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.
A tunable band pass filter based on fiber Bragg grating sensor using an in-fiber Mach-Zender interferometer with dual micro-cavities is presented. The micro-cavity was formed by splicing together a conventional single-mode fiber and a solid core photonic crystal fiber (SCPCF) with simple arc discharge technique. Different parameters such as arc power, length of the SCPCF and the overlap gap between samples were considered to control the fabrication process. The ellipsoidal air-cavity between the two fibers forms Fabry-Perot cavity. The diffraction loss was very low due to short cavity length. Ellipsoidal shape micro-cavities were experimentally achieved parallel to the propagation axis having dimensions of (24.92 – 62.32) μm of width
... Show MoreThe kindergarten teacher play a role in fixing the children behavior so she must plant the value and the habits that make a positive behavior and accepted by the society so the teacher must know all the right educational psychological styles to fix the children behavior and make them accepted psychologically and socially so the problem of the research start from knowing the relation between the methods of dealing with the kindergarten’s teachers and the non right behavior appearance for the kindergarten children. The current research aims to measure the negative behavior appearance of the children of kindergarten and distinguish it according to (sex and levels) and to distinguish the most using styles by the teachers of kinderg
... Show MoreThe researcher is one of the workers in university sports student activities, as he noticed that there is a diversity in the use of leadership patterns among managers of student activities in Iraqi universities between one director and another, which leads to the impact of these leadership styles on performance, positive or negative, in the level of human relations and the achievement of results. The researcher adopted the descriptive method in the survey method with relational relationships. The research sample consisted of (184) sports coaches who represent (27) universities and governmental and private colleges. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Spss). To extract.statisti
... Show MoreTotal dissolved solids are at the top of the parameters list of water quality that requires investigations for planning and management, especially for irrigation and drinking purposes. If the quality of water is sufficiently predictable, then appropriate management is possible. In the current study, Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models were used as indicators of water quality and for the prediction of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) along the Tigris River, in Baghdad city. To build these models five water parameters were selected from the intakes of four water treatment plants on the Tigris River, for the period between 2013 and 2017. The selected water parameters were Total Dissolved Solids (TDS
... Show MoreThe financial analysis of the published financial statements is the means that enables businessmen, financial institutions, financial analysts and others to conduct their studies and conclusions to obtain information that helps them in the decision-making process, including decisions related to investment. National in making the decision on the investment activity, for the period from 2012 to 2018, through the information provided by the annual financial statements, by selecting a set of indicators provided by the financial statements, namely (liquidity ratio, activity percentage, profitability ratios) to measure the extent of this ability Indicators in determining their role in making an investment decision.
This paper aims to propose a hybrid approach of two powerful methods, namely the differential transform and finite difference methods, to obtain the solution of the coupled Whitham-Broer-Kaup-Like equations which arises in shallow-water wave theory. The capability of the method to such problems is verified by taking different parameters and initial conditions. The numerical simulations are depicted in 2D and 3D graphs. It is shown that the used approach returns accurate solutions for this type of problems in comparison with the analytic ones.