Background: The need of the patient for a more reasonable esthetic orthodontic intervention has risen nowadays. Thus, orthodontists make use of esthetic orthodontic materials like brackets, ligature elastics, and arch wires. The esthetic brackets come as different forms of materials, such as ceramic brackets, which have their stainability remaining as the most important consideration for the patients and the orthodontists. This study aimed to compare the staining effects of various staining materials, including black tea, cigarette smoke and Pepsi, as well as the time effect on the color stability of sapphire ceramic brackets bonded with three kinds of light cure orthodontic adhesives: Transbond, Resilience and Enlight. Materials and Met

Experimental and numerical studies have been conducted for the effect of injected air bubbles on the heat transfer coefficient through the water flow in a vertical pipe under the influence of uniform heat flux. The investigated parameters were water flow rate of (10, 14 and 18) lit/min, air flow rate of (1.5, 3 and 4) lit/min for subjected heat fluxes of (27264, 36316 and 45398) W/m2. The energy, momentum and continuity equations were solved numerically to describe the motion of flow. Turbulence models k-ε was implemented. The mathematical model is using a CFD code Fluent (Ansys15). The water was used as continuous phase while the air was represented as dispersed. phase. The experimental work includes design, build and instrument a test

In this paper, ceramic water filters were produced by using ten mixtures of different ratios of red clay and sawdust under different production conditions. The physical properties of these filters were tested. The production conditions include five press pressures ranged from 10 to 50MPa and a firing schedule having three different final temperatures of 1000, 1070, and 1100˚C. The tests results of the physical properties were used to obtain best compatibility between the hydraulic and the mechanical properties of these filters. Results showed that as the press pressure and the firing temperature are increased, the bulk density and the compressive and bending strengths of the produced filters are increased, while, the porosity and absorp

Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA)/poly(caprolactone) (PCL) and two types of organoclay (OMMT) including a fatty amide and ocatdecylamine montmorillonite (FA-MMT and ODA-MMT) were employed to produce polymer nanocomposites by melt blending. Materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Mechanical properties were also investigated for these nanocomposites. The nanocomposites showed increasing mechanical properties and thermal stability. XRD results indicated that the materials formed nanocomposites. SEM morphology showed that increasing content of OMMT reduc

Background Obstructing dentinal tubules is a valuable approach for managing dentin hypersensitivity. Although various agents promote dentin remineralization, direct comparisons between theobromine, bioactive glass (BAG), and nano-hydroxyapatite (Nano-HAP) under simulated oral conditions remain limited. To fill this gap, this in vitro study aimed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of these three treatments on exposed cervical dentin. The assessment focused on their chemical, morphological, and mechanical effects on dentin. Materials and methods Forty-eight human dentin slabs were obtained from the cervical portions of twelve sound premolar teeth. Baseline Raman spectroscopy and VMH tests were done to exclude outliers. All specimens we

Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides unconditional security in theory. However, practical QKD systems face challenges in maximizing the secure key rate and extending transmission distances. In this paper, we introduce a comparative study of the BB84 protocol using coincidence detection with two different quantum channels: a free space and underwater quantum channels. A simulated seawater was used as an example for underwater quantum channel. Different single photon detection modules were used on Bob’s side to capture the coincidence counts. Results showed that increasing the mean photon number generally leads to a higher rate of coincidence detection and therefore higher possibility of increasing the secure key rate. The secure key rat

Background: Adjustment of any premature occlusal contact of any zirconia restoration requires its polishing or glazing in order to restore the smoothness of the restoration. The objective of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effects of different polishing systems and glazing on the surface roughness of full-contour zirconia. Material and methods: Forty disks (diameter: 8 mm, thickness: 6.4 mm) were prepared from pre-sintered full-contoured zirconia block; they were colored and sintered in a high-temperature furnace at 1500ËšC for 8 hours. The specimens were then leveled and finished using grinding and polishing machine and adjusted using diamond disk. The specimens were then randomly divided into four groups (n=10), group I involves