2,011 research outputs found
Comparison of The Kois Dento-Facial Analyzer System with an Earbow for Mounting a Maxillary Cast
Statement of problem: The Kois Dento-Facial Analyzer System (KDFA) is used by clinicians to mount maxillary casts and evaluate and treat patients. Limited information is available for understanding whether the KDFA should be considered as an alternative to an earbow.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate maxillary casts mounted using the KDFA with casts mounted using Panadent\u27s Pana-Mount Facebow (PMF). Both articulation methods were compared against a lateral cephalometric radiograph.
Material and methods: Fifteen dried human skulls were used. Lateral cephalometric radiographs and 2 maxillary impressions were made of each skull. One cast from each skull was mounted on an articulator by means of the KDFA and the other by using the PMF. A standardized photograph of each articulation was made, and the distance from the articular center to the incisal edge position and the occlusal plane angle were measured. The distance from condylar center to the incisal edge and the occlusal plane angle were measured from cephalometric radiographs. Finally, the 3-dimensional position of each articulation was determined with a Panadent CPI-III. A randomized complete block design analysis of variance (RCBD) and post hoc tests (Tukey-Kramer HSD) (α=.05) were used to evaluate the occlusal plane angle and axis-central incisor distance. A paired 2-sample t test for means (α=.05) was used to compare the X, Y, and Z distance at the right and left condyle.
Results: The KDFA and PMF mounted the maxillary cast in a position that was not statistically different from the skull when comparing the occlusal plane angle (P=.165). Both the KDFA and the PMF located the maxillary central incisor edge position in a significantly different position compared with the skull (P=.001) but were not significantly different from each other. The 3-dimensional location of the maxillary casts varied at the condyles by approximately 9 to 10.3 mm.
Conclusion: The KDFA mounted the maxillary cast in a position that was not statistically different from the PMF when comparing the incisal edge position and the occlusal plane angle. Both the KDFA and the PMF located the maxillary incisal edge position in a significantly different position compared with the anatomic position on dried human skulls
Suppressed Andreev Reflection at the Normal-Metal / Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn Interface
Dynamic conductance spectra are taken from Au/CeCoIn point contacts in
the Sharvin limit along the (001) and (110) directions. Our conductance
spectra, reproducibly obtained over wide ranges of temperature, constitute the
cleanest data sets ever reported for HFSs. A signature for the emerging
heavy-fermion liquid is evidenced by the development of the asymmetry in the
background in the normal state. Below , an enhancement of the sub-gap
conductance arising from Andreev reflection is observed, with the magnitude of
13.3 % and 11.8 % for the (001) and the (110) point contacts,
respectively, an order of magnitude smaller than those observed in conventional
superconductors but consistent with those in other HFSs. Our zero-bias
conductance data for the (001) point contacts are best fit with the extended
BTK model using the d-wave order parameter. The fit to the full conductance
curve of the (001) point contact indicates the strong coupling nature
(). However, our observed suppression of both the
Andreev reflection signal and the energy gap indicates the failure of existing
models. We provide possible directions for theoretical formulations of the
electronic transport across an N/HFS interface. Several qualitative features
observed in the (110) point contacts provide the first clear spectroscopic
evidence for the symmetry.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, LaTeX, paper invited and submitted to SPIE
Conference on Strongly Correlated Electron Materials: Physics and
Nanoengineering, in San Diego, California, July 31 - August 4, 200
Increasing incidence of anogenital warts with an urban–rural divide among males in Manitoba, Canada, 1990–2011
Abstract Background Anogenital warts (AGW) are caused by the most common sexually transmitted infection, human papillomavirus. The objective of this study was to examine AGW incidence from 1990 to 2011 by sex, age, income quintile, and residential area category (urban/rural). The study period included the initiation of school-based HPV vaccination for girls in the sixth grade, which began in 2008. The data presented in this paper may also be useful for establishing baseline rates of AGW incidence which may be used to evaluate the success of the school-based HPV immunization program. Methods Cases of anogenital warts were identified using Manitoba’s administrative databases of Physician Claims and Hospital Discharge Abstracts. Annual age-standardized incidence in Manitoba from 1990 to 2011 was calculated. Incident AGW rates were compared by sex, age group, residential area category (urban/rural), and household income quintile using logistic regression. Joinpoint regression analyses were used to evaluate the time trends of AGW. Results Prior to 2000, AGW incidence was higher among females than males. However, from 2000 to 2011 the incidence was higher among males and increased steadily over time. AGW incidence tended to peak in younger age groups among females compared to males. Females and males living in urban areas had nearly twice the odds of AGW occurrence compared to those in rural areas. Conclusions There is a need for education about AGW in male population. The upcoming initiation of HPV vaccination among boys may reduce the incidence and should be evaluated
Andreev reflection spectroscopy of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn along three different crystallographic orientations
Andreev reflection spectroscopy has been performed on the heavy-fermion
superconductor (HFS) CeCoIn single crystals along three different
crystallographic orientations, (001), (110), and (100), using Au tips as
counter-electrodes. Dynamic conductance spectra are reproducible over wide
temperature ranges and consistent with each other, ensuring the spectroscopic
nature. Features common to all directions are: i) asymmetric behaviors of the
background conductance, which we attribute to the emerging coherent
heavy-fermion liquid; ii) energy scales (~1 meV) for conductance enhancement
due to Andreev reflection; iii) magnitudes of enhanced zero-bias conductance
(10 - 13 %). These values are an order of magnitude smaller than the predicted
value by the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk (BTK) theory, but comparable to those for
other HFSs. Using the d-wave BTK model, we obtain an energy gap of ~ 460 ueV.
However, it is found that extended BTK models considering the mismatch in Fermi
surface parameters do not account for our data completely, which we attribute
to the shift of spectral weight to low energy as well as to the suppressed
Andreev reflection. A qualitative comparison of the conductance spectra with
calculated curves shows a consistency with d-symmetry, providing
the first spectroscopic evidence for the order parameter symmetry and resolving
the controversy over the location of the line nodes.Comment: invited talk submitted to the 8th M2S conference to be held in
Dresden Germany, July 9-14, 2006, 4 pages, 3 figure
Background reionization history from omniscopes
The measurements of the 21-cm brightness temperature fluctuations from the
neutral hydrogen at the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) should inaugurate the next
generation of cosmological observables. In this respect, many works have
concentrated on the disambiguation of the cosmological signals from the
dominant reionization foregrounds. However, even after perfect foregrounds
removal, our ignorance on the background reionization history can significantly
affect the cosmological parameter estimation. In particular, the
interdependence between the hydrogen ionized fraction, the baryon density and
the optical depth to the redshift of observation induce nontrivial degeneracies
between the cosmological parameters that have not been considered so far. Using
a simple, but consistent reionization model, we revisit their expected
constraints for a futuristic giant 21-cm omniscope by using for the first time
Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods on multiredshift full sky simulated
data. Our results agree well with the usual Fisher matrix analysis on the
three-dimensional flat sky power spectrum but only when the above-mentioned
degeneracies are kept under control. In the opposite situation, Fisher results
can be inaccurate. We show that these conditions can be fulfilled by combining
cosmic microwave background measurements with multiple observation redshifts
probing the beginning of EoR. This allows a precise reconstruction of the total
optical depth, reionization duration and maximal spin temperature. Finally, we
discuss the robustness of these results in presence of unresolved ionizing
sources. Although most of the standard cosmological parameters remain weakly
affected, we find a significant degradation of the background reionization
parameter estimation in presence of nuisance ionizing sources.Comment: 22 pages, 18 figures, uses RevTex. References added, matches
published versio
Managing the (in)visibility of chronic illness at work: dialogism, parody, and reported speech
Interactionally, the workplace may be dilemmatic for a person with ‘invisible’ chronic illness. Risks of stigmatization exist if they disclose their condition to colleagues. Meanwhile, not disclosing threatens wellbeing and entitlements. Using Bakhtin’s (1984) dialogism as a theoretical framework, we explored these social aspects of illness: inductively analyzing narratives from 20 participants with MS. Capitalizing on concepts from Dialogical and Conversation Analysis, links between (in)visibility, knowledge, and belief were examined with respect to symptoms and co-worker judgment. Perceived medical legitimacy creates a core social dilemma. At the intersection of genre and action, participants systematically used parody to subvert the traditional workplace hierarchy. ‘Oh-prefaced’ direct reported speech (OPDRS) was deployed to exaggerate workplace interactions, undermining managers/colleagues who misattributed (in)visible symptoms. Parodic OPDRS index emotive interactional dilemmas. As subversions of organizational power, OPDRS denote those very areas where employees feel disempowered. Sensitivity to OPDRS can provide diagnostic support and complement evaluation frameworks
Testing interval independence versus configural weighting using judgments of strength of preference.
A connection between stress and development in the multicelular prokaryote Streptomyces coelicolor
Morphological changes leading to aerial mycelium formation and sporulation in the mycelial bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor rely on establishing distinct patterns of gene expression in separate regions of the colony. sH was identified previously as one of three paralogous sigma factors associated with stress responses in S. coelicolor. Here, we show that sigH and the upstream gene prsH (encoding a putative antisigma factor of sH) form an operon transcribed from two developmentally regulated promoters, sigHp1 and sigHp2. While sigHp1 activity is confined to the early phase of growth, transcription of sigHp2 is dramatically induced at the time of aerial hyphae formation. Localization of sigHp2 activity using a transcriptional fusion to the green fluorescent protein reporter gene (sigHp2–egfp) showed that sigHp2 transcription is spatially restricted to sporulating aerial hyphae in wild-type S. coelicolor. However, analysis of mutants unable to form aerial hyphae (bld mutants) showed that sigHp2 transcription and sH protein levels are dramatically upregulated in a bldD mutant, and that the sigHp2–egfp fusion was expressed ectopically in the substrate mycelium in the bldD background. Finally, a protein possessing sigHp2 promoter-binding activity was purified to homogeneity from crude mycelial extracts of S. coelicolor and shown to be BldD. The BldD binding site in the sigHp2 promoter was defined by DNase I footprinting. These data show that expression of sH is subject to temporal and spatial regulation during colony development, that this tissue-specific regulation is mediated directly by the developmental transcription factor BldD and suggest that stress and developmental programmes may be intimately connected in Streptomyces morphogenesis
Planning, implementation and scientific goals of the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field mission
The Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field mission based at Ellington Field, Texas, during August and September 2013 employed the most comprehensive airborne payload to date to investigate atmospheric composition over North America. The NASA ER-2, DC-8, and SPEC Inc. Learjet flew 57 science flights from the surface to 20 km. The ER-2 employed seven remote sensing instruments as a satellite surrogate and eight in situ instruments. The DC-8 employed 23 in situ and five remote sensing instruments for radiation, chemistry, and microphysics. The Learjet used 11 instruments to explore cloud microphysics. SEAC4RS launched numerous balloons, augmented AErosol RObotic NETwork, and collaborated with many existing ground measurement sites. Flights investigating convection included close coordination of all three aircraft. Coordinated DC-8 and ER-2 flights investigated the optical properties of aerosols, the influence of aerosols on clouds, and the performance of new instruments for satellite measurements of clouds and aerosols. ER-2 sorties sampled stratospheric injections of water vapor and other chemicals by local and distant convection. DC-8 flights studied seasonally evolving chemistry in the Southeastern U.S., atmospheric chemistry with lower emissions of NOx and SO2 than in previous decades, isoprene chemistry under high and low NOx conditions at different locations, organic aerosols, air pollution near Houston and in petroleum fields, smoke from wildfires in western forests and from agricultural fires in the Mississippi Valley, and the ways in which the chemistry in the boundary layer and the upper troposphere were influenced by vertical transport in convective clouds
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