Chronic periodontitis (CP) is an inflammatory disease affecting tooth supporting structures in response to bacterial dental plaque causing irreversible tissue destruction. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an effective mediator in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. Polymorphisms in the COX-2 gene may contribute to its overexpression and increased disease susceptibility. To evaluate the association between -1195 A/G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the promotor area of the cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) gene and severity of chronic periodontitis in a sample of Iraqi population. -1195A/ G COX-2 SNP was investigated in 70 chronic periodontitis (CP) cases and 30 healthy controls. CP cases composed of 2 subgroups (35 moderate CP cases and 35 severe CP cases). Genotyping of -1195A/G SNP was performed using polymerase chain reaction-Restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Genotypes distributions were compared using Chi-square and their association with disease risk were assessed using odd ratios. Allele G carriers were significantly more prevalent in the CP cases compared to controls (P = 0.041) and the risk for CP was 1.6 times more in allele G carriers compared to non-carriers. Additional subgroup investigation revealed that there was a non-significant difference in genotype distribution and allele frequency of -1195A/G SNP between controls and moderate CP cases (P = 0.983), while there was a significantly higher frequency of allele G in severe CP cases compared to controls and moderate CP cases and the risk of having severe CP was 2.36 times higher in allele G carriers. Allele G of the COX2-1195 single nucleotide polymorphism may be a risk factor for severe chronic periodontitis.
This paper presents a study of the application of gas lift (GL) to improve oil production in a Middle East field. The field has been experiencing a rapid decline in production due to a drop in reservoir pressure. GL is a widely used artificial lift technique that can be used to increase oil production by reducing the hydrostatic pressure in the wellbore. The study used a full field model to simulate the effects of GL on production. The model was run under different production scenarios, including different water cut and reservoir pressure values. The results showed that GL can significantly increase oil production under all scenarios. The study also found that most wells in the field will soon be closed due to high water cuts. Howev
... Show MoreThe catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of phenol has been studied in a trickle bed reactor
using active carbon prepared from date stones as catalyst by ferric and zinc chloride activation (FAC and ZAC). The activated carbons were characterized by measuring their surface area and adsorption capacity besides conventional properties, and then checked for CWAO using a trickle bed reactor operating at different conditions (i.e. pH, gas flow rate, LHSV, temperature and oxygen partial pressure). The results showed that the active carbon (FAC and ZAC), without any active metal supported, gives the highest phenol conversion. The reaction network proposed account
... Show MoreHeavy oil is classified as unconventional oil resource because of its difficulty to recover in its natural state, difficulties in transport and difficulties in marketing it. Upgrading solution to the heavy oil has positive impact technically and economically specially when it will be a competitive with conventional oils from the marketing prospective. Developing Qaiyarah heavy oil field was neglected in the last five decades, the main reason was due to the low quality of the crude oil resulted in the high viscosity and density of the crude oil in the field which was and still a major challenge putting them on the major stream line of production in Iraq. The low quality of the crude properties led to lower oil prices in the global markets
... Show MoreThe instant global trend towards developing tight reservoir is great; however, development can be very challenging due to stress and geomechanical properties effect in horizontal well placement and hydraulic fracturing design. Many parameters are known to be important to determine the suitable layer for locating horizontal well such as petrophysical and geomechanical properties. In the present study, permeability sensitivity to stress is also considered in the best layer selection for well placement. The permeability sensitivity to the stress of the layers was investigated using measurements of 27 core sample at different confining stress values. 1-D mechanical earth model (MEM) was built and converted to a 3-D full-field geomechanical mode
... Show MoreIn this research the results of applying Artificial Neural Networks with modified activation function to
perform the online and offline identification of four Degrees of Freedom (4-DOF) Selective Compliance
Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA) manipulator robot will be described. The proposed model of
identification strategy consists of a feed-forward neural network with a modified activation function that
operates in parallel with the SCARA robot model. Feed-Forward Neural Networks (FFNN) which have
been trained online and offline have been used, without requiring any previous knowledge about the
system to be identified. The activation function that is used in the hidden layer in FFNN is a modified
version of the wavelet func
Globalization has occupied a great deal of studies, research and literature, in addition to being a phenomenon that has imposed itself firmly on the ground. Globalization is considered the main feature of the current moment in today's world. The world is now transforming in an unprecedented way under noticeable titles of successive waves of knowledge and technology.The current research aims to identify the effects of globalization on the variables and their political, social, media and cultural dimensions, as well as culture of consumption and cultural identity.The theoretical framework included two sections: the first is the concept of globalization, its history and its dimensions, and the second is the modernity in contemporary Europea
... Show MoreThe research seeks to identify the dimensions of creative thinking and its impact on the re-engineering of hotel service operations by analyzing the correlation and impact between research variables as well as comparing the research sample The importance of the research comes from the need to motivate managers the importance of creative thinking among workers in the researched hotels because it is an essential part in the re-engineering of hotel services. To achieve this a questionnaire was designed containing (33) items that include the independent research variables (creative thinking) and the accredited (re-engineering the hotel service) and distributed to a sample of (50) individuals represented by (Commissioner Director, Dep
... Show MoreVehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are considered an emerging technology in the industrial and educational fields. This technology is essential in the deployment of the intelligent transportation system, which is targeted to improve safety and efficiency of traffic. The implementation of VANETs can be effectively executed by transmitting data among vehicles with the use of multiple hops. However, the intrinsic characteristics of VANETs, such as its dynamic network topology and intermittent connectivity, limit data delivery. One particular challenge of this network is the possibility that the contributing node may only remain in the network for a limited time. Hence, to prevent data loss from that node, the information must reach the destina
... Show MoreBackground: Prolapsed intervertebral disc is an important and common cause of low backache. MRI has now become universally accepted investigation for prolapsed intervertebral disc. We, however, regularly come across situations, when MRI shows diffuse disc bulges, even at multiple levels, which cannot be correlated clinically and when such cases are operated, no significant disc prolapse is found resulting in negative exploration. Objective: To evaluate the role of M.R.I. finding not only for diagnosis of disc herniation at lumbar region but also for localization the level of herniation Methods: A prospective study on seventy five symptomatic low backache and MRI confirmed prolapsed intervertebral disc patients at lumbo-sacral region were op
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