Background: Osteoporosis is an extra-articular complication of rheumatoid arthritis that results in increased risk of fractures and associated morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Objective: To evaluate changes in bone mineral density in a sample of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients on biological (anti tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha) and non-biological agent disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Patients and Methods: A cross sectional study enrolled 60 RA patients diagnosed by rheumatologist according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (2010 ACR/EULAR) classification criteria for RA. Thirty patient on biological agent (anti TNF alpha) and 30 patient on non-biological agent (DMARD). RA disease-related data wincluded disease duration, disease activity score index of 28 joints (DAS 28) and clinical disease activity index (CDAI), functional class, body mass index and treatment history. vitamin D level were measured in both groups. Bone mineral density was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry of hip and lumber spines for patients. AT–score of equal or less than-2.5 standard deviation that of young healthy adults were taken as osteoporotic and scores between-1 to-2.5 standard deviation was taken as osteopenic. Results: Prevalence of RA patients on biological agent (anti TNF alpha) who had osteoporosis was 1 (3%) and 12 (40%) were osteopenic, and in patients on non biological (DMARD), Osteoporosis was present in 8 (26%) and osteopenia in 13 (43%, p= 0.019). Vitamin D level in patient on biological agent (anti TNF alpha) was low in 24 (80%) and normal …
Smart cities have recently undergone a fundamental evolution that has greatly increased their potentials. In reality, recent advances in the Internet of Things (IoT) have created new opportunities by solving a number of critical issues that are allowing innovations for smart cities as well as the creation and computerization of cutting-edge services and applications for the many city partners. In order to further the development of smart cities toward compelling sharing and connection, this study will explore the information innovation in smart cities in light of the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing (CC). IoT data is first collected in the context of smart cities. The data that is gathered is uniform. The Internet of Things,
... Show MoreBackground: Spices and herbs have been used by many cultures to enhance the flavor and aroma of food and for their medicinal value. Black cardamom is one of these spices widely used in cooking because of its unique taste and powerful flavor. The aim of study was to test the effect of black cardamom on Mutans Streptococci in comparison to chlorhexidine gluconate (0.2%) and de-ionized water. Materials and methods: Dried fruits of black cardamom were extracted by using alcohol (70% ethanol). Saliva was collected from seven volunteers. Agar well technique with different concentrations of black cardamom extracts was used to test the sensitivities of Mutans Streptococci, as well black cardamom extracts effect on viable counts of Mutans Streptococ
... Show MoreBackground: Herbs are being widely explored to discover alternatives to synthetic antibacterial agents.Small Cardamom often referred to as queen of spices because of its very pleasant aroma and taste, have a history as old as human race. Most people use cardamom as a spice and are largely unaware of its numerous health benefits. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of water and alcoholic cardamom extracts on sensitivities, growth, and adherence of Mutans streptococci in vitro. Materials and Methods: In this study, saliva was collected from ten volunteers (College students 18-22 years). Agar well technique was used to study the sensitivities of Mutans streptococci to different concentrations of s
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the effect of jigsaw strategy in learning achievement and engaging for the third grade intermediate students in chemistry. The research sample consisted of (61) students distributed in two experimental and control groups. The research tools consisted in the achievement test and the measure of engaging learning. The results showed that there are statistically significant differences at the level of (α = 0.05) between the experimental group and the control group in both the achievement test and the measure of learning involvement for the benefit of the experimental group. In this light, the researcher recommended the use of jigsaw strategy for teaching the subject matter. Lamia because of its impact in raising
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The study aims at expounding the correlation and effect between the Human resource development strategy and Quality Municipality Service within a theoretical framework and a practical framework conducted at Directorate Of Municipalities in holy Karbala . The researcher found during a pilot study that there isn’t enough care paid by the Directorate Of Municipalities in developing its human resources using one strategy or a number of strategies and their effect on the Quality Municipality Service. Thus a number of research questions were set concerning the existence of clear perception in the Directorates Of Municipalities concerning the strategies of developing both the human resource an Qualit
... Show MoreThe photoconductivity and its dependence on light intensity have been investigated in a-Ge20Se80 thin films as a function of temperature between (293–323)K. The result showed that the photoconductivity and photosensitivity increase with increase of annealing temperature. This behavior is interpreted in terms of the dispersive diffusion –controlled recombination of localized electrons and holes.
Identity is an influential and flexible concept in social sciences and political studies. The basic sense of identity is looking for uniqueness. In one sense, it is a sign of identification with those we assume they are similar to us or at least in some significant ways they are so. Globalization, migration, modern technologies, media and political conflicts are argued to have a crucial effect on identity representation in terms of the political perspectives specifically in the United States of America. This paper endeavors to investigate how American politicians represent their identities in speeches delivered in different periods of time namely from 2015 to 2018 in terms of the pragmatic paradigm. Three randomly selected speeches by fa
... Show MoreIn recent years, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are attracting more attention in many fields as they are extensively used in a wide range of applications, such as environment monitoring, the Internet of Things, industrial operation control, electric distribution, and the oil industry. One of the major concerns in these networks is the limited energy sources. Clustering and routing algorithms represent one of the critical issues that directly contribute to power consumption in WSNs. Therefore, optimization techniques and routing protocols for such networks have to be studied and developed. This paper focuses on the most recent studies and algorithms that handle energy-efficiency clustering and routing in WSNs. In addition, the prime
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