Synthesis and photopolymerization kinetics of new flexible diacrylate and dimethacrylate crosslinkers based on C18 diacid

A series of new di(meth)acrylate monomers was synthesized from the reactions of methyl α-hydroxymethylacrylate (MHMA), ethyl α-hydroxymethylacrylate (EHMA), hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) with α,ω-C18 diacid chloride. The photopolymerization behavior and reaction kinetics of the synthesized monomers were investigated using photoinitiation with differential scanning calorimetry. The polymerization rates, conversions and kinetic constants for propagation and termination were determined for each of the monomers. The maximum rate of polymerizations of the diacrylate monomers was higher than that of the dimethacrylate monomers and followed the order: HDDA (1,6-hexanediol diacrylate)>HEA-C18>EHMA-C18∼HEMA-C18>MHMA-C18. The total conversions obtained were 78, 75, 72, 64 and 69% for MHMA-C18, EHMA-C18, HEMA-C18, HEA-C18 and HDDA, respectively, indicating comparable or higher conversions for methacrylates despite their lower rates of polymerization. Propagation and termination mechanisms of the monomers were investigated by plotting propagation and termination rate constants as a function of conversion.     

Comparison of microleakage of a multi-mode adhesive system with contemporary adhesives in class II resin restorations

Aim: The aim was to compare the microleakage of resin composite bonded with different adhesive systems in class-II cavities at enamel or dentine margins. Material and methods: 60 extracted human molar teeth received slot cavity preparations on mesial and distal surfaces (mesial cervical margin was prepared in enamel and distal in dentine). They were randomly divided into five groups (n?=?12) according to the adhesive system: Group-A: Silorane Bond (S), Group-B: Adper Single Bond 2 (SB), Group-C: Clearfil SE Bond (CSE), Group-D: Single Bond Universal (USel) (selective etch-and-rinse), Group-E: Single Bond Universal (USE) (all-in-one). The preparations were restored using the same resin composite (Filtek Ultimate) except Group A which was restored by Silorane composite. The teeth were thermocycled, immersed in dye, sectioned, and dye penetration was evaluated quantitatively using image analysis. The data were analyzed using the two-way analysis of variance and Bonferroni test. Results: In all groups, there was no statistically significant difference between enamel margins at occlusal and gingival sites (p?>?0.05). The statistical difference between Group-A (S) and Group-B (SB) was significant at all margins. Group-B (SB) presented the greatest microleakage amounts at all margins and the highest scores were obtained in the dentine. Likewise, SB demonstrated statistically significant differences between dentine and enamel margins (occlusal and gingival)(p?<?0.05). Conclusion: All adhesive systems showed similar microleakage values between enamel margins in occlusal and gingival regions. However, when the gingival margin is located in the dentine, etch&rinse adhesive systems may not be a choice in terms of microleakage prevention.     

Synthesis and photopolymerization of novel,highly reactive phosphonated-urea-methacrylates for dental materials

An urea methacrylate (1) and two phosphonated methacrylates (2–3) were synthesized from 2-isocyanatoethyl methacrylate (IEM) and benzyl amine (1), diethyl aminomethylphosphonate (2) and diethyl amino(phenyl)methylphosphonate (3). Their photopolymerization rates are notably higher than commercial monomers, despite the presence of only one double bond. Their polymerization rates follow the order 1 ～ 2 > 3 ～ triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) > 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). A tendency toward high crosslinking density during thermal bulk polymerizations, low oxygen sensitivity and high conversions with benzophenone during photopolymerization indicated the importance of hydrogen abstraction/chain transfer reactions. It was found that the addition of the monomers to HEMA significantly increased its polymerization rate, proving their utility as replacements for TEGDMA as reactive diluents for 2,2-bis[4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloyloxy propyloxy) phenyl] propane (Bis-GMA). Copolymer systems containing 2 and 3 showed improved T_g values compared to Bis-GMA/TEGDMA systems.     

Modélisation Mathématique de la Décantation de la Boue Rouge

A good performance of the solid‐liquid unit operation is required for the economical exploitation of the Bayer process. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model simulating the operation of the last washing stage mud thickener of a large Canadian alumina plant is presented. The parametric study of the impact of changes in four parameters shows that the diameter of flocculated red mud particles, the feed flow rate and the radius of the feed well are critical parameters for the operation of the thickener.     

