Background: The interest in herbal extracts as antimicrobial agents has increased over the past few years in endodontic therapy. Nasturtium officinale (watercress) is a promising plant with great medicinal values. This study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of watercress oil in combination with calcium hydroxide against Candida albicans as intracanal medicament. Materials and Methods: Candida albicans was isolated from patients with necrotic root canal or failed root canal treatment. The sensitivity of Candida albicans to different concentrations of watercress oil extract was determined by using the agar well diffusion method in comparison with calcium hydroxide paste. The agar plate method was used to determine the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the tested oil against the fungus. The combination of the oil extract of Nasturtium officinale with calcium hydroxide was evaluated and compared to calcium hydroxide paste with iodoform by using the agar well diffusion method. Results: The oil extract exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans, this activity was found to be increased as the concentration of extract increased. The tested combination of watercress oil extract with calcium hydroxide revealed larger inhibition zones than the ones formed by each tested agent individually. Conclusion: The oil extract of Nasturtium officinale is active against Candida albicans suggesting its potential to be used as an intracanal medicament alone or in combination with calcium hydroxide.
Researchers have recently increased their focus on the link between autoimmune diseases and infections. Most of the recent research indicates that silent human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), may have diverse roles in the initiation, development, and exacerbation of autoimmune diseases, such as coeliac Disease (CD) and inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of HCMV infection in Iraqi patients with CD. Serum samples were obtained from 60 patients with CD, and from 60 healthy subjects. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the Anti-Transglutaminase IgG/IgA, Anti-gliadin IgA/ IgG, as well as the HCMV IgM/ IgG levels in the serum samples. Significantly higher percentage of positivity for seru
... Show MorePlacental dysfunction and or fetal central nervous system infestation caused by Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the leading cause of congenital non-genetic neuro-developmental problems of the newborn, worldwide. Although the highest rates of congenital infection and CMV seroprevalence occurs in developing countries like Iraq, there remains a paucity of data from that part of the world. This descriptive case control study was undertaken in Babylon/ Iraq to determine the local seroprevalence of CMV in women of child bearing age, and to identify the socio-demographic factors associated with it. This study found a seropositivity peak amongst the 26-35 yr olds which declined in the 36 – 45 yr olds. However, the
... Show MoreThe current study has sought to identify the levels of the compound thinking among secondary school students basing and relying on the opinions of Lipman who sees that the compound thinking consists of creative thinking and critical thinking, In accordance with this point of view, researchers have resorted to build scale of the critical thinking in its final form of (28) item additionally to the adoption of Torrance for the creative thinking which was translated by sayed. Khairallah in 1981 after confirming psychometric Properties Of both scales and then collect scores of both scales and be the final score represented the level of the compound thinking that has been shown by the results of secondary school students they have no skill of
... Show MoreThe construction industry in Iraq suffers from many problems, perhaps the most important of which is the delay in time and the increase in costs. Therefore, it was necessary to try to adopt a new methodology that would help in overcoming these problems. It was suggested to combine building information modeling with the agile management approach because this technique and methodology is modern and helps in reducing time and cost and improving quality. This paper aims to know the status of using Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Agile Project management (APM) in Iraq and to shed light on the merging of this integration, explaining the benefits, difficulties, and workflow practices, finding the most influencing factors on the tim
... Show MoreThe poly(ethylene oxide) polymer (PEO) is doped with fine powder of MnCl2 salt and thin films of thickness (50–150 mm) with salt content (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt%) are obtained. The AC electrical conductivity and dielectric constants are studied as a function of temperature through an impedance technique. It is found that AC conductivity increases and the calculated activation energy decreases with increasing temperature due to enhancement of the ionic conduction in the film bulk. The dielectric constants of the doped membranes increase with temperature. It is found that the peak value of the tanloss is shifted to a higher frequency at higher temperatures. The dielectric behavior is explained on the basis of
... Show MoreThe objective of this research is to know the economic feasibility of hydroponics technology by estimating the expected demand for green forage for the years 2021-2031 as well as Identify and analyze project data and information in a way that helps the investor make the appropriate investment decision in addition to preparing a detailed technical preliminary study for the cultivar barley project focusing on the commercial and financing aspects and the criteria that take into account the risks and uncertainties . that indicating the economic feasibility of the project to produce green forage using hydroponics technology. Cultured barley as a product falls within the blue ocean strategy. Accordingly, the research recommends the necess
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, progressive, inflammatory autoimmune disease of unidentified etiology, associated with articular, extra-articular and systemic manifestation that require long-standing treatment. Taking patient’s beliefs about the prescribed medication in consideration had been shown to be an essential factor that affects adherence of the patient in whom having positive beliefs is an essential for better adherence. The purpose of the current study was to measure beliefs about medicines among a sample of Iraqi patients with Rheumatoid arthritis and to determine possible association between this belief and some patient-certain factors. This study is a cross-sectional study carried out on 250 already diagnosed rheumatoid
... Show More