Aim To develop a low-density polyethylene–hydroxyapatite (HA-PE) composite with properties tailored to function as a potential root canal filling material. Methodology Hydroxyapatite and polyethylene mixed with strontium oxide as a radiopacifier were extruded from a single screw extruder fitted with an appropriate die to form fibres. The composition of the composite was optimized with clinical handling and placement in the canal being the prime consideration. The fibres were characterized using infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and their thermal properties determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The tensile strength and elastic modulus of the composite fibres and gutta-percha were compared, dry and after 1 month storage in simulated body fluid (SBF), using a universal testing machine. The radiopacity of the fibres was determined using digital radiography. The interaction of the composites with eugenol was evaluated and compared with gutta-percha. Data of the tensile test were submitted to two-way anova and Bonferroni tests (P < 0.05). Results The endothermic peaks obtained from the DSC studies showed that the melting point of the HA/PE composites ranged between 110.5 and 111.2 °C, whereas gutta-percha exhibited a melting point at 52 °C. The tensile strength and elastic modulus of the silanated HA/PE composites were significantly higher than those of gutta-percha (P < 0.0001) under dry conditions and 1 month storage in SBF. The gutta-percha in eugenol showed a significant increase in the polymer molar mass, whereas the silanated HA/PE composites were unchanged. Radiological evaluations demonstrated that silanated HA/PE fibres were sufficiently radiopaque. Conclusion Promising materials for endodontic applications have been developed, offering relevant benefits over the traditional materials in terms of mechanical and chemical properties
This study discusses risk management strategies caused by pandemic-related (Covid-19) suspensions in thirty-six engineering projects of different types and sizes selected from countries in the middle east and especially Iraq. The primary data collection method was a survey and questionnaire completed by selected project crew and laborers. Data were processed using Microsoft Excel to construct models to help decision-makers find solutions to the scheduling problems that may be expected to occur during a pandemic. A theoretical and practical concept for project risk management that addresses a range of global and local issues that affect schedule and cost is presented and results indicate that the most significant delays are due to a
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to assess the hydrocarbon degradation abilities of Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Pentoae species, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterobacter cloacae, which isolated from diesel contaminated soil samples. Single strains and mixed bacterial consortia have been investigated their ability to degrade 1.0 % (v/v) of diesel oil in Bushnell- Haas medium as sole.carbon.and.energy.source. At temperature 30∘C, the individual.bacterial.isolates exhibited low growth and low degradation.than did the.mixed. bacterial.culture. After 28 days.of incubation the.combination.of four isolates degraded.an upper limit.of diesel 88.4%. This was. continued.by 85.1% by S. paucimobilis, 84 % by Pentoae sp., 79% by S.aureus, and
... Show MoreElectrochemical machining is one of the widely used non-conventional machining processes to machine complex and difficult shapes for electrically conducting materials, such as super alloys, Ti-alloys, alloy steel, tool steel and stainless steel. Use of optimal ECM process conditions can significantly reduce the ECM operating, tooling, and maintenance cost and can produce components with higher accuracy. This paper studies the effect of process parameters on surface roughness (Ra) and material removal rate (MRR), and the optimization of process conditions in ECM. Experiments were conducted based on Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array (OA) with three process parameters viz. current, electrolyte concentration, and inter-electrode gap. Sig
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Although the rapid development in reverse engineering techniques, 3D laser scanners can be considered the modern technology used to digitize the 3D objects, but some troubles may be associate this process due to the environmental noises and limitation of the used scanners. So, in the present paper a data pre-processing algorithm has been proposed to obtain the necessary geometric features and mathematical representation of scanned object from its point cloud which obtained using 3D laser scanner (Matter and Form) through isolating the noised points. The proposed algorithm based on continuous calculations of chord angle between each adjacent pair of points in point cloud. A MATLAB program has been built t
... Show MoreThe purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in mandibular trauma caused by two mechanisms for the delivery of missile injuries: firearms and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The data investigated included sex, age, mechanism of injury, and other clinical and radiographic manifestations. Seventy consecutive patients, predominantly male, with a mean age of 28.6 ± 14 years (range 2–60 years) were enrolled: 38 patients (54.3%) sustained mandibular fractures caused by bullet injuries and 32 patients (45.7%) had mandibular fractures caused by IED explosion injuries. The study revealed that the differences in most of the investigated variables were not statistically significant; the only significant differences were the inci
... Show MoreA new, accurate, precise and economic two spectrophotometric methods for determination of Paracetamol (Par), Ibuprofen (Ibu), and Caffeine (Caf) were suggested. Those methods were the first and second ratio derivative spectrum using a double devisor. Par, Ibu, and Caf showed many useful peaks for their quantified determination. The validity of all analysis modes for determination of the three compounds, peak to baseline, peak area and peak to peak were according to ICH. The linearity of two methods was between 5 µg/ml as a lower concentration and 50 µg/ml as the highest concentration for three compounds. Recovery percentage was around 100% and relative standard deviation was less than 2.6%. The methods were applied successfully in the
... Show More<p>Currently, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers and a main reason of women death worldwide particularly in<strong> </strong>developing countries such as Iraq. our work aims to predict the type of tumor whether benign or malignant through models that were built using logistic regression and neural networks and we hope it will help doctors in detecting the type of breast tumor. Four models were set using binary logistic regression and two different types of artificial neural networks namely multilayer perceptron MLP and radial basis function RBF. Evaluation of validated and trained models was done using several performance metrics like accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and AUC (area under receiver ope
... Show MoreThe depletion of petroleum reserves and increasing environmental concerns have driven the development of eco-friendly asphalt binders. This research investigates the performance of natural asphalt (NA) modified with waste engine oil (WEO) as a sustainable alternative to conventional petroleum asphalt (PA). The study examines NA modified with 10%, 20%, and 30% WEO by the weight of asphalt to identify an optimal blend ratio that enhances the binder’s flexibility and workability while maintaining high-temperature stability. Comprehensive testing was conducted, including penetration, softening point, viscosity, ductility, multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR), linear amplitude sweep (LAS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), F
... Show MoreThe article attempts to provide the theoretical fundamentals for the semiotic component of lacunae in a language. The definitions of the following notions have been represented: 1) lacunarity as a complex phenomenon that works in the modes of language, speech and speech behaviour; 2) lacuna as a gap, an empty space, which lacks something, which may be characteristic of a written work. The author of the article considers the main classes of lacunae, among which are: 1) generic lacunae, which reflect the absence of a common name for a class of objects; 2) species lacunae are the absence of specific names, names of individual types of objects or phenomena; 3) intralingual lacunae are found within the paradigms of one language; 4) interlanguage
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