Search

Abstract One of the most important thin film deposition techniques on a silicon, quartz or sapphire substrate in the world is the spin coating method. Hematocrit centrifuge was used to elaborately manufacture the spin coating machine from affordable materials without vibrations. The vacuum holder substrate in this system is used for substrate adhesion. This method provides a dimensionally free substrate with appropriate adhesion for sedimentation upon high-speed spinning. A platinum thin film was deposited on a fluorine-doped tin oxide glass (FTO) substrate with a specific concentration of hexa-chloro-platinic acid. Platinum thin films were investigated by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and UV-Vis spectroscopy. FESEM displays successfully produced platinum thin films. The results showed a platinum film transmittance decrement with increasing of hexachloro-platinic acid content. Therefore, the suggested spin coater in this work can deposit platinum thin films with high transmittance up to (98 a.u.).

Objective. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the force degradation of two types of elastomeric chains following different periods of immersion in zinc-containing mouthwashes. Materials and Methods. Four hundred and forty pieces of Elasto-Force and Super Elasto-Force elastomeric chains were divided into two control and eight experimental groups. The pieces were stretched to 25 mm on pins mounted on an acrylic block and stored in distilled water at 37°C. The experimental groups were immersed in four different types of mouthwash for one minute twice a day throughout the test period. Ten continuous thermocycles per day between cold and hot water baths (5–55°C) were carried out. Forces were measured at six-time intervals (initial, 24 hours, 1, 3, 6, and 8 weeks). The mean force was calculated and compared among different elastomeric chains, mouthwashes, and times using the t-test and one-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey’s HSD test. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results. Both types of elastomeric chains had significant force degradation over time (74–79% at 8 weeks). The Super Elasto-Force generated a higher force level than the Elasto-Force elastomeric chain at all time points. SmartMouth Clinical DDS mouthwash had a significantly lower effect on force degradation than other mouthwashes with no significant difference compared to control groups. Conclusions. Depending on these results: there is no clinically significant difference between both types of elastomeric chains, although Super Elasto-Force delivered a higher force level. The pH of the mouthwashes could play a role in force degradation over time, rather than other ingredients including zinc. The SmartMouth mouthwash had the minimum effect on force degradation of elastomeric chains, followed by Halita, Listerine Total Care Zero, and Breath Rx, respectively.

In recent years, it has been evident that searching for alternative methods with low-price and eco-friendly features that produce high-quality adsorbents is in high demand. In the present work, Rice husk from Iraqi rice named (Amber) had been used as the primary source to produce rice husk ash (RHA) for the removal of the antibiotic metronidazole (Flagyl) from water. After optimum drying of rice husk, rice husk ash (RHA) was obtained at 600 °C using an electric oven. RHA has been investigated for properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD), porosity, and surface area (SA). The experimental work adsorption data were optimized to evaluate Langmuir and Freundlich constants. The thermodynamic parameters likely a change in Gipp's energy (ΔG), enthalpy (ΔH), and entropy (ΔS). The impacts of increasing temperature on adsorption capacity were investigated, and the results indicate that the pseudo-second-order kinetics model could be presented the dynamic adsorption data that it has. The resultant values for the heat of adsorption and the free energy indicated that adsorption of Flagyl is preferred at low temperatures.

The research discussed the possibility of adsorption of Brilliant Blue Dye (BBD) from wastewater using 13X zeolite adsorbent, which is considered a byproduct of the production process of potassium carbonate from Iraqi potash raw materials. The 13X zeolite adsorbent was prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction that showed a clear match with the standard 13X zeolite. The crystallinity rate was 82.15% and the crystal zeolite size was 5.29 nm. The surface area and pore volume of the obtained 13X zeolite were estimated. The prepared 13X zeolite showed the ability to remove BBD contaminant from wastewater at concentrations 5 to 50 ppm and the removal reached 96.60% at the lower pollutant concentration. Adsorption measurements versus time showed 48.18% removal of the dye during just the first half-hour and the maximum removal closest to the removal at the equilibrium after one and half hour. Langmuir isotherm was described the adsorption equilibrium data with a maximum adsorption capacity of 93.46 mg/g and the kinetics data of the adsorption process was followed the pseudo-second-order.

