Search

US state laws vary widely in the treatment of child support under joint custody. While some states require no child support in joint custody cases, other states require fathers with joint custody to pay the same amount as if they had no custody. The economic incentives generated by those custody laws can affect family decisions and the wellbeing of children of divorced parents, both under joint and sole custody. Merging child data from the SIPP with state child support guidelines, we find that economic incentives for joint custody have negative effects on the human capital development and health of children of divorced parents. Custody data together with parental characteristics and time use data suggest that economic incentives for joint custody may limit children's time spent with relatively high-quality mothers, as fathers pursue joint custody in response to the policy. We do not find an effect of economic incentives for joint custody on the probability of divorce and on the wellbeing of children in intact families. Our results are robust to specification changes, and the negative effects of economic incentives for joint custody on the wellbeing of children tend to be larger for girls and for children aged 12 and under.

Jointly financed by the federal government and the states, Medicaid represents the second largest form of public-sector investment in children. Research documents direct positive effects of Medicaid on children’s well-being, but little is known about the effects of Medicaid expansions on the wealth of families with children. Using state variation in Medicaid access during the prenatal and infant period, linked to longitudinal data from the children of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79, we ask whether state-level Medicaid generosity is associated with family wealth among families with children and whether these effects vary by parental education and race-ethnicity. We find that greater state-level Medicaid access is associated with a larger total amount held in savings and retirement accounts, as well as in mortgages. These effects are largely driven by non-Hispanic white families, and those with more highly educated mothers.

Artificial water bodies at tropical latitudes have regular or extreme water contributions dependent of climate and interannual variations that result in differences in the physicochemical characteristics of the water; in addition to the climate. They receive peripheral runoff two, according to geomorphology; in the case of Mexican artificial water bodies as Cantera Oriente, they will also depend on the orography that entails changes in the volumes of water. All of this influence in conservative and non-conservative physiochemical components through dilute the water in the rainy season and concentrate it in the dry season. Therefore, this paper estimates the variations of: temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, with nutrients (total phosphorus and nitrogen, chlorophyll “a” and primary production). In the Cantera Oriente all this parameters resulting in an oxic and anoxic condition, as well as a widely variable hypertrophy, depending on the month of year, in addition, anthropogenic sewage runoff must be added.

We show there is a much stronger negative, dynamic relation between changes in economic uncertainty and Treasury yields over weaker economic times since at least 1990. We document this economic-state variation in uncertainty-yield dynamics for weekly and monthly change horizons, for nominal yields and real-yield proxies, for multiple economic-state identification methods, and for different economic uncertainty metrics. We present additional findings that suggest short-term fluctuations in precautionary-savings and consumption-smoothing forces are more impactful on interest rate dynamics during weaker economic times, especially relying on surveys of expected economic growth and inflation. Received February 8, 2019; editorial decision August 24, 2020 by Editor Nikolai Roussanov. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Medicaid reimbursements for physician services are determined by each state. However, how these reimbursements vary between states, and how these reimbursements vary in comparison to Medicare reimbursements is unknown for musculoskeletal radiology studies.To evaluate the variability in Medicaid and Medicare physician reimbursements for musculoskeletal imaging studies between states.We evaluated the Medicare and Medicaid physician reimbursements for the most commonly performed musculoskeletal radiology studies (15 radiographs and 10 MRIs) based on Medicare's 2017 National Summary Data File. Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements for these studies were compared by dollar difference (difference in reimbursement in dollars between Medicare and Medicaid). State-wide variability in these reimbursements was quantified by the coefficient of variation (COV) and by the dollar difference in reimbursement amounts. Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates were compared using a paired t-test, since the data was paired by state.The mean Medicaid reimbursement rates were lower for musculoskeletal radiographs (p 0.05) but higher for musculoskeletal MRI studies than the Medicare rates (p 0.05). As hypothesized, there was variation in both Medicare and Medicaid imaging reimbursements between states, however, the variation was substantially higher for Medicaid reimbursements. We found the Medicare reimbursement COV between states was 0.07 for all imaging studies, whereas the Medicaid reimbursement COV between states varied from 0.23 to 0.55 for radiographs and from 0.31 to 0.45 for MRIs.The data show that there is mild, but constant variation across imaging studies in Medicare reimbursement for musculoskeletal imaging studies between states. However, there is more variation in the Medicaid reimbursements across imaging studies and between states. More appropriate reimbursement may increase access to care for Medicaid patients.

