cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Full-length isoform transcriptome of developing human brain provides new insights into autism

Summary Alternative splicing plays important role in brain development, however its global contribution to human neurodevelopmental diseases (NDD) has not been fully investigated. Here, we examined the relationships between full-length splicing isoforms expression in the brain and de novo loss-of-function mutations identified in the patients with NDDs. We analyzed the full-length isoform transcriptome of the developing human brain and observed differentially expressed isoforms and isoform co-expression modules undetectable by gene-level analyses. These isoforms were enriched in loss-of-function mutations and microexons, co-expressed with a unique set of partners, and had higher prenatal expression. We experimentally tested the impact of splice site mutations in five NDD risk genes, including SCN2A, DYRK1A and BTRC, and demonstrated exon skipping. Furthermore, our results suggest that the splice site mutation in BTRC reduces translational efficiency, likely impacting Wnt signaling through impaired degradation of β-catenin. We propose that functional effect of mutations associated with human diseases should be investigated at the isoform-rather than the gene-level resolution. Highlights Differential isoform expression analysis of the human brain transcriptome reveals neurodevelopmental processes and pathways undetectable by differential gene expression analyses. Splicing isoforms impacted by neurodevelopmental disease (NDD) risk mutations exhibit higher prenatal expression, are enriched in microexons and are involved in neuronal-related functions. Isoform co-expression network analysis identifies modules with splicing and synaptic functions that are enriched in NDD mutations. Splice site mutations impacting NDD risk genes cause exon skipping and produce novel isoforms with altered biological properties. Functional impact of mutations should be investigated at the full-length isoform-level rather than the gene-level resolution
The accuracy of patient-reported weight prior to total joint arthroplasty and arthroscopy of the lower extremity

The accuracy of preoperative patient-reported weight was never evaluated in patients undergoing lower extremity procedures. The purpose of this study was to: (1) compare the disparity between patient-reported and measured weights in patients undergoing lower extremity total joint arthroplasty (LE-TJA) and arthroscopy; and (2) investigate the association between patient-specific factors (patient age, BMI, zip code, and psychiatric comorbidities) and the accuracy of patient-reported weight. Preoperative self-reported weights were retrospectively compared to measured weights in 400 LE-TJA and 85 control arthroscopy patients. The difference between reported and measured weights was calculated. Additionally, the percent of accurate reporting within 0.5, 1, and 5 kg ranges of the measured weight was calculated. Outcomes were compared between surgical modalities as well as between patient-specific factors. There was low disparity (p = 0.838) between patient-reported and measured weights among LE-TJA (mean difference 0.18 ± 3.63 kg; p = 0.446) and that of arthroscopy (0.27 ± 4.08 kg; p = 0.129) patients. Additionally, LE-TJA patients were equally likely to report weights accurately within 0.5 kg of the measured weight (74% vs. 71.76%; p = 0.908). LE-TJA and arthroscopy patients had similar reporting accuracy within 1 and 5 kg of the measured weights (p > 0.05). Preoperative patient-reported weights demonstrated acceptable accuracy in both LE-TJA and lower extremity arthroscopic orthopaedic patient populations making it a potentially reliable parameter of preoperative assessment.
Judicial Minimalism in the Lower Courts

Debate about the virtues and vices of “judicial minimalism” is evergreen. But as is often the case in public law, that debate so far has centered on the Supreme Court. Minimalism arose and is defended as a theory about how Justices should judge. This Article considers judicial minimalism as an approach for lower courts, where the vast bulk of Article III adjudication takes place. It begins by offering a framework that disentangles the three basic meanings of the term “judicial minimalism”: decisional minimalism, which counsels judges to decide cases on narrow and shallow grounds; prudential minimalism, which counsels judges to avail themselves of various techniques of not deciding cases (the so-called “passive virtues”) on grounds of prudence; and Thayerian minimalism, which counsels judges to refrain from invalidating the actions of the political branches except in cases of clear illegality. The Article then argues that several institutional features of lower courts make judicial minimalism a particularly compelling ideal for lower court judges. At the same time, some of those same institutional features make minimalism difficult to attain on a consistent and system-wide basis. Further, attending to the differences between the lower courts and the Supreme Court reveals that minimalism is in tension with the institutional logic of the Supreme Court. In all, the Article aims both to clarify judicial minimalism and to place it in its proper institutional home. After making the case for lower court minimalism, the Article proposes strategies for realizing it: First, developing a concept of judicial role fidelity that is tailored to the institutional realities of lower courts, and second, reforming case assignment rules, nationwide injunctions, and the size of the federal bench to help channel lower courts toward more minimalist outcomes.
Training Affective Computer Vision Models by Crowdsourcing Soft-Target Labels

