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.
The aim of our current study was to identify the effect of particulate matter of both types (PM2.5 and PM10) resulting from hookah smoking on the hemopoietic system of workers (smokers) in closed cafes. This study included six stations (cafes) on the Rusafa side of Baghdad city and conducted a blood test that included a complete blood count (CBC). A multifunctional air quality detector measured both types of particulate matter in the morning and evening. The study included 30 men (workers and smokers) and 30 men (non-smokers), whose ages ranged from 20 to 40 years. The study found that smokers had an increase in white blood cells and red blood cells, as well as an increase in the percentage of hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), the mean co
... Show MoreIn this work a hybrid composite materials were prepared containing matrix of polymer (polyethylene PE) reinforced by different reinforcing materials (Alumina powder + Carbon black powder CB + Silica powder). The hybrid composite materials prepared are: • H1 = PE + Al2O3 + CB • H2 = PE + CB + SiO2 • H3 = PE + Al2O3 + CB + SiO2 All samples related to electrical tests were prepared by injection molding process. Mechanical tests include compression with different temperatures and different chemical solutions at different immersion times The mechanical experimentations results were in favour of the samples (H3) with an obvious weakness of the samples (H1) and a decrease of these properties with a rise in temperature and the increasing
... Show MoreObesity is a disease describe a case of excessive accumulation of body fats. Obesity is linked to the morbidity of human health, such as the development of hypertension. The study designed to investigate the levels of glucose, urea, creatinine, and lipid profile parameters in sera of obese female and hypertensive obese female. The study included 90 subjects who divided onto three groups equally, in which they are healthy control, normotensive obese, and hypertensive obese. A significant elevation (P<0.01) has observed in the level of glucose, urea, creatinine, triglycerides (TGs), cholesterol, LDL-C, and VLDL-C in obese females compared with control, yet only TGs and VLDL-C were si
The frog has a highly developed nervous system. It consists of a brain, a spinal cord and nerves. The brain is the only center for the control of all vital activities as it receives impulses from different parts of the body through sensory nerves and issues orders through motor fibers to different parts of the body for appropriate action. The Aims of studyis general morphological structural of the brain and spinal cord in the Iraqi frog Rana ridibunda ridibunda. The brains of twenty of frogs belonging to class Amphibia were studied using conventional techniques of dissecting microscopy. All samples were sacrificed and anesthetized and then they were removed completely from the neurocranium, cranial, sensory nerves and the meninges and trans
... Show MorePiroxicam is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used in the treatment of musculo-skeletal and joint disorders. The problem with this drug is its poor solubility in water and hence poor bioavailability after oral administration. In order to improve its solubility and dissolution behavior, hydrophilic additives such as starch, lactose, superdisintegrants including crospovidone (C.P), cross carmellose sodium (CCS), and sodium starch glycolate (SSG) were physically dry mixed with the drug by simple trituration. The improvement in the solubility in 0.1 N HCl was obtained as the amount of starch or lactose increased in the physical mixture, while for superdisintegrants, they further improve the solubility when they are present in s
... Show MorePaul Auster's City of Glass is here singled out as representative of the writer's The New
York Trilogy. All throughout his novelistic career, Auster has been working on a pseudothesis
that adheres to a certain aesthetic of disappearance. The study engages this Austerian
aesthetic apropos of certain theoretical stretches such as the Emersonian "Not Me", the
Thoreauvian "interval" or "nowhere", the Deleuzian "nomadic trajectory", the Derridian
"grammè" or "specter", and the Baudrillardian "disappearance". The city of the novel's titling
is here seen as the trope of all that which has already disappeared, and hence it is seen as the
space (mise en scène) where the perfect crime of the murder of the real is to be thoro