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Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the stress distribution in an endodontically treated tooth restored with two different reinforcing fibers followed by direct composite restoration using a finite element analysis (FEA). Settings and Design: FEA. Subjects and Methods: Two three-dimensional models of endodontically treated maxillary central incisors were restored with two reinforcing fibers: the polyethylene fibers (PFs) and the short fiber-reinforced composite (SFRC), respectively. The restoration was carried out without any intraradicular preparation using direct composite restoration. The models were generated using SolidWorks. The elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio for various structures and materials were installed into the simulation software, Abaqus. A FEA was then conducted. Each model received a mixed-mode loading of 150 N as distributed pressure to the specified region, and stress distribution was evaluated using the von Mises criteria. Results: Both the reinforcing materials, PF and SRFC, showed maximum concentration of stresses in the cervical third of the tooth. The calculated values of the von Mises stresses for the PF and the SFRC models were 1.7 Mpa and 1.9 Mpa, respectively. Moreover, the stresses generated were of low intensity and were uniformly distributed, suggesting that by using this technique, stresses may be very well tolerated by the remaining tooth structure without any fracture. Conclusion: This no-posttechnique, using the two reinforcing fibers, showed minimal stress concentration in the cervical region of the tooth. Thus, using this ultraconservative approach that aims to preserve and reinforce the pericervical dentin and restore the remaining tooth structure with direct composite restoration could be a promising treatment option for the rehabilitation of badly mutilated teeth.

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Silicon in its nanoscale range offers a versatile scope in biomedical, photovoltaic, and solar cell applications. Due to its compatibility in integration with complex molecules owing to changes in charge density of as-fabricated Silicon Nanostructures (SiNSs) to realize label-free and real-time detection of certain biological and chemical species with certain biomolecules, it can be exploited as an indicator for ultra-sensitive and cost-effective biosensing applications in disease diagnosis. The morphological changes of SiNSs modified receptors (PNA, DNA, etc) have huge future scope in optimized sensitivity (due to conductance variations of SiNSs) of target biomolecules in health care applications. Further, due to the unique optical and electrical properties of SiNSs realized using the chemical etching technique, they can be used as an indicator for photovoltaic and solar cell applications. In this work, emphasis is given on different critical parameters that control the fabrication morphologies of SiNSs using metal-assisted chemical etching technique (MACE) and its corresponding fabrication mechanisms focusing on numerous applications in energy storage and health care domains. The evolution of MACE as a low-cost, easy process control, reproducibility, and convenient fabrication mechanism makes it a highly reliable-process friendly technique employed in photovoltaic, energy storage, and biomedical fields. Analysis of the experimental fabrication to obtain high aspect ratio SiNSs was carried out using iMAGEJ software to understand the role of surface-to-volume ratio in effective bacterial interfacing. Also, the role of silicon nanomaterials has been discussed as effective anti-bacterial surfaces due to the presence of silver investigated in the post-fabrication energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis using MACE.

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The demand for microfluidic pressure sensors is ever-increasing in various industries due to their crucial role in controlling fluid pressure within microchannels. While syringe pump setups have been traditionally used to regulate fluid pressure in microfluidic devices, they often result in larger setups that increase the cost of the device. To address this challenge and miniaturize the syringe pump setup, the researcher introduced integrated T-microcantilever-based microfluidic devices. In these devices, microcantilevers are incorporated, and their deflections correlate with the microchannel's pressure. When the relative pressure of fluid (plasma) changes, the T-microcantilever deflects, and the extent of this deflection provides information on fluid pressure within the microchannel. In this work, finite element method (FEM) based simulation was carried out to investigate the role of material, and geometric parameters of the cantilever, and the fluid viscosity on the pressure sensing capability of the T-microcantilever integrated microfluidic channel. The T-microcantilever achieves a maximum deflection of 127µm at a 5000µm/s velocity for Young's modulus(E) of 360 kPa of PDMS by employing a hinged structure. On the other hand, a minimum deflection of 4.05 × 10-5µm was attained at 5000µm/s for Young's modulus of 1 TPa for silicon. The maximum deflected angle of the T-cantilever is 20.46° for a 360 kPa Young's modulus while the minimum deflection angle of the T-cantilever is measured at 13.77° for 900 KPa at a fluid velocity of 5000µm s-1. The T-cantilever functions as a built-in microchannel that gauges the fluid pressure within the microchannel. The peak pressure, set at 8.86 Pa on the surface of the cantilever leads to a maximum deflection of 0.096µm (approximately 1µm) in the T-cantilever at a 1:1 velocity ratio. An optimized microfluidic device embedded with microchannels can optimize fluid pressure in a microchannel support cell separation.

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The development of patient-specific bone scaffolds that can expedite bone regeneration has been gaining increased attention, especially for critical-sized bone defects or fractures. Precise adaptation of the scaffold to the region of implantation and reduced surgery times are also crucial at clinical scales. To this end, bioactive fluorcanasite glass-ceramic microparticulates were incorporated within a biocompatible photocurable resin matrix following which the biocomposite resin precursor was 3D-printed with digital light processing method to develop the bone scaffold. The printing parameters were optimized based on spot curing investigation, particle size data, and UV-visible spectrophotometry. In vitro cell culture with MG-63 osteosarcoma cell lines and pH study within simulated body fluid demonstrated a noncytotoxic response of the scaffold samples. Further, the in vivo bone regeneration ability of the 3D-printed biocomposite bone scaffolds was investigated by implantation of the scaffold samples in the rabbit femur bone defect model. Enhanced angiogenesis, osteoblastic, and osteoclastic activities were observed at the bone-scaffold interface, while examining through fluorochrome labelling, histology, radiography, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray microcomputed tomography. Overall, the results demonstrated that the 3D-printed biocomposite bone scaffolds have promising potential for bone loss rehabilitation.

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Partial strain relaxation effects on polarization ratio of semipolar (112̄2) InxGa1−xN/GaN quantum well (QW) structures grown on relaxed InGaN buffers were investigated using the multiband effective-mass theory. The absolute value of the polarization ratio gradually decreases with increasing In composition in InGaN buffer layer when the strain relaxation ratio (ε0y'y'−εy'y')/ε0y'y' along y'-axis is assumed to be linearly proportional to the difference of lattice constants between the well and the buffer layer. Also, it changes its sign for the QW structure grown on InGaN buffer layer with a relatively larger In composition (x > 0.07). These results are in good agreement with the experiment. This can be explained by the fact that, with increasing In composition in the InGaN subsrate, the spontaneous emission rate for the y'-polarization gradually increases while that for x'-polarization decreases due to the decrease in a matrix element at the band-edge (k‖ = 0).