Background: periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease causing destruction of the tooth supporting structures, initiated by dental plaque and modified by environmental and genetic risk factors. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme is responsible for the production of prostaglandin E2, an important mediator in the chronic periodontitis (CP) pathogenesis. Polymorphisms in COX-2 gene have linked to CP in different populations. Aim: To study the association between Cyclooxygenase-2 single nucleotide polymorphism rs689466 (-1195A/G SNP) and chronic periodontitis in a sample of Iraqi population. Methods: One hundred Iraqi subjects divided into two groups: case group consisted of 70 CP patient (35 males and 35 females) with age range 30-55 years, and control group consisted of 30 racially matched healthy subjects (15 males and 15 females) with age range 30-50 years. Clinical periodontal parameters including plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL) were recoded for all participants. 3ml of venous blood was collected from each participant for isolating genomic DNA. Genotyping of the rs689466 in COX-2 gene was performed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Results: The frequency of G allele carriers was significantly more prevalent in the case group compared to control group (P= 0.041), and allele G was associated with greater susceptibility for chronic periodontitis compared to allele A (OR=1.4). Conclusion: COX-2 (rs689466) polymorphism may be associated with increased chronic periodontitis susceptibility.
This study has contributed to understanding a delayed prey-predator system involving cannibalism. The system is assumed to use the Holling type II functional response to describe the consuming process and incorporates the predator’s refuge against the cannibalism process. The characteristics of the solution are discussed. All potential equilibrium points have been identified. All equilibrium points’ local stability analyses for all time delay values are investigated. The system exhibits a Hopf bifurcation at the coexistence equilibrium, which is further demonstrated. The center manifold and normal form theorems for functional differential equations are then used to establish the direction of Hopf bifurcation and the stability of the per
... Show MoreIn this paper, a Cholera epidemic model is proposed and studied analytically as well as numerically. It is assumed that the disease is transmitted by contact with Vibrio cholerae and infected person according to dose-response function. However, the saturated treatment function is used to describe the recovery process. Moreover, the vaccine against the disease is assumed to be utterly ineffective. The existence, uniqueness and boundedness of the solution of the proposed model are discussed. All possible equilibrium points and the basic reproduction number are determined. The local stability and persistence conditions are established. Lyapunov method and the second additive compound matrix are used to study the global stability of the system.
... Show MoreMicro-perforated panel (MPP) absorber is increasingly gaining popularity as an alternative sound absorber in buildings compared to the well-known synthetic porous materials. A single MPP has a typical feature of a Helmholtz resonator with a high amplitude of absorption but a narrow absorption frequency bandwidth. To improve the bandwidth, a single MPP can be cascaded with another single MPP to form a double-layer MPP. This paper proposes the introduction of inhomogeneous perforation in the double-layer MPP system (DL-iMPP) to enhance the absorption bandwidth of a double-layer MPP. Mathematical models are proposed using the equivalent electrical circuit model and are validated with experiments with good agreement. It is revealed that the DL-
... Show MoreIn this paper, the Active Suspension System (ASS) of road vehicles was investigated. In addition to the conventional stiffness and damper, the proposed ASS includes a fuzzy controller, a hydraulic actuator, and an LVDT position sensor. Furthermore, this paper presents a nonlinear model describing the operation of the hydraulic actuator as a part of the suspension system. Additionally, the detailed steps of the fuzzy controller design for such a system are introduced. A MATLAB/Simulink model was constructed to study the proposed ASS at different profiles of road irregularities. The results have shown that the proposed ASS has superior performance compared to the conventional Passive Suspension System (PSS), where the body displacemen
... Show MoreDetection of early clinical keratoconus (KCN) is a challenging task, even for expert clinicians. In this study, we propose a deep learning (DL) model to address this challenge. We first used Xception and InceptionResNetV2 DL architectures to extract features from three different corneal maps collected from 1371 eyes examined in an eye clinic in Egypt. We then fused features using Xception and InceptionResNetV2 to detect subclinical forms of KCN more accurately and robustly. We obtained an area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) of 0.99 and an accuracy range of 97–100% to distinguish normal eyes from eyes with subclinical and established KCN. We further validated the model based on an independent dataset with
... Show MoreA case of angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (ALH) is reported in a 42-year-old woman who developed multiple nodules behind the ear. Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia usually occurs on the head and neck of young adults and is more common in women than in men. Characteristic histologic features of ALH present in this case included proliferation of thick-walled blood vessels lined by prominent endothelial cells, infiltration of the interstitium by chronic inflammatory cells (mainly eosinophils), and presence of lymphoid follicles with germinal centers. The patient referred for surgeon for complete excision. in this context , cases previously described in the literature, and the differential diagnosis of ALH are discussed
... Show MoreSalinity of soil or irrigation water is one of the most important obstacle towards crop production and productivity, especially with the increasing scarcity of fresh water in Iraq and the Arab countries. The impact of salinity will be alleviated with the increasing temperature due to global warming. The objectives of this article was to shed some light on traits more related to salinity stress tolerance in oats, and to identify genetic variation of these traits. A split-plot arrangement experiment with RCBD was applied through 2011-2013 on the farm of Dept. of Field Crops/Coll. of Agric./Univ. of Baghdad. The oats cultivars; Hamel, Pimula and Genzania were set in sub-plots, whereas water quality was set in main-plots. Water quality had two
... Show MoreNowadays, the power plant is changing the power industry from a centralized and vertically integrated form into regional, competitive and functionally separate units. This is done with the future aims of increasing efficiency by better management and better employment of existing equipment and lower price of electricity to all types of customers while retaining a reliable system. This research is aimed to solve the optimal power flow (OPF) problem. The OPF is used to minimize the total generations fuel cost function. Optimal power flow may be single objective or multi objective function. In this thesis, an attempt is made to minimize the objective function with keeping the voltages magnitudes of all load buses, real outp
... Show MoreBackground: the aim of this study was to assess the 2-year pulp survival of deep carious lesions in teeth excavated using a self-limiting protocol in a single-blind randomized controlled clinical trial. Methods: At baseline, 101 teeth with deep carious lesions in 86 patients were excavated randomly using self-limiting or control protocols. Standardized clinical examination and periapical radiographs of teeth were performed after 1- and 2-year follow-ups (REC 14/LO/0880). Results: During the 2-year period of the study, 24 teeth failed (16 and 8 at T12 and T24, respectively). Final analysis shows that 39/63 (61.9%) of teeth were deemed successful (16/33 (48.4%) and 23/30 (76.6%) in the control and experimental groups, respectively wit
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