For many low-income Medicare beneficiaries, Medicaid provides important supplemental insurance that covers out-of-pocket costs and additional benefits. We examine whether Medicaid participation by low-income adults age 65 and up increased as a result of Medicaid expansions to working-age adults under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Previous literature documents so-called “welcome mat” effects in other populations but has not explicitly studied older persons dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. We extend this literature by estimating models of Medicaid participation among persons age 65 and up using American Community Survey data from 2010 to 2017 and state variation in ACA Medicaid expansions. We find that Medicaid expansions to working-age adults increased Medicaid participation among low-income older adults by 1.8 percentage points (4.4 percent). We also find evidence of an “on-ramp” effect; that is, low-income Medicare beneficiaries residing in expansion states who were young enough to gain coverage under the 2014 ACA Medicaid expansions before aging into Medicare were 4 percentage points (9.5 percent) more likely to have dual Medicaid coverage relative to similar individuals who either turned 65 before the 2014 expansions or resided in non-expansion states. This on-ramp effect is an important mechanism behind welcome mat effects among some older adults.

Since the New Deal, labor has been a key member of the Democratic coalition. As unions decline, their centrality to the Democratic Party has also diminished. At the same time, state variation in party preferences, party strength, and the types of unions that remain has led some unions to become involved in Republican politics. In this manuscript we investigate how central unions are in party networks using state legislative donation data from 2000–2016. We find that union contributions are associated with increasing centrality to the Democratic Party, while business interest contributions are associated with unions being less central. Only union membership rates are related to labor’s position in the Republican network. This work has implications for how we consider which groups are under a party’s umbrella. While labor may spend more money, it cannot keep pace with business groups in the party coalition.

This article investigates the torque characteristics of a switched flux hybrid magnet memory machine (SF-HMMM) by employing a coupled solution combining a quasi-linear hysteresis model (QLHM) of low coercive force (LCF) magnet and frozen-permeability method (FPM). This provides an in-depth understanding of the torque production of SF-HMMM. The QLHM is utilized to characterize the repetitive remagnetizing/demagnetizing behaviors of LCF permanent magnets (PMs), while the FPM is employed to separate and quantify the torque contributions due to two sets of PMs and armature windings. The machine topology and analysis methodology are described, respectively. The torque segregation results accounting for magnetization state variation are analyzed by the proposed coupled solution. The influence of the LCF PM property on the torque segregation result is investigated to facilitate the establishment of general design guidelines. Finally, the prototype is tested to experimentally validate the theoretical analysis.

Importance Substantial increases in both neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) and maternal opioid use disorder have been observed through 2014. Objective To examine national and state variation in NAS and maternal opioid-related diagnoses (MOD) rates in 2017 and to describe national and state changes since 2010 in the US, which included expanded MOD codes (opioid use disorder plus long-term and unspecified use) implemented inInternational Classification of Disease, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification. Design, Setting, and Participants Repeated cross-sectional analysis of the 2010 to 2017 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s National Inpatient Sample and State Inpatient Databases, an all-payer compendium of hospital discharge records from community nonrehabilitation hospitals in 47 states and the District of Columbia. Exposures State and year. Main Outcomes and Measures NAS rate per 1000 birth hospitalizations and MOD rate per 1000 delivery hospitalizations. Results In 2017, there were 751 037 birth hospitalizations and 748 239 delivery hospitalizations in the national sample; 5375 newborns had NAS and 6065 women had MOD documented in the discharge record. Mean gestational age was 38.4 weeks and mean maternal age was 28.8 years. From 2010 to 2017, the estimated NAS rate significantly increased by 3.3 per 1000 birth hospitalizations (95% CI, 2.5-4.1), from 4.0 (95% CI, 3.3-4.7) to 7.3 (95% CI, 6.8-7.7). The estimated MOD rate significantly increased by 4.6 per 1000 delivery hospitalizations (95% CI, 3.9-5.4), from 3.5 (95% CI, 3.0-4.1) to 8.2 (95% CI, 7.7-8.7). Larger increases for MOD vs NAS rates occurred with newInternational Classification of Disease, 10th Revision, Clinical Modificationcodes in 2016. From a census of 47 state databases in 2017, NAS rates ranged from 1.3 per 1000 birth hospitalizations in Nebraska to 53.5 per 1000 birth hospitalizations in West Virginia, with Maine (31.4), Vermont (29.4), Delaware (24.2), and Kentucky (23.9) also exceeding 20 per 1000 birth hospitalizations, while MOD rates ranged from 1.7 per 1000 delivery hospitalizations in Nebraska to 47.3 per 1000 delivery hospitalizations in Vermont, with West Virginia (40.1), Maine (37.8), Delaware (24.3), and Kentucky (23.4) also exceeding 20 per 1000 delivery hospitalizations. From 2010 to 2017, NAS and MOD rates increased significantly for all states except Nebraska and Vermont, which only had MOD increases. Conclusions and Relevance In the US from 2010 to 2017, estimated rates of NAS and MOD significantly increased nationally and for the majority of states, with notable state-level variation.