Emotion detection classifiers traditionally predict discrete emotions. However, emotion expressions are often subjective, thus requiring a method to handle compound and ambiguous labels. We explore the feasibility of using crowdsourcing to acquire reliable soft-target labels and evaluate an emotion detection classifier trained with these labels. We hypothesize that training with labels that are representative of the diversity of human interpretation of an image will result in predictions that are similarly representative on a disjoint test set. We also hypothesize that crowdsourcing can generate distributions which mirror those generated in a lab setting. We center our study on the Child Affective Facial Expression (CAFE) dataset, a gold standard collection of images depicting pediatric facial expressions along with 100 human labels per image. To test the feasibility of crowdsourcing to generate these labels, we used Microworkers to acquire labels for 207 CAFE images. We evaluate both unfiltered workers and workers selected through a short crowd filtration process. We then train two versions of a ResNet-152 neural network on soft-target CAFE labels using the original 100 annotations provided with the dataset: (1) a classifier trained with traditional one-hot encoded labels and (2) a classifier trained with vector labels representing the distribution of CAFE annotator responses. We compare the resulting softmax output distributions of the two classifiers with a 2-sample independent t-test of L1 distances between the classifier’s output probability distribution and the distribution of human labels. While agreement with CAFE is weak for unfiltered crowd workers, the filtered crowd agree with the CAFE labels 100% of the time for happy, neutral, sad, and “fear + surprise” and 88.8% for “anger + disgust.” While the F1-score for a one-hot encoded classifier is much higher (94.33% vs. 78.68%) with respect to the ground truth CAFE labels, the output probability vector of the crowd-trained classifier more closely resembles the distribution of human labels (t = 3.2827, p = 0.0014). For many applications of affective computing, reporting an emotion probability distribution that accounts for the subjectivity of human interpretation can be more useful than an absolute label. Crowdsourcing, including a sufficient filtering mechanism for selecting reliable crowd workers, is a feasible solution for acquiring soft-target labels.
The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions (Second Edition): Craig Joyce Entry

What follows is a listing, by page, of an entry to The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions (2d ed. 2009) by contributing author Craig Joyce: 105 – “Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc.” details the importance to history of the Supreme Court’s most significant copyright decision of the 20th Century. The case, reported at 499 U.S. 340 (1991), involved a seemingly insignificant matter: an attempt by Rural, the publisher of a local white-pages telephone directory, to prevent a competing publisher, Feist, from re-sorting its listings and including them in a regional directory that overlapped Rural’s service area. The Court, by a vote of 9 to 0, held Rural’s claimed copyright invalid in an opinion by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The decision’s importance lies in its reaffirmation of copyright’s historic character as the law of authorship and its concomitant rejection of the latter-day heresy that copyright also protects works, or portions of works, that are the product not of authorship but of so-called “sweat of the brow” exertions lacking creativity. Said the Court, in short, “copyright rewards originality, not effort.” An entry similar to the one above appeared also in the First Edition of the Oxford Guide to Supreme Court Court Decisions (Kermit Hall ed., 1999).
Electronic Privacy: Patient Concerns

This study postulates issues related to electronic privacy and addresses the factors that directly effect personal electronic information. There is no positivist study done to measure patient privacy concerns using Smith et a l(1996) privacy model and the effect of previous experience and media on these concerns. This study measures the four dimensions of patient concerns against the electronic privacy, defines as the automation of patient records, meaning that computerized patient records will be signed, modified, authenticated, stored, and retrieved via computer. The defined model uses multiple constructs with multiple indicators and thus, Partial Least Square (PLS) is applied to study the relationships between the model variables. The electronic privacy resides inside the databases is secured by using various electronic security systems that are implemented and maintained by the organizations. The merging, acquisitions and strategic alliances to gain a competitive edge in the market raise a fear of data ownership and its distribution for unauthorized purposes. If not properly defined to the organizations, the electronic privacy can not be protected even in the presence of highly sophisticated hardware and software technologies.
A Vibration Theory Combining the Dynamic Stiffness and Mobility Methods

Two new methods for calculating vibration problems—the dynamic stiffness method and the mobility method—have been introduced in recent years. Each of these methods offers certain advantages over the older vibration theory. This article is an at tempt to unify these two methods so that the best features of each are included in one theory. By means of this theory it is possible to determine the resonance and antiresonance frequencies and the relative amplitudes of vibration of a mechanical system. The effect of the position of torque application on the vibration characteristics of a system are discussed. The application of the theory is demonstrated by a few examples including the problem of the pendulum damper.
Turbulence and Redesign:: Dynamic Innovation and the Dilemmas of US Military Jet Propulsion Development

Innovation is regularly a disorderly process, but rarely moreso than in situations where a search for new, complex technologies proceeds in environments rich with uncertainties (re materials, scientific knowledge, strategy, reliability) and where that search proceeds through cycles of redesign fed by feedback from testing and use. Building on insights provided by Karl Weick, this phenomenon here is described as dynamic innovation, which is distinguished from more familiar analytic and synthetic innovation approaches. A historical case study of such experimental development, focused on the development of US jet propulsion in World War Two and the Early Cold War, provides an exemplary window into the non-linear and often conflictual processes through which multiple uncertainties are engaged by project managers and their colleagues.
Extreme-Ultraviolet Flare Loop Emissions in an Eruptive Event

