Clinical evaluation of inter-implant distance influence on the wear characteristics of low-profile stud attachments used in mandibular implant?retained overdentures

This study was aimed to evaluate the influence of inter-implant distance on the wear characteristics of low-profile stud attachments used in mandibular implant retained overdentures. Forty Completely edentulous participants aged between 50 ? 70 years were enrolled in this study. Each patient received 2-implants by 2-stage submerged surgical protocol. Participants categorized into 4-groups. Group I: 19 mm inter-implant distance with Locator retained overdentures; Group II: 19 mm inter-implant distance with OT Equator retained overdentures; Group III: 25 mm inter-implant distance with Locator retained overdentures; Group IV: 25 mm inter-implant distance with OT Equator retained overdentures. The female housings of each attachment were picked up to the mandibular overdenture. 12 month later the male inserts were replaced by new one. The used retentive male inserts were examined by Stereomicroscopic. Stereomicroscopic examination revealed wear were detected on both inner surface and, the core of male inserts. Comparison between the unused and the used Locator and OT equator retentive male inserts at various inter-implant distance revealed highly significant wear changes between them at either 19 mm, or 25 mm inter-implant distance P1= .000, P2=.000 respectively. After one year of implant overdenture clinical use; both locator and OT equator retentive male inserts revealed significant surface deformities and wear. Wear were more notable on both locator and OT equator retentive male inserts with 25 mm interimplant distance than with 19 mm interimplant distance

THE IMPACT OF BUSINESS-IT ALIGNMENT ON ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Organizational culture continues to be cited as one of the most important factors for organizations’ success in an increasingly competitive and IT-driven global environment. Given the fact that organizational culture has an influence all over the organization, the complexity of its nature is increased when considering the relationship between business and IT. As a result, different factors that have influence on changing organizational culture were highlighted in literature. These factors are found in the research literature distributed in three main group; micro-environment factors, macro-environment factors and leader’s impact. One of the factors that have not been yet well investigated in researches is concerning business-IT alignment (BITA. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of BITA maturity on organizational culture. The research process that we have followed is a literature survey followed by an in-depth case study. The result of this research shows a clear interrelation in theories of both BITA and organizational culture, and clear indications of BITA impact on organizational culture and its change. The findings may support both practitioners and researchers in order to understand the insights of the relationships between BITA and organizational culture components and provide a roadmap for improvements or desired changes in organizational culture with highlighted target business area

A Framework to Support Practitioners in Evaluating Business-IT Alignment Models

Many business-IT alignment (BITA) models have been designed to support organizations in achieving, assessing and maintaining alignment between business and IT. These models focus on different components and emphasize different perspectives. This makes it difficult for practitioners to choose appropriate BITA models given organization at-hand. In this paper, an evaluation framework supporting practitioners to choose appropriate BITA models is presented. The framework was designed following design science as main research approach. The design process was based on literature and empirical studies. The literature study contributed in constructing a tentative version of the framework which was refined through an empirical study in 6 organizations. The final framework consists of 25 criteria categorized into four groups, and was demonstrated on six major BITA models showing its feasibility. Finally, the framework was evaluated by interviewing two business consultants and three CIOs from large-sized Swedish companies. The evaluation shows the framework having a complete set of criteria, but its usability and efficiency could be increased

Bending of inhomogeneous sandwich plates with viscoelastic cores

This article presents the bending analysis of an inhomogeneous composite sandwich rectangular plate with viscoelastic core. The sinusoidal plate theory as well as other familiar shear deformation plate theories is used. Different types of intermediate plates are considered according to the thickness of all layers and the symmetry of the plate. Illyushin's approximation and the effective moduli methods are used to treat the governing equations of sandwich plates that reinforced with inhomogeneous fibers. Various results for deflections of and some stresses in such plates are presented. A comparison study is made to investigate the effect of time, inhomogeneity, and constitutive parameters as well as the effect of span-to-thickness and aspect ratios on the bending response of the sandwich plates

An Efficient Route for Synthesis of Macrocyclic Gadolinium Complexes and Their Role in Medical Applications

