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.
Abstract
This study aims to identify the extent to which the criteria of the American Council for Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL) are included in the English language books for the fifth and sixth graders. To achieve the objective of the study, a content analysis card was prepared, where the classification of language proficiencies was divided into five main levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced, superior, and distinguished) of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), The content analysis card consisted of (89) indicators distributed at the four levels of language skills as follows: Listening (17), speaking (33), reading (15), and writing (26). The study sample consisted of Engl
... Show MoreA hybrid Gas-Enhanced and Downhole Water Sink-Assisted Gravity Drainage (GDWS-AGD) process has been suggested to enhance oil recovery by placing vertical injectors for CO2 at the top of the reservoir with a series of horizontal oil-producing and water-drainage wells located above and below the oil-water contact, respectively. The injected gas builds a gas cap that drives the oil to the (upper) oil-producing wells while the bottom water-drainage wells control water cresting. The hybrid process of GDWS-AGD process has been first developed and tested in vertical wells to minimize water cut in reservoirs with bottom water drive and strong water coning tendencies. The wells were dual-compl
Objective: The descriptive study was used to evaluate nursing staff performance in cardiac care units at teaching
and non teaching hospitals in kirkuk city: A comparative study.
Methodology: A descriptive study was used to evaluate nursing staff performance in cardiac care units. The study
was conducted from December 29th
, 2013 up to the 27th of Apr. 2014. A non-probability (purposive) sample of
(44) nurses who work in cardiac care unit at Azady teaching Hospital and Kirkuk general Hospital was evaluated by
a questionnaire which consisted of two parts; the first part is concerned with the demographic characteristics of
the nurses and the second part concerned Observation check list for evaluation nursing staff Perfo
Urinary tract infection is a bacterial infection that often affects the bladder and thus the urinary system. E. coli is one of the leading uropathogenic bacteria that cause urinary tract infections. Uropathogenic E. coli is highly effective and successful in causing urinary tract infections through biofilm formation and urothelial cell invasion mechanisms. Other organisms that cause urinary tract infections include members of the Enterobacteriaceae family, streptococci and staphylococci species and perch. In addition, K.penumoniae is another important gram-negative bacterium that causes urinary tract infections. With the PCR technique, unseen bacterial species can be detected using standard clinical microbiology methods. In this study, the
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Business organizations are using the technological innovations like cloud computing (CC) as a developmental platform in order to improve the performance of their information systems. In that context, our paper discusses know-how in employing the public and private CC to serve as platforms to develop the evaluation system of annual employees' performance (ESAEP) at Iraqi universities. Therefore, we ask the paper question which is “Is it possible to adopt the innovative solutions of ICTs (Like: public and private CC) for finding the developmental vision about management information systems at business organizations?”. In addition, the paper aim
... Show MoreA multistep synthesis was established for the preparation of a new vanillic acid-1, 2, 4-1triazole-3-thiol conjugate (
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases which occurs as a result of unknown reasons. This study was conducted at Baghdad Teaching Hospital/City of Medicine, where blood samples were taken from 60 Iraqi patients with RA (49 females and 11 males) and these patients were matched by age and sex with 20 healthy controls (16 females and 4 males). Patients with RA were diagnosed by a consultant rheumatologist according to ACR / EULAR criteria in 2010. In this study the patients were divided into four groups as follows; the first group consisted of 12 patients treated with methotrexate (MTX), the second group consisted of 10 patients treated with etanercept, the third group consisted of 18 patients treate
... Show MoreBlastocystis is a ubiquitous human and animal protozoa that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract. Metronidazole is considered the standard drug for the treatment of Blastocystis infection; however, there is growing evidence of treatment failure, hazardous side effects, and appearance of strains resistant to metronidazole. In the last era, many studies have been implicated in the quest for new treatments for Blastocystis infection, especially natural products. Attention has been focused on the effect of Amygdalin (B17) and pumpkin seed on eradicating parasitic infections. The current work was built up to explore the in vitro efficacy of two natural compounds, Amygdalin (B17) and pumpkin seeds against
... Show MoreOsteoarthritis is the most prevalent arthritic disease and a leading cause of disability. The pathogenesis of osteoarthritis involves multiple etiologies, including variable degree of synovial inflammation. Metformin and pioglitazone could potentially reduce the levels and activity of inflammatory mediators. This may consider as a new therapeutic approach added to the current used drugs in an attempt to decrease the pain, inflammation, and improve daily activity and quality of life in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
This study designed to evaluate the clinical utility of using metformin or pioglitazone as anti-inflammatory agents in combination with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) of selective type of cyclooxygen
... Show MoreImage quality has been estimated and predicted using the signal to noise ratio (SNR). The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between body mass index (BMI) and SNR measurements in PET imaging using patient studies with liver cancer. Three groups of 59 patients (24 males and 35 females) were divided according to BMI. After intravenous injection of 0.1 mCi of 18F-FDG per kilogram of body weight, PET emission scans were acquired for (1, 1.5, and 3) min/bed position according to the weight of patient. Because liver is an organ of homogenous metabolism, five region of interest (ROI) were made at the same location, five successive slices of the PET/CT scans to determine the mean uptake (signal) values and its standard deviat
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