The TRACE/BBSO joint campaign on 27 September 1998 observed an eruptive flare event which lasted for half an hour. The observation covered several ultraviolet (UV) and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lines and Hα center and off-band emissions with very high spatial resolution. We find the EUV emissions in different stages of the flare display different characteristics. (1) During the `pre-flare' phase, when the SXR output was weak, we observed simultaneous impulsive HXR peak at 25–100 keV and strong EUV emission. (2) In the impulsive phase, when Hα, UV and SXR emissions were rising to the maxima, the EUV emission was very weak. (3) During the main phase, when SXR emission was decaying, a peak in the EUV emission was observed which was substantially delayed by 7 min compared to emissions from other wavelengths. Based on our observations, we propose that the `pre-flare' phase in this event was a separate energy release process rather than a mere pre-cursor of the flare, and it is likely that the `pre-flare' EUV emission was due to weak in situ heating of low-lying coronal loops. The mechanism of the EUV emission in the main phase is investigated. It is suggested that the delayed EUV emission may come from cooling of SXR loops.
Selectively eliminated blood monocytes and splenic suppressor macrophages in mice depleted of bone marrow by strontium 89.

The contribution of specific activity to the effects of the bone-seeking isotope, strontium 89 on radiosensitive components of mononuclear phagocyte populations was investigated in mice. CBA/J mice received a fixed dose of 2 microCi/g body weight of 89Sr with three different specific activities, 6 Ci, 100 microCi and 20 microCi per mg Sr. The estimated radioactivity located in the bone surface was 4200, 3000 and 2400 cpm/mg bone when measured 2 days after the administration of 89Sr, and was lost with an estimated biological half-life of 27, 25, and 23 days, respectively. Bone marrow suppression was assessed by quantitation of the depletion of macrophage-colony forming cells (M-CFC) grown in vitro in the presence of macrophage growth factor. The decline in M-CFC closely paralleled the level of radioactivity in the bone. These effects were clearly reflected by the depletion of monocytes in the blood, which were reduced to 14%, 14%, and 21% of control levels corresponding to SA's of 6 Ci/mg, 100 microCi/mg and 20 microCi/mg when counted on day 10. By day 30 the respective monocyte levels were 15%, 31%, and 77%. Furthermore, the induction of prostaglandin E producing suppressor macrophages (M phi) by Corynebacterium parvum administration was found tomore » vary inversely with the effects of radioactivity in the bone, with initial impairment followed by quantitative recovery. Resident-type M phi in peritoneal cavity, however, appear to be unaffected by 89Sr-treatment. These data suggest, as before, that the monocytes and suppressor M phi are dependent on radiosensitive marrow cells. The observations also lead to the conclusion that the specific activity of 89Sr preparations is an important determinant of the degree of suppression and of the rate of recovery of bone marrow from the effects of irradiation that follow the administration of this isotope.« less
Medicare Chronic Care Management Payments and Financial Returns to Primary Care Practices: A Modeling Study

In January 2015, Medicare began paying practices to manage the long-term care of some patients by using a monthly payment instead of a fee-for-service payment. How the change affects a practice's b...
Calibration of spaceborne scatterometers using the Amazon tropical rainforest

Spaceborne scatterometers are radar systems designed specifically to measure the normalized radar backscatter coefficient ((sigma) 0) of the ocean's surface in order to determine the near-surface wind vector. Precise calibration of the instrument sensor is required to determine (sigma) 0 accurately (of the order of a few tenths of a dB). Although careful calibration of the instrument is performed before launch, a post-launch calibration must also be performed. Post-launch calibration may be performed using ground stations and/or extended-area natural targets. The most commonly used extended area target has been the Amazon tropical rainforest which exhibits a remarkably high degree of homogeneity in its radar response over a very large area. However, the rainforest does exhibit some spatial and temporal variability. In this paper we present a simple technique for post-launch calibration of spaceborne scatterometer data using tropical rainforests which accounts for the temporal and spatial variability of the forest response. We first illustrate the technique with Seasat scatterometer (SASS) data then apply the technique to ERS-1 Active Microwave Instrument (AMI) scatterometer data. Gains corrections of up to several tenths of a dB are estimated for SASS. ERS-1 data was found to be well calibrated so that no corrections are required.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Apical left ventricular lipoma presenting as syncope.

