Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A prospective study: growth and nutritional status of children treated with the ketogenic diet.

OBJECTIVE To assess the nutritional status of children treated with the classic and medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) ketogenic diets. DESIGN A prospective, nonrandomized study design was used to measure nutrient intakes, growth, and biochemical indexes of children, age 1 to 16 years, with intractable epilepsy before and after 4 months' treatment with the classic and MCT ketogenic diets. None of the children had been on earlier dietary regimens. SUBJECTS Of 58 children asked to participate in the study between September 1998 and July 2000, consent was obtained for 30 children. Fourteen children on the classic diet and 11 children on the MCT diet completed the study (83% completed). Statistical analysis performed Paired t tests were done on anthropometric and biochemical indexes. Nutrient intakes were compared with Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). RESULTS Both groups had statistically significant height increases of 2 to 3 cm (P<.05), but did not have significant increases in height/age percentiles. Weight percentiles decreased by approximately 10 percentiles for both diets; P=. 043 for classic diet and.051 for MCT diet. Nutrient intakes from the diet and vitamin and mineral supplements met the DRIs except for phosphorus (both diets) and folate (classic diet). All biochemical indexes, including albumin, remained within the normal range. For the MCT diet, there was a 0.7 decrease in the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein ratios (P<.0009) at 4 months. APPLICATIONS When treating children on a ketogenic diet, clinicians should recommend adequate intake of energy and protein, a higher proportion of unsaturated to saturated dietary fats, and consider vitamin and mineral supplements.
A History of American Higher Education

Colleges and universities are among the most cherished institutions in American society-and also among the most controversial. Yet affirmative action and skyrocketing tuition are only the most recent dissonant issues to emerge. Recounting the many crises and triumphs in the long history of American higher education, historian John Thelin provides welcome perspective on this influential aspect of American life. In A History of American Higher Education, Thelin offers a wide-ranging and engaging account of the origins and evolution of America's public and private colleges and universities, emphasizing the notion of saga-the proposition that institutions are heirs to numerous historical strands and numerous attempts to address such volatile topics as institutional cost and effectiveness, admissions and access, and the character of the curriculum. Thelin draws on both official institutional histories and the informal memories that constitute legends and lore to offer a fresh interpretation of an institutional past that reaches back to the colonial era and encompasses both well-known colleges and universities and such understudied institutions as community, women's, and historically black colleges, proprietary schools, and freestanding professional colleges. Thelin's lively history has particular relevance for a society still struggling to determine what constitutes a legitimate field of study, reminding readers that Harvard once used its medical school as a safe place to admit the sons of wealthy alumni who could not pass the undergraduate college admissions examination and that the University of Pennsylvania once considered the study of history, government, and economics unworthy of addition to the liberal arts curriculum. Thelin also addresses the role of local, state, and federal governments in colleges and universities, as well as the influence of private foundations and other organizations. And through imaginative interpretation of films, novels, and popular magazines, he illuminates the convoluted relationship between higher education and American culture. For anyone attempting to understand America's colleges and universities, A History of American Higher Education offers a much-needed challenge to conventional wisdom about how these institutions developed and functioned in the past.
BIN 2 , a New Brassinosteroid-Insensitive Locus in Arabidopsis 1

Brassinosteroids (BRs) play important roles throughout plant development. Although many genes have been identified that are involved in BR biosynthesis, genetic approaches in Arabidopsis have led to the identification of only one gene, BRI1, that encodes a membrane receptor for BRs. To expand our knowledge of the molecular mechanism(s) of plant steroid signaling, we analyzed many dwarf and semidwarf mutants collected from our previous genetic screens and identified a semidwarf mutant that showed little response to exogenous BR treatments. Genetic analysis of the bin2 (BR-INSENSITIVE 2) mutant indicated that the BR-insensitive dwarf phenotype was due to a semidominant mutation in the BIN2 gene that mapped to the middle of chromosome IV between the markers CH42 and AG. A direct screening for similar semidwarf mutants resulted in the identification of a second allele of the BIN2 gene. Despite some novel phenotypes observed with the bin2/ mutants, the homozygous bin2 mutants were almost identical to the well-characterized bri1 mutants that are defective in BR perception. In addition to the BR-insensitive dwarf phenotype, bin2 mutants exhibited BR insensitivity when assayed for root growth inhibition and feedback inhibition of CPD gene expression. Furthermore, bin2 mutants displayed an abscisic acid-hypersensitive phenotype that is shared by the bri1 and BR-deficient mutants. A gene dosage experiment using triploid plants suggested that the bin2 phenotypes were likely caused by either neomorphic or hypermorphic gain-of-function mutations in the BIN2 gene. Thus, the two bin2 mutations define a novel genetic locus whose gene product might play a role in BR signaling.
Balancing Private and Public Interests in Public–Private Partnership Contracts through Optimization of Equity Capital Structure

