Pre-determined Points Research Articles

Evaluation of marginal and internal fit of ceramic crown copings

Objectives(1) To measure the marginal and internal adaptation of different prosthetic crowns infrastructures (IS); (2) to analyze two types of methodologies (replica and weight technique) used to evaluate the adaptation of indirect restorations. MethodsCeramic IS were fabricated using CAD/CAM technology and slip-casting technique, and metal IS were produced by casting (n=10). For each experimental group, the adaptation was evaluated with the replica (RT) and the weight technique (WT), using an impression material (low viscosity silicon) to simulate the luting agent. Cross-sectional images of the silicon replica were obtained and analyzed with Image J software to measure the low viscosity silicon layer thickness at pre-determined points. The silicon layer was also weighted. Results were statistically analyzed with ANOVA and Tukey's test (α=0.05). Pearson correlation was used to analyze the relation between the two types of evaluation methods. ResultsAll IS evaluated showed clinically acceptable internal and marginal adaptation. Metal IS showed the best adaptation, irrespective of the measuring technique (RT and WT). The IS produced by CAD–CAM showed greater gap values at the occlusal area than at other evaluated regions. The IS produced by the dental laboratory technician showed similar gap values at all evaluated regions. There is no correlation between RT and WT (p>0.05). SignificanceDifferent levels of adaptation were found for the different experimental groups and for the different evaluation methods. However, all IS evaluated showed clinically acceptable values of marginal and internal adaptation.

FREEZE PROTECTION METHOD USING HOT WATER FOR PASSIVE SOLAR WATER HEATING SYSTEM

In the present work, a new freeze protection method is introduced with intended applications for passive solar water heaters. Though electro-thermal wire heat tracing is popularly used to prevent freezing with subsequent risk of burst, this approach is problematic due to resistance heater failure and excessive electric power consumption. In the experimental device, hot water in thermal storage tank is used to heat the outlet pipe from the tank when the surface temperature of the pipe falls lower than a pre-determined set point. The cold water pipe to the thermal storage tank is installed in direct contact with the hot water pipe, controlling its temperature by conduction with the hot water pipe.

A flexible unmanned aerial vehicle for precision agriculture

An unmanned aerial vehicle (“VIPtero”) was assembled and tested with the aim of developing a flexible and powerful tool for site-specific vineyard management. The system comprised a six-rotor aerial platform capable of flying autonomously to a predetermined point in space, and of a pitch and roll compensated multi-spectral camera for vegetation canopy reflectance recording. Before the flight campaign, the camera accuracy was evaluated against high resolution ground-based measurements, made with a field spectrometer. Then, “VIPtero” performed the flight in an experimental vineyard in Central Italy, acquiring 63 multi-spectral images during 10 min of flight completed almost autonomously. Images were analysed and classified vigour maps were produced based on normalized difference vegetation index. The resulting vigour maps showed clearly crop heterogeneity conditions, in good agreement with ground-based observations. The system provided very promising results that encourage its development as a tool for precision agriculture application in small crops.

Comparative analysis of the impact of industrial and agricultural effluents on Ona stream in Ibadan, Nigeria

The comparative assessment of industrial and agricultural effluents on surface water qualities of Ona Stream at Oluyole industrial Estate was carried out. This was to identify major pollutants, their effects on water qualities and to ascertain the potential of using the polluted surface waterfor irrigation purposes. Water samples were collected at pre-determined points along the stream and major parameters were analyzed using standard procedures. Physiochemical and microbiological tests carried out indicated that some parameters gave evidence of pollution due toindustrial effluent discharge. The range of values of some of these parameters included dissolved oxygen (DO) 3.0 – 5.5 mg O2/l, chemical oxygen demand (COD), 64-255 mg O2/l and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), 26-70 mg/l. Others were total dissolved solids (TDS), 1285-2090mg/l and Oil and grease, 6.8-3.4 mg/l. As for agricultural effluents parameters, DO ranged between 1.62 and 5.10mg O2/l, BOD was 26-480 mg/l, COD, 64-1750 mg O2/l and TDS was between 1285 and 2250 mg/l. All the values are above the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) maximum allowable limit for effluent discharge into surface water. The statistical analyses carried out showed significant differences in all the physiochemical and heavy metal parameters analyzed at 5% significance level. Usage of Ona stream for domestic and irrigation purposes was not encouraged due to the health hazards it poses as the presence of contaminants and heavy metal pollution in large quantities confirmed this. Development of clean water technology for water pollution control and application of appropriate polices to compel industries to treat effluent before discharging into the stream are some of the recommendationssuggested.

