Ectopic Maxillary Canines:Segregation Analysis and a Twin Study

The etiology of ectopic canines is controversial, with opinion divided as to a genetic or environmental mechanism. This study addressed the hypothesis that genetic factors play a role in the etiology of ectopic maxillary canines. Sixty-three probands were identified, and information on the dental status of 395 relatives was determined. Pedigrees were constructed and the Relative Risk calculated. Complex segregation analysis was carried out by means of the Pedigree Analysis Package. The best mathematical model obtained was a single dominant gene with autosomal transmission, incomplete penetrance, and highly variable expression. Only two of seven pairs of monozygotic twins were concordant for ectopic canines. This is consistent with environmental or epigenetic variables affecting the phenotype. The low concordance rate is consistent with the low penetrance determined by the segregation analysis and further supports the existence of environmental factors.peer-reviewe

Commentary : comparison of historical medical spending patterns among the BRICS and G7

A commentary on "Comparison of historical medical spending patterns among the BRICS and G7" by Jakovljevic, M.M. (2015). J.Med.Econ. 19, 70–76, doi:10.3111/13696998.2015.109349

The suitability of a DRG casemix system in the Maltese hospital setting

The healthcare system in Malta is financed through global budgets and healthcare is provided free at the point of use. This paper is a first attempt to examine the feasibility of introducing a Diagnosis Related Groups casemix system for Malta, not necessarily for payment and funding purposes, but as a tool to help describe, manage and measure resource use. This is particularly challenging in view of the constraints and characteristics of a small state country. The study evaluates the applicability of the MS-DRG (Version 27.0) Grouper to describe acute hospital activity on the island. The classification of 151,615 admissions between 2009-2011 resulted in 636 DRG categories. Around half of these DRGs accounted for 99% of the total activity at the hospital, while 296 DRG categories had fewer than 15 cases over the period. Patient length of stay is used to explain resource use and the Coefficient of Multiple Determination obtained was of 0.19 (improving to 0.25 when a number of trimming algorithms were applied). A good proportion of the resulting DRGs had a Coefficient of Variation, which indicates a low degree of variability within the obtained DRG groups. This presents good evidence to support the introduction of a DRG system in Malta particularly in view of the recent drive towards more public-private partnerships and legislation on cross-border patient treatment

A cost-benefit analysis of ISO26000 : the standard on social responsibility

The International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 26000 on social responsibility supports organizations of all types and sizes in their responsibilities toward society and the environment. The standard's core subjects respect the rule of law as well as international norms on human rights and non-discrimination. ISO 26000 recommends that organizations ought to follow its principles on accountability, transparency, ethical behaviors and fair operating practices that safeguard organizations and their stakeholders' interests. Hence, this chapter presents a critical analysis on ISO 26000. This is followed by a discussion on the trade-offs between the costs and benefits for those organizations who intend following this social responsibility standard’s principles. Afterwards, this contribution posits that the stated purpose of ISO’s non-certified standard on social responsibility is to provide ‘guidance’ to its users as it is not an enforceable instrument. In conclusion, the author has put forward his implications for practitioners and policy makers. This chapter also suggested some future research avenues to academia.peer-reviewe

Crystalline phases involved in the hydration of calcium silicate-based cements: Semi-quantitative Rietveld X-ray diffraction analysis

Chemical comparisons of powder and hydrated forms of calcium silicate cements (CSCs) and calculation of alterations in tricalcium silicate (Ca3SiO5) calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) are essential for understanding their hydration processes. This study aimed to evaluate and compare these changes in ProRoot MTA, Biodentine and CEM cement. Powder and hydrated forms of tooth coloured ProRoot MTA, Biodentine and CEM cement were subjected to X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis with Rietveld refinement to semi-quantitatively identify and quantify the main phases involved in their hydration process. Data were reported descriptively. Reduction in Ca3SiO5 and formation of Ca(OH)2 were seen after the hydration of ProRoot MTA and Biodentine; however, in the case of CEM cement, no reduction of Ca3SiO5 and no formation of Ca(OH)2 were detected. The highest percentages of amorphous phases were seen in Biodentine samples. Ettringite was detected in the hydrated forms of ProRoot MTA and CEM cement but not in Biodentine

