Clinical commissioning of Laitinen Stereoadapter for fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the distribution of shades selected for metal ceramic crowns provided at a dental teaching hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data on the selection of shade for 2,500 metal ceramic crown units, placed over a 5-year period at the University Dental Hospital of Manchester, were collected and analyzed. Only those crowns placed adjacent to minimally restored vital teeth were included in the study. RESULTS: The results indicate that the most frequently chosen shades were in the mid-range of reddish-brown hue. Furthermore, shades in the reddish-grey range of hue were rarely chosen. The selection of more than one shade for a crown ("mixed shades") was generally restricted to the maxillary anterior teeth. CONCLUSION: Knowledge of the distribution of shades selected for permanently luted metal ceramic crowns may be a useful adjunct in shade selection, particularly for the inexperienced operator.     

Responses of A and B subjects to normal, neurotic, schizophrenic, and ambiguous communications.

Investigated the initial reactions of 20 A and 20 B undergraduates to "encounter situations" in which they were asked for help by 4 hypothetical patients communicating in normal, neurotic, schizophrenic, or ambiguous styles. For each patient communication, Ss responded to the following questions: (a) "What might he mean?" (b) "What might he be feeling?" (c) "How would you feel in this situation?" (d) "What do you think you would do?" Results indicate that (a) A's more frequently interpreted patient communications symbolically than did B's; and (b) A's exhibited greater congruence than B's, as indicated by their greater use of feeling words in describing their reactions to the hypothetical patients. Results were related to previous A-B findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bioavailability comparison between albendazole and albendazole sulphoxide in rats and man

Many restorative materials are claimed by their manufacturers to match the Vita shade guide. To verify this claim, 40 dental personnel were asked to color match five different restorative materials to their respective Vita shade tabs according to a 5-point scale (1 = very poor color match; 5 = excellent color match). Three shades were chosen for each restorative material (a mid-Value shade as well as the highest Value shade and the lowest Value shade present in each system). Pooled scores indicated that the resin composite materials had significantly better overall shade match than did the other materials evaluated and that one resin-modified glass-ionomer cement had significantly better shade match than did the "compomer" and another resin-modified glass-ionomer cement. Only 11% of the scores for all material and shade combinations were given a good or excellent rating (score greater than 3). Shade match to the Vita shade guide was not material dependent but tended to differ among the different Value shades evaluated.     

最大限度提高熟料窑排烟机工作可靠性

本文从轴承选择、确定和控制工作温度、润滑方式以及振动监测等多方面对排烟风机重要环节的轴承部件进行了比较全面地分析。认为根据运行需要的条件和周围环境,采取相应措施,确保轴承正常工作,就能够在最大程度上保证风机工作的可靠性和高效率,从而达到提高产能,降低维修成本的目的。     

Supplemental shade for dairy calves reared in commercial calf hutches in a southern climate

Two studies were conducted during consecutive years to determine the effects of providing supplemental shade to dairy calves reared in commercial hutches made of translucent plastic in a southern environment. Calves were assigned at birth to polyethylene calf hutches located in either an open control area or under supplemental shade (n = 9 to 12 per group per year). Shade reduced temperatures both inside the hutches and in the outer exercise areas during both years. However, shade increased humidity in the exercise area during yr 1. Shaded calves had lower rectal temperatures than control calves during yr 1, but differences were not significant during yr 2. Shade did not alter plasma cortisol concentrations. Shaded calves consumed less concentrate feed but had average daily gains that were similar to those of control calves, resulting in a tendency for greater feed efficiency for shaded calves. Counts for both total and fecal coliforms were greater in bedding collected from hutches under supplemental shade, but there was no difference in the incidence of health disorders. Providing supplemental shade to calves reared in plastic hutches in a warm southern environment altered the calf environment in a predictable manner but had little effect on overall growth and health.     