Abstract 4436: Biological evaluation of folate prodrugs with a highly toxic derivative of doxorubicin

Abstract Folic acid is itself not biologically active but it is essential for the proliferation of cells. Cellular uptake of folate in the body is primarily mediated by the folate receptor (FR), a membrane-bound protein for which three isomers have been identified. The isomer FR-α is highly over-expressed in many human tumors. Since FR-α has a high affinity for binding and transporting physiologic levels of folic acid into cells, coupling a drug through a cleavable linker to folic acid can yield a prodrug that can be delivered inside tumor cells. Many studies have focused on reducible or acid-sensitive based linkers that are cleaved in the endosomes and/or cytoplasm. For the development of new folate receptor-targeted prodrugs, the highly active doxorubicin derivative N-(5,5-diacetoxybut-1-yl)doxorubicin was chosen to avoid potential saturation of the folate receptor. This acyclic doxorubicin diacetate undergoes an ester-mediated hydrolysis producing 2-pyrrolinodoxorubicin that is 500-1000 times more active than doxorubicin. Two prodrugs were designed to contain an acid-sensitive hydrazone bond (1) or in addition a disulfide bond (2) in order to elucidate the importance of the pre-determined breaking point for their in vitro and in vivo activity. In a 24h MTT assay, 1 was 5-fold more active than 2 in folate-positive KB cells in the nanomolar range whereas no activity was observed in the folate-negative A549 lung cancer cells, an observation that correlated well with the uptake of 1 and 2 in fluorescence microscopy studies. In subsequent in vivo studies in the folate-positive KB model, 1 was as active as the free drug but significantly less toxic when dosed at twice the dose of the free drug whereas 2 showed no anticancer efficacy. As an explanation, we could show by HPLC that prodrug 2 that additionally contains a disulfide bond undergoes rapid disulfide exchange in murine and human plasma in the order of 40% after 5 h at 37°C in contrast to 1 which was essentially stable after a 5 h incubation. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4436. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4436

The Use of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle as a Remote Sensing Platform in Agriculture

One of the limitations of using hobbyist remotely controlled aircraft with an attached digital camera is that a great number of images look alike and unless a large number of natural features or artificial targets are present at the location, it is hard to identify and orientate the images. This paper investigates the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for use in agricultural applications. Trials were conducted, in collaboration with researchers from the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation and Queensland University of Technology, on the ability of a UAV autopilot to accurately trigger a two-camera sensor when at a desired location. The study area was located at Watts Bridge Memorial Airfield, near Toogoolawah (152.460°, -27.098°) in southeast Queensland, Australia. The airfield has dedicated areas for use of remotely controlled aircraft, with the mission being undertaken on 5 March 2008. The target and waypoints were arranged so that the UAV flew in an anticlockwise flight pattern. Three separate missions were flown with images being acquired when over target on each of the nine passes. Although capturing the target in the image was achieved on every flight, the accuracy of capturing the target in the middle of the image was variable. The offset from the centre of the image to the target (zero in the perfect system) ranged from just under 15% to just over 60% of the image extent. The misalignment was due to a combination of the predetermined offset value, cross-wind, global position system/autopilot error, the UAV not being level when the image was acquired, and/or inaccuracies in positioning the sensors in the hinged pod. The capacity to accurately acquire images over pre-determined points is essential to ensure coverage and to expedite mosaicing of the images. It will also expand the application of these technologies into the broader-scale applications, such as imaging in broadacre cereal cropping or imaging along transects.

Regional Well-Being in Tropical Queensland, Australia: Developing a Dissatisfaction Index to Inform Government Policy

This paper investigates the perceived well-being of residents of two coastal rural areas located in the central part of the Great Barrier Reef region in Australia. Typically, well-being studies concentrate on collating data from respondents about their perceptions of levels of satisfaction on specific predetermined points. However, recording respondents' satisfactions with various contributors to their well-being does not provide researchers with an indication of how important those contributors are to the respondents. This paper presents an approach to the analysis of well-being that combines the perceived importance of the well-being factors with the reported levels of satisfaction with the factor, aggregated to a regional level. A total of 372 individuals were asked to comment on how satisfied they were with twenty-seven well-being factors from the domains of society, the natural environment, and the economy and services. The highest reported satisfaction rates were associated with family relations, family safety, family health, family education levels, and work (> 75%). Information about the perceived importance of the well-being factors was also recorded and combined with information about levels of satisfaction, thus creating an index of dissatisfaction—an index that allows one to identify an ‘action list’, or set of regional priorities that, if addressed by policy makers, has the potential to enhance regional well-being. Several high-scoring factors in the index, such as condition of the landscape and beaches and access to nature, came from the domain of the natural environment, indicating the importance of integrated approaches to well-being that also include environmental concerns.

