Bacteriological Evaluation of Gingival Crevicular Fluid in Teeth Restored Using Fixed Dental Prostheses: An In Vivo Study

The present in vivo study determined the microbiological counts of the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) among patients with fixed dental prostheses fabricated using three different techniques. A total of 129 subjects were divided into three study groups: first, cobalt-chrome-based, metal-ceramic prostheses fabricated by the conventional method (MC, n = 35); the second group consisted of cobalt-chrome-based, metal-ceramic prostheses fabricated by the computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technique (CC-MC, n = 35); the third group comprised zirconia-based ceramic prostheses fabricated using the CAD/CAM technique (CC-Zr, n = 35). The control consisted of 24 patients using prostheses fabricated with either MC, CC-MC, or CC-Zr. The GCF was obtained from the subjects before treatment, and 6 and 12 months after the prosthetic treatment. Bacteriological and bacterioscopic analysis of the GCF was performed to analyze the patients’ GCF. The data were analyzed using SPSS V20 (IBM Company, Chicago, IL, USA). The number of microorganisms of the gingival crevicular fluid in all groups at 12 months of prosthetic treatment reduced dramatically compared with the data obtained before prosthetic treatment. Inflammatory processes in the periodontium occurred slowly in the case of zirconium oxide-based ceramic constructions due to their biocompatibility with the mucous membranes and tissues of the oral cavity as well as a reduced risk of dental biofilm formation. This should be considered by dentists and prosthodontists when choosing restoration materials for subjects with periodontal pathology.     

Purification,surface modification of coal ash silica and its potential application in rubber composites

This article reports the purification and surface modification of coal ash silica and afterwards its utilization as reinforcing filler in solution‐styrene‐butadiene rubber/butadiene rubber (S‐SBR/BR). The coal ash silica free of unwanted metal ions/mineral oxides was obtained using phosphoric acid. The chemical composition of the purified coal ash silica in comparison to impure coal ash indicates the presence of characteristic hydroxyl functional group at 3440 cm^?1 and an increase in the oxygen content as determined with the help of Fourier Transform Infrared and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The contact angle analysis shows that after purification the polar part of the surface energy increased to 17.5 from 12 m Jm^?2. While the surface area increased to an order of magnitude, i.e., 11.6 to 110.5 m² g^?1. The modification of purified silica particles with bis(3‐triethoxysilylpropyl) tetrasulfane reveal the functionalization of hydroxyl to ‐Si‐O‐R groups as detected at 1560 cm^?1. As a consequence, the modified silica based S‐SBR/BR composite resulted in improved mechanical properties due to enhanced silica‐rubber interaction. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Accountability to Prevent Corruption in Construction Projects

The American Society of Civil Engineers claims that corruption accounts for an estimated $340 billion of worldwide construction costs each year. Corruption (including bribery, embezzlement, kickbacks, and fraud) in construction projects undermines the delivery of infrastructure services. Further, corruption poses significant risks to construction and engineering companies themselves. What progress has been made, therefore, in reducing the risk of corruption to construction projects? It is the purpose of this paper to argue that with improved accountability, attention to ethics and cultural considerations, and reduced corruption, it is possible to construct, operate, and maintain adequate quality and quantity of infrastructure on a more sustainable basis and thereby improve construction practice. This paper will demonstrate how accountability initiatives in construction projects in developed and developing countries can be of benefit internationally to the public and private sectors as well as nongovernment organizations and researchers in their efforts to reduce corruption in infrastructure services.     

Web Support System for Business Intelligence in Small and Medium Enterprises

Last decade belongs to business intelligence (BI) because it is one of the few concepts that have actually lived to the expectations. Not only the businesses have adopted it but also have reaped the fruits out of it. But the cost of BI solutions is very high and has restricted small and medium enterprises to use BI solutions. The human resource is also limited and resultantly expensive in this field. This research proposes a web support system for business intelligence which provides automated data mapping and loading from user application to BI framework and also validates it. The system also assists users in getting the outputs in terms of reports and dashboards. The implementation of the proposed framework demonstrates convenience of use and effective cost saving as it does not require any technical expertise. The beauty of this web support system is that all the steps are menu driven and any non-technical user can get hold of it easily.     

Developing monitoring indicators for urban micro contracts in South Asia

The growing emphasis in many low-income countries on community-based infrastructure means that more programmes are being implemented through micro contracts. The advantages of this approach are that it encourages:

participative negotiation of activities and speedier implementation;

the use of local resources, skills and appropriate technology; and

entrepreneurship in communities.