Problems are discussed in evaluating character state variation in the insect order Thysanoptera, particularly in the family Phlaeothripidae, illustrated by two such problems in the genus Haplothrips Amyot & Serville. The synonymy of Jironiella Retana-Salazar & Soto-Rodriguez with Haplothrips is reconfirmed, and Haplothrips aliakbarii Mirab-balou & Miri is recognised as a new synonym of H. globiceps Bagnall.

Early life stress (ELS) may become embedded into an individual's stress physiology, changing their hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis in an enduring, trait-like fashion. Cortisol is often utilized to investigate HPA-axis function. However, for "trait" cortisol to be a useful construct, it needs to be internally consistent within measurement occasions and show temporal stability of this reliability. These estimates of physiometrics are rarely tested with biological variables such as cortisol. Identifying reliable and stable individual differences in cortisol may be particularly important when examining questions related to the long-term impact of ELS on HPA-axis function. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to model latent trait cortisol (LTC) may be a useful statistical approach to capture trait-like indexes of HPA-axis functioning. CFA identifies commonalities among repeated cortisol samples to differentiate characteristic patterns (i.e. a trait) from day-to-day or state variation and measurement error. It is unclear whether LTC estimates are stable prospectively, or if ELS is prospectively associated with LTC. Therefore, we derived LTC factors for 84 adolescent girls (ages 10-17 years) using two-morning salivary cortisol samples, collected sequentially for three days at baseline and again at a one-year follow-up. LTC was internally consistent at both assessments and stable over one year. Greater exposure to ELS was associated with lower LTC over a one-year follow-up. Findings support LTC modeling as a useful strategy to estimate trait-like HPA-axis functioning and suggest that exposure to ELS is associated with lower trait-like cortisol.

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) is one of the regions with the most intensive human activities. The eutrophication of lakes in this area is becoming increasingly serious with consequent negative impacts on the water supply of the surrounding cities. But the spatial-temporal characteristics and driving factors of the trophic state of the lake in this region are still not clearly addressed. In this study, a semi-analytical algorithm for estimating the trophic index (TSI) using particle absorption at 645 nm based on MODIS images is proposed to monitor and evaluate the trophic state of 41 large lakes (larger than 10 km2) in the YRD from 2002 to 2020. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated using an independent dataset. Results showed that the root-mean-square error (RMSE) of the algorithm is less than 6 and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) does not exceed 8%, indicating that it can be applied for remotely deriving the TSI in the YRD. The spatial-temporal patterns revealed that there were significantly more lakes with moderate eutrophication in the Lower Yangtze River (LYR) than in the Lower Huaihe River (LHR). The overall average value of the TSI reaches a maximum in summer and a minimum in winter. The TSI value in the YRD over the period 2002–2020 showed a downward trend, especially after 2013. Individually, 33 lakes showed a downward trend and 8 lakes showed an upward trend. Furthermore, marked seasonal and interannual temporal variations can be clearly observed in the LYR and LHR and the sum of the variance contributions of seasonal and interannual components is more than 50%. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that human activities can explain 65% of the variation in the lake TSI in the YRD.

We exploit state variation in licensing laws to study the effect of licensing on occupational choice using a boundary discontinuity design. We find that licensing reduces equilibrium labor supply by an average of 17%-27%. The negative labor supply effects of licensing appear to be strongest for white workers and comparatively weaker for black workers.

