230,181 research outputs found
Evaluation of the effectiveness of a semi-finished occlusal appliance – a randomized, controlled clinical trial
INTRODUCTION: Painful temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are usually treated with physiotherapy, self-exercises, medication-based therapy and splint therapy. For splint therapy different types of splints are available. Therefore this randomized controlled study compared the effectiveness of a semi-finished occlusal appliance (SB) with a laboratory-made occlusal appliance (SS) in myofascial pain patients. METHOD: The trial subjects allocated to the experimental groups with the (SB) occlusal appliance and those provided with a laboratory-made occlusal appliance (SS) did, in addition, receive conservative treatment (self-exercises, drug-based and manual therapy). The control group was given conservative therapy (CO) only. Overall, a total of 63 patients participated in the study with each group consisting of 21 subjects. RESULTS: When the first follow-up examination took place (14 days after splint insertion) mouth opening within the SB group was significantly enlarged. When the second examination was conducted (2.5 months after splint insertion) mouth opening was significantly enlarged in both splint groups when compared with the initial value. In the control group, no significant enlargement of mouth opening was detected. At no point there was a significant reduction in the number of pressure-sensitive areas of the TMJ. On palpation of the masticatory muscles however, a significant reduction in the number of pressure-sensitive areas could be observed within the CO group and the SS group after 2.5 months. When comparing pain reduction (muscle/joint pain) and mouth opening, no significant differences could be detected between the treatments. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that TMD should be treated conservatively. In cases of restricted mouth opening, the additional use of occlusal appliances can eliminate the patient’s discomfort more quickly. In this context, the tested, semi-finished occlusal appliance appears to offer an immediately available, temporary alternative to laboratory-made splints
Vibration and buckling of open TWBs with local weakening
Free vibration and Ljapounov stability of compressed open thin-walled beams with a cross-section reduction are studied by a in-house finite differences numerical code, based on a refined direct beam model and allowing for investigating elastic stability of non-trivial equilibrium paths in a dynamic setting. The benchmark is a beam with doubly symmetric cross-section and non-zero warping rigidity, under free, semi-, and fully restrained warping at its ends. In all cases, the results of the direct model are compared to finite element and/or experimental ones. The reduction in the cross-section rigidity induces a weakening that may model a local damage; thus, the present investigation may be useful with an outlook to damage monitoring and identification
Path constraints in semistructured databases
AbstractWe investigate a class of path constraints that is of interest in connection with both semistructured and structured data. In standard database systems, constraints are typically expressed as part of the schema, but in semistructured data there is no explicit schema and path constraints provide a natural alternative. As with structured data, path constraints on semistructured data express integrity constraints associated with the semantics of data and are important in query optimization. We show that in semistructured databases, despite the simple syntax of the constraints, their associated implication problem is r.e. complete and finite implication problem is co-r.e. complete. However, we establish the decidability of the implication and finite implication problems for several fragments of the path constraint language and demonstrate that these fragments suffice to express important semantic information such as extent constraints, inverse relationships, and local database constraints commonly found in object-oriented databases
Non-conservative Evolution of Cataclysmic Variables
We suggest a new mechanism to account for the loss of angular momentum in
binaries with non-conservative mass exchange. It is shown that in some cases
the loss of matter can result in increase of the orbital angular momentum of a
binary. If included into consideration in evolutionary calculations, this
mechanism appreciably extends the range of mass ratios of components for which
mass exchange in binaries is stable. It becomes possible to explain the
existence of some observed cataclysmic binaries with high donor/accretor mass
ratio, which was prohibited in conservative evolution models.Comment: LaTeX, 32 pages, to be published in Astron. Z
Conservative descent for semi-orthogonal decompositions
Motivated by the local flavor of several well-known semi-orthogonal
decompositions in algebraic geometry, we introduce a technique called
conservative descent, which shows that it is enough to establish these
decompositions locally. The decompositions we have in mind are those for
projectivized vector bundles and blow-ups, due to Orlov, and root stacks, due
to Ishii and Ueda. Our technique simplifies the proofs of these decompositions
and establishes them in greater generality for arbitrary algebraic stacks.Comment: Final versio
Constraint-consistent Runge-Kutta methods for one-dimensional incompressible multiphase flow
New time integration methods are proposed for simulating incompressible
multiphase flow in pipelines described by the one-dimensional two-fluid model.
The methodology is based on 'half-explicit' Runge-Kutta methods, being explicit
for the mass and momentum equations and implicit for the volume constraint.
These half-explicit methods are constraint-consistent, i.e., they satisfy the
hidden constraints of the two-fluid model, namely the volumetric flow
(incompressibility) constraint and the Poisson equation for the pressure. A
novel analysis shows that these hidden constraints are present in the
continuous, semi-discrete, and fully discrete equations.
Next to constraint-consistency, the new methods are conservative: the
original mass and momentum equations are solved, and the proper shock
conditions are satisfied; efficient: the implicit constraint is rewritten into
a pressure Poisson equation, and the time step for the explicit part is
restricted by a CFL condition based on the convective wave speeds; and
accurate: achieving high order temporal accuracy for all solution components
(masses, velocities, and pressure). High-order accuracy is obtained by
constructing a new third order Runge-Kutta method that satisfies the additional
order conditions arising from the presence of the constraint in combination
with time-dependent boundary conditions.
Two test cases (Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in a pipeline and liquid
sloshing in a cylindrical tank) show that for time-independent boundary
conditions the half-explicit formulation with a classic fourth-order
Runge-Kutta method accurately integrates the two-fluid model equations in time
while preserving all constraints. A third test case (ramp-up of gas production
in a multiphase pipeline) shows that our new third order method is preferred
for cases featuring time-dependent boundary conditions
Spatially partitioned embedded Runge-Kutta Methods
We study spatially partitioned embedded Runge–Kutta (SPERK) schemes for partial differential equations (PDEs), in which each of the component schemes is applied over a different part of the spatial domain. Such methods may be convenient for problems in which the smoothness of the solution or the magnitudes of the PDE coefficients vary strongly in space. We focus on embedded partitioned methods as they offer greater efficiency and avoid the order reduction that may occur in non-embedded schemes. We demonstrate that the lack of conservation in partitioned schemes can lead to non-physical effects and propose conservative additive schemes based on partitioning the fluxes rather than the ordinary differential equations. A variety of SPERK schemes are presented, including an embedded pair suitable for the time evolution of fifth-order weighted non-oscillatory (WENO) spatial discretizations. Numerical experiments are provided to support the theory
- …