Maxillary Midline Diastemas in West African Smiles

The maxillary midline diastema (MMD) has experienced a renaissance in popular culture over the last 10 years. Current literature states that MMDs should be eliminated where possible or be reduced to 1 mm or less in width. This literature review explores the evidence for this in a West African population. A systematic search of the literature (Medline and Google Scholar) followed by a hand search was carried out to identify all papers evaluating perceptions of MMDs. In all, 209 papers were identified in the literature search, 8 of which met the inclusion criteria. The review revealed that midline diastemas are desirable in this specific population with a width of 2 to 4 mm deemed as attractive. As many as 95% of participants found the MMD beautiful, and as many as 95% would consider having one created artificially. The literature does not support the position that MMDs larger than 1 mm should always be treated to be perceived as attractive in this population. MMDs are accepted as attractive and should be considered a key feature in smile design for this population.

Optimization of biodegradation yield of reactive blue 49: An integrated approach using response surface methodology based marine predators algorithm

Biodegradation involving the use of biological systems are proving to be more cost-effective, energy efficient and environmentally friendly method for treatment with dye. There are also some advantages of enzymatic degradation to remove pollutants from textile effluents. They are specific and selectable for the substrates. Moreover, the usage of enzymatic degradation with laccase has environmental and social dimensions of sustainable bio-economy when compared with commercial solutions. In this study, besides the conventional RSM (Response Surface Methodology) approaches, the performance of a new metaheuristic, MPA (Marine Predators Algorithm) integrated with RSM has also been tested. The effect of four independent variables time, enzyme amount, agitation speed, and initial dye concentration have been studied to obtain maximum decolorization. Two major techniques of RSM, namely Box Behnken Design (BBD) and Central Composite Design (CCD) have been used to determine optimal levels of parameters. The highest decolorization efficiency (%) of Reactive Blue 49 (RB49) has been achieved as 92.82% with BBD and 90.56% with CCD. Maximum efficiency for BBD based MPA as being 94.69% has been obtained at 70.96 min, 1.5 mL, 74.63 rpm, and 99.09 ppm. For CCD based MPA, the level of efficiency has been obtained as 93.1% at 39.69 min, 1 mL, 72.07 rpm, and 74.41 ppm. The results of MPA indicate that using metaheuristics combined with RSM is a suitable and sustainable way to optimize parameters of RB49% for decolorization.

Gradually or immediately? The effects of ad type and fresh start mindset on health persuasion

As a necessary means of encouraging individuals to adopt healthy behaviors, improving the persuasiveness of ads related to health has been a major topic of common concern in both academic and practical circles. However, scant attention has been given to how consumers' fresh start mindset (FSM) may influence the effect of ad types on health persuasion. Based on the construal level theory (CLT), the current research investigates the interplay of ad type (progression ad vs. before/after ad) and FSM (weak vs. strong) on the persuasiveness of health ads and the mechanisms underlying it. Across three studies, we demonstrated that progression ads are more effective when consumers have a weak FSM, whereas a before/after ad will be more persuasive when consumers hold a strong FSM. More importantly, consumers' perceived feasibility and desirability drive the interactive effect of ad type and FSM, such that perceived feasibility mediates the positive effect of progression ads on persuasion among consumers with a weaker FSM, while perceived desirability mediates the positive effect of before/after ads on persuasion among consumers with a stronger FSM. Our findings extend the existing literature streams on the fresh start effect, message persuasion, and construal level theory and provide practical insights for health product manufacturers and policymakers concerned about public health.

Synthesis and optimization of spherical nZVI (20-60 nm) immobilized in bio-apatite-based material for efficient removal of phosphate: Box-Behnken design in a fixed-bed column