Handling characteristics of resin composites in posterior teeth

In the last 10 years, tremendous improvements in strength and shade selection for resin composites have been achieved. Also, a new generation of enamel-dentin bonding systems has been developed, and patient expectations of esthetic treatment have risen. Several techniques are available for restoring posterior teeth. When a caries lesion is limited, a direct esthetic restoration is indicated. Essential elements for obtaining good, long-term clinical results for direct esthetic restorations of posterior teeth are: (1) cavity preparation; (2) knowledge of the characteristics of the three dental substrates; (3) rubber dam use and matrix and wedge placement; (4) correct use of the enamel-dentin bonding system; (5) proper selection of the resin composite material; (6) use of the multilayering technique; (7) finishing and polishing procedures; and (8) maintenance of the restoration.     

Multicultural competence: Criteria and case examples.

How do you as a professional psychologist know if you are competent to treat clients whose cultural origins and values differ from your own? What awareness, knowledge, and skills do you need? With whom should you consult? When should you refer? Adopting an idiographic, inclusive approach, the authors identify 12 minimal multicultural competencies for practice and illustrate their usefulness through 3 case examples. Suggestions for how professional psychologists can augment and evaluate their own multicultural competencies are offered as well as implications for professional psychology educators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Benefits of lispro insulin: control of postprandial glucose levels is within reach

How well would the following fit into your schedule? You must know when you will eat throughout the day, and about an hour beforehand you must inject an appropriate amount of insulin to offset the amount of carbohydrate you intend to consume. For many diabetic patients who use regular insulin, these are the requirements. Dr Bohannon describes a newly approved insulin that goes into action and gets out of the body faster, more closely mimicking the body's natural insulin response to food.     

Slab and Level 2 Automation Design Guidelines for Optimum Metallurgy and Productivity for Plate and Steckel Mills

Many new steel plate processing facilities have been built in the past 10 years around the world with many more being planned for the future.This is especially true in developing countries such as China,India and Brazil.Many of these facilities are plate mills with either one or two stands or a Steckel mill,typically only one stand designed for the production of structural plate steels.Unfortunately,there is a lack of understanding with both the mill builders of the world and the mill owners on the importance of properly matching up the available slab supply (either new as part of a new plate/Steckel mill complex or part of an already existing) with the desired end plate product mix.Many mill builders and owners around the world believe that you can take any slab of any dimension and make any plate dimension you want.While this is basically true with today’s Level 2 automation systems,it does not always result in optimum metallurgy/mechanical properties or productivity.This less than optimum condition results in mechanical property failures,shape issues,productivity losses and in general a less than desirable costly processing operation.It is important to the overall optimization of a steel processing facility that the proper slab dimensions be used to produce the proper final plate dimensions along with achieving the required mechanical properties.The critical nature of this selection will be dependent on the final plate thickness and overall mechanical property requirements.Proper mechanical property,shape and overall microstructure are heavily dependent on the ability to properly work the entire cross section of the slab through the rolling process.Many mechanical property,shape and microstructural issues are a result of improper working of the entire cross section during rolling.The ability for a given mill to properly work the entire cross section is dependent on proper slab selection (total reduction ratio) and a proper rolling schedule either generated manually by the operator or by the mills Level 2 au     

Pencil and paper: the simple solution to getting the numbers you need to effectively manage your practice

Once you have mastered the basics by going through the monitoring exercise once or twice, you will find it takes little time and effort to start finding out just where your practice stands. You only solve a problem after you have found out that there is one and you might find that this simple monitoring exercise shows you areas of your practice where a little attention from you will pay big dividends. Monitoring is like a fine wine: it improves with age. As you begin to compile more and more months of data, you will be able to start comparing this month's performance with last month's, or this quarter with last quarter, this year with last year. One of the most useful things monitoring will do for you is to allow you to compare your practice's performance with that of other practices. Averages, norms, and performance survey results are to be found in a range of practice management publications. Using your monitoring information in this comparative way helps you to identify those areas in your practice management that are holding you back from achieving your true potential. This lets you focus your management time and effort on the truly important issues, which, when solved, will help you turn your practice into a less stressful, more enjoyable, and more profitable place to work.     

