Traditional nursing interventions for children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) often lack active engagement and show limited improvement in motor function. Play interventions involving manipulative activities may better support motor skill development. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of structured play-based nursing interventions on hand motor skills in children with cerebral palsy. Methods: A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design with a control group was used. The study was conducted at the Paediatric Welfare Hospital in Baghdad from November 25, 2024, to February 13, 2025. A non-probability sample of 79 children was identified based on the study criteria; of these, 64 children met the eligibility criteria and agreed to participate. While all children continued routine care, only intervention groups received play-based therapy using clay, beads, and sand. The Box and Block Test (BBT) was used to assess hand function before and after the intervention. Data were analysed using SPSS (version 0.27) with descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The intervention groups demonstrated significant improvements in hand function compared to the control group (ANOVA: F = 8.11, p = 0.001, η² = 0.29), reflecting a medium-to-large effect size. Analysis across time points showed that at post-test 1, the effect size was medium (η² = 0.17), whereas at post-test 2, it increased to medium-to-large (η² = 0.29). Post-hoc comparisons indicated that the clay intervention produced the largest gains in Box and Block Test scores (Cohen’s d = 0.65, medium effect), while sand therapy resulted in moderate improvements and bead therapy showed smaller gains. Overall, the percentage improvement in hand function ranged from 18% to 27% across intervention groups. Conclusion: Nursing interventions incorporating play activities are effective in improving hand function in children with cerebral palsy. These methods are child-friendly, supporting the development of motor skills and promoting greater independence. However, no follow-up assessments were conducted to evaluate the long-term sustainability of improvements. Future studies should include follow-up evaluations to confirm lasting benefits.
In this study, the antimicrobial properties of newly synthesized Schiff bases (4a-4e) and thiazolidinone compounds (5a-5e) generated from 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid were assessed. These compounds were obtained by reacting 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (1) with ethanol in a few drops of concentrated H2SO4 to produce the ester (2). The acid hydrazide (3), which was produced by treating the ester with hydrazine hydrate, reacted with the proper aldehydes, including 4-bromobenzaldehyde, 4-chlorobenzaldehyde, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, respectively, to form Schiff bases (4a-4e). The thiazolidinone compounds (5a-5e) were produced by the cyclocondensation reaction of compounds (4a-4e) with thio
... Show MoreApple slice grading is useful in post-harvest operations for sorting, grading, packaging, labeling, processing, storage, transportation, and meeting market demand and consumer preferences. Proper grading of apple slices can help ensure the quality, safety, and marketability of the final products, contributing to the post-harvest operations of the overall success of the apple industry. The article aims to create a convolutional neural network (CNN) model to classify images of apple slices after immersing them in atmospheric plasma at two different pressures (1 and 5 atm) and two different immersion times (3 and again 6 min) once and in filtered water based on the hardness of the slices usin
Sorghum cultivation is often accompanied by low field emergence rates and weak seedlings, which may be due to genetic or environmental stress. A factorial experiment was conducted in the spring and fall seasons of 2022 using a randomized complete block design with split-plot arrangement and four replications. Planting dates (spring season: Feb. 15th, Mar. 1st, 15th, and Apr. 1st, 15th; fall season: Jun. 15th, Jul. 1st, 15th, and Aug. 1st, 15th) were allocated to the main plots. Seeds stimulation treatments (35% banana peel extract + 100 mg L-1 citric acid and distilled water soaking treatment only) were allocated to the subplots. The interaction treatment (banana peel extract + citric acid) with the planting date of April 15 showed the high
... Show MoreThe selection of proper field survey parameters of electrical resistivity can significantly provide efficient results within a reasonable time and cost. Four electrode arrays of 2D Electric Resistivity Imaging (ERI) surveys were applied to characterize and detect subsurface archaeological bodies and to determine the appropriate array type that should be applied in the field survey. This research is to identify the subsurface features of the Borsippa archaeological site, Babylon Governorate, Middle Iraq. Synthetic modeling studies were conducted to determine the proper array and parameters for imaging the shallow subsurface features or targets. The efficiency of many array types has been tested for the detection the buried archaeolog
... Show MoreThe doping process with materials related to carbon has become a newly emerged approach for achieving an improvement in different physical properties for the obtained doped films. Thin films of CuPc: C60 with doping ratio of (100:1) were spin-coated onto pre-cleaned glass substrates at room temperature. The prepared films were annealed at different temperatures of (373, 423 and 473) K. The structural studies, using a specific diffractometry of annealed and as deposited samples showed a polymorphism structure and dominated by CuPc with preferential orientation of the plane (100) of (2θ = 7) except at temperature of 423K which indicated a small peak around (2θ = 3
A phytoremediation experiment was carried out with kerosene as a model for total petroleum hydrocarbons. A constructed wetland of barley was exposed to kerosene pollutants at varying concentrations (1, 2, and 3% v/v) in a subsurface flow (SSF) system. After a period of 42 days of exposure, it was found that the average ability to eliminate kerosene ranged from 56.5% to 61.2%, with the highest removal obtained at a kerosene concentration of 1% v/v. The analysis of kerosene at varying initial concentrations allowed the kinetics of kerosene to be fitted with the Grau model, which was closer than that with the zero order, first order, or second order kinetic models. The experimental study showed that the barley plant designed in a subsu
... Show MoreThe current research aims to investigate the skills of the intended meaning beyond the context when reading poetry among fifth literary students. To achieve the aim of the research, the researcher has followed the descriptive approach and used two tools: an open questionnaire that includes an inquiry about the skills of the intended meaning beyond the poetic context, and a closed questionnaire that were examined by the juries, and modified accordingly. Besides, its validity and stability were examined by applying the study on an exploratory sample of (15) teachers to reach its final version and determine the time required to answer it. Then, the researcher applied it on the research sample of (9
... Show MoreThe compound 2,2'-(((1H-benzo(d)imidazol-2-yl)methyl)azanediyl)bis(ethan-1-ol) was reacted with benzyl bromide to afford compound (1) which used as row material to prepare a series of compounds through condensation reaction, the starting compound were reacted with tosyl chloride to protect the OH group to afford compound 2, then reacted benzyl bromide to produce compound (2), then the compound (2) treated with three compounds ( 2-mercaptobenzthiazole, 2-mercaptobenimidazol and 2-chloromethyl benzimidazole) to form compounds 3a,b, 4a,b and 5a,b respectively. In the another step the click reaction of compound 2,2'-(((1H-benzo(d)imidazol-2-yl)methyl)azanediyl)bis(ethan-1-ol) with Propargyl bromide produce compound 6 which reacted
... Show More