Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incidence of attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder among school children in Riyadh city and its association with body burden of mercury leached from dental amalgam fillings: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to determine the association between the incidence of attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children of mothers with and without amalgam fillings. Design: The study design was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting: The study was conducted at a dental college's clinic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Participants: In total, 869 children (512 males and 357 females) aged 6–12 years and 796 mothers were included. Children suffering from hearing impairment, language impairment, or learning disabilities or those diagnosed with mental health problems were excluded from the study. Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: The primary outcome measures included the results of the Vanderbilt scale used for ADHD diagnosis in children and the mercury concentration in 1 ml saliva samples obtained from both the mother and the children. The secondary outcome measures included the number of dental amalgam restorations in the oral cavity determined through a dental examination of children and their mothers. Methodology: A consent form was signed by the mothers who agreed to participate in our study, they were all examined for amalgam presence and a saliva samples were collected and digested. Results: Children with ADHD showed significantly higher levels of mercury in saliva than did children without ADHD. The mothers who had dental amalgam fillings during pregnancy had significantly higher mercury levels than did the mothers who did not have dental amalgam fillings. Conclusion: Prenatal mercury exposure is associated with a higher risk of ADHD behavior. Further research can be carried out to identify the toxic effects of mercury on different body organs owing to dental amalgam fillings. The study scale can be further increased to obtain a more accurate percentage of ADHD cases in Saudi Arabia.
Phospho-S129 Alpha-Synuclein Is Present in Human Plasma but Not in Cerebrospinal Fluid as Determined by an Ultrasensitive Immunoassay

Accumulation and aggregation of misfolded alpha-synuclein is believed to be a cause of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Phosphorylation of alpha-synuclein at S129 is known to be associated with the pathological misfolding process, but efforts to investigate the relevance of this post-translational modification for pathology have been frustrated by difficulties in detecting and quantifying it in relevant samples. We report novel, ultrasensitive immunoassays based on single-molecule counting technology, useful for detecting alpha-synuclein and its S129 phosphorylated form in clinical samples in the low pg/ml range. Using human CSF and plasma samples, we find levels of alpha-synuclein comparable to those previously reported. However, while alpha-synuclein phosphorylated on S129 could easily be detected in human plasma, where its detection is extremely sensitive to protein phosphatases, its levels in CSF were undetectable, with a possible influence of a matrix effect. In plasma samples from a small test cohort comprising 5 PD individuals and five age-matched control individuals we find that pS129 alpha-synuclein levels are increased in PD plasma samples, in line with previous reports. We conclude that pS129 alpha-synuclein is not detectable in CSF and recommend the addition of phosphatase inhibitors to plasma samples at the time of collection. Moreover, the findings obtained on the small cohort of clinical plasma samples point to plasma pS129 alpha-synuclein levels as a candidate diagnostic biomarker in PD.
Total economic value' of New Zealand's land-based ecosystems and their services.

Patterson MG, Cole AO 2013. “Total economic value” of New Zealand’s land-based ecosystems and their services. In Dymond JR ed. Ecosystem services in New Zealand – conditions and trends. Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln, New Zealand. INTRODUCTION This chapter updates and revises a study undertaken in 1996/97 for the Department of Conservation and the Ministry for Environment, to provide background information for New Zealand’s Biodiversity Strategy. While the fi rst report was completed in 1997 (Cole and Patterson 1997), it was not fully published until February 1999 (Patterson and Cole 1999a). A range of other commissioned reports that applied the Patterson and Cole (1999a) methodology to various regions in New Zealand were also subsequently produced: Patterson and Cole (1999b), McDonald and Patterson (2008), van den Belt et al. (2009) and Chrystall et al. (2012). In this revision and update we will restrict ourselves to landbased ecosystems (horticulture, cropping, agriculture, forests, scrubland, wetlands, rivers, lakes, estuaries and mangroves) and their services. Although the original study also covered the coastal zone and indeed the entire Exclusive Economic Zone of New Zealand, these ecosystems will not be covered in this analysis primarily due to the current lack of reliable data. However, it should be noted that indicative calculations demonstrate that the value of coastal–marine ecosystems in New Zealand is likely to be very high and signifi cantly exceeding the land-based ecosystems (Patterson and Cole 1999a). As with our original study, the analytical aim is to estimate the total economic value derived from New Zealand’s land-based ecosystems and their services. The ‘total economic value’ (TEV) taxonomy promoted by Pearce et al. (1989) and Perrings (1995), among others, is used in this analysis. The TEV of ecosystems, like any resource, consists of use value and non-use (passive) value. The passive-value component can be subdivided into option-, bequestand existence-value components. In this study, the use-value component is subdivided into supporting services, regulating services, provisioning services and cultural services.
Observed Multi-Timescale Differences between Summertime Near-Surface Equivalent Temperature and Temperature for China and Their Linkage with Global Sea Surface Temperatures