Capital structure and revenue-sharing agreements lie in the essence of balancing public and private interests in public–private partnership (PPP) contracts. In the United States, many PPP projects may not be fully self-financed through tolls or other user fees because of insufficient revenue streams. With a limited debt capacity secured by toll revenues, most PPP projects must be supported by both private equity investments and public funds. The equity structure is critical in a PPP contract because it implies risk and profit sharing and therefore provides a mechanism for private incentive and protection of the public interest. This paper presents a structured approach to determining the debt–equity investment in PPP projects. Scenarios are generated by using linear programming and probability programming models to reach the optimal equity structure under risk and uncertainty. The I-10 connector project is used as a case study to demonstrate the optimization process. The model is especially useful for public agencies to (a) estimate the range of private equity investment, (b) determine the target equity structure, and (c) document the benefits and costs of private financing for a successful PPP contract.
A cognitive model of the roles of diagrammatic representation in supporting unpractised reasoning about probability

Cognitive process accounts of the advantages conferred by diagrams in problem solving and reasoning have typically attempted to explain an idealised user or a reasoning system that has equivalent to practised knowledge of the task with the target representation. The thesis investigates the question of how diagrams support users in the process of solving unpractised problems in the domain of probability. The research question is addressed by the design and analysis of an empirical study and cognitive model. The main experiment required participants (N=8) to solve a set of unpractised probability problems presented by combined text and diagram. Think-aloud and eye-movement protocols together with given solutions were used to infer the content and process of problem interpretation, solution interpretation and task execution strategies employed by participants. The data suggested that the diagram was used to facilitate problem solving in three different ways by: (a) supporting sub-problem identification, (b) supporting prior knowledge of diagrammatic sub-schemes used for interpreting a solution and (c) supporting the process of interpreting and testing the specific meaning of given problem instructions and self-generated solution instructions. These empirical data were used to develop cognitive models of canonical strategies of the three identified phenomena: • Sub-problem identification advantages are accounted for by proposing that the spatial semantics of diagrams coupled with competences of the visual-spatial processing system and opportunities for demonstrative interpretation strategies increase the probability of goal-relevant data being made available to central cognition for further processing. • Framing advantages are accounted for by proposing that represented diagrammatic sub-schemes (e.g. part-whole portions, icon-arrays, 2D containers etc.) facilitate access to existing prior knowledge used to frame, derive, and reason about information analogically within that scheme. • Advantages in instruction interpretation are related to the specificity of diagrams which support the opportunity to demonstratively test and evaluate the referential meaning of an instruction. The cognitive model also investigates and evaluates assumptions about the prior knowledge for solving unpractised probability problems; a representational scheme for addressing the co-ordination of sub-goals; a deictic problem representation to support online processing of environmental information, a meta-cognitive processing scheme to address self-argumentation and intention tracking and visual and spatial competences to address the requirements of diagrammatic reasoning. The implications of the cognitive model are discussed with regard to existing accounts of diagrammatic reasoning, probability problem solving (PPS), and unpractised problem solving.
Quasi-static elastography based on high frame-rate imaging and frequency domain displacement estimation

In freehand elastography, the ultrasound probe is moved to compress the tissue while RF-data are acquired. The axial strain tensor is estimated by calculating the gradient of the axial displacement occurring after a quasi-static tissue compression. For a given elastography frame-rate (FE), the compression speed must be appropriate to avoid the displacement between two frames being either too small or too large to be reliably estimated. The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first goal is to show that it is possible to obtain robust displacement information by calculating the echo phase shift in the Fourier domain. Second, we investigate the potential advantages of high frame-rate imaging in this field. Experimental results obtained with the ULtrasound Advanced Open Platform (ULA-OP) show that the Fourier-based method is robust over a wide FE range and that the high frame-rate imaging method allows to increase the elastograms quality, in terms of non-uniformity level.
CREDIT SPREADS AND THE ZERO-COUPON TREASURY SPOT CURVE

We examine the relation between credit spreads on industrial bonds and the underlying Treasury term structure. We use zero-coupon spot rates to eliminate the coupon bias and to allow for a consistent study both within and across the different credit ratings. Our results indicate that the level and slope of the Treasury term structure are negatively correlated with changes in the credit spread on investment-grade corporate bonds. We also find that the relation between credit spreads and the Treasury term structure is relatively stable through time. This is good news for value-at-risk calculations, as this suggests that the correlations among assets of different credit classes are stable; therefore use of historic correlations to model spread relations can be valid.
Receptor-binding domain of murine leukemia virus envelope glycoproteins

