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.
Background: Wound healing is a complex dynamical interaction between various cell types, the extracellular matrix, cytokines, and growth factors. osteoponetin is a substance that acts as an anti-inflammatory. Aims of study: The study was designed to identify the role of local exogenous applications of osteopontin on wound healing (in cheek skin). Materials and methods: Thirty adult male albino rats weighting an average of (250-300gm) used in this study, incisional wounds were made in the skin of the cheek of rat and they were divided into the following groups: A-Control group: 15 rats treated with 1µ l of normal saline B-Experimental groups: 15 rats treated with topical application of 1µl osteopontin. The scarification of animals we
... Show MoreIn this research ,Undoped Nio and 1%Li doped Nio thin films were deposited utilizing chemical spray pyrolysis on the glass substrates heated (450C). The effects of non-thermal plasma on the structural and optical properties were studied. XRD measurement shows that Nio and Nio:1%Li films were found to be polycrystalline and have cubic structure with a preferred orientation (111). Decreased crystal size after exposure especially at (7) sec. AFM data indicate that the surface roughness average and (RMS) values of the prepared doped films are increasing after exposure to plasma, the transmittance increases after doped samples exposure to plasma, it was found that the energy gap value decreased when doped samples exposure to plasma, also, thickn
... Show MoreIn this work, ZnS thin films have been deposited by developed laser deposition technique on glass substrates at room temperature. After deposition process, the films were annealed at different temperatures (200ºC , 300 ºC and 400ºC ) using thermal furnace.The developed technique was used to obtain homogeneous thin films of ZnS depending on vaporization of this semiconductor material by continuous CO2 laser with a simple fan to ensure obtaining homogeneous films. ZnS thin films were annealed at temperature 200ºC, 300 ºC and 400ºC for (20) minute in vacuum environment. Optical properties of ZnS thin film such as absorbance, transmittance, reflectance, optical band gap, refractive index extinction coefficient and absorption coefficien
... Show MorePreparation of superposed thin film (CdTe)1-xSex / ZnS) with concentration of (x= 0.1, 0.3, 0.5) at a temperature of substrate (Ts= 80 0C) by using Thermal Vacuum Evaporation System. The measurement of X-ray diffraction shows that the compounds CdTe, ZnS, (CdTe)1-xSex and (CdTe)1-xSex / ZnS have a polycrystalline structure, the C-V characteristic shows that the capacitance degrease by increasing the concentration (x) in reverse bias, while the I-V characteristic shows the current dark (Id) increase in forward and reverse bias by increasing (x) and the photocurrent (Iph) increase in reverse bias by increasing the concentration (x), the values of photocurrent are greater than from the values of the dark current for all concentrations
... Show MoreSpray pyrolysis technique was subjected to synthesized (SnO2)1-x (TiO2: CuO) x Thin films on different substrates like glass and single crystal silicon using. The structure of the deposited films was studied using x-ray diffraction. A more pronounced diffraction peaks of SnO2 while no peaks of (CuO , TiO2 ) phase appear in the X-ray profiles by increasing of the content of (TiO2 , CuO) in the sprayed films. Mixing concentration (TiO2 , CuO) influences on the size of the crystallites of the SnO2 films ,the size of crystallites of the spray paralyzed oxide films change in regular manner by increasing of (TiO
... Show MoreSb2S3 thin films have been prepared by chemical bath deposition on a glas sub Absorbance and transmittance spectra were recorded in the wavelength range (30-900) nm. The effects of thickness on absorption coefficient, reflectance, refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary parts of dielectric constant were estimated. It was found that the reflectivity, absorption coefficient , extinction coefficient, real part of dielectric constant and refractive index, all these parameters decrease as the thickness increased, while the imaginary part of the dielectric constant increase as the thickness incre
... Show MoreAim of the study: Is to evaluate the effect of myrrh oil local application on the healing process of skin wounds histologically , histomorphometrically and , histochemically. Materials and methods:Twenty male white New Zealand rabbits were used in this study. An incisional wounds with full thickness depth and of 2 cm length were done on both sides of the cheek skin of each rabbit. The left sided incisions (the control group) were irrigated with distilled water (10µL). The right sided incisions (the experimental groups) were treated with myrrh oil (10µL). Each group was subdivided into 4 subgroups according to the healing interval into 1,3,7 and 14 days(5 rabbits for each group). Results: Histological findings of our current study s
... Show MoreThis research studies the effect of addition of some nanoparticles
(MgO, CuO) and grain size (30,40nm) on some physical properties
(impact strength, hardness and thermal conductivity) for a matrix
blend of epoxy resin with SBR rubber. Hand –Lay up method was
used to prepare the samples. All samples were immersed in water for
9 weeks.
The Results showed decreased in the values of impact strength and
hardness but increased the coefficient of thermal conductivity.