The coordination science of gadolinium has been broadly examined in the ongoing years in light of the fact that the subsequent buildings can be advantageously utilized as a helpful devices in numerous fields going from the logical science, hydrometallurgy, science and medication. It is accounted for that the combination of the gadolinium complexes and concentrate their spectroscopic properties utilizing infrared spectroscopy (IR), mass spectroscopy (MS), electron paramagnetic reverberation (EPR) and dc magnetic susceptibility techniques. MRI contrast agents have become a basic piece of present modern magnetic resonance imaging. It has been discovered that the expansion of complexity specialists as a rule improves affectability as well as explicitness of inward body structures

Chitosan-Cellulose Composite for Wound Dressing Material. Part 2. Antimicrobial Activity, Blood Absorption Ability, and Biocompatibility

Chitosan (CS), a polysaccharide derived from chitin, the second most abundant polysaccharide, is widely used in the medical world because of its natural and nontoxic properties and its innate ability for antibacterial and hemostasis effects. In this study, the novel composites containing CS and cellulose (CEL) (i.e., [CEL + CS]), which we have previously synthesized using a green and totally recyclable method, were investigated for their antimicrobial activity, absorption of anticoagulated whole blood, anti-inflammatory activity through the reduction of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), and the biocompatibility with human fibroblasts. The [CEL + CS] composites were found to inhibit the growth of both Gram positive and negative micro-organisms. For examples, the regenerated 100% lyophilized chitosan material was found to reduce growth of Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739 and vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 51299) by 78, 36, and 64%, respectively. The composites are nontoxic to fibroblasts; that is, fibroblasts, which are critical to the formation of connective tissue matrix were found to grow and proliferate in the presence of the composites. They effectively absorb blood, and at the same rate and volume as commercially available wound dressings. The composites, in both air-dried and lyophilized forms, significantly inhibit the production of TNF-α and IL-6 by stimulated macrophages. These results clearly indicate that the biodegradable, biocompatible and nontoxic [CEL + CS] composites, particularly those dried by lyophilizing, can be effectively used as a material in wound dressings

Business and Information Technology Alignment Measurement -- a recent Literature Review

Since technology has been involved in the business context, Business and Information Technology Alignment (BITA) has been one of the main concerns of IT and Business executives and directors due to its importance to overall company performance, especially today in the age of digital transformation. Several models and frameworks have been developed for BITA implementation and for measuring their level of success, each one with a different approach to this desired state. The BITA measurement is one of the main decision-making tools in the strategic domain of companies. In general, the classical-internal alignment is the most measured domain and the external environment evolution alignment is the least measured. This literature review aims to characterize and analyze current research on BITA measurement with a comprehensive view of the works published over the last 15 years to identify potential gaps and future areas of research in the field.Comment: 12 pages, Preprint version, BIS 2018 International Workshops, Berlin, Germany, July 18 to 20, 2018, Revised Paper

Ultrasensitive in-vitro monitoring of monoamine neurotransmitters from dopaminergic cells

The design of biosensing assay of monoamine neurotransmitters (MANTs) such as epinephrine (Ep), norepinephrine (NE), and dopamine (DA), as well as the monitoring of these MANTs released from dopaminergic cells, are of particular interest. Electrochemical sensors based on the novel construction of nickel oxides (NiO) were fabricated and employed for electrochemical screening of MANTs. A novel NiO-lacy flower-like (NLF) geometrical structure with semi-spherical head surfaces connected with a trunk as an arm was achieved. The designed semi-spherical head associated with abundant and the well-dispersed tubular branches with needle-like open ends might lead to the creation of vascular vessels for facile diffusion and suitable accommodation of the released MANTs throughout active and wide-surface-area coverage, multi-diffusive pores, and caves with connective open macro-/meso-windows along the entire top-view nanoneedles of lacy flower head and trunk. These electrode surfaces possess high-index catalytic site facets associated with the formation of ridges/defects on {110}-top-cover surface dominants for strong binding, fast response, and signaling of MANTs. The NLF- modified electrode enabled high sensitivity for MANTs and a low limit of detection of 6 nM. Ultrasensitive in-vitro monitoring of DA released from dopaminergic cells (such as PC12) was realized. The NLF electrode was used to detect MANTs from its sources (PC12), and it could be used for clinical diagnosis