In the present study, bio-apatite/nZVI composite was synthesized through Fe(III) reduction with sodium borohydride and was fully characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM-EDX, TEM, BET, BJH, and pH_PZC. Column experiments were carried out for the removal of phosphate as a function of four operational parameters including initial phosphate concentration (100-200 mg L^-1), initial solution pH (2-9), bed height (2-6 cm), and influent flow rate (2.5-7.5 mL min^-1) using a response surface methodology (RSM) coupled with Box-Behnken design (BBD). 2D contour and 3D surface plots were employed to analyze the interactive effects of the four operating parameters on the column performance (e.g., uptake capacity and saturation time). According to ANOVA analysis, the influent flow rate and bed height are the most important factor on phosphate uptake capacity and saturation time, respectively. A quadratic polynomial model was excellently fitted to experimental data with a high coefficient of determination (> 0.96). The RSM-BBD model predicted maximum phosphate adsorption capacity of 85.71 mg g^-1 with the desirability of 0.995 under the optimal conditions of 135.35 mg L^-1, 2, 2 cm, and 7.5 mL min^-1 for initial phosphate concentration, initial solution pH, bed height, and influent flow rate, respectively. The XRD analysis demonstrated that the reaction product between bio-apatite/nZVI composite and phosphate anions was Fe₃ (PO₄)₂. 8H₂O (vivianite). The suggested adsorbent can be effectively employed up to five fixed-bed adsorption-desorption cycles and was also implemented to adsorb phosphate from real samples.

Revealed desirability: a novel instrument for social welfare

The note puts forward the idea of revealed desirability, a novel instrument, which like revealed preference is observable from choice and important for individual and social welfare. We provide the axiomatic underlying individual's choice model, preliminary experimental results that support the idea, and an appealing allocation rule that uses the revealed desirability information along with the revealed-preference information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11238-021-09855-8.

Optimization of processing conditions for development of chicken meat incorporated whole wheat bread

Present study was conducted to explore the incorporation of high level of chicken meat powder for developing protein enriched whole wheat bread. The aim was to optimise meat level and processing conditions for development of chicken meat bread. Box-Beheken design of response surface methodology was used for optimising the processing conditions of chicken meat incorporated whole wheat bread as processing conditions strongly influence the product characteristics. Meat level (30-35%), proofing time (60-120 min) and cooking time (10-12 min) were contemplated as constrains or variable factors for their effect on responses such as baking yield, moisture, protein, fat, ash, redness and yellowness value, flavour, porosity and overall acceptability which are essential for product acceptability and marketability, while the cooking temperature was kept constant at 220 °C. The responses were assessed by evaluating the physicochemical, proximate, colour units and sensory evaluation. A high coefficient of regression > 0.90 was obtained for all the responses indicating the fit of model. The desirability achieved for these responses was 0.841 for 31.497% meat level with proofing time 107.17 min and baking time of 12.74 min. The study concluded with development of chicken meat bread having high protein content with optimised processing conditions of proofing and cooking time.

Design of experiment based statistical approaches to optimize submerged arc welding process parameters

Joining of metals is very useful concept which is being utilized since Bronze Age and then gradual advancement gave rise to development of modern welding. And now welding is increasingly used in the fields of fabrication, manufacturing and construction. But productivity is the main concern in many manufacturing and industrial welding applications. Therefore selection of a welding process and its variables/parameters without sacrificing weld quality with respect to productivity and its quality is very important because an optimum blend of parameters which inevitably develop minimum or no defect will result in high productivity. For this study Submerge Arc Welding (SAW) process is selected for optimization because this versatile welding process is the first choice whenever good productivity with high quality requires in fabrication and manufacturing of Marine & pressure vessels, pipelines and offshore structures. Here Signal to noise (S/N) ratio analyses are used to find significant effects of key parameters on selected responses and then for optimization design of experiment based both quality loss function (OFM) and desirability function along with variance analyses by ANOVA are utilized. Moreover codes and standards provide a range for weld process parameters but author experienced that still there is a window to further optimize these parameters to produce the quality weld. Therefore this study is also useful to contribute in welding related research work by enhancing the knowledge of welding process and its analysis by utilizing advance statistical optimization techniques to find optimum zone within the acceptable zone from Code & Standard based tolerance Zone.

Normativity and Desirability in Observational Assessments of Family Interaction

Issues of normativity (responding in a typical or average fashion) and desirability (the tendency for raters to endorse positive characteristics rather than neutral or more negative ones) are common in areas of the social sciences that frequently utilize profile correlations to measure dyadic similarity. They have implications for family scholars as well. In the present study, a pre-existing data set was used to make an initial, though limited, investigation into potential confounds of normativity and desirability for macrolevel observational assessments of family interaction. An empirical example is presented using q-sort ratings of family interaction, with variance in observational assessments decomposed into component parts. High levels of both normativity and desirability were found, indicating possible problems in terms of both reliability and validity of assessment. While the results provide an interesting beginning, they are limited due to the use of a q-sort methodology as well as an instrument with limited background and use. These limitations are discussed, as well as alternative interpretations for normativity and desirability and implications for future research.

