Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sleep determines quality of life in autistic adults: A longitudinal study

Many individuals with autism report generally low quality of life (QoL). Identifying predictors for pathways underlying this outcome is an urgent priority. We aim to examine multivariate patterns that predict later subjective and objective QoL in autistic individuals. Autistic characteristics, comorbid complaints, aspects of daily functioning, and demographics were assessed online in a 2‐year longitudinal study with 598 autistic adults. Regression trees were fitted to baseline data to identify factors that could predict QoL at follow‐up. We found that sleep problems are an important predictor of later subjective QoL, while the subjective experience of a person's societal contribution is important when it comes to predicting the level of daily activities. Sleep problems are the most important predictor of QoL in autistic adults and may offer an important treatment target for improving QoL. Our results additionally suggest that social satisfaction can buffer this association. Autism Research 2019, 12: 794–801. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Performance of Bentonite, Fly Ash and Wood Ash Mixtures as Grounding Enhancement Materials

Grounding system is used to divert the lightning surge current, fault current or electromagnetic interference to earth, mainly for safety purposes. An effective grounding system requires low resistance path which could be achieved by treating the surrounding soil with grounding enhancement materials to effectively reduce its earth resistance. Such grounding enhancement materials could be chemical or natural based, where only natural enhancement materials are considered in this study. Six grounding system installations with various ratio of Bentonite, Fly Ash and Wood Ash mixtures were installed at School of Graduate Studies, UPM, and were compared to a Reference grounding system which is without any natural enhancement material added to the vicinity of the ground conductor. The main aim of this work is to evaluate the performance of the natural enhancement material mixtures as grounding enhancement materials. Fall-of-potential method with 62% rule and 0° separation angle were employed to measure the grounding system installations’ daily earth resistances for comparison purposes, for 130 days, i.e. from 12th Jan 2018 to 22nd May 2018. The performance of seven grounding system installations considered in this study in the descending order were Bentonite and Wood Ash mixture, 100% Bentonite, 100% Wood Ash, Bentonite and Fly Ash mixture, Fly Ash and Wood Ash mixture, 100% Fly Ash, and Reference grounding systems, with the earth resistance values for the natural enhancement material mixture grounding systems were 20.17%, 20.61%, 24.17%, 25.48%, 28.96%, and 34.78%, respectively from the earth resistance value of the Reference grounding system on day-0. This clearly shown that Fly Ash may not be suitable to be used as natural enhancement material for grounding system installation. While, Wood Ash would be a new natural enhancement material as its performance is comparable to Bentonite, the widely used material.
Bias, incompleteness and the ‘known unknowns’ in the Holocene faunal record

Long-term faunal data are needed to track biodiversity change and extinction over wide spatio-temporal scales. The Holocene record is a particularly rich and well-resolved resource for this purpose but nonetheless represents a biased subset of the original faunal composition, both at the site-level assemblage and when data are pooled for wider-scale analysis. We investigated patterns and potential sources of taxonomic, spatial and temporal bias in two Holocene datasets of mammalian occurrence and abundance, one at the global species level and one at the continental population-level. Larger-bodied species are disproportionately abundant in the Holocene fossil record, but this varies according to trophic level, probably owing to past patterns of human subsistence and exploitation. Despite the uneven spatial distribution of mammalian occurrence records, we found no specific source of sampling bias, suggesting that this error type can be avoided by intensive data collection protocols. Faunal assemblages are more abundant and precisely dated nearer to the present as a consequence of taphonomy, past human demography and dating methods. Our study represents one of the first attempts to quantify incompleteness and bias in the Holocene mammal record, and failing to critically assess the quality of long-term faunal datasets has major implications for understanding species decline and extinction risk. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The past is a foreign country: how much can the fossil record actually inform conservation? ’
Binding and transport of D-aspartate by the glutamate transporter homolog GltTk

Mammalian glutamate transporters are crucial players in neuronal communication as they perform neurotransmitter reuptake from the synaptic cleft. Besides L-glutamate and L-aspartate, they also recognize D-aspartate, which might participate in mammalian neurotransmission and/or neuromodulation. Much of the mechanistic insight in glutamate transport comes from studies of the archeal homologs GltPh from Pyrococcus horikoshii and GltTk from Thermococcus kodakarensis. Here, we show that GltTk transports D-aspartate with identical Na+: substrate coupling stoichiometry as L-aspartate, and that the affinities (Kd and Km) for the two substrates are similar. We determined a crystal structure of GltTk with bound D-aspartate at 2.8 Å resolution. Comparison of the L- and D-aspartate bound GltTk structures revealed that D-aspartate is accommodated with only minor rearrangements in the structure of the binding site. The structure explains how the geometrically different molecules L- and D-aspartate are recognized and transported by the protein in the same way.
Cell Biology International

