An Integrated EMBA for an Integrated World

Internal and external stakeholders to the academic community have expressed concern about the MBA and have urged systemic transformation in curriculum content and course delivery. Corporations want business leaders who can provide creative solutions for problems that cut across business functions. Organizations want business graduates who have been taught how to think about business not as a series of functional smokestacks but as an integrated whole

The Microleakage of Composite and Compomer Restorations Following Cavity Preparation With an Erbium-YAG Laser

Over the last thirty years there has been a marked decline in the caries experience in children in the United Kingdom. However, the results of recent epidemiological studies have shown that this trend has slowed down considerably, and may even have reversed in some age groups. Furthermore, there is an increasing cohort of children with significant levels of untreated dentinal decay. Anxiety is a major barrier to the uptake of dental care in the United Kingdom, the two most common stressors being cited as the dental drill and the local anaesthetic needle. The use of the hard tissue laser has been proposed as one operative mode of cavity preparation that obviates the use of both of these anxiety-precipitating stimuli. This in vitro study investigated the affect of one such instrument, the Erbium-YAG laser, on the microleakage of standardised Class V cavities at the amelodentinal junction in extracted human premolar teeth. Extracted premolar teeth were selected and randomly divided into three groups (A, B and C). Each tooth hosted one test cavity prepared with one of three laser energies (200 mJ, 240 mJ or 300 mJ with a 100 mJ finish), and one control cavity, prepared with a conventional diamond bur in a high-speed handpiece. The cavities were restored with either a composite resin or a compomer material; groups A and B were restored with a fourth generation bonding agent, Scotchbond Multi-Purpose and Z100 composite resin and were stored in 0.12% thymol solution for 24 hours and three months respectively. Cavities in group C were restored using a fifth generation bonding agent, Compoglass Single Component Adhesive and a polyacid-modified resin, Compoglass and were then stored for three months. Following storage and thermal stressing (eight hours), microleakage was assessed using a dye penetration technique and single section numerical scoring system. The data was then analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann- Whitney U tests. For the pulse energies used, it was found that the Er:YAG laser varied in its effect on both the enamel and dentine margins when compared to conventional preparation. At the enamel margin, preparation with either of the three pulse energies compared favourably to the use of the diamond bur for both materials. However, optimum cavity sealing was achieved with energies of at least 240 mJ. In comparison, dentine leakage following laser preparation was comparable to that found with conventional preparation for all laser parameters when Compoglass was used. However, there were statistical differences in leakage at the dentine margins of Z100 restorations. Lower energies of 200 mJ or higher with a low finish such as the 300 mJ with 100 mJ finish used in this study provided better long-term marginal adaptation in dentine for this material. Of these two laser energy subgroups, the 300 mJ with 100 mJ finish compared favourably with conventional cavity preparation. It was therefore concluded that, within the constraints of this study, cavity preparation with the Er:YAG laser did not have a deleterious effect on the microleakage of Class V restoration when compared to conventional preparation, providing care was taken with the choice of laser parameters for dentine and enamel for the restorative material used

Pain, Functional Disability, Psychological Status, and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Subacromial Impingement Syndrome

Background Subacromial impingement syndrome (SAIS) is the comments painful shoulder condition leading to considerable functional loss. Considering numerous existing conservative and surgical interventions for SAIS, the use of optimal patient-centred outcome measures is essential. Study assessed various generic and shoulder-specific outcome measures in patients and healthy controls to provide baseline data and facilitate the development of evidence-based interventions. Methods A total of 75 participants including 39 patients and 36 healthy controls were evaluated and compared by a battery of validated outcome tools: McGill Pain Questionnaire, Oxford Shoulder Score, Constant Murley Score, The Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand, Upper Limb Function Index, Functional Impairment Test–Hand and Neck/Shoulder/Arm, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Short-Form Health Survey, and shoulder muscle strength. Results All selected measures showed significant differences in the pain experience, upper limb functional capacity, psychological status (anxiety and depression), and health-related quality of life between SAIS patients and healthy controls in both female and male participant groups (p<0.05 - p<0.001). Conclusion The use of an array of patient-centred upper limb regional/joint-specific pain and functional measures combined with psychological status and quality of life tools is recommended for the evidence-based assessment of intervention outcome in patients with SAIS

DebriSat - A Planned Laboratory-Based Satellite Impact Experiment for Breakup Fragment Characterizations

The goal of the DebriSat project is to characterize fragments generated by a hypervelocity collision involving a modern satellite in low Earth orbit (LEO). The DebriSat project will update and expand upon the information obtained in the 1992 Satellite Orbital Debris Characterization Impact Test (SOCIT), which characterized the breakup of a 1960 s US Navy Transit satellite. There are three phases to this project: the design and fabrication of DebriSat - an engineering model representing a modern, 60-cm/50-kg class LEO satellite; conduction of a laboratory-based hypervelocity impact to catastrophically break up the satellite; and characterization of the properties of breakup fragments down to 2 mm in size. The data obtained, including fragment size, area-to-mass ratio, density, shape, material composition, optical properties, and radar cross-section distributions, will be used to supplement the DoD s and NASA s satellite breakup models to better describe the breakup outcome of a modern satellite

Subtle Sensing:Detecting Differences in the Flexibility of Virtually Simulated Molecular Objects

During VR demos we have performed over last few years, many participants (in the absence of any haptic feedback) have commented on their perceived ability to 'feel' differences between simulated molecular objects. The mechanisms for such 'feeling' are not entirely clear: observing from outside VR, one can see that there is nothing physical for participants to 'feel'. Here we outline exploratory user studies designed to evaluate the extent to which participants can distinguish quantitative differences in the flexibility of VR-simulated molecular objects. The results suggest that an individual's capacity to detect differences in molecular flexibility is enhanced when they can interact with and manipulate the molecules, as opposed to merely observing the same interaction. Building on these results, we intend to carry out further studies investigating humans' ability to sense quantitative properties of VR simulations without haptic technology

POSTURAL ALTERATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH SUBACROMIAL IMPINGEMENT SYNDROME.

BackgroundAn aberrant upper body posture has been proposed as one of the etiological factors contributing to the development of subacromial impingement syndrome (SAIS). Clinicians have translated this supposition into assessment and rehabilitation programs despite insufficient and conflicting evidence to support this approach.PurposeThe purpose of this study was to compare several postural variables between the SAIS patients and asymptomatic healthy controls.Study designCase-Control Study.MethodsA total of 75 participants including 39 patients (20 females; 19 males) and 36 healthy controls (15 females; 21 males) participated in the study. Study evaluated several postural variables including forward head posture (FHP), forward shoulder posture (FSP), thoracic kyphosis index (TKI), scapular index (SI), normalized scapular protraction (NSP), and the lateral scapular slide test (LSST). The variables were compared between patient and control groups according to sex.ResultsSignificant differences were observed in the female patients compared to asymptomatic controls for the FHP (49.38 + 9.6o vs 55.5o+8.38, p=0.03), FSP (45.58 + 10.1o vs 53.68 + 7.08, p=0.02), and LSST in third position (10.2 + 2.1cm vs 11.5 + 0.7cm, p=0.01). Male patients showed a significant difference only in the FSP compared to controls (61.9o+9.4o vs 49.78 + 9.28, pConclusionsWhile inadequate data on the relationship between dysfunctional posture and SAIS has led to broad variations in current rehabilitation strategies, the results of the present study revealed different patterns of postural aberrations in female and male patients with SAIS. This clarifies the need to develop individualized or sex-specific approaches for assessing posture in men and women with SAIS and rehabilitation programs based on the assessment results.Level of evidence3b