Report of the Recording Secretary.

It is my particular task to report to you the substance of actions taken by the legislative arm of the American Psychological Association, namely, the Council of Representatives. While this report was delivered to a small yet distinguished audience, and it will doubtless be read by an equally select group, I should like to address it to you as the laity, the vicars of the large number of our members who are not here. I want to convey to you as representatives of all the members not only the details, as I am instructed to do, but also some sense of the movement and of the growth that lies buried in the formal action we have taken. We have had the usual meetings of Board and Council. We finished with the usual complex agenda. For those of you who need information of a detailed nature, I respectfully refer you to the Proceedings of these meetings which appear elsewhere in this number of the American Psychologist. In this particular report what I want to give you is a more impressionistic overview. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonselection and nonresponse bias in clinical research

In summary, nonselection and nonresponse bias can have a potent impact on the validity of clinical veterinary research studies and should be carefully assessed by investigators and readers. The risk of nonselection and nonresponse bias has been compared to "lowering yourself into a dark pit and trusting you won't be bitten by a snake ... before you go into the pit, you should stand outside and listen for a hissing sound ... if you hear one, do not go on ... if you do not hear anything, you may proceed with caution, being confident that at worst you will be bitten by a quiet snake."     

Mitral valve prolapse syndrome. Nonpharmacologic management

As an alternative to drug therapy, patients with MVPS must be informed of their many options. As nurses, you can do an excellent job through education, through organization of support groups, and by developing written materials for these patients. In this field, a tremendous challenge with rewarding outcomes awaits you.     

Effect of restoration composition, shade, and thickness on the cure of a photoactivated resin cement

PURPOSE: This study investigates the effect of selected properties of a restorative material (type, shade, and thickness) on the cure of a photoactivated resin cement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Disks of ceramic and resin-based restorative materials of two extreme shades were made to provide thicknesses of 0.5 to 3.0 mm in 0.5-mm intervals. Light transmission was measured through various thicknesses and shades of each restorative material type. The effect of light transmission, as influenced by restorative material type, shade, and thickness on resin cement cure was also determined. RESULTS: Thickness and shade of restorative material had the greatest influence on light transmission. For simulated restoration thicknesses 1.5 mm and greater, Dicor (Dentsply International Inc, York, PA) had greater transmission of light than the other materials, regardless of shade. At equal restorative material thickness, light transmission was similar for identical shades of the other three materials. Restoration shade and thickness also had the greatest influence on resin cement cure. Material type, although significant, had only a minor influence. At thicknesses of 1 to 2 mm, Dicor consistently yielded greater resin cement cure values than any other material tested. CONCLUSIONS: When considering the ability of restorative materials to transmit light for curing of photo-activated resin cements, the thickness of the restoration and its shade are much more influential than the choice of restorative material. Dicor provides greater light transmission that results in the ability to photobond restorations of greater thicknesses than the other materials. For restorations greater than 1 mm in thickness, a dual cure or chemical cure resin cement should be used to provide maximal cement properties.     

Images of your future

Would you buy something without seeing it first, and without any real idea of what it was you were buying, or whether you really wanted it? In the past, that is what dental patients have been expected to do when their dentist has offered them restorative dentistry, but now, using a dental imager, you can show your patients quickly and simply just what you can do to improve their appearance; and they can show you exactly what it is they want.     

