Background: With the increasing demand on esthetic orthodontic appliances, discoloration of clear elastomeric chains and modules remains an issue which concerns both orthodontics and patients. This in vitro study was conducted to evaluate the effect of exposing stretched clear elastomeric chains from six different companies (Ortho Technology, Ormco, Ortho Organizer, American Orthodontics, Opal and G&H companies) to three types of dietary media (tea, coffee and turmeric). Materials and methods: A total of 960 lengths of six modules were cut from short type elastomeric chain; 160 pieces from each brand. The specimens were stretched 50%, placed on plastic boards, and incubated in water at 37°C for 1 day, 7 days, 14 days and 28 days. Once a day, the specimens were immersed for ten minutes in the testing dietary media, washed and then returned back to the water container. Color measurements were made before and after incubation of the specimens. Digital image were taken by an SLR digital camera and the color changes were calculated according to CIE L*a*b* color space system by Adobe Photoshop program. The resulting data were statistically analyzed using ANOVA and LSD tests. Result: Elastomeric chains from AO, Opal and G&H companies were the most brands prone to discoloration. Ortho Organizers and Ortho Technology chains were the least prone to discoloration. Tea, coffee and turmeric solutions discolored elastomeric chains from all companies in a variable degree, however turmeric caused significantly more discoloration, followed by tea and least by coffee. The amount of discoloration caused by tea and coffee increases gradually to peak at 28 days, while most of the discoloration caused by turmeric was in the first day and reached a plateau in a week. Conclusion: To decrease the discoloration of clear elastomeric chains the consumption of colored dietary media especially spices like turmeric are to be discouraged.
A piezoelectric cantilever beam with a tip mass at its free end is a common energy harvester configuration. This article introduces a new principle of designing such a harvester that increases the generated power without changing the resonance frequency of the harvester: the attraction force between two permanent magnets is used to add stiffness to the system. This magnetic stiffening counters the effect of the tip mass on the efficient operation frequency. Five set-ups incorporating piezoelectric bimorph cantilevers of the same type in different mechanical configurations are compared theoretically and experimentally to investigate the feasibility of this principle: theoretical and experimental results show that magnetically stiffened harve
... Show MoreIn this work, pure and copper mixed oxide PAni nanofiber thin films are successfully synthesized on silicon substrates by hydrothermal method and spin coating technique at room temperature with thickness of about 325 nm. The structural, surface morphological, optical and photoconductivity properties have been investigated. The XRD results showed that PAni films have crystalline nature, CuO and PAni/CuO nanostructure composites are monoclinic polycrystalline structure. The FESEM images of PAni clearly indicate that it has nanofiber-like structure, whereas the CuO film has spongelike shape. The surface morphology analysis of PAni/CuO composite shows that nanofiber caped with inorganic material which is CuO is a core-shell structure. Op
... Show More—Medical images have recently played a significant role in the diagnosis and detection of various diseases. Medical imaging can provide a means of direct visualization to observe through the human body and notice the small anatomical change and biological processes associated by different biological and physical parameters. To achieve a more accurate and reliable diagnosis, nowadays, varieties of computer aided detection (CAD) and computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) approaches have been established to help interpretation of the medical images. The CAD has become among the many major research subjects in diagnostic radiology and medical imaging. In this work we study the improvement in accuracy of detection of CAD system when comb
... Show MoreIn this work ,glass-metal apparatus was designed and manufactured which used for preparing ahigh purity uranium. The reaction is simply take place between iodine vapour and uranium metal at 500C in closed system to form uranium tetra iodide which is decomposed on hot wire at high temperature around 1100C. Also another apparatus was made from Glass and used for preparing ahigh purity of UI4 more than 99.9% purity.
Pyogenic granuloma is one of the inflammatory hyperplasia seen in the oral cavity. The
present study included 10 patients with pyogenic granuloma, involving 4 males and 6 females with 1:1.5
male to female ratio. Patient ages ranged from 5 to 85 years (mean, 30 years) and half of the lesions had
pedunculated base, with surface ulceration in 10% of cases. Treatment consisted of resection, using 810
nm diode lasers. Eight patients were anesthetized during the surgical operation by local infiltration of
anesthesia. Only three patients reported mild post-operative pain within the first 24 hours of the healing
period. During the surgical operation there was no significant bleeding so clear surgical field. There was
no blee
Pyogenic granuloma is one of the inflammatory hyperplasia seen in the oral cavity. The
present study included 10 patients with pyogenic granuloma, involving 4 males and 6 females with 1:1.5
male to female ratio. Patient ages ranged from 5 to 85 years (mean, 30 years) and half of the lesions had
pedunculated base, with surface ulceration in 10% of cases. Treatment consisted of resection, using 810
nm diode lasers. Eight patients were anesthetized during the surgical operation by local infiltration of
anesthesia. Only three patients reported mild post-operative pain within the first 24 hours of the healing
period. During the surgical operation there was no significant bleeding so clear surgical field. There was
no blee
Durability of hot mix asphalt (HMA) against moisture damage is mostly related to asphalt-aggregate adhesion. The objective of this work is to find the effect of nanoclay with montmorillonite (MMT) on Marshall properties and moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixture. Two types of asphalt cement, AC(40-50) and AC(60-70) were modified with 2%, 4% and 6% of Iraqi nanoclay with montmorillonite. The Marshall properties, Tensile strength ratio(TSR) and Index of retained strength(ISR) were determined in this work. The total number of specimens was 216 and the optimum asphalt content was 4.91% and 5% for asphalt cement (40-50) and (60-70) respectively. The results showed that the modification of asphalt cement with MMT led to increase Marsh
... Show MoreThin films of cadmium sulphoselenide (CdSSe) have been prepared by a thermal evaporation method on glass substrate, and with pressure of 4x10-5 mbar. The optical constants such as (refractive index n, dielectric constant ?i,r and Extinction coefficient ?) of the deposition films were obtained from the analysis of the experimental recorded transmittance spectral data. The optical band gap of (CdSSe) films is calculate from (?h?)2 vs. photon energy curve. CdSSe films have a direct energy gap, and the values of the energy gap were found to increase when increasing annealing temperature. The band gap of the films varies from 1.68 – 2.39 eV.