Search results

The purpose of this paper is to improve the surface finish and, therefore, the fatigue resistance of some endodontic files by electrochemical polishing; the influence of applying an autoclave’s sterilising cycle to the endodontic files under study was also assessed during the research herein presented.

In total, 22 Ni-Ti endodontic instruments of two sizes, namely, ref. Hyflex 0.04/20 and 0.06/20 (taper: 0.04; 0.06 and tip diameter: 0.20 mm, respectively), were submitted to rotational bending tests at 500 rpm; the radius and the angle of curvature imposed to the endodontic instruments during the experimental tests were equal to 4.7 mm and 45°, respectively. In addition, 18 endodontic files (out of the 22) were subjected to electrochemical polishing before in vitro fatigue tests had been carried out. Several combinations of electrochemical parameters were considered during the preliminary experiments involving electrolyte, voltage, flow rate and duration. The endodontic files under study were weighted using a high-precision balance before and after polishing, and mass variation was determined. Also, a sterilising cycle was applied to six polished endodontic instruments, which were placed inside an autoclave at 134°C, for 30 min, and under a pressure of 2.16 bar.

The fatigue resistance of as-received endodontic files ref. 0.04/20 is much larger (+480 per cent) than the fatigue strength of endodontic files ref. 0.06/20. The weight variation due to electropolishing was comprehended between 0.53 mg and 1.01 mg, and the fatigue resistance of all polished endodontic instruments increased between 30 per cent (0.06/20) and 80 per cent (0.04/20) when compared with the fatigue resistance of the as-received files. The application of an autoclave’s sterilisation cycle had a negative impact on the fatigue resistance of instruments ref. 0.04/20 and a positive impact on the durability of instruments ref. 0.06/20.

The application of an electrochemical polishing process increased the fatigue resistance of the endodontic files under study significantly, and the values for the variables of the electrochemical process were never published elsewhere. The surface finish improvement was obtained by immersing the endodontic files in a Struers’ Electrolyte (ref. E2) for 3 s while applying 30 volts and a flow rate of 1.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applicability of the LS-DYNA software using a Lagrangian formulation in the jet formation, flight and penetration of improvised explosively formed projectiles (EFPs). Numerical results dealing with different properties of the EFPs have been validated with a significant number of field tests.

2D and 3D Lagrangian models, using different material definition, are developed to reproduce the field-measured characteristics of copper- and steel-made EFPs: projectile size and velocity. After validation, the model has been extended to analyse the penetration features. Two different plasticity models have been used to describe the steel target, Plastic-Kinematic and Johnson–Cook.

Despite the difficulty in characterizing a non-industrial artefact, the results show that both Lagrangian models (2D and 3D) are able to simulate the projectile size, velocity and penetration capability with errors less than 10 per cent when using the Johnson–Cook material model for both liner and target.

These data can be used to test the penetration ability of improvised EFP’s against different targets, i.e. light armoured vehicles.

There are no references that address the application of the Lagrangian simulation of non-industrial EFPs and its validation with field tests, including penetration assessment.

This paper employs implementation theory and the political literature on performance measurement to understand how frontline health workers know, participate and evaluate the Brazilian National Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care (PMAQ, 2nd round).

This paper develops an implementation theory-driven qualitative analysis. The research is developed in the city of Goiania (Brazil): a challenging organizational context in primary care (PHC). Interviews were carried out with 25 frontliners – managers, doctors, nurses and community health workers. Data were thematically and hierarchically analysed according to theoretical concepts such as policy knowledge, policy adherence, forms of accountability, alternative logics, organizational capacity and policy feedback.

Results show the need to foster organizational capacity, knowledge, participation and policy feedback at the frontline. Successful implementation would require those adaptations to counteract policy challenges/failures or the emergence of alternative logics.

The study was conducted in only one setting, however, our sample includes different types of professionals working in units with different levels of organization capacity, located in distinct HDs, expressing well the implementation of PMAQ/P4P. Qualitative researches need to be developed for further exploring the same/other factors.

Findings can be used to improve discussions/planning and design of P4P programs in the city and State of Goias.

The majority of analysis of PMAQ are of a quantitative or results-based nature. This article focuses on politically significant and unanswered questions regarding the implementation of PMAQ.

The purpose of this paper is to present a new index of social vulnerability (SV), based on local level data [statistical blocks (SBs)]. This same methodology was applied before at the municipal level, which is a level of analysis that under-evaluates local spots of high SV, by one side, and generalizes the coverage of support capacity equipment and infrastructure. The geographical level of detail of the input data allows to overcome those limitations and better inform infra-municipal risk practitioners and planners.

