Technical Efficiency of Shrimp Farming in Andhra Pradesh: Estimation and Implications

Shrimp farming is a key subsector of Indian aquaculture which has seen a remarkable growth in the past decades and has a tremendous potential in future. The present study analyzes the technical efficiency of the shrimp famers of East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh using the Stochastic Production Frontier Function with the technical inefficiency effects. The estimates mean technical efficiency of the farmers was 93.06 % which means the farmers operate at 6.94 % below the production frontier production. Age, education, experience of the farmers and their membership status in farmers associations and societies were found to have a significant effect on the technical efficiency. The variation in the technical efficiency also confirms the differences in the extent of adoption of the shrimp farming technology among the farmers. Proper technical training opportunities could facilitate the farmers to adopt the improved technologies to increase their farm productivity.

Abstract P4-12-04: Association of single-strand breaks (SSBs) in normal breast DNA with estimates of breast cancer risk

Background: Formation of single strand breaks in DNA is a constant process, estimated to occur 10,000 times per day in each cell, either from endogenous biosynthetic errors or from interference by endogenous or exogenous agents. Base excision repair in some cases may be impaired or may be exceeded by the rate of DNA damage, leading to cancer. Nick translation of with labeled nucleotides can be used as a quantitative indicator of SSBs.

Methods: Healthy women were recruited through the Love-Avon Army of Women and breast clinics of Northwestern and John Hopkins Universities. Digital or digitized mammograms were evaluated for percent density using Cumulus software. The medians (ranges) were age 51 (36 to 60); BMI 28.2 (18.7 to 51.3); life-time Gail estimate 12.5 (5.6 to 28.3); % breast density 16.5 (2.4 to 52.5); Masood score 13 (0 to 18). Breast tissue was obtained by random fine needle aspiration (rFNA). Specimens were rinsed into ice-cold phosphate buffered saline and were stored at −80°C. Thawed samples were centrifuged at 2200 g for 60 min. A kit from Norgen Inc., was used to separate DNA, RNA, and protein from the pellet. The lipids were extracted with ethyl acetate-hexane (3:2) from the supernatant fluid, and triglycerides were precipitated from cold 90% methanol, leaving a purified lipid fraction containing the steroids. Steroids were then fractionated by HPLC on a C18 column, and estradiol was analyzed by a radioimmunoassay. Blood was obtained at the same time as the rFNA samples and was frozen prior to analysis. An aliquot containing 200 ng of DNA (260/280 ratio 1.3 to 2.3) was taken for the nick translation assay. Incorporation of free nucleotides at SSBs with dCTP labeled with3H was catalyzed by Polymerase I from E. coli. A quality control preparation prepared from calf thymus DNA and a reagent blank without DNA was included with each set of 6 samples. Incorporation of3H-dCTP was linear with dose of DNA and reached a maximal at 30 min. Separation of free from incorporated3H-dCTP was accomplished by gel chromatography on an 80 × 15 mm column. The concordance of interassay values was 0.96.