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
The research aims to study Sabkha mineralogy to determine the mineral types, the nature of the precipitation, and the patterns of salt crystallization. Two Sabkhas in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, were studied. It was found that the Sabkhas were formed in flat ponds from saturated solutions in a semi-arid to arid climate. Halite predominates, followed by anhydrite and gypsum as evaporite minerals. As for the minerals of the Sabkha soil, it consisted of feldspar, calcite, quartz, and dolomite, in addition to the clay minerals represented by kaolinite, illite, and chlorite. Needle forms, hopper shapes, dendritic crystals, and polygon shapes are the main crystallization patterns dominantly found in the Sabkhas. All these types of crysta
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) approved for use in North America since 1997 despite the fact that the concept of using SNS to treat patients with voiding dysfunction discussed first almost 50 years ago. AIM: The objectives of the study were to assess the effectiveness of SNS the short and long term for patients with overactive bladder (OAB) dysfunction and its relation to age, gender, and causes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a clinical prospective study that involved 50 cases (32 females and 18 males) with OAB. It was carried out at Ibn Sina Hospital, and the neurosciences hospital in Baghdad/Iraq from April 2015 to April 2018. All the patients were assessed preoperatively and certain inclusion criteria were
... Show MoreIntroduction and Aim: Kruppel Like Factor 14 (KLF14) gene plays an important role in metabolic illnesses and is also involved in the regulation of many other biological processes. This study's objective was to determine whether or not the KLF14 single-nucleotide-polymorphism (SNP) known as rs972283 was linked to an increased risk of peptic ulcer disease in the population that was being investigated. Materials and Methods: Participants in this study included 71 people who had been diagnosed with peptic ulcers and 50 people who were considered to be healthy controls. In order to genotype the KLF14 SNP rs972283, an amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) was carried out, and the PCR results were
... Show MoreIn the present study, the effects of brake pad particles of lung and liver histological sections were evaluated for (60) adult male mice. The animals were divided into three groups ( A,B,C) according to the periods of exposure (4, 8, and 12) weeks respectively exposed to brake pad particles in addition to the control groups (F) exposed to fresh air only. A special inhalation chamber designed locally has been used to expose the animals. The exposure to brake pad particles was (2.228) µg/m³ for 30 min/day, 5 days/week for (4,8and12) weeks respectively.
The examination in group (A) of the histological sections of the lung showed the thickness of interalveolar septa. Also, a congestion of alveolar capillary was marked indicat
... Show MoreThe researcher seeks to know the extent of applying the concept of design by Iraqi electronic press sites to provide media product with the acceptance of their browsers and ensure their repeated visits to such sites in the framework of the guiding rules for laser browsing. The researcher uses analytical study on a sample of six Iraqi electronic newspaper sites to identify the general features of their design and the methods of distribution of the structural elements of the pages. The researcher also conducts a field study on a sample of the surfers of electronic newspaper sites to see the extent of their evaluation to their design and the degree of their satisfaction.
Abstract: Despite the distinct features of the continuous wave (CW) Terahertz (THz) emitter using photomixing technique, it suffers from the relatively low radiation output power. Therefore, one of effective ways to improve the photomixer emitter performance was using nanodimensions electrodes inside the optical active region of the device. Due to the nanodimension sizes and good electrical conductivity of silver nanowires (Ag-NWs), they have been exploited as THz emitter electrodes. The excited surface plasmon polariton waves (SPPs) on the surface of nanowire enhances the incident excitation signal. Therefore, the photomixer based Ag-NW compared to conventional one significantly exhibits higher THz output signal. In thi
... Show MoreAd-Hoc Networks are a generation of networks that are truly wireless, and can be easily constructed without any operator. There are protocols for management of these networks, in which the effectiveness and the important elements in these networks are the Quality of Service (QoS). In this work the evaluation of QoS performance of MANETs is done by comparing the results of using AODV, DSR, OLSR and TORA routing protocols using the Op-Net Modeler, then conduct an extensive set of performance experiments for these protocols with a wide variety of settings. The results show that the best protocol depends on QoS using two types of applications (+ve and –ve QoS in the FIS evaluation). QoS of the protocol varies from one prot
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