Evaluation of the sensitivity and specificity of qualitative diagnostic test under normal assumption

Sensitivity and specificity of an investigational qualitative diagnostic test are conventionally estimated by comparing with an existing qualitative reference test which is often imperfect and hence introduces misclassification biases to sensitivity and specificity estimates. In many situations, both tests measure an underlying continuous trait associated with a specific disease/virus and report binary results by comparing the measurement to a pre-determined cutoff point. The maximum likelihood estimates of the sensitivity and specificity are established under independent normal assumption between the underlying trait and measurement errors for both investigational test and reference test. This allows us to avoid misclassificiation biases caused by imperfect reference test without retesting any subjects.

Stress analysis on the free-end distal extension of an implant-supported mandibular complete denture

A comparative and qualitative analysis of the tensions generated in the cantilever region of an implant-supported mandibular complete denture was conducted using the three-dimensional finite element method. The mechanical properties of the components were input in the model and a load of 15 N was applied in pre-determined points. In the first simulation, the load was applied on the occlusal surface of the first premolar. In the second simulation, it was applied on the first and second premolars. In the third simulation, it was applied on the first and second premolars and on the first molar. The different occlusion patterns produced similar tension distributions in the cantilever region, which followed a similar pattern in the three simulations. In all of the cases, the highest levels of tension were located in the region of the first implant. However, as the loads were dislocated distally, the tensions increased considerably. The more extensive the cantilever, the more compromised will be the infrastructure, the prosthetic components and the implants. Regardless of the length of the cantilever, the highest tensions will always be located in the region of the implant next to the load application point.

Hip flexor fatigue limits walking in Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease results in distal lower limb weakness that affects walking. In this study we assess the role of the hip flexors in compensating for distal weakness while walking and the effects of prolonged walking on these putative compensatory strategies. Eighteen subjects with CMT disease were compared with 14 matched controls while they walked on a treadmill to a predetermined point of perceived effort. A significant reduction was observed in peak hip flexor velocity during walking and hip flexor maximal voluntary contraction. In a second session following selective fatigue of the hip flexors, hip flexor velocity decreased immediately on walking, and walking duration was greatly reduced. This study suggests that hip flexors compensate for distal weakness and that fatigue in the hip flexors can limit walking duration. Treatments directed toward improving proximal muscle strength may therefore help to delay onset of hip flexor fatigue and thus prolong walking duration.

Plant Simulation System for Developing ABWR Automatic Power Regulator System

We developed a plant simulation code system to design and verify an automatic power regulator (APR) system for an advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR). The point kinetic plant simulator AUTSIMU is an off-line and real-time online plant simulation code that can simulate the start-up process from a subcritical condition of cold water to a 100% rated power condition as well as the reactor shutdown process. The three-dimensional effect of neutron detector signals in the core was simulated by combining predetermined three-dimensional analysis and point kinetic analysis results. The AUTSIMU code was tested using ABWR start-up experimental data. The calculated results were in good agreement with the measured ones. Less than one minute was needed in the off-line mode to simulate a ten-hour transient with an ordinary personal computer. We confirmed that simple AUTSIMU models could effectively simulate ABWR start-up behaviors. The APR hardware was effectively verified in the online mode through factory tests before being shipped to the nuclear site.

Residual Stress Measurement of Laser-Engineered Net Shaping AISI 410 Thin Plates Using Neutron Diffraction

In an attempt to relate the laser-engineered net shaping (LENS) process parameters, laser power and laser travel speed, to the quality of LENS-produced parts, strain measurements were taken at several predetermined points within seven LENS AISI 410 thin plates using the neutron diffraction method. The residual stresses at these points were then calculated using the measured strain values to ascertain how the internal stress varies as a function of the input parameters and location. It is found that the component of the stress in the vertical direction (i.e., perpendicular to the raster direction of the laser/powder nozzle) is dominant, in agreement with previous reports, and relatively insensitive to variations in process parameters. This was confirmed with numerical simulations performed with a thermomechanical model developed using the commercial program SYSWELD. The simulations also showed a good qualitative agreement with the measured simulated stresses.

