Background: The desire for an attractive appearing fixed orthodontic appliance fueled the use of ceramic brackets and clear accessories. Elastics are one of the most versatile materials available to orthodontists so studying their effect on the esthetic appearance is important. This an in vivo study, conducted to evaluate the effect of exposing stretched clear elastomeric ligatures to the oral environment from four different companies (OrthoTechnology, Morelli, Ortho Organizer, and Ormco). Materials and Methods: A total of 240 elastomeric modules were examined, 60 modules from each brand. Each of the 60 patients enrolled in the study, received 4 elastomeric modules on the 4 lower incisors, one from each brand. The specimens were placed on the teeth for 1, 2 and 4 weeks. After removal each module was kept in a sealed plastic bag and prepared for imaging and color measurement. Color measurements were made before and after use of the specimens. Images were taken by a cellular attachable microscope connected to a mobile phone with special J-cam program and the color change was calculated according to CIE Labcolor spaces system by the Adobe Photoshop program. The resulting data were statistically analyzed using ANOVA, LSD and Chi square tests. Results: The results showed that, all the elastomeric ligatures discolored after use. The discoloration increased with an increased incubation period in the mouth reaching the peak at 4 weeks interval and the yellowness index was the mostly effected color component. Elastomeric ligatures from Morelli brand were the most prone to discoloration, while Ortho Organizers and Ormco ligatures were the least prone to discoloration with the presence of large individual variation. Conclusion: It is necessary to alert the patient about the color changes that the clear ligatures experienced and the staining effect of certain foods. The orthodontist should select brands that are more resistant to color changes.
The grasping stability of robotic manipulators is crucial to enable autonomous manipulation in an environment where robots are facing obstacles in their route, where abrupt changes in the robot’s speed are induced. These speed variations will produce forces affecting the robotic manipulator, hence its grasping stability. In this research, the grasping stability of a robotic manipulator that functions according to a frictional self-locking mechanism is investigated statically and dynamically. Both theoretical and experimental results showed that the grasped object size, weight, and its orientation inside the gripper have a great effect on grasping stability. Both the theoretical and experimental results indicated that the grasping object p
... Show MoreA pioneering idea for increasing the thermal performance of heat transfer fluids was to use ultrafine solid particles suspended in the base fluid. Nanofluids, synthesized by mixing solid nanometer sized particles at low concentrations with the base fluid, were used as a new heat transfer fluid and developed a remarkable effect on the thermophysical properties and heat transfer coefficient. For any nanofluid to be usable in heat transfer applications, the main concern is its long-term stability. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of using four different surfactants (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and gum Arabic (GA)), each with three different
... Show MoreDrilling deviated wells is a frequently used approach in the oil and gas industry to increase the productivity of wells in reservoirs with a small thickness. Drilling these wells has been a challenge due to the low rate of penetration (ROP) and severe wellbore instability issues. The objective of this research is to reach a better drilling performance by reducing drilling time and increasing wellbore stability.
In this work, the first step was to develop a model that predicts the ROP for deviated wells by applying Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). In the modeling, azimuth (AZI) and inclination (INC) of the wellbore trajectory, controllable drilling parameters, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), formation
... Show MoreDifferent polymers were prepared by condensation polymerization of sebacic anhydride and adipic anhydride with ethylene glycol and poly(ethylene glycol). Their number average molecular weights were determined by end group analysis. Then, they were grafted on the prepared phthalocyaninatocopper(II) compounds with the general formula (NH2)4PcCu(II) having amino groups of 3,3',3'',3'''- or 4,4',4'',4'''- positions. All prepared polymers, compounds, and phthalocyaninatocopper(II)-grafted polymers were characterized by FTIR. The sizing measurements were carried out in 3,3',3'',3'''- (NH2)4PcCu(II) and 4,4',4'',4'''- (NH2)4PcCu(II) compounds with and without grafting polymers. The results showed that the grafting process led to decreasing in par
... Show MoreBiped robots have gained much attention for decades. A variety of researches have been conducted to make them able to assist or even substitute for humans in performing special tasks. In addition, studying biped robots is important in order to understand human locomotion and to develop and improve control strategies for prosthetic and orthotic limbs. This paper discusses the main challenges encountered in the design of biped robots, such as modeling, stability and their walking patterns. The subject is difficult to deal with because the biped mechanism intervenes with mechanics, control, electronics and artificial intelligence. In this paper, we collect and introduce a systematic discussion of modelin
An experimental study is made here to investigate the discharge coefficient for contracted rectangular Sharp crested weirs. Three Models are used, each with different weir width to flume width ratios (0.333, 0.5, and 0.666). The experimental work is conducted in a standard flume with high-precision head and flow measuring devices. Results are used to find a dimensionless equation for the discharge coefficient variation with geometrical, flow, and fluid properties. These are the ratio of the total head to the weir height, the ratio of the contracted weir width to the flume width, the ratio of the total head to the contracted width, and Reynolds and Weber numbers. Results show that the relationship between the discharge co
... Show MoreIn this study, the relationship between the bare soil temperature with respect to its salinity is presented, the bare soil feature is considered only by eliminating all other land features by classifying the site location by using the support vector machine algorithm, in the same time the salinity index that calculated from the spectral response from the satellite bands is calibrated using empirical salinity value calculated from field soil samples. A 2D probability density function is used to analyze the relationship between the temperature rising from the minimum temperature (from the sunrise time) due to the solar radiation duration tell the time of the satellite capturing the scene image and the calibrated salinity index is presented. T
... Show MoreAbstract:
The phenomenon of financial failure is one of the phenomena that requires special attention and in-depth study due to its significant impact on various parties, whether they are internal or external and those who benefit from financial performance reports. With the increase in cases of bankruptcy and default facing companies and banks, interest has increased in understanding the reasons that led to this financial failure. This growing interest should be a reason to develop models and analytical methods that help in the early detection of this increasing phenomenon in recent year . The research examines the use of
... Show Moreفي الدراسة الحالية، تم تصنيع جسيمات ZrO2 النانوية باستخدام مستخلص نباتي مشتق من نبات Vitex agnus castus، ووسط قلوي مثل هيدروكسيد الصوديوم. تم استخدام أسلوب التخليق الحيوي لتحضير جزيئات أوكسيد الزركونيوم النانوية لهذا المشروع البحثي. تتميز هذه الطريقة عن غيرها بسبب فعاليتها من حيث التكلفة وبساطتها وقلة المخاطر المحتملة. وتم تشخيص العينات المحضرة باستخدام المجهر الإلكتروني النافذ TEM، المجهر الإلكتروني الماسح SEM،
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