Predoctoral Dental Students’ Perceptions of Dental Implant Training: Effect of Preclinical Simulation and Clinical Experience

The aims of this study were to assess 1) differences in perceptions of dental implant training between dental students who received didactic training alone (control group) and those who received didactic plus simulation training (test group); 2) differences in response between students with and without clinical experience in implant dentistry; and 3) the interaction effect of simulation training and clinical experience on students’ satisfaction. A survey was distributed to the control group in 2014 and to the test group in 2015; both groups were at the same U.S. dental school. Data were collected on confidence levels with various implant restorative procedures along with overall satisfaction and number of implant restorations performed by each student. The response rate was 78.7% in the control group and 81.3% in the test group. In the control group, 85.7% of students reported being satisfied with implant training compared to 90.8% of students in the test group. The interaction effect of simulation training and clinical experience on overall student satisfaction was OR=1.5 at 95% CI: 0.8, 3.0. The students who had clinical experience with implant restorative procedures had significantly greater satisfaction than those who did not (OR=4.8, 95% CI: 2.1, 11.1,

On Match Lengths, Zero Entropy and Large Deviations - with Application to Sliding Window Lempel-Ziv Algorithm

The Sliding Window Lempel-Ziv (SWLZ) algorithm that makes use of recurrence times and match lengths has been studied from various perspectives in information theory literature. In this paper, we undertake a finer study of these quantities under two different scenarios, i) \emph{zero entropy} sources that are characterized by strong long-term memory, and ii) the processes with weak memory as described through various mixing conditions. For zero entropy sources, a general statement on match length is obtained. It is used in the proof of almost sure optimality of Fixed Shift Variant of Lempel-Ziv (FSLZ) and SWLZ algorithms given in literature. Through an example of stationary and ergodic processes generated by an irrational rotation we establish that for a window of size $n_w$, a compression ratio given by $O(\frac{\log n_w}{{n_w}^a})$ where $a$ depends on $n_w$ and approaches 1 as $n_w \rightarrow \infty$, is obtained under the application of FSLZ and SWLZ algorithms. Also, we give a general expression for the compression ratio for a class of stationary and ergodic processes with zero entropy. Next, we extend the study of Ornstein and Weiss on the asymptotic behavior of the \emph{normalized} version of recurrence times and establish the \emph{large deviation property} (LDP) for a class of mixing processes. Also, an estimator of entropy based on recurrence times is proposed for which large deviation principle is proved for sources satisfying similar mixing conditions.Comment: accepted to appear in IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

Bayesian Decision Theoretic Approach to Directional Multiple Hypotheses Problems

A multiple hypothesis problem with directional alternatives is considered in a decision theoretic framework. Skewness in the alternatives is considered, and it is shown that this skewness permits the Bayes rules to possess certain advantages when one direction of the alternatives is more important or more probable than the other direction. Bayes rules subject to constraints on certain directional false discovery rates are obtained, and their performances are compared with a traditional FDR rule through simulation. We also analyzed a gene expression data using our methodology, and compare the results to that of a FDR method

Stage Based Interventions for Low Fat Diet with Middle School Students

Preventing obesity and cardiovascular disease at early ages is important; however, few effective interventions for early adolescents have been reported. In this study, low-income, culturally diverse students from an urban middle school (n = 60) received four classroom interventions with the use of a combined Health Promotion/Transtheoretical Model to control fat in diet and increase physical activity. A control group (n = 57) received the usual classroom education. Pretest percentage fat in diet was regressed on demographics, access to low-fat foods, perceived self-efficacy, benefits/barriers, and stage of change with results as proposed by the model [F(9,64) = 5.77; p = .000; adjusted R2 = 0.35]. Posttest percentage fat in food was significantly less for the intervention group as compared with the control group (t = 2.06; df, 115; p = .04)

Empirical Bayes and Hierarchical Bayes Estimation of Skew Normal Populations

We develop empirical and hierarchical Bayesian methodologies for the skew normal populations through the EM algorithm and the Gibbs sampler. A general concept of skewness to the normal distribution is considered throughout. Motivations are given for considering the skew normal population in applications, and an example is presented to demonstrate why the skew normal distribution is more applicable than the normal distribution for certain applications

Study of effective interaction from single particle transfer reactions on f-p shell nuclei

The present study concentrates on the average effective two-body interaction matrix elements being extracted, using sum-rule techniques, from transfer reactions on target states having single orbital as well as two orbitaloccupancy. This investigation deals with transfer reactions on f-p shell nuclei involving (i) $1f_{7/2}$ and $2p_{3/2}$ transfer on target states using $^{40}$Ca as inert core, and (ii) $2p_{3/2}$ and$1f_{5/2}$ transfer on states using $^{56}$Ni as core.Comment: 12 pages, ptptex Subj-Classes: Nuclear Shell Structure e-mail:[email protected]

Effective two-body interactions in the s-d shell nuclei from sum rules equations in tranfer reactions

Average effective two-body interaction matrix elements in the s-d shell have been extracted, from data on experimentally measured isospin centroids, by combining the recently derived new sum rules equations for pick-up reactions with similar known equations for stripping reactions performed on general multishell target states. Using this combination of stripping and pick-up equations, the average effective matrix elements for the shells, 1d^2_5/2, 2s^2_1/2 and 1d^2_3/2 respectively have been obtained. A new feature of the present work is that the restriction imposed in earlier works on target states, that it be populated only by active neutrons has now been abandoned.Comment: 12 pages, RevTeX, e-mail: [email protected]