Background: Periodontitis is an infection attributable to multiple infectious; it causes an interrelated cellular and humoral host immune responses. Recent reports have indicated that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) may contribute to pathogenesis of periodontitis. The HCMV can stimulate the release of cytokines from inflammatory and non-inflammatory cells and weaken the periodontal immune defense. This study aimed to reveal the presence of anti-CMV IgG, and determine the levels of ILâ€6 and TNF-α and to correlate the presence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) with cytokines levels. Materials and Methods: Forty patients with chronic periodontitis and 40 healthy control subjects (their age and sex were matched with the patients) were involved in this study. Periodontal parameters used in this study included plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL) and bleeding on probing (BOP). Saliva samples were taken from all subjects. ELISA was carried out to estimate the levels of anti-CMV IgG, ILâ€6 and TNF-α. Statistical tests used involved t-test, Mann-Whitney, Chi-square, Fisher exact and spearman's correlation test. Results: This study found a significant difference (p<0.05) in the frequency of anti-CMV IgG in saliva between patients and controls. The number and percentage of patients group who had positive for anti-CMV IgG were 14 (35%), while controls were 5 (12.5%). A significant increase was found in mean of PPD, CAL and BOP among patients with the positive IgG as compared to those patients with the negative IgG. In addition, there was a significant elevation in the salivary levels of ILâ€6 and TNF-α in patients compared with healthy controls. IL- 6 was significantly associated with GI and BOP, whereas TNF-α was significantly associated with PPD and CAL. On the other hand, there was a significant correlation between TNF-α and anti- CMV IgG. Conclusion: The findings revealed that the significant association between the presence of virus with periodontal parameters and cytokines level in patients group gives additional evidence toward the potential importance of the direct and indirect effects of CMV infection in periodontitis. Keywords: Periodontitis, Anti- CMV IgG, Cytokines.
This paper presents an experimental study of cooling photovoltaic (PV) panels using evaporative cooling. Underground (geothermal energy) water used to extract heat from it during cooling and cleaning of PV panels. An experimental test rig was constructed and tested under hot and dusty climate conditions in Baghdad. An active cooling system was used with auxiliary an underground water tank to provide cold water as a coolant over both PV surfaces to reduce its temperature. The cellulose pad has been arranged on the back surface and sprays cooling on the front side. Two identical PV panels modules used: without cooling and evaporative water cooling. The experiments are comprised of four cases: Case (I): backside cooling, Ca
... Show MoreThe introduction of concrete damage plasticity material models has significantly improved the accuracy with which the concrete structural elements can be predicted in terms of their structural response. Research into this method's accuracy in analyzing complex concrete forms has been limited. A damage model combined with a plasticity model, based on continuum damage mechanics, is recommended for effectively predicting and simulating concrete behaviour. The damage parameters, such as compressive and tensile damages, can be defined to simulate concrete behavior in a damaged-plasticity model accurately. This research aims to propose an analytical model for assessing concrete compressive damage based on stiffness deterioration. The prop
... Show MoreThe prediction of the blood flow through an axisymmetric arterial stenosis is one of the most important aspects to be considered during the Atherosclrosis. Since the blood is specified as a non-Newtonian flow, therefore the effect of fluid types and effect of rheological properties of non-Newtonian fluid on the degree of stenosis have been studied. The motion equations are written in vorticity-stream function formulation and solved numerically. A comparison is made between a Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid for blood flow at different velocities, viscosity and Reynolds number were solved also. It is found that the properties of blood must be at a certain range to preventing atheroscirasis
As one type of heating furnaces, the electric heating furnace (EHF) typically suffers from time delay, non-linearity, time-varying parameters, system uncertainties, and harsh en-vironment of the furnace, which significantly deteriorate the temperature control process of the EHF system. In order to achieve accurate and robust temperature tracking performance, an integration of robust state feedback control (RSFC) and a novel sliding mode-based disturbance observer (SMDO) is proposed in this paper, where modeling errors and external disturbances are lumped as a lumped disturbance. To describe the characteristics of the EHF, by using convection laws, an integrated dynamic model is established and identified as an uncertain nonlinear second ord
... Show MoreReinforced concrete (RC) beams containing a longitudinal cavity have become an innovative development and advantage for economic purposes of light-weight members without largely affecting their resistance against the applied loads. This type of openings can also be used for maintenance purposes and usage space of communication lines, pipelines, etc. RC beams are primarily loaded in the plane of the members, which are two-dimensional in a plane stress state and the dominant structural behaviours include bending, shear, or combination of both. In the present study, six numerical models of RC beams with and without openings were simulated by using commercial finite element software ANSYS to evaluate the structural behaviours of those b
... Show MoreThis research includes the using of statistical to improve the quality of can plastics which is produced at the state company for Vegetable oils (Almaamon factory ) by using the percentage defective control chart ( p-chart ) of a fixed sample. A sample of size (450) cans daily for (30) days was selected to determine the rejected product . Operations research with a (win QSB ) package for ( p-chart ) was used to determine test quality level required for product specification to justify that the process that is statistically controlled.
The results show high degree of accuracy by using the program and the mathematical operations (primary and secondary ) which used to draw the control limits charts and to reject the statistically uncontr
Environmental sustainability is described as one that avoids the depletion or deterioration of natural resources, while also allowing for the preservation of long-term environmental quality. By practicing environmental sustainability, we may assist to guarantee that the requirements of today’s population are satisfied without risking the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs in the future. Engineers in the field of concrete production are becoming increasingly interested in sustainable development, which includes the utilization of the locally available materials in addition to using the agricultural and industrial waste in construction industry as one of the possib