Background: Poly-ether-ether-ketone(PEEK) has been introduced to many dental fields. Recently it was tested as a retainer wire‎ following orthodontic treatment. This study aimed to investigate the effect of changing the bonding spot size and location on the performance of PEEK retainer wires. Methods: A biomechanical study involving four three-dimensional finite element models was performed. The basic model was with a 0.8 mm cylindrical cross-section PEEK wire, bonded at the center of the lingual surface of the mandibular incisors with 4 mm in diameter composite spots. Two other models were designed with 3 mm and 5 mm composite sizes. The last model was created with the composite bonding spot of the canine away from the center of the crown, closer to the lateral incisor. The linear displacement of the teeth, strains of the periodontal ligament, and stresses in PEEK wire and composite were evaluated. The data was numerically produced with color coded display by the software. Selected values were tabulated and compared among models. Results: The amount of linear displacement and strain was very low. Stresses in the wire and composite were affected by the size and position of the composite bonding spot. The safe limits were identified at 235 MPa for PEEK and 100 MPa for composite. The basic model had a von Mises stress in the PEEK wire of 122.09 MPa, and a maximum principal stress in the composite of 99.779 MPa. Both stresses were within the safe limits, which means a lower risk of failure in PEEK and composite. All other models had stresses that exceeded the safe limit of the composite. The 3 mm composite model was the only one that developed stresses in the wire more than the safe limits of PEEK. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this study, bonding PEEK wires with 4 mm bonding spots to the clinical crown center provided the best mechanical performance of the wires and spots; otherwise, the mechanical properties of the wire and composite would be affected and, therefore, might affect the retention process. Keywords: Retention, PEEK, Finite element analysis

In this work, zinc oxide nanopowders (ZnO-NPs) were synthesized by atmospheric pressure plasma jet and continuous laser diode (CLD) techniques. ZrO2 powder were made up with the ZnO nanopowders to study its effect on ZnO properties. The study initiated with the utilization of the atmospheric pressure plasma jet technique recognized for its capability to generate nanoparticles using cold plasma, ensuring high purity and controlled growth. Following this, CLD techniques were employed to fine-tune the structural attributes of the ZnO-ZrO2 nanocomposite. The average particle size and morphology were examined by FE-SEM, and the crystallinity was estimated by XRD analysis and the spectroscopic properties of the powder were measured by using FTIR spectroscopy. XRD studies confirm that zinc oxide has a high degree of crystallinity. The particle size of ZnO was found to be about 18 nm. The purpose of this study involved the investigation of ZnO nanoparticle characteristics. The outcome considered a new synthesis of ZnO nanopowders that may be employed in many scientific applications using continuous laser diode to increase the oxidization. This is represented as a novel method and also a simple and cost effective one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid‐waste management, particularly of aluminum (Al), is a challenge that is being confronted around the world. Therefore, it is valuable to explore methods that can minimize the exploitation of natural assets, such as recycling. In this study, using hazardous Al waste as the main electrodes in the electrocoagulation (EC) process for dye removal from wastewater was discussed. The EC process is considered to be one of the most efficient, promising, and cost‐effective ways of handling various toxic effluents. The effect of current density (10, 20, and 30 mA/cm2), electrolyte concentration (1 and 2 g/L), and initial concentration of Brilliant Blue dye (15 and 30 mg/L) on the efficiency of the EC process were examined in this study. The results show that removal efficiency increased with current density and sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration and decreased with initial dye concentration. The electrical power and electrodes consumed increased with an increase in current density and decreased notably with increased NaCl. The optimum current density and amount of NaCl were 20 mA/cm2 and 2 g/L, respectively to attain highest values of E133 brilliant blue dye removal. The EC process was examined using adsorption isotherms and kinetics models. Those results showed that the Langmuir isotherm matched the experimental data. Furthermore, the experimental data were followed the Elovich model kinetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial Neural Networks, ANN, technique is a computerized system that is built to simulate the neural networks in the human brain. Throughout the recent couple decades, ANNs had solved with a good degree of success many problems. In the present work, ANN model was developed by SPSS software for estimating creep strain development of self-compacting concrete mixes produced with different types of Portland cement, Type I and Type IL. The independent variables in this model were: age, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, applied stress, initial strain, water to powder ratio, water to binder ratio, filler to cement ratio, clinker to cement ratio, aggregate size, and slump flow. The used data for model building were local, extracted from the present work. The predictions of the model have been compared to those of an international well-known model, ACI 209 Committee. The comparison revealed the good reliability of the present models in predictions (r = 0.998).

