Evaluation of shear bond strength of two resin-based composites and glass ionomer cement to pure tricalcium silicate-based cement (Biodentine®)

Objectives: Tricalcium silicate is the major constituent phase in mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). It is thus postulated that pure tricalcium silicate can replace the Portland cement component of MTA. The aim of this study was to evaluate bond strength of methacrylate-based (MB) composites, silorane-based (SB) composites, and glass ionomer cement (GIC) to Biodentine® and mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). Material and Methods: Acrylic blocks (n=90, 2 mm high, 5 mm diameter central hole) were prepared. In 45 of the samples, the holes were fully filled with Biodentine® and in the other 45 samples, the holes were fully filled with MTA. The Biodentine® and the MTA samples were randomly divided into 3 subgroups of 15 specimens each: Group-1: MB composite; Group-2: SB composite; and Group-3: GIC. For the shear bond strength (SBS) test, each block was secured in a universal testing machine. Results: The highest (17.7±6.2 MPa) and the lowest (5.8±3.2 MPa) bond strength values were recorded for the MB composite-Biodentine® and the GIC-MTA, respectively. Although the MB composite showed significantly higher bond strength to Biodentine (17.7±6.2) than it did to MTA (8.9±5.7) (

An investigation for the development of an integrated optical data preprocessor

A laboratory model of a 16 channel integrated optical data preprocessor was fabricated and tested in response to a need for a device to evaluate the outputs of a set of remote sensors. It does this by accepting the outputs of these sensors, in parallel, as the components of a multidimensional vector descriptive of the data and comparing this vector to one or more reference vectors which are used to classify the data set. The comparison is performed by taking the difference between the signal and reference vectors. The preprocessor is wholly integrated upon the surface of a LiNbO3 single crystal with the exceptions of the source and the detector. He-Ne laser light is coupled in and out of the waveguide by prism couplers. The integrated optical circuit consists of a titanium infused waveguide pattern, electrode structures and grating beam splitters. The waveguide and electrode patterns, by virtue of their complexity, make the vector subtraction device the most complex integrated optical structure fabricated to date

Feasibility investigation of integrated optics Fourier transform devices

The possibility of producing an integrated optics data processing device based upon Fourier transformations or other parallel processing techniques, and the ways in which such techniques may be used to upgrade the performance of present and projected NASA systems were investigated. Activities toward this goal include; (1) production of near-diffraction-limited geodesic lenses in glass waveguides; (2) development of grinding and polishing techniques for the production of geodesic lenses in LiNbO3 waveguides; (3) development of a characterization technique for waveguide lenses; and (4) development of a theory for corrected aspheric geodesic lenses. A holographic subtraction system was devised which should be capable of rapid on-board preprocessing of a large number of parallel data channels. The principle involved is validated in three demonstrations

Strong Family Strong Community: A Program Plan and Evaluation Targeting Youth Violence

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a program and evaluation plan for the Strong Family Strong Community Program (SFSC), an initiative that aims to decrease youth violence in Bronzeville area of Chicago by strengthening the family unit. This paper will provide a review of the literature pertaining to youth violence prevention programs, describe the different components of the SFSC program plan and present a detailed evaluation planMaster of Public Healt

An investigation for the development of an integrated optical data preprocessor

The successful fabrication and demonstration of an integrated optical circuit designed to perform a parallel processing operation by utilizing holographic subtraction to simultaneously compare N analog signal voltages with N predetermined reference voltages is summarized. The device alleviates transmission, storage and processing loads of satellite data systems by performing, at the sensor site, some preprocessing of data taken by remote sensors. Major accomplishments in the fabrication of integrated optics components include: (1) fabrication of the first LiNbO3 waveguide geodesic lens; (2) development of techniques for polishing TIR mirrors on LiNbO3 waveguides; (3) fabrication of high efficiency metal-over-photoresist gratings for waveguide beam splitters; (4) demonstration of high S/N holographic subtraction using waveguide holograms; and (5) development of alignment techniques for fabrication of integrated optics circuits. Important developments made in integrated optics are the discovery and suggested use of holographic self-subtraction in LiNbO3, development of a mathematical description of the operating modes of the preprocessor, and the development of theories for diffraction efficiency and beam quality of two dimensional beam defined gratings

INTERPRETATION OF THE BOUGUER GRAVITY ANOMALIES OF THE ERZURUM-HORASAN-PASİNLER BASIN (EAST ANATOLIA) WITH SAXOV-NYGAARD METHOD

