Longitudinal Clinical Evaluation of Undercut Areas and Rest Seats of Abutment Teeth in Removable Partial Denture Treatment

PURPOSE: Adequate preparation of abutment teeth for removable partial denture (RPD) rest seats allows appropriate masticatory force transmission, retention, and stability of supporting structures. It follows that careful preparation will be important for the longevity of the rehabilitation. The present study aimed to clinically evaluate rest seats and undercut areas of abutment teeth in RPD wearers after 2 years of use. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 193 occlusal, incisal, and cingulum rest seats were evaluated in terms of shape, rest adaptation, wear, caries, fractures, and surface type (enamel, composite resin, or amalgam). Two hundred and fourteen undercut areas were evaluated in terms of surface type (enamel or restoration) and integrity. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, resolution 196/1996, protocol number 11/05. RESULTS: Intact preparations accounted for 92.2% of the total. Application of the Pearson test (p= 0.289) found no statistically significant differences among the materials on which the rest seats were prepared. For the undercut areas, 20.7% of those obtained on restorative material were nonintact. In addition, Fisher's exact test showed a statistically significant difference (p= 0.001) in surface type; enamel surfaces were shown to be 14 times more stable than restored surfaces. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that rest seats are stable, regardless of the material on which they are prepared. Retentive areas were shown to be more stable when they were located in enamel.

Longitudinal Clinical Evaluation of Undercut Areas and Rest Seats of Abutment Teeth in Removable Partial Denture Treatment

PURPOSE: Adequate preparation of abutment teeth for removable partial denture (RPD) rest seats allows appropriate masticatory force transmission, retention, and stability of supporting structures. It follows that careful preparation will be important for the longevity of the rehabilitation. The present study aimed to clinically evaluate rest seats and undercut areas of abutment teeth in RPD wearers after 2 years of use. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 193 occlusal, incisal, and cingulum rest seats were evaluated in terms of shape, rest adaptation, wear, caries, fractures, and surface type (enamel, composite resin, or amalgam). Two hundred and fourteen undercut areas were evaluated in terms of surface type (enamel or restoration) and integrity. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, resolution 196/1996, protocol number 11/05. RESULTS: Intact preparations accounted for 92.2% of the total. Application of the Pearson test (p= 0.289) found no statistically significant differences among the materials on which the rest seats were prepared. For the undercut areas, 20.7% of those obtained on restorative material were nonintact. In addition, Fisher's exact test showed a statistically significant difference (p= 0.001) in surface type; enamel surfaces were shown to be 14 times more stable than restored surfaces. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that rest seats are stable, regardless of the material on which they are prepared. Retentive areas were shown to be more stable when they were located in enamel.

Physical model parameter optimisation for calibrated emulation of the Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster guitar pedal

In this work we explore optimising parameters of a physical circuit model relative to input/output measurements, using the Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster as a case study. A hybrid metaheuristic/gradient descent algorithm is implemented, where the initial parameter sets for the optimisation are informed by nominal values from schematics and datasheets. Sensitivity analysis is used to screen parameters, which informs a study of the optimisation algorithm against model complexity by fixing parameters. The results of the optimisation show a significant increase in the accuracy of model behaviour, but also highlight several key issues regarding the recovery of parameters.

Topographical map of Jersey City, Hoboken, and the adjacent country : describing minutely the courses of rivers and brooks, the township and original patent lines, railways, turnpike, carriage and bridle roads, the present farm boundaries with the names of their proprietors : a correct plan of public grounds and gentlemen's country seats, the position of farm houses, forests, swamps, and marshes, showing a complete view of the face of the country /

Shows cadastral and topographic data (land tracts with proprietors' names) in unurbanized areas.

Reaction Mechanisms Booster (Self-assessment resources)

This is a set of resources aimed at promoting the development of the skills required to successfully identify and generate organic mechanisms in order to demonstrate a good understanding of the underlying chemical principles. Students complete a task independently, and then mark their own work as they watch talking mark scheme videos where an expert explains how to get to the correct answers. Our research has shown that engagement with these resources is perceived to be highly beneficial by students, and leads to an increase in their confidence to tackle mechanistic problems. If you are a non-UK (or non-A-level) teacher, the terms AS and A2 may be meaningless to you, but the resources should still be useful for anyone studying organic reaction mechanisms. The worksheets are available in Word format, and you should feel free to edit these to meet the needs of your students and the course you are teaching. You can download the files individually by selecting them on the left and clicking download. Please watch the short briefing video on You Tube and read the teachers' notes carefully. Contact me on d.read@soton.ac.uk if you have and questions or comments. Additionally, I would like to thank Henry Pearson for suggesting the format of the alternative self-assessment proformas which you may choose to use with your students.

Intimate Drowning

intimate drowning 50 minute performance + installation work ice | salt | tears | This work is about death. Grief The relationships before The aftermath - of confusion, violence, isolation The never ending questions The devastating loss and paranoia "Since my wife died, I have spent the last six years treading water - trying to stop myself from drowning. Sometimes I catch myself not breathing. I have to remind myself that I can't live underwater no matter how much I want to." Grief. Loss. Tears. Fear. Sadness Water. Milk. Salt. Ice Falling. Waiting Submerged. Suffocated. Broken ties Intention. Lack of focus. Intensity of focus Fighting. Screaming. Wailing Blue. White. Black. Blackness The doors open: we walk through a gauze curtain and discover a dark space with a square of light in the middle of the room. As we walk closer to the light, we see a girl writing in charcoal on the floor around a square box filled with milk. She is writing the same thing over and over. The more she writes the more desperate she becomes: I am listening… We have to keep walking past. She isn’t writing for us. We find our seats Two people: one slowly breaking the hundreds of fragile strings that tie her to the other. The other is pleading with her to stop: Please. Please don’t. Please Avril. …Please don’t One girl facing away from us. She is slowly swimming on the spot without water. Projected next to her are images of her drowning under water. Salt falls in front of her. Behind her. A wall of salt. She is bound to the spot. Underwater and still breathing. Swimming in her own tears. She won’t escape. She wants to stay, but desires nothing Two people standing in a large square box filled with milk. They start in intimacy. The relationship begins to dissolve before us. One fights to be with/on/behind the other. The other fights her off. The milk is splashed. Why aren't they being careful? In the darkness there is scrubbing. Someone is scrubbing the floor. The other girl is on her knees trying to erase the original writing. The traces left behind that we have no control over. We only see her for a second, but hear her in the darkness. Scrubbing. It is pointless. You can't erase the past.

Prevention of postnatal distress or depression : an evaluation of an intervention at preparation for parenthood classes.

Determined the effectiveness of a psychosocial intervention, provided to expectant couples in routine antenatal classes, on the postpartum psychosocial adjustment of women and men. Preparation for Parenthood programs were randomly allocated to one of three conditions: usual service ('control'), experimental ('empathy'), or non-specific control ('baby-play'). The latter condition controlled for the non-specific effects of the intervention, these being: the provision of an extra class; asking couples to consider the early postpartum weeks; and receiving booster information after the antenatal class, and again shortly after the birth. Women and men were categorised into three levels of self-esteem, as measured antenatally: low, medium and high. 268 participants were recruited antenatally. Interview data and self-report information was collected from 202 of these women at 6 weeks postpartum, and 180 women at 6 months postpartum. The intervention consisted of a session focusing on psychosocial issues related to becoming first-time parents. Participants discussed possible postpartum concerns in separate gender groups for part of the session, and then discussed these issues with their partners

Current child restraint practice in Queensland, new legislation and future challenges

Correct use of child restraints reduces the risk of death and injury. Use of adult seat belts is better than being unrestrained but can result in injury to children who are too small. New Australian legislation extends the requirement for using child-specific restraints until children are 7 years old and thus requires more appropriate levels of protection for these children. As part of a larger study of injury prevention in Queensland, parents of children 0-9 years old were surveyed regarding their restraint practices before the introduction of the new legislation. The restraint status of 18% of the children would not be compliant with the new legislation, with the problem being more prevalent for 5-9 year olds (22%) than 0-4 year olds (16%). A high proportion of older children used an adult seat belt. Very few children aged 0-4 (1.3%) usually travelled in the front seat in contravention of the new requirement, but around 11% of this age group were reported as ever having done so. Usual travel in the front seat was higher among 5-9 year olds (8.5%), with more than half of the 5-9 year olds reported as ever having done so. Given the widespread use of adult seat belts by older children, there is a need to consider improving protection of children in the ‘gap’ between when the requirement for the child to use a booster ceases (effectively age 7) and when the adult belt is likely to actually fit the child (closer to age 9 or 10).

