Background: University dental students perceived a higher level of stress prior to the final exam associated with raised salivary alpha-amylase levels which could be considered as a useful noninvasive biomarker for measuring acute stress. Using a Helkimo anamnestic and clinical dysfunction scoring for temporomandibular disorders can give a better insight about the association of this marker and temporomandibular disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluation level of salivary alpha-amylase in stressor students with temporomandibular disorders and the relation between the marker in relation to temporomandibular disorders severity. This might give a better understanding to the role of psychological stress as an etiological factor for deve

Mixed convection heat transfer in a vertical concentric annulus packed with a metallic porous media and heated at a constant heat flux is experimentally investigated with water as the working fluid. A series of experiments have been carried out with a Rayleigh number range from Ra=122418.92 to 372579.31 and Reynolds number that based on the particles diameter of Re_d=14.62, 19.48 and 24.36. Under steady state condition, the measured data were collected and analyzed. Results show that the wall surface temperatures are affected by the imposed heat flux variation and Reynolds number variation. The variation of the local heat transfer coefficient and the mean Nusselt number are presented and analyzed. An empirical

Back ground: Glass ionomer materials lack resistance to wear and pressure and are susceptible to moisture during the initial stages of setting and dehydration. So this study was done to assess diametral tensile strength and microhardness of glass ionomer reinforced by different amounts of hydroxyapatite. Materials and methods: In this study a hydroxyapatite material was added to glass monomer cement at different ratios: 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% (by weight). The diametral tensile strength test described by the British standard specification for zinc polycarboxylate cement was used in this study and the microhardness test was performed using Vickers microhardness testing machine and the microhardness values were calculated and statistical c

The consensus algorithm is the core mechanism of blockchain and is used to ensure data consistency among blockchain nodes. The PBFT consensus algorithm is widely used in alliance chains because it is resistant to Byzantine errors. However, the present PBFT (Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance) still has issues with master node selection that is random and complicated communication. The IBFT consensus technique, which is enhanced, is proposed in this study and is based on node trust value and BLS (Boneh-Lynn-Shacham) aggregate signature. In IBFT, multi-level indicators are used to calculate the trust value of each node, and some nodes are selected to take part in network consensus as a result of this calculation. The master node is chosen

The problem of Multicollinearity is one of the most common problems, which deal to a large extent with the internal correlation between explanatory variables. This problem is especially Appear in economics and applied research, The problem of Multicollinearity has a negative effect on the regression model, such as oversized variance degree and estimation of parameters that are unstable when we use the Least Square Method ( OLS), Therefore, other methods were used to estimate the parameters of the negative binomial model, including the estimated Ridge Regression Method and the Liu type estimator, The negative binomial regression model is a nonline

order to increase the level of security, as this system encrypts the secret image before sending it through the internet to the recipient (by the Blowfish method). As The Blowfish method is known for its efficient security; nevertheless, the encrypting time is long. In this research we try to apply the smoothing filter on the secret image which decreases its size and consequently the encrypting and decrypting time are decreased. The secret image is hidden after encrypting it into another image called the cover image, by the use of one of these two methods" Two-LSB" or" Hiding most bits in blue pixels". Eventually we compare the results of the two methods to determine which one is better to be used according to the PSNR measurs

    The study area comprises Injana Formation (Late Miocene), exposed on the hills nearby of Tharthar Lake and about 120 km north of Baghdad city. This study depends on sedimentologic and facies analysis to recognize paleoenvironment and recognize the kinds of vertebrate bone fossils during Late Miocene. Sedimentologic and facies analysis showed many sedimentary facies: facies (Se) of scoured erosional surface, facies of (Sp) cross- bedded sandstones, facies (Fs) of fine sandstone facies, facies of (Fc) claystone, and facies of (C) calcareous clay. Facies analysis referred to the sub environments which are: point bar, over bank and floodplain in addition to fining upward cycles of deposition, which refers to meandering flu

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein gene contains some single nucleotide polymorphisms, which have been associated with serum high-density lipoprotein concentration and other lipoproteins. This study is done for determining of cholesteryl ester transfer protein polymorphism and evaluate its effect on serum lipid profile concentrations in some hyperlipidemic patients compared with healthy subjects in Salah Al-din governorate-Iraq. Blood samples were taken from (90) patients suffering from hyperlipidemia, and (70) samples that were apparently healthy controls.  Serum lipid concentrations were measured by enzymatic assays. The polymorphism was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.&n