Postmetamorphic Growth and Metabolism of Long-Spined Black Sea Urchin (Diadema antillarum) Reared in the Laboratory

Postmetamorphic growth and metabolism measurements were obtained on two cohorts of laboratory-reared Diadema antillarum. The cohorts grew linearly from less than 1 mm to over 43 mm. Daily growth averaged 0.097 and 0.11 mm d^?1, respectively, for the two cohorts, and was found to differ significantly. Urchin metabolism was examined by a series of simultaneous measurements of oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion over 16 days on starved juveniles ranging 16.5 to 18.3 mm. Metabolic activity under conditions of starvation was used as a test of the viability of urchins reared in the laboratory with cultured food resources. Catabolic activity differed from the first week of starvation compared to the second. Metabolic response included: (1) a 2.2-fold increase in oxygen consumption rate; (2) 50% decline in ammonium excretion rate; and (3) a 5.1-fold increase in oxygen to nitrogen ratio. These measurements are consistent with a shift from almost pure protein catabolism during the first seven days of starvation to a lipid : protein catabolic ratio of 1 : 1 after the first week. Growth and metabolism experiments of this type are seen as a first step towards optimizing laboratory culture techniques of this species.     

Root development of ‘Red Lady’ papaya plants grown on a hillside

Red Lady papaya (Carica papaya L.) seedlings were grown for 7 weeks in one experiment and 17 weeks in a second experiment on a 60% to 70% sloped hillside. Depth and lateral root developmental characteristics were determined to establish a more informed basis for developing management procedures during hillside production of papaya. A trench was dug perpendicular to the contour line, and positioned 10 cm from the stem base of each plant. A 1 cm layer of soil was removed from the profile wall, and the roots on the trench profile were mapped. Thereafter, the intact half of each root system was excavated to determine the dry mass and length distribution. Roots were separated into the taproot system, and the lateral roots of the uphill and downhill sides. The downhill portion of lateral roots accounted for 56% of total length and 64% of total mass after 7 weeks, and 71% of total length and 69% of total mass after 17 weeks. Some lateral roots on the uphill side of the plants developed with a negative gravitropic orientation to maintain a portion of the root system, close to the surface of the slope. After 17 weeks, 34% of the roots on the uphill side of the trench profile walls were located above a horizontal plane positioned at the stem base. Root growth of Red Lady papaya plants growing on hillsides was maintained in all directions, including up the slope. The results signify that there may be no need to modify fertilizer placement practices for hillside production of papaya. However, the higher concentration of roots on the downhill side of these plants indicates a need for placement of soil moisture sensors for irrigation scheduling in uphill and downhill sites.     

麦瑞加拉鲮幼鱼对12种原料表观消化率的比较研究

试验以麦瑞加拉鲮（Cirrhinus mrigala）幼鱼（3.88±0.06）g为试验对象,研究其对国产鱼粉、白鱼粉、花生粕、白酒糟、鸡肉粉、米糠、棉粕、菜粕、豆粕、玉米蛋白粉、玉米酒糟和羽毛粉的干物质、粗蛋白、粗脂肪、总能、磷、钙、镁、锌、铜、铁和锰的表观消化率。结果表明:12种试验原料的干物质、粗蛋白质、粗脂肪、总能、磷、钙、镁、锌、铜、铁和锰的表观消化率范围分别为24.93%-85.68%、50.02%-97.40%、51.89%-94.02%、39.18%-96.39%、9.72%-87.37%、3.47%-25.92%、26.11%-88.25%、12.63%-66.35%、41.33%-104.86%、10.69%-91.84%、4.42%-85.49%。其中包括干物质、粗蛋白和总能在内的主要营养物质的表观消化率以国产鱼粉和白鱼粉最高。除鱼粉外的其他原料中,干物质以花生粕、豆粕和玉米蛋白粉最高;粗蛋白以花生粕最高;粗脂肪以米糠和花生粕最高;总能以花生粕和鸡肉粉最高;白酒糟的干物质、粗蛋白、粗脂肪、总能的消化率最低。在矿物质元素表观消化率中,羽毛粉的磷、铜、铁和锰的表观消化率最高;米糠的锌表观消化率最高;钙的表观消化率以白鱼粉、豆粕和羽毛粉最高;镁的表观消化率以豆粕、羽毛粉和玉米酒糟最高;鸡肉粉的磷、钙、镁和铁表观消化率最低;花生粕和棉粕中锌的表观消化率最低;菜粕中铜的表观消化率最低;白酒糟中锰的表观消化率最低。因此,花生粕、豆粕和玉米蛋白粉是麦瑞加拉鲮幼鱼配合饲料中较优质的蛋白源,可进一步开发用于适量替代饲料中的鱼粉;米糠可作为较好的能量饲料;羽毛粉可作为饲料中较好的矿物质元素来源;白酒糟对麦瑞加拉鲮幼鱼而言营养价值最差。     