From Medics to Managers: The Ascent of the Entrepreneur

Where one stands to engage with the world is not as some New Age Psychologists continue to argue, completely free and self-determined. Rather, it is formed largely beyond one’s control and is fraught with both dangers and opportunities. This pre-determined point of view is referred to as the Assumptive World (Parkes, 1975). This is defined as a “strongly held set of assumptions about the world and the self that is confidently maintained and used as a means of recognizing, planning and acting…Assumptions such as these are learned and confirmed by the experience of many years” (Parkes, 1975, p. 132). There are, further, levels and intensities of assumptions, as refined by Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992). These assumptions form the centre point of our world and our consciousness. They are so much a part of us that we tend not to challenge them. Though unchallenged, these assumptions nevertheless drive our behaviors, set our expectations, and operationalize our moral views.

The Accuracy of Aneroid Sphygmomanometers in the Ambulatory Setting

The mercury sphygmomanometer is the undisputed gold standard for the indirect measurement of blood pressure. Some public health advocates have recently expressed concern about the use of mercury in medical practice.(2) This concern has prompted many medical facilities to replace mercury manometers with aneroid devices. The present report examined the performance of 282 aneroid sphygmomanometers in outpatient medical practices. Results were examined for predetermined end points within +/-3 mm Hg from the reference values and to indicate zero at no pressure. Ninety-three devices (33%) failed to perform at > or = 1 pressure levels. Most (76%) of the failures were due to low readings. Only 7 of the 93 failing units did not rest at zero, making this an unreliable indicator of accuracy. Inaccurate readings of aneroid sphygmomanometers may result in a failure to diagnose and treat hypertension, thereby placing hypertensive patients at risk for end-organ damage and cardiovascular events.

Adapting speaking after evidence of misrecognition: Local and global hyperarticulation

In this paper we examine the two-way relationship between hyperarticulation and evidence of misrecognition of computer-directed speech. We report the results of an experiment in which speakers spoke to a simulated speech recognizer and received text feedback about what had been “recognized”. At pre-determined points in the dialog, recognition errors were staged, and speakers made repairs. Each repair utterance was paired with the utterance preceding the staged recognition error and coded for adaptations associated with hyperarticulate speech: speaking rate and phonetically clear speech. Our results demonstrate that hyperarticulation is a targeted and flexible adaptation rather than a generalized and stable mode of speaking. Hyperarticulation increases after evidence of misrecognition and then decays gradually over several turns in the absence of further misrecognitions. When repairing misrecognized speech, speakers are more likely to clearly articulate constituents that were apparently misrecognized than those either before or after the troublesome constituents, and more likely to clearly articulate content words than function words. Finally, we found no negative impact of hyperarticulation on speech recognition performance.

Validation of an RT-PCR multi-gene prognostic signature for distant metastasis in node negative (N-), ER positive (ER+) breast cancer patients using FFPE sections

21009 Background: We sought to validate a previously developed 14-gene prognostic signature and a metastasis score (MS) that predicted distant metastasis in N-, ER+ breast cancer patients in an independent sample set of patients without systemic treatment. The genes consisted primarily of proliferation genes involved in p53 and TNF signaling pathways. Methods: : A cohort of 294 N-, ER+ breast cancer patients from Guy's Hospitals, London, UK without systemic therapy were tested. The cohort had a mean age of 55.5 yrs with 49% > 55 yrs, mean tumor size of 1.93 (max. 3) cm, and a median follow up of 14.3 yrs. The primary endpoint was distant metastasis free survival. RT-PCR was carried out on fixed sections. The MS was calculated. Results: The mean MS (SD) was 0.44 (0.59) with a range of -1.31 to 2.0. Hazard of distant metastasis increased 3.02 fold (95% CI 1.91–4.76, p <0.0001) per unit increase in MS from Cox model. The pre-determined cut point of zero was used to stratify patients into low- and high-risk groups. The 5-yr distant-metastasis-free survival rate (DMFSR) for low- and high-risk groups were 1 and 0.86 (SE 0.024); the 10-yr DMFSR were 0.97 (0.021) and 0.77 (0.030), respectively. Univariate Cox regression analyses indicated that MS (hazard ratio (HR) 5.65, 95% CI 2.05–15.56, p=0.008), tumor size (HR 1.62, p=0.0047) and tumor grade (HR 2.52, p=0.036) were significant but age was not. Multivariate Cox regression indicated that the signature had independent prognostic value with a HR of 4.71 (1.42–15.61, p=0.011) after adjusting for age, tumor size and grade. AUC of MS at 5-and 10-yr were 0.78 (0.71–0.85, p<0.001) and 0.73 (0.66–0.80, p<0.001) with sensitivities of 1 and 0.96 and specificities of 0.31 and 0.31 at zero cut point, respectively. The differential risk between the median MS scores of the lowest and highest deciles was 8-fold. Conclusions: A previously defined RT-PCR prognostic signature for N-, ER+ patients has been confirmed. A metastasis score that quantifies distant metastasis risk, not confounded with treatment effect can complement treatment response predictors. Insight on natural history of tumors is critical for evaluating impact of therapy. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Development of the American association of critical-care nurses' sedation assessment scale for critically ill patients.

