2,289 research outputs found
Three-way Decomposition of Weighted Log-odds Ratio for Customer Satisfaction Analysis
In literature several methods have been proposed for the service quality assessment. A large number of models have been proposed to evaluate Service Quality (Servqual, Normed Quality, Servperf etc.). Starting from the SERVPERF paradigm, in this paper we propose to use Odds Ratio analysis to evaluate Customer Satisfaction. In particular the data has been collected in three-way contingency tables in which the crossed variables are perception evaluations, importance evaluations and dimensions. For each slice we computed the Odds Ratio. Thus a weighted version of log-Odds Ratio Analysis for three-way is proposed and analyzed by the Parafac/Candecomp algorithm. A case study on Patient Satisfaction (PS) survey that was carried out at a Neapolitan government hospital is presented in the last part of the paper in order to show the proposed methods
Nitrogen and energy partitioning in two genetic groups of pigs fed low-protein diets at 130 kg body weight
The aim was to evaluate the effect of low-protein (LP) or low-amino acid diets on digestibility, energy and nitrogen (N) utilisation in 2 genetic groups (GG) of pigs (129±11 kg BW). DurocĂLarge White (A) pigs were chosen to represent a traditional GG for ham production, and Danbred Duroc (D) pigs to represent a GG with fast growing rate and high carcass lean yield. Dietary treatments: a conventional diet (CONV) containing 13.2% CP, and two LP diets, one with LP (10.4%) and low essential AA (LP1), the second with LP (9.7%) and high essential AA (LP2). Compared to CONV, LP2 had the same essential AA content per unit feed, while LP1 the same essential AA content per unit CP. Feed was restricted (DMI=6.8% BW0.75). Four consecutive digestibility/balances periods were conducted with 24 barrows, 12 A and 12 D. Metabolic cages and respiration chambers were used. No significant difference between diets was registered for digestibility. Nitrogen excreted: 41.3, 33.4 and 29.0 g/d (P=0.009), for CONV, LP1 and LP2 diets, respectively. Nitrogen retention was similar between the diets. Heat production (HP) was the lowest for LP diets. There was a tendency (P=0.079) for a lower energy digestibility in D group. The D pigs also had a higher HP and hence a lower retained energy in comparison with the A pigs. In conclusion: it is possible to reduce N excretion using very LP diets and LP-low AA diets; Danbred GG have a higher heat production and a lower energy retention than A pigs
Prevalence of Temporomandibular Disorders Based on a Shortened Symptom Questionnaire of the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders and Its Screening Reliability for Children and Adolescents Aged 7â14 Years
The prevalence and adequacy of diagnostic approaches for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in children and adolescents are still matters of debate. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of TMD and oral habits in children and adolescents aged 7â14 years and evaluate the consistency between self-reported TMD symptoms and clinical findings using a shortened Axis I of Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC/TMD). Children (aged 7â10) and adolescents (aged 11â14) of both sexes were invited to participate in this study (n = 1468). Descriptive statistics for all observed variables and MannâWhitney U-Tests for the clinical examination were performed. A total of 239 subjects participated in the study (response rate 16.3%). The self-reported prevalence of TMD was found to be 18.8%. The most frequently reported oral habit was nail biting (37.7%), followed by clenching (32.2%) and grinding (25.5%). Self-reported headache increased with age, while clenching and grinding decreased. Based on the answers to the DC/TMD Symptom Questionnaire, subgroups of asymptomatic and symptomatic participants (n = 59; 24.7%) were established and randomly selected for the clinical examination (f = 30). The shortened Symptom Questionnaire showed a sensitivity of 0.556 and a specificity of 0.719 for pain during the clinical examination. Although the Symptom Questionnaire exhibited high specificity (0.933), its sensitivity (0.286) for temporomandibular joint sounds was low. Disc displacement with reduction (10.2%) and myalgia (6.8%) were the most common diagnoses. In conclusion, the self-reported prevalence of TMD in children and adolescents in this study was comparable to that reported in the literature for adults. However, the accuracy of the shortened Symptom Questionnaire as a screening tool for TMD-related pain and jaw sounds in children and adolescents was found to be low
In Vitro and In Vivo Assessment of a New Workflow for the Acquisition of Mandibular Kinematics Based on Portable Tracking System with Passive Optical Reflective Markers
Clinical use of portable optical tracking system in dentistry could improve the analysis of mandibular movements for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. A new workflow for the acquisition of mandibular kinematics was developed. Reproducibility of measurements was tested in vitro and intra- and inter-rater repeatability were assessed in vivo in healthy volunteers. Prescribed repeated movements (n = 10) in three perpendicular directions of the tracking-device coordinate system were performed. Measurement error and coefficient of variation (CV) among repetitions were determined. Mandibular kinematics of maximum opening, left and right laterality, protrusion and retrusion of five healthy subjects were recorded in separate sessions by three different operators. Obtained records were blindly examined by three observers. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated to estimate inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. Maximum in vitro measurement error was 0.54 mm and CV = 0.02. Overall, excellent intra-rater reliability (ICC > 0.90) for each variable, general excellent intra-rater reliability (ICC = 1.00) for all variables, and good reliability (ICC > 0.75) for inter-rater tests were obtained. A lower score was obtained for retrusion with âmoderate reliabilityâ (ICC = 0.557) in the inter-rater tests. Excellent repeatability and reliability in optical tracking of primary movements were observed using the tested portable tracking device and the developed workflow