1 I-second pause (Fig. 1). After the sinus pause, a marked decrease in waveform amplitude was noted bilaterally on the EEG followed by low-amplitude generalized fast activity, which corresponded clinically to tonic-clonic seizure activity. Thirty seconds after the onset of the seizure and the return of the heart rate to baseline, there was cessation of seizure activity clinically and on EEG. A permanent VVI pacemaker was implanted the following day without complications. Telemetry monitoring after insertion of a pacemaker revealed no further episodes of bradycardia. The patient has had no further episodes of syncope or seizure activity during 14 months of follow-up. Although loss of consciousness as a result of inadequate cardiac output is a common symptom associated with cardiac arrhythmias, frank seizure activity is a rare occurrence.z-s This is the first report in which a seizure precipitated by a period of asystole was documented by standard, simultaneous EEG and ECG recordings. As illustrated by this case, a marked reduction in EEG amplitude after the period of asystole is characteristic of cerebral ischemia and is the likely precipitant of the seizure. Without the use of simultaneous EEG and ECG monitoring, a correct diagnosis could not have been made. Thus all adults with a newonset seizure disorder, in whom routine EEG is nondiagnostic, should have a careful cardiac and neurologic evaluation, This is particularly relevant in elderly persons who may have unsuspected conduction system disease. The use of simultaneous EEG and ECG recordings or ambulatory EEG and ECG monitoring may provide useful diagnostic information and allow the physician to institute appropriate therapy.
The health care computer user: "Where will we find the integrators?"

This paper assumes that the primary objective of the medical care system is patient welfare. To best accomplish this objective the medical specialties must communicate and be well coordinated. The organization and distribution of information, which is the domain of the medical information scientist, is of central importance. In practice, medical information scientists often influence reorganization of human institutions, and thereby become change agents. They are commonly consulted about problems crossing disciplinary lines and see trends that allow them to predict and guide future developments. Many information scientists also simultaneously fill a role in some other specialty so that they exert influence both from inside and from outside the medical practice structure. The medical information scientists described are in an excellent position to be professional integrators. Good integration like any art is predicated on appropriate attitudes and has basic skills that can be taught. This paper suggests that formal preparation to integrate the activities of the medical practice environment is a desirable adjunct to the traditional preparation of students of medical information science.
Chemistry of some amino acid complexes of ruthenium. Synthesis, characterization, and DNA binding properties.

In combination with π-acid ligands such as 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy), α-amino acids (HL, 1) form stable complexes with ruthenium(II) of type [Ru(bpy)2(L)]ClO4 (2), which are found to bind to DNA without causing any structural damage to it.
Automated microplanning for 2.5-D pocket machining

Microplanning, as defined in this research, consists of the decomposition of machining features generated by the macroplanner into sub-features, selection of appropriate tools to machine these sub features, and the selection of appropriate cutting parameters. This paper describes the implementation of a microplanner that is capable of optimally accomplishing the abovementioned tasks, either minimizing time or cost.
HeartMate II Device Exchange: Single Center Experience

Purpose A certain percentage of the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients inevitably require a device exchange. While it is clinically an important entity, only a handful of studies have been reported. Methods and Materials From Dec 2008 to Oct 2012, a total of 28 device exchanges (HeartMate II to HeartMate II) were performed. Since June 2011, we have employed the subcostal approach for device exchange if indicated. A full sternotomy was used in 13 cases (F group) and a subcostal approach was in 15 cases (S group). Preoperative and postoperative data were retrospectively reviewed. Results There was no difference in baseline patient characteristics between the two groups. Overall, mean duration between the primary implants and the device exchanges was 413±410 days. Surgical indications included device thrombus/hemolysis (N=18), device malfunction (N=8), and infection (N=2). Cardiopulmonary bypass time was significantly short in the S group (S: 40.2±24.1 min, F: 103.8±92.9 min, p 72hours) (F: N=5, S: N=1, p figure 1 ] Conclusions A subcostal approach is safe and would be preferred for HeartMate II device exchange if indicated.
Unilateral brain damage and bilateral skin conductance levels in humans.

Left and right, palmar and dorsal skin conductance levels (SCLs) were obtained from hospital controls, left hemisphere lesion Ss, right hemisphere lesion Ss, and diffuse or bilateral lesion Ss during several experimental conditions involving rest, passive auditory stimulation, motor reactions, and simple “perception”. The unilateral lesion groups generally displayed significantly higher palmar SCLs on the side contralateral to their lesion. Such “laterality” was not demonstrated in dorsal recordings or in the hospital controls or diffuse lesion group. These unilateral lesion groups had higher palmar SCLs during passive stimulation than during rest, motor, or perception phases. Results were discussed in terms of possible neural mechanisms underlying the phenomena.
Interconnects of microstrip lines and antennas through aperture coupling

The use of a rectangular aperture for the coupling of a microstrip line to a patch antenna, a dipole antenna, or another microstrip antenna is explored. The relevant theoretical and experimental results are reported. It is noted that the circuits considered here should have many applications for phase arrays, MMIC and MIC packaging, and microwave circuit interconnects.
Vibrational-translational energy transfer n atom-polyatomic molecule collisions in thermal reaction systems