The paper deals with the assessment of stress-strain state variation in rock massifs upon the formation of displacement moulds and surface sinkholes in the undermined areas of Verkhnekamskoe potassium salt deposit in Perm krai, Russia. Engineering geological conditions, as well as natural and technogenic factors influencing the development of hazardous geological processes are described by the example of one typical site of the deposit. Methodical issues of the development of geomechanical model for this site and compilation of finite-element calculation scheme with selecting calculation parameters of rock properties and boundary conditions of the calculation area are considered. Regularities in the variation of stress fields and rock massif deformations upon cutting mines at one depth are considered. The possible mechanisms of deformation and destruction of karstified rock massifs upon the formation of technonatural sinkholes on the earth surface are described. The results of the study are significant for predicting hazardous processes and undertaking protective measures.

Plume-spatter signatures during Selective Laser Melting (SLM) are a good indication of their corresponding melt states. It is important to build the relationship between the signatures and defects for the SLM process monitoring. In this work, the mechanism of the plume and the spatter was investigated for the melted state detection. Single tracks were produced on the 304L stainless steel powder with monitoring by a Near-Infrared (NIR) camera. Signatures of the plume and spatter during the SLM process were collected for the analyses of the characteristics. Results provided the properties of the plume, the spatter, and the entire target region of the image as well as their relations with the melted tracks. Plume-spatter signatures had distinct behaviors among the underheating, normal, and overheating melting processes. In the melted state variation, laser power played a more decisive role than scanning speed by changing laser energy density. This work contributed to the feasibility and possibility for the SLM process monitoring by the plume and spatter signatures.

In some recent papers, the so called $(H,\rho)$-induced dynamics of a system $\mathcal{S}$ whose time evolution is deduced adopting an operatorial approach, has been introduced. According to the formal mathematical apparatus of quantum mechanics, $H$ denotes the Hamiltonian for $\mathcal{S}$, while $\rho$ is a certain rule applied periodically on $\mathcal{S}$. In this approach the rule acts at specific times $k\tau$, with $k$ integer and $\tau$ fixed, by modifying some of the parameters entering $H$ according to the state variation of the system. As a result, a dynamics admitting an asymptotic equilibrium state can be obtained. Here, we consider the limit for $\tau\rightarrow 0$, so that we introduce a generalized model leading to asymptotic equilibria. Moreover, in the case of a two-mode fermionic model, we are able to derive a relation linking the parameters involved in the Hamiltonian to the asymptotic equilibrium states., Comment: 26 pages, 31 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1803.11234

Highlights • In 2005–2017, US states liberalized statutes on cause of death signature authority. • State variation in signature authority contributes to cause of death inaccuracies. • Logistic regressions suggest certifier type influences death certificate accuracy. • Death certificate training is needed across the array of professional certifiers. • Cause of Death Signature Authority database allows for more robust analysis of certification errors., This study utilized a convergent mixed-methods design to examine whether variation in death certificate certifier type predicts the accuracy of cause of death reporting in the US. We analyzed the content of state statutes, amendments, and policies concerning cause of death signature authority in 2005–2017 to create the Cause of Death Signature Authority (CoDSA) database. After merging the CoDSA data with 2005–2017 National Vital Statistics System Multiple Cause of Death Mortality files for adults with cerebral palsy (CP) (N = 29,996), we employed logistic regression models to determine the likelihood that different certifier groups made one particular type of death certification error – inaccurately reporting CP as the underlying cause of death (UCOD). The content analysis provided evidence of significant liberalization of cause of death signature authority, with 23 states expanding signature authority to include physician extenders. Logistic regression analysis revealed differences in UCOD accuracy based on certifier type. Compared to medical examiners, the likelihood of CP being reported as the UCOD, was: 41% higher (CI 1.12, 1.78) for coroners; 25% higher (1.05, 1.49) for mixed-system death investigators; 24% higher (1.08, 1.42) for physicians; and 16% higher (1.00, 1.34) for physician extenders. Inaccuracies limit public health efforts aimed at improving the health and longevity for disadvantaged populations, such as people with CP. Poor performance among cause of death certifiers may indicate systemic problems with death certification that should be addressed with more robust training for all professional groups with signature authority.

Thrips korbuensis sp.n. is described from a high elevated area in Peninsular Malaysia. It shares many character states with Thrips coloratus but has 8-segmented antennae and abdominal segment VIII–X uniformly dark. It also shares some features with Thrips florum, and variation in some character states used to distinguish species in the Thrips hawaiiensis group are discussed. Two species, Thrips brevistylus and Thrips subnudula, are recorded for the first time from Malaysia, and an updated checklist is provided of 27 species of the genus Thrips recorded from Malaysia.

