Assisting students with autism to cooperate with their peers to perform computer mouse collaborative pointing operation on a single display simultaneously

The purpose of this study was to provide students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) the chance to cooperate with their peers to perform computer mouse collaborative pointing operation. In this study, we adopted the Single Display Groupware (SDG) concept to develop the Multiple Cursor Collaborative Operating Program (MCCOP) software, which allows multiple users to operate a single computer simultaneously without interfering with each other. With the implementation of MCCOP software, users control their own cursors to perform a function in their respective cursor moving areas on a single display. A collaborative pointing test software (CPTS) program was designed in this experiment to evaluate participants’ collaborative pointing performance. This study adopted an ABAB design, and the experimental results show that all participants significantly increased their collaborative pointing performance during the intervention phase, compared to the baseline phase. Practical and developmental implications of the findings are discussed.     

Adult Still's disease reflects a Th2 rather than a Th1 cytokine profile

Adult Still's disease (ASD) is a chronic multisystemic disease. Extraordinarily high serum levels of IL-18 in ASD patients have been described, whereas the mechanism remains to be clarified. This study aimed to evaluate proinflammatory cytokines and to consider their pathological roles. In patients with rheumatic diseases (n = 151), blood samples were taken at the active phase and the serum levels of IL-18 and other proinflammatory cytokines were measured by ELISA. The extra-high levels of IL-18 were confirmed selectively in ASD patients (n = 10). In the active phase of ASD patients, the levels of IL-6 were elevated accordingly, but IL-1beta and TNF-alpha were undetectable. As to Th1-Th2 cytokines, the levels of IL-4 and IL-13, but not INF-gamma, IL-12, or IL-2, were elevated in all ASD patients examined. Moreover, the serum levels of IL-18 showed a good correlation with those of IL-4, suggesting that ASD reflects a Th2 rather than a Th1 cytokine profile.     

孤独症谱系障碍儿童发育倒退的影响因素

孤独症谱系障碍(ASD)是一组以不同临床表现为主要特征的神经发育性障碍。近年来,ASD儿童的发育倒退(DR)受到越来越多的关注,并被认为可能是ASD的一种特殊亚型。目前关于ASD儿童DR的影响因素尚不清楚,综合文献分析主要是由遗传、环境及其交互作用共同引起。本文拟从遗传和环境两方面对目前报道的ASD儿童DR影响因素进行总结,为该部分ASD患儿的临床早期识别和干预提供参考。     

超声心动图在重度肺动脉高压房缺封堵术中的应用

目的探讨合并重度肺动脉高压的房间隔缺损（ASD）介入封堵治疗的可行性。方法应用经胸超声心动图（TTE）术中实时监测,对12例合并重度肺动脉高压的ASD进行介入试封堵,其中男性4例,女性8例,年龄46～75岁（56±5岁）,比较手术前后右室舒张末期前后径、右心系统血流动力学指标及肺动脉收缩压的变化。结果 12例合并重度肺动脉高压的房间隔缺损均成功封堵,术后右室舒张末期前后径、右心血流动力学指标及肺动脉收缩压均有明显改变（P〈0.05）。结论对于合并重度肺动脉高压的继发孔房间隔缺损,应该采取积极的治疗手段。超声心动图贯穿了介入封堵治疗的全过程,为封堵治疗的成功提供了重要的保障。     

外源性催产素对shank3缺陷斑马鱼成鱼社交行为的影响

 目的 通过注射外源性催产素对shank3缺陷（shank3ab^-/-）斑马鱼成鱼进行药物干预,检测不同疗程的催产素对shank3ab^-/-斑马鱼社交偏好缺陷行为的影响。方法 利用已构建成功的shank3ab^-/-斑马鱼成鱼及野生型斑马鱼成鱼,在其尾鳍肌肉处注射外源性催产素或生理盐水,分别进行单次注射、短期给药疗程和长期给药疗程的实验。适应15 min后,通过30 min的社交偏好实验,检测斑马鱼的社交行为,进而评估外源性催产素的疗效。通过实时荧光定量PCR检测斑马鱼脑部催产素受体（oxytocin receptor,oxtr）的mRNA水平。结果 外源性催产素单次注射给药的结果显示：注射催产素30 min后,shank3ab^-/-催产素组在伙伴侧游动的平均距离比显著高于shank3ab^-/-生理盐水组（0.96±0.015 vs. 0.86±0.042,P=0.013）;注射催产素45 min后,shank3ab^-/-催产素组在伙伴侧游动的距离高于shank3ab^-/-生理盐水组,但差异无统计学意义。催产素7天短期给药疗程的结果显示：shank3ab^-/-催产素组在伙伴侧游动的距离比明显高于shank3ab^-/-生理盐水组（0.94±0.015 vs. 0.88±0.018,P=0.006）,疗效可持续12 h;催产素长期给药疗程的结果显示：给药14天后间隔1个月对斑马鱼进行行为学检测,发现shank3ab^-/-催产素组与shank3ab^-/-生理盐水组的社交偏好差异无统计学意义。外源性催产素单次给药后,野生型催产素组和野生型生理盐水组相比,oxtr基因mRNA水平显著上升（P<0.001）;相比于shank3ab^-/-生理盐水组,shank3ab^-/-催产素组的oxtr基因mRNA水平也有上升趋势,但差异无统计学意义。结论 应用外源性催产素对shank3缺陷斑马鱼的社交偏好缺陷行为具有潜在的改善作用,改善的持续时间与给药疗程相关。     

Autism spectrum disorders and intestinal microbiota

Through extensive microbial-mammalian co-metabolism, the intestinal microbiota have evolved to exert a marked influence on health and disease via gut-brain-microbiota interactions. In this addendum, we summarize the findings of our recent study on the fecal microbiota and metabolomes of children with pervasive developmental disorder–not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) or autism (AD) compared with healthy children (HC). Children with PDD-NOS or AD have altered fecal microbiota and metabolomes (including neurotransmitter molecules). We hypothesize that the degree of microbial alteration correlates with the severity of the disease since fecal microbiota and metabolomes alterations were higher in children with PDD-NOS and, especially, AD compared to HC. Our study indicates that the levels of free amino acids (FAA) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) differ in AD subjects compared to children with PDD-NOS, who are more similar to HC. Finally, we propose a new perspective on the implications for the interaction between intestinal microbiota and AD.     

The TEACCH program for children and adults with autism: A meta-analysis of intervention studies

The intervention program for autism known as Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) is considered an emerging practice for autism. In the present study we used state-of-the-art meta-analytical procedures to examine the pooled clinical effects of TEACCH in a variety of outcomes. A total of 13 studies were selected for meta-analysis totaling 172 individuals with autism exposed to TEACCH. Standardized measures of perceptual, motor, adaptive, verbal and cognitive skills were identified as treatment outcomes. We used inverse-variance weighted random effects meta-analysis supplemented with quality assessment, sensitivity analysis, meta-regression, and heterogeneity and publication bias tests. The results suggested that TEACCH effects on perceptual, motor, verbal and cognitive skills were of small magnitude in the meta-analyzed studies. Effects over adaptive behavioral repertoires including communication, activities of daily living, and motor functioning were within the negligible to small range. There were moderate to large gains in social behavior and maladaptive behavior. The effects of the TEACCH program were not moderated by aspects of the intervention such as duration (total weeks), intensity (hours per week), and setting (home-based vs. center-based). While the present meta-analysis provided limited support for the TEACCH program as a comprehensive intervention, our results should be considered exploratory owing to the limited pool of studies available.