Background: Saliva is one of the most important etiological host factors in relation to dental caries. It affects the carious process by its organic and inorganic constituents; in addition to its physiological functions as (flow rate, pH and buffer capacity). The aims of this study were to determine the concentrations of major elements (calcium and phosphorus) and trace elements (ferrous iron, nickel, chromium and aluminum) in saliva among a group of adolescent girls, and to explore the relation of these elements, flow rate and pH with dental caries. Material & Methods: The study group consisted of 25 girls with an age of 13-15 years old. Dental caries was diagnosed by both clinical and radiographical examinations following the criteria of D1-4MFS index. Stimulated saliva was collected from patients between 9-11 Am under standarized conditions, and chemically analyzed to determine the concentration of calcium, nickel, chromium and aluminum by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, while salivary phosphorus and ferrous iron were determined by using colorimetric method. The average salivary flow rate was measured from total volume, and salivary pH was determined using digital pH meter. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 19. Results: All elements measured in saliva in addition to P/Ca ratio recorded statistically non significant correlation with DMFS, except ferrous Fe ions which showed statistically significant correlation (r= 0.34, P=0.05). Salivary flow rate and pH correlated weakly and statistically not significant with DMFS There were weak and statistically not significant correlations between all elements measured in saliva and salivary flow rate and pH. Conclusions: It had been found that Fe, Ni, Al and Cr ions present in very small amounts in saliva in comparison to Ca and P ions. The presence of these elements in saliva may indicate their presence in food, water and air.
The road transportation system is considered as major component of the infrastructure in any country, it affects the developments in economy and social activities. The Asphalt Concrete which is considered as the major pavement material for the road transportation system in Baghdad is subjected to continuous deterioration with time due to traffic loading and environmental conditions, it was felt that implementing a comprehensive pavement maintenance management system (PMMS), which should be capable for preserving the functional and structural conditions of pavement layers, is essential. This work presents the development of PMMS with Visual inspection technique for evaluating the Asphalt Concrete pavement surface condition; common types o
... Show MoreA tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is one of the most popular kinds of welding used to join metals mainly for aluminum alloys. However, many challenges may be met with this kind of joining process; these challenges arise from decay of mechanical properties of welded materials. In the present study, an attempt was made to enhancing the mechanical properties of TIG weld joint of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy by hardening the surfaces using shoot peening technique. To optimize the shoot peening process three times of exposure (5, 10, and 15) min. was used. All peened and unpeened, and welded and unwelded samples were characterized by metallographic test to indicate the phase transformation and modification in microstructure occurring d
... Show MoreWe studied at the morphology, structural setup, and optical characteristics of thin cadmium (CdSe) films a thickness of 250 nm that were created by thermal evaporation over glass, The films exhibited a hexagonal shape were crystalline, and tended to form grains in the (111) crystallographic direction, according to the X-ray diffraction examinations. These characteristics were established using the investigation's findings. Through the use of thin films of CdSe doped with Ag at a concentration of 1.5%, the crystal structure orientations for pure CdSe (25.32, 41.84) and CdSe:Ag (25.39, 41.01) that were both pure as well as those that were doped with silver were both determined. The band gap of the optical spectrum decreased by 1.93–
... Show MoreIn this research, geopolymer mortar had to be designed with 50% to 50% slag and fly ash with and without 1% micro steel fiber at curing temperature of 240℃. The molarity of alkaline solution adjusted with 12 molar sodium hydroxid to sodium silicate was 2 to 1, reaspectivly. The heat of curing increased the geopolymerization proceses of geoplymer mortar, which led to increasing strength, giving the best result and early curing age. The heat was applied for two days by four hours each day. It was discovered in the impact test that the value first crack of each mix was somewhat similar, but the failure increased 72% for the mixture that did not contain fiber. For the energy observation results it was shown that the mixt
... Show MoreCoal fines are highly prone to be generated in all stages of Coal Seam Gas (CSG) production and development. These detached fines tend to aggregate, contributing to pore throat blockage and permeability reduction. Thus, this work explores the dispersion stability of coal fines in CSG reservoirs and proposes a new additive to be used in the formulation of the hydraulic fracturing fluid to keep the fines dispersed in the fluid. In this work, bituminous coal fines were tested in various suspensions in order to study their dispersion stability. The aggregation behavior of coal fines (dispersed phase) was analyzed in different dispersion mediums, including deionized-water, low and high sodium chloride solutions. Furthermore, the effect of Sodium
... Show MoreIn this paper, the behavior of structural concrete linear bar members was studied using numerical model implemented in a computer program written in MATLAB. The numerical model is based on the modified version of the procedure developed by Oukaili. The model is based on real stress-strain diagrams of concrete and steel and their secant modulus of elasticity at different loading stages. The behavior presented by normal force-axial strain and bending moment-curvature relationships is studied by calculating the secant sectional stiffness of the member. Based on secant methods, this methodology can be easily implemented using an iterative procedure to solve non-linear equations. A comparison between numerical and experimental data, illustrated
... Show MoreThe presence of residual antibiotics in water results in the development of antibiotics resistant genes. The available wastewater treatment systems are not capable of removing such antibiotics from sewage. Thus, antibiotics need to be removed before the discharge of wastewater. Adsorption is among the promising techniques for the wastewater treatment to aid the removal of a wide range of organic and inorganic pollutants. The present work is a contribution to the search for an economical method for the removal of low concentrations of amoxicillin (AMX) from water by adsorption on water treatment residue, WTR, taken from a local drinking water facility. The chemical composition and the adsorptive characteristics of the material were first
... Show MoreAbstract
Robust controller design requires a proper definition of uncertainty bounds. These uncertainty bounds are commonly selected randomly and conservatively for certain stability, without regard for controller performance. This issue becomes critically important for multivariable systems with high nonlinearities, as in Active Magnetic Bearings (AMB) System. Flexibility and advanced learning abilities of intelligent techniques make them appealing for uncertainty estimation. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of robust H2/H∞ controller for AMB based on intelligent estimation of uncertainty bounds using Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). Simulatio
... Show MoreRecently, Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) consider one of the major fields of study in educational institutions, caused by the necessity to identify their knowledge value and success. Hence, based on the updated DeLone and McLean’s Information Systems Success Model (DMISSM), this study set out to assess the success of the Perceived Usefulness of Knowledge Management Systems (PUKMS) in Iraqi universities. To achieve this objective, the quantitative method is selected as the research design. In total, 421 university administration staff members from 13 Iraqi private universities were conducted. This study highlights a number of significant results depending on structural equation modeling which confirms that system, information, and s
... Show More