Based on the ensemble empirical mode decomposition method, this study explores the differences and similarities in multiple time-scale characteristics of summer air temperature (T) and equivalent temperature (Te) over China during 1961–2017, using daily meteorological observations collected at 412 stations in China. Their relationships to global sea surface temperature variations is also discussed. Results show that both T and Te can be decomposed into five components, which includes multiple timescales, from interannual to long-term trends. The spatial patterns of each timescale’s leading mode show that the variations of Te are generally larger than that of T. Meanwhile, both T and Te are dominated by their inter-annual, multi-decadal variations and the non-linear trend. High correlations of T and Te can also be found in these major scales. The related sea surface temperature variations in these major scales also show consistent patterns, which correspond to El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and the global warming trend in the sea, respectively. In other scales, both spatial patterns of T and Te and the corresponding correlation patterns with sea surface temperature are distinguishable. The current results explore the compound changes of surface temperature-humidity during the past five decades from a new perspective, which provides some insights for a better understanding of the possible causes of climate change over China.
Generalized methods for application specific hardware specialization

Since the invention of the microprocessor in 1971, the computational capacity of the microprocessor has scaled over 1000x with Moore and Dennard scaling. Dennard scaling ended with a rapid increase in leakage power 30 years after it was proposed. This ushered in the era of multiprocessing where additional transistors afforded by Moore's scaling were put to use. The breakdown of Moore's law indicates the start of a new era for computer architects. With the scaling of computational capacity no longer guaranteed every generation, application specific hardware specialization is an attractive alternative to sustain scaling trends. Hardware specialization broadly refers to the identification and optimization of recurrent patterns, dynamic and static, in software via integrated circuitry. This dissertation describes a two-pronged approach to architectural specialization.First, a top down approach uses program analysis to determine code regions amenable for specialization. We have implemented a prototype compiler tool-chain to automatically identify, analyze, extract and grow code segments which are amenable to specialization in a methodical manner. Second, a bottom up approach evaluated particular hardware enhancements to enable the efficient data movement of specialized regions. We have devised and evaluated coherence protocols and flexible caching mechanisms to reduce the overhead of data movement within specialized regions. The former workload centric approach analyses programs at the path granularity. We enumerate static and dynamic program characteristics accurately with low overhead. Our observations show that analysis of amenability for specialization along the path granularity yield different conclusions than prior work. We show that analyses at coarser granularities tend to smear program characteristics critical to specialization. We analyse the potential for performance and energy improvement via specialization at the path granularity. We develop mechanisms to extract and merge amenable paths into segments called Braids. Braids are constructed from the observation that oft-executed program paths have the same start and end point. This allows for increased offload opportunity while retaining the same interface as path granularity specialization. To address the challenges of data movement, the latter micro-architecture first approach, proposes a specialized coherence protocol tailored for accelerators and an adaptive granularity caching mechanism. The hybrid coherence protocol localizes data movement to a specialized accelerator-only tile reducing energy consumption and improving performance. Modern workloads have varied program characteristics where fixed granularity caching often introduces waste in the cache hierarchy. Frequently cache blocks are evicted before all words in the fetched line are touched by the processor. We propose a variable granularity caching mechanism which reduces energy consumption while improving performance via better utilization of the available storage space.
Optoelectronic properties of methyl-terminated germanane