Abstract Vibrational-translational energy transfer probabilities and collisional efficiencies are calculated for atom-polyatomic molecule collisions. It is assumed that a collision complex is formed and that the total internal vibrational energy is statistically distributed among all the modes of the complex. An attractive potential is assumed and account is taken of the centrifugal barrier. Conservation of system angular momentum is imposed. Convolution of the several thermal distribution functions is carried out and completeness and detailed balance are observed. Comparison of calculated quantum statistical quantities with experiment is made for the thermal isomerization of methyl and ethyl isocyanide in the presence of heavy atomic bath gases, such as Xe or Ar, and semiquantitative agreement is found.
Electronic structure of Gd pnictides calculated within the LSDA + U approach

A computational study of the electronic structure and magnetic properties of Gd pnictides is reported. The calculations were performed using a full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital method within the so-called $\mathrm{LSDA}+\mathrm{U}$ approach, which adds Hubbard-$U$ correlation effects to specified narrow bands in a mean-field approach to the local spin-density approximation (LSDA). Here both the $\mathrm{Gd}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}4f$ and 5$d$ states are subject to such corrections. The ${U}_{f}$ values were determined semiempirically by using photoemission and inverse photoemission data for $\mathrm{GdP}$, $\mathrm{GdAs}$, $\mathrm{GdSb}$, and $\mathrm{GdBi}$. In contrast to ${U}_{f}$ which represents narrow-band physics, ${U}_{d}$ represents a quasiparticle self-energy correction of the LSDA gap underestimate. The ${U}_{d}$ value was adjusted using optical-absorption data for semiconducting $\mathrm{GdN}$ above its Curie temperature. Below the Curie temperature, however, in the ferromagnetic state, the gap becomes almost zero. The other Gd pnictides are found to have a small overlap of the conduction band at the $X$ point and the valence band at the $\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ point in the majority-spin channel. A small gap opens in the spin-minority channel of $\mathrm{GdP}$ and $\mathrm{GdAs}$, which are thus half metallic. This spin-minority gap closes in semimetallic $\mathrm{GdSb}$ and $\mathrm{GdBi}$. While $\mathrm{GdN}$ is found to be ferromagnetic, the other Gd pnictides are found to be antiferromagnetic, with ordering along [111]. From calculations with different magnetic configurations, a Heisenberg model with first and second nearest-neighbor exchange parameters is extracted. The Heisenberg model is then used to predict Curie-Weiss and N\'eel temperatures and critical magnetic fields within mean field and compared with experimental data. The trends are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.
Consumer evaluation of multi-product bundles: An information integration analysis

Consumers' reactions to multi-product bundles — two different products sold for one price — were obtained by systematically varying the attributes of both the primary product (e.g., VCRs) and the tie-in product (e.g., videocassette tapes). Respondents were given written product descriptions as well as the opportunity to inspect the actual products before responding. The results across a variety of dependent measures suggest that evaluations of the primary product and the tie-in product are averaged or balanced when evaluating product bundles. Furthermore, attributes of the tiein product had a much larger effect on the evaluations of product bundles than would be expected on the basis of their monetary worth alone. Other aspects of our results suggest that product bundling as a marketing strategy compares favorably with the use of cash rebates, especially when the bundle is enhanced by including a high-quality tie-in product.
A clinicopathologic study of heart block in a dog, with remarks pertinent to the embryology of the cardiac conduction system

Abstract This report describes the histologic features of the cardiac conduction system in a dog with heart block. The sinus node, A-V node and proximal portion of the His bundle were composed of dark, closely packed small cells of primitive appearance, while the distal His bundle and most of the bundle branches were composed of normal Purkinje cells. All the ventricular myocardium was normal. In the region of the internodal pathways, there was fibrosis and a scattering of nodal dark cells; otherwise, the atrial myocardial histologic findings were also normal. There was specifically no evidence of inflammation nor of an abnormal immunologic response. Although the sinus node, A-V node and His bundle were in their normal position, and approximately of normal size and configuration, their internal cellular content exhibited neither intercellular nor intracellular details normally found in these structures. The intracellular content and intercellular organization appeared the same in the two nodes and in the proximal His bundle. In view of the normal cells in the distal His bundle and bundle branches, and the abnormal cells in the nodes and proximal His bundle, we believe that these two components of the conduction system had different embryologic origins. We also believe that the His bundle represents the developmental junction site for the two groups. It is of interest that the cells which appeared so abnormal still retained their ability to form multicellular structures of normal size, shape and location.
Coastal Bridge Reliability during Hurricane Events: Comparison of Fragility Curves by Static and Dynamic Simulation

