5,215 research outputs found
Monolithic zirconia and digital impression: case report
The aim of this study is to present a clinical case of a full arch prosthetic rehabilitation on natural teeth, combining both digital work-flow and monolithic zirconi
Corrosion behavior of dental implants immersed into human saliva: Preliminary results of an in vitro study
Over the years, dif- ferent implant surfaces have been used to try to maximize bone to implant contact. The aim of this study was to compare levels of metallic ions and particles dissolution collected from two dif- ferent dental implants surfaces immersed into human saliva.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 60 den- tal implants were tested. Group A: sanded with aluminium oxide medium grade particles and ac- id-etched; Group B: micro-sanded with calcium phosphate powders and acid-etched. Forty im- plants were immersed in 20 ml of human saliva, twenty, as a control, in sterile saline solution. ICP-MS was performed to detect any metallic ions released from dental implants at T0, on day 1 (T1), on day 3 (T2), after one week (T3), on day 14 (T4), after 3 months (T5) and after 6 months (T6).
RESULTS: Dissolution of metallic particles of titanium and nickel, absent in human saliva (T0), were found after one week (T3) for Group B and after 3 months (T5) for Group A. Vanadium was already detected in small concentrations in either group after 1 day, with an exponential growth for Group B.
CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary results reported signi cant values of Ti, Ni and V released by Group B, showing for the rst time statistically signi cant values of vanadium
Fundamental Limits of Low-Density Spreading NOMA with Fading
Spectral efficiency of low-density spreading non-orthogonal multiple access
channels in the presence of fading is derived for linear detection with
independent decoding as well as optimum decoding. The large system limit, where
both the number of users and number of signal dimensions grow with fixed ratio,
called load, is considered. In the case of optimum decoding, it is found that
low-density spreading underperforms dense spreading for all loads. Conversely,
linear detection is characterized by different behaviors in the underloaded vs.
overloaded regimes. In particular, it is shown that spectral efficiency changes
smoothly as load increases. However, in the overloaded regime, the spectral
efficiency of low- density spreading is higher than that of dense spreading
A Test of the Rational Expectations Hypothesis using data from a Natural Experiment
Data on contestants' choices in Italian Game Show Affari Tuoi are analysed in a way that separates the effect of risk attitude (preferences) from that of beliefs concerning the amount of money that will be offered to contestants in future rounds. The most important issue addressed in the paper is what belief function is actually being used by contestants. The parameters of this function are estimated freely along with the parameters of a choice model. Separate identification of the belief function and preferences is possible by virtue of the fact that at a certain stage of the game, beliefs are not relevant, and risk attitude is the sole determinant of choice. The rational expectations hypothesis is tested by comparing the estimated belief function with the "true" offer function which is estimated using data on offers actually made to contestants. We find that there is a significant difference between these two functions, and hence we reject the rational expectations hypothesis. However, when a simpler "rule-of-thumb" structure is as- sumed for the belief function, we find a correspondence to the function obtained from data on actual offers. Our overall conclusion is that contestants are rational to the extent that they make use of all available relevant information, but are not fully rational because they are not processing the information in an optimal way. The importance of belief-formation is confirmed by the estimation of a mixture model which establishes that the vast majority of contestants are forward-looking as opposed to myopic.Beliefs, Discrete choice models, Method of simulated likelihood, Natural Experiments, rational expectations, risky choice
Light-meson leptonic decay rates in lattice QCD+QED
The leading electromagnetic (e.m.) and strong isospin-breaking corrections to
the and leptonic
decay rates are evaluated for the first time on the lattice. The results are
obtained using gauge ensembles produced by the European Twisted Mass
Collaboration with dynamical quarks. The relative
leading-order e.m.~and strong isospin-breaking corrections to the decay rates
are 1.53(19)\% for decays and 0.24(10)\% for decays.
