The thyroid gland and its variations: a cadaveric study

The size and shape of the thyroid gland is subject to much variation, as stated by Wood Jones. Literature is replete with a large number of variations of the gland. By utilizing various techniques like gross dissection, histology, developmental anatomy, and recently thyroid scans and scintigraphy, some common and certain rare anomalies of the thyroid with their possible developmental bases are described in the literature. An attempt has been made to study the thyroid glands in 90 male cadavers available in our department, with ages ranging from 60 to 75 years with mean height of 5’4”. The parameters that were observed included the length and width of lobes, presence or absence of pyramidal lobe, levator glandulae thyroideae, and isthmus with its relation to the tracheal rings. The average length of the right lobe was 4.32 cm, and the left lobe was 4.22 cm. The thickness of the right lobe was 1.13 cm, and the left lobe was 1.18 cm. Pyramidal lobe was present in 34 (37.77%) cases, frequently arising from the left lobe, while the levator glandulae thyroideae was present in 27 (30%) instances, mostly attached superiorly to the body of the hyoid bone. The isthmus was absent in 15 (16.66%) cases; its relation with the tracheal rings greatly varied from the cricoid cartilage to the fourth tracheal ring. Knowledge of variations of the thyroid assumes significance as this has relevance in the resection of thyroid, tumours, and tracheostomy. Folia Morphol 2010; 69, 1: 47–5

Appearance of the central singularity in spherical collapse

We analyze here the structure of non-radial nonspacelike geodesics terminating in the past at a naked singularity formed as the end state of inhomogeneous dust collapse. The spectrum of outgoing nonspacelike null geodesics is examined analytically. The local and global visibility of the singularity is also examined by integrating numerically the null geodesics equations. The possible implications of existence of such families towards the appearance of the star in late stages of gravitational collapse are considered. It is seen that the outgoing non-radial geodesics give an appearance to the naked central singularity as that of an expanding ball whose radius reaches a maximum before the star goes within its apparent horizon. The radiated energy (along the null geodesics) is shown to decay very sharply in the neighbourhood of the singularity. Thus the total energy escaping via non-radial null geodesics from the naked central singularity vanishes in the scenario considered here.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

Shelf-life of horse mackerel fish balls stored at 0-2°C

The shelf-life of standardized horse mackerel fish balls was assessed by biochemical, microbiological, organoleptic and other spoilage changes at 0-2°C. There was decrease in pH value, moisture and the organoleptic scores. Expressible water percentage, TMA-N, TVB-N and peroxide value showed increasing trends. Total plate count also increased gradually during storage. Water separation in the treated sample was observed after 12 days and slimy consistency was noticed in the control sample on the 24th day. Based on these observations, it can be concluded that fish balls can be stored at 0-2°C for 20 days

Why do naked singularities form in gravitational collapse?

We investigate what are the key physical features that cause the development of a naked singularity, rather than a black hole, as the end-state of spherical gravitational collapse. We show that sufficiently strong shearing effects near the singularity delay the formation of the apparent horizon. This exposes the singularity to an external observer, in contrast to a black hole, which is hidden behind an event horizon due to the early formation of an apparent horizon.Comment: revised for clarity, new figure included; version accepted by Phys. Rev. D (RC

Elastic properties and zone centre frequencies of Cu2O by LCAO method

The elastic properties and the phonon frequencies at the Brillouin zone centre have been investigated for the cubic cuprous oxide. The calculations under the framework of density functional theory have been carried out by deploying the periodic linear combination of atomic orbitals method. After settling the crystal structure the elastic constants have been determined. The absolute values of elastic constants are well in agreement with the experimental reports. The vibrational frequencies at the centre of the Brillouin zone are classified as the Raman and Infrared active modes and compared with the available experimental data. The contribution of vibrational modes to the Gibbs free energy, entropy and heat capacity has also been found

Role of Initial Data in Higher Dimensional Quasi-Spherical Gravitational Collapse

We study the gravitational collapse in ($n+2$)-D quasi-spherical Szekeres space-time (which possess no killing vectors) with dust as the matter distribution. Instead of choosing the radial coordinate `$r$' as the initial value for the scale factor $R$, we consider a power function of $r$ as the initial scale for the radius $R$. We examine the influence of initial data on the formation of singularity in gravitational collapse.Comment: 7 Latex Pages, RevTex Style, No figure

Luminous Efficient Compositions Based on Epoxy Resin

Magnesium/sodium nitrate illuminating compositions with epoxy resin - E 605 have beenstudied for luminosity and luminous efficiency by varying fuel oxidizer ratio and binder content.The compositions have been evaluated for impact and friction sensitivities, burn rate, thermalcharacteristics, and mechanical properties. Flame temperature and combustion products areevaluated theoretically by using REAL program. Experimental results show that, luminosity,burn rate, and calorimetric value are higher for polyester resin-based compositions. The highluminous efficiency composition is achieved with magnesium/sodium nitrate ratio of 70/30 with4 per cent epoxy resin

Higher dimensional inhomogeneous dust collapse and cosmic censorship

We investigate the occurrence and nature of a naked singularity in the gravitational collapse of an inhomogeneous dust cloud described by higher dimensional Tolman-Bondi space-times. The naked singularities are found to be gravitationally strong in the sense of Tipler. Higher dimensions seem to favour black holes rather than naked singularities.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, 1 figure, 2 table

An improved response surface methodology algorithm with an application to traffic signal optimization for urban networks

This paper illustrates the use of the simulation-optimization technique of response surface methodology (RSM) in traffic signal optimization of urban networks. It also quantifies the gains of using the common random number (CRN) variance reduction strategy in such an optimization procedure. An enhanced RSM algorithm which employs conjugate gradient search techniques and successive second-order models is presented instead of the conventional approach. An illustrative example using an urban traffic network exhibits the superiority of using the CRN strategy ovr direct simulation in performing traffic signal optimization. Relative performance of the two strategies is quantified with computational results using the total network-wide delay as the measure of effectivness