Although the events of September 2001 marked the United States' employment of solid forces in its direct comprehensive strategy to counter terrorist organizations and any other challenges to US national security, the United States did not lose sight of the importance of the cultural variable. The cultural variable is the United States' most important instrument of soft power in ensuring its dominance of the international system and promoting its global project. France viewed US soft power as a threat to its own civilizational pattern. Therefore, France considers culture to be an inherent component of its national personality and a cornerstone of its international standing as a major force. Additionally, the US-French political and economic

Background: For decades, the use of naturally accessible materials in treating human disease has been widespread. The goal of this study was to determine the anti-fungal effectiveness /of the lemongrass essential oil (LGEO) versus Candida albicans (C. albicans) adhesion to polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) materials. Material and methods: LGEO's anti-fungal activity was tested against C. albicans adhesion using the following concentration of LGEO in PMMA monomer (2.5 vol. %, 5 vol. % LGEO) selected from the pilot study as the best two effective concentrations. A total of 40 specimens were fabricated for the candida adherence test and were subdivided into four equal groups: negative control 0 vol. % addition, experimental with 2.5 vol. % and

This work aims to investigate the tensile and compression strengths of heat- cured acrylic resin denture base material by adding styrene-butadiene (S- B) to polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The most well- known issue in prosthodontic practice is fracture of a denture base. All samples were a blend of (90%, 80%) PMMA and (10%, 20%) S- B powder melted in Oxolane (Tetra hydro furan). These samples were chopped down into specimens of dimensions 100x10x2.5mm to carry out the requirements of tensile tests. The compression strength test specimens were shaped into a cylinder with dimensions of 12.7mm in diameter and 20mm in length. The experimental results show a significant increase in both tensile and compression strengths when compared to cont

This study was design to investigate the dimensional stability of heat-activated acrylic resin with different methods of flask cooling (15 minutes rapid cooling, one hour bench cooling, four hours delayed deflasking, and 24 hours delayed deflasking) at different time intervals (immediately, two days, seven days, 30 days) after deflasking. Heat-activated acrylic resin was used to prepare acrylic samples. Then, measurement of the distances where achieved between the centers of selected marks in the acrylic samples. They were measured at different time intervals for different methods of flask cooling. The results showed that the group samples of the four hours and 24 hours of delayed deflasking was insignificantly different from the control an

The performance and lifetime of the flexible asphalt pavement are mainly dependent on the interfacial bond strength between layer courses. To enhance the bond between layers, adhesive materials, such as tack coats, are used. The tack coat itself is a bituminous material, which is applied on an existing relatively non-absorbent surface to ensure a strong bond between the old and newly paved layer. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various types of tack coat materials on interlayer bond strength and to determine the optimal application rate for each type. The tack coat types used in this paper were RC-70, RC-250, and CSS-1h. Both laboratory-prepared and field-constructed hot mix asphalt concrete pavements usin

Objective Advantageous properties of silicone elastomer made it one of the favorable materials in maxillofacial prosthesis construction, but these properties may change after months of usage or after pigments addition. This study aimed to define the optimum concentration for a mixture of two types of intrinsic pigments that added to VST-50 maxillofacial silicone material and study their effects on mechanical properties before and after artificial aging. Methods After the pilot study was conducted, 0.1% by weight of rayon flocking and 0. 2% by weight of burnt sienna intrinsic pigment concentration was selected because of improvement in tested mechanical properties of VST-50 maxillofacial silicone. A total of one hundred and eighty samples we

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect addition of polyester fibers on the some mechanical properties of heat cured acrylic resin (implant strength, flexural strength and hardness) Materials and methods: Ninety specimens were used in the study. Thirty specimens were used for impact strength measurements (80mm X 10mm X 4mm) length, width and thickness respectively. The specimens divided into three test groups (n=10), first group formed from heat cure acrylic resin without fiber reinforcement. Second group was formed from heat cure acrylic resin was reinforced with 2 mm length polyester fiber and third group was formed from heat cure acrylic resin reinforced with 4mm length polyester fiber, impact strength measured by impact test

In this paper, we will focus to one of the recent applications of PU-algebras in the coding theory, namely the construction of codes by soft sets PU-valued functions. First, we shall introduce the notion of soft sets PU-valued functions on PU-algebra and investigate some of its related properties.Moreover, the codes generated by a soft sets PU-valued function are constructed and several examples are given. Furthermore, example with graphs of binary block code constructed from a soft sets PU-valued function is constructed.

Back ground: During acrylic resin processing, the mold must be separated from the surface of the gypsum to prevent liquid resin from penetrating into the gypsum, and water from the gypsum seeping into the acrylic resin. For many years, tin foil was the most acceptable separating medium, and because it's difficult to apply, a tin-foil substitute is used. In this study, olive oil is used as an alternative to tin foil separating medium for first time, so the aim of the study was to evaluate its effect as a separating medium on some physical properties such as (surface roughness, water sorption and solubility) of acrylic resins denture base comparing it with those processed using tin-foil and tin foil substitute such as (cold mold seal) separat