BACKGROUND AND AIMS The purpose of this study was to compare several parameters of root canal preparation using two different rotary Nickel-Titanium instruments: Pro-Taper (Dentsply Maillefer, Ballagigues, Switzerland) and Hero-Shaper (Micro Mega, Besancon, France). METHODS Twelve extracted maxillary premolars were randomly divided into two groups and embedded into a muffle system. All root c...

Background and Aim: Preparation of root canal with rotary nickel-titanium (NiTi) instruments may potentially create microcracks that can lead to vertical root fracture. This study aimed to compare the incidence of crack formation by BioRaCe and Edge Taper Platinum systems in the mesiobuccal canals of extracted first mandibular molars. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 50 first...

Vertebrate photoreceptors are commonly distinguished based on the shape of their outer segments: those of cones taper, whereas the ones from rods do not. The functional advantages of cone taper, a common occurrence in vertebrate retinas, remain elusive. In this study, we investigate this topic using theoretical analyses aimed at revealing structure-function relationships in photoreceptors. Geom...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of two different tapering period lengths on the concentration of plasma interleukin- 6 (IL-6), interleukin (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and performance in elite male cyclists. To this end, after completing 8 weeks progressive endurance exercise, twenty four high-level endurance cyclists were randomly assigned to one of two group...

OBJECTIVES To study the number of patients that taper or discontinue concomitant methotrexate (MTX) in daily practice in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) and to analyse the effects of that adaption on disease activity and drug survival. METHODS Data were collected from the Dutch Rheumatoid Arthritis Monitoring (DREAM) registry. Patie...

This paper introduces a novel partition-based regression approach that incorporates topological information. Partition-based regression typically introduce a quality-of-fit-driven decomposition of the domain. The emphasis in this work is on a topologically meaningful segmentation. Thus, the proposed regression approach is based on a segmentation induced by a discrete approximation of the Morse-...

Because cone outer segments (COS) are now known to be continually renewed, I reexamined COS morphogenesis in retinas of Xenopus tadpoles (prepared by standard histologic techniques and viewed by light and electron microscopy) to clarify how COS incorporate new membrane. I observed that developing COS underwent an unexpected shape change: they were always conical, but their taper (width divided ...

This study examined how altering training intensity during a taper impacts maximal mechanical power (Pmax), torque at power maximum (T), velocity at power maximum (V), and swim performance (m . sec (-1)). Using an arm ergometer with inertial loading, measurements of Pmax, T, and V were made for 7 consecutive weeks prior to the taper and during the taper in 7 female competitive collegiate swimme...

Long-term (mean, 8 years) users of benzodiazepines (BZs) were administered a small battery of cognitive tests on three occasions (before BZ taper, and 5 and 12 weeks post taper) as part of their BZ discontinuation program. Ninety-six patients had 5-week and 77 patients had 12-week data. For taper successes, BZ-free status was confirmed by weekly BZ plasma level determinations. Age and education...