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The aim of this research was to create a cleaner production polymer filament using waste banana bracts biocarbon (BBB) for 3D-printing applications. In this work, ABS is used as a polymeric material together with BBB at concentrations of 3.0, 6.0, and 9.0 wt. %, respectively. In order to examine the impact of infill ratio on the properties of ABS–BBB composite filament, the printing is done with two distinct infill ratios such as 25% and 75%. Mechanical, fatigue and wear characteristics as well as the water contact angle have been examined to ascertain the effectiveness of biocarbon addition. The findings showed that the inclusion of 3.0 wt. % BBB with 75% of infill ratio provides the tensile strength of 33.6 MPa, tensile modulus of 1.93 GPa, flexural strength of 58.7, flexural modulus of 2.96 GPa, yield stress of 28.5 MPa and Izod impact of 5.2 J. In addition, the maximum fatigue life counts for material designation N11 are measured to be 2495, 1753, and 1485 for 25%, 50%, and 75% of UTS, respectively, when 3.0 wt. % of biocarbon is added to ABS with a 75% infill ratio. However, the material designation N2 having 25% of infill ratio and 6.0 wt. % of BBB has the lowest COF and wear loss of 0.26 and 0.018 g. A contact angle test reveals that a material is hydrophobic up to 6.0 wt. % BBB addition. These polymer 3D-printing material could be used in the construction sector with high environmental concern.

This research work is motivated by the increased demand for high impact strength and light-weight materials for many industrial applications, including aerospace and automobiles. Impact properties of 5-harness satin-weave carbon/cyanate ester polymeric prepreg sandwich structures has not been addressed adequately, though it is ideal for many space applications subjected to high temperatures. The impact behaviour of textile sandwich panels and their damage resistance were investigated experimentally using the Charpy test under high impact energy. This includes the sample orientations and its tested face to the impact direction. The results indicated that the sample orientations and its face to the impact direction has a significant effect on impact properties and observed damage modes. The selection of textile sandwich composite panel with higher impact resistance is an effective way of improving its applicability in many potential sectors.

In clinical practice, ocular emergencies provide a considerable challenge, typically necessitating prompt and precise diagnosis to avoid irreversible vision impairment. The accessibility, speed, and diagnostic capability of conventional imaging modalities are limited in specific situations, notwithstanding their effectiveness. In the management of ocular emergencies, ultrasound has become a revolutionary technology, providing real-time, non-invasive, and very precise diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities. The present narrative review examines the dynamic nature of ultrasonography in the management of ocular emergencies. It assesses the diagnostic precision, clinical use, therapeutic effectiveness, prospects, and the necessary training for healthcare practitioners. Through the synthesis of existing empirical data, this study emphasizes the capacity of ultrasound to improve patient outcomes and optimize emergency ophthalmic care.

This article experimentally examines the crashing performance and failure mechanisms of jute fiber ( J )-reinforced epoxy/aluminum (Al) hybrid pipes with circular cutout. Wet wrapping by hand lay-up was used to manufacture the designed hybrid pipes, and they were tested under quasi-static axial loads. As crash indicators, hybrid pipes' initial peak load ( F ip ), total absorbed energy (AE), mean crash load ( F m ), specific energy absorption (SEA), and crash force efficiency (CFE) were evaluated. On these indicators, the effect of the number J-plies ( P ) and circular cutout parameters, i.e., diameter ( D ) and number ( N ) of holes, was evaluated. To make statistical predictions about the crash indicators, mathematical regression equations were used. Furthermore, the variance of analysis (ANOVA) was also adapted to determine the percent contribution of each parameter to crash indicators. The experimental outcomes revealed a significant relationship between the studied parameters and the crashing performance as well as the failure mechanisms. Results showed that D is the maximum impelling parameter on the values of F ip and AE with contribution percents of 50.73 and 62.18%, respectively, followed by P with contribution percents of 37.76 and 27.91%, respectively. While P is the highest influencing parameter on the values of F m , SEA, and CFE with contribution percents, respectively of 59.87, 45.77, and 61.98%, followed by D for F m and SEA with contribution percents of 34.66 and 34.83% but N for CFE with a percent of 27.05%.

Epoxy polymer composites embedded with thermally conductive nanofillers play an important role in the thermal management of polymer microelectronic packages, since they can provide thermal conduction properties with electrically insulating properties. An epoxy composite system filled with graphitic-based fillers; multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and ceramic-based filler; silicon carbide nanoparticles (SiCs) was investigated as a form of thermal-effective reinforcement for epoxy matrices. The epoxy composites were fabricated using a simple fabrication method, which included ultrasonication and planetary centrifugal mixing. The effect of graphite-based and ceramic-based fillers on the thermal conductivity was measured by the transient plane source method, while the glass transition temperature of the fully cured samples was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. Thermal gravimetric analysis was adopted to study the thermal stability of the samples, and the compressive properties of different filler loadings (1–5 vol.%) were also discussed. The glass temperatures and thermal stabilities of the epoxy system were increased when incorporated with the graphite- and ceramic-based fillers. These results can be correlated with the thermal conductivity of the samples, which was found to increase with the increase in the filler loadings, except for the epoxy/SiCs composites. The thermal conductivity of the composites increased to 0.4 W/mK with 5 vol.% of MWCNTs, which is a 100% improvement over pure epoxy. The GNPs, SiCs, and MWCNTs showed uniform dispersion in the epoxy matrix and well-established thermally conductive pathways.

Due to their major qualities, including light weight, fracture toughness, increased stiffness, and impact energy absorption capacity, thin-walled structures composed of nanocomposite materials may be used as energy-dissipating parts in automobiles. The current study aims to evaluate the transverse deformation performance of glass/nano-silica/epoxy GFRE composite cylinders subjected to quasi-static lateral loadings. All representative samples’ crush profiles and force-displacement curves during crushing were documented and discussed. For the studied specimens, the absorbed energy (AE) and the specific absorbed energy (SEA) were evaluated and recorded. Also, mathematical regression models were built to predict the energy absorption indicators. Based on the experimental results, the inclusion of SiO 2 significantly reduced AE and SEA.

This study investigated the impact response behaviours of pineapple leaf fibre (PALF)/carbon hybrid laminate composites for different ply orientations and stacking sequences. The laminates were manufactured using a vacuum infusion approach with various stacking sequences and ply orientations classified as symmetric quasi-isotropic, angle-ply symmetric, and cross-ply symmetric. The laminates were analysed using an IMATEK IM10 drop weight impact tester with an increment of 5 J until the samples were perforated. This investigation reveals that the overall impact properties of PALF and carbon as reinforcements were improved by a beneficial hybridised effect. The laminates with an exterior carbon layer can withstand high impact energy levels up to 27.5 J. The laminate with different stacking sequences had a lower energy transfer rate and ruptured at higher impact energy. The laminates with ply orientations of [0°/90°] and [±45°]8 exhibited 10% to 30% better energy absorption than those with ply orientations of [±45°2, 0°/90°2]s and [0°/90°2, ±45°2]s due to energy being readily transferred within the same linear ply orientation. Through visual inspection, delamination was observed to occur at the interfaces of different stacking sequences and ply orientations.

Statins differ in their solubility. Some previous studies suggested a difference in clinical efficacy and adverse events between hydrophilic and lipophilic statins. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of hydrophilic and lipophilic statins in patients with acute coronary syndrome. The databases of MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane Library, the Web of Science, and Scopus were systemically searched for articles published from inception until the 18th of July 2024. The primary outcome included major adverse cardiac events (MACE), while the secondary outcomes included myocardial infarction (MI), unstable angina (UA), revascularization, stroke, all-cause mortality, cardiovascular deaths, and adverse events. The results were pooled as risk ratio (RR) along with their 95% confidence intervals (CI). Nine studies were included. Hydrophilic statins showed a significantly higher risk of MACE and UA compared to lipophilic statins (RR 1.11 [95% CI 1.02, 1.21] and 1.30 [95% CI 1.04, 1.62]), but subgroup analysis showed a lack of significant difference between statins of similar intensity (1.01 [95% CI 0.86, 1.18] and 0.98 [0.67, 1.45], respectively). Both statins showed comparable results regarding the occurrence of MI (1.18 [95% CI 0.98, 1.40]), revascularization (1.09 [95% CI 0.99, 1.20]), stroke (1.16 [95% CI 0.80, 1.66]), all-cause mortality (1.13 [95% CI 0.92, 1.38]), cardiovascular deaths (1.14 [95% CI 0.76, 1.72]), adverse events leading to discontinuation (1.03 [95% CI 0.56, 1.90]), increased alanine aminotransferase (0.61 [95% CI 0.32, 1.16]), increased creatine kinase (0.90 [95% CI 0.30, 2.72]), and increased serum creatinine (1.03 [95% CI 0.49, 2.19]). The efficacy and safety of hydrophilic and lipophilic statins are comparable when the cholesterol-lowering intensity of statins is similar. This suggests that intensity, rather than the lipophilicity of the statin, plays a more important role in the secondary prevention of MACE and individual adverse events.

Polymeric biocomposites are emerging as a convenient alternative for traditional materials used in light-weight structural applications. Many studies on the machining of biocomposites were published in recent years. However, their number remains limited compared to the number of studies on the machining of glass and carbon fiber–reinforced composites. Therefore, drilling of Washingtonia filifera ( WF ) fiber-reinforced high-density polyethylene (HDPE) biocomposites was studied in this research by varying various factors, such as drill diameter ( d ), feed rate ( f ), and spindle speed ( N ) using full factorial design ( L 27 ). Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied for the drilling experiment and was used in conjunction with artificial neural network (ANN) in mathematical modeling of the drilling operation parameters. The results showed excellent agreement between experimental data and RSM/ANN predictions. Hence, the developed biocomposite HDPE/ WF can be used in the polymer field to improve overall product performances. Furthermore, the drilling parameter optimization results obtained by the genetic algorithm (GA) combined with ANN are almost similar to those of the desirability function (DF) of RSM, especially f  = 50 mm/min, N  = 806 rev/min, and d  = 5 mm.

Experimental and numerical studies of composite sandwich structures are warranted to reap the benefits of these materials when they are well designed. In the current research, new liquid thermoplastic and epoxy resins were used to fabricate four composite sandwich panels with two additional foam types and different densities in the wind turbine industry. A comprehensive comparison of three-point bending test results was made. Finite-element-based simulations using the ABAQUS program with Hashin’s damage criterion were conducted to examine the failure behavior of the GFRP sandwich composites. The flexural behavior of the glass-fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) sandwich panels was investigated and compared with the experiments. The results show that the GF/PVC/Elium composite panel gives the highest load absorption, flexural strength, flexural modulus, core shear ultimate strength, and facing stress due to effect of the core foam and resin types. For the PVC foam core sandwich panel, using thermoplastic resin increased the flexural strength by 18% compared to that of the epoxy resin. The simulation results show excellent agreement between the finite-element-predicted failure loads and the experimental results.