Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of in vitro long-term simulation of oral conditions on the bond strength of PEEK CAD/CAM lingual retainers.

Material and methods: The sample consisted of 12 PEEK CAD/CAM retainers each composed of 2 centrally perforated 3x4mm pads joined by a connector. They were treated by 98% sulfuric acid for 1 minute and then conditioned with Single Bond Universal and bonded to the lingual surface of premolar teeth by 3M Transbond TM System. Half of the retainers were artificially aged using a 30-day water storage and 5000 thermocycling protocol before bond strength testing to compare with the non-aged specimens.

Results: The artificially aged retainers showed a marginally

The consumption of dried bananas has increased because they contain essential nutrients. In order to preserve bananas for a longer period, a drying process is carried out, which makes them a light snack that does not spoil quickly. On the other hand, machine learning algorithms can be used to predict the sweetness of dried bananas. The article aimed to study the effect of different drying times (6, 8, and 10 hours) using an air dryer on some physical and chemical characteristics of bananas, including CIE-L*a*b, water content, carbohydrates, and sweetness. Also predicting the sweetness of dried bananas based on the CIE-L*a*b ratios using machine learn- ing algorithms RF, SVM, LDA, KNN, and CART. The results showed that increasing the drying

The goal of our study is to perform detailed multiband surface photometry of the spiral galaxy NGC 4448 and its brightest star-forming regions. The structure and composition of the stellar population in the surface brightness galaxy NGC 4448 was studied using BVR CCD photometry. The observations were obtained on the 1.88 m optical telescope of Kottamia Astronomical Observatory (KAO), Egypt. A two-dimensional decomposition of the galaxy bulge and disk components is carried out. A powerful star forming region is observed near the galactic center. Based on the positions of the various components of the galaxy in two color diagrams. From the observations, the surface brightness profiles, Ellipticity profiles, position angle profiles and colo

The aim of the research is to identify the suitability of a patrol model in evaluating the financial performance of Iraqi banks. The financial reports of five Iraqi commercial banks were approved as a sample for research for the period from 2015 to 2020. The most common financial ratios were adopted for the purpose of measuring the five elements of the model, which are capital adequacy, profitability, credit risk, bankal efficiency and liquidity. The results showed the possibility of using the PATROL model in evaluating the performance of Iraqi banks, as it gave a realistic image of the reality of Iraqi banks in terms of high capital adequacy index and high liquidity, as well as fluctuation in profitability index, not to mention the prob

This study aims to determine the extent to which Palestinian elites use digital diplomacy to confront the Israeli narrative by exploring the motives for usage, patterns, essential digital diplomatic tools, and achieved satisfactions. The study adopted a survey methodology and employed a questionnaire distributed to a sample of 110 Palestinian political and media elites.
The study arrived at several key findings, including: Palestinian elites allocate a substantial (%67) of their efforts towards employing digital diplomacy as a response to the Israeli narrative. The foremost platforms employed for this purpose are Facebook and Twitter. The primary motivation for utilizing these digital platforms is to present

To promote sustainable steel-concrete composite structures, it is essential to develop special shear connectors that facilitate accelerated construction and deconstruction. A lockbolt demountable shear connector (LBDSC) was recently proposed. While the LBDSC has been evaluated using horizontal and vertical (standard) push-out tests, it is essential to further assess the disassembly mechanism and the positive flexural performance of prefabricated demountable composite beams (PDCBs) under both serviceability and ultimate limit states. Two full-scale test specimens of PDCBs with LBDSC were designed with partial shear connections and assessed using a three or four-point load beam setup under both cyclic and static monotonic loading conditions.