A Survey of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Identification Using Psychophysiological Data

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurological disorders among children, that affects different areas in the brain that allows executing certain functionalities. This may lead to a variety of impairments such as difficulties in paying attention or focusing, controlling impulsive behaviours and overreacting. The continuous symptoms may have a severe impact in the long-term. This paper explores the ADHD identification studies using eye movement data and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). This study discusses different machine learning techniques, existing models and analyses the existing literature. We have identified the current challenges and possible future directions to provide computational support for early identification of ADHD patients that enable early treatments

AVIFAUNAL DIVERSITY IN A TEA PLANTATION ECOSYSTEM IN THE UP-COUNTRY OF SRI LANKA

A survey on birds was conducted at Mattakelle Tea Estate with the objective of assessing the significance of a given tea plantation ecosystem in maintaining avifaunal diversity. Seven different habitats were identified in the ecosystem namely home garden, seasonal stream, small scale reservoir, Eucalyptus forest, wetland, tea field and secondary forest. The monitoring was conducted from January to June 2010 using line transect method. 28 counts were made for each habitat. Besides, activities of birds, feeding habits and food recourses were observed.61 species of birds including  9 species of endemics and 10 species of migrants were recorded. One globally threatened species Kashmir Flycatcher (Ficedula subrubra) and 12 nationally threatened species were observed. Among the habitats, the highest species count of 62% was recorded in  home garden habitat where Shannon index (H’) = 3.03 and Evenness (J) =0.46. Species diversity and the evenness of the secondary forest were comparable to tea field indicating H’= 2.86 and J=0.43; H’ =2.77 and J= 0.46 respectively.  The avifaunal diversity was relatively low in the rest.The study revealed that each of the habitats provided unique niches and supported maintenance of natural diversity. Vegetation structure and the complexity of the ecosystem in tea plantations play a vital role in sustaining  avifaunal diversity. Several conservation measures such as increasing plant diversity, introduction of shade trees, conduct of good agricultural practices and prevention from setting fire are recommended to protect and conserve avifaunal diversity

Sustainable development through proper land utilization Case study Ratnapura, Sri Lanka

Since the land is a scarce resource, the utilization of land effectively would be directly affected to thesustainable development of any country. A proper system ofland uti Iization is very essential especiallyfor a country like Sri Lanka which is very small in size and the majority of the people are dependingon the land related activities such as farming, grazing etc. as their major source of income. Unfortunately,land is in the state of under utilization in Sri Lanka. This paper attempts to study the importance of theeffective land utilization using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the sustainable development.The study was mainly based on the data gathered from Ratnapura Divisional Secretary area, Thearea is consisting with natural vegetations such as forests, shrubs. and man -rnade cultivation such astea, rubber, paddy. Also the area has a high economic value and it is well known for natural disasterssuch as floods and earth slips. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires,interviewing people and relevant officers and field surveying using hand held Global Positioning System(GPS). The study supplemented with secondary data such as remote sensing satellite images, existingmaps. GIS technique was used for the data analyses.The study identified 4 major issues in the specified areaI. 20 % of the total area is under utilization2. 25 % of the total area is misused3. 05 % of the total area is over utilized4. Continuous loss of land due to the natural disastersAccording to the results, the land has not used effectively in the area. 45% of the area is not usedeffectively. Since the country is very small, proper land utilization is very important. The study suggestthat an immediate action should be taken to overcome the matter. And also it is very important to getthe active participation of the general public to stop the loss ofland due to natural disasters and forfuture decision making. 

Population-specific selection on standing variation generated by lateral gene transfers in a grass

Evidence of eukaryote-to-eukaryote lateral gene transfer (LGT) has accumulated in recent years [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14], but the selective pressures governing the evolutionary fate of these genes within recipient species remain largely unexplored [15, 16]. Among non-parasitic plants, successful LGT has been reported between different grass species [5, 8, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19]. Here, we use the grass Alloteropsis semialata, a species that possesses multigene LGT fragments that were acquired recently from distantly related grass species [5, 11, 16], to test the hypothesis that the successful LGT conferred an advantage and were thus rapidly swept into the recipient species. Combining whole-genome and population-level RAD sequencing, we show that the multigene LGT fragments were rapidly integrated in the recipient genome, likely due to positive selection for genes encoding proteins that added novel functions. These fragments also contained physically linked hitchhiking protein-coding genes, and subsequent genomic erosion has generated gene presence-absence polymorphisms that persist in multiple geographic locations, becoming part of the standing genetic variation. Importantly, one of the hitchhiking genes underwent a secondary rapid spread in some populations. This shows that eukaryotic LGT can have a delayed impact, contributing to local adaptation and intraspecific ecological diversification. Therefore, while short-term LGT integration is mediated by positive selection on some of the transferred genes, physically linked hitchhikers can remain functional and augment the standing genetic variation with delayed adaptive consequences

Key changes in gene expression identified for different stages of C4 evolution in Alloteropsis semialata.

C4 photosynthesis is a complex trait that boosts productivity in tropical conditions. Compared to C3 species, the C4 state seems to require numerous novelties, but species comparisons can be confounded by long divergence times. Here, we exploit the photosynthetic diversity that exists within a single species, the grass Alloteropsis semialata, to detect changes in gene expression associated with different photosynthetic phenotypes. Phylogenetically-informed comparative transcriptomics show that intermediates with a weak C4 cycle are separated from the C3 phenotype by increases in the expression of 58 genes (0.22% of genes expressed in the leaves), including those encoding just three core C4 enzymes: ASP-AT, PCK, and PEPC. The subsequent transition to full C4 physiology was accompanied by increases in another 15 genes (0.06%), including only the core C4 enzyme PPDK. These changes likely created a rudimentary C4 physiology, and isolated populations subsequently improved this emerging C4 physiology, resulting in a patchwork of expression for some C4-accessory genes. Our work shows how C4 assembly in A. semialata happened in incremental steps, each requiring few alterations over the previous one. These create short bridges across adaptive landscapes that likely facilitated the recurrent origins of C4 photosynthesis through a gradual process of evolution

A Rule-based system for adhd identification using eye movement data

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the common psychiatric disorder in childhood, which can continue to adulthood. The ADHD diagnosed population has been increasing, causing a negative impact on their families and society. This paper addresses the effective identification of ADHD in early stages. We have used a rulebased approach to analyse the accuracies of decision tree classifiers in identifying ADHD subjects. The dataset consists of eye movements and eye positions of different gaze event types. The feature extraction process considers fixations, saccades, gaze positions, and pupil diameters. The decision tree-based algorithms have shown a maximum accuracy of 84% and classification rule algorithms have shown an accuracy of 82% using eye movement measurements. Thus, both algorithms have shown high accuracy with the rule-based component