Ethics and mediation

Ethics dialogue in this case is first used as a framework to initiate reflection on which forms of conflict resolution are appropriate in specific situations. This helps in planning and strategies, but does not guarantee what the outcome will actually be. Ethics dialogue, however, can also be used as a form of conflict resolution. For example, when the patient in the story wants to avoid revealing the names of her past dentists, an ethical framework could be presented that would respect her autonomy (an ethical term) and her right to privacy (a legal term), while still addressing your need to determine if the primary problem is of an ethical or dental nature, and if your role is to be that of a healing mediator or a healing dentist. This same form of conflict resolution could also be applied elsewhere in the story. For example, ethics dialogue would have been appropriate during the consultation between you and the endodontist, or between you and the patient, prior to the lawyer's formal request for the patient's records. It is difficult, however, for you to reduce conflict through an ethical dialogue once the lawyer requests information from you because, at that point, the adjudication process has already begun. The ethical reflection exercise will, however, help you negotiate through the adjudication process by providing a solid ethical reference point concerning conflict resolution. The February issue's ethics column will provide a framework for evaluating the forms of power available in conflict resolution in terms of justice.     

The role of fear and expectancies in capture of covert attention by spiders.

Fear-related stimuli are often prioritized during visual selection but it remains unclear whether capture by salient objects is more likely to occur when individuals fear those objects. In this study, participants with high and low fear of spiders searched for a circle while on some trials a completely irrelevant fear-related (spider) or neutral distractor (butterfly/leaf) was presented simultaneously in the display. Our results show that when you fear spiders and you are not sure whether a spider is going to be present, then any salient distractor (i.e., a butterfly) grabs your attention, suggesting that mere expectation of a spider triggered compulsory monitoring of all irrelevant stimuli. However, neutral stimuli did not grab attention when high spider fearful people knew that a spider could not be present during a block of trials, treating the neutral stimuli just as the low spider fearful people do. Our results show that people that fear spiders inspect potential spider-containing locations in a compulsory fashion even though directing attention to this location is completely irrelevant for the task. Reduction of capture can only be accomplished when people that fear spiders do not expect a spider to be present. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond ‘Six Sigma’

If your firm has reached its optimum production cycle but you need work done better and faster. What do you do? You might try a fresh perspective. Most approaches to increasing productivity, including six sigma, aim at improving current processes, concentrating on reducing an operation's average cycle time and eliminating any defects, errors, or scrap in the process. Eventually, however, a process reaches a point where it can no longer be improved. This article shows how to look beyond your traditional processes to find better, more productive ones by using experts from a variety of fields outside your own and developing these ideas into something that give you even better performance.     

The aesthetic composite anterior single crown restoration

Achieving natural aesthetics by harmoniously matching the shape and color of a single anterior crown is perhaps one of the greatest challenges in restorative dentistry. The clinician must often rely on the artistic skills of a laboratory technician who has no direct access to the patient. The shade selection process is, therefore, impaired, and the final result may be a restoration which does not emulate the aesthetics of the adjacent natural dentition. The learning objective of this article is to present an innovative technique which utilizes the qualities of high strength laboratory processing in association with the application of light curing and freehand bonding of composite resins. This combination allows the clinician to predictably achieve aesthetic results with single anterior crowns. The direct, indirect, and indirect/direct restorations are discussed, and the laboratory and clinical procedures are reviewed.     

Practice management applications

Even though you will never find a dental management system that will do exactly what you want, there are a tremendous variety of systems out there with some incredibly powerful features. Look for a system that can handle most of the tasks you need. Keep your eye on other technologies that you may want in your practice. The system you purchase now should be able to handle whatever technologies you decide to add on in the next 3 to 4 years. Once you have made the decision to purchase, the transition to automated management begins. It will be necessary to train you and your staff on how to use the system. Depending on the system chosen, it may be necessary to adjust your management strategies in a number of areas to take advantage of the system's features. This may cause a few adjustment problems at first, but things will work out with a little time and effort. In the next few years, advances in technology integration will allow you to seamlessly blend practice management, voice charting, intraoral cameras, CAD/CAM, lasers, EDI, video imaging, etc., into a single potent system for complete clinical and practice management. A dental practice management system is the first step to realizing that future. Shop wisely and invest your time in learning the terminology and techniques of automated information management.