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At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

PubMed2006

Experimental binder-free investments reused to cast dental precious alloys.

This study aimed to develop reusable dental investments. SiO2 and MgO were selected as refractory materials to prepare three types of investment (coded as 60S-40M, 80S-20M, 100S) with 40, 20, and 0 wt% of MgO. Each type of investment was reused twice. Thermal expansion and compressive strength were examined and statistically evaluated by ANOVA. To evaluate fit of castings, full crowns were cast by using a commercial Au-Ag-Pd alloy with all investment types. Marginal fit was statistically analyzed by cement thickness. It was found that although MgO strengthened the mold, it had little influence on expansion. The strength of 60S-40M was the highest, and 100S had the greatest advantage with regard to thermal expansion. In the evaluation for clinical applicability, all investments were able to cast successfully, but their castings might be undersized. Among the experimental binder-free investments reused for dental casting in this study, 100S in particular showed to be a good candidate for repeated fabrication of precision fit castings.

Compressive Strength↗

PubMed1991

Narrow harbors. Few joint ventures will find haven in the investment-interest safe harbor.

Investors and potential investors had hoped for meaningful guidance from the safe harbor regulations on appropriate structures for healthcare joint ventures. Unfortunately, the narrowly drawn final investment-interest safe harbor offers relatively little meaningful guidance or protection for the vast majority of such ventures. The Illegal Remuneration Statute (also known as the fraud and abuse statute) was first enacted in 1972 to prohibit members of the healthcare community from exchanging patient referrals for any kind of remuneration. In 1987 Congress instructed the secretary of Health and Human Services to create "safe harbors" for legitimate payment practices that, although they may violate the statute's strict prohibition, will be protected from prosecution. The investment-interest safe harbor has garnered the most attention. It provides two safe harbors, one for investments in large entities and one for investments in small entities. Both safe harbors contain onerous threshold requirements and other restrictions that diminish the usefulness of the safe harbor for all but a very few ventures. In addition, the Office of the Inspector General has created other obstacles to forming and preserving "safe" healthcare business ventures, including a refusal to "grandfather" or create a "safe harbor restructuring period" for existing business arrangements. Because most existing or planned joint ventures do not qualify for the investment-interest safe harbor, investors are forced to make their business decisions on the basis of the same factors used before publication of the safe harbor regulations. Such analysis will continue to focus on factors that demonstrate organizations' intent in making payments to investors as a return on investments.

Fraud↗

PubMed1992

Documenting investment policy boosts safety, returns.

The process and responsibility for a healthcare organization's investment decisions should be clearly documented in an investment policy. Any investment policy should contain at least seven elements: how investments relate to the organization's mission; responsibilities of involved parties; long- and short-term objectives; desired balance between return and risk; proportions of a portfolio held in stocks, bonds, and other investments; disposition of donated assets; desired investment reports; and the process for keeping the policy current.

Documentation↗

PubMed1996

Investing: reducing risks to enhance returns.

The financial assets of a healthcare organization can present many opportunities for investment. In order to develop a profitable investment program that avoids risky speculation, however, healthcare financial managers must fully understand the nature and risks of their organizations' investments. They must define and monitor their investment objectives, limitations, levels of acceptable risk and policies and conditions through a statement of investment policy and comprehensive investment guidelines.

Financial Audit↗

PubMed2002

[Efficiency assessment of investment in workers' health--economic issues].

The economic analysis of efficiency of investment in health care and health at large by means of cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness techniques is the subject of implementation work in a number of countries. Poland's integration with the countries of the European Union justifies the need to understand and to use economic analyses. Unfortunately, these activities encounter many methodological and executive barriers. The investments in workers' health are not only investments in health care and the improvement of working conditions, but also in compensations, including financial ones, resulting from adverse effects of factors influencing the health of working population. The financial reporting system that exists in Poland does not ensure the possibility of full presentation of the aggregated data on the financing of activities for workers' health and diminishing of the adverse effects of factors present in the work environment. The information on the outcome of the investments in workers' health come from different sources, which means that it applies to different groups subjected to the analysis. The problem lies not only in the assessment of profitability of health investments but also in the social problem of the division of the resultant costs and benefits among various branches of the national economy. Therefore, the analyses involving mutual relations between individual sectors that invest in workers' health and those that bear consequences is essential in the terms of economic analyses. The authors present the determinants of economic evaluation in regard to health of working population in Poland.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[High temperature investments. 1. Evaluation of some physical properties].

