The use of NaOCl after or in combination with a chelator caused the greatest reduction of E. faecalis. Diode laser and Er:YAG laser activation were superior to ultrasonics in dentinal tubule disinfection.

We give a general condition which enables one to easily establish fixed point theorems for a pair of maps satisfying a contractive inequality of integral type.Branciari [1] obtained a fixed point result for a single mapping satisfying an analogue of Banach's contraction principle for an integral-type inequality. The second author [3] proved two fixed point theorems involving more general contractive conditions. In this paper, we establish a general principle, which makes it possible to prove many fixed point theorems for a pair of maps of integral type.Define Φ = {ϕ : ϕ : R + → R} such that ϕ is nonnegative, Lebesgue integrable, and satisfies 0 ϕ(t)dt > 0 for each > 0.(1)Let ψ : R + → R + satisfy that (i) ψ is nonnegative and nondecreasing on R + ,Lemma 1. Let S and T be self-maps of a metric space (X,d). Suppose that there exists a sequence {x n } ⊂ X with x 0 ∈ X, x 2n+1 := Sx 2n , x 2n+2 := Tx 2n+1 , such that {x n } is complete and there exists a k ∈ [0,1) such thatfor each distinct x, y ∈ {x n } satisfying either x = T y or y = Sx, where ϕ ∈ Φ, ψ ∈ Ψ.

Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out on copolymers of both styrene and methyl methacrylate with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) derivatives to identify the origin of the property changes imparted upon the chemical incorporation of POSS. Simulations were carried out on these hybrid copolymers and the parent homopolymers to elucidate the effect of the T 8 , T 10 , and T 12 POSS cages. These POSS comonomers were derivatized with a single polymerizable function and 7, 9, and 11 nonpolymerizable hydrocarbon moieties, respectively. Glass transition temperatures (T g ) were computed from specific volume versus temperature plots. The packing of POSS units around the polymer backbone was analyzed via their radial distribution functions. The effect of POSS on polymer motion was analyzed through the mean square displacement function. The improvements in the elastic moduli upon incorporation of POSS were computed by employing the static deformation method. V V C 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 234-248, 2006

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply a framework for value stream mapping (VSM) integrated with fuzzy quality function deployment (QFD) for enabling scientific prioritization of improvement proposals to improve leanness. Design/methodology/approach – The literature was reviewed from the perspectives of VSM, QFD and fuzzy logic applications. The current state map was developed for the case component; fuzzy QFD was used for prioritizing improvement proposals and prioritized proposals were incorporated in the future state map. Findings – The approach enabled the scientific mapping of wastes with improvement proposals and thereby enabling systematic implementation of improvement proposals. The conducted pilot study resulted in 4 percent reduction in cycle time. As the lean implementation is a continuous process, furthermore improvements are expected in near future. Research limitations/implications – The study was conducted in an Indian camshaft manufacturing organization. The improvements in terms of leanness parameters were quantified. Practical implications – The findings determined from the study has practical relevance. Besides, managerial implications were also discussed. Originality/value – The study presented in this paper was conducted in a real time manufacturing environment. Hence the contributions of study are found to be valuable among academic and practicing communities.

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