Objective Tea lovers are increasing worldwide. We hope that this report is the first to discuss the possible impacts of high black tea consumption on gestational weight gain (GWG) and birth parameters. Methods Throughout one year, a total of 7,063 pregnant ladies coming for first antenatal visit were screened in a major tertiary center. Of them, 1,138 were involved and divided according to their preference into 3 groups: excessive tea (ET), usual tea (UT), and mixed beverages group. The study included women who gave birth to healthy neonates. Results The rate of ET consumption was 4.13% with a total of 41 cases. The UT group (controls) comprised 94 women. ET was significantly associated (P<0.05) with maternal age, parity, occupation, smokin

Non-thermal plasmas have become popular as plasma technology has advanced in various fields, including waste management, aerospace technology, and medicinal applications. They can be used to replace combustion fuels in stationary hall motors and need little effort to keep running for longer periods of time. To improve overall system performance, non-reactive gases such as )Xe, Ar, and Kr) are utilized in pure or mixed form to generate plasma. Since DC glow discharge is a fundamental topic of importance, these gases have been researched. The paper concentrates on 2-D modeling and simulation. DC glow-discharge tubes are utilized with argon gas to create plasma and learn about its properties. The magnitude of the electron density, increases wi

Materials and Methods Bacterial strains P. aeruginosa was obtained from postgraduate students Laboratories of Biology Department/College of Science/University of Baghdad. That previously isolated from patient suffering from Cystic Fibrosis. API 20 NE system was employed for the identification of P. aeruginosa. A total of 122 urine specimens were collected in the period between of mid of July until to the mid of September of 2010 from AL-Kadhmiya Teaching Hospital in Baghdad City. Specimens were collected from out-patients in sterile screw cupped containers. Regarding inpatients, catheter was withdrawn and cut

       A new class of biologically active nanocomposites and modified polymers based on poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with some organic compounds [II, IV, V and VI] were synthesized using silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). All compounds were synthesized using nucleophilic substitution interactions and characterized by FTIR, DSC and TGA. The biological activity of the modified polymers was evaluated against: gram (+) (staphylococcus aureus) and gram (-): (Es cherichia coli bacteria). Antimicrobial films are developed based on modified poly (vinyl alcohol) MPVA and Ag-NPs nanoparticles. The nanocomposites and modified polymers showed better antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli (Gram negative) than against Staphyloc

Objectives This work presents laser coating of grade 1 pure titanium (Ti) dental implant surface with sintered biological apatite beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), which has a chemical composition close to bone. Materials and methods Pulsed Nd:YAG laser of single pulse capability up to 70 J/10 ms and pulse peak power of 8 kW was used to implement the task. Laser pulse peak power, pulse duration, repetition rate and scanning speed were modulated to achieve the most homogenous, cohesive and highly adherent coat layer. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray microscopy (EDX), optical microscopy and nanoindentation analyses were conducted to characterise and evaluate the microstructure, phases, modulus of elasticity

In this contribution, density functional theory-based calculations have been carried out to assess the electronic, photocatalytic and optical properties of Ce1-xTixO2 system. Ti incorporation leads to a decrease of Ce 4f states and enhancement of Ti 3d states in the bottom of conduction band. Furthermore, it was found that doping ceria with Ti-like transition metals could evidently shift the absorption of pure CeO2 towards higher wavelength range. These findings can provide some new insights for designing CeO2-based photocatalysts with high photocatalytic performance. To the best of our knowledge, this investigation calculates Mullikan’s charge transfer of Ce1-xTixO2 system for the first time. Charge transfer reveals an ionic bond between

Background: This in vitro study was carried out to evaluate the effects of various veneering dentin ceramic thicknesses and repeated firings on the color of lithium disilicate glass-ceramic (IPS e.max Press) and zirconium-oxide (IPS ZirCAD) all-ceramic systems, measured by clinical spectrophotometers (Easyshade Advance 4.0) . Materials and methods: The 72specimens cube-shaped have the dimension of about 11 mm in width, 14 mm in length, 1mm in thickness, these cores divided into 3 groups according to the type of material each group have (24)core specimens. Each group had been divided into three sub-groups (each having 8 specimens) according to veneering with dentin ceramic thicknesses: as 0.5, 1, or 2 mm (n=8). IPS e.max press and ZirCAD c

Shallow foundations are usually used for structures with light to moderate loads where the soil underneath can carry them. In some cases, soil strength and/or other properties are not adequate and require improvement using one of the ground improvement techniques. Stone column is one of the common improvement techniques in which a column of stone is installed vertically in clayey soils. Stone columns are usually used to increase soil strength and to accelerate soil consolidation by acting as vertical drains. Many researches have been done to estimate the behavior of the improved soil. However, none of them considered the effect of stone column geometry on the behavior of the circular footing. In this research, finite ele