Scleral acrylic resin is widely used to synthesize ocular prosthesis. However, the properties of this material change over time, thus requiring the prosthesis to be refabricated. Many studies were conducted to improve these properties by reinforcing this material with nanoparticles. This study aims to evaluate the effect of silver nanoparticle powder on the mechanical properties (transverse flexural strength, impact strength, shear bond strength, surface microhardness, and surface roughness) of scleral acrylic resin used for ocular prostheses. Two concentrations were selected from the pilot study and evaluated for their effects on scleral acrylic resin properties. According to the pilot study, 0.01 and 0.02wt% AgNPs powder improved

The atmospheric air cold plasma has been used to manufacture gold nanomaterials for treating parasitic leishmaniasis. This study experimentally assessed the treatment of Leishmania parasites (L. donovani and L. tropica) by gold nanoparticles. Specifically, atmospheric pressure nonthermal plasma was generated using different diameters (1.0, 2.8, 3.8 and 4.3 mm) of high voltage electrode. Aqueous gold tetrachloride salts (HAuCl4·4H2O) were used as precursor to produce gold nanoparticles. UV-vis spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction were conducted for characterization of the nanoparticles. The optimum condition (a diameter of 1 mm) was chosen to prepare gold nanoparticles, where the grain size was found to be 17 nm. Accordingly, the nanoparticle

The current study involves placing 135 boreholes drilled to a depth of 10 m below the existing ground level. Three standard penetration tests (SPT) are performed at depths of 1.5, 6, and 9.5 m for each borehole. To produce thematic maps with coordinates and depths for the bearing capacity variation of the soil, a numerical analysis was conducted using MATLAB software. Despite several-order interpolation polynomials being used to estimate the bearing capacity of soil, the first-order polynomial was the best among the other trials due to its simplicity and fast calculations. Additionally, the root mean squared error (RMSE) was almost the same for the all of the tried models. The results of the study can be summarized by the production

Using photo electrochemical etching technique (PEC), porous silicon (PS) layers were produced on n-type silicon (Si) wafers to generate porous silicon for n-type with an orientation of (111) The results of etching time were investigated at: (5,10,15 min). X-ray diffraction experiments revealed differences between the surface of the sample sheet and the synthesized porous silicon. The largest crystal size is (30 nm) and the lowest crystal size is (28.6 nm) The analysis of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) were used to research the morphology of porous silicon layer. As etching time increased, AFM findings showed that root mean square (RMS) of roughness and po

This study investigates the impact of varying glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) stirrup spacing on the performance of doubly GFRP-reinforced concrete beams. The research focuses on assessing the behavior of GFRP-reinforced concrete beams, including load-carrying capacity, cracking, and deformability. It explores the feasibility and effectiveness of GFRP bars as an alternative to traditional steel reinforcement in concrete structures. Six concrete beams with a cross-section of 300 mm (wide) × 250 mm (deep), simply supported on a 2100 mm span, were tested. The beams underwent four-point bending with two concentrated loads applied symmetrically at one-third of the span length, resulting in a shear span (a)-to-depth (h) ratio of 2.

In this study; a three-dimensional model was created to simulate groundwater in Al-Haydariyah area of the governorate of Al-Najaf. A solid model was created to utilize the cross sections of 25 boreholes in the research region, and it was made out of two layers: sand and clay. The steady-state calibration was employed in six observation wells to calibrate the model and establish the hydraulic conductivity, which was 17.49 m/d for sand and 1.042 m/d for clay, with a recharge rate of 0.00007 m/day. The wells in the research region were reallocated with a distance of 1500 m between each well, resulting in 140 wells evenly distributed throughout the study area and with a discharge of 5 l/s, and the scenarios were run for 1000

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of respiratory airways characterized by distinctive history of respiratory symptoms due to variable airflow obstruction which reverses either spontaneously or in response to certain medications. Acetylcholine is a parasympathetic neurotransmitter which plays fundamental roles in the development of persistent asthma. Treatment guidelines recommend using medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids in addition to another controller bronchodilator instead of using high doses inhaled steroid alone for treatment of moderate to severe persistent asthma. The inhaled long acting muscarinic antagonist, tiotropium, was approved recently to control unresponsive asthma to inhaled corticosteroid with or without a long

This paper reports on the experimental study, which conducted a series of triaxial tests for the asphalt concrete using hydrated lime as a mineral additive. Three HMA mixes, prepared by the specification for wearing, levelling and base layers, were studied under three different temperatures. The test results have demonstrated that, compared with the control mixes excluding HL, the permanent deformation resistance of the HL modified mixes has significant improvement. The deformation has been reduced at the same load repetition number, meanwhile the flow number has been considerably increased. The degree of improvement in permanent deformation resistance using HL is more pronounced at high stress deviation states and high temperature.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with various clinical types. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is significantly elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of MS patients compared with that of healthy controls. The aim of this study is to evaluate serum levels of GFAP in relation to disease activity in relapsing-remitting MS patients and to compare them with those of healthy controls. Method: This study involved 58 MS patients of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) type, 22 in an active stage of the disease and 36 in remission, and 50 healthy individuals as age- and sex-matched controls. Blood samples were taken from the patients at the MS Clinic of the Baghdad Teaching Hospital, and the serum levels of GFAP were determ