This guide explains how managers can pay attention to four important dimensions common to effective teams: team member effort, team member knowledge and skills, team tactics, and group dynamics.

Between the time a team is launched and the time the team gets results, leaders need to know whether the team is on course. To do this they need to monitor the effectiveness of the team on an ongoing basis and make course corrections that prevent small problems from becoming major disasters. Assessing a team's performance, zeroing in on areas of weakness, and taking the necessary corrective measures help the team deliver peak performance and the expected results.

Shows how to use assessment, challenge, and support to keep the learning momentum going and to enhance the value and impact of developmental experiences.

The fracture resistance of ceramic brackets to orthodontic activations has been incorrectly estimated by previous investigations that have reported second order loads in terms of force magnitudes rather than moments. Because force magnitudes alone do not reflect the influence of distance from the site of force application on total load, it is impossible to apply previous results to actual clinical situations. The purpose of this study was to determine the average moments (in gram-millimeters) necessary to fracture various ceramic brackets subjected to second order tipping activations and compare them with actual clinical loads. Central and lateral incisor ceramic brackets from seven manufacturers were subjected to mesial-distal tipping arch wire activations at two speeds of load application with a testing apparatus designed for that purpose. Significant differences in fracturability among the brackets of various manufacturers and between central and lateral incisor brackets were found. There were no differences related to the speed of load application. Once the influence of bracket width was considered, the differences in fracture resistance between central and lateral incisor brackets were no longer apparent. Second order activations required to fracture the ceramic brackets in this study were all much greater than measured clinical orthodontic loads. It is unlikely that second order arch wire activations are a significant cause of ceramic bracket failure.

Pumice prophylaxis has long been accepted as a prerequisite for achieving adequate enamel etching during orthodontic bonding procedures. Three methods were used in this study to examine the effects of pumice prophylaxis on the bond strength of orthodontic brackets: (1) shear bond strength of brackets that were bonded to extracted premolars after surface preparation procedures, which either included or did not include prior pumice prophylaxis, was evaluated; (2) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the surface characteristics of teeth that had been etched with and without prior pumice prophylaxis; and (3) rate of bracket failure in patients who had had brackets bonded with and without prior pumice prophylaxis was recorded during an average treatment time of 18 months. No significant differences were noted in bond strength, general etched enamel surface characteristics, or bracket retention rates. Some specific differences, however, were noted on SEM in localized areas of the etched enamel surfaces, although these did not appear to affect the bond strength or bracket retention rates ultimately attained.

DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS provides a focus for communication among developmental biologists who study the progressive and dynamic emergence of form and function during embryonic development. The journal is an international forum for the exchange of novel and substantive information on mechanisms that control development. We seek manuscripts presenting work done at all levels of biological organization, ranging from the molecular to the organismal, using both animal and plant model systems, and we welcome studies that advance our understanding of the developmental basis of human disease.

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F. B. Power and H. Browning, J. Chem. Soc., Trans., 1914, 105, 1829 DOI: 10.1039/CT9140501829

F. B. Power and H. Browning, J. Chem. Soc., Trans., 1914, 105, 2280 DOI: 10.1039/CT9140502280

F. B. Power and H. Browning, J. Chem. Soc., Trans., 1912, 101, 2411 DOI: 10.1039/CT9120102411