For client organisations, however, large numbers of very small contracts are much harder to monitor, supervise and evaluate. This paper draws upon recent research in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to develop a ‘benchmarking framework' to study the time and cost performance of 162 small-scale contracts for urban infrastructure. The study found that costs were normally very close to target, but project duration generally far exceeded the target. There is only a weak association between the cost and time growth.     

Runoff Analysis for a Small Watershed of Tono Area Japan by Back Propagation Artificial Neural Network with Seasonal Data

The rainfall runoff (R-R) process was studied for two small sub-basins having different sizes in a mountainous catchment of Tono area Japan. The runoff and other meterological data have been collected in this catchment for the last 14 years. The major objective of this study was to construct numerical models for these sub-basins to predict runoff after 1/2 and 1 h. The effects of season and the size of the catchment on R-R process were also investigated. The hydrogeological conditions of the catchment were studied prior to the analyses. The data obtained for summer (rainy) and winter (dry) seasons were treated separately in order to study the seasonal effects on the model development. The back propagation artificial neural network technique (BPANN) and the multivariate autoregressive and moving average models (ARMA) were adopted for the analysis. It was found that for very small catchments the seasonal effects are dominant and therefore separate models should be developed for each season to obtain better forecasting estimates. It was also found that the predictions by BPANN models were better than multivariate ARMA models for intense rains having complex R-R relationships in summer. On the other hand, both the modelling techniques yielded almost similar results for smaller rains in winter. It was also found clearly that the accuracy of prediction decreased with the increase of the time period for prediction.     

Application of linearized power system model to selection of PST controller input signal

This paper presents a selection method for phase shift transformer PST controller input signal. Simple conditions of input signal selection are obtained using frequency response analysis. The proposed method requires a suitable modeling of power system including PST device. The two types of power system models described in this paper are the nonlinear equations system model and the linearized model. The linearized model is represented as a block diagram transfer function model and as a state space representation model. The block diagram model presented in this paper has been used for the PST feedback input signal selection. Five locally available measurements at the switching node of the PST are considered. The results of frequency domain tests have confirmed that the block diagram transfer function model is a useful tool for power system analysis. The LQR method is used to achieve the final verification and the choice of input control signal.     

A critical review on self-lubricating ceramic-composite cutting tools

Self-lubricating ceramic cutting tools have recently gained considerable attention as the tool wear in cutting hard-to-cut materials greatly affects the production cost, integrity of the machined surface, and productivity. In an attempt to compile the progress made in this important research area, a critical review has been performed covering a range of aspects. These include the current research trends and the need for self-lubricating ceramic tools, identification of prospective high-temperature solid lubricants and their limitations followed by a presentation of recent experimental and numerical work conducted related to self-lubricant ceramic cutting tools. Various lubrication mechanisms involved in the cutting process are also examined to identify general tribological response under various tribo-systems, which is expected to provide useful directions for the researchers and cutting industry. The current and emerging synthesis techniques are discussed in detail and compared with respect to ceramic cutting tools. Finally, some research gaps and future directions are suggested that could lead to optimum design and development of innovative self-lubricating ceramic tools.     

Stagnation flow of hybrid nanoparticles with MHD and slip effects

The flow of hybrid nanoparticles with significant physical parameters with different base fluids in the presence of Biot number, velocity slip, and MHD effects has not been explored so far, particularly for a circular cylinder. Therefore, the current report is presented to offer a numerical solution for hybrid nanoparticles with base fluids (water and ethylene glycerol) via a circular cylinder. The physical situation is interpreted in terms of partial differential equations and is converted into ordinary differential equations after applying the similarity transformation. The results are presented in both tabular and graphical forms. The impact of physical parameters on velocity distribution is examined through graphs. The comparative results of hybrid nanoparticles for distinct base fluids as ethylene glycol and water are proposed and the hybrid nanoparticles with base fluid water seems to be greater than that of the hybrid nanoparticles with base fluid EG. The temperature profile of hybrid nanoparticles is found to be a decreasing function with growth in velocity slip parameter but an opposite trend is noted in case of nanoparticles . The skin friction and Nusselt number augmented for the increase in magnetic field, velocity slip, and nanoparticle while it shows a decreasing trend toward thermal slip parameter. For the both cases, improvement in Biot number helps enhance the heat transfer constantly.