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The surface free energy of solids, γ, plays a crucial role in all physical and chemical processes involving material surfaces. For the first time, we obtained γ directly from molecular dynamics simulations using a crystal cleavage method. The approach was successfully realized in a Lennard-Jones system by inserting two movable external walls, each consisting of a single crystal layer, into a bulk crystal to create flat, defect-free surfaces. The cleavage technique designed allowed us to calculate the surface free energy according to its definition and avoid surface premelting. The temperature dependence of γ was determined for the (100) and (110) crystal planes along the whole sublimation line and its metastable extension, up to T = 1.02 · Tm, where Tm is the melting point. Good agreement with indirect values of γ(T) was found. The proposed computational cleavage method can be applied to other solids of interest, providing valuable insight into the understanding of chemical and physical surface processes, and demonstrates the successful import of the cleavage method, traditionally used in technical preparation and study of crystal surfaces, into a modern atomistic simulation.

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The validity of the classical nucleation theory (CNT), the most important tool to describe and predict nucleation kinetics in supercooled liquids, has been at stake for almost a century. Here, we carried out comprehensive molecular dynamics simulations of the nucleation kinetics of a fast quenched supercooled germanium using the Stillinger-Weber potential at six temperatures, covering a supercooling range of T/Tm = 0.70-0.86, where Tm is the equilibrium melting temperature. We used the seeding method to determine the number of particles in the critical crystal nuclei at each supercooling, which yielded n* = 150-1300 atoms. The transport coefficient at the liquid/nucleus interface and the melting point were also obtained from the simulations. Using the parameters resulting directly from the simulations, the CNT embraces the experimental nucleation rates, J(T), with the following fitted (average) values of the nucleus/liquid interfacial free energy: γ = 0.244 and 0.201 J/m2, for the experimental and calculated values of thermodynamic driving force, Δµ(T), respectively, which are close to the value obtained from n*(T). Without using any fit parameter, the calculated nucleation rates for the experimental and calculated values of Δµ(T) embrace the experimental J(T) curve. Therefore, this finding favors the validity of the CNT.

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Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) experimental 27Al metallic shifts reported in the literature for bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) were revisited in the light of state-of-the-art atomistic simulations. In a consistent way, the Gauge-Including Projector Augmented-Wave (GIPAW) method was applied in conjunction with classical molecular dynamics (CMD). A series of Zr-Cu-Al alloys with low Al concentrations were selected as case study systems, for which realistic CMD derived structural models were used for a short- and medium-range order mining. That initial procedure allowed the detection of trends describing changes on the microstructure of the material upon Al alloying, which in turn were used to guide GIPAW calculations with a set of abstract systems in the context of ssNMR. With essential precision and accuracy, the ab initio simulations also yielded valuable trends from the electronic structure point of view, which enabled an overview of the bonding nature of Al-centered clusters as well as its influence on the experimental ssNMR outcomes. The approach described in this work might promote the use of ssNMR spectroscopy in research on glassy metals. Moreover, the results presented demonstrate the possibility to expand the applications of this technique, with deeper insight into nuclear interactions and less speculative assignments.

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Multidisciplinary rehabilitating treatment regimens always pose a challenge to orthodontist. The team behind the condition diagnosis chooses a treatment regimen that may achieve predictable and satisfying results both aesthetically and functionally, according to the patient expectation. This article aims to report a regimen that encompasses interaction with dentistry expert areas such as prosthodontics, orthodontics and dental surgery for a patient with maxillary atresia, malocclusion and inferior premolar and two superior incisors missing. The regimen consisted of a rapid surgically-assisted expansion of the maxilla, orthodontic intervention that includes gap closure resulting from two missing incisors through mesialization with prosthesis restoration of the superior teeth.(AU)

