Background: Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a promising implant material due to its superior biomechanical strength. However, due to its hydrophobic nature and lack of cellular adhesion properties, it has poor integration with bone tissue. Methods: A fractional CO2 laser was used with various parameters for surface texturing of PEEK substrate to enhance its surface properties. An optical microscope and field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) were used to examine the surface morphology of untextured and laser-textured samples. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was performed to determine the effect of the laser on the microstructure of PEEK. Surface microroughness, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and wettability were investigated. Results: There were significant increases in microroughness, nanoroughness, surface area ratio, and wettability after laser texturing with no change in the elemental composition. The best results were obtained by using 400 µs laser pulse duration with a dot separation distance of 0.2 mm and a 60° staggered dots pattern. Conclusions: Laser surface texturing of PEEK implant material by fractional CO2 laser is an easy and fast method of introducing patterned topographical features with no need for additional devices. With further investigations, this method of PEEK modification might have the potential to be used in the implant field.
This study involves adding nano materials and interaction with cement mortar behavior for several mortar samples under variable curing time with constant water to cement ratio (W/C = 0.5). The effects of adding nano materials on the microstructure of cement mortar were studied by (Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray (for samples at different curing time 28 and 91 days. Small ratio replacements of nano particles (SiO2 or Al2O3) were added to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) type (I). The percentage of nano materials additives replacement by weight of ordinary Portland cement includes (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5%) for both types of nano materials with constant (W/C) ratio, also the amount of the fin
... Show MoreIn Iraq, there is a limited research work exploring the clinical pharmacists' role from the point of view of other healthcare professionals.
To investigate physicians' assessment of clinical pharmacy services at Baghdad hospitals, and compare junior physicians with senior physicians' point of view.
The study was conducted in twelve governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq. Data was collected from a sample of two hundred physicians, and through a validated, self-administered questionnaire, which comprised twenty statements in addition to a non-personal information form that precedes the questionnaire
The study findings reveal a somewhat positive point of view towards clinical pharmacists' performance in
... Show MoreThe vegetable cover plays an important role in the environment and Earth resource sciences. In south Iraq, the region is classified as arid or semiarid area due to the low precipitations and high temperature among the year. In this paper, the Landat-8 satellite imagery will be used to study and estimate the vegetable area in south Iraq. For this purpose many vegetation indices will be examined to estimate and extract the area of vegetation contain in and image. Also, the weathering parameters must be investigated to find the relationship between these parameters and the arability of vegetation cover crowing in the specific area. The remote sensing packages and Matlab written subroutines may be use to evaluate the results.
The presence of hydrocarbons in the soil is considered one of the main problems of pollution. In our current study, eight samples isolated from soil saturated with hydrocarbons were taken from different areas of Baghdad, Iraq. In this study, 5 isolates belonging to Pseudomonas aeruginosa by 99%, 4 isolates to Klebsiella pneumoniae by 98%, and 3 isolates to Enterobacter hormaechei by 97% were diagnosed in different ways. A molecular examination was also conducted by 16sRNA. We recorded P. aeruginosa, K. Pneumoniae and E. hormaechei as new local isolates in NCBI. In addition, a comparison was made between our isolates and the global isolates to determine the degree of convergence in the evolutionary line. The genes alkB and nahAc7 were diagno
... Show MoreA simple UV spectrophotometric differential derivatization method was performed for the simultaneous quantification of three aromatic amino acids of tryptophan, the polar tyrosine and phenylalanine TRP, TYR and PHE respectively. The avoidance of the time and reagents consuming steps of sample preparation or analyze separation from its bulk of interferences made the approach environmentally benign, sustainable and green. The linear calibration curves of differential second derivative were built at the optimum wavelength for each analyze (218.9, 236.1 and 222.5 nm) for PHE, TRP and TYR respectively. Quantification for each analyze was in the concentration range of (1.0– 45, 0.1–20.0 and 1.0– 50.0 μg/ml) at replicates of (n=3) with a re
... Show MorePsychosocial Alienation is a modern concept that arises from the capitalist and materialistic conceptions of individuals. The evergrowing competitive nature of domestic societies crystallised the concept in its modern form. The intensity of the rapid changes in the urbanised societies prevents the individuals from exploring their inner selves. Thus, a new generation is created with an alienation crisis which is reflected inward towards the self and outwards toward society. Alan Ayckbourn (1939), A British playwright, presents Alienated characters inspired by his life on and off stage. He explores their Alienation and their path toward recovery and self-realization. A Brief History of Women (2017) Ayckbourn explores the depth of the individu
... Show MoreThe removal of Anit-Inflammatory drugs, namely; Acetaminophen (ACTP), from wastewater by bulk liquid membrane (BLM) process using Aliquat 336 (QCl) as a carrier was investigated. The effects of several parameters on the extraction efficiency were studied in this research, such as the initial feed phase concentration (10-50) ppm of ACTP, stripping phase (NaCl) concentration (0.3,0.5,0.7 M), temperature (30-50oC), the volume ratio of feed phase to membrane phase (200-400ml/80ml), agitation speed of the feed phase (75-125 rpm), membrane stirring speed (0, 100, 150 rpm), carrier concentration (1, 5, 9 wt%), the pH of feed (2, 4, 6, 8, 10), and solvent type (CCl4 and n-Heptane). The study shows that high ext
... Show Moreيهدف البحث الحالي إلى الاستفادة من القهوة المستهلكة , كمادة وسيطة حيث تعد القهوة المستهلكة من المخلفات المضرة للبيئة الاستخراج الكافيين الطبيعي والذي يعد مادة ذات نشاط حيوي واهمية, وتحديد العوامل الفعالة في كفاءة عملية الاستخلاص من حيث تركيز الكافيين. تضمنت المتغيرات الرئيسية المدروسة وقت الاستخلاص 0-150 دقيقة ، ودرجة الحرارة 25-55 درجة مئوية ، وسرعة الخلط 180-450 دورة في الدقيقة ، ودرجة الحموضة العالق
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