Improvement of flexural bond strength of zirconia-resin cement by surface patterning using sub-nanosecond UV laser

Zirconia is a dental material that shows excellent biocompatibility and high strength in clinical applications. This study aims to evaluate the effects of ultrafast laser applications. The surface nanostructures were classified into three groups. Group 1 was generated using the burst mode, with three different distances between dots: 52 µm (Group 1a), 104 µm (Group 1b), and 156 µm (Group 1c). Group 2 was processed using the scanning mode configuration, with a set of parallel lines. Group 3 was also processed using this scanning configuration creating a set of square-shaped patterning. Group 4 was the control group. After the surface treatments, a pair of zirconia specimens was bonded end to end with resin cement. Flexural bond strength (FBS) test was applied in a universal test machine. Multiple comparisons were performed using a one-way analysis of variance and the Tukey's HSD test. All the samples that were treated with the laser showed higher FBS values than the untreated surface. Using the burst mode, preformed circular-shaped surface on an angle of 90⁰ at 52 µm distance (Group 1a) showed the highest FBS values among all groups (p < .05). Groups 2 and 3 had significantly higher values than 1b and 1c.     

Production and quality of fish fingers from different fish species

Abstract Production of fish fingers was achieved by using fish species such as sardine (Sardina pilchardus, Walbaum, 1792), whiting (Merlangius merlangus, Linnaeus, 1758) and pike perch (Sander lucioperca, Linnaeus, 1758). Quality changes of battered fish patties during a period of 8 months at –18 °C were investigated. According to the results of microbiological and chemical analysis, fish fingers were found to be within acceptable limits during frozen storage for 8 months. However, sensory analysis showed that, at the end of the frozen storage, fish fingers made from sardine could not be consumed because of rancidity.     

Marination of deep-water pink shrimp with rosemary extract and the determination of its shelf-life

The effect of the antioxidant activity of rosemary extract on marinated deep-water pink shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris Lucas, 1846) stored at 1 °C was investigated. Chemical, physical, instrumental, microbiological and sensory analyses were performed to investigate the quality changes and to determine the shelf-life of marinated shrimps. Chemical composition of the shrimp was determined and no significant difference (P > 0.05) was found between the control group (without rosemary extract) and the experimental group (with rosemary extract). Both groups contained 2% citric acid. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the sensory analysis of control and experimental groups on storage days 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 while rancidity was noted by the panelists in the control group on day 75. The TBA value of the control group reached the consumption limit on day 75 but it was still ‘very good’ for the experimental group. Although the bacterial load of both groups were lower than the consumption limits on storage day 75, TBA value limited the shelf-life of the control group but the experimental group was still of good quality for consumption after 75 days.     

Retrieving relevant time‐course experiments: a study on Arabidopsis microarrays

Understanding time‐course regulation of genes in response to a stimulus is a major concern in current systems biology. The problem is usually approached by computational methods to model the gene behaviour or its networked interactions with the others by a set of latent parameters. The model parameters can be estimated through a meta‐analysis of available data obtained from other relevant experiments. The key question here is how to find the relevant experiments which are potentially useful in analysing current data. In this study, the authors address this problem in the context of time‐course gene expression experiments from an information retrieval perspective. To this end, they introduce a computational framework that takes a time‐course experiment as a query and reports a list of relevant experiments retrieved from a given repository. These retrieved experiments can then be used to associate the environmental factors of query experiment with the findings previously reported. The model is tested using a set of time‐course Arabidopsis microarrays. The experimental results show that relevant experiments can be successfully retrieved based on content similarity.Inspec keywords: botany, lab‐on‐a‐chip, genetics, bioinformatics, information retrieval, data mining, data analysis, associative processingOther keywords: relevant time‐course experiment retrieval, time‐course Arabidopsis microarray, time‐course gene regulation, stimulus response, systems biology, computational method, gene behaviour model, gene networked interaction, latent parameter, model parameter estimation, meta‐analysis, data analysis, time‐course gene expression experiment, information retrieval, computational framework, time‐course experiment query, relevant experiment list, repository, environmental factor, query experiment, experimental content similarity