Resilient polymeric materials such as silicone elastomers are currently used for maxillofacial prostheses construction but the strength of these materials and their clinical performance need to be optimized with the addition of reinforcing fillers. This study investigates the effect of zirconia nanopowder addition on tear strength, tensile strength, elongation at break, Shore A hardness, surface roughness and cytotoxicity of VST-50 maxillofacial silicone. Silicone base was mixed with different amounts (1%, 2% and 3%) of zirconia nanopowder using a vacuum mixer. Silicone without filler was used as control for comparison. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy were utilized to assess the efficiency of high-shear vacuum mixing as filler dispersion method and the surface topography, respectively. Both SEM and AFM images showed that the zirconia nanopowder were distributed fairly well within the polymer. Statistically, highly significant increase in tear strength, tensile strength and hardness with non-significant decrease in elongation at break and non-significant increase in surface roughness were seen with 1% and 2% groups. Whereas with 3% group, there was significant improvement in tear strength, tensile strength and hardness but there was significant undesirable decrease in elongation and increase in roughness. Cytotoxicity test revealed that the addition of zirconia nanopowder was nontoxic to Rat Embryonic Fibroblast (REF) cells and there was non-significant change in the cell viability of all study groups after 24- and 72-hours incubation periods. In conclusion, the addition of 2% by weight nano zirconia to VST-50 maxillofacial silicone could be beneficial in enhancing its performance.
Engineered geopolymer composite (EGC) is a high-performance material with enhanced mechanical and durability capabilities. Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and silica fume (SF) are common binder materials in producing EGC. However, due to the scarcity and high cost of these materials in some countries, sustainable alternatives are needed. This research focused on producing eco-friendly EGC made of cheaper and more common pozzolanic waste materials that are rich in aluminum and silicon. Rice husk ash (RHA), granite waste powder (GWP), and volcanic pumice powder (VPP) were used as partial substitutions (10–50%) of GGBFS in EGC. The effects of these wastes on workability, unit weight, compressive strength, tensile strengt
... Show MoreThis research aims to investigate and evaluate a reactive powder concrete (RPC) cast using economical materials. Its mechanical properties were investigated and evaluated by studying the effects of using different cement and silica fume contents and locally steel fibers aspect ratios as reinforcement for this concrete. A compressive strength of about 155.2MPa, indirect tensile strength of 16.0MPa, modulus of elasticity of 48.7GPa, flexural strength of 43.5MPa, impact energy of 3294.4kN.m and abrasion loss 0.59% have been achieved for reinforced RPC contains 910 kg/m3 cement content, silica fume content 185 kg/m3 of cement weight and fiber volume fraction 2%. The water absorption values w
... Show MoreFacial trauma in children and adolescents is reported to range from 1% to 30%. Because of many anatomical, physiological, and psychological characteristics of the pediatric population, maxillofacial injuries in children should be treated with special consideration that is attributable to certain features inherent in facial growth patterns of children. This study evaluated maxillofacial injuries in 726 children in terms of incidence, patterns of injury, causes, and treatment modalities and compared these parameters among 3 pediatric age groups. Intergroup differences were analyzed using Z test for 2 populations' proportion. The results showed that the incidence of pediatric maxillofacial injuries and fractures is higher than that reported el
... Show More(1) Background: Plant flavonoids are efficient in preventing and treating various diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of hesperidin, a flavonoid found in citrus fruits, in inhibiting lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced inflammation, which induced lethal toxicity in vivo, and to evaluate its importance as an antitumor agent in breast cancer. The in vivo experiments revealed the protective effects of hesperidin against the negative LPS effects on the liver and spleen of male mice. (2) Methods: In the liver, the antioxidant activity was measured by estimating the concentration of glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT), whereas in spleen, the concentration of cytokines including IL-33 and TNF-α was measured. The in vitro expe
... Show MoreThe world's population growth and the increasing demand for new infrastructure facilities and buildings , present us with the vision of a higher resources consumption, specially in the form of more durable concrete such as High Performance Concrete (HPC) . Moreover , the growth of the world pollution by plastic waste has been tremendous. The aim of this research is to investigate the change in mechanical properties of HPC with added waste plastics in concrete. For this purpose 2.5%, 5% and 7.5% in volume of natural fine aggregate in the HPC mixes were replaced by an equal volume of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) waste , got by shredded PET bottles. The mechanical propert
... Show MoreAn Investigation of estimated Mechanical Properties of AL-Alloys 2024-T3, which is the most commonly used in industrial applications, been established experimentally. A new novel Plasma Peening techniques had applied for the whole surfaces of the material by CNC-Plasma machine for 48 specimen, and then a new investigation were toke over to figure the amount of change in mechanical properties and estimated fatigue life. It found that improvement was showing a nonlinear behavior according to peening duration time, speed, peening distance, peening number, and amount of effected power on the depth of the material thickness. The major improvement was at medium speed long duration time normal peening distance. Which shows up t
... Show Moreحظيت السمية الخلوية للمستخلصات النباتية باهتمام كبير في السنوات الأخيرة لتقييم نشاطها ضد الأورام. تركز الوقاية الكيميائية من السرطان على السمية الخلوية للمستخلصات النباتية لتكون سامة تجاه خطوط الخلايا السرطانية دون أن تؤثر على الخلايا الطبيعية. الهدف من هذه الدراسة هو تقييم السمية الخلوية لمستخلصي الزنجبيل و أوراق الزيتون ومزيجهما بنسبة 1: 1 تجاه خطوط خلايا RD وتقدير فعالية هذه المسخلصات ضد الاجهاد التا
... Show MoreAbstract
A series of new 4(3H)-quinazolinone derivatives (S1-S4) were synthesized and characterized by FTIR,1HNMR and 13CNMR .Their cytotoxic activity against a set of human cancer cell lines MCF-7 (breast) and A549 (lung) was evaluated using MTT assay. To detect their selectivity toward cancer cells, the compounds were also tested against epithelial cells derived from normal human fibroblast (NHF). Methotrexate (MTX) was used as a reference for comparison . All the tested compounds exhibited toxicity against the normal cells lower than cancer cells. All the tested compounds displayed higher cytotoxicity against lung cancer cell line (A549) than MTX with the most
... Show More