Saxov-Nygaard varyasyon (SN) yöntemi, yer altı jeolojik yapısının fiziksel özelliklerindeki (yoğunluk) küçük değişimler sebebiyle gravite alanlarında meydana gelen küçük farklılıkları ayırt etmek için kullanılan yöntemlerden birisidir. Bu çalışmada, bu yöntemle elde edilen rezidüel anomaliler ve bunlara sebep olan yer altı kütlelerinin derinliği arasındaki ilişki incelenmiştir. Yapılan model ve arazi çalışmaları sonucu yöntemin küçük yoğunluk değişimleri sebebiyle Bouguer anomalilerinde meydana gelen gözle görülmeyen değişimleri iyi bir şekilde ortaya çıkardığı ve kütlelerin derinlikleri hakkında bilgi elde edildiği görülmüştür. Saxov-Nygaard variation method is used in order to separate small variations in the gravity fields owing to small changes of the physical properties (density) of the subsurface geological structure. In this study, the residual anomaly obtained with this method and the relationships between the anomaly mass and depth caused by subsurface mass. According to do model and area studies using this method, it is seen that small variations in the Bouguer gravity anomalies owing to small density variations appear slightly. Moreover, this method gives the depth information about anomaly masses

An Empirical Study for Investigation of the Effects of Strategic Alliances in the Civil Aviation Sector: THY (Turkish Airlines) Case

Nowadays companies have to be reorganized in order to adopt changing environmental conditions and try to take advantage of opportunities arises while avoiding the emerging threats. One of the aforementioned reorganization effort is the strategic alliences between firms. The low rate of full capacity, high costs and high tax rates pushed airline companies for forging partnerships and as a result of this huge strategic alliances occured as like Star Alliance, One World and SkyTeam. These partnerships has built code sharing, frequent flier programme and similar collaborations helped the existing capacity usage to the maximum level. So that this provided crutial cost advantages to the companies. In this paper it is aimed to find out whether Turkish Airlines participation to the Star Alliance with signing engagement letter in 2006 has made structural change in firms profitability and within this frame the current ratio and asset turnover rate of Turkish Airlines between 1992-2013 is modelled on return on equity. Performed strategic alliance being examined by Chow test methodology and it is found that this alliance has resulted a structural change on firm’s return on equity. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n22p10

Pressure cycling technology for challenging proteomic sample processing: application to barnacle adhesive.

AbstractSuccessful proteomic characterization of biological material depends on the development of robust sample processing methods. The acorn barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite is a biofouling model for adhesive processes, but the identification of causative proteins involved has been hindered by their insoluble nature. Although effective, existing sample processing methods are labor and time intensive, slowing progress in this field. Here, a more efficient sample processing method is described which exploits pressure cycling technology (PCT) in combination with protein solvents. PCT aids in protein extraction and digestion for proteomics analysis. Barnacle adhesive proteins can be extracted and digested in the same tube using PCT, minimizing sample loss, increasing throughput to 16 concurrently processed samples, and decreasing sample processing time to under 8 hours. PCT methods produced similar proteomes in comparison to previous methods. Two solvents which were ineffective at extracting proteins from the adhesive at ambient pressure (urea and methanol) produced more protein identifications under pressure than highly polar hexafluoroisopropanol, leading to the identification and description of >40 novel proteins at the interface. Some of these have homology to proteins with elastomeric properties or domains involved with protein-protein interactions, while many have no sequence similarity to proteins in publicly available databases, highlighting the unique adherent processes evolved by barnacles. The methods described here can not only be used to further characterize barnacle adhesive to combat fouling, but may also be applied to other recalcitrant biological samples, including aggregative or fibrillar protein matrices produced during disease, where a lack of efficient sample processing methods has impeded advancement. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD012730

Mental health screening and increased risk for anxiety and depression among treatment-seeking smokers

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the risk for mental health disorders between smokers and non-smokers and to assess the risk for depression and anxiety according to addiction severity. Methods: This cross-sectional study assesses the mental health status and relationship with the severity of nicotine addiction in a sample of smokers admitted to Pamukkale University Hospital Smoking Cessation Clinic (n = 101) from 1 June 2012 to 31 August 2012 compared to a group of non-smokers from the general population (n = 101). We conducted semi-structured face-to-face interviews to collect sociodemographic data; we assessed the participants' mental health status with the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and we measured nicotine addiction severity with the Fagerström Test. Results: The risk for mental illness reported by smokers based on the GHQ-12 was significantly higher than that for non-smokers (p = 0.001). The anxiety and depression scores according to HADS were higher among smokers (16.8% and 22.8%, respectively) than non-smokers (4.0% and 5.0%, respectively) (p = 0.006 and p = 0.001, respectively). The nicotine addiction severity was higher in smokers with higher anxiety and depression scores (p = 0.008). Conclusions: We found high scores for mental illness in treatment-seeking smokers compared with non-smokers. The risk for anxiety and depression was higher among smokers. Increased nicotine addiction severity was associated with increased risk for mental illness and increased scores of anxiety and depression. © 2014 Emre et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd