Interplanetary mission design handbook. Volume 1, part 2: Earth to Mars ballistic mission opportunities, 1990-2005

Graphical data necessary for the preliminary design of ballistic missions to Mars are provided. Contours of launch energy requirements, as well as many other launch and Mars arrival parameters, are presented in launch date/arrival date space for all launch opportunities from 1990 through 2005. In addition, an extensive text is included which explains mission design methods, from launch window development to Mars probe and orbiter arrival design, utilizing the graphical data as well as numerous equations relating various parameters

Planetary geometry handbook: Venus positional data, 1988 - 2020, volume 2

Graphical data necessary for the analysis of planetary exploration missions to Venus are presented. Positional and geometric information spanning the time period from 1988 through 2020 is provided. The data and the usage are explained

Planetary geometry handbook: Mars positional data, 1990 - 2020, volume 3

Graphical data necessary for the analysis of planetary exploration missions to Mars are presented. Positional and geometric information spanning the time period from 1990 through 2020 is provided. The data and usage are explained

Planetary geometry handbook: Jupiter positional data, 1985 - 2020, volume 4

Graphical data necessary for the analysis of planetary exploration missions to Jupiter are presented. Positional and geometric information spanning the time period from 1985 through 2020 is provided. The data and their usage are explained

Planetary geometry handbook: Saturn positional data, 1985 - 2020, volume 5

Graphical data necessary for the analysis of planetary exploration missions to Saturn are presented. Positional and geometric information spanning the time period from 1985 through 2020 is provided. The data and their usage are explained

Second-trimester markers of fetal size in schizophrenia: a study of monozygotic twins

OBJECTIVE: Since the second prenatal trimester is the critical period of massive neural cell migration to the cortex, and fingertip dermal cells migrate to form ridges during this same period, the authors sought to determine whether there are differences in fingertip ridge count in pairs of monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia, possibly indicating that a prenatal anatomical insult affected the twins differently. METHOD: The fingertip dermal ridges of 30 pairs of monozygotic twins (23 pairs in which the twins were discordant for schizophrenia and seven pairs in which both twins were normal) were counted by two persons trained in anthropometric research. Intrapair differences in the counts were then measured, and the differences among the pairs of normal twins were compared with the differences among the pairs discordant for schizophrenia. RESULTS: The twins discordant for schizophrenia had significantly greater absolute intrapair differences in total finger ridge count and significantly greater percent intrapair differences than the normal twins; i.e., their fingerprints were significantly less "twin-like." CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that various second-trimester prenatal disturbances in the epigenesis of one twin in a pair discordant for schizophrenia may be related to the fact that only one of the twins expresses his or her genetic predisposition toward schizophrenia. This is consistent with a "two-strike" etiology of schizophrenia: a genetic diathesis plus a second-trimester environmental stressor

De novo variants disturbing the transactivation capacity of POU3F3 cause a characteristic neurodevelopmental disorder

POU3F3, also referred to as Brain-1, is a well-known transcription factor involved in the development of the central nervous system, but it has not previously been associated with a neurodevelopmental disorder. Here, we report the identification of 19 individuals with heterozygous POU3F3 disruptions, most of which are de novo variants. All individuals had developmental delays and/or intellectual disability and impairments in speech and language skills. Thirteen individuals had characteristic low-set, prominent, and/or cupped ears. Brain abnormalities were observed in seven of eleven MRI reports. POU3F3 is an intronless gene, insensitive to nonsense-mediated decay, and 13 individuals carried protein-truncating variants. All truncating variants that we tested in cellular models led to aberrant subcellular localization of the encoded protein. Luciferase assays demonstrated negative effects of these alleles on transcriptional activation of a reporter with a FOXP2-derived binding motif. In addition to the loss-of-function variants, five individuals had missense variants that clustered at specific positions within the functional domains, and one small in-frame deletion was identified. Two missense variants showed reduced transactivation capacity in our assays, whereas one variant displayed gain-of-function effects, suggesting a distinct pathophysiological mechanism. In bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) interaction assays, all the truncated POU3F3 versions that we tested had significantly impaired dimerization capacities, whereas all missense variants showed unaffected dimerization with wild-type POU3F3. Taken together, our identification and functional cell-based analyses of pathogenic variants in POU3F3, coupled with a clinical characterization, implicate disruptions of this gene in a characteristic neurodevelopmental disorder

Advanced Parental Age and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study evaluated independent effects of maternal and paternal age on risk of autism spectrum disorder. A case-cohort design was implemented using data from 10 US study sites participating in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. The 1994 birth cohort included 253,347 study-site births with complete parental age information. Cases included 1,251 children aged 8 years with complete parental age information from the same birth cohort and identified as having an autism spectrum disorder based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision criteria. After adjustment for the other parent's age, birth order, maternal education, and other covariates, both maternal and paternal age were independently associated with autism (adjusted odds ratio for maternal age ≥35 vs. 25–29 years = 1.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 1.6; adjusted odds ratio for paternal age ≥40 years vs. 25–29 years = 1.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 1.8). Firstborn offspring of 2 older parents were 3 times more likely to develop autism than were third- or later-born offspring of mothers aged 20–34 years and fathers aged <40 years (odds ratio = 3.1, 95% confidence interval: 2.0, 4.7). The increase in autism risk with both maternal and paternal age has potential implications for public health planning and investigations of autism etiology

Absence of the spleen(s) in conjoined twins: a diagnostic clue of laterality defects? Radiological study of historical specimens

Laterality defects are quite common in thoracoileopagus and parapagus dicephalus but rare in other types of conjoined twins. To present the presumed laterality defects in cephalothoracoileopagus and prosopothoracoileopagus conjoined twins, based on the unilateral or bilateral absence or duplication of the spleen. Three human anatomical specimens of craniothoracoileopagus (CTIP) twins and one of prosopothoracoileopagus (PTIP) twins were investigated. The specimens were part of the Museum Vrolik collection of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology of the Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The specimens were taken out of their jars and scanned with multidetector CT and volumetric T2-weighted MRI at 1.5 T. The internal anatomy of the specimens was largely in accordance with previous reports. However, there was no recognisable spleen in the right twin in one CTIP specimen, in the left twin in one other CTIP specimen, and in both twins in the third CTIP specimen and in the PTIP specimen. Asplenia and polysplenia are considered reliable indicators of right and left isomerism, respectively. However, three of our four specimens had laterality patterns that did not correspond with those previously reported. Since no other parameters of laterality defects could be verified in these specimens, we concluded that asplenia was unlikely to be caused by laterality defect