The surface glycoprotein (SU) of murine leukemia viruses (MuLVs) comprises two domains connected by a proline-rich hinge. The interaction of MuLV particles with subgroup-specific cell surface receptors depends primarily on two variable regions (VRA and VRB) located in the amino-terminal domain. To delineate the minimal receptor-binding domains, we examined the capacity of soluble envelope fragments to compete with the entry of virus particles. Amphotropic, ecotropic, polytropic, and xenotropic truncated SUs were produced by inserting stop codons in the env gene of the 4070A, Friend, MCF247 and NZB MuLVs, respectively. These fragments, as well as full-length envelope glycoproteins, were stably expressed in cells bearing the corresponding receptor. Synthesis, posttranslational modifications, transport, and secretion of the env gene products were monitored by immunoprecipitation. Cells expressing the modified SUs or naive cells preincubated with SU-containing conditioned media were infected with different pseudotypes of a retroviral vector carrying a beta-galactosidase marker gene. Reduction of cell susceptibility to infection in the presence of SU was used as a measure of receptor occupancy. The results indicated that the amphotropic and ecotropic envelope amino-terminal domains contain all of the determinants required for receptor binding. In contrast, additional sequences in the proline-rich region were needed for efficient interaction of the polytropic and xenotropic amino-terminal domains with the receptors.
Economic Determinants of Workers’ Retirement Decisions

The landscape for older workers has changed dramatically in recent decades. Governments have made cuts to public pension programs, private pensions have shifted from defined benefit to defined contribution plans, equity and housing markets have been unusually volatile, and workers have experienced declining morbidity and mortality. At the same time, the labor force participation rate for older men and women has been rising over the past two decades, implying later retirement. Are these phenomena related? This paper reviews the large and growing body of literature exploring the economic determinants of workers’ retirement decisions, including public and private pensions, wealth and savings, health and health insurance, and labor demand.
Florida's HR Reforms: Service First, Service Worst, or Something in Between?

Despite the original intent of civil service reform as set forth in the Pendleton Act of 1883, some states have implemented reforms that drastically alter the HR function as envisioned by early policymakers. The State of Florida offers an example of such reforms. This paper reports a study of how selected state employees perceive and interpret the outcome of Florida's 2001 civil service reform and privatized HR administrative processes. Respondents give mixed reports on the civil service reform but uniformly report that it has become more difficult to manage the HR function since it was outsourced.
1 Morphological and trophic distinction in the dentitions of two early alcelaphine bovids from Langebaanweg ( genus Damalacra )

The early Pliocene fossil bovids from Langebaanweg are of interest, as they represent among the earliest well-defined members of modern tribes, such as Reduncini, Bovini and Alcelaphini (Gentry 1980; Vrba 1997). In these fossils typical tribal morphology appears to be in an early stage of evolution, which on the one hand hinders diagnosis, but on the other hand offers a unique opportunity to investigate ancestral morphological states and adaptations. In this study, we focussed on the two alcelaphine species from Langebaanweg, Damalacra neanica and D. acalla, They were of the size of the blesbok, Damaliscus pygargus, but their skulls and dental morphologies are underived representing an early stage in the appearance of distinctive alcelaphine characteristics (Gentry 1980). The dentitions of the two species are very similar and difficult to distinguish, especially when dealing with individual teeth (Gentry 1980). The aim of this study was to define the morphological characters that differentiate the dentitions of the two species and to use this distinction as the basis for assessing their trophic niches.
Solar Versus Conservation Tax Credits

In the late 1970s concern about energy shortages motivated Congress to establish federal income tax credits to individuals for (1) household energy conservation expenditures and (2) purchases of renewable energy systems. Under terms of the Energy Tax Act of 1978, the tax credit for conservation expenditures is 15 percent of the amount invested, with a maximum credit of $300. The credit for renewable energy systems (such as solar space or water heaters) was initially set at 30 percent of the first $2000 and 20 percent of the next $8000. In 1980, the Windfall Profit Tax Act increased the tax credit for renewable energy systems to 40 percent of the first $10,000 in qualifying expenditures-a maximum credit of $4000.
The Built Environment and Human Activity Patterns: Exploring the Impacts of Urban Form on Public Health