A significant increase in freshwater demand has been reported recently due to several factors such as population growth, industrialization, rising living standards and global warming effects. As a direct result of that, numerous water crises have occurred around the world especially in downstream countries such as Iraq. Due to the previous reasons, water in terms of quality and quantity considered as a first priority by the Iraqi government. This study focuses on Basrah city, which is located in the south region. The purpose of this research is evaluating the physicochemical qualities of water from the Shatt Al-Basrah Canal to evaluate its suitability to be used for domestic or industrial uses. Data gathered from two sampling stations located on the canal to measure the physicochemical characteristics of the water such as pH, Ca, Mg, PO4, Cl, SO4, DO, NO3, TDS, and EC. With this specific purpose, water samples were collected from the study area, and the water quality has been evaluated. Water samples were collected during six months period during 2013 for assessment purposes. The results of the analysis were assessed according to international water standards for drinking water. From these results of this study, it is often asserted that there is a water pollution in the Shatt Al-Basrah canal and therefore immediate protective actions need to be utilized to minimize the pollution and improve water quality.

Congenital anomalies of lumbosacral nerve roots are rare. These anomalies had been infrequently described in literatures with different classification systems. However, it is very rare to find a combination of more than one kind of anomalies in a single person. In this article, we report a duplicate L5 nerve root anomaly with anastomosis in between, which is considered rare among the other nerve root anomalies. It was discovered during microsurgically treated L5-S1 disc herniation. All spine surgeons should keep in mind that, although nerve root congenital anomalies are rare, they do exist. Care must be taken when a nerve root anomaly is discovered during surgical procedures in order not to cause iatrogenic nerve element injury.

Recently, the constructions industry begins to make concrete more sustainable, side by side, with making its high performance. This paper aims to investigate the effect of (Metakaolin and Micro Silica) when they replace cement by (8, 12 and 16) % and (6, 9 and 12) % respectively, recycled steel slag when replaces fine aggregate by (10, 20 and 30) %, and recycled mosaic tiles when replaces coarse aggregate by (33.33, 66.67 and 100) % each one another on the slump, density, absorption and compressive strength of concrete. The experimental results showed that the maximum reduction ratio of cement reach (17%) (8% of metakaolin and 9% Micro Silica) while the optimum percentage of mosaic tiles and steel slag is (100%) and (20%) respectively. The optimum percentages obtained are combining to produce three basic green mixes: 1) 17% (8% of Metakaolin and 9% of Micro Silica) only, (2) A mix containing 17% of (Metakaolin and of Micro Silica) plus 100% of recycled mosaic, (3) 17% of (Metakaolin and Micro Silica), 100% of recycled mosaic and 20% of slag. Compressive strength at (7, 28, and 60) days, modulus of rupture at (28) days, absorption, fresh and hardened density are investigated. The best improvement in compressive strength compared with reference concrete was recorded (20.06, 10.855 and 9.983) % at (7, 28 and 60) days respectively for the mix containing (17% of cementitious materials plus 100% of recycled mosaic) while the ultimate flexure strength (24) % appeared in green mix containing (17% of cementitious materials, 100% of recycled mosaic and 20% of slag). Generally, an inverse relationship between density and absorption in all trail mixes which are conducted.

Medulloblastoma is a highly heterogeneous pediatric brain tumor with five molecular subtypes, Sonic Hedgehog TP53-mutant, Sonic Hedgehog TP53-wildtype, WNT, Group 3, and Group 4, defined by the World Health Organization. The current mechanism for classification into these molecular subtypes is through the use of immunostaining, methylation, and/or genetics. We surveyed the literature and identified a number of RNA-Seq and microarray datasets in order to develop, train, test, and validate a robust classifier to identify medulloblastoma molecular subtypes through the use of transcriptomic profiling data. We have developed a GPL-3 licensed R package and a Shiny Application to enable users to quickly and robustly classify medulloblastoma samples using transcriptomic data. The classifier utilizes a large composite microarray dataset (15 individual datasets), an individual microarray study, and an RNA-Seq dataset, using gene ratios instead of gene expression measures as features for the model. Discriminating features were identified using the limma R package and samples were classified using an unweighted mean of normalized scores. We utilized two training datasets and applied the classifier in 15 separate datasets. We observed a minimum accuracy of 85.71% in the smallest dataset and a maximum of 100% accuracy in four datasets with an overall median accuracy of 97.8% across the 15 datasets, with the majority of misclassification occurring between the heterogeneous Group 3 and Group 4 subtypes. We anticipate this medulloblastoma transcriptomic subtype classifier will be broadly applicable to the cancer research and clinical communities.

