Background: The desire for an attractive appearing fixed orthodontic appliance fueled the use of ceramic brackets and clear accessories. Elastics are one of the most versatile materials available to orthodontists so studying their effect on the esthetic appearance is important. This an in vivo study, conducted to evaluate the effect of exposing stretched clear elastomeric ligatures to the oral environment from four different companies (OrthoTechnology, Morelli, Ortho Organizer, and Ormco). Materials and Methods: A total of 240 elastomeric modules were examined, 60 modules from each brand. Each of the 60 patients enrolled in the study, received 4 elastomeric modules on the 4 lower incisors, one from each brand. The specimens were placed on t

Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical abdominal emergency. Its clinical diagnosis remains a challenge to surgeons, so different imaging options were introduced to improve diagnostic accuracy. Among these imaging modality choices, diagnostic medical sonography (DMS) is a simple, easily available, and cost effective clinical tool. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of DMS, in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis compared to the histopathology report, as a gold standard. Between May 2015 and May 2016, 215 patients with suspected appendicitis were examined with DMS. The DMS findings were recorded as positive and negative for acute appendicitis and compared with the histopathological results, as a gold standard

The study aims to use the European Excellence Model (EFQM) in assessing the institutional performance of the National Center for Administrative Development and Information Technology in order to determine the gap between the actual reality of the performance of the Center and the standards adopted in the model, in order to know the extent to which the Center seeks to achieve excellence in performance to improve the level of services provided and the adoption of methods Modern and contemporary management in the evaluation of its institutional performance.

The problem of the study was the absence of an institutional performance evaluation system at the centre whereby weaknesses (areas of improvement) and st

Abstract                                                                  

The aim of the research is to demonstrate the role of uncertainty in adopting the general requirements for the strategic environmental assessment of service departments in Babil Governorate and the Environment Department. By focusing on a range of environmental problems, despite the efforts exerted to deal with the environme

Stroke is the second largest cause of death worldwide and one of the most common causes of disability. However, several approaches have been proposed to deal with stroke patient rehabilitation like robotic devices and virtual reality systems, researchers have found that the brain-computer interfaces (BCI) approaches can provide better results. In this study, the electroencephalography (EEG) dataset from post-stroke patients were investigated to identify the effects of the motor imagery (MI)-based BCI therapy by investigating sensorimotor areas using frequency and time-domain features and to select particular methods that help in enhancing the MI-based BCI systems for stroke patients using EEG signal processing. Therefore, to detect

Significant risks to human health are posed by the 2019 coronavirus illness (COVID-19). SARS coronavirus type 2 receptor, also known as the major enzyme in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2), connects COVID-19 and RAS. This study was conducted with the intention of determining whether or not RAS gene polymorphisms and ACE-2 (G8790A) play a part in the process of predicting susceptibility to infection with COVID-19. In this study 127 participants, 67 of whom were deemed by a physician to be in a severe state of illness, and 60 of whom were categorized as "healthy controls" .The genetic study included an extraction of genomic DNA from blood samples of each covid 19 patients and healthy control

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects mainly the synovial membranes and articular structures and is characterized by chronic, systemic inflammation involving multiple joints.Being a synovial joint, the Temporomandibular Joint is subject to the same disorders affecting other synovial joints, including RA.Beside it was considered as a specific serological marker for diagnosing RA disease ,antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptide have proven to be associated with joints destruction, though; it may play a potential role in the prediction of the disease severity. Materials and Methods: Sixty nine individuals (69) were enrolled in this study, forty nine (49) were patients diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, a

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune diseasecharacterized by chronic inflammationthat affects joints and cartilage. Bone complications such asRA-relatedosteoporosis are one of the most extra-articular manifestations. Many inflammatory mediators are released during RA disease pathophysiology; these mediators stimulate osteoclast genesis of bone by direct effects on RANKL and OPG. The study aimedto measure RANKL, OPG in RA patients treated with Etanercept only and other groups treated with Methotrexate onlyat baseline and after three months to evaluate bone state. An observational case-control prospective study was done on 30 RA patients who received MTX, 30 RA patients who received ETN, and 30 healthy,age-matched control groups. The