Abstract Background: The daily usage of maxillofacial prostheses causes them to mechanically deteriorate with time. This study was aimed to evaluate the reinforcement of VST50F maxillofacial silicone by using yttrium oxide (Y2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) to resist aging and mechanical deterioration. Materials and Method: Y2O3 NPs (30–45nm) were loaded into VST50F maxillofacial silicone in two weight percentages (1 and 1.5 wt%), which were predetermined in a pilot study as the best rates for improving tear strength with minimum increase in hardness values. A total of 120 specimens were prepared and divided into the control and experimental groups (with 1 and 1.5 wt% Y2O3 addition). Each group included 40 specimens, 10 specimens for each parameter tested (i.e., tear strength, surface roughness, hardness, tensile strength and elongation percentage). Specimens were artificially aged in a weathering chamber for 150 h and then tested. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD). Statistical significance was set to P ≤ 0.05. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were also conducted. Results and Discussion: SEM results showed that Y2O3 NPs were distributed well within the silicon matrix. FTIR results indicated that the NPs were physically dispersed within VST50F silicone without chemical interaction. After 150 h of accelerated artificial aging, adding Y2O3 NPs significantly increased the tear strength, hardness, surface roughness, and elongation percentage. Tensile strength increased non significantly. Conclusion: Adding Y2O3 NPs as fillers improved the mechanical properties of artificially aged maxillofacial silicone elastomer. Keywords: maxillofacial silicone, Y2O3, nanoparticles, fillers, artificial aging.
BixSb2-xTe3 alloys with different ratios of Bi (x=0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 2) have been prepared, Thin films of these alloys were prepared using thermal evaporation method under vacuum of 10-5 Torr on glass substrates at room temperature with different deposition rate (0.16, 0.5, 0.83) nm/sec for thickness (100, 300, 500) respectively. The X–ray diffraction measurements for BixSb2-xTe3 bulk and thin films indicate the polycrystalline structure with a strong intensity of peak of plane (015) preferred orientation with additional peaks, (0015) and (1010 ) reflections planes, which is meaning that all films present a very good texture along the (015) plane axis at different intensities for each thin film for different thickness. AFM measureme
... Show MorePVC/Kaolinite composites were prepared by the melt intercalation method. Mechanical properties, thermal properties, flammability and water absorption percentage of prepared samples were tested. Mechanical characteristic such as tensile strength, elongation at break; hardness and impact strength (charpy type) were measured for all samples. It was found that the tensile strength and elongation at break of PVC composites decreased with increasing kaolinite loading. Also, the hardness of the composites increases with increase in filler content .The impact strength of the composites at the beginning increases at lower kaolinite loadings is due to the lack of kaolin adhesion to the matrix. However, at higher kaolin loadings. This severe agglom
... Show MoreThe accumulation of construction and demolition waste is one of the major problems in modern construction. Hence, this research investigates the use of waste brick in concrete. Seven different concrete mixes were investigated in this study: a control concrete mix, three mixes with volumetric replacement (10, 20, and 30)% of natural aggregate with brick aggregate, and two mixes with the addition of nano brick powder at a percentage level of 5– 10% by weight of cementitious materials. And the last one was mixed with 10% nano brick and 10% coarse brick aggregate. The experimental results for the additive of nano brick powder showed an enhancement in mechanical properties (compressive,
Background: Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease that affects the supporting tissues of the teeth and it’s common among adults. Smoking is an important risk factor for periodontitis induces alveolar bone loss. Alkaline phosphatase enzyme is involved in the destruction of the human periodontium. It is produced by many cells such as polymorphonuclear leukocytes, osteoblasts, macrophages and fibroblasts within the area of the periodontium and gingival crevice. Osteocalcin is one of the most abundant matrix proteins found in bones and the only matrix protein synthesized exclusively there. Smaller Osteocalcin fragments are found in areas of bone remodeling and are actually degradation products of the bone matrix.The purpose of
... Show MoreThe current investigation examines the combined impacts of ultrasonic radiation and hydrogen donors on the viscosity of heavy crude oil. The impact of exposure time, power, duty cycle, and temperature on the viscosity of Iraqi heavy crude oil with 20.32 API was studied. Also, the viscosity of the oil samples, which were mixed with a hydrogen donor (decalin) and subjected to ultrasonic treatment under optimal conditions, was examined to evaluate the combined impact of ultrasonic radiation and hydrogen donor on the viscosity of crude oil. The viscosity experienced a decrease of 52.34% at 2 min of irradiation, 360 W ultrasonic power, 0.8 duty cycle, 35 ⁰C, and 8vol% decalin. To validate the outcomes of the experiments, asphaltene content, s
... Show MoreThe purified frog skin peptides were tested on leukemic patients lymphocytes, which revealed effects of cytotoxicity. Four frogs (Rana ridibunda) were stimulated by single intra-peritoneal injection of norepinephrine-HCl . Five different peptides;1(18) A, 2(19) L, 3(20) I,4(21) E and 5(22) Y were isolated and quantified. The peptide 3(20)I had 5.87% of hemolysis, while healthy human lymphocytes cytotoxic activity was for 2(19)L with inhibition( -10.4%).All peptides were subjected to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results revealed peptides 1(18)A, 2(19)L, 3(20)I which appeared as low as 10 KDa marker. Theoretically, the whole polypeptide had a molecular weight 7488.61 Dalt
... Show MoreThe principle of citizenship has international dimensions that affect the application of the principle, such as the structure of the international system, and the control of the concepts of globalization, international organizations which played an important role in the consolidation of this principle.
The problem of the study revolves around the effects of international variables on the principle of citizenship in Kuwait during the period 1991-2018.
The study used several indicators, such as: the rule of law, achieving the principle of separation of powers, the right to form parties, the application of the law of nationality, and racial discrimination, women's rights, and freedom of expression.
The electrical properties of pure NiO and NiO:Au Films which are
deposited on glass substrate with various dopant concentrations
(1wt.%, 2wt%, 3wt.% and 4wt.%) at room temperature 450 Co
annealing temperature will be presented. The results of the hall effect
showed that all the films were p-type. The Hall mobility decreases
while both carrier concentration and conductivity increases with the
increasing of annealing temperatures and doping percentage, Thus,
indicating the behavior of semiconductor, and also the D.C
conductivity from which the activation energy decrease with the
doping concentration increase and transport mechanism of the charge
carriers can be estimated.
TiO2 thin films have been deposited at different concentration of
CdO of (x= 0.0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2) Wt. % onto glass substrates
by pulsed laser deposition technique (PLD) using Nd-YAG laser
with λ=1064nm, energy=800mJ and number of shots=500. The
thickness of the film was 200nm. The films were annealed to
different annealing (423 and 523) k. The effect of annealing
temperatures and concentration of CdO on the structural and
photoluminescence (PL) properties were investigated. X-ray
diffraction (XRD) results reveals that the deposited TiO2(1-x)CdOx
thin films were polycrystalline with tetragonal structure and many
peaks were appeared at (110), (101), (111) and (211) planes with
preferred orientatio