Background: The COVID-19 virus outbreak had a massive effect on many parts of people's lives, as they were advised to quarantine and lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading, which had a big impact on people's mental health, anxiety, and stress. Many internal and external factors lead to stress. This negatively influences the body's homeostasis. As a result, stress may affect the body's capacity to use energy to defend against pathogens. Many recent investigations have found substantial links between human mental stress and the production of hormones, prohormones, and/or immunological chemicals. some of these researches have verified the link between stress and salivary cortisol levels. The aim of this study is to measure salivary cortisol as a stress biomarker as well as a total viable count of salivary bacterial microbiome among COVID-19 patients. Materials and methods: a sample of 84 adults patients was collected who were divided into two groups: the COVID-19 group consists of 42 patients and the COVID-19 free group which consists of 42 subjects. All subjects undergo a PCR test to confirm their health status. The collection of Un-stimulated saliva was done. Laboratory investigations were carried out to measure the total viable count of the salivary bacterial microbiome by culturing on Brain Heart Infusion Agar and to evaluate the salivary cortisol level using cortisol kit (Elecsys Cortisol II). Results: SPSS version 21 was used for statistical analysis. According to the statistical analysis, the salivary cortisol and total viable count of salivary bacterial microbiome values were substantially greater in the COVID-19 group than in the COVID-19 free group. Conclusion: A positive association was found between salivary cortisol and the total viable count of the salivary bacterial microbiome. So, when the concentration of salivary cortisol is elevated in the COVID-19 group, the level of the total viable count of the salivary bacterial microbiome is also elevated.
For more than a decade, externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites successfully utilized in retrofitting reinforced concrete structural elements. The function of CFRP reinforcement in increasing the ductility of reinforced concrete (RC) beam is essential in such members. Flexural and shear behaviors, ductility, and confinement were the main studied properties that used the CFRP as a strengthening material. However, limited attention has been paid to investigate the energy absorption of torsion strengthening of concrete members, especially two-span concrete beams. Hence, the target of this work is to investigate the effectiveness of CFRP-strengthening technique with regard to energy absorption of two-span RC
... Show MoreGlass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) beams have gained attention due to their promising mechanical properties and potential for structural applications. Combining GFRP core and encasing materials creates a composite beam with superior mechanical properties. This paper describes the testing encased GFRP beams as composite Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams under low-velocity impact load. Theoretical analysis was used with practical results to simulate the tested beams' behavior and predict the generated energies during the impact loading. The impact response was investigated using repeated drops of 42.5 kg falling mass from various heights. An analysis was performed using accelerometer readings to calculate the generalized inertial load
... Show MoreRapid worldwide urbanization and drastic population growth have increased the demand for new road construction, which will cause a substantial amount of natural resources such as aggregates to be consumed. The use of recycled concrete aggregate could be one of the possible ways to offset the aggregate shortage problem and reduce environmental pollution. This paper reports an experimental study of unbound granular material using recycled concrete aggregate for pavement subbase construction. Five percentages of recycled concrete aggregate obtained from two different sources with an originally designed compressive strength of 20–30 MPa as well as 31–40 MPa at three particle size levels, i.e., coarse, fine, and extra fine, were test
... Show MoreIn the current study, synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) before and after functionalization with ampicillin antibiotic and their application as anti-pathogenic agents towards bacteria were investigated. AgNPs were synthesized by a green method from AgNO3 solution with glucose subjected to microwave radiation. Characterization of the nanoparticles was conducted using UV-Vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), zeta potential determination and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. From SEM analysis, the typical silver nanoparticle particle size was found to be 30 nm and Zeta potential measurements gave information about particle stability. Analysis of FTIR patterns and UV-VIS spectroscopy con
... Show MoreBackground: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of in vitro long-term simulation of oral conditions on the bond strength of PEEK CAD/CAM lingual retainers.
Material and methods: The sample consisted of 12 PEEK CAD/CAM retainers each composed of 2 centrally perforated 3x4mm pads joined by a connector. They were treated by 98% sulfuric acid for 1 minute and then conditioned with Single Bond Universal and bonded to the lingual surface of premolar teeth by 3M Transbond TM System. Half of the retainers were artificially aged using a 30-day water storage and 5000 thermocycling protocol before bond strength testing to compare with the non-aged specimens.
Results: The artificially aged retainers showed a marginally
... Show MoreThe deposition method of perovskite solar cell layers significantly impacts device functionality and the achievement of industrial goals. Aluminum (Al) nanoparticles with rutile titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticle thin films are fabricated on Fluorine Tin Oxide (FTO) glass substrates by nanosecond pulsed fiber laser deposition (PLD) to be used as a plasmonic electron transport layer (ETL) in perovskite solar cell (PSC). The effect of various pulsed fiber laser parameters on the structural, optical, and surface morphology on Al/TiO2 films is extensively examined utilizing a variety of measurement techniques; X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and Atomic
... Show MoreThe article examines the definition of the verb in the form of the imperative mood (imperative) _ general information about the verb in Russian .
A verb in Russian is one of the parts of speech that unify all parts of speech, expressing the meaning of action, movement, process in grammatical forms of time, type, mood, face and voice. The imperative mood is a grammatical feature of the verb expressed through several forms of the verb that urges someone to do things. In other words, imperative mood or (imperative) : - one of the single meaning of the form . The form of the imperative expresses a supplicatio
... Show MoreThe study aims at finding out the effect of the lead time strategy on the first intermediate class pupils' achievement in geography The partial experimental design of two groups, experimental and control, with pre-post tests is used. The sample is represented in (73) female pupils. The sample is divided into two groups (37) experimental group and (36) control one. The sam ple is selected from first intermediate class pupils ( Al Batol intermediate school for girls) Baghdad Al-karkh-3, for academic year 2015-2016 The researcher has equalized the two groups in several variables: the previous achievement tests, intelligence, age in months, the scores of geography test of first course