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Possible definitions for oncost

cost
Monetary value of goods and services that producers and consumers purchase. In a basic economic sense, cost is the measure of the alternative opportunities forgone in the choice of one good or activity over others (see opportunity cost). For consumers, cost describes the price paid for goods and services. For producers, cost has to do with the relationship between the value of production inputs and the level of output. Total cost refers to all the expenses incurred in reaching a particular level of output; if total cost is divided by the quantity produced, average or unit cost is obtained. A portion of the total cost known as fixed cost (e.g., the costs of building rental or of heavy machinery) does not vary with the quantity produced and, in the short run, cannot be altered by increasing or decreasing production. Variable costs, like the costs of labor or raw materials, change with the level of output. Economic decisions are based on marginal cost, the additional cost of an incremental unit of production or consumption.


incest
Sexual relations between persons who, because of the nature of their kinship ties, are prohibited by law or custom from intermarrying. The incest taboo is generally universal, although it is imposed differently in different societies. Usually, the closer the genetic relationship between two people, the stronger and more highly charged is the taboo prohibiting or discouraging sexual relations. Some sociobiologists consider that inbred populations have diminished reproductive success and become gene pools for hereditary disorders. Some cultural anthropologists argue instead that the incest prohibition, with the corresponding rules of exogamy, acts to require males to seek sexual and marital partners outside the group, thereby establishing useful alliances. Other theories emphasize the need to control sexual jealousies within the family or to prepare children to function with restraint in adult society. No single explanation seems satisfactory, causing some to question whether incest should be treated as a unitary subject. Most cases of incest that come before criminal courts concern sexual intercourse between fathers and relatively young daughters (see child abuse).


Lacoste
French tennis player and sportswear entrepreneur. Born in Paris, he became noted for a methodical game in which he tried to outlast his opponents. He won the Wimbledon (1925, 1928) and French (1925, 1927, 1929) singles, and became the first foreigner to win the U.S. championship twice (1926, 1927), the second time beating B. Tilden. He also won various doubles matches. Nicknamed "the crocodile," he retired in 1929 to form a sportswear company that featured a crocodile (later alligator) emblem on its clothes.


oncogene
Gene that can cause cancer. It is a sequence of DNA that has been altered or mutated from its original form, the proto-oncogene (see mutation). Proto-oncogenes ...

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