This study explores the evolution of molluscivory in the marine teleost family Sciaenidae by comparing the motor activity patterns of the pharyngeal muscles of two closely related taxa, the molluscivorous black drum (Pogonias cromis) and the generalist red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Muscle activity patterns were recorded simultaneously from eight pharyngeal muscles. Electromyographic (EMG) act...

Cone crushers are used in the aggregates and mining industries to crush rock material. The pressure on cone crusher liners is the key factor that influences the hydraulic pressure, power draw and liner wear. In order to dynamically analyze and calculate cone crusher performance along with liner wear, a series of experiments are performed to obtain the crushed rock material samples from a crushi...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on cavernous nerve (CN) regeneration and functional status in a nerve-crush rat model. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into three equal groups: eight had a sham operation, eight underwent bilateral nerve crushing with no further intervention and eight underwent bilateral nerve crushing w...

Introduction: Silicosis is a progressive, fibrotic and preventable occupational lung disease. Occupational exposure in stone crushing units to silica particles of size 0.5 to 5μm poses a hazard to the workers. Methods: Our study is a passive surveillance study of silicosis in the symptomatic workers referred from Occupational Disease Centre to Department of Radiodiagnosis for chest X-Ray and Hi...

BACKGROUND Liver transection is considered a critical factor influencing intra-operative blood loss. A increase in the number of complex liver resections has determined a growing interest in new devices able to 'optimize' the liver transection. The aim of this randomized controlled study was to compare a radiofrequency vessel-sealing system with the 'gold-standard' clamp-crushing technique. M...

BACKGROUND Hepatic resection is still associated with significant morbidity. Although the period of parenchymal transection presents a crucial step during the operation, uncertainty persists regarding the optimal technique of transection. It was the aim of the present randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of hepatic resection using the technique of stapler hepatectomy ...

The diversity of fungi in grape must and during wine fermentation was investigated in this study by culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques. Carignan and Grenache grapes were harvested from three vineyards in the Priorat region (Spain) in 2012, and nine samples were selected from the grape must after crushing and during wine fermentation. From culture-dependent techniques, 362 isol...

Square honeycombs are effective as cores for all-metal sandwich plates in that they combine excellent crushing strength and energy absorption with good stiffness and strength in out-of-plane shear and in-plane stretch. In applications where sandwich plates must absorb significant energy in crushing under intense impulsive loads, dynamic effects play a significant role in the behaviour of the co...

The relationship between muscular force modulation and the underlying nervous system control signals has been difficult to quantify for in vivo animal systems. Our goal was to understand how animals alter muscle activation patterns to increase bite forces and to evaluate how accurate these patterns are in predicting crushing forces. We examined the relationship between commonly used measures of...

Cranial kinesis was studied in two species of gekkonid lizard, Gekko gecko and Phelsuma madagascariensis, using cineradiography and electromyography. The skull of these geckoes showed the three types of kinesis described by Versluys at the beginning of this century: streptostyly, mesokinesis and metakinesis. In accordance with the later model of Frazzetta, the skull of these animals can be mode...