Dimensional Changes of Facial Soft Tissue Associated with Rapid Palatal Expansion

Introduction: Orthodontic treatment demands excellent outcomes in both function and esthetics. Despite the popularity of rapid palatal expansion in orthodontic treatment, few studies have examined its consequences on facial soft tissue using direct anthropometric measurements. The primary goal of this study was to determine facial soft tissue changes immediately following rapid palatal expansion. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight patients (age range, 8-17 years) attending Marquette Dental School Orthodontic Post-Graduate Clinic were enrolled in the study. Facial soft tissue measurements were taken with digital calipers at two separate time points (T0: initial exam and T1: thirty days following expansion); measurements were recorded with patients sitting in the orthodontic chair in centric occlusion, with Frankfurt Horizontal plane parallel to the floor, and observing a relaxed-lip posture. One examiner took 18 measurements at two different time points (T0 and T1), and was blinded from the initial reading when the second round of measurements were taken. Descriptive statistics were performed and a paired t-test was used to compare measurements taken at the two time points. Regressions models were also conducted to determine the influence of age on the results. Results: Pearson\u27s correlation coefficient, was found to be r = 0.998. This indicates nearly a one-to-one correspondence in the measurements taken at the two time points by the same examiner. Between the two time points, there was a statistically significant difference in intraorbital width, alar nasal width-widest nostrils, mouth width and soft tissue nasion at the tip of nose (p \u3c 0.001). Anatomical structures closest to the facial midline appear to be most affected. Statistically significant increase included mouth width, nasal width, orbital width and the length of the soft tissue nose from nasion to the tip of the nose. All points that showed significant differences were directly related to rapid palatal expansion and were independent of age as determined via regression modeling. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that from a frontal perspective, rapid palatal expansion results in statistically significant facial soft tissue changes. Further assessment is needed to determine if these values are of clinical significance

Dam Policy: The Need For Global Governance

Dams have long fascinated engineers, policymakers, and citizens-at-large. No doubt the engineering and architectural details of physical construction of dams are worth study and scrutiny, but it is the human dimension that complicates dam policies. Dams can result in tremendous negative impacts on human populations. Yet, dams provide a source of renewable energy, hydroelectric power. Analyzing these issues in a global perspective offers strategies for policy makers to consider. This paper will analyze the negative impact dams have on humans, illustrate the hydroelectric push for dams and how they impact food production. Finally, global policy strategies will be offered with consideration of environmental accounting and an indication of the future of water and food

Rural Communities and School Consolidation--Introduction to Special Issue

This special issue of Great Plains Research focuses on rural communities and school consolidation. It publishes some of the contributions, both essays and research articles, first presented at the Center for Great Plains Studies\u27 39th Annual Symposium at the University of Nebraska at Kearney on April 5-6, 2013. It also includes some images from a special Chuck Guildner photographic exhibition staged at the Museum of Nebraska Art. The symposium broadly addressed the connection between rural schools and rural communities, including a particular focus on the gains and losses from school consolidation. Good schools are essential to the good life. Americans are optimistic, future-looking people, and we focus much of our hopes on our kids and their schooling. There is little wonder, then, that Americans worry so much about how good the schools are-a concern that is doubly true for rural schools. Despite a widely held norm that good schools are vital to community life, the declining population of many rural towns in the Great Plains combined with tight budgets and intense competition for state aid has often driven both state and local school policy toward school consolidation as a common political response. During consolidation, small communities lose their schools in favor of larger, presumably better or more efficient consolidated schools elsewhere

GREAT PLAINS RESEARCH, 23-2 Fall 2013, Editorial Matter

Masthead Contents Volume Introduction, by Richard Edwards & Peter Longo Instructions to author

GREAT PLAINS RESEARCH, 23-2 Fall 2013, Editorial Matter

Masthead Contents Volume Introduction, by Richard Edwards & Peter Longo Instructions to author

WORKPLACE RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION FOR MUSLIMS AND THE PROMISE OF STATE CONSTITUTIONALISM

This article considers whether state constitutionalism provides greater possibilities for workplace religious accommodation than is currently available to religious minorities within federal law under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We approach this question via a case study of the controversy over religious accommodation for practicing Muslims employed by the JBS Swift and Company meatpacking plant in Grand Island, N E. The case study consists of analyses of the requirements for religious accommodation under federal law, examination of the reasons why religious accommodation under federal law was not achieved in the Grand Island case, and analysis of Nebraska constitutional law on the subject of religious free exercise. We find that the language in the Nebraska Constitution regarding protection of religious practice provides grounds for Muslims and other religious minorities in Nebraska to seek religious accommodations in the workplace through state government venues that they have been unable to achieve under federal law

WORKPLACE RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION FOR MUSLIMS AND THE PROMISE OF STATE CONSTITUTIONALISM

This article considers whether state constitutionalism provides greater possibilities for workplace religious accommodation than is currently available to religious minorities within federal law under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We approach this question via a case study of the controversy over religious accommodation for practicing Muslims employed by the JBS Swift and Company meatpacking plant in Grand Island, N E. The case study consists of analyses of the requirements for religious accommodation under federal law, examination of the reasons why religious accommodation under federal law was not achieved in the Grand Island case, and analysis of Nebraska constitutional law on the subject of religious free exercise. We find that the language in the Nebraska Constitution regarding protection of religious practice provides grounds for Muslims and other religious minorities in Nebraska to seek religious accommodations in the workplace through state government venues that they have been unable to achieve under federal law

Using ICT in Developing a Resilient Supply Chain Strategy

AbstractSupply chains in today's globalization are very vulnerable to risks such as natural disasters, terrorism, cyber attacks and credit crunch etc that could easily disrupt the flow of raw materials, finished products and information. Furthermore, these disruptions could yield to a drastic loss in productivity, competitive advantage and profitability that would most probably lead to bankruptcy if not managed appropriately. In fact, supply chain vulnerability is now a major concern in many organizations as some research programs have started to illustrate that modern supply chains are at greater risks than their supply chain managers could even recognise. The aim of this article is to analyse these risks and discuss how they could be prevented and/or managed. In addition, by implementing ICT in collaboration with certain strategies, a resilient supply chain could be developed. Moreover, in case any of these risks occur, the possibility for an organization to be able to bounce back and start operations in the shortest possible time is also considered