阴道镜检查在宫颈上皮内瘤样病变诊断中的价值

目的：探讨阴道镜检查在宫颈上皮内瘤样病变诊断中的价值。方法：回顾性分析我院自2004年10月至2006年6月528例阴道镜检查结果。结果：528例中行阴道镜和病理检查的有321例,阴道镜下诊断宫颈上皮内瘤样病变（CIN）76例,经病理确诊CIN51例,诊断符合率为67.11%;这两组用t检验,P〉0.05无统计学意义。同时行阴道镜检查和宫颈新柏氏膜式液基层细胞学检测（简称TCT）的324例患者进行分析表明,随着细胞学诊断分级的升高,阴道镜正常图像比例逐渐减少,异常图像比例逐渐增多。结论：阴道镜作为一种宫颈癌前病变和早期癌的重要方法之一,越来越受到临床医师的重视,它具有不与患者直接接触,对患者无任何损害,不造成任何不良影响,价格适中等优点,阴道镜可作为我国目前CIN和早期宫颈癌筛查的最佳方法,但最后确诊仍依靠病理学检查。     

Estimating incidence of the French BSE infection using a joint analysis of both asymptomatic and clinical BSE surveillance data

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) clinical surveillance data were the main source of information to perform back-calculation of BSE infection incidence. Since 2001, systematic BSE screening tests enhanced the clinical surveillance and allowed to detect some preclinical, i.e. asymptomatic, cases of BSE. We propose a method to incorporate additional information provided by screening tests. It was the first time that a back-calculation model was developed for a full BSE clinical surveillance. In the spirit, our approach resembles what it was done in the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic to incorporate the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) diagnosis. Nevertheless, in the BSE epidemic, we had to consider different surveillance systems, their peculiarity, and the phenomenon of communicating vessels between these surveillance systems. In addition, both the preclinical sensitivity of tests and the status of BSE cases, asymptomatic or clinical, were not precisely known. We applied the model to the French BSE epidemic in order to obtain an updated estimate of the incidence of BSE infection. Our back-calculation model fitted very well the observed data of each surveillance system. We detected a lengthening of the incubation period and estimated that the number of infections was very small in the late 1990s and zero in July 2001.     

Test-Retest reliability of the internal shoulder rotator muscles' stretch reflex in healthy men

Until now the reproducibility of the short latency stretch reflex of the internal rotator muscles of the glenohumeral joint has not been identified. Twenty-three healthy male participants performed three sets of external shoulder rotation stretches with various pre-activation levels on two different dates of measurement to assess test–retest reliability. All stretches were applied with a dynamometer acceleration of 10⁴°/s² and a velocity of 150°/s. Electromyographical response was measured via surface EMG. Reflex latencies showed a pre-activation effect (ƞ² = 0,355). ICC ranged from 0,735 to 0,909 indicating an overall “good” relative reliability. SRD 95% lay between ±7,0 to ±12,3 ms. The reflex gain showed overall poor test–retest reproducibility. The chosen methodological approach presented a suitable test protocol for shoulder muscles stretch reflex latency evaluation. A proof-of-concept study to validate the presented methodical approach in shoulder involvement including subjects with clinically relevant conditions is recommended.     

Error Normality Testing in a Two-way Split-plot Design

Following the principle of DURBIN (1961) a test statistic is determined from the transformed observable and generated random variables.     

The Nonparametric Behrens‐Fisher Problem: Asymptotic Theory and a Small‐Sample Approximation

A generalization of the Behrens‐Fisher problem for two samples is examined in a nonparametric model. It is not assumed that the underlying distribution functions are continuous so that data with arbitrary ties can be handled. A rank test is considered where the asymptotic variance is estimated consistently by using the ranks over all observations as well as the ranks within each sample. The consistency of the estimator is derived in the appendix. For small samples (n₁, n₂ ≥ 10), a simple approximation by a central t‐distribution is suggested where the degrees of freedom are taken from the Satterthwaite‐Smith‐Welch approximation in the parametric Behrens‐Fisher problem. It is demonstrated by means of a simulation study that the Wilcoxon‐Mann‐Whitney‐test may be conservative or liberal depending on the ratio of the sample sizes and the variances of the underlying distribution functions. For the suggested approximation, however, it turns out that the nominal level is maintained rather accurately. The suggested nonparametric procedure is applied to a data set from a clinical trial. Moreover, a confidence interval for the nonparametric treatment effect is given.     

Critical Values and Some Properties of a New Test Statistic for Analyzing Unreplicated Factorial Experiments

Critical values of the test statistic proposed by Al‐Shiha and Yang (1999) for analyzing unreplicated factorials are estimated by fitting an appropriate linear model. Some important properties of the test are also provided.     

Effect of cycling exercise on lumbopelvic control performance in elite female cyclists

Objectives:The purpose of the present study is to assess the effects of an intense cycling training session on the stability of the lumbopelvic-hip complex through two dynamic exercise tests - the single-leg-deadlift (SLD) and a variation of the bird-modified dog (BD), via the OCTOcore application.Methods:Thirty-one elite female road cyclists were self-evaluated with their own smartphones, before and immediately after finishing their training sessions. Right, left and composite were measured for each exercise test.Results:There was a significant time effect on performance for both the SLB and BD tests (p<0.05; η²=0.137), and the SLD and BD tests were increased with respect to the pre-test at 15% and 17%, respectively.Conclusion:An intense cycling training session produced significant alterations in lumbopelvic behavior in the elite female cyclists. The OCTOcore application demonstrated that it was a sensitive tool in detecting these changes and it could easily be used by the cyclists themselves.