Hydrogels are hydrophilic biocompatible polymers that can be used as a drug delivery material in different medical branches, including vital pulp therapy. The aim of this study is to characterize the physical and biological properties of the newly developed formula as a candidate direct pulp-capping material. The hydrogel composite was prepared from natural and synthetic origins (polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), hyaluronic acid (HA), and sodium alginate (SA)) with the incorporation of bioactive Moringa. Different formulas of hydrogel containing different concentrations were evaluated for physicochemical (FTIR, XRD, SEM, degradation, and swelling), mechanical (viscosity, folding endurance, film thickness), and biological (antioxidant, antibacterial,

Metasurface polarizers are essential optical components in modern integrated optics and play a vital role in many optical applications including Quantum Key Distribution systems in quantum cryptography. However, inverse design of metasurface polarizers with high efficiency depends on the proper prediction of structural dimensions based on required optical response. Deep learning neural networks can efficiently help in the inverse design process, minimizing both time and simulation resources requirements, while better results can be achieved compared to traditional optimization methods. Hereby, utilizing the COMSOL Multiphysics Surrogate model and deep neural networks to design a metasurface grating structure with high extinction rat

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

Spray pyrolysis technique (SPT) is employed to synthesize cadmium oxide nanostructure with 3% and 5% Cobalt concentrations. Films are deposited on a glass substrate at 350 ᵒC with 150 nm thickness. The XRD analysis revealed a polycrystalline nature with cubic structure and (111) preferred orientation. Structural parameters represent lattice spacing, crystallite size, lattice parameter and dislocation density. Homogeneous surfaces and regular distribution of atoms were showed by atomic force microscope (AFM) with 1.03 nm average roughness and 1.22 nm root mean square roughness. Optical properties illustrated a high transmittance more than 85% in the range of visible spectrum and decreased with Co concentration increasing. The absorption

Rapid worldwide urbanization and drastic population growth have increased the demand for new road construction, which will cause a substantial amount of natural resources such as aggregates to be consumed. The use of recycled concrete aggregate could be one of the possible ways to offset the aggregate shortage problem and reduce environmental pollution. This paper reports an experimental study of unbound granular material using recycled concrete aggregate for pavement subbase construction. Five percentages of recycled concrete aggregate obtained from two different sources with an originally designed compressive strength of 20–30 MPa as well as 31–40 MPa at three particle size levels, i.e., coarse, fine, and extra fine, were test

This paper proposes a new approach, of Clustering Ultrasound images using the Hybrid Filter (CUHF) to determine the gender of the fetus in the early stages. The possible advantage of CUHF, a better result can be achieved when fuzzy c-mean FCM returns incorrect clusters. The proposed approach is conducted in two steps. Firstly, a preprocessing step to decrease the noise presented in ultrasound images by applying the filters: Local Binary Pattern (LBP), median, median and discrete wavelet (DWT),(median, DWT & LBP) and (median & Laplacian) ML. Secondly, implementing Fuzzy C-Mean (FCM) for clustering the resulted images from the first step. Amongst those filters, Median & Laplace has recorded a better accuracy. Our experimental evaluation on re