Effect of axial loads on implanted-supported partial fixed prostheses by strain gauge analysis

Objectives: The present study used strain gauge analysis to perform an in vitro evaluation of the effect of axial loading on 3 elements of implant-supported partial fixed prostheses, varying the type of prosthetic cylinder and the loading points. Material and methods: Three internal hexagon implants were linearly embedded in a polyurethane block. Microunit abutments were connected to the implants applying a torque of 20 Ncm, and prefabricated Co-Cr cylinders and plastic prosthetic cylinders were screwed onto the abutments, which received standard patterns cast in Co-Cr alloy (n=5). Four strain gauges (SG) were bonded onto the surface of the block tangentially to the implants, SG 01 mesially to implant 1, SG 02 and SG 03 mesially and distally to implant 2, respectively, and SG 04 distally to implant 3. Each metallic structure was screwed onto the abutments with a 10 Ncm torque and an axial load of 30 kg was applied at five predetermined points (A, B, C, D, E). The data obtained from the strain gauge analyses were analyzed statistically by RM ANOVA and Tukey's test, with a level of significance of p<0.05. Results: There was a significant difference for the loading point (p=0.0001), with point B generating the smallest microdeformation (239.49 mu epsilon) and point D the highest (442.77 mu epsilon). No significant difference was found for the cylinder type (p=0.748). Conclusions: It was concluded that the type of cylinder did not affect in the magnitude of microdeformation, but the axial loading location influenced this magnitude.

A Strain Gauge Analysis of Microstrain Induced by Various Splinting Methods and Acrylic Resin Types for Implant Impressions

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the level of microstrain that is exerted during polymerization of acrylic resins used for splinting during implant impressions. Material and Methods: Two acrylic resins (GC Pattern Resin, Duralay II) and square transfer coping splinting methods were evaluated by means of strain gauge analysis. Two implants were embedded in a polyurethane block, and the abutments were positioned. Sixty specimens were prepared using two square transfer Copings that were rigidly connected to each other using the acrylic resins. The specimens were randomly divided into three groups of 20 each for the splinting methods: Method 1 was a one-piece method; in method 2, the splint was separated and reconnected after 17 minutes; and in method 3, the splint was separated and reconnected after 24 hours. In each group, half the specimens were splinted with GC Pattern Resin and the other half were splinted with Duralay II. Three microstrain measurements were performed by four strain gauges placed on the upper surface of the polyurethane blocks at 5 hours after resin polymerization for all groups. The data were analyzed statistically. Results: Both resin type and splinting method significantly affected microstrain. interaction terms were also significant. Method 1 in combination with Duralay II produced significantly higher microstrain (1,962.1 mu epsilon) than the other methods with this material (method 2: 241.1 mu epsilon; method 3: 181.5 mu epsilon). No significant difference was found between splinting methods in combination with GC Pattern Resin (method 1: 173.8 mu epsilon; method 2: 112.6 mu epsilon; method 3: 105.4 mu epsilon). Conclusions: Because of the high microstrain generated, Duralay II should not be used for one-piece acrylic resin splinting, and separation and reconnection are suggested. For GC Pattern Resin, variations in splinting methods did not significantly affect the microstrain created. Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants 2012;27:341-345

Strain Gauge Analysis of the Effect of Porcelain Firing Simulation on the Prosthetic Misfit of Implant-Supported Frameworks

Objectives: This study investigated the effect of porcelain firing on the misfit of implant-supported frameworks and analyzed the influence of preheat treatment on the dimensional alterations.Materials and Methods: Four external-hex cylindrical implants were placed in polyurethane block. Ten frameworks of screw-retained implant-supported prostheses were cast in Pd-Ag using 2 procedures: (1) control group (CG, n = 5): cast in segments and laser welded; and test group (TG, n = 5): cast in segments, preheated, and laser welded. All samples were subjected to firing to simulate porcelain veneering firing. Strain gauges were bonded around the implants, and microstrain values (mu epsilon = 10(-6)epsilon) were recorded after welding (M1), oxidation cycle (M2), and glaze firing (M3). Data were statistically analyzed (2-way analysis of variance, Bonferroni, alpha = 0.05).Results: The microstrain value in the CG at M3 (475.2 mu epsilon) was significantly different from the values observed at M1 (355.6 mu epsilon) and M2 (413.9 mu epsilon). The values at M2 and M3 in the CG were not statistically different. Microstrain values recorded at different moments (M1: 361.6 mu epsilon/M2: 335.3 mu epsilon/M3: 307.2 mu epsilon) did not show significant difference.Conclusions: The framework misfit deteriorates during firing cycles of porcelain veneering. Metal distortion after porcelain veneering could be controlled by preheat treatment. (Implant Dent 2012;21:225-229)

Comparative Strain Gauge Analysis of External and Internal Hexagon, Morse Taper, and Influence of Straight and Offset Implant Configuration