An evaluation of linear dimensional alterations of normal and hygroscopic setting of 3 phosphate-bonded investments and gypsum-bonded investments was made. The phosphate-bonded investments were processed with 100, 75, 50 and 25% special liquid. We investigated the maximum temperatures tolerated by the investments, in relation to the normal setting reactions. To evaluate expansion of normal and hygroscopic setting an electronic palpater was used, with the investments confined. The temperatures of the thermal reactions were detected by a digital thermometer. We confirmed that the CERAMIGOLD and HI-TEMP investments, processed with 75% special liquid, presented a greater linear expansion than the normal settings. The HI-HEAT presented less expansion than the normal setting and greater linear expansion than the hygroscopic setting. The MULTI-VEST tolerated the highest temperature during the evaluation.

Calcium Sulfate↗

PubMed1978

[Dilatometry of gypsum bonded investment (author's transl)].

Although many investigations on the thermal expansion of dental investments have already been done, the conditions upon which thermal expansion was measured were not always definitely shown and the phenomena on thermal behavior of dental investments were not reasonably interpreted. In this investigation the effects of W/P ratio of samples, heating rate and furnace atmosphere were studied by "Push Rod" Dilatometer in order to attempt to standardise dilatometry of dental investments. All experiments were designed with two-way layout techniques. The main results were as follows, 1) W/P ratio, heating rate and furnace atmosphere have significant effects on the thermal expansion curves of the gypsum bonded investments. 2) One steep expansion and three stages of shrinkage in heating process of these investments from room temperature to about 900 degrees C were observed. 3) The quantity of the steep expansion, first and second stages of shrinkage and the expansion at 650 degrees C were affected by W/P ratio. 4) The temperature at which the steep expansion or shrinkage occurred were affected by heating rate. 5) Furnace atmosphere affected on both quantity of the steep expansion or shrinkage and their temperature. It also affected on the expansion at 650 degrees C. Then, these factors should be considered in dilatometry of gypsum bonded investments and in dental practice.

Calcium↗

PubMed1982

[The cushion ability of lining materials for the setting and heating expansion of plaster bonded investment in casting ring. Part I: For casting mold cavity of inlay type (author's transl)].

We measured the dimensional change of mold cavity in casting ring and casting accuracy for inlay type casting using two kinds of lining materials in various conditions. These lining materials were asbestos ribbon and ceramic fiber. In the comparison of cushion ability for the expansion of investment in casting ring of these two lining materials, following results were obtained. 1. Compressibility of ceramic fiber was twice as much as asbestos. And, two sheets of ceramic fiber ribbons had enough ability for free expansion of investment in casting ring. 2. More than two sheets of asbestos ribbons in dry state had the ability of compensation for casting shrinkage in heating process. 3. Asbestos ribbon in wet state made a setting expansion of investment larger, but had not any ability of cushion for heating expansion of investment. 4. If the cushion ability of lining materials was not enough, the mold cavity shrank. The order of this shrinking inclination were no lining material state, two sheets, one sheet of wet asbestos, and one sheet of dry asbestos. 5. This shrinking inclination of smaller cavity was greater than that of larger cavity. That meant that the larger thickness of investment in ring made this shrinking inclination greater. 6. In case of without mold cavity, the heating expansion of the investment toward the casting ring were same value at any position in casting ring.

Chemical Phenomena↗

PubMed1994

Quality of care and investment in property, plant, and equipment in hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the relationship between quality of care and investment in property, plant, and equipment (PPE) in hospitals. DATA SOURCES: Hospitals' investment in PPE was derived from audited financial statements for the fiscal years 1984-1989. Peer Review Organization (PRO) Generic Quality Screen (GQS) reviews and confirmed failures between April 1989 and September 1990 were obtained from the Massachusetts PRO. STUDY DESIGN: Weighted least squares regression models used PRO GQS confirmed failure rates as the dependent variable, and investment in PPE as the key explanatory variable. DATA EXTRACTION: Investment in PPE was standardized, summed by the hospital over the six years, and divided by the hospital's average number of beds in that period. The number of PRO reviewed cases with one or more GQS confirmed failures was divided by the total number of cases reviewed to create confirmed failure rates. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Investment in PPE in Massachusetts hospitals is correlated with GQS confirmed failure rates. CONCLUSIONS: A financial variable, investment in PPE, predicts certain dimensions of quality of care in hospitals.

Capital Expenditures↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The surface of investments poured against different duplicating media.