An increasing body of evidence suggests that moderate forms of physical activity (such as walking and bicycling), when engaged in regularly, can have important beneficial effects on public health. This article reviews current public health, planning, and urban design research to determine, first, how walking and bicycling might be critically important exercise behaviors for improving public health, second, how urban form affects the frequency of walking and bicycling as a form of physical activity, and third, how the public health considerations outlined in this article might reorient planners’ thinking toward the realization of health-promotive environments. The current lack of emphasis on the interdependencies between built form and overall quality of life, as measured by health, safety, and welfare considerations, suggests the need for a rethinking of public policy approaches to transportation investment and land development.
Immunochemical, molecular genetic, and transmission studies on a case of Gerstmann‐Straussler‐Scheinker syndrome

Using immunostaining with anti-prion protein (PrP) antiserum, we detected numerous kuru plaques in the brain of a 24-year-old man with Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome. Immunoreactivity on Western blotting of the protease-resistant PrP fraction from the frozen brain was weak. PrP gene analysis showed substitution of alanine to valine in codon 117 but no substitution in codon 102. As the experimental transmission of the disease to mice was negative, a pathogen of a relatively low infectivity may cause the disease in predisposed family members.
New approach to association testing in case‐parent designs under informative parental missingness

The transmission/disequilibrium test (TDT) and related methods using genotype data on diseased probands and their both parents (triads) have been popular for testing linkage or association between a disease and a candidate gene. The usefulness of the TDT‐type approaches lies mainly in their robustness, in the sense that they are valid under population stratification, arbitrary parental genotype distribution, and “informative” parental missingness where the parental missingness may depend on parental genotypes. Recently, a variety of extended TDTs were developed to accommodate parental missingness and to allow for using incomplete triads, including single‐offspring‐single‐parent families (dyads) and single offspring with no parents (monads). However, these methods usually do not preserve the full robustness of the original TDT. In this paper, we propose a new TDT‐type approach based on the conditional likelihood of the proband's genotype given the number and, if any, genotypes of the available parents, as well as the proband's phenotype. This new proposal keeps the full robust property of the original TDT. In addition, the new method is very easy to implement, without the need to specify models on parental mating‐type probabilities and on parental missingness. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Use of Seclusion: A Comparison of Two Psychiatric Intensive Care Units

The use of seclusion within a psychiatric intensive care unit in a South Australian metropolitan mental hospital was documented over a ten week period. The seclusion rate within the unit was 32% of all admissions and 34% of new admissions. The overall seclusion rate for the hospital was 5.4% of all admissions and 6.3% of new admissions, somewhat higher than in the United Kingdom but considerably lower than in the Eastern United States. A comparison was then made between consecutive new admissions (30 secluded and 30 non-secluded) to this unit and to a similar unit without a seclusion room in the other mental hospital in the State. Although seclusion offered no clear advantages in terms of duration of admission, levels of medication or relapse rates, it appeared to reduce the level of dangerousness in the unit, thereby enhancing staff morale. The overall mean daily total of neuroleptic medication was about 1,200 mg chlorpromazine equivalent, somewhat less than in comparable units in the United States and Europe.
Prebiotics for the management of hyperbilirubinemia in preterm neonates

Abstract Objective: We evaluated if prebiotics have benefits for the management of hyperbilirubinemia in preterm neonates. Methods: Preterm neonates were entered into the study when enteral feeding volume met 30 mL/kg/day. They randomly received a mixture of short-chain galacto-oligosacarids/long-chain fructo-oligosacarids or distilled water (placebo) for 1 week. Total serum bilirubin level was measured by transcutaneous bilirubinometry. Stool frequency and meeting full enteral feeding during the study period were considered as secondary outcomes. Results: Twenty-five neonates in each group completed the trial. Bilirubin level was decreased with the prebiotic (−1.3 ± 1.8 mg/dL, p = 0.004), but not placebo (−0.1 ± 3.3 mg/dL, p = 0.416). Peak bilirubin level was lower with the prebiotic than placebo (8.3 ± 1.7 versus 10.1 ± 2.2 mg/dL, p = 0.003). Stool frequency was increased with the prebiotic (0.7 ± 1.9 defecation/day, p = 0.014), but not with placebo (0.6 ± 1.5 defecation/day, p = 0.133). Average stool frequency (2.4 ± 0.4 versus 1.9 ± 0.5 defecation/day, p = 0.003) and frequently of meeting full enteral feeding (60% versus 16%, p = 0.002) were higher with the prebiotic than placebo. Conclusions: Prebiotic oligosaccharides increase stool frequency, improve feeding tolerance and reduce bilirubin level in preterm neonates and therefore can be efficacious for the management of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.