Using the experimental values of the and decay rates
and updated lattice QCD results for the pion and kaon decay constants in
isosymmetric QCD, we find that the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element , reducing by a factor of about the corresponding
uncertainty in the Particle Data Group review. Our calculation of
allows also an accurate determination of the first-row CKM unitarity relation
. Theoretical
developments in this paper include a detailed discussion of how QCD can be
defined in the full QCD+QED theory and an improved renormalisation procedure in
which the bare lattice operators are renormalised non-perturbatively into the
(modified) Regularization Independent Momentum subtraction scheme and
subsequently matched perturbatively at into the
W-regularisation scheme appropriate for these calculations.Comment: 63 pages, 10 figures and 2 tables. Version matches the published
pape
Prospects for Stochastic Background Searches Using Virgo and LSC Interferometers
We consider the question of cross-correlation measurements using Virgo and
the LSC Interferometers (LIGO Livingston, LIGO Hanford, and GEO600) to search
for a stochastic gravitational-wave background. We find that inclusion of Virgo
into the network will substantially improve the sensitivity to correlations
above 200 Hz if all detectors are operating at their design sensitivity. This
is illustrated using a simulated isotropic stochastic background signal,
generated with an astrophysically-motivated spectrum, injected into 24 hours of
simulated noise for the LIGO and Virgo interferometers.Comment: 11 pages, uses IOP style files, submitted to CQG for GWDAW11
proceedings; revised in response to referee comment
Diffusion modeling of COVID-19 under lockdown
Viral immune evasion by sequence variation is a significant barrier to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine design and coronavirus disease-2019 diffusion under lockdown are unpredictable with subsequent waves. Our group has developed a computational model rooted in physics to address this challenge, aiming to predict the fitness landscape of SARS-CoV-2 diffusion using a variant of the bidimensional Ising model (2DIMV) connected seasonally. The 2DIMV works in a closed system composed of limited interaction subjects and conditioned by only temperature changes. Markov chain Monte Carlo method shows that an increase in temperature implicates reduced virus diffusion and increased mobility, leading to increased virus diffusion
The microbiota of the bilio-pancreatic system: A cohort, STROBE-compliant study
Background: The gut microbiota play an essential role in protecting the host against pathogenic microorganisms by modulating immunity and regulating metabolic processes. In response to environmental factors, microbes can hugely alter their metabolism. These factors can substantially impact the host and have potential pathologic implications. Particularly pathogenic microorganisms colonizing pancreas and biliary tract tissues may be involved in chronic inflammation and cancer evolution. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of bile microbiota on survival in patients with pancreas and biliary tract disease (PBD). Patients and Methods: We investigated 152 Italian patients with cholelithiasis (CHL), cholangitis (CHA), cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), gallbladder carcinoma (GBC), pancreas head carcinoma (PHC), ampullary carcinoma (ACA), and chronic pancreatitis (CHP). Demographics, bile cultures, therapy, and survival rates were analyzed in cohorts (T1 death <6 months; T2 death <12 months; T3 death <18 months, T3S alive at 18 months). Results: The most common bacteria in T1 were E. coli, K. pneumoniae, andP. aeruginosa. In T2, the most common bacteria were E. coli and P. aeruginosa. InT3, there were no significant bacteria isolated, while in T3S the most common bacteria were like those found in T1. E. coli and K. pneumoniae were positive predictors of survival for PHC and ACA, respectively. E. coli, K. pneumoniae, andP. aeruginosa showed a high percentage of resistant bacteria to 3CGS, aminoglycosides class, and quinolone group especially at T1 and T2 in cancer patients. Conclusions: An unprecedented increase of E. coli in bile leads to a decrease in survival. We suggest that some strains isolated in bile samples may be considered within the group of risk factors in carcinogenesis and/or progression of hepato-biliary malignancy. A better understanding of bile microbiota in patients with PBD should lead to a multifaceted approach to rapidly detect and treat pathogens before patients enter the surgical setting in tandem with the implementation of the infection control policy
Cluster of legionnaires’ disease in an Italian prison
Background: Legionella pneumophila (Lp) is the most common etiologic agent causing Legionnaires’ Disease (LD). Water systems offer the best growth conditions for Lp and support its spread by producing aerosols. From 2015 to 2017, the Regional Reference Laboratory of Clinical and Environmental Surveillance of Legionellosis of Palermo monitored the presence of Lp in nine prisons in Western Sicily. During this investigation, we compared Lp isolates from environmental samples in a prison located in Palermo with isolates from two prisoners in the same prison. Methods: We collected 93 water samples from nine Sicilian prisons and the bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs) of two prisoners considered cases of LD. These samples were processed following the procedures described in the Italian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Legionellosis of 2015. Then, genotyping was performed on 19 Lp colonies (17 from water samples and 2 from clinical samples) using the Sequence-Based Typing (SBT) method, according to European Study Group for Legionella Infections (ESGLI) protocols. Results: Lp serogroup (sg) 6 was the most prevalent serogroup isolated from the prisons analyzed (40%), followed by Lp sg 1 (16%). Most of all, in four penitentiary institutions, we detected a high concentration of Lp >104 Colony Forming Unit/Liter (CFU/L). The environmental molecular investigation found the following Sequence Types (STs) in Lp sg 6: ST 93, ST 292, ST 461, ST 728, ST 1317 and ST 1362, while most of the isolates in sg 1 belonged to ST 1. We also found a new ST that has since been assigned the number 2451 in the ESGLI-SBT database. From the several Lp sg 1 colonies isolated from the two BALs, we identified ST 2451. Conclusions: In this article, we described the results obtained from environmental and epidemiological investigations of Lp isolated from prisons in Western Sicily. Furthermore, we reported the first cluster of Legionnaires’ in an Italian prison and the molecular typing of Lp sg 1 from one prison’s water system and two BALs, identified the source of the contamination, and discovered a new ST
Interactive Educational Tool for Memory Testing
Memories are one of the most important components in digital systems like SoCs. The high density of their cell array makes memories extremely vulnerable to physical defects. Hence, memory testing and Design-for-Test became one of the crucial tasks in the design of complex and heterogeneous SoCs. Politecnico di Torino and the Institute of Informatics have a wide experience in the field of RAM testing (i.e., automatic march test generation, fault simulators, memory BIST generators etc.). This work is a tentative to put the joint experience of our research groups in developing an interactive educational tool for the students that should introduce standard and well-known methods of memory testing based on BIST. The MemBIST Java Applet and the March Test Generator were two individual tools designed and implemented at the two mentioned institutions. They were merged into one tool in order to facilitate its usage also by the professional
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