Do minimum wages and the earned income tax credit (EITC) mitigate rising "deaths of despair?" We leverage state variation in these policies over time to estimate event study and difference-in-differences models of deaths due to drug overdose, suicide, and alcohol-related causes. Our causal models find no significant effects on drug or alcohol-related mortality, but do find significant reductions in non-drug suicides. A 10 percent minimum wage increase reduces non-drug suicides among low-educated adults by 2.7 percent, and the comparable EITC figure is 3.0 percent. Placebo tests and event-study models support our causal research design. Increasing both policies by 10 percent would likely prevent a combined total of more than 700 suicides each year.

Consumers play a key role in the U.S. nursing home (NH) oversight through a federally established complaint process. However, past variation by state in complaint numbers and rates raised questions about the uniformity of the process. We examined state variation in numbers of complaints at intake and substantiated complaints, percentages of NHs with at least one complaint and one substantiated complaint, number of allegations per complaint, and complaint substantiation rates. We found state variation most prominently at the intake level, ranging from 0.4 to 30.4 complaints per NH. The investigation process appears to reduce this variation: however, variation remains among states in frequency and prevalence of substantiated complaints. Further work is needed to ensure federal standards concerning the handling of consumer complaints are applied equally across the states. This includes policies affecting how complaints are initially filed, in addition to how complaints are investigated.

BackgroundAlthough cross-state variation of the opioid epidemic in the United States are well documented in general, little are known about the epidemic in privately insured individuals.ObjectivesTo describe cross-state variation in Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) among privately insured individuals in the US for the years 2005-2015 and investigate demographic differences of OUD patients between a group of hard-hit states and the rest states.MethodsThe MarketScan® Commercial Claims and Encounters database was used to calculate prevalence of opioid use disorder for the 50 states in the US, respectively. We analyzed level and change of OUD prevalence in each state from 2005 to 2015 and identified the states which were affected most by the epidemic. One-sided exact fisher test was used to analyze demographic difference of the epidemic in the hard-hit states and the remaining states.ResultsCross-state variations of the opioid epidemic among privately insured population were substantial, both in terms of severity and acceleration of the epidemic. Demographic patterns of the epidemic were similar across states. The 18-34 age group was the most affected group with the highest prevalence. The 55-64 group experienced the most rapid increase of OUD prevalence, especially in states that suffered most in the epidemic.ConclusionsResults can assist policy makers to design better clinical and policy interventions on the opioid epidemic, especially on privately insured individuals. Drastic increase of OUD prevalence among the 55-64 group might indicate the need to improve prescription drug monitoring programs for chronic pain, especially in states more affected by the epidemic.

Douglass C. North, co-winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1993, became a major leader in historical and comparative political science and in the study of institutions more generally. His work proved particularly relevant for those interested in questions of state building, state variation, development, and long-term secular change.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Home nursing is essential for children with medical complexity (CMC), but provision varies substantially across states. Our objectives were to quantify state-to-state variability in distribution of posthospitalization home nursing to commercially insured CMC and to rank-order states. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of hospitalized commercially insured children with ≥1 complex chronic condition from birth to 18 years of age in the Truven MarketScan database. Cohort eligibility criteria were hospital discharge between January 2013 and November 2016 and at least 30 days of follow-up after discharge. Two primary outcome measures were used: receipt of any home nursing within 30 days of hospital discharge (yes or no) and number of days of posthospitalization home nursing (1–30 days). A composite metric encompassing both receipt and quantity was created by evaluating the 95th percentile of days of home nursing (0–30 days). RESULTS: Overall, 9.9% of the sample received home nursing. After we adjusted for patient characteristics, the probability of receiving home nursing varied across states, ranging from 3.4% to 19.2%. Among home nursing recipients, the adjusted median home nursing days across states ranged from 6.6 to 24.5 days. The adjusted 95th percentile of days of home nursing (across the entire of sample, including recipients and nonrecipients of home nursing) ranged from 6.8 to 22.6 days. CONCLUSIONS: We observed striking state-to-state variability in receipt of home nursing and mean number of days of posthospitalization home nursing among commercially insured CMC after adjustment for demographic and clinical differences. This suggests opportunities for state-level improvement.