Post-hurricane functionality of the transportation system is vital for emergency response and recovery activities. Coastal bridges are among the most critical components of the transportation system susceptible to hurricane induced wave and surge loads that may hamper this functionality. This study explores alternative approaches to develop probabilistic statements of coastal bridge damage potential conditioned upon hazard intensity, known as fragility. Fragility surfaces for a representative bridge structure of the Houston/Galveston area are developed using two different approaches: static analysis and nonlinear dynamic simulation. The static approach is efficient and can provide sufficient fragility models for simply supported bridges with limited connectivity between the super structure and substructure, since their predominant mode of failure is deck unseating or shifting due to connection failure. Nevertheless, for bridges with strong connection between sub and superstructure, the force transfer can cause other components to exceed their limit state. Hence the full dynamic behavior of structure becomes more critical in the fragility modeling of bridges with high strength connections.
Glaze Investigations: I, Effect of Various Silicas in Typical Glazes

Four types of silica, namely potter's flint, diatomaceous earth, chalcedony, and fused silica, plus pyrophyllite, were substituted in typical fritted, Bristol, and porcelain glazes. After firing over a wide range of temperature, the following glaze characteristics were evaluated: maturing temperature, maturing range, surface texture, defects, and glaze fit. Results indicate that diatomaceous silica is decidedly superior to the other silicas as a primary glaze constituent. Chalcedony and fused silica also appear promising, whereas potter's flint and pyrophyllite are less satisfactory sources of constituent silica for glaze compositions.
Occult hydrocephalus in children with cerebral palsy.

Objective Many children with cerebral palsy have chronic ventriculomegaly as a consequence of perinatal intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leukomalacia, without symptoms of hydrocephalus. Children with cerebral palsy who are treated with intrathecal baclofen have a higher rate of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks along the baclofen catheter than do adults treated with intrathecal baclofen. We postulated that the cause of the increased frequency of CSF leaks was increased CSF pressure, that is, occult hydrocephalus. Methods Lumbar punctures were performed in 24 children with cerebral palsy and asymptomatic ventriculomegaly. Their median age was 4.7 years. Mild or moderate ventriculomegaly was present in 23 children and severe ventriculomegaly was present in 1 child. Results Opening pressures were abnormally high in 23 (96%) of 24 children and ranged from 22 to 41 cm H2O (mean, 27.3 cm H2O). Opening pressures did not correlate with the extent of ventriculomegaly. Conclusion Children with cerebral palsy and ventriculomegaly seem to have a high incidence of increased CSF pressure, and thus, of occult hydrocephalus. The increased pressure is probably a significant cause of the increased frequency of CSF leaks for these children during intrathecal baclofen therapy. The long-term risks of untreated increased CSF pressures in this patient population are not known but are cause for concern. Treatment with CSF shunts offers the potential of improved development, which was reported anecdotally in some children who were treated with ventriculoperitoneal shunts after their pressure was found to be increased. Prospective multicenter studies of this problem are needed.
Suprathermal electrons in a laser-heated plasma: a theoretical temperature relationship

Abstract It is shown that the detection of 511 keV photons provides a simple and direct method for relating the total number of suprathermal electrons in a laser-heated plasma to the temperature of the suprathermal electrons. Furthermore, it is shown that this method clearly differentiates between the thermal and suprathermal electron populations in contrast to X-ray methods. An explicit relationship between the number of suprathermal electrons, the suprathermal temperature, and the number of 511 keV photons is derived.
Emerging entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe

One of the characteristic features of the 21st century global marketplace is the emergence of free market enterprises in economies where such firms were previously unknown in terms of mainstream business activities. While this represents tremendous opportunities, both in terms of economic development and for participating individuals, the transition from centrally planned economies to free market economies can not take place overnight. This paper considers the process of emerging entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe and discusses both theoretical and managerial implications. This means understanding the characteristics of these markets is vital for any firms attempting to successfully operate in these markets.
Dental Needs and Costs for Patients From Three Social Agencies

This study indicates that for these patients studied from Johnson County, Iowa, the County Home residents have more unmet basic dental needs than do patients from Goodwill Industries or Community Action programs. The mean cost of treating the dental needs of a County home resident was found to be approximately twice that of providing dental services to the other two social service agencies. This cost differential comes about as a result of two major factors: (1) the County Home residents seen have more unmet basic dental needs, and (2) they have proportionately more unmet dental needs in specialty areas that cost more per unit of treatment (i.e. periodontics, fixed prosthodontics, and removable prosthodontics). The mean treatment cost per patient seen from each of these agencies is $851.77 for County Home residents, $407.97 for Goodwill Industry clients, and $341.21 for Community Action clients. A follow-up of this study in regard to specific circumstances that contribute to the higher incidence of dental treatment needs of the Johnson County Home residents is recommended. Such additional information would be helpful to the effective design of dental health programs for implementation at the community level.
Intracranial arterial blood flow velocity and brain blood flow during hypocarbia and hypercarbia in newborn lambs: a validation of range-gated Doppler ultrasound flow velocimetry.

Intracranial Arterial Blood Flow Velocity and Brain Blood Flow during Hypocarbia and Hypercarbia in Newborn Lambs: A Validation of Range-Gated Doppler Ultrasound Flow Velocimetry
Functional characterization of the carnitine transporter defective in primary carnitine deficiency.

