The acrylic polymer composites in this study are made up of various weight ratios of cement or silica nanoparticles (1, 3, 5, and 10 wt%) using the casting method. The effects of doping ratio/type on mechanical, dielectric, thermal, and hydrophobic properties were investigated. Acrylic polymer composites containing 5 wt% cement or silica nanoparticles had the lowest abrasion wear rates and the highest shore-D hardness and impact strength. The increase in the inclusion of cement or silica nanoparticles enhanced surface roughness, water contact angle (WCA), and thermal insulation. Acrylic/cement composites demonstrated higher mechanical, electrical, and thermal insulation properties than acrylic/silica composites because of their lower particle size and their low thermal/electrical conductivity. Furthermore, to improve the surface hydrophobic characteristics of acrylic composites, the surface was treated with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma jet. The DBD plasma jet treatment significantly enhanced the hydrophobicity of acrylic polymer composites. For example, the WCA of acrylic composites containing 5 wt% silica or cement nanoparticles increased from 35.3° to 55° and 44.7° to 73°, respectively, by plasma treatment performed at an Ar flow rate of 5 L/min and for an exposure interval of 25 s. The DBD plasma jet treatment is an excellent and inexpensive technique for improving the hydrophobic properties of acrylic polymer composites. These findings offer important perspectives on the development of materials coating for technical applications.
A Stereomicroscopic Evaluation of Four Endodontic Sealers Penetration into Artificial Lateral Canals Using Gutta-Percha Single Cone Obturation Technique, Omar Jihad Banawi*, Raghad
The virulent genes are the key players in the ability of the bacterium to cause disease. The products of such genes that facilitate the successful colonization and survival of the bacterium in or cause damage to the host are pathogenicity determinants. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of virulence factors (esp, agg, gelE, CylA) in E. faecalis isolated from diverse human clinical collected in Iraqi patient , as well as to assess their ability to form biofilm and to determine their haemolytic and gelatinase activities. Thirty-two isolates of bacteria Enterococcus faecalis were obtained, including 15 isolates (46.87%) of the urine, 6 isolates (18.75%) for each of the stool and uterine secretions, and 5 isolates (15.62%) of the wo
... Show MoreComposite materials are widely used in the engineered assets as aerospace structures, marine and air navigation owing to their high strength/weight ratios. Detection and identification of damage in the composite structures are considered as an important part of monitoring and repairing of structural systems during the service to avoid instantaneous failure. Effective cost and reliability are essential during the process of detecting. The Lamb wave method is an effective and sensitive technique to tiny damage and can be applied for structural health monitoring using low energy sensors; it can provide good information about the condition of the structure during its operation by analyzing the propagation of the wave in the
... Show MoreFinding a path solution in a dynamic environment represents a challenge for the robotics researchers, furthermore, it is the main issue for autonomous robots and manipulators since nowadays the world is looking forward to this challenge. The collision free path for robot in an environment with moving obstacles such as different objects, humans, animals or other robots is considered as an actual problem that needs to be solved. In addition, the local minima and sharp edges are the most common problems in all path planning algorithms. The main objective of this work is to overcome these problems by demonstrating the robot path planning and obstacle avoidance using D star (D*) algorithm based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)
... Show MoreBackground: This in vitro study evaluated the fracture resistance of weakened endodontically treated premolars with class II MOD cavities restored with different composite restorations (Low-shrinkage Filtek P90, nanohybrid Filtek Z250 XT and SDR bulk fill). The type and mode of fracture were also assessed for all the experimental groups. Materials and Method: Fifty human adult maxillary premolar teeth were selected for this study. Standardized extensive class II MOD cavities with endodontic treatment were prepared for all teeth, except those that were saved as intact control. The teeth were divided into five groups of ten teeth each (n=10): (Group 1) intact control group, (Group 2) unrestored teeth with endodontic treatment, (Group 3) resto
... Show MoreA novel planar type antenna printed on a high permittivity Rogers’ substrate is proposed for early stage microwave breast cancer detection. The design is based on a p-shaped wide-slot structure with microstrip feeding circuit to eliminate losses of transmission. The design parameters are optimized resulting in a good reflection coefficient at −10 dB from 4.5 to 10.9 GHz. Imaging result using inhomogeneous breast phantom indicates that the proposed antenna is capable of detecting a 5 mm size cancerous tumor embedded inside the fibroglandular region with dielectric contrast between the target and the surrounding materials ranging from 1.7 : 1 to 3.6 : 1.
The purpose of this study was to measure serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP7), Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), Growth Hormone (GH), Interleukin 6 (IL-6) and insulin in acromegaly patients and healthy controls. The acromegaly group had 60 patients, while the population group had 30 people who had never had acromegaly before. The concentration of IGFBP7, IGF-1, GH, IL-6, and insulin were determined. The results of the present study indicate that IGFBP7 level in the acromegaly group was significantly lower (1.690.07 ng/mL vs. 2.740.12 ng/mL, respectively, p = 0.001). IGF-1, GH, IL-6, and insulin concentrations were also significantly higher in acromegaly patients. The diagnostic accuracy (2.194) was exce
... Show MoreAfamin, which is a human plasma glycoprotein, a putative multifunctional transporter of hydrophobic molecules and a marker for metabolic syndrome. Afamin concentration have been proposed to have a significant role as a predictor of metabolic disorders. Since NAFLD is associated with metabolic risk factors, e.g., dyslipidemia, insulin resistance and visceral obesity, it is considered as the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. The objective of this study is to determine Afamin levels in hypothyroid patients with and without fatty liver disease and compare the results with controls. Also to study the relationship of Afamin level with the Anthropometric and Clinical Features (Age, Gender, BMI and Duration of Hypothyroidism) , Serum
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