Implant-supported prostheses for treatment of adults with cleft palate

Six adult patients with cleft palate, ranging in age from 47 to 78 years, were treated with self-tapping titanium implants. Twenty-three implants, 7 to 15 mm in length, were placed. Of these, one (4%) was 7 mm, eight (35%) were 10 mm, nine (39%) were 13 mm, and five (22%) were 15 mm. Time between stage I and stage II implant surgeries was 5 to 14 months, averaging 8.3 months. Time from stage II surgery to the present is 1.5 to 5 years, averaging 3 years. Of the 23 implants placed, 21 (91%) achieved osseointegration. One (4%) implant was not used prosthetically. Two (9%) 10 mm implants failed to integrate in one patient. All patients were treated with a maxillary complete denture or overdenture. Five (83%) required the addition of a pharyngeal section for speech enhancement.     

Microwave induced plasma processing of nuclear waste calcines

Microwave induced plasma processing was used to sinter synthetic Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) alumina and zirconia based high level nuclear waste calcines in a nitrogen atmosphere. The microwave densification behaviour of these nuclear waste calcines was observed parallel with identification of the phases formed after sintering. Sintered densities of > 3.20 g cm^–3 were obtained within 10 min of microwave sintering of pure calcines. Glass frit containing calcines showed lower sintering densities (< 2.0 g cm^–3) due to reactions between the frit and volatile substances in both zirconia based and alumina based calcines; prior removal of frit volatiles increased the sintered density. Phases formed in the microwave sintered calcines were identified by X-ray diffraction.     

Elimination of vector parasites in finite element Maxwell solutions

The vector parasite problem is studied in the context of finite-element solutions of Maxwell's equations for driven boundary-value problems. An expanded weak form which combines the divergence equation with the conventional weak form of the double-curl equation is introduced. This form is related to penalty methods where the penalty or weighting factor varies with the dielectric constant. The resulting algebraic system is identical to the Galerkin-Helmholtz operator on homogeneous subregions. Normal and tangential boundary conditions arise in terms of the divergence and curl of the field on the boundary which can be reexpressed as equivalent charges and currents. Computational results show the occurrence of two distinct types of parasitic modes in driven problems and their elimination with the formulation presented. Practical observations concerning the conditions which provoke spurious modes in these problems are reported. Spurious solutions arise from improper or unphysical boundary conditions, and the importance of careful specification of boundary-value problems is illustrated. Most conceptual difficulties with boundary conditions per se are removed when hybrid methods are used to couple the interior finite-element solution to the exterior problem. which focuses attention on the physics of the source distribution     

Self-image resilience and dissonance: The role of affirmational resources.

Predicted that high self-esteem Ss (HSEs) would rationalize an esteem-threatening decision less than low self-esteem Ss (LSEs), because HSEs presumably had more favorable self-concepts with which to affirm, and thus repair, their overall sense of self-integrity. This prediction was supported in 2 experiments within the "free-choice" dissonance paradigm: one that manipulated self-esteem through personality feedback and the other that varied it through selection of HSEs and LSEs, but only when Ss were made to focus on their self-concepts. A 3rd experiment countered an alternative explanation of the results in terms of mood effects that may have accompanied the experimental manipulations. Results were discussed in terms of the following: (1) their support for a resources theory of individual differences in resilience to self-image threats—an extension of self-affirmation theory, (2) their implications for self-esteem functioning, and (3) their implications for the continuing debate over self-enhancement vs self-consistency motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)