Disentangling relations between the desirability of the thin-ideal, body checking, and worry on college women's weight-loss dieting: A self-regulation perspective

The study used self-regulation theory to elucidate the relationships between the desirability of the thin-ideal goal, dispositional worry, body checking and weight-loss dieting (WLD) in college women. We hypothesized that body checking would mediate the relationship between the desirability of the thin-ideal goal and WLD: the desire to be thin would be associated with more WLD through more frequent body checking. We also hypothesized that dispositional worry would moderate this mediation pathway, such that the mediation pathway would be stronger for those higher in worry. Finally, all effects were expected to occur when controlling for self-reported body size. A paper and pencil survey was conducted on a convenience sample of 237 college women who completed measures of: thin-ideal desirability, dispositional worry, body checking, WLD, as well as providing height and weight. A bootstrap analysis using PROCESS (Hayes, 2013) supported the hypothesized moderated mediation model. Findings add to current knowledge by elucidating the nature and function of body checking, and by so doing may provide insight into the prevention and treatment of disordered eating.

Optimization of spray drying process parameters for tucupi powder using the response surface methodology

A completely randomized 2³ factorial experimental design was used to optimize the process parameters for obtaining tucupi powder through spray drying. The effects of the process variables [inlet air temperature (IT), feed flow rate (FR), and maltodextrin concentration (MD)] on the product properties [moisture, water activity (a_w), hygroscopicity, water absorption index (WAI), water solubility index (WSI), total color difference (ΔE*), and β-carotene content] were studied using the response surface methodology (RSM) and linear perturbation plot. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were obtained of the product. According to ANOVA and the regression coefficients (R² > 0.90), the RSM models were significant and IT was the variable with the greatest impact on most of the responses. SEM shows that the powders obtained with higher IT and MD and lower FR were more uniform, with smooth and intact surfaces. The optimal conditions estimated for the process were IT at 214 °C, FR at 8.67 mL/min, and MD at 27%. Under those conditions, the product's minimum values of moisture (9.56 g/100 g), a_w (0.101), hygroscopicity (37.45% d.b.), and ΔE* (17.05) and maximum values of WAI (6.68 g/g d.b.), WSI (84.77%), and β-carotene (13.72 µg/g) were estimated.

Combined osmotic dehydration and drying process of pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) fillets

The osmotic dehydration (OD) and complementary drying of pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) fillets were studied. Pieces of the dorsal portion of pirarucu (60 mm × 20 mm × 10 mm) underwent OD in a binary solution (NaCl-water) with the application of vacuum pulse following a central rotatable composite design. The effect of the following process variables was assessed: temperature (20-40 °C), osmotic solution concentration (15-25% NaCl), and vacuum pulse pressure (7-101 kPa) on water loss (WL), solid gain (SG), and water activity (a_w). OD kinetics was obtained and the Peleg model was fitted to WL and SG data. The osmotically dehydrated pirarucu was dried (40-70 °C) in a fixed-bed dryer and mathematical models were fitted to the drying data. The optimal operational condition for the OD process was 35 °C, solution with 25% NaCl, and atmospheric pressure, which yielded WL of 14.87 ± 1.46%, SG of 8.56 ± 0.45%, and a_w of 0.87 ± 0.02. The Peleg model efficiently predicted the WL and SG kinetics. The increase in the water loss in drying was more evident at low temperatures (40-50 °C) with effective diffusivity ranging from 10.85 × 10^-9 to 12.30 × 10^-9 m²/s. The Midilli and Page models efficiently predicted the drying kinetics.