Clinicians commonly sedate critically ill patients. Sedatives should be administered to achieve predetermined end points. Most currently available scales used to assess sedation are inadequate because they focus on a single domain, such as consciousness. The development of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses' Sedation Assessment Scale is described. This new scale consists of 5 domains: consciousness, agitation, anxiety, sleep, and patient-ventilator synchrony. A major advantage of the scale is that its domains parallel common goals of sedation therapy for critically ill patients. The proposed measurements for each domain are based on a comprehensive evaluation of the science and expert recommendations. Before the scale is widely used, clinical testing is required to determine its validity and reliability in a variety of critically ill patients and care situations.

プローブによる微小な粒子の配置・接合法の検討

A new particle manipulator composed of a tungsten probe, a worktable with a stage system and two optical microscopes is fabricated. The apparatus is featured by an equipment of power source, which applies voltage between the probe and a substrate on the worktable. Using gold particles of 40-80μm, the performance of the apparatus is examined. The experiments show that manipulation and welding can be carried out as follows. The probe is positioned for the tip to touch an objective particle on the substrate. The particle is adhered at the tip of the probe and is picked up when 20-50V is applied between the probe and the substrate. The particle is carried to a predetermined point on the substrate and the particle on probe is put in contact with the substrate surafce. By applying 4kV or more, electric sparks generated between the probe and the substrate, and the particle is welded to the substrate. The apparatus has an advantage that both manipulation and welding can be carried out using the same tool saving operation time and improving the accuracy of products.

Development of curvature during the cure of AS4/8552 [0/90] unsymmetric composite plates

The development of residual stresses in [0/90] unsymmetric flat laminates (AS4/8552 composite system) was monitored by stopping the cure cycle at pre-determined points and evaluating the related level of deformation. Cylindrical shapes of consistent curvature are obtained and the “cured” curvature can be eliminated by re-heating samples up to a certain temperature, designated as the stress free temperature, T sf. The stress free temperature has also been measured after the interrupted cure cycles: the evolution of the stress free temperature during the cure cycle allowed the vitrification point to be estimated. Both curvature and T sf increase with increasing cure but level off after the vitrification point, attaining a constant value. The stress free temperature of samples cured beyond vitrification is systematically higher than their cure temperature. It is evident that a certain percentage of non-thermoelastic stress is present in the structure, possibly due to resin chemical shrinkage. The “cured” curvature is mostly driven by the transverse coefficient of thermal expansion, α 2. From curvature–temperature profiles, it is found that α 2 is almost constant during the cycle, below T g. Post-cure of laminates that have not been fully cured tends to increase their “residual” curvature, but the effect of the post-cure is relatively small for specimens cured beyond the vitrification point.

A recovery method supporting user-interactive undo in database management systems

User-interactive undo is a kind of recovery facility that allows users to correct mistakes easily by canceling and reexecuting operations that have already been executed. Supporting user-interactive undo is essential for authoring processes in new database applications such as software engineering, hypermedia, and computer-aided design. A partial rollback using savepoints supported by commercial database management systems (DBMSs), which allows only cancellation of executed operations, is a restricted form of user-interactive undo. Although many applications use DBMSs, they have to provide user-interactive undo by themselves due to lack of support from the DBMSs. Since implementation of user-interactive undo is quite complex, it poses significant burden to application programmers. This paper proposes a new recovery method facilitating user-interactive undo in DBMSs. Such a facility relieves the programmers of implementing user-interactive undo themselves in developing DBMS applications. The method guarantees fast rollback of transactions that contain user-interactive undos. It also provides users with the bulk undo operation that restores the database to a pre-determined point in the past. The bulk undo operation resembles partial rollback, but differs in that it allows redo that cancels the bulk undo. Moreover, the performance of the method is comparable to that of the traditional recovery method in spite of added functionalities.