Announcement and legislation enactment improve children’s seating position in regional areas

New legislation requires all children 7 years and younger to use child-specific Australian Standards approved restraints suitable to their age and restricts seating young children in the front of cars. Observations of child seating position and restraint use were undertaken in Toowoomba and Rockhampton before the Queensland legislation was announced (T1), after the announcement but before it was enacted (T2) and after it came into force (T3). From T1 to T2, the percentage of children seated in the rear increased (69% to 75%), with a further increase from T2 to T3 (75% to 77%). This pattern was clear when there were one or two children in the car, but not when there were 3 or more. The effect on restraint use was more complex. After the announcement (T2) the percentage of children using adult seatbelts significantly increased regardless of the number of child passengers. However, once the legislation was enacted (T3) there was a significant increase in the percentage of children using child seats/boosters where there was one or two child passengers. Where there were three or more children in the vehicle there was little change in restraint choice between pre (T1) and post (T3) legislation.

Long term immunity to live attenuated Japanese encephalitis chimeric virus vaccine : randomized, double-blind, 5-year phase II study in healthy adults.

In a randomized, double-blind study, 202 healthy adults were randomized to receive a live, attenuated Japanese encephalitis chimeric virus vaccine (JE-CV) and placebo 28 days apart in a cross-over design. A subgroup of 98 volunteers received a JE-CV booster at month 6. Safety, immunogenicity, and persistence of antibodies to month 60 were evaluated. There were no unexpected adverse events (AEs) and the incidence of AEs between JE-CV and placebo were similar. There were three serious adverse events (SAE) and no deaths. A moderately severe case of acute viral illness commencing 39 days after placebo administration was the only SAE considered possibly related to immunization. 99% of vaccine recipients achieved a seroprotective antibody titer ≥ 10 to JE-CV 28 days following the single dose of JE-CV, and 97% were seroprotected at month 6. Kaplan Meier analysis showed that after a single dose of JE-CV, 87% of the participants who were seroprotected at month 6 were still protected at month 60. This rate was 96% among those who received a booster immunization at month 6. 95% of subjects developed a neutralizing titer ≥ 10 against at least three of the four strains of a panel of wild-type Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) strains on day 28 after immunization. At month 60, that proportion was 65% for participants who received a single dose of JE-CV and 75% for the booster group. These results suggest that JE-CV is safe, well tolerated and that a single dose provides long-lasting immunity to wild-type strains

School-based drug prevention programs: a review of what works

This article examines the effectiveness of school-based drug prevention programs in preventing illicit drug use. Our article reports the results of a systematic review of the evaluation literature to answer three fundamental questions: (1) do school-based drug prevention programs reduce rates of illicit drug use? (2) what features are characteristic of effective programs? and (3) do these effective program characteristics differ from those identified as effective in reviews of school-based drug prevention of licit substance use (such as alcohol and tobacco)? Using systematic review and meta-analytic techniques, we identify the characteristics of schoolbased drug prevention programs that have a significant and beneficial impact on ameliorating illicit substance use (i.e., narcotics) among young people. Successful intervention programs typically involve high levels of interactivity, time-intensity, and universal approaches that are delivered in the middle school years. These program characteristics aligned with many of the effective program elements found in previous reviews exploring the impact of school-based drug prevention on licit drug use. Contrary to these past reviews, however, our analysis suggests that the inclusion of booster sessions and multifaceted drug prevention programs have little impact on preventing illicit drug use among school-aged children. Limitations of the current review and policy implications are discussed.

Anchoring and exposing in the third place : regular identification at the boundaries of social realms

Harry’s is my favourite bar in my neighbourhood. It is a small wine bar, owned by three men in their late thirties and targeted at people like them; my gentrifying inner city neighbourhood’s 20 to 40 something urban middle class. Harry’s has seats along the bar, booths inside, and a courtyard out the back. The seating arrangements mean that larger groups tend to gather outside, groups of two to four spread around the location, and people by themselves, or in groups of two, tend to sit at the bar. I usually sit at the bar....