Abstract Primary carnitine deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by defective carnitine transport which impairs fatty acid oxidation and manifests as nonketotic hypoglycemia or skeletal or heart myopathy. Here we report the functional characterization of this transporter in human fibroblasts. Carnitine enters normal cells by saturable and unsaturable routes, the latter corresponding to Na + -independent uptake. Saturable carnitine transport was absent in cells from patients with primary carnitine deficiency. In control cells, saturable carnitine transport was energized by the electrochemical gradient of Na + . Carnitine uptake was not inhibited by amino acid substrates of transport systems A, ASC, and X − AG , but was inhibited competitively (in potency order) by butyrobetaine > carnitine > palmitoylcarnitine = acetylcarnitine > betaine. Carnitine uptake was also noncompetitively inhibited by verapamil and quinidine, inhibitors of the multidrug resistance family of membrane transporters, suggesting that the carnitine transporter may share a functional motif with this class of transporters. A high-affinity carnitine transporter was present in kidney 293 cells, but not in HepG2 liver cells, whose carnitine transporter had a K m in the millimolar range. These result indicate the presence of multiple types of carnitine transporters in human cells.
Exploring the Stability Landscape of Constant-Stress Pumpkin Balloon Designs

Pumpkin balloon designs such as the constant-bulge-angle design, the constant-bulge-radius design, and hybrids of the constant-bulge-angle and constant-bulge-radius schemes have been used in an attempt to achieve a cyclically symmetric pumpkinlike shape when fully inflated. A number of flight balloons that were built based on the constant-bulge-angle, constant-bulge-radius, and hybrid design strategies encountered deployment problems. In June 2006, Flight 555-NT (a hybrid design) formed an S-cleft and did not deploy. Currently, NASA's approach to superpressure balloon design uses a constant-stress model developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. To fully understand the mechanism behind cleft formation in pumpkin balloons and to explore the constant-stress design space, NASA's Balloon Program Office carried out a series of inflation tests in 2007 involving four 27-meter-diameter 200-gore pumpkin balloons. One of the test vehicles was a one-third-scale mockup of the Flight 555-NT balloon. Using an inflation procedure intended to mimic ascent, the one-third-scale mockup developed an S-cleft feature that was strikingly similar to the one observed in Flight 555-NT. The remaining three 27-meter balloons tested were constant-stress designs and deployed properly. In an effort to gauge constant-stress design susceptibility to deployment problems, we carry out a number of parametric studies and assess the stability landscape of the constant-stress design space. In our studies, we examine two types of top end-fitting boundary conditions, one restrictive and one less restrictive, that help to define a cleft-free design envelope. We correlate our analytical predictions with outcomes of inflation tests involving 27-meter-diameter test vehicles and outcomes from flight 586-NT and flight 591-NT, which involved larger constant-stress designs. To study scaling effects, we consider a 14-million-cubic-foot design. Our analysis suggests that as one scales up the balloon, the size of the cleft-free envelope shrinks.
Teaching epidemiology: Nursing student achievement in a multi-campus, multi-faculty, distance delivery course

Background: A common epidemiology curriculum was developed by a nurse epidemiologist and delivered by generic nursing faculty on 5 campuses of a western U.S. university school of nursing. The objective was to assess whether student achievement would be affected in this multi-campus, multi-faculty, distance delivery common epidemiology course. Methods: 329 nursing students admitted to 5 campuses of one university were enrolled by cohort in an epidemiology course between 2009 and 2011. 138 students were enrolled by cohort in four courses taught by the nurse epidemiologist who developed the course. The remaining 191 students were divided into sections, enrolled in the common course, and taught by multiple nursing faculty members, variously prepared in the field of public health. Final test score averages were compared between 6 cohorts of students: 1 large set of cohorts taught by the nurse epidemiologist who developed the common course but prior to its implementation, and 5 smaller cohorts of students taught by multiple faculty (including the nurse epidemiologist (author)), at multiple campuses, using identical curriculum. Results: A moderate, but significant difference in student achievement was noted between the courses taught by the nurse epidemiologist as compared to the other cohorts. Conclusions: Critical faculty shortages and the need for updated public health nursing education call for innovative teaching approaches. A commonly developed epidemiology course can be delivered at multiple campuses by generic faculty with minor loss of student achievement.
Bravo Catheter-Free pH Monitoring: Normal Values, Concordance, Optimal Diagnostic Thresholds, and Accuracy

