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.
Ondansetron HCl (OND) is a potent antiemetic drug used for control of nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy. It exhibits only 60 – 70 % of oral bioavailability due to first pass metabolism and has a relative short half-life of 3-5 hours. Poor bioavailability not only leads to the frequent dosing but also shows very poor patient adherence. Hence, in the present study an approach has been made to develop OND nanoparticles using eudragit® RS100 and eudragit® RL100 polymer to control release of OND for transdermal delivery and to improve patient compliance.
Six formulas of OND nanoparticles were prepared using nanoprecipitation technique. The particles sizes and zeta potential were measured
... Show MoreClotrimazole (CLO) is an antimycotic imidazole derivative applied locally for the treatment of vaginal yeast infections. In this study, CLO was formulated as vaginal mucoadhesive hydrogel, using different types of mucoadhesive polymers to ensure prolonged contact between active ingredient and vaginal mucosa.
Physicochemical properties of the prepared formulas were evaluated as a visual inspection, pH, swelling index, spreadability, and mucoadhesive characteristics, in addition to an in-vitro drug release. The influence of type and concentration of polymers as CMC-Na (1.5, 2.5, and 3.5%w/w), carbopol 940( 0.25, 0.5, and 1 %w/w) and poloxamer 407 (15, 25, 30%w/w) on CLO release from the prepared gels were also invest
... Show MoreThe electrical insulation of the manufacture sulfonated phenol-formaldehyde viscous material (product) has been studied with Polyvinyl-acetate (PVA) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI) blend has been prepared by fixing percentage by weight 3:1 and mixed with different percentages by weight of the product sulfonated phenol formaldehyde viscous mass (SPF). The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is done on (SPF) resin powder and prepared film of PVA-TDI-SPF viscous mass. The quality factor (Q), dissipation factor (D), parallel resistance (Rp), series resistance (Rs), parallel capacitance (Cp), series capacitance (Cs) and phase shift (?) are measured. The calculated maximum dielectric constant (??) is 3.49x107 at sample (1) wt.1% SPF vis
... Show MoreEffect of the thermal annealing at 400oC for 2 hours and Argon laser radiation for half hour on the optical properties of AgAlS2 thin films, prepared on glass slides by chemical spray pyrolysis at 360oC with (0.18±0.05) μm thickness .The optical characteristics of the prepared thin films have been investigated by UV/Vis spectrophotometer in the wavelength range (300 – 1100)nm .The films have a direct allow electronic transition with optical energy (Eg) values decreased from (2.25) eV for untreated thin films to (2.10) eV for the annealed films and to (2.00) eV for the radiated films. The maximum value of the refractive index (n) for all thin films are given about (2.6). Also the extinction coefficient (K) and the real and imaginary d
... Show MoreThe Invar effect in 3D transition metal such as Ni and Mn, were prepared on a series composition of binary Ni1-xMnx system with x=0.3, 0.5, 0.8 by using powder metallurgy technique. In this work, the characterization of structural and thermal properties have been investigated experimentally by X-ray diffraction, thermal expansion coefficient and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) techniques. The results show that anonymously negative thermal expansion coefficient are changeable in the structure. The results were explained due to the instability relation between magnetic spins with lattice distortion on some of ferromagnetic metals.
Coagulation - flocculation are basic chemical engineering method in the treatment of metal-bearing industrial wastewater because it removes colloidal particles, some soluble compounds and very fine solid suspensions initially present in the wastewater by destabilization and formation of flocs. This research was conducted to study the feasibility of using natural coagulant such as okra and mallow and chemical coagulant such as alum for removing Cu and increase the removal efficiency and reduce the turbidity of treated water. Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) was carried out for okra and mallow before and after coagulant to determine their type of functional groups. Carbonyl and hydroxyl functional groups on the surface of
... Show MoreRoller Compacted Concrete is a type of concrete that is environmentally friendly and more economical than traditional concrete. Roller Compacted Concrete is typically used for heavy-duty and specialist constructions, such as hydraulic structures and pavements, because of its coarse surface. The main difference between RCC and conventional concrete mixtures is that RCC has a more significant proportion of fine aggregates that allow compaction and tight packing. In recent years, it has been estimated that several million tons of waste demolished material (WDM) produced each year are directed to landfills worldwide without being recycled for disposal. This review aimed to study the literature about creating a Roller-Comp
... Show MoreThe present study dealt with the removal of methylene blue from wastewater by using peanut hulls (PNH) as adsorbent. Two modes of operation were used in the present work, batch mode and inverse fluidized bed mode. In batch experiment, the effect of peanut hulls doses 2, 4, 8, 12 and 16 g, with constant initial pH =5.6, concentration 20 mg/L and particle size 2-3.35 mm were studied. The results showed that the percent removal of methylene blue increased with the increase of peanut hulls dose. Batch kinetics experiments showed that equilibrium time was about 3 hours, isotherm models (Langmuir and Freundlich) were used to correlate these results. The results showed that the (Freundlich) model gave the best fitting for adsorption capacity. D
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