Diagnostic validity of Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, second edition (K-ADOS-2) in the Korean population

Background : Although the Korean version of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (K-ADOS‐2) is widely being used to diagnose autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in South Korea, no previous study has examined the validity and reliability of all modules of K-ADOS-2 across a wide age range, particularly older children, adolescents, and adults. Method : Data from 2,158 participants were included (mean age = 79.7 months; 73.6% male): 1473 participants with ASD and 685 participants without ASD (Toddler Module, n = 289; Module 1, n = 642; Module 2 n = 574; Module 3 n = 411; Module 4, n = 242). Participants completed a battery of tests, including the K-ADOS or K-ADOS-2 and other existing diagnostic instruments. Sensitivity, specificity, area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), Cohen’s kappa (k), and agreement with existing diagnostic instruments were computed. Cronbach’s α values were also calculated. Results : All developmental cells of the K-ADOS-2 showed sufficient ranges of sensitivity 85.4–100.0%; specificity, 80.4–96.8%; area under the ROC curve, .90-.97; PPV, 77.8–99.3%; NPV, 80.6–100.0%; and k values, .83–.92. The kappa agreements of developmental cells with existing diagnostic instruments ranged from .20 to .90. Cronbach’s α values ranged from .82 to .91 across all developmental cells. Limitation : The best-estimate clinical diagnoses made in this study were not independent of the K-ADOS-2 scores. Some modules did not include balanced numbers of participants in terms of gender and diagnostic status. Conclusion : The K-ADOS-2 is a valid and reliable instrument in diagnosing ASD in South Korea. Future studies exploring the effectiveness of the K-ADOS-2 in capturing restricted, repetitive behaviors and differentiating ASD from other developmental disabilities are needed.This work was supported by the Original Technology Research Program for Brain Science of the NRF, funded by the Korean government, MSIT (NRF2017M3C7A1027467) and MIST (NRF-2021M3E5D9021878)

Discrimination of Timbre in Early Auditory Responses of the Human Brain

The issue of how differences in timbre are represented in the neural response still has not been well addressed, particularly with regard to the relevant brain mechanisms. Here we employ phasing and clipping of tones to produce auditory stimuli differing to describe the multidimensional nature of timbre. We investigated the auditory response and sensory gating as well, using by magnetoencephalography (MEG).Thirty-five healthy subjects without hearing deficit participated in the experiments. Two different or same tones in timbre were presented through conditioning (S1) – testing (S2) paradigm as a pair with an interval of 500 ms. As a result, the magnitudes of auditory M50 and M100 responses were different with timbre in both hemispheres. This result might support that timbre, at least by phasing and clipping, is discriminated in the auditory early processing. The second response in a pair affected by S1 in the consecutive stimuli occurred in M100 of the left hemisphere, whereas both M50 and M100 responses to S2 only in the right hemisphere reflected whether two stimuli in a pair were the same or not. Both M50 and M100 magnitudes were different with the presenting order (S1 vs. S2) for both same and different conditions in the both hemispheres.Our results demonstrate that the auditory response depends on timbre characteristics. Moreover, it was revealed that the auditory sensory gating is determined not by the stimulus that directly evokes the response, but rather by whether or not the two stimuli are identical in timbre

The comparative analysis of the welfare attitude in accordance with the dual status of taxpayer and welfare recipient by using data linkage

ABSTRACT Background Data linkage is a method to form a complete data that can provide more abundant information by combining a plurality of different data files. In this study, we construct the matched data combined with Korea Welfare Panel Survey and National Survey of Tax and Benefit by using statistical matching methodology. We aim to provide the empirical and advisable evidence for tax and welfare policy by analyzing about the welfare attitude in accordance with the welfare status of taxpayer or welfare recipient using matched data.  Results According to the analysis results, people with dual status of taxpayer above the tax break-even point and welfare recipient due to recent enlargement of welfare programs are relatively more positive about the expansion of the universal welfare than taxpayers who never receive welfare benefit. Also, in the group with dual status, the recognition that the current tax burden of middle class is low is relatively higher and the negative thinking about the need to increase tax burden for the enlargement of the universal welfare programs is relatively lower than the group who pay tax but never receive welfare benefit

The Risk of Cardiovascular Disease According to Chewing Status Could Be Modulated by Healthy Diet in Middle-Aged Koreans

To assess whether a healthy diet could change the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related chewing difficulty (CD) in relation to age distribution. In a cross-sectional study of 9411 middle-aged Koreans from the KNHANES VII. In this study, the Framingham 10-year general CVD risk prediction equations and the Korean Heathy Eating