The aim of this study was to evaluate the force decay of two brands of orthodontic elastics, both offering latex and non-latex products. Samples were subjected to continuous stretching, measuring force at 5 seconds, 8 hours, and 24 hours in both dry and wet conditions. Five hundred samples were used, GAC® and Lancer® 0.25 inch and 4 oz, divided into testing sample sizes of n = 25 per group. For...

OBJECTIVES Recent studies have shown that chronic inflammation is involved in overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome. OAB could be a subtype of neurogenic inflammation. This pilot study investigated serum adipokine levels in patients with OAB refractory to antimuscarinic therapy. METHODS Thirty consecutive patients with OAB-dry (n = 16) or OAB-wet (n = 14) refractory to previous antimuscarinic tre...

We describe a sales promotion application for distributing and redeeming coupons on the Internet during online shopping. Various types of sales promotions and coupons, and the methods used to target coupons to select potential buyers are reviewed. Security mechanisms needed to prevent alterations, duplication, and trading of coupons by customers, and fraudulent use of manufacturer's coupons by ...

In this work we have proposed a method based on neural networks to directly retrieve dry and wet refractivity and dry pressure profiles in troposphere (which in turn can be used to obtain temperature and humidity profiles) by using COSMIC GPS radio occultation (RO) data. To overcome the constraint of an independent knowledge of one atmospheric parameter at each GPS occultation, we trained diffe...

Extreme precipitation events in the Peruvian Andes have significant socioeconomic impacts, yet their atmospheric dynamics are poorly understood. Here austral summer (December–March) wet and dry spells and their continentaland large-scale teleconnections are analyzed using reanalysis, gridded, and in situ precipitation data. Dry and wet spells in the Peruvian Andes show a pervasive dipole patter...

background: work clothing can limit heat exchange between humans and the environment and cause thermal strain and heat-related disorders in workers. it can thus reduce both efficiency and productivity. the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of work clothing material on physiological strain index (psi) in climatic chamber. methods: an interventional study was conducted on 18 male s...

Human noroviruses (NoVs) are the leading cause of food- and waterborne outbreaks of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. As a result of the lack of a mammalian cell culture model for these viruses, studies on persistence, inactivation, and transmission have been limited to cultivable viruses, including feline calicivirus (FCV). Recently, reports of the successful cell culture of murine...