Ranking, selecting, and prioritising genes with desirability functions

In functional genomics experiments, researchers often select genes to follow-up or validate from a long list of differentially expressed genes. Typically, sharp thresholds are used to bin genes into groups such as significant/non-significant or fold change above/below a cut-off value, and ad hoc criteria are also used such as favouring well-known genes. Binning, however, is inefficient and does not take the uncertainty of the measurements into account. Furthermore, p-values, fold-changes, and other outcomes are treated as equally important, and relevant genes may be overlooked with such an approach. Desirability functions are proposed as a way to integrate multiple selection criteria for ranking, selecting, and prioritising genes. These functions map any variable to a continuous 0–1 scale, where one is maximally desirable and zero is unacceptable. Multiple selection criteria are then combined to provide an overall desirability that is used to rank genes. In addition to p-values and fold-changes, further experimental results and information contained in databases can be easily included as criteria. The approach is demonstrated with a breast cancer microarray data set. The functions and an example data set can be found in the desiR package on CRAN (https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/desiR/) and the development version is available on GitHub (https://github.com/stanlazic/desiR).

Optimization on drying conditions of a solar electrohydrodynamic drying system based on desirability concept

The purpose of this article was to present a new drying method for agricultural products. Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) has been applied for drying of agricultural materials due to several advantages such as energy saving, low cost equipment, low drying temperatures, and superior material quality. To evaluate this method, an EHD dryer based on solar (photovoltaic) energy was designed and fabricated. Moreover, the optimum condition for the EHD drying of kiwi fruit was studied by applying the Box–Behnken design of response surface methodology. The desirability function was applied for optimization in case of single objective and multiobjective functions. By using the multiobjective optimization method, maximum desirability value of 0.865 was obtained based on the following: applied voltage of 15 kV, field strength of 5.2 kV cm⁻¹, without forced air stream, and finally a combination of 17 discharge electrodes (needles). The results indicated that increasing the applied voltage from 6 to 15 kV, moisture ratio (MR) decreased, though energy efficiency and energy consumption were increasing. On the other hand, field strength of 5.2 kV cm⁻¹ was the optimal point in terms of MR.

I feel good whether my friends win or my foes lose: brain mechanisms underlying feeling similarity

People say they enjoy both seeing a preferred social group succeed and seeing an adversary social group fail. At the same time, they state they dislike seeing a preferred social group fail and seeing an adversary social group succeed. The current magnetic resonance imaging study investigated whether-and if so, how-such similarities in reported feeling states are reflected in neural activities. American football fans anticipated success and failure situations for their favorite or their adversary teams. The data support the idea that feeling similarities and divergences expressed in verbal reports carry with them significant neural similarities and differences, respectively. Desired (favorite team likely to win and adversary team likely to lose) rather than undesired (favorite team likely to lose and adversary team likely to win) outcomes were associated with heightened activity in the supramarginal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, insula, and cerebellum. Precuneus activity additionally distinguished anticipated desirable outcomes for favorite versus adversary teams.

How much does what you eat matter? The potential role of meal size, fat content, and gender on ratings of desirability

This study examined how the amount and type of food that a person eats affects perceptions of their personal desirability, femininity/masculinity, and body size while accounting for any assumed similarity biases. Female students (18 to 59 years old) were recruited through the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide. Participants (n = 191) rated the characteristics of a fictional person based on information in a personal profile. Profiles were identical aside from experimental manipulations of gender (male/female), meal size (small/large) and meal type (regular fat/high fat) with meal manipulations calculated using nutrient recommendations. Ratings of desirability and body size were affected primarily by meal type with targets described as eating a regular fat meal seen as more desirable (M = 5.40, SD = 0.56) and thinner (M = 3.93, SD = 1.05) than those having a high fat meal (M = 5.09, SD = 0.66; M = 4.29, SD = 1.04) (p = .001). Meal size manipulations affected only ratings of body size with larger meals (M = 4.25, SD = 0.88) resulting in higher ratings relative to smaller meals (M = 3.96, SD = 1.20) (p = .036). Despite a suggestion of interactions between target gender and both meal characteristics for ratings of femininity/masculinity in our results, post-hoc analyses largely failed to reveal any pairwise differences. Perceived similarity to the target did relate to levels of desirability (p = .006), and self-esteem positively associated with ratings of target body size (p = .010). Even though men's perceptions of eating behaviours were not reported in this paper, these findings have implications for a better understanding of social pressures faced not only by women, but also for men, as potentially both genders may be affected by eating norms regarding the healthiness of a meal.