Vasodilator‐stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) is a 39‐kDa protein belonging to the Ena/VASP protein family, which is involved in adhesion, migration, cell–cell interaction, and regulation of pathways connected with actin cytoskeleton remodeling. VASP is phosphorylated at Tyr39, Ser157, Ser239, Thr278, and Ser322 mainly by tyrosine kinase Abl, cAMP‐ dependent protein kinase, protein kinase G, AMP‐activated protein kinase, and protein kinase D1, respectively. VASP phosphorylation, as a regulator of actin dynamics, may lead to impaired reorganization of the podocyte actin cytoskeleton not only by indirect interaction of VASP with actin but also by regulation of other signaling pathways. A few studies have shown that VASP participates in the development of renal diseases and mediates podocyte movement through its interaction with proteins of the slit diaphragm. VASP phosphorylation may cause reduced actin filament assembly in podocytes and mediate disturbances in regulation of filtration barrier permeability as a consequence of podocyte foot process effacement. In this paper, we describe the role of VASP in podocyte function, mainly in the context of actin dynamics and glomerular filtration barrier permeability. In addition, we discuss the involvement of VASP and its phosphorylated forms in the development of kidney diseases.
Reflector Synthesis for Wide-Scanning Focal Plane Arrays

A new complex offset double-reflector configuration for a wideband focal plane array (FPA) is presented which is optimized for Ka-band applications with a scan range of ±20° in the azimuth plane. This configuration is obtained by using a mathematical framework based on geometrical optics which allow us to optimize complex double-reflector FPAs with limited computational effort. The proposed reflector configuration maximizes the number of simultaneously active array elements of the phased-array feed and minimizes the required total number of array elements for this wide scan range. To realize an aperture efficiency of at least 80% at 30 GHz, our concept allows half of the antenna elements in the array to be active during scanning for a scan range of ±10° and at least a quarter of the array elements to be active for a scan range of ±20°. This is a major improvement as compared to the scanning capabilities of focal-plane arrays based on conventional single- and double-parabolic reflector configurations. In addition, the FPA configuration has been optimized for wideband optical true-time-delay beamforming which requires a linear phase distribution along the array elements. We obtained a phase linearity with rms error of 2.81° at 30 GHz. The experiments from the realized prototype demonstrate a good agreement between simulation and measurements and fully prove the required scanning performance over a ±20° scan range. The prototype demonstrates a high directivity up to 46 dBi at 30 GHz and 48 dBi at 40 GHz and reflector efficiency up to 83% at 30 GHz and 77% at 40 GHz.
Galantamine-memantine combination superior to donepezil-memantine combination in Alzheimer’s disease: critical dissection with an emphasis on kynurenic acid and mismatch negativity

Background: The donepezil-memantine combination is a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved medication to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Galantamine is superior to donepezil because it is a positive allosteric modulator of the alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR). Although galantamine and memantine are both FDA approved for the treatment of AD, the combination is still underutilized in clinical practice. Aim: The objective of this review was to critically examine the mechanisms by which the galantamine-memantine combination may be superior to the donepezil-memantine combination in AD by targeting the cholinergic-nicotinic and glutamatergic systems concurrently. Method: PubMed and Google Scholar were searched using the keywords Alzheimer’s disease, cholinergic, glutamatergic, α7nAChR, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, donepezil, galantamine, memantine, clinical trials, and biomarkers. Results: AD is associated with several biomarkers such as kynurenine pathway (KP) metabolites, mismatch negativity (MMN), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and oxidative stress. In several preclinical studies, cognitive impairments significantly improved with the galantamine-memantine combination compared to either medication alone. Synergistic benefits were also seen with the combination. In a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in prodrome AD, cognition significantly improved with the galantamine-memantine combination compared to galantamine alone; cognition declined after galantamine was discontinued. However, in an RCT in AD, cognition did not significantly improve with the galantamine-memantine combination compared to galantamine alone. In a retrospective study in AD, the galantamine-memantine combination significantly improved cognition compared to the donepezil-memantine combination. Galantamine and memantine via the α7nACh and NMDA receptors can counteract the effects of kynurenic acid and enhance MMN and BDNF. Conclusion: Future studies with the galantamine-memantine combination with KP metabolites, MMN, and BDNF as biomarkers are warranted. Positive RCTs in AD may lead to FDA approval of the combination, resulting in greater utilization in clinical practice. In the meantime, clinicians may continue to use the galantamine-memantine combination to treat patients with AD.
Elimination Characteristics of the Alcohol Biomarker Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) in Blood during Alcohol Detoxification

