Optimum selection of the dental implant diameter and length in the posterior mandible with poor bone quality – A 3D finite element analysis

This study aimed to evaluate continuous and simultaneous variations of dental implant diameter and length, and to identify their relatively optimal ranges in the posterior mandible under biomechanical consideration. A 3D finite element model of a posterior mandibular segment with dental implant was created. Implant diameter ranged from 3.0 to 5.0 mm, and implant length ranged from 6.0 to 16.0 mm. The results showed that under axial load, the maximum Von Mises stresses in cortical and cancellous bones decreased by 76.53% and 72.93% respectively, with the increasing of implant diameter and length; and under buccolingual load, by 83.97% and 84.93%, respectively. Under both loads, the maximum displacements of implant-abutment complex decreased by 58.09% and 75.53%, respectively. The results indicate that in the posterior mandible, implant diameter plays more significant roles than length in reducing cortical bone stress and enhancing implant stability under both loads. Meanwhile, implant length is more effective than diameter in reducing cancellous bone stress under both loads. Moreover, biomechanically, implant diameter exceeding 4.0 mm and implant length exceeding 12.0 mm is a relatively optimal combination for a screwed implant in the posterior mandible with poor bone quality.     

Zero Expectile Processes and Bayesian Spatial Regression

We introduce new classes of stationary spatial processes with asymmetric, sub-Gaussian marginal distributions using the idea of expectiles. We derive theoretical properties of the proposed processes. Moreover, we use the proposed spatial processes to formulate a spatial regression model for point-referenced data where the spatially correlated errors have skewed marginal distribution. We introduce a Bayesian computational procedure for model fitting and inference for this class of spatial regression models. We compare the performance of the proposed method with the traditional Gaussian process-based spatial regression through simulation studies and by applying it to a dataset on air pollution in California.     

The frequency of hard glottal attacks in patients with muscle tension dysphonia, unilateral benign masses and bilateral benign masses

Hard or abrupt glottal attack (HGA) is one of the vocal behaviors often associated with benign lesion of the vocal folds. This study was designed to determine whether the frequency of HGA was different in hyperfunctional voice patients with and without vocal fold masses. One hundred and forty-seven subjects were studied. All subjects received a complete otolaryngological evaluation including strobovideolaryngoscopy, objective voice measures, and evaluation by a speech-language pathologist. Thirty-two patients were diagnosed with muscle tension dysphonia (19 male, 13 female) without vocal fold masses. Fifty-seven patients were diagnosed with unilateral vocal fold masses (29 male, 28 female), most of which were cysts. Fifty-eight patients were diagnosed with bilateral vocal fold masses (13 male, 45 female). Of the 45 females with bilateral vocal fold masses. 26 had a vocal cyst and reactive nodule and 19 had bilateral vocal fold nodules. The control group was balanced and matched based on sex and on percentage of singers and nonsingers. It consisted of 49 subjects with no vocal fold pathology (20 male, 29 female). The group was composed of professional speakers, singers, and nonprofessional speakers. All voice disordered groups demonstrated higher frequencies of HGA than the control group. Differences were found between the male and female subjects in this study. No differences were found between the various disorders. Differences were also found between the subgroups of bilateral masses, where the bilateral nodules group presented a higher frequency of HGA than the cyst and contralateral reactive nodule.     

Rating the raters in a mixed model: An approach to deciphering the rater reliability

Rating the raters has attracted extensive attention in recent years. Ratings are quite complex in that the subjective assessment and a number of criteria are involved in a rating system. Whenever the human judgment is a part of ratings, the inconsistency of ratings is the source of variance in scores, and it is therefore quite natural for people to verify the trustworthiness of ratings. Accordingly, estimation of the rater reliability will be of great interest and an appealing issue. To facilitate the evaluation of the rater reliability in a rating system, we propose a mixed model where the scores of the ratees offered by a rater are described with the fixed effects determined by the ability of the ratees and the random effects produced by the disagreement of the raters. In such a mixed model, for the rater random effects, we derive its posterior distribution for the prediction of random effects. To quantitatively make a decision in revealing the unreliable raters, the predictive influence function (PIF) serves as a criterion which compares the posterior distributions of random effects between the full data and rater-deleted data sets. The benchmark for this criterion is also discussed. This proposed methodology of deciphering the rater reliability is investigated in the multiple simulated and two real data sets.     

Extending local mixture models

Local mixture models have proved useful in many statistical applications. This paper looks at ways in which the local assumption, which is used in an asymptotic approximation, can be relaxed in order to generate a much larger class of models which still have the very attractive geometric and inferential properties of local mixture models. The tool used to develop this large class of models is the Karhunen–Loève decomposition. Computational issues associated with working with these models are also briefly considered.     

位置参数分布族中Fiducial分布与后验分布的关系

本文考虑本质位置参数分布族中,参数的Fiducial分布与后验分布的等同问题．首先讨论了如何给出Fiducial分布,分析结果表明以分布函数形式给出Fiducial分布要比密度函数形式合理,同时,证明了所给的Fiducial分布具有频率性质．然后,研究在参数受到单侧限制时,Fiducial分布与后验分布等同的问题,给出的充要条件是分布族为指数分布族,此时,先验分布是一个广义先验分布,它不能被Lebesgue测度控制．最后,证明了在参数限制在一个有限区间内时,Fiducial分布与任何先验(包括广义先验分布)下的后验分布不等同．     

正态分布在不同先验下的Bayes估计及风险比较

本文讨论在均值未知,方差已知的正态分布情况下通过在共轭先验以及Jeffreys先验二种先验下的Bayes估计问题,在平方损失函数下和线性损失函数下Bayes风险的比较.数据计算可以看出,在Jeffreys先验下的Bayes风险要比在共轭先验下的Bayes风险要大,但是当样本量增大时,两者的后验风险越来越靠近.     

Objective measures of voice production in patients complaining of laryngeal fatigue

The purpose of this retrospective study is to describe results of acoustic, aerodynamic, and videostroboscopic measures in patients complaining of laryngeal fatigue. Data were collected from 88 patients whose primary complaint was chronic laryngeal fatigue in the absence of visible laryngeal pathologies. The results revealed an abnormally high airflow rate and decreased maximum phonation time. An anterior glottal chink, anterior and posterior glottal chinks, or spindle-shaped glottal closure were found in 61% of the subjects.     

基于Tikhonov正则参量后验选择策略的PCS颗粒粒度反演方法

采用基于Morozov偏差原理的后验策略来选择最优正则参量,并采用此方法对单峰和多峰分布颗粒系的模拟电场自相关函数进行了反演,结果表明,对于单峰颗粒体系,当电场自相关函数的扰动误差小于0.05时,反演得到的峰值准确,当电场自相关函数的扰动误差大于0.05时,反演得到的峰值偏离所模拟的颗粒粒径.正则参量初始值在0.000 02～2范围内,在反演所得的峰值准确的基础上,正则参量初始值越小,反演得到的分布宽度越窄.收敛误差在0.000 05～50范围内,在保持反演结果稳定的基础上,收敛误差取值越大,反演得到的分布宽度越窄.对于多峰颗粒体系,当颗粒系中的颗粒粒径差别较小时,峰值向平均值偏移,当颗粒系中的颗粒粒径差别较大时,小颗粒粒径分布以噪音的形式出现.