The hard X-ray perspective on the soft X-ray excess
The X-ray spectra of many active galactic nuclei (AGN) exhibit a `soft
excess' below 1keV, whose physical origin remains unclear. Diverse models have
been suggested to account for it, including ionised reflection of X-rays from
the inner part of the accretion disc, ionised winds/absorbers, and
Comptonisation. The ionised reflection model suggests a natural link between
the prominence of the soft excess and the Compton reflection hump strength
above 10keV, but it has not been clear what hard X-ray signatures, if any, are
expected from the other soft X-ray candidate models. Additionally, it has not
been possible up until recently to obtain high-quality simultaneous
measurements of both soft and hard X-ray emission necessary to distinguish
these models, but upcoming joint XMM-NuSTAR programmes provide precisely this
opportunity. In this paper, we present an extensive analysis of simulations of
XMM+NuSTAR observations, using two candidate soft excess models as inputs, to
determine whether such campaigns can disambiguate between them by using hard
and soft X-ray observations in tandem. The simulated spectra are fit with the
simplest "observer's model" of a black body and neutral reflection to
characterise the strength of the soft and hard excesses. A plot of the strength
of the hard excess against the soft excess strength provides a diagnostic plot
which allows the soft excess production mechanism to be determined in
individual sources and samples using current state-of-the-art and next
generation hard X-ray enabled observatories. This approach can be
straightforwardly extended to other candidate models for the soft excess.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ. Added
reference
Combining in the melt physical and biological properties of poly(caprolactone) and chlorhexidine to obtain antimicrobial surgical monofilaments
Masticatory Muscles Activation and TMJ Space During Asymmetrically Loaded Jaw Closing
Masticatory muscle activation and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) load generated during asymmetrically loaded jaw closing are largely unknown. Two different strategies were developed to explain how the central nervous system (CNS) generates muscle activation patterns during motion: minimization of joint load (MJL) vs. minimization of muscle effort (MME). The aim of the present study was to investigate, experimentally, the neuromuscular strategy selected by the CNS to coordinate jaw closing in reaction to the application of an external asymmetric load. Masticatory muscle activation was measured with electromyography (EMG) and the minimum intra-articular distance (MID) was assessed by dynamic stereometry to infer joint loading. Ten healthy subjects performed jaw-closing movements against an asymmetric mandibular load set from 0.0 to 2.0Â kg in 0.5-kg steps. Recordings were analyzed by exploratory and graphical statistical tools. Moreover, the observed differences in MID and EMG among the various mandibular loads were tested using non-parametric tests for repeated measures data. The ipsilateral-contralateral differences in MID and EMG of the anterior temporalis showed a significant increase (pâ<â0.001, pâ=â0.01) with increasing asymmetrical load with both joints being most heavily loaded at 1Â kg. EMG signals of the masseter did not change significantly with increasing load. This study is the first to have analyzed the changes in the TMJ intra-articular space during asymmetrically loaded jaw-closing movements, not only three dimensionally and dynamically, but also combined with EMG. Asymmetrical load affected the TMJ space and masticatory muscle activation patterns, primarily resulting in an increased activation of the anterior temporalis muscle. This might suggest the involvement of a control mechanism to protect the joints from overloading. However, the results do not fully support the hypothesis of MJL nor the MME strategy
A Systematic View of Ten New Black Hole Spins
The launch of NuSTAR and the increasing number of binary black hole (BBH)
mergers detected through gravitational wave (GW) observations have
exponentially advanced our understanding of black holes. Despite the simplicity
owed to being fully described by their mass and angular momentum, black holes
have remained mysterious laboratories that probe the most extreme environments
in the Universe. While significant progress has been made in the recent decade,
the distribution of spin in black holes has not yet been understood. In this
work, we provide a systematic analysis of all known black holes in X-ray binary
systems (XB) that have previously been observed by NuSTAR, but have not yet had
a spin measurement using the "relativistic reflection" method obtained from
that data. By looking at all the available archival NuSTAR data of these
sources, we measure ten new black hole spins: IGR J17454-2919 --
; GRS 1758-258 -- ; MAXI
J1727-203 -- ; MAXI J0637-430 -- ;
Swift J1753.5-0127 -- ; V4641 Sgr --
; 4U 1543-47 -- ; 4U 1957+11 --
; H 1743-322 -- ; MAXI
J1820+070 -- (all uncertainties are at the
confidence level). We discuss the implications of our measurements on
the entire distribution of stellar mass black hole spins in XB, and we compare
that with the spin distribution in BBH, finding that the two distributions are
clearly in disagreement. Additionally, we discuss the implications of this work
on our understanding of how the "relativistic reflection" spin measurement
technique works, and discuss possible sources of systematic uncertainty that
can bias our measurements.Comment: 15 pages of text in main paper, 4 appendices including 30 figures and
6 tables (total of 54 pages). Submitted for publication in Ap
Design, realization and test of C-band accelerating structures for the SPARC_LAB linac energy upgrade
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