Heavy drinkers admitted for alcohol detoxification at hospital tested positive for PEth in blood. During abstinence, a steady, first-order elimination of PEth homologs from blood was demonstrated over a 2-week period. The elimination rates did not differ significantly between men and women, but differed between individuals and between PEth homologs.
Disaster Management: Knowledge, Attitude, Behavior, Willingness, and Preparedness among Nigerian Dentists

Objective: This study’s objective was to explore the disaster management knowledge, attitude, behavior, willingness, and assistance among Nigerian dentists. Methods: This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted in Edo State (Nigeria) among selected Nigerian dentists that attended the Annual Scientific Conference of School of Dentistry, University of Benin (Benin City, Nigeria) between 2016 and 2017. The 54-item, modified Chhabra, et al disaster management questionnaire, which elicited information on demographic characteristics, disaster management knowledge, attitude, preparedness, and willingness, was the data collection tool. Results: A total of 126 dentists participated in the study, giving a 68.1% retrieval rate. The willingness to render assistance in the case of disaster among the participants was 95.2%. More than three-quarters (81.0%) reported that they had not received any disaster management training and 92.9% reported that they were not familiar with any government paper on response to disaster. The mean disaster management knowledge and attitude scores were 16.95 (SD = 0.40) and 34.62 (SD = 0.56), respectively. Disaster management knowledge had positive significant correlation with attitude and behavior. The disaster management attitude had positive significant correlation with behavior and negative significant correlation with preparedness. Disaster management behavior had positive significant correlation with preparedness and willingness to render assistance. Willingness to render assistance had significant correlation with preparedness. Conclusion: Data from this study revealed high-level of willingness to render assistance in disaster, high disaster management attitude, but with low disaster management knowledge, behavior, and preparedness. The significant correlation between knowledge, attitude, behavior, and preparedness implies that training will offer immense benefit. Odai ED, Azodo CC, Chhabra KG. Disaster management: knowledge, attitude, behavior, willingness, and preparedness among Nigerian dentists. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2019;34(2):132–136
Long Document Classification From Local Word Glimpses via Recurrent Attention Learning

Document classification requires to extract high-level features from low-level word vectors. Typically, feature extraction by deep neural networks makes use of all words in a document, which cannot scale well for a long document. In this paper, we propose to tackle the long document classification task by incorporating the recurrent attention learning framework, which can produce the discriminative features with significantly less words. Specifically, the core work is to train a recurrent neural network (RNN)-based controller, which can focus its attention on the discriminative parts. Then, the glimpsed feature is extracted by a typical short text level convolutional neural network (CNN) from the focused group of words. The controller locates its attention according to the context information, which consists of the coarse representation of the original document and the memorized glimpsed features. By glimpsing a few groups, the document can be classified by aggregating these glimpsed features and the coarse representation. For our collected 11-class 10 000-word arXiv paper data set, the proposed method outperforms two subsampled deep CNN baseline models by a large margin given much less observed words.
A sexy approach to pacemaking: differences in function and molecular make up of the sinoatrial node.

Background- Functional properties of the sinoatrial node (SAN) are known to differ between sexes. Women have higher resting and intrinsic heart rates. Sex determines the risk of developing certain arrhythmias such as sick sinus syndrome, which occur more often in women. We believe that a major contributor to these differences is in gender specific ion channel expression. Methods- qPCR was used to compare ion channel gene expression in the SAN and right atrium (RA) between male and female rats. Histology, immunohistochemistry and signal intensity analysis were used to locate the sinus node and determine abundance of ion channels. The effect of nifedipine on extracellular potential recording was used to determine differences in beating rate between sexes. Results- mRNAs for Cav1.3, Kir3.1, and Nkx2-5, as well as expression of the L-Type Ca²⁺ channel protein, were higher in the female SAN. Females had significantly higher intrinsic heart rates and the effect of nifedipine on isolated SAN preparations was significantly greater in male SAN. Computer modelling using a SAN cell model demonstrated a higher propensity of pacemaker-related arrhythmias in females. Conclusion- This study has identified key differences in the expression of Cav1.3, Kir3.1 and Nkx2-5 at mRNA and/or protein levels between male and female SAN. Cav1.3 plays an important role in the pacemaker function of the SAN, therefore the higher intrinsic heart rate of the female SAN could be caused by the higher expression of Cav1.3. The differences identified in this study advance our understanding of sex differences in cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias.
A constant current triboelectric nanogenerator arising from electrostatic breakdown

