Background: Vitamin D improves innate immunity by enhancing the expression of antimicrobial peptides. The antimicrobial action of cathelicidin is widespread and effective against cariogenic bacteria. This research aimed to investigate the effect of vitamin D deficiency on the level of salivary cathelicidin concerning dental caries experience.

Subjects and Methods: A case-control study was carried out, and the sample was composed of 80 females; the study group involved 40 females with a serum vitamin D concentration of less than 10 ng/ml. In addition to the control group involving 40 females wh

Background: Alum has been used as a treatment medication in cases of oral and gingival ulcers, and also as antiseptic mouthwash. This study aimed to examine the effects of different concentrations of Alum on inhibition zone, viability counts and adherence ability of Mutans streptococci compared with deionized water and chlorhexidine gluconate in vitro. Materials and methods: The study dealt with an in vitro study to establish a concentration of Alum mouthrinse that would have the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bacteriocidal concentration. The second part evaluated the anti-adherence ability of the experimental agents. Results: This study found that the antibacterial effect of Alum increases with its concentration from 50 to 1

In this study, method for experimentally determining the electron density (ne) and the electron temperature (Te) in the atmospheric Argon plasma jet is used; it is based on optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Boltzmann plot method used to calculate these parameters measured for different values of gas flow rate. The results show that the electron temperature decreasing with the increase of gas flow rate also indicates an increasing in the electron density of plasma jet with increasing of gas flow rate.

The relation between the output power and wavelengths for a 532nm 3W frequency doubled diode pumped solid state laser pumped Ti:Sapphire crystal is investigated. A 20 femtosecond pulse at 800 nm is obtained. A 320 mW is found to be the highest power at 800nm. Below this wavelength value and above the power was found to deviate from highest output value.

Morphologies of ceramic hollow fiber membranes prepared by a combined phase-inversion and sintering method were studied. The organic binder spinning solution containing suspended Al₂O₃ powders was spun to a hollow fiber precursor, which was then sintered at elevated temperatures( 300 ˚C, 1400 ˚C, 25 ˚C) in order to obtain the Al₂O₃ hollow fiber membranes. The spinning solution consisted of polyether sulfone (PES), N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), which were used as polymer binder, solvent, respectively. The prepared Al₂O₃ hollow fiber membranes were characterized by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). It is believed that finger-like void formation in asymmetric ceramic membranes is initiated by hydrodynamically unstable vis

Improving the accuracy of load-deformation behavior, failure mode, and ultimate load capacity for reinforced concrete members subjected to in-plane loadings such as corbels, wall to foundation connections and panels need shear strength behavior to be included. Shear design in reinforced concrete structures depends on crack width, crack slippage and roughness of the surface of cracks.

This paper illustrates results of an experimental investigation conducted to investigate the direct shear strength of fiber normal strength concrete (NSC) and reactive powder concrete (RPC). The tests were performed along a pre-selected shear plane in concrete members named push-off specimens. The effectiveness of concrete compressiv

Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars have gained popularity as a corrosion-resistant alternative to traditional steel reinforcement in Reinforced Concrete (RC) elements. This study investigates the flexural behavior of PRC panels reinforced with GFRP bars. The study variables included the GFRP reinforcement ratio and the number of embedded steel section distributions. Six concrete panels were fabricated, each measuring 2500 mm in length, with a rectangular cross-section of 750 mm in width and 150 mm in thickness. All panels were reinforced with GFRP bars and divided into two groups based on the reinforcement ratios of 0.532% and 0.266%. For each group, one panel served as the control specimen, while the remaining two were inte

In this study, a proposed process for the utilization of hydrogen sulphide separated with other gases from omani natural gas for the production of sulphuric acid by wet sulphuric acid process (WSA) was studied. The processwas simulated at an acid gas feed flow of   5000 m³/hr using Aspen ONE- V7.1-HYSYS software. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the optimum conditions for the operation of plant. This included primarily the threepacked bed reactors connected in series for the production of sulphur trioxidewhich represented the bottleneck of the process. The optimum feed temperature  and catalyst bed volume for each reactor were estimated and then used in the simulation of the whole process for tw