Towards intelligent early form design and prototyping, questionnaire results and analysis

Currently, the Department of Manufacturing Engineering (DME), University of Malta and the Istitito per la Matematica Applicata e Tecnologie Informatiche (IMATI), Genoa are conducting research on how simple components represented by sketches on normal paper can be converted to computer models. One of the key issues in developing a sketch recognition system is precisely to handle the trade-off between ease of computer recognition and the preservation of sketching freedom. With an attempt to address this issue, two sketching methods (or sketching languages) have been developed by the DME. This report presents the results of a questionnaire about the sketching activity itself and also about the two proposed sketching languages. An analysis of the results obtained is also presented with the scope to identify what should be the future directions that might contribute to enhance the usefulness of the two sketching approaches

Image binarisation using the extended Kalman filter

This work has been mainly supported by Grant 73604 of the University of Malta.Form design is frequently carried out through paper sketches of the designer’s mental model of an object. To improve the time it takes from solution concept to production it would therefore be beneficial if paperbased sketches can be automatically interpreted for importation into three-dimensional geometric computer aided design (CAD) systems. This however requires image pre-processing before initiating the automated interpretation of the drawing. This paper proposes a novel application of the Extended Kalman Filter to guide the binarisation process, thus achieving suitable and automatic classification between image foreground and background.peer-reviewe

Relativistic quantum theories and neutrino oscillations

Neutrino oscillations are examined under the broad requirements of Poincar\'e-invariant scattering theory in an S-matrix formulation. This approach can be consistently applied to theories with either field or particle degrees of freedom. The goal of this paper is to use this general framework to identify all of the unique physical properties of this problem that lead to a simple oscillation formula. We discuss what is in principle observable, and how many factors that are important in principle end up being negligible in practice.Comment: 21 pages, no figure

Evaluation of radiotherapy education across the EU and the impact on graduates’ competencies working on the linear accelerator.

Introduction: Regulation and education of the professionals administering radiotherapy treatments in the linear accelerator varies across the EU. However, how different programme characteristics affect the level of competency of these professionals has never been studied before. This study also aimed to assess which are the least and most developed competencies in radiotherapy across the EU. Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed to academic staff teaching radiotherapy across the EU. Staff were asked to identify the characteristics of the course programmes and to classify the level of competency of graduates regarding linear accelerator tasks. Results: Fifty respondents from 19 EU countries answered the questionnaire. The least developed competency theme was pharmacology followed by equipment quality assurance and management and leadership. The most developed competency was positioning and immobilisation, followed by radiotherapy treatment delivery and professional and ethical practice. Some competencies are developed at the same level across EU countries, while others vary considerably between member-states. Longer programmes, with more placements, and larger proportions of radiotherapy in the programme showed significant increase in the development of some competencies. Longer placements in skills labs was correlated with a decrease in competency. Conclusion: There is no harmonisation of radiotherapy eduction across the EU and the differences in programme characteristics are reflected in differences in competency levels of radiotherapy radiographers. This may hinder movement of professionals and create disparities in the level of care offered across the EU. Implications for practice: Longer programmes, with longer clinical practice and adequate proportion of radiotherapy in the course are essential to ensure that these professionals are competent at similar levels across the EU and to ensure patient safety.peer-reviewe

The role of memory in distinguishing risky decisions from experience and description

People’s risk preferences differ for choices based on described probabilities versus those based on information learned through experience. For decisions from description, people are typically more risk averse for gains than for losses. In contrast, for decisions from experience, people are sometimes more risk seeking for gains than losses, especially for choices with the possibility of extreme outcomes (big wins or big losses), which are systematically overweighed in memory. Using a within-subject design, this study evaluated whether this memory bias plays a role in the differences in risky choice between description and experience. As in previous studies, people were more risk seeking for losses than for gains in description but showed the opposite pattern in experience. People also more readily remembered the extreme outcomes and judged them as having occurred more frequently. These memory biases correlated with risk preferences in decisions from experience but not in decisions from description. These results suggest that systematic memory biases may be responsible for some of the differences in risk preference across description and experience