Background & Aims The Bravo pH capsule is a catheter-free intraesophageal pH monitoring system that avoids the discomfort of an indwelling catheter. The objectives of this study were as follows: (1) to obtain normal values for the first and second 24-hour recording periods using a Bravo capsule placed transnasally 5 cm above the upper border of the lower esophageal sphincter determined by manometry and to assess concordance between the 2 periods, (2) to determine the optimal discriminating threshold for identifying patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and (3) to validate this threshold and to identify the recording period with the greatest accuracy. Methods Normal values for a manometrically positioned, transnasally inserted Bravo capsule were determined in 50 asymptomatic subjects. A test population of 50 subjects (25 asymptomatic, 25 with GERD) then was monitored to determine the best discriminating thresholds. The thresholds for the first, second, and combined (48-hour) recording periods then were validated in a separate group of 115 patients. Results In asymptomatic subjects, the values measured using a manometrically positioned Bravo pH capsule were similar between the first and second 24-hour periods of recording. The highest level of accuracy with Bravo was observed when an abnormal composite pH score was obtained in the first or second 24-hour period of monitoring. Conclusions Normal values for esophageal acid exposure were defined for a manometrically positioned, transnasally inserted, Bravo pH capsule. An abnormal composite pH score, obtained in either the first or second 24-hour recording period, was the most accurate method of identifying patients with GERD.
Morphology of slowly-varying geomagnetic external fields - A review

Abstract The morphology of slowly-varying geomagnetic external fields (such as Sq, L, and Dst) and the production mechanisms of electric current systems for those fields are briefly reviewed to provide background knowledge of the present state of research regarding the source fields for scientists concerned with the electromagnetic induction within the earth. It is concluded that both the Sq and Dst fields seem to have sources both in the magnetosphere and the ionosphere, while the classic idea of L-field production solely in the ionosphere by the wind dynamo is still acceptable.
Examining the relationship between self-reported compliance and psychopathic personality traits

Abstract The relationship between antisocial traits and forensically-relevant compliance is equivocal, perhaps due to the heterogeneity of antisocial traits. In an effort to better understand this relationship, the current study used the construct of psychopathy as a means of parsing this heterogeneity. Specifically, the relationship between psychopathy as captured by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005 ) and compliance measured by the Gudjonsson Compliance Scale (GCS; Gudjonsson, 1989, 1997 ) among a sample of university students ( n = 131) was explored. Results revealed that total scores on the PPI-R were unrelated to compliance. However, specific facets of the PPI-R were related to the GCS, but in opposite directions. This might explain inconsistent findings in the extant literature. The findings stemming from the study provide insights into the relationship between antisocial traits and forensically-relevant compliance and offer direction to future efforts aimed at understanding this relationship. Implications for these distinct relationships in the context of false confessions are discussed.
Balance and cognitive performance during a dual-task: Preliminary implications for use in concussion assessment

Abstract Objectives To determine the reliability and effects of a dual-task paradigm on balance and cognitive function compared to a single-task paradigm. Design Repeated measures. Methods Healthy participants ( n = 23) completed a variation of the Sensory Organization Test and the incongruent Stroop test individually (single-task) and concurrently (dual-task) during two testing sessions. Results The Sensory Organization Test and incongruent Stroop test had moderate to high reliability (1.00 > ICC 2, k > 0.60) under the dual-task conditions. Reaction time was significantly longer ( t 21 = −2.54, p = 0.019) under the dual-task conditions, while balance scores under one of the four conditions of the Sensory Organization Test (sway floor/fixed wall) were statistically better ( t 22 = −3.03, p = 0.006) under the dual-task conditions. However, this difference in balance scores may not be clinically meaningful. Conclusions These findings illustrate that the Sensory Organization Test and incongruent Stroop task can be reliably incorporated into a dual-task assessment paradigm. The slowed reaction time under the dual-task paradigm indicates that the dual-task provided an additional cost to cognitive function. Dual-task concussion assessment paradigms involving these two tasks are psychometrically appropriate as well as more representative of actual sporting situations. However, more research should be conducted in a concussed population to further validate this claim.
A transparent model for simulation of ingot front solidification

Observations of the macroscopic freezing front in water and solutions of water with ammonium chloride reveal anisotropies identical in nature to those noted in metallic alloys. The variables which govern the anisotropies are similar for both types of materials, a fact which allows us to confirm our conclusions already stated about metals. The observations made with water are also direct ones and not inferential as must be the case for metals; we are therefore surer about other effects connected with this phenomenon of anisotropic growth. For example, cracking of the ice was often observed when the anisotropy occurred but was absent otherwise; it then appears that cracking in some metals may owe its origins to the effect of interface front anisotropy.
Interactions of Several Bile Acids with Hemicelluloses from Several Varieties of Rice

Purified and crude preparations of rice hemicellulose from rice bran, whole rice (brown rice), and milled rice were incubated with four bile acids (cholic, glycocholic, taurocholic, and glycotaurocholic acids) under in vitro conditions of pH, temperature, salinity, time for interaction and so forth to approximate conditions normally found in the intestinal tract. The amounts of bile acids bound gradually increased as the concentration of rice extract increased for all rice varieties, with whole rice extract or rice bran extract. Results suggest an effect of growing areas on the binding properties of rice bran and milled rice.