Thermal profile of a near-adiabatic compression process in a cylindrical tube and establishment of critical control elements for repeatable process control

The compressed gas industry and government agencies worldwide utilize "adiabatic compression" testing for qualifying high-pressure valves, regulators, and other related flow control equipment for gaseous oxygen service. This test methodology is known by various terms including adiabatic compression testing, gaseous fluid impact testing, pneumatic impact testing, and BAM testing as the most common terms. The test methodology will be described in greater detail throughout this document but in summary it consists of pressurizing a test article (valve, regulator, etc.) with gaseous oxygen within 15 to 20 milliseconds (ms). Because the driven gas1 and the driving gas2 are rapidly compressed to the final test pressure at the inlet of the test article, they are rapidly heated by the sudden increase in pressure to sufficient temperatures (thermal energies) to sometimes result in ignition of the nonmetallic materials (seals and seats) used within the test article. In general, the more rapid the compression process the more "adiabatic" the pressure surge is presumed to be and the more like an isentropic process the pressure surge has been argued to simulate. Generally speaking, adiabatic compression is widely considered the most efficient ignition mechanism for directly kindling a nonmetallic material in gaseous oxygen and has been implicated in many fire investigations. Because of the ease of ignition of many nonmetallic materials by this heating mechanism, many industry standards prescribe this testing. However, the results between various laboratories conducting the testing have not always been consistent. Research into the test method indicated that the thermal profile achieved (i.e., temperature/time history of the gas) during adiabatic compression testing as required by the prevailing industry standards has not been fully modeled or empirically verified, although attempts have been made. This research evaluated the following questions: 1) Can the rapid compression process required by the industry standards be thermodynamically and fluid dynamically modeled so that predictions of the thermal profiles be made, 2) Can the thermal profiles produced by the rapid compression process be measured in order to validate the thermodynamic and fluid dynamic models; and, estimate the severity of the test, and, 3) Can controlling parameters be recommended so that new guidelines may be established for the industry standards to resolve inconsistencies between various test laboratories conducting tests according to the present standards?

Patterns of correlation between vehicle occupant seat pressure and anthropometry

Seat pressure is known as a major factor of seat comfort in vehicles. In passenger vehicles, there is lacking research into the seat comfort of rear seat occupants. As accurate seat pressure measurement requires significant effort, simulation of seat pressure is evolving as a preferred method. However, analytic methods are based on complex finite element modeling and therefore are time consuming and involve high investment. Based on accurate anthropometric measurements of 64 male subjects and outboard rear seat pressure measurements in three different passenger vehicles, this study investigates if a set of parameters derived from seat pressure mapping are sensitive enough to differentiate between different seats and whether they correlate with anthropometry in linear models. In addition to the pressure map analysis, H-Points were measured with a coordinate measurement system based on palpated body landmarks and the range of H-Point locations in the three seats is provided. It was found that for the cushion, cushion contact area and cushion front area/force could be modeled by subject anthropometry,while only seatback contact area could be modeled based on anthropometry for all three vehicles. Major differences were found between the vehicles for other parameters.

A subject-specific model of human buttocks and thighs in a seated posture

Finite element analyses of the human body in seated postures requires digital models capable of providing accurate and precise prediction of the tissue-level response of the body in the seated posture. To achieve such models, the human anatomy must be represented with high fidelity. This information can readily be defined using medical imaging techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or Computed Tomography (CT). Current practices for constructing digital human models, based on the magnetic resonance (MR) images, in a lying down (supine) posture have reduced the error in the geometric representation of human anatomy relative to reconstructions based on data from cadaveric studies. Nonetheless, the significant differences between seated and supine postures in segment orientation, soft-tissue deformation and soft tissue strain create a need for data obtained in postures more similar to the application posture. In this study, we present a novel method for creating digital human models based on seated MR data. An adult-male volunteer was scanned in a simulated driving posture using a FONAR 0.6T upright MRI scanner with a T1 scanning protocol. To compensate for unavoidable image distortion near the edges of the study, images of the same anatomical structures were obtained in transverse and sagittal planes. Combinations of transverse and sagittal images were used to reconstruct the major anatomical features from the buttocks through the knees, including bone, muscle and fat tissue perimeters, using Solidworks® software. For each MR image, B-splines were created as contours for the anatomical structures of interest, and LOFT commands were used to interpolate between the generated Bsplines. The reconstruction of the pelvis, from MR data, was enhanced by the use of a template model generated in previous work CT images. A non-rigid registration algorithm was used to fit the pelvis template into the MR data. Additionally, MR image processing was conducted to both the left and the right sides of the model due to the intended asymmetric posture of the volunteer during the MR measurements. The presented subject-specific, three-dimensional model of the buttocks and thighs will add value to optimisation cycles in automotive seat development when used in simulating human interaction with automotive seats.