Resilient polymeric materials such as silicone elastomers are currently used for maxillofacial prostheses construction but the strength of these materials and their clinical performance need to be optimized with the addition of reinforcing fillers. This study investigates the effect of zirconia nanopowder addition on tear strength, tensile strength, elongation at break, Shore A hardness, surface roughness and cytotoxicity of VST-50 maxillofacial silicone. Silicone base was mixed with different amounts (1%, 2% and 3%) of zirconia nanopowder using a vacuum mixer. Silicone without filler was used as control for comparison. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy were utilized to assess the efficiency of high-shear vacuum mixing as filler dispersion method and the surface topography, respectively. Both SEM and AFM images showed that the zirconia nanopowder were distributed fairly well within the polymer. Statistically, highly significant increase in tear strength, tensile strength and hardness with non-significant decrease in elongation at break and non-significant increase in surface roughness were seen with 1% and 2% groups. Whereas with 3% group, there was significant improvement in tear strength, tensile strength and hardness but there was significant undesirable decrease in elongation and increase in roughness. Cytotoxicity test revealed that the addition of zirconia nanopowder was nontoxic to Rat Embryonic Fibroblast (REF) cells and there was non-significant change in the cell viability of all study groups after 24- and 72-hours incubation periods. In conclusion, the addition of 2% by weight nano zirconia to VST-50 maxillofacial silicone could be beneficial in enhancing its performance.
Sewer system plays an indispensable task in urban cities by protecting public health and the environment. The operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of this network have to be in a sustainable and scientific manner. For this purpose, it is important to support operators, decision makers and municipalities with performance evaluation procedure that is based on operational factors. In this paper, serviceability and performance indicator (PI) principles are employed to propose methodology comprising two enhanced PI curves that can be used to evaluate the individual sewers depending on operational factors such as flowing velocity and wastewater level in the sewers. In order to test this methodology; a case study of al-Ru
... Show MoreBackground : The number of primary hip arthroplasty is growing with every passing year. At present this surgical operation has no equal in the rate of yielding good results. Despite the fact that in many cases in the long term after surgery radiolucent lines around the cup are observed, the clinical outcomes remain satisfactory.Aim of the study :To study the clinical and radiological manifestations of the aseptic loosening of the endoprosthesisMethods: This is a prospective study based on an analysis of diagnostic findings of 51 patients with aseptic loosening of hip joint components, aged 30 to 84 years. We depend for diagnosis of a septic losing by both clinical evaluation and X-ray assessment Results:The majority of clinical and
... Show MoreA progressive increase in the desire for environmentally friendly lubricants by users and strict government regulations for the use of these lubricants has provided an opportunity to use plant oils as biodegradable lubricants, therefore vegetable oils have been investigated to replace oil lubricants because of their maintaining the conditions of nature (environment) properties. In this paper, the influences of the blending ratio of mustard seeds oil with commercial mineral oil (SAE40) on the tribological characteristics were investigated and compared with mineral oil using the four-ball tribotester. Mustard seeds oil was blended with mineral oil at a volumetric ratio ranging from 22.5 to 90%. All experimental works were
... Show MoreObjectives: Many medication errors occur in the hospital, and these can endanger patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of medication errors in hospitalized patients, and to categorize the most frequent types of errors, and to asses the possible measures that may prevent the occurrence of such errors.
Methods: A prospective, exploratory, and evaluative study, using direct observation method to detect medication errors in adult hospitalized patients in medical and surgical units in Baquba Teaching Hospital- Diyala-Iraq.. The files of 299 patients had been reviewed from July 2009 to September 2009, including medication orders and treatment sheets to detect existing errors. The detected errors were recorded and
Antacids are commonly used drugs which are considered inert and free of pharmacological effect by many patients and physicians. They are weak bases that neutralize the gastric acid and relief pain. These weak bases dissociate to neutralize gastric acid and form neutral salts. The ultimate goal of antacid therapy is to reduce the concentration and a total load of acid in gastric juice to a pH 4 - 5. This in vitro study was promised to study the acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) of six commonly available antacids tablets in the Iraqi market by using back titration method. The highest ANC values were for Rennie (17.131± 0.083 and 16.926± 0.052 mEq) in two different hydrochloric acid (HCl) concentrations 1N and 0.5 N, respectively. The static
... Show MoreBackground : The number of primary hip arthroplasty is growing with every passing year. At present this surgical operation has no equal in the rate of yielding good results. Despite the fact that in many cases in the long term after surgery radiolucent lines around the cup are observed, the clinical outcomes remain satisfactory.
Aim of the study :To study the clinical and radiological manifestations of the aseptic loosening of the endoprosthesis
Methods: This is a prospective study based on an analysis of diagnostic findings of 51 patients with aseptic loosening of hip joint components, aged 30 to 84 years. We depend for diagnosis of a septic losing by both clinical evaluation and X-ray assessment Results:The majority of clinical a
The role of drain in agricultural lands is to remove excess surface and subsurface water to create a good environment for root growth and to increase crops yield. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the performance of closed drains when using textile filter instead of crushed gravel filter. The research has been executed in the laboratory using a sand tank model and by using two types of the soil. One of soils was light soil (sandy soil) and the other heavy soil (loamy soil). The tests were classified into four cases; each case was supplied discharge during 10 days. The results showed that the amount of out flow when using graded crushed gravel filter is greater than the amount of out flow in case of usin
... Show MoreThe measurement of minority carrier lifetime (MCLT) ofp-n Si fabricated with aid of laser doping technique was reported. The measurement is achieved by using open circuit voltage decay (OCVD) technique. The experiment data confirms that the value of MCLT and proftle of Voc decay were very sensitive to the doping laser energy.
Insurance Companies perform a prominent role in providing services and bolstering national economy, and they contribute in achieving the aims of the economic development plans in addition to many other social and economic benefits. So it is necessary to evaluate the activity of these companies continuously to define performance level and its nature. Financial analysis is one of the important instruments that helps in analyzing and explanation of data in such a way that enable administration to define performance level and diagnosing strength and weakness points. This study tackles the state of affairs of the Iraqi Insurance Company which is considered as one of the active national institutions, due to its distinguished role in collecting
... Show MoreAbstract his study involved evaluation of side effects of two weight reduction pills that had been widely distributed in the last period. Two weight reduction compounds are studied, Reductil (containing chemical substances) and Chinese’s weight reduction herbs (containing natural substances). Two doses for each compound are used in this research; 5mg/ml and 0.5mg/ml for Reductil, while 30mg/ml and 10mg/ml for Chinese weight reduction herbs. To evaluate the toxic effects of these compounds, the following parameters were determined which include mitotic index (cytogenetic analysis), serum FSH and LH hormones level (follicles stimulation hormone/FSH and lutenising hormone/LH) and histological examination of female mice ovaries. Control group
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