The assessment of SV in this paper adopts an inductive approach. The research context of this conceptual and methodological proposal derived from the need to operationalize the concept of SV as a planning tool. This approach required to distinguish between the components of criticality and support capability, as their assessment provides knowledge with distinct applications in risk management. The statistical procedure is based on principal components analysis, using the SB as the unit of analysis.

Support capability acts as a counter-weight of criticality. This understanding is well illustrated in the mapping of each component and the final score of SV. The methodological approach allowed to identify the drivers of criticality and support capability in each SB, aiding decision-makers and risk practitioners in finding the vulnerability forcers that require more attention (public or private social equipment, housing policies, emergency anticipatory measures, etc.).

An original approach to SV assessments is the consideration of the components of criticality and support capability. The results allow for the definition of adapted and specific strategies of risk mitigation and civil protection measures to distinct types of risk groups and by different stakeholders and risk practitioners. By predicting the impact and the recovery capacity of communities, the results have applicability in several fields of risk governance as, for example, risk communication and involvement, social intervention (health, education and housing), emergency response, contingency planning, early warning and spatial planning.

This paper aims to investigate how the physical and sensory environmental triggers interact with subjective consumer evaluations in the production of shopping experiences, an under-investigated theme, despite its relevance.

An interpretative multi-method approach was used by combining video observation with camera eyeglasses and in-depth interviews with 30 customers of a department store.

Results offer a holistic framework with four-dimensional axial combination involving physical comfort, psychological comfort, physical product evaluation and sensorial product evaluation. Based on this framework, results highlight the role of comfort and products in producing shopping experience in ordinary store visits.

The findings contribute both to consumer experience studies and to the retail marketing literature in shading a light on experience production in ordinary store visits. Specifically, we detail these visits not as a static response to a given environment stimulus, but as a simultaneous objective and subjective combination able to produce experience.

The results encourage managers to understand the experience production not just as an outcome of managerially influenced elements, like décor or odor. It involves considering subjective elements in the design of consumers’ physical and sensorial retail experiences.

Adopting an innovative method of empirical data collection, results generated a framework that integrates the objective shopping environment and subjective consumer responses. This research considers the role of comfort and product features and quality both physically and sensorially to develop experiences in a holistic manner in ordinary shopping visits.

The purpose of this study is to explain how online brand communities work to support the denormalization of controversial (i.e. illegal yet normalized) gaming practices.

This qualitative study was characterized by long-term immersion in an online brand community for Brazilian Xbox gamers. The dataset includes online and offline interactions with community members, interviews, and online archival data.

This study shows how online brand community members promoted legal gaming in a market where piracy was prevalent. It demonstrates how community members worked to establish coherence; engaged in cognitive participation; developed collective action that extended beyond the community; and reflected on their own work.

This study identifies online brand communities as a potential ally in combating controversial practices in online gaming; complements individual and behavioral approaches in explaining why consumers adopt controversial practices in online environments; and adds a normalization framework to the toolkit of Internet researchers.

This study identifies ways in which the potential of online brand communities can be leveraged to reduce consumer adherence to controversial gaming practices through denormalizing these and normalizing alternative practices that may be more desirable to companies and other stakeholders.

This long-term, qualitative study inspired by normalization process theory offers an innovative perspective on the online practices of consumers who engage with a brand in ways that create value for themselves and for the brand.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a system that provides the driver or the driving assistance system with the lateral position information of the vehicle on the lane in order to detect as early as possible run‐off‐road and then prevent a foreseeable crash.

A magnetized tape deposited on the road in the middle of the lane generates a magnetic field which is detected by on‐board sensors. Depending on the distance between the tape and the sensors, accurate positioning information can be estimated.

The use of at least five sensors makes it possible to obtain a 2 mm‐lateral‐positioning accuracy.

Magnetized tapes are relatively cheap to install and provide an accurate vehicle lateral positioning with low ‐cost magneto‐resistance on‐board sensors. In addition , a magnetization variation along the tape would allow information to be coded which could be then transmitted to the driver.

Bizkaia, an area of just over one million inhabitants, is the setting, through the xertatu project, of an experience for fostering corporate social responsibility (CSR). This document seeks to analyze the xertatu project as a local response to a new form of governance, identifying the lessons learned in its development.

This paper focuses its analysis on a clear understanding of the need to combine not only the activities of the various organizations operating in this field in Bizkaia, but also the intentions of the agents involved, in order to shed light on the shared responsibility business has with society at large in this region.

The aggregation of agents, interests and capabilities, together with a methodology of research – collective action, is suitable for fostering social responsibility in companies.

The analysis of CSR as a new understanding of the role of business in collaborative governance, that is, as an active agent of an enabling governing style that furthermore assumes its joint responsibility with all the other agents for social cohesion and development, usually tends to lack a local and regional perspective and, therefore, the schemes that favor its implementation, whereby it could become a testing ground and benchmark for other regions.