A constant current triboelectric nanogenerator is designed for mechanical energy harvesting and self-powered systems. In situ conversion of mechanical energy into electricity is a feasible solution to satisfy the increasing power demand of the Internet of Things (IoTs). A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is considered as a potential solution via building self-powered systems. Based on the triboelectrification effect and electrostatic induction, a conventional TENG with pulsed AC output characteristics always needs rectification and energy storage units to obtain a constant DC output to drive electronic devices. Here, we report a next-generation TENG, which realizes constant current (crest factor, ~1) output by coupling the triboelectrification effect and electrostatic breakdown. Meanwhile, a triboelectric charge density of 430 μC m−2 is attained, which is much higher than that of a conventional TENG limited by electrostatic breakdown. The novel DC-TENG is demonstrated to power electronics directly. Our findings not only promote the miniaturization of self-powered systems used in IoTs but also provide a paradigm-shifting technique to harvest mechanical energy.
Obstetric and perinatal outcomes of dizygotic twin pregnancies resulting from in vitro fertilization versus spontaneous conception: a retrospective study

This study was designed to to assess perinatal and neonatal outcomes of dizygotic twin pregnancies conceived naturally or by in vitro fertilization (IVF). After strict selection, the study included 470 dizygotic twin pregnancies. There were 249 resulting from IVF treatments and 221 conceiving spontaneously. After adjusting maternal age and primiparity, the results showed that there were no significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.05) in terms of maternal antenatal complications and neonatal outcomes. In conclusion, our study does not reveal increased risks for pregnancy-related complications and adverse neonatal outcomes in dizygotic twin pregnancies following IVF treatments. With these fundamental data, this study could provide a reference for perinatal care and clinical assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment and help to inform infertile parents about the potential risks of IVF treatments.
Prenatal Management of Pregnancies at Risk of Fetal Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia (FNAIT)

Fetal neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT), also known as neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) or fetomaternal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FMAIT), is a rare condition which affects a baby's platelets. This can put them at risk of problems with bleeding, particularly into the brain. One baby per week in the UK may be seriously affected and milder forms can affect one in every 1000 births.
A Survey on Opinion Mining: From Stance to Product Aspect

With the prevalence of social media and online forum, opinion mining, aiming at analyzing and discovering the latent opinion in user-generated reviews on the Internet, has become a hot research topic. This survey focuses on two important subtasks in this field, stance detection and product aspect mining, both of which can be formalized as the problem of the triple $\left \langle{{ target, aspect, opinion }}\right \rangle $ extraction. In this paper, we first introduce the general framework of opinion mining and describe the evaluation metrics. Then, the methodologies for stance detection on different sources, such as online forum and social media are discussed. After that, approaches for product aspect mining are categorized into three main groups which are corpus level aspect extraction, corpus level aspect, and opinion mining, and document level aspect and opinion mining based on the processing units and tasks. And then we discuss the challenges and possible solutions. Finally, we summarize the evolving trend of the reviewed methodologies and conclude the survey.
Environmental Sustainability Behaviours of Employees of Bulk Oil Distribution Companies in Tema, Ghana

Many organisations have acknowledged the call for environmental sustainability behaviours but there is little information about these behaviours exhibited by employees at the work place. The study sought to find out the environmental sustainability behaviours exhibited by employees in bulk oil distribution companies in Tema, Ghana. The objective of the study was to find out the sustainability behaviours adopted by employees and factors that influenced the decision to adopt environmental sustainability behaviours. The questionnaire survey was adopted to collect data from 50 employees of Fueltrade Limited. The survey result indicated that employees engaged in behaviours such as reducing waste, recycling and reuse of materials, proper disposal of waste, energy conservation, and the reduction in the wastage of resources. Furthermore, the results indicated that adopting environmental sustainability behaviours was to some extent fret with challenges such as lack of managerial support for the adoption of employee environmental sustainability behaviours; environmental sustainability not being a high business priority; practicing environmental sustainability behaviours takes too much time and to an extent a lack of management support for sustainability behaviours at the workplace. The study recommends among others that organisations should create environmental awareness by training and providing information to employees. Also, organisations should put in place reward systems to incentivize employees who engage in sustainability behaviours at the work place so as to motivate other employees to engage in sustainability behaviours.