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 : Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common entrapment neuropathy of upper extremities and Open carpal tunnel release is the most frequent surgical procedure and the gold standard for cases that do not respond to conservative treatment. Aims :This study is used to evaluate the functional outcome of limited palmar mini-incision of carpal tunnel release. This study aims to determine the safety and symptomatic and functional efficacy of median nerve decompression with limited incision in carpal tunnel syndrome surgery. Patients and methods:Carpal tunnel release with a 1.5-2 cm limited palmar incision was performed on 20 patients. Patients were evaluated initially at one month after treatment according to symptom severity
... Show MoreBackground: Lateral sinus augmentation and simultaneous insertion of dental implants is a highlypredictable procedure and associated with high rate of implants success.Aims: To evaluate implant stability changes following maxillary sinus augmentation utilizing deproteinizedbovine bone alone or mixed with platelet-rich fibrin.Materials and Methods: A total of 34 lateral sinus augmentation procedures were performed and 50 dentalimplants simultaneously installed. The lateral sinus augmentation cases were allocated randomly into 3groups: Group A comprised 13 procedures and 21 dental implants utilizing solely deproteinized bovine bone.Group B involved 10 cases and 16 dental implants using deproteinized bovine bone mixed with leukocyteand
... Show MoreCardiovascular diseases CVD are responsible for the majority of death in many countries, the term cardiovascular disease CVD includes several diseases such as: coronary artery diseases (angina, myocardial infaraction MI, atherosclerosis) and stroke. These diseases cause elevation of TC, TG, LDL, VLDL, and MDA levels in plasma and decrease of HDL levels and PON activity in plasma, because of elevation in lipid peroxidation (LPO) activity. Catechins is a water extract of green tea composed of: (-)epicatchin EC, ECG, EGC, EGCG, (+) catechin C and GC, these compounds play great roles against chronic diseases such as CVD. The effect of catechins extract on the preceding biochemical parameters was investigated in 40 volunteer male
... Show MoreObjective: To evaluate nurses' practices concerning isolation techniques for Adult Leukemic Patients (ALP).
Methodology: A descriptive study was carried out at the isolation rooms at leukemic wards in Baghdad Teaching
Hospitals, starting from Jan. 27th 2008 up to the 27th of Apr. 2008. To achieve the objectives of study, a non-probability
"purposive" sample of (50) nurse was selected out of four Teaching Hospitals in Baghdad city were selected according
to the criteria of the study sample.
The study instrument consisted of two major parts. It is based on the review of literature. First is concerned with
demographic data for nurses; and the second part is observational tool (checklist) is composed of (83) item. The conte
Objective(s): This study aimed to evaluate job satisfaction among nurses working at primary health care centers in Samawa City.
Methodology: A Descriptive evolutional study has been carried out during the period from 1 February 2022 to 1 June 2022. A nonprobability (convenience) sample of (200) nurse were selected from different educational level. A questionnaire format is developed for the purpose of fulfilling the objectives of the study. Content validity of the questionnaire and reliability has been determined. Data are analyzed using IBM SPSS version 19 software (2010).
Results: The findings indicate that 52% of nurses are showing high level of job satisfa
... Show MoreEpstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infection is associated with broad spectrum of clinical manifestationsdepending on the immune status of the host, To analyze their possible role in the complication ofautoimmune hepatitis, we investigated (30) female patients with autoimmune hepatitis type-1 of(10-40)years and 25 healthy female of same ages(control groups). Both groups were carried outto measure the levels of EBV-CA IgM, IgG Ab, EBV-EA IgM, IgG Ab, and EBV-NA IgM, IgGAb using indirect immunoflourescent assay (IFAT).The prevalence of EBV-CA IgM, IgG Ab were(10%,20%) and EBV-EA IgM, IgG Ab were (10% and20%) respectively, while the prevalence ofEBV-NA IgG Ab was( 3.33%) and there are no prevalence of EBV-NA IgM Ab. There weresignificant differences (P
... Show MoreHydraulic fracturing is considered to be a vital cornerstone in decision making of unconventional reservoirs. With an increasing level of development of unconventional reservoirs, many questions have arisen regarding enhancing production performance of tight carbonate reservoirs, especially the evaluation of the potential for adapting multistage hydraulic fracturing technology in tight carbonate reservoirs to attain an economic revenue.
In this paper we present a feasibility study of multistage fractured horizontal well in typical tight carbonate reservoirs covering different values of permeability. We show that NPV is the suitable objective function for deciding on the optimum number
The research includes the synthesis and identification of the mixed ligands complexes of M+2ions in general composition[M(Asn)2(SMX)] Where L- Aspargine (C4H8N2O3)symbolized (AsnH) as a primary ligand and Sulfamethoxazole(C10H11N3O3S) symbolized (SMX) as a secondary ligand. The ligands and the metal chlorides were brought in to reaction at room temperature in(v/v) ethanol /water as solvent containing NaOH. The reaction required the following [(metal: 2(Na+Asn-): (SMX)] molar ratios with M(II) ions, Where: M(II)=Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II). The UV–Vis and magnetic moment data revealed an octahedral geometry around M(II), The conductivity data show a non-electrolytic nature of the complexes. The antimicrobial a
... Show MoreThe effect of the annealing on the optical transmission , absorp tion coefficient,
dielectric constants (ε
r
),( ε
i
) ,Skin depth and the optical ener gy gap of (ZnO)x(CdO)1-x thin
films with (x=0.05) deposited on preheated glass substrates at a temperature of (450 C°) by
chemical pyrolysis technique were performed . These f ilms show direct allowed inter band
transition that influenced by annealing at ( 450 C°) for two hours . And it also found that the
optical ener gy gap has been increased fro m about (2.50 eV) before annealing to about (2.65
eV) after annealing , fro m the analysis of the absorp tion and transmission sp ectra in the
wavelength range (380-900nm) . The results show t