Um tratamento reabilitador multidisciplinar é sempre um desafio para o cirurgião-dentista. Uma equipe em conjunto realizando o diagnóstico e plano de tratamento, podem conquistar resultados previsíveis e satisfatórios, tanto estéticos quanto funcionais, respeitando os anseios de cada paciente. O presente trabalho relata um tratamento que engloba interação com as especialidades de prótese dentária, ortodontia e cirurgia, de uma paciente com atresia maxilar, má oclusão e um pré-molar inferior e dois incisivos superiores ausentes. O tratamento realizado consistiu em expansão rápida da maxila assistida cirurgicamente, tratamento ortodôntico incluindo o fechamento dos espaços dos incisivos ausentes através da mesialização dos caninos superiores com restauração e e reabilitação protética dos dentes anterossuperiores. (AU)

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INTRODUCTION:: Craniofacial pattern diagnosis is vital in Orthodontics, as it influences decision-making regarding treatment options and prognosis. Capelozza Filho proposed a subjective method for facial classification comprising five patterns: I, II, III, Long Face and Short Face. OBJECTIVE:: To investigate the accuracy of a subjective classification method of facial patterns applied to adults. METHODS:: A sample consisting of 52 adults was used for this study. Frontal and lateral view photographs were taken with subjects at rest position, including frontal smile. Lateral cephalometric radiographs were organized in a PowerPoint® presentation and submitted to 20 raters. Method performance was assessed by examining reproducibility with Kappa test and calculating accuracy, sensitivity and positive predictive values, for which 70% was set as critical value. The gold standard of the classification was personally set by the author of the method. RESULTS:: Reproducibility was considered moderate (Kappa = 0.501); while accuracy, sensitivity and positive predictive values yielded similar results, but below 70%. CONCLUSIONS:: The subjective method of facial classification employed in the present study still needs to have its morphological criteria improved in order to be used to discriminate the five facial patterns.

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This work addresses the question on how the glass-forming ability (GFA) of a binary Pd-Ni metallic glass can be enhanced by the alloying effect of Pt. The structural features and slow dynamics of liquid and glassy states on both alloys are investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. Both alloys show typical features of glassy dynamics, namely, the non-Arrhenian behavior of diffusion and relaxation and the fractional Stokes-Einstein relation validity at low temperatures. On the basis of the analysis of the dynamical susceptibilities, we demonstrate that there is a strong influence of the alloying effect on the collective motion of the species, revealing that the GFA of the binary liquid increases with Pt alloying.

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The structural properties of twin-plane superlattices in InP nanowires are systematically analyzed. First, we employ molecular dynamics simulations to determine the strain fields in nanowires grown in the [111] direction. These fields are produced by the formation of twin-planes and by surface effects. By using the stress tensor obtained from molecular dynamics simulations, we are able to describe changes on the electronic structure of these nanowires. On the basis of the resulting electronic structure, we confirm that a one-dimensional superlattice is indeed formed. Furthermore, we describe the transport properties of both electrons and holes in the twin-plane superlattices. In contrast to the predicted transparency of Γ-electrons in heterolayered III-V semiconductor superlattices, we verify that surface effects in 1D systems open up possibilities of electronic structure engineering and the modulation of their transport and optical responses.

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We present a study about the crystallization behavior of a two-dimensional particle system via molecular dynamics simulation. The interaction potential used here is a modified version of the Lennard-Jones potential which has the square lattice as the stable crystal structure at zero-pressure. The growth rate and the thermodynamic melting point are determined using a system with a free surface in the x direction. We also performed simulations of a supercooled liquid system with periodic boundary conditions to estimate the nucleation rate, the critical nucleus size, and the time lag of nucleation. These properties are important tools for understanding the crystallization phenomenon in a variety of materials.

