Cohesive soils present difficulties in construction projects because it usually contains expansive clay minerals. However, the engineering properties of cohesive soils can be stabilized by using various techniques. The research aims to elaborate on the influences of using hydrated lime on the consistency, compaction, and shear strength properties of clayey soil samples from Sulaimnai city, northern Iraq. The proportions of added hydrated lime are 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% to the natural soil sample. The results yielded considerable effects of hydrated lime on the engineering properties of the treated soil sample and enhancement its strength. The soil's liquid limit, plasticity index, and optimum moisture content were de

The possible effects of COVID-19 vaccines on reproductive health and male fertility in particular have been discussed intensely by the scientific community and the public since their introduction during the pandemic. On news outlets and social media platforms, many claims have been raised regarding the deleterious effects of COVID-19 vaccines on sperm quality without scientific evidence. In response to this emerging conflict, we designed this study to evaluate and assess the effect of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine on male fertility represented by the semen analysis parameters.

Pure and doped TiO 2 with Bi films are obtained by pulse laser deposition technique at RT under vacume 10-3 mbar, and the influence of Bi content on the photocvoltaic properties of TiO 2 hetrojunctions is studied. All the films display photovoltaic in the near visible region. A broad double peaks are observed around λ= 300nm for pure TiO 2 at RT in the spectral response of the photocurrent, which corresponds approximately to the absorption edge and this peak shift to higher wavelength (600 nm) when Bi content increase by 7% then decrease by 9%. The result is confirmed with the decreasing of the energy gap in optical properties. Also, the increasing is due to an increase in the amount of Bi content, and shifted to 400nm when annealed at 523

Introduction: Salivary melatonin is a critical antioxidant that contributes to oral health by mitigating oxidative stress. Psychological stress linked to thumb sucking may disrupt oral homeostasis, leading to conditions such as dental caries and fungal infections. Aim: This study explores the relationships between thumb sucking, salivary melatonin levels, dental caries, and the presence of Candida albicans (CA) in children. Materials and methods: A case-control study was conducted with 60 children aged 4-5 years at the University of Baghdad’s College of Dentistry. Participants were divided into thumb-sucking (n=30) and non-thumb-sucking (n=30) groups. Salivary melatonin levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunoso

Background: The insertion torque (IT) values and implant stability quotient (ISQ) values are the measurements most used to assess primary implant stability. This study aimed to assess the relationship between ISQ values and IT. Materials and methods: This study included 24 patients with a mean (SD) age of 47.9 (13.64) years (range 25-75 years). The patients received 42 dental implants (DI), 33 in the mandible and 9 in the maxilla. The DI were installed using the motorized method with 35 Ncm torque, When DI could not be inserted to the requisite depth by the motorized method, a hand ratchet was used and the IT was recorded as ˃ 35 Ncm. Implant stability was measured utilizing Osstell® ISQ. The secondary stability was measured after 16

In this study, a double frequency Q-switching Nd:YAG laser beam (1064 nm and λ= 532 nm, repetition rate 6 Hz and the pulse duration 10ns) have been used, to deposit TiO2 pure and nanocomposites thin films with noble metal (Ag) at various concentration ratios of (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 wt.%) on glass and p-Si wafer (111) substrates using Pulse Laser Deposition (PLD) technique. Many growth parameters have been considered to specify the optimum condition, namely substrate temperature (300˚C), oxygen pressure (2.8×10-4 mbar), laser energy (700) mJ and the number of laser shots was 400 pulses with thickness of about 170 nm. The surface morphology of the thin films has been studied by using atomic force microscopes (AFM). The Root Mean Sq

In this work, silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) thin films were deposited on metallic substrates (aluminium and titanium sheets) by the DC reactive sputtering technique using two different silicon targets (n-type and p-type Si wafers) as well as two Ar:N₂ gas mixing ratios (50:50 and 70:30). The electrical conductivity of the metallic (aluminium and titanium) substrates was measured before and after the deposition of silicon nitride thin films on both surfaces of the substrates. The results obtained from this work showed that the deposited films, in general, reduced the electrical conductivity of the substrates, and the thin films prepared from n-type silicon targets using a 50:50 mixing ratio and deposited on both

Viruses have not previously been reported to act as chemotactic/chemoattractive agents. Rather, viruses as extracellular entities are generally viewed as non-metabolically active spore-like agents that await further infection events upon collision with appropriate host cells. That a virus might actively contribute to its fate via chemotaxis and change the behavior of an organism independent of infection is unprecedented.