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.
Nano-structural of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) thin films were
deposited by chemical spray pyrolysis technique (CSPT). Nd and Ce
doped vanadium oxide films were prepared, adding Neodymium
chloride (NdCl3) and ceric sulfate (Ce(SO4)2) of 3% in separate
solution. These precursor solutions were used to deposit un-doped
V2O5 and doped with Nd and Ce films on the p-type Si (111) and
glass substrate at 250°C. The structural, optical and electrical
properties were investigated. The X-ray diffraction study revealed a
polycrystalline nature of the orthorhombic structure with the
preferred orientation of (010) with nano-grains. Atomic force
microscopy (AFM) was used to characterize the morphology of the
films. Un-do
The present investigation aims to determine the effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) on biotransformation and antioxidant genes and the protective effects of curcumin, present in turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder (TMP). Specifically, the study included four groups of albino mice were fed for 30 days on diet Group I: Control, Group II: animals fed on the conventional basal diet supplemented with 0.5% food grade TMP that supplied 74 mg/kg total curcuminoids. Group III contained animals reared on conventional basal diet supplemented with 1.0 ppm AFB1 supplied by ground aflatoxin culture material (760 ppm AFB1). Finally, Group IV comprised of albino mice fed with basal diet supplemented with 1.0 ppm AFB1 and 0.5% TMP that supplied 74 mg/kg of the
... Show MoreBackground: The displacement of artificial teeth during complete denture construction presents major processing errors in the occlusal vertical dimension which were verified at the previous trial denture stage. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of delay in processing after final flask closure and tension application on the vertical acrylic and porcelain teeth displacement of complete dentures constructed from heat cured acrylic and the results were compared with the conventional processing method. Materials and methods: forty samples of identical maxillary complete dentures were constructed from heat polymerized acrylic resin. These samples were subdivided into the following experimental subgroups in which each subgroup contai
... Show MoreIn this work the effect of annealing temperature on the structure and the electrical properties of Bi thin films was studied, the Bi films were deposited on glass substrates at room temperature by thermal evaporation technique with thickness (0.4 µm) and rate of deposition equal to 6.66Å/sec, all samples are annealed in a vacuum for one hour. The X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the prepared samples are polycrystalline and it exhibits hexagonal structure. The electrical properties of these films were studied with different annealing temperatures, the d.c conductivity for films decreases from 16.42 ? 10-2 at 343K to 10.11?10-2 (?.cm)-1 at 363K. The electrical activation energies Ea1 and Ea2 increase from 0.031 to 0.049eV and
... Show MoreFerrite with general formula Ni1-x Cox Fe2O4(where x=0.0.1,0.3,0.5,0.7, and 0.9), were prepared by standard ceramic technique. The main cubic spinel structure phase for all samples was confirmed by x-ray diffraction patterns. The lattice parameter results were (8.256-8.299 °A). Generally, x -ray density increased with the addition of Cobalt and showed value between (5.452-5.538gm/cm3). Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) showed that the average grain size and surface roughness was decreasing with the increasing cobalt concentration. Scanning Electron Microscopy images show that grains had an irregular distribution and irregular shape. The A.C conductivity was found to increase with the frequency and the addition of Cobal
... Show MoreTo evaluate the bioactivity and the cytocompatibility of experimental Bioglass-reinforced polyethylene-based root-canal filling materials. The thermal properties of the experimental materials were also evaluated using differential scanning calorimetry, while their radiopacity was assessed using a grey-scale value (GSV) aluminium step wedge and a phosphor plate digital system. Bioglass 45S5 (BAG), polyethylene and Strontium oxide (SrO) were used to create tailored composite fibres. The filler distribution within the composites was assessed using SEM, while their bioactivity was evaluated through infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) after storage in simulated body fluid (SBF). The radiopacity of the composite fibres and their thermal properties were
... Show MoreIn this research Bi2S3 thin films have been prepared on glass substrates using chemical spray pyrolysis method at substrate temperature (300oC) and molarity (0.015) mol. Structural and optical properties of the thin films above have been studied; XRD analysis demonstrated that the Bi2S3 films are polycrystalline with (031) orientation and with Orthorhombic structure. The optical properties were studied using the spectral of the absorbance and transmission of films in wavelength ranging (300-1100) nm. The study showed that the films have high transmission within the range of the visible spectrum. Also absorption coefficient, extinction coefficient and the optical energy gap (Eg) was calculated, found that the film have direct ener
... Show MoreThis work presents the study of the dark current density and the capacitance for porous silicon prepared by photo-electrochemical etching for n-type silicon with laser power density of 10mw/cm2 and wavelength (650nm) under different anodization time (30,40,50,60) minute. The results obtained from this study shows different chara that different characteristic of porous diffecteristics for the different porous Silicon layers.
Gallium arsenide diamondoids structural and vibrational properties are investigated using density functional theory at the PBE/6-31(d) level and basis including polarization functions. Variation of energy gap as these diamondoids increase in size is seen to follow confinement theory for diamondoids having nearly equiaxed dimensions. Density of energy states transforms from nearly single levels to band structure as we reach larger diamondoids. Bonds of surface hydrogen with As atoms are relatively localized and shorter than that bonded to Ga atoms. Ga-As bonds have a distribution range of values due to surface reconstruction and effect of bonding to hydrogen atoms. Experimental bulk Ga-As bond length (2.45 Å) is within this distribu
... Show MoreVocational education has great importance to comprehensive national development as it provides intermediate cadres able of operating the factories and laboratories in the farms and fields beside the work in the fields of health, service, administration and commercial. Due to the importance of this type of education in society, it is necessary to do a qualitative reform of vocational education in order to make the educational staffs get the necessary basic expertise to adapt the requirements of the labor market and try to rearrange and organize the workforce through put long-term economic and social policy through certain planning open to the workforce. The workforces structure according to gradual expansion in all the national ec
... Show More