, blood pressure, and serum lipid profile among patients having gastritis with and without HP infection. A crosssectional study included 1214 patients who had gastritis diagnosed by gastroscopy examination. Those patients were in the age range of 30-65 years and they were divided according to their gender into 725 females and 489 males depending on the 1

Reciprocal Teaching is an interactive method that is used to improve reading comprehension. Using this teaching strategy, teachers and students take turns leading discussions regarding sections of text using the four strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying and summarizing. This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of using reciprocal teaching on improving female college students' achievement in reading comprehension. To fulfill the aim of the study, the researcher has adopted two null hypotheses: first, there is no significant difference between the achievement of students' who practice the reciprocal teaching technique and that of students who do not practice it. Second, there is no statistically significant difference

Background: This study aimed to assess the effect of tooth shape ratio on mandibular incisor arrangement. Materials and methods: The sample included dental casts of some dental students and orthodontic patients having Class I dental and skeletal patterns with normal occlusion and severe crowding. The sample was divided into two groups according to the severity of crowding into: group I had Class I normal occlusion with mild or no crowded mandibular dentition and group II had Class I malocclusion with severe crowded mandibular dentition. Each group comprising of 40 subjects (20 males and 20 females). The mesio-distal and facio-lingual crown diameters were measured manually for each cast using modified vernier caliper gauge. Descriptive sta

Background: The displacement of artificial teeth during complete denture construction presents major processing errors in the occlusal vertical dimension which were verified at the previous trial denture stage. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of delay in processing after final flask closure and tension application on the vertical acrylic and porcelain teeth displacement of complete dentures constructed from heat cured acrylic and the results were compared with the conventional processing method. Materials and methods: forty samples of identical maxillary complete dentures were constructed from heat polymerized acrylic resin. These samples were subdivided into the following experimental subgroups in which each subgroup contai