Germanane is a two-dimensional, strongly confined form of germanium. It presents an interesting combination of (i) ease of integration with CMOS technology, (ii) low toxicity, and (iii) electronic confinement which transforms the indirect bandgap of the bulk material into a direct bandgap featuring photoluminescence. However, the optoelectronic properties of this material remain far less investigated than its structural properties. Here, we investigate the photoluminescence and transport properties of arrays of methyl-terminated germanane flakes. The photoluminescence appears to have two contributions, one from the band edge and the other from trap states. The dynamics of the exciton appear to be in the range of 1–100 ns. Conduction in this material appears to be p-type, while the photoconduction time response can be made as short as 100 μs. Germanane is a two-dimensional, strongly confined form of germanium. It presents an interesting combination of (i) ease of integration with CMOS technology, (ii) low toxicity, and (iii) electronic confinement which transforms the indirect bandgap of the bulk material into a direct bandgap featuring photoluminescence. However, the optoelectronic properties of this material remain far less investigated than its structural properties. Here, we investigate the photoluminescence and transport properties of arrays of methyl-terminated germanane flakes. The photoluminescence appears to have two contributions, one from the band edge and the other from trap states. The dynamics of the exciton appear to be in the range of 1–100 ns. Conduction in this material appears to be p-type, while the photoconduction time response can be made as short as 100 μs.
Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) Sensors in a High-Scattering Optical Fiber Doped with MgO Nanoparticles for Polarization-Dependent Temperature Sensing

The characterization of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors on a high-scattering fiber, having the core doped with MgO nanoparticles for polarization-dependent temperature sensing is reported. The fiber has a scattering level 37.2 dB higher than a single-mode fiber. FBGs have been inscribed by mean of a near-infrared femtosecond laser and a phase mask, with Bragg wavelength around 1552 nm. The characterization shows a thermal sensitivity of 11.45 pm/°C. A polarization-selective thermal behavior has been obtained, with sensitivity of 11.53 pm/°C for the perpendicular polarization (S) and 11.08 pm/°C for the parallel polarization (P), thus having 4.0% different sensitivity between the two polarizations. The results show the inscription of high-reflectivity FBGs onto a fiber core doped with nanoparticles, with the possibility of having reflectors into a fiber with tailored Rayleigh scattering properties.
Clustering and Representation of Time-Varying Industrial Wireless Channel Measurements

The wireless devices in cyber-physical systems (CPS) play a primary role in transporting the information flows within such systems. Deploying wireless systems in industry has many advantages due to lower cost, ease of scale, and flexibility due to the absence of cabling. However, industrial wireless deployments in various industrial environments require having the proper models for industrial wireless channels. In this work, we propose and assess an algorithm for characterizing measured channel impulse response (CIR) of time-varying wireless industrial channels. The proposed algorithm performs data processing, clustering, and averaging for measured CIRs. We have deployed a dynamic time warping (DTW) distance metric to measure the similarity among CIRs. Then, an affinity propagation (AP) machine learning clustering algorithm is deployed for CIR grouping. Finally, we obtain the average CIR of various data clusters as a representation for the cluster. The algorithm is then assessed over industrial wireless channel measurements in various types of industrial environments. The goal of this work is to have a better industrial wireless channels representation that results in a better recognition to the nature of industrial wireless communications and allows for building more effective wireless devices and systems.
L2 Writing Strategies Used by EFL Graduate Students

This study investigates the writing strategies and the predominantly strategies used by four Indonesian graduate students when writing in L2 (English). They were divided into 2 groups, skilled and less skilled writers, to examine what strategies they applied when writing. The main instrument of this study is Think Aloud Protocols (TAPs). The analysis of data collected discovered some findings: (1) both skilled and less skilled writers used varied strategies. However, the frequency of using each strategy was different. Skilled writers used each strategy in high frequency. On the other hand, less skilled writers only used each strategy in low frequency, while skilled writers understand the recursive nature of writing. (2) Skilled writers used reading and rereading strategies in high frequency for several purposes: revising and editing the text, developing ideas, and getting new ideas, while less skilled writers rarely used those strategies. They wrote whatever ideas came into their mind, and reread the text once in a while. These findings suggest that effective writing strategies should be introduced explicitly when student writers have already mastered the foundation of writing. Unfortunately, they are seldom guided on the use of writing strategies in the process of their writing. In fact, effective writing strategies and the frequency of using each strategy could help them become good writers and influence the quality of their writing. Based on these findings some suggestions are discussed.
Fixed‐time synchronization for complex‐valued BAM neural networks with time delays

In this paper, the fixed‐time synchronization for complex‐valued bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural networks with time delays is studied. Based on the fixed‐time stability, the Lyapunov functional method and some inequality techniques, a new criterion is presented to guarantee that the addressed systems achieve synchronization in fixed time and a more accurate estimation independent of the initial conditions is given for the settling time. Meanwhile, a new nonlinear delayed controller different from the existing ones is designed. In the end, two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained result.
Differential expression of AtWAKL10 in response to nitric oxide suggests a putative role in biotic and abiotic stress responses