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In this paper we present a detailed study of structural and dynamical properties of the CdF(2)-PbF(2) systems. Particular attention is devoted to the processes involving the phase separation, a phenomenon of fundamental importance in the correct description of some dynamical properties, as introduced in our previous works. We show here, that the phase separation trend is observed in the undercooled melt, whether by cooling the liquid below its melting point, or by heating a homogeneous glass at temperatures above T(g). The degree of phase separation depends on the procedure employed to obtain the crystalline materials, and the simplest way to determine this property is by performing an isothermal treatment in the undercooled melt region. The local fluorine environments Q((n)), corresponding to fluorine surrounded by nPb and 4-nCd neighbors, is used as a probe in the average local composition. We demonstrate that the increase in the structural inhomogeneity around the composition with x = 0.35 is the factor which leads to a better fluorine conducting property for the Cd(0.35)Pb(0.65)F(2) solid solution, in addition to providing a correct determination of the melting temperature of the Cd(x)Pb(1-x)F(2) compositions.

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Molecular dynamics studies of structural and dynamical correlations of molten and vitreous states under several conditions of density and temperature were performed. We use an effective recently proposed interatomic potential, consisting of two- and three-body covalent interactions which has successfully described the structural, dynamical, and structural phase transformation induced by pressure in ZnTe [D. S. Borges and J. P. Rino, Phys. Rev. B 72, 014107 (2005)]. The two-body term of the interaction potential consists of Coulomb interaction resulting from charge transfer, steric repulsion due to atomic sizes, charge-dipole interaction to include the effect of electronic polarizability of anions, and dipole-dipole (van der Waals) interactions. The three-body covalent term is a modification of the Stillinger-Weber potential. Molecular dynamics simulations in isobaric-isenthalpic ensemble have been performed for systems amounting to 4096 and 64 000 particles. Starting from a crystalline zinc-blende (ZB) structure, the system is initially heated until a very homogeneous liquid is obtained. The vitreous zinc telluride phase is attained by cooling the liquid at sufficiently fast cooling rates, while slower cooling rates lead to a disordered ZB crystalline structure. Two- and three-body correlations for the liquid and vitreous phases are analyzed through pair distribution functions, static structure factors, and bond angle distributions. In particular, the neutron static structure factor for the liquid phase is in very good agreement with both the reported experimental data and first-principles simulations.

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Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of binary Cd(x)Pb(1-x)F(2) alloys have been carried out, using a two-body Buckingham interaction potential, leading to a correct description of structural properties as a function of composition and pointing towards an understanding of the eutectic phenomenon. The simulation data can be analyzed in terms of five local fluorine environments Q((n)) (4> or =n> or =0), where n is the number of Pb nearest-neighbor environments. The results suggest a highly nonstatistical population distribution, suggesting an intrinsic phase segregation tendency in the undercooled melt, during the cooling process. This prediction has been tested experimentally for six representative compositions (0.2< or =x< or =0.7) on the basis of high-resolution (19)F solid state NMR data, revealing important similarities between theory and experiment. While the NMR data confirm that the population distribution is, indeed, nonstatistical for all compositions, the results are only found to be consistent with an intrinsic segregation tendency of PbF(2)-rich domains. This tendency manifests itself in substatistical populations of Q((3)) units, resulting in preferred Q((2)) and Q((4)) formations.

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The vitrification and devitrification features of lead fluoride are investigated by means of molecular dynamic simulations. The influence of heating rate on the devitrification temperature as well as the dependence of the glass properties on its thermal history, i.e., the cooling rate employed, is identified. As expected, different glasses are obtained when the cooling rates differ. Diffusion coefficient analysis during heating of glass and crystal, indicates that the presence of defects on the glassy matrix favors the transition processes from the ionic to a superionic state, with high mobility of fluorine atoms, responsible for the high anionic conduction of lead fluoride. Nonisothermal and isothermal devitrification processes are simulated in glasses obtained at different cooling rates and structural organizations occurring during the heat treatments are clearly observed. When a fast cooling rate is employed during the glass formation, the devitrification of a single crystal (limited by the cell dimensions) is observed, while the glass obtained with slower cooling rate, allowing relaxations and organization of various regions on the glass bulk during the cooling process, devitrifies in more than one crystalline plane.

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