We examine 112,792 daily candles using more than one million spot quotes among 24 currency pairs between 2000 and 2018. We find that chart patterns are profitable. Relying on these visually based patterns achieves returns of more than 600% after accounting for the transaction costs. Nevertheless, the transaction costs are substantial. In particular, the spread is a large burden on profitability. Overall, our evidence suggests that technical analysis could generate excess returns and that the profitability of technical analysis cannot be explained by market inefficiency. Rather, the evidence is consistent with that on the link between the efficiency and profitability of technical analysis.

The presented data shows how cornstarch can be modified to a material that can effectively remove organics pollutants from a real wastewater. A low-cost adsorbent obtained from cornstarch by the crosslinking with epichlorohydrin. The prepared crossed linked starch (CLS) adsorbent characterized by X-ray diffraction, zeta potential, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area. The effects of initial chemical oxygen demand of the real wastewater, temperature and time of the adsorption of the organics on the prepared CLS were analyzed. The removal of the highest organics concentration was 89.85%. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models have been applied to investigate the adsorption equilibrium. The maximum adsorption capacity of the organics pollutants on the prepared CLS was 256.41 mg/g. Thermodynamic parameters show that the adsorption process of organics on CLS is more favorable at low temperature. Keywords: Adsorption, Organic pollutants, Wastewater, CLS, Epichlorohydrin

Groundwater salinity level is one of the most important considerations for monitoring soil degradation that threat some regions in the southwest of Basra Province, Iraq. The aim of this research is to assign the appropriate and effective image processing techniques to be implemented for monitoring, and then to evaluate groundwater salinity level map. Landsat TM 2000 and ETM 2015 images respectively have been selected, as well as ancillary data of the available salinity field measurements have been used. Spatial overlay analysis between salt affected areas and water table were made to assess spatial distribution as well as relationships with these features. The result shows that about 47.8% of the areas were low-saline in 2000. This gradually decreased to 35.9% in 2015. Large area change was observed in the slightly and moderately saline soil categories. High sensitive areas of saline soil were about 13.3% in 2000 and this increased to 19.4% in 2015. Areas highly vulnerable to salinization were related to the groundwater salinity level that normally occurred on the soil sediment in this location of study.

The present work evaluated the differences in mechanical properties of two athletic prosthetic feet samples when subjected to impact while running. Two feet samples designated as design A and B were manufactured using layers of different orientations of woven glass fiber reinforced with unsaturated polyester resin as bonding epoxy. The samples’ layers were fabricated with hand lay-up method. A theoretical study was carried out to calculate the mechanical properties of the composite material used in feet manufacturing, then experimental load-deflection test was applied at 0 degree position and 25 degree dorsiflexion feet position and impact test were applied for both feet designs to observe the behavior of the feet under static and impact loading and compare properties like stiffness, efficiency, rigidity, and shock absorption at different drop angles range from 25 degrees to 60 degrees which perform the foot positions while running. The load-deflection test result shows that the maximum deflection of the proposed design B was 32.2 mm at 0° and 38.45mm at 25°. While it was 41mm at 0˚ and 39mm at 25˚ for design A. Impact test result shows that design B foot gives peak load of 128 .7 kg with a peak time of 0.06 sec, while design Afoot gives 125.32 kg peak load with a time of 0.069 sec.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients show hippocampal-related autonomic and neurological symptoms, including impaired memory and depression, which differ by sex, and are mediated in distinct hippocampal subfields. Determining sites and extent of hippocampal sub-regional injury in OSA could reveal localized structural damage linked with OSA symptoms. Methods: High-resolution T1-weighted images were collected from 66 newly-diagnosed, untreated OSA (mean age ± SD: 46.3 ± 8.8 years; mean AHI ± SD: 34.1 ± 21.5 events/h;50 male) and 59 healthy age-matched control (46.8 ± 9.0 years;38 male) participants. We added age-matched controls with T1-weighted scans from two datasets (IXI, OASIS-MRI), for 979 controls total (426 male/46.5 ± 9.9 years). We segmented the hippocampus and analyzed surface structure with “FSL FIRST” software, scaling volumes for brain size, and evaluated group differences with ANCOVA (covariates: total-intracranial-volume, sex; P