Plant defense against pathogens and abiotic stresses is regulated differentially by communicating signal transduction pathways in which nitric oxide (NO) plays a key role. Here, we show the biological role of Arabidopsis thaliana wall-associated kinase (AtWAK) Like10 (AtWAKL10) that exhibits greater than a 100-fold change in transcript accumulation in response to the NO donor S-nitroso-L-cysteine (CysNO), identified from high throughput RNA-seq based transcriptome analysis. Loss of AtWAKL10 function showed a similar phenotype to wild type (WT) with, however, less branching. The growth of atwakl10 on media supplemented with oxidative or nitrosative stress resulted in differential results with improved growth following treatment with CysNO but reduced growth in response to S-nitrosoglutatione (GSNO) and methyl-viologen. Further, atwakl10 plants exhibited increased susceptibility to virulent Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato (Pst) DC3000 with a significant increase in pathogen growth and decrease in PR1 transcript accumulation compared to WT overtime. Similar results were found in response to Pst DC3000 avrB, resulting in increased cell death as shown by increased electrolyte leakage in atwakl10. Furthermore, atwakl10 also showed increased reactive oxygen species accumulation following Pst DC3000 avrB inoculation. Promoter analysis of AtWAKL10 showed transcription factor (TF) binding sites for biotic and abiotic stress-related TFs. Further investigation into the role of AtWAKL10 in abiotic stresses showed that following two weeks water-withholding drought condition most of the atwakl10 plants got wilted; however, the majority (60%) of these plants recovered following re-watering. In contrast, in response to salinity stress, atwakl10 showed reduced germination under 150 mM salt stress compared to WT, suggesting that NO-induced AtWAKL10 differentially regulates different abiotic stresses. Taken together, this study further elucidates the importance of NO-induced changes in gene expression and their role in plant biotic and abiotic stress tolerance.
The domain specificity and generality of disjunctive reasoning: Searching for a generalizable critical thinking skill

The domain specificity and generality of an important critical thinking skill was examined by administering 9 reasoning and decision-making tasks to 125 adults. Optimal performance on all of the tasks required that disjunctive processing strategies—strategies requiring the exhaustive consideration of all of the possible states of the world—be adopted. Performance across these disjunctive reasoning tasks displayed considerable domain specificity, but 5 of the tasks displayed moderate convergence. Cognitive ability was associated with performance on only 3 of 9 tasks. Six of the 9 tasks displayed associations with 1 of 2 cognitive styles that were examined in the multivariate task battery (need for cognition and reflectivity). Performance on the 5 tasks that displayed some domain generality was also more associated with thinking styles than with cognitive ability in several regression analyses. In an important article on the cognitive processes that underlie performance on many thinking and reasoning tasks, Shafir (1994) emphasized the importance of a fully disjunctive approach to decision-making and problem-solving situations. Shafir defined this disjunctive reasoning skill as the tendency to consider all possible states of the world when deciding among options or when choosing a problem solution in a reasoning task. Most decisionmaking situations can be thought of as disjunctions of possible states of the world. Thus, choosing optimally entails combining the probabilities of the states with the desirabilities of the outcomes under each of the decision options (Jeffrey, 1983; Savage, 1954). Many problem-solving situations can likewise be optimally evaluated by constructing all of the mental models that are consistent with the premises as presented (Johnson-Laird, 1983, 1999; Johnson-Laird & Byrne, 1991). Despite the seeming obviousness of disjunctive reasoning as a general thinking strategy, Shafir (1994) demonstrated how, if one looks across the wide domain of reasoning tasks used in cognitive science, it is easy to find tasks in which people perform suboptimally because they do not use the strategy. Consider one of the simplest applications of the disjunctive reasoning strategy—that embodied in the sure-thing principle in Savage’s (1954) seminal derivation of the axioms of expected utility theory. Imagine you are choosing between two possible outcomes, A and B, and event X is an event that may or may not occur in the future. If you prefer prospect A to prospect B if X happens and you also prefer prospect A to prospect B if X does not happen, then you definitely prefer A to B. A disjunctive consideration of the alternative states of the world (either X will occur or not) should lead to the conclusion that uncertainty about whether X will occur or not should have no bearing on your preference. Because your preference is in no way changed by knowledge of event X, you should prefer A to B whether you know anything about event X or not.