This paper investigates whether and to what extent the low unemployment insurance (UI) tax base in the United States creates disincentives to hire low-wage workers. Using data from the Current Population Survey and state variation in the UI tax base over 30 years, I estimate that a 10 percent nominal increase in the tax base raises the teenage employment rate by 1.4 percent, and indexing the tax base increases the teenage employment rate by 6 percent. These results offer evidence that the erosion of the UI tax base has reduced the employment of low-wage workers.

The Hispanic Paradox in birth outcomes is well documented for the US as a whole, but little work has considered geographic variation underlying the national pattern. This inquiry is important given the rapid growth of the Hispanic population and its geographic dispersion. Using birth records data from 2014 through 2016, we document state variation in birthweight differentials between US-born white women and the three Hispanic populations with the largest numbers of births: US-born Mexican women, foreign-born Mexican women, and foreign-born Central and South American women. Our analyses reveal substantial geographic variation in Hispanic immigrant-white low birthweight disparities. For example, Hispanic immigrants in Southeastern states and in some states from other regions have reduced risk of low birthweight relative to whites, consistent with a "Hispanic Paradox." A significant portion of Hispanic immigrants' birthweight advantage in these states is explained by lower rates of smoking relative to whites. However, Hispanic immigrants have higher rates of low birthweight in California and several other Western states. The different state patterns are largely driven by geographic variation in smoking among whites, rather than geographic differences in Hispanic immigrants' birthweights. In contrast, US-born Mexicans generally have similar or slightly higher odds of low birthweight than whites across the US. Overall, we show that the Hispanic Paradox in birthweight varies quite dramatically by state, driven by geographic variation in low birthweight among whites associated with white smoking disparities across states.

This paper uses data from the Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) over the period 2014–2019 to analyse the impact of removing surgical requirements to change legal gender. In many states transgender people are forced to undergo surgical procedures if they wish to change their gender on ID documents, which can be invasive, expensive, and is not always desired. In the present work state variation in the timing of the removal of surgical requirements is exploited within a triple difference framework to analyse the causal impact of these removals on the employment of transgender people, for the first time. The findings highlight that removing surgical requirements for transgender people to be able to reassign gender on birth certificates increases the employment of female to male transgender people, but has no effect on male to female or gender non-conforming transgender people.

Many advantages make electrolytic in-process dressing (ELID) grinding desirable for cutting hard and brittle material with high surface requirements. The self-electrolytic in-process dressing property in ELID grinding is also largely responsible for the shorter wear life and lower forming accuracy of the grinding wheel. In ELID grinding, except for traditional mechanical wear, the electrolytic oxidation wear also adds more uncertainties to the wear velocity of the grinding wheel. To date, few investigations focused on the grinding wheel wear life characterization in ELID cut-in grinding of ball bearing raceway. In this study, the wear life characterization of the grinding wheel during ELID grinding was quantitatively simulated by a moving normal distribution curve of the grit state variation. As all types of cutting grits wear out, so did the normal distribution curve, showing movement towards the grinding wheel center. With the normal distribution curve moving towards the grinding wheel center, a local acceleration and local deceleration in moving velocities occurred. It is the diversity of the moving speed of the normal distribution curve that provides a quantitative description to understand the wear life characterization of the ELID grinding wheel. Some experimental results can easily explain this new proposed perspective. This new perspective can also be extended to predict the forming accuracy and surface topography of the bearing raceway during ELID grinding.

This paper is focused on change in shrinkage, GSM, Wales per Inch and Course per Inch due to structure and count variation and state variation. This work was carried out with 12 samples of single jersey, single lacoste and weft lock knit fabrics of different counts which were scoured with NaOH. After pretreatment process the samples were tested for widthwise shrinkage, width, GSM, Wales per Inch and Course per Inch and compared between different states like grey state and finished state. The result obtained in this research indicated that physical properties like structures with tuck stitch possess higher value of widthwise shrinkage, width, GSM and Wales per Inch and Course per Inch value lowers prominently in those structures having float or miss stitches. In both cases i.e. grey state and RFD state values of those properties are high in coarser yarn and low in finer yarn. During project knitted fabrics specification along with machine specification and major factors which are necessary to calculate different types of variation and variables on which the whole fabric construction depends were managed to watch carefully. Main efforts were to develop a dependable way so that the resulting fabric specifications with required configuration can be easily visualized and be forecasted. A great emphasization was provided to the adjustable points on which fabric GSM, stitch length, fabric width and shrinkage percentage directly or indirectly depends.