Two phosphate-bonded investments that were poured into molds of a duplicating gel and a poly(vinyl siloxane) duplicating medium were examined for surface hardness. Untreated surfaces were also examined by the confocal microscope and the scanning electron microscope. The Brinell hardness of samples poured in poly(vinyl siloxane) was greater than that of the same investment poured in duplicating gel. Investments were hardest as set and were significantly softened by drying. Cast hardeners achieved some rehardening of the dried investment samples. Microscopic examination of the investment surfaces revealed greater irregularity of samples poured in duplicating gel than in poly(vinyl siloxane), particularly in one investment.

Agar↗

PubMed1997

Evidence for dominant wild female chimpanzees investing more in sons

Parents are expected to invest more resources in the offspring gender that promises more grandchildren. In a variety of vertebrate species skewed sex ratio at birth and differential parental investment in sons and daughters have been documented. Wild chimpanzees, Pan troglodytesliving in the Tai National Park, Cote d'Ivoire, were followed for 15 years. This community followed the typical species pattern in that males showed natal philopatry and the sex ratio at birth was almost 1:1. An analysis of 33 inter-birth intervals revealed that dominant females invested about 2 years more in sons, whereas subdominant females invested about 11 months more in daughters. The first difference is significant. Sons of dominant females had higher survival than other youngsters. The benefit of such a facultative investment is discussed. The absence of such a differential investment by mothers in other chimpanzee populations is compatible with an explanation based on variations within the female-biased dispersal pattern in this species and the possible role of maternal condition.Copyright 1997 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour1997The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

Journal Article↗

PubMed1998

Shift in investment between sexually selected traits: tarnishing of the silver spoon

Studies of resource allocation strategies have concentrated on the influence of natural selection on the evolution of life history traits. To a lesser degree, the effects of trade-offs between natural and sexual selection on the evolution of allocation strategies have also been considered. Trade-offs between sexually selected traits that are important to females but that appear to differ in cost, however, have not been considered. Female green swordtails, Xiphophorus helleri, prefer males with longer swords to males with shorter swords, and in this study they demonstrated a preference for larger males to smaller males. Furthermore, sexually mature males invested differentially in body and sword growth depending on resource availability; males that had an unlimited amount of food invested in both body and sword growth, but males shifted to a food-restricted regime halted investment in body growth and invested only in sword growth. These results suggest that males shift their pattern of investment in two sexually selected traits when food becomes restricted. In general, variable environmental conditions may favour such conditional investment strategies in species in which there is more than one preferred male trait and the costs of the traits differ. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Individual mares bias investment in sons and daughters in relation to their condition.

The Trivers-Willard hypothesis (TWH) predicts that a mother will treat a son or daughter differently depending on her ability to invest and the impact of her investment on offspring reproductive success. Although many studies have investigated the hypothesis, few have definitively supported or refuted it because of confounding factors or an inappropriate level of analysis. We studied maternal investment in sons and daughters in feral horses, Equus caballus, which meet the assumptions of the TWH with a minimum of confounding variables. Population level analyses revealed no differences in maternal behaviour towards sons and daughters. When we incorporated mare condition, we found that sons were more costly to mares in good condition, whereas daughters were more costly to mares in poor condition, although no differences in maternal behaviour were found. However, since the TWH makes predictions about individual mothers, we examined investment by mares who reared both a son and a daughter in different years of the study. Mares in good condition invested more in their sons in terms of maternal care patterns, costs to maternal body condition and costs to future reproduction. Conversely, mares in poor condition invested more in daughters. Therefore, with an appropriate level of analysis in a species in which confounding variables are minimal, the predictions of the Trivers-Willard hypothesis are supported. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Sex-biased investment in yolk androgens depends on female quality and laying order in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata).

The Trivers-Willard hypothesis predicts sex biases in parental investment according to parental condition. In addition, parents may need to sex bias their investment if there is an asymmetry between the sexes in offspring fitness under different conditions. For studying maternal differential investment, egg resources are ideal subjects because they are self contained and allocated unequivocally by the female. Recent studies show that yolk androgens can be beneficial to offspring, so here we test for sex-biased investment with maternal investment of yolk testosterone (T) in zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) eggs. From the Trivers-Willard hypothesis, we predicted females to invest more in male eggs in optimum circumstances (e.g. good-condition mother, early-laid egg), and more in female eggs under suboptimal conditions (e.g. poor-condition mother, late-laid egg). This latter prediction is also because in this species there is a female nestling disadvantage in poor conditions and we expected mothers to help compensate for this in female eggs. Indeed, we found more yolk T in female than male eggs. Moreover, in accordance with our predictions, yolk T in male eggs increased with maternal quality relative to female eggs, and decreased with laying order relative to female eggs. This supports our predictions for the different needs and value of male and female offspring in zebra finches. Our results support the idea that females may use yolk androgens as a tool to adaptively manipulate the inequalities between different nestlings.

