Objectives: Maxillofacial silicone is used to restore abnormalities due to congenital or acquired causes. However, the quality of silicone is far from ideal. This study was aimed at assessing the influence of the addition of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs; several nanometers wide and 2-5 micro m long) on the physical and mechanical characteristics of maxillofacial silicone elastomers. Methods: Two CNF weight percentages (0.5% and 1%) were tested, and 180 specimens were divided into one control and two experimental groups. Each group was subdivided into six subgroups. In each subgroup, ten specimens subjected to each of the following tests: tearing strength, Shore-A hardness, tensile strength, elongation percentage, surface roughness, and color stability. The samples were additionally analyzed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and field emission scanning electronic microscopy (FESEM). Results: The 0.5% CNF group, compared with the control group, exhibited highly significantly greater tearing strength, elongation percentage, hardness Shore-A, and surface roughness, and substantially greater tensile strength. However, color stability did not significantly differ between groups. The 1% CNF group showed significantly greater Shore-A hardness, tear strength, color stability, and surface roughness, and insignificantly lower tensile strength and percentage elongating values, than the control group. FESEM imaging revealed good CNF dispersion. The FTIR spectra indicated that CNFs interacted with silicon through surface functional hydroxyl groups. Conclusion: Addition of 0.5 wt. % CNF to silicone elastomers increased the material’s mechanical tensile strength, tear strength, elongation percentage, and hardness as long as it stayed within the acceptable range for clinical use. Surface roughness increased in direct proportion to the amount of nanofibers added. Moreover, addition of 0.5 wt. % CNF to silicone polymers had insignificant effects on color stability.
Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the care of multiple trauma victims with maxillofacial injuries in terms of epidemiological distributions, types of injuries, the related different modalities of surgical treatments delivered, and their complications. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was performed on 50 patients with multiple traumas including maxillofacial injuries, caused by different etiological factors, who were brought first to the surgical emergencies department of the Medical City then referred to the Maxillofacial unit in the Specialized Surgeries Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from April 2007 to April 2008. Information was documented prospectively from the time of the emergency call to
... Show MoreThe physical and elastic characteristics of rocks determine rock strengths in general. Rock strength is frequently assessed using porosity well logs such as neutron and sonic logs. The essential criteria for estimating rock mechanic parameters in petroleum engineering research are uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus. Indirect estimation using well-log data is necessary to measure these variables. This study attempts to create a single regression model that can accurately forecast rock mechanic characteristics for the Harth Carbonate Formation in the Fauqi oil field. According to the findings of this study, petrophysical parameters are reliable indexes for determining rock mechanical properties having good performance p
... Show MoreIn recent years, various methods have been developed to enhance the characteristics of asphalt pavement in order to face the continuous challenges of increasing traffic loads and changing climate conditions. One of the most popular and successful methods is modifying the asphalt mixtures or asphalt binder with the addition of polymers. Therefore, two types of Polyethylene (PE) polymer, High-Density PE (HDPE) and Low-Density PE (LDPE), are used in this research. Two methods were applied to prepare PE-modified asphalt mixtures: Semi-Wet Method (S-WM) and Dry Method (DM). The findings of the investigation indicated that the addition of PE polymer can reduce the wear loss of aggregate. In general, the experimental results revealed that asphalt
... Show MoreThe stability and releasing profile of 2:1 core: wall ratio ibuprofen microcapsules prepared by aqueous coacervation (gelatin and acacia polymers coat) and an organic coacervation methods (ethyl cellulose and sodium alginate polymers coat) in weight equivalent to 300mg drug, were studied using different storage temperatures 40°C, 50°C ,60°C and refrigerator temperature 4°C in an opened and closed container for three months (releasing profile) and four months (stability study).It was found that, these ibuprofen microcapsules were stable with expiration dates of 4.1 and 3.1 years for aqueous and an organic method respectively.Aqueous prepared ibuprofen microcapsules were found more stable than those microcapsules prepared by or
... Show MoreThermal conductivity measurement was done for specimens of Polystyrene/ titanium dioxide, Polycarbonate/ titanium dioxide and Polymethylmetha acrylate/ titanium dioxide composites for weight ratio of 1.9/ 0.1 and 1.8/ 0.2 wt% for different thickness of the samples. The experimental results show that the thermal conductivity is increased with the increasing of thickness of layers and with the weight ratio of TiO2
The current investigation examines the combined impacts of ultrasonic radiation and hydrogen donors on the viscosity of heavy crude oil. The impact of exposure time, power, duty cycle, and temperature on the viscosity of Iraqi heavy crude oil with 20.32 API was studied. Also, the viscosity of the oil samples, which were mixed with a hydrogen donor (decalin) and subjected to ultrasonic treatment under optimal conditions, was examined to evaluate the combined impact of ultrasonic radiation and hydrogen donor on the viscosity of crude oil. The viscosity experienced a decrease of 52.34% at 2 min of irradiation, 360 W ultrasonic power, 0.8 duty cycle, 35 ⁰C, and 8vol% decalin. To validate the outcomes of the experiments, asphaltene content, s
... Show MoreIn this research, a sensor for chemical solutions was designed and formed using optical fiber-based on a surface Plasmon resonance technology. A single-mode optical fiber with three different diameters (25, 45 and 65) µm was used, respectively. The second layer of the low refractive fiber was replaced by gold, which was electrically deposited at 40 µm thickness. For each of the three types of optical fiber, different saline concentrations (different index of refraction) were used to evaluate the performance of the refractive index sensor (chemical sensor) by measuring its sensitivity and resolutions. The highest values we could get for these two parameters were 240mm/RIU, and 6*10-5 RIU respectively, when the diameter of a
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