1,288 research outputs found
Platelet-derived growth factor applications in periodontal and peri-implant bone regeneration
Introduction: Achieving successful tissue regeneration following traditional therapeutic protocols, combining bone grafts and barrier membranes, may be challenging in certain clinical scenarios. A deeper understanding of periodontal and peri-implant wound healing and recent advances in the field of tissue engineering have provided clinicians with novel means to obtain predictable clinical outcomes. The use of growth factors such as recombinant
human platelet-derived growth factor-BB (rhPDGF) with biocompatible matrices to promote tissue regeneration represents a promising approach in the disciplines of periodontology and implantology.
Areas covered: This review covers the basic principles of bone and periodontal regeneration, and provides an overview of the biology of PDGF and its potential to predictably and reproducibly promote bone regeneration in regular clinical practice. The results of preclinical and clinical human studies evaluating the effectiveness of growth-factor-enhanced matrices are analyzed and discussed.
Expert opinion: Current available evidence supports the use of rhPDGF-enhanced matrices to promote periodontal and peri-implant bone regeneration
Validation in Fusion Research: Towards Guidelines and Best Practices
Because experiment/model comparisons in magnetic confinement fusion have not
yet satisfied the requirements for validation as understood broadly, a set of
approaches to validating mathematical models and numerical algorithms are
recommended as good practices. Previously identified procedures, such as
verification, qualification, and analysis of error and uncertainty, remain
important. However, particular challenges intrinsic to fusion plasmas and
physical measurement therein lead to identification of new or less familiar
concepts that are also critical in validation. These include the primacy
hierarchy, which tracks the integration of measurable quantities, and
sensitivity analysis, which assesses how model output is apportioned to
different sources of variation. The use of validation metrics for individual
measurements is extended to multiple measurements, with provisions for the
primacy hierarchy and sensitivity. This composite validation metric is
essential for quantitatively evaluating comparisons with experiments. To mount
successful and credible validation in magnetic fusion, a new culture of
validation is envisaged.Comment: 27 pages, 1 table, 6 figure
Symplectic structures on moduli spaces of framed sheaves on surfaces
We provide generalizations of the notions of Atiyah class and Kodaira-Spencer
map to the case of framed sheaves. Moreover, we construct closed two-forms on
the moduli spaces of framed sheaves on surfaces. As an application, we define a
symplectic structure on the moduli spaces of framed sheaves on some
birationally ruled surfaces.Comment: v2: final version to appear in Centr. Eur. J. Math, section
"Examples" improved: we obtain new examples of non-compact holomorphic
symplectic varietie
Shaping the research experiences of graduate students using action research
s u m m a r y a r t i c l e i n f o Background: Nursing research capacity is often not optimal in developing countries. Capacity building at the graduate nurse level presents an opportunity for improved research output. Students pursuing a research methods course at a nursing school in Jamaica expressed fear and anxiety towards the course. Action research was used to address this fear and improve learning outcomes. Objective: To determine attitudes towards research and to improve the experience of graduate students pursuing a research methods course at a nursing school in Jamaica. Methods: Students (n = 44) registered in the Research Methods course of the MScN at a nursing school in Kingston, Jamaica for the academic year 2010/2011, were invited to participate. Each student was assigned a main supervisor and an alternate supervisor and all had equal access to the course leader and content. On completion of the course three focus group discussions of 10-14 students per group were conducted to determine how students felt about the course experience and their attitude towards the course. Results: Thirty-seven students (mean age of 41.4 ± 1.5 years; 94% female) participated in the exploratory course evaluation exercise. The participants reported that they entered research methods with feelings of apprehension and anxiety. However, these fears were allayed by a combination of factors including interest in students' welfare, affirmation of students, respect for and understanding of students' needs and resourcefulness, and the use of a panel of experts. Barriers included faculty's unrealistic expectations of students' research competencies and the limited time in which to learn and apply concepts. While students thought the course as challenging they felt more confident that they could be successful on completion of the course. Conclusion: Significant improvement in attitudes to research was realized among graduate nursing students using action research at an urban school of nursing in Jamaica
Fordism: a review essay
Fordism is a central concept in American labour history. This essay, the first survey of the range of historiographical and sociological approaches deployed to understand Fordism, suggests that Fordism and Americanism are inseparably intertwined. Previous scholarship has emphasised that the technological and managerial efficiency of Fordist practice were a hallmark of twentieth century Americanism. Historians of labour have demonstrated that these aspects manifested as a relentless system of control in the workplace that paradoxically helped to unify worker resistance. Historians of capitalism have tended to used Fordism to refer to an ethos underpinning mid-twentieth century capitalist development marked by a balance between mass production and mass consumption. They identify increased social provisions and class compromise between labour and management as features that made Fordism attractive to states rebuilding their economies following the Second World War. New transnational histories of Fordism have begun to bridge the gap between these two main interpretations to show how Fordist practice and ethos were exported together internationally as part of an ideological project to modernise nations in America's image. This essay concludes by assessing the usefulness of Fordism to historians and suggesting avenues for future research
- âŠ