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.
Titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) samples were nitrided in low pressure (1.3, 3 mbar) dc-glow discharge plasmas of nitrogen. The treating time was 5, 10 and 15 hour and the temperatures range of the samples during the nitriding process was close to 800oC. The obtained microstructures of the nitride layers were studied by x-ray diffraction and optical microscopy. The ε –Ti2N, ζ-Ti3N3-x and η-Ti3N2-x.phases were formed and addition to the solid solution of nitrogen in titanium, α (Ti,N). Micro hardness measurements exhibit an increment for the Ti-alloy specimens which nitrided at 800oC for 10 and 15h.Corrosion measurements were obtained for the Ti-6Al-4V alloy in Ringer solution after plasma nitriding. The clear improving in the corrosion r
... Show MoreFabrication of porous clay refractory insulating specimens from Iraqi kaolin with different percentage of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) waste crumbs additions were investigated. After mixing and forming by hand molding, the specimens was dried and fired at 1300 oC. The structural, physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the refractory insulating products were measured. Maximum addition of EPS (1.25 wt%) lead to reduce the linear shrinkage to less than 1.7% and increased apparent porosity up to 50 %. As well as, the density, Modulus of rupture and thermal conductivity were reduced to 1.39 g/cm3, 4.1 MPa and 0.21 W/m.K, respectively. The final outcome, addition of EPS showed good results in the formation of pores without distorting the
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to design suitable neural network (ANN) as an alternative accurate tool to evaluate concentration of Copper in contaminated soils. First, sixteen (4x4) soil samples were harvested from a phytoremediated contaminated site located in Baghdad city in Iraq. Second, a series of measurements were performed on the soil samples. Third, design an ANN and its performance was evaluated using a test data set and then applied to estimate the concentration of Copper. The performance of the ANN technique was compared with the traditional laboratory inspecting using the training and test data sets. The results of this study show that the ANN technique trained on experimental measurements can be successfully applied to the rapid est
... Show MorePosible interference of vamin with the activity of several antibiotics against E. coli was evaluated in vitro. In MBS- glucose medium, significant growth delay was induced by 8 ug/ml of terramycin (oxytetracycline- polymyxin B) and bactrim (trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole), and by 16 ug/ml of refocin, lincomycin, and chloramphenicol. Rapid growth inhibition was induced by 32 ug/ml of all an- tibiotic tested separately. Significant inactivation of up to 64 ug/ml of licomycin and bactrim was in- duced by the addition of vamin at a concentration of 1:20 v/v of the medium. This effect was found to be due to the presence of specific amino acids in vamin. Among them is valine, leucine, isoleucine tyrosine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, cysteine, meth
... Show MoreTiO2 thin films were deposited by reactive d.c magnetron sputtering method on a glass substrate with various ratio of gas flow (Oxygen /Argon) (50/50, 100/50 and 150/50) at substrate temperature 573K. It can be observe that the optical energy gap of TiO2 thin films dependent on the ratio of gas flow (oxygen/argon), it varies between (3.45eV-3.57eV) also it is seen that the optical constants (α, n, K, εr and εi ) has been varied with the change of the ratio of gas flow (Oxygen /Argon).
The gypseous soil may be one of the problems that face the engineers especially when it used as a foundation for hydraulic structures, roads, and other structures. Gypseous soil is strong soil and has good properties when it is dry, but the problem arises when building hydraulic installations or heavy buildings on this soil after wetting the water to the soil by raising the water table level from any source or from rainfall which leads to dissolve the gypsum content. Cement-stabilized soil has been successfully used as a facing or lining for earth channel, highway embankments and drainage ditches to reduce the risk of erosion and collapsibility of soil. This study is deliberate the treatment of gypseous soil by using a mixture
... Show MoreThis study investigates the influence of Strategic Consensus (SC) on Organizational Performance (OP), with Strategic Alignment (SA) serving as a mediating variable, within private academic institutions in Iraq. The research utilized scales developed to measure each variable: SC, OP, and SA, all of which are unidimensional. The sample comprised 131 senior participants, including deans and faculty council members, with questionnaires distributed across three institutions: Dijla University College (35 respondents), Baghdad College of Economic Sciences (31 respondents), and the University of Uruk (65 respondents). Data analysis employed various statistical techniques, including normality testing, confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statis
... Show MoreWhenever, the Internet of Things (IoT) applications and devices increased, the capability of the its access frequently stressed. That can lead a significant bottleneck problem for network performance in different layers of an end point to end point (P2P) communication route. So, an appropriate characteristic (i.e., classification) of the time changing traffic prediction has been used to solve this issue. Nevertheless, stills remain at great an open defy. Due to of the most of the presenting solutions depend on machine learning (ML) methods, that though give high calculation cost, where they are not taking into account the fine-accurately flow classification of the IoT devices is needed. Therefore, this paper presents a new model bas
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