Background: Cleaning and shaping of root canals successfully requires high volumes of irrigation solutions that can only be applied to the apical third of root canal after enlargement with instrument, so the aim of this study was to evaluate and to compare the efficiency of Maxi-I-probe (side-vented needle), in the amount of root canal irrigant penetration for five different master apical file sizes (MAF) and four different degrees of coronal and middle thirds flaring. Materials and Methods: Two hundred resin blocks with simulated root canals were used in this study and divided into 5 major groups (40 for each) based on the size of master apical files (#20, #25, #30, #35, and #40). Each major group was subdivided into 4 subgroups depending

Background: Entamoeba histolytica is the causative agent of amoebic dysentery and hepatic abscesses. Despite the efficacy of metronidazole in alleviating infectious diseases, the global dissemination of drug-resistant parasites raises the possibility that Punica granatum could serve as an effective natural alternative treatment. Objective: To evaluate the effect of P. granatum methanolic and aqueous extracts of various parts against E. histolytica trophozoites in an in vitro setting. Methods: Various concentrations (0.14, 0.7, 1.4, and 2.8 mg/ml) of P. granatum extracts of the flowers, leafs, peels, and seeds were chosen for this purpose. A culture medium containing 0.05x106/ml E. histolytica trophozoites was treated with different

Background: Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is a prototypical resistant bacterium in root canal infections and a leading cause of endodontic treatment failure. German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) flower extract has been used as a traditional medicine to treat infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial efficacy of chamomile extract on the removal of E. faecalis root canal biofilm. Materials and Methods: Chamomile flower extract was prepared and subjected to detailed chemical analysis. For the in vitro biofilm model, human mandibular premolars (n=48) with 18-20mm working length were used. Root canal preparation was performed using the ProTaper® Next system. Each sample was split longitudinally and reassem

Background: Studies discussing the correlation between biochemical markers of bone turnover and the diagnosis of osteoporosis in postmenopausal Iraqi women are rare. This study is devoted to find out the significance of serum osteocalcin (OC) and osteopontin (OPN) levels with the incidence of osteoporosis and its major complication (fracture).Objectives: to investigate the significance of bone turnover biochemical markers; serum osteocalcin and serum osteopontin in evaluating osteoporosis for postmenopausal Iraqi women with and without history of vertebral fracture, as well as to explore the relationship of these markers with bone mineral density (BMD).Methods: Fifty seven postmenopausal women whose ages are fifty years old and over, cat

Numerical study is adapted to combine between piezoelectric fan as a turbulent air flow generator and perforated finned heat sinks. A single piezoelectric fan with different tip amplitudes placed eccentrically at the duct entrance. The problem of solid and perforated finned heat sinks is solved and analyzed numerically by using Ansys 17.2 fluent, and solving three dimensional energy and Navier–Stokes equations that set with RNG based k−ε scalable wall function turbulent model. Finite volume algorithm is used to solve both phases of solid and fluid. Calculations are done for three values of piezoelectric fan amplitudes 25 mm, 30 mm, and 40 mm, respectively. Results of this numerical study are compared with previous b

Biaxial hollow slab is a reinforced concrete slab system with a grid of internal spherical voids included to reduce the self-weight. This paper presents an experimental study of behavior of one-way prestressed concrete bubbled slabs. Twelve full-scale one-way concrete slabs of (3000mm) length with rectangular cross-sectional area of (460mm) width and (150mm) depth. Different parameters like type of specimen (solid or bubbled slabs), type of reinforcement (normal or prestress), range of PPR and diameter of plastic spheres (100 or 120mm) are considered. Due to the using of prestressing force in bubbled slabs (with ratio of plastic sphere diameter D to slab thickness H, D/H=0.67), the specimens showed an increase in ultimat

Combination therapy with a dipeptidyl peptidase–4 inhibitor and metformin or metformin+ glibenclamide results in substantial and additive glucose- lowering effects in Iraqis patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus . This study evaluated the glycemic control by using two groups of  combinations of drugs metformin + glibenclamide and metformin + sitagliptin in Baghdad teaching hospital / medical city. 68 T2DM patients and 34 normal healthy individuals as control group were enrolled in this study and categorized in to two treatment groups. The group 1 (34 patients ) received ( metformin 500 mg three times daily + glibenclamide 5 mg twice daily ) and the group 2 (34 patients) received (metformin 500 mg three times daily + sitaglip

 5-Fluorouracil is one of the commonly used chemotherapy drugs in anticancer therapy; unfortunately treatment with 5-FU by solely has many drawbacks  low lipophilicity, low permeability, low molecular weight, and its relatively poor plasma protein binding; also a brief half-life therefore frequent administration is required to maintain the optimal therapeutic plasma level which in addition to its poor selectivity, drug resistance and limited penetration to cancer cells; leads to increased incidence of side-effects to healthy cells/tissues and low response rates. In order to minimize these drawbacks; 5-FU was chemically  conjugated with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) in a mutual prodrug moiety (S-(9H-purin-6-yl) 3-(