Purpose: The present study was designed to analyze strain distributions caused by varying the fixture-abutment design and fixture alignment.Materials and Methods: Three implants of external, internal hexagon, and Morse taper were embedded in the center of each polyurethane block in straight placement and offset placement. Four strain gauges (SGs) were bonded on the surface of polyurethane block, which was designated SG1 placed mesially adjacent to implant A, SG2 and SG3 were placed mesially and distally adjacent to the implant B and SG4 was placed distally adjacent to the implant C. The 30 superstructures' occlusal screws were tightened onto the Microunit abutments with a torque of 10 N cm using the manufacturers' manual torque-controlling device.Results: There were statistically significant differences in prosthetic connection (P value = 0.0074 < 0.5). There were no statistically significant differences in placement configuration/alignment (P value = 0.7812 > 0.5).Conclusion: The results showed fundamental differences in both conditions. There was no evidence that there was any advantage to offset implant placement in reducing the strain around implants. The results also revealed that the internal hexagon and Morse taper joints did not reduce the microstrain around implants. (Implant Dent 2011; 20:e24-e32)

External Hexagon and Internal Hexagon in Straight and Offset Implant Placement: Strain Gauge Analysis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Straight and Offset Implant Placement under Axial and Nonaxial Loads in Implant-Supported Prostheses: Strain Gauge Analysis

Purpose: The aim of this in vitro study was to quantify strain development during axial and nonaxial loading using strain gauge analysis for three-element implant-supported FPDs, varying the arrangement of implants: straight line (L) and offset (O). Materials and Methods: Three Morse taper implants arranged in a straight line and three implants arranged in an offset configuration were inserted into two polyurethane blocks. Microunit abutments were screwed onto the implants, applying a 20 Ncm torque. Plastic copings were screwed onto the abutments, which received standard wax patterns cast in Co-Cr alloy (n = 10). Four strain gauges were bonded onto the surface of each block tangential to the implants. The occlusal screws of the superstructure were tightened onto microunit abutments using 10 Ncm and then axial and nonaxial loading of 30 Kg was applied for 10 seconds on the center of each implant and at 1 and 2 mm from the implants, totaling nine load application points. The microdeformations determined at the nine points were recorded by four strain gauges, and the same procedure was performed for all of the frameworks. Three loadings were made per load application point. The magnitude of microstrain on each strain gauge was recorded in units of microstrain (mu). The data were analyzed statistically by two-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (p < 0.05). Results: The configuration factor was statistically significant (p= 0.0004), but the load factor (p= 0.2420) and the interaction between the two factors were not significant (p= 0.5494). Tukey's test revealed differences between axial offset (mu) (183.2 +/- 93.64) and axial straight line (285.3 +/- 61.04) and differences between nonaxial 1 mm offset (201.0 +/- 50.24) and nonaxial 1 mm straight line (315.8 +/- 59.28). Conclusion: There was evidence that offset placement is capable of reducing the strain around an implant. In addition, the type of loading, axial force or nonaxial, did not have an influence until 2 mm.

Light-cone gauge integrals: prescriptionlessness at two loops

The only calculations performed beyond one-loop level in the light-cone gauge make use of the Mandelstam-Leibbrandt (ML) prescription in order to circumvent the notorious gauge dependent poles. Recently we have shown that in the context of negative dimensional integration method (NDIM) such prescription can be altogether abandoned, at least in one-loop order calculations. We extend our approach, now studying two-loop integrals pertaining to two-point functions. While previous works on the subject present only divergent parts for the integrals, we show that our prescriptionless method gives the same results for them, besides finite parts for arbitrary exponents of propagators. (C) 2000 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Quantization of the electromagnetic field outside static black holes and its application to low-energy phenomena

We discuss the Gupta-Bleuler quantization of the free electromagnetic field outside static black holes in the Boulware vacuum. We use a gauge which reduces to the Feynman gauge in Minkowski spacetime. We also discuss its relation with gauges used previously. Then we apply the low-energy sector of this held theory to investigate some low-energy phenomena. First, we discuss the response rate of a static charge outside the Schwarzschild black hole in four dimensions. Next, motivated by string physics, we compute the absorption cross sections of low-energy plane waves for the Schwarzschild and extreme Reissner-Nordstrom black holes in arbitrary dimensions higher than three.

Do tadpoles vanish in the light-front?

In covariant gauges (CG) regularized with dimensional regularization (DR) it is a standard procedure to set all tadpole Feynman integrals to zero, though; explicitly, they diverge quadratically as the space-time volume. on the other hand, in the notoriously subtle light-front gauge (LTG) some divergent tadpole integrals are said to be nonvanishing, i.e., cannot be set to zero as in the CC case. In this article we analyse the reasons behind this seemingly ambiguous results.