Androgens↗

PubMed2006

Effects of mating status on copulation investment by male bushcricket Gampsocleis gratiosa (Tettigoniidae, Orthoptera).

Male's copulation investment, including spermatophore and sperm investment were very high in the Chinese bushcricket Gampsocleis gratiosa. The effects of mating status of both males and females on male's copulation investment were examined in this study. The fresh weight of spermatophylax increased positively with the weight of males' body. This indicated that the nutritional investment during copulation depended on male's quality. Spermatophore investment showed insignificant differences in every copulation protocols. This finding supported the paternal investment hypothesis, that is, males contributed to their offspring with little attention to their partners. Sperm releasing per ejaculation varied significantly among the trials. Males decreased 54.19% sperm in second mating than in its first mating, demonsrated that males regarded the first mating highly, and were more prudent in subsequent mating. These males' strategies may contribute to the viability of the offspring.

Animals↗

PubMed1982

A fine-structural investigation on the extent of perineurial investment of the nerve supply to the pulp in rat molar teeth.

The fine structure of the tissues immediately adjacent to nerve fibres supplying the rat molar pulp has been examined and compared with that of perineurium of other peripheral nerves. In the periapical region, almost all nerve fibres were invested with typical perineurium; only a few Schwann cell units (unmyelinated axons) lacked perineurium. In the pulp at the apex of the distal root, most fibres were invested by less typical perineurium but some were not invested at all. In the pulp at the coronal end of the root, nerve fibres were completely invested or incompletely invested with attenuated perineurium or lacked investment altogether. In the coronal pulp, there was virtually no perineurium at all. Thus rat molar pulp nerve fibres lack perineurium for distances of about 0.5-3.0 mm, distances greater than in situations such as skin or muscle. In normal peripheral nerves, the perineurium behaves as a barrier to the passage of substances from the immediate environment of the nerve fibres (endoneurium) to the surrounding environment (epineurium) and vice versa. Its absence around pulp nerve fibres raises questions about the nature of the pulp environment and may help to explain the sensitivity of pulp nerves to chemical, osmotic and other stimuli.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

Maternal energy investment in eggs and jelly coats surrounding eggs of the echinoid Arbacia punctulata.

In free-spawning marine invertebrates, the amount of maternal energy that is invested in each egg has profound implications for all life-history stages of the offspring. The eggs of echinoids are freely spawned into the water and are surrounded by several structurally complex extracellular layers. These extracellular layers, or jelly coats, do not contribute energy to embryonic development but must impose an energy cost on the production of each egg. The investment of maternal energy reserves in the jelly coats of echinoid eggs may have important implications for the number of eggs that can be produced (i.e., fecundity) and the amount of energy that can be invested in each egg. We estimated the degree to which maternal energy is invested in the jelly coats surrounding eggs of the echinoid Arbacia punctulata. Estimates were derived from measurements of the amount of energy contained in the combined eggs and jelly coats, and in the eggs alone. The amount of energy contained in A. punctulata eggs ranged from 2.70 to 5.53 x 10(-4) J egg(-1). The amount of energy contained in the jelly coats ranged from 0.13 to 0.48 x 10(-4) J jelly coat(-1). The mean concentration of energy in the eggs was 2.15 mm(-3) and 0.29 J mm(-3) in the jelly coats. These results indicate that between 3% and 11% (mean = 7%) of the total energy invested in each A. punctulata egg is partitioned to the jelly coat alone. A significant positive relationship was found between the volumes of the jelly coats and the amount of energy they contained. Based on this relationship and an analysis of differences in the size of jelly coats between echinoid species, we suggest that the degree to which energy is invested in jelly coats may vary among echinoid species and is therefore likely to be an important life-history characteristic of these organisms.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Development of a new investment for high-frequency induction soldering.

This study developed a new investment for induction soldering using high frequency induction heating. Ninety-five mass% magnesia clinker and 5 mass% dental stone were selected for the main constituents. The magnesia investment itself was scarcely affected by induction heating, so the addition of metal powders such as Fe, Ni, Co were investigated. Among these three powders, the addition of 10 mass% cobalt powder was most effective. This investment needed only 40 seconds of high frequency induction heating to go from room temperature to 900 degrees C without preheating. Thermal expansion of this investment in a vacuum atmosphere was 1.25% at 1000 degrees C. Dimensional changes during induction soldering were measured using German-silver and silver solder. When the new magnesia investment containing 10 mass% Co powder was used, the dimensional change was -0.2%. This contraction was less than when a magnesia investment without metal additives was used.

Cobalt↗