Compressibilidade do solo e sistema radicular da cana-de-açúcar em manejo com e sem controle de tráfego

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Precipitação efetiva e interceptação das chuvas por floresta de Mata Atlântica em uma microbacia experimental em Cunha - São Paulo

São apresentados os resultados de pesquisa que quantificaram a precipitação efetiva e a interceptação das chuvas pelo dossel da floresta secundária de Mata Atlântica na microbacia experimental B, do Laboratório de Hidrologia Florestal Walter Emmerich, em Cunha-SP. No período de um ano foram medidos a precipitação no aberto, a precipitação interna e o escoamento pelo tronco das árvores, totalizando 54 coletas. Um pluviômetro em área aberta e 16 no interior da floresta foram utilizados para quantificação dos dois primeiros processos, respectivamente. Para determinação do escoamento pelo tronco foram instalados dispositivos de espuma de poliuretano em 38 árvores. A água interceptada foi estimada pela diferença entre a precipitação no aberto e a precipitação efetiva. Concluiu-se que, em média, 18,6% da precipitação foi interceptada pela floresta, retornando à atmosfera na forma de vapor. Um montante de 81,2% alcançou o piso como precipitação interna e apenas 0,2% como escoamento pelo tronco. Os fluxos de precipitação interna e escoamento pelo tronco foram maiores no período caracterizado como chuvoso. Os porcentuais de interceptação foram superiores no período pouco chuvoso.

Obtaining a light-like planar gauge

In the usual and current understanding of planar gauge choices for Abelian and non-Abelian gauge fields, the external defining vector n(mu), can either be space-like (n(2) < 0) or time-like (n(2) > 0) but not light-like (n(2) = 0). In this work we propose a light-like planar gauge that consists of defining a modified gauge-fixing term, L-GF, whose main characteristic is a two-degree violation of Lorentz covariance arising from the fact that four-dimensional space-time spanned entirely by null vectors as basis necessitates two light-like vectors, namely n(mu) and its dual m(mu), with n(2) = m(2) = 0, n . m not equal 0, say, e.g. normalized to n . m = 2.

Quantization of (2+1)-spinning particles and bifermionic constraint problem

This work is a natural continuation of our recent study in quantizing relativistic particles. There it was demonstrated that, by applying a consistent quantization scheme to the classical model of a spinless relativistic particle as well as to the Berezin-Marinov model of a 3 + 1 Dirac particle, it is possible to obtain a consistent relativistic quantum mechanics of such particles. In the present paper, we apply a similar approach to the problem of quantizing the massive 2 + 1 Dirac particle. However, we stress that such a problem differs in a nontrivial way from the one in 3 + 1 dimensions. The point is that in 2 + 1 dimensions each spin polarization describes different fermion species. Technically this fact manifests itself through the presence of a bifermionic constant and of a bifermionic first-class constraint. In particular, this constraint does not admit a conjugate gauge condition at the classical level. The quantization problem in 2 + 1 dimensions is also interesting from the physical viewpoint (e.g., anyons). In order to quantize the model, we first derive a classical formulation in an effective phase space, restricted by constraints and gauges. Then the condition of preservation of the classical symmetries allows us to realize the operator algebra in an unambiguous way and construct an appropriate Hilbert space. The physical sector of the constructed quantum mechanics contains spin-1/2 particles and antiparticles without an infinite number of negative-energy levels, and exactly reproduces the one-particle sector of the 2 + 1 quantum theory of a spinor field.

A strain gauge tactile sensor for finger-mounted applications

This paper describes a strain gauge-based sensor used for measuring finger force. The theory, design, and sensor construction details are presented. It was constructed using metallic strain gauges and a carefully designed structure which has a protection de-vice that impedes the sensor damage when forces higher than 100 N are applied. Its dimensions are suitable for measuring thumb force, but the same design can be used for constructing smaller sensors for other fingers. It is rugged, presents linear response, good repeatability, resolution of 0.3 N, low hysteresis, and sensitivity of 0.12 V/N. It can be useful in rehabilitation engineering, biomechanics, robotics, and medicine.

An intelligent system to real time rainfall prediction using radar data

This work presents a new approach for rainfall measurements making use of weather radar data for real time application to the radar systems operated by institute of Meteorological Research (IPMET) - UNESP - Bauru - SP-Brazil. Several real time adjustment techniques has been presented being most of them based on surface rain-gauge network. However, some of these methods do not regard the effect of the integration area, time integration and distance rainfall-radar. In this paper, artificial neural networks have been applied for generate a radar reflectivity-rain relationships which regard all effects described above. To evaluate prediction procedure, cross validation was performed using data from IPMET weather Doppler radar and rain-gauge network under the radar umbrella. The preliminary results were acceptable for rainfalls prediction. The small errors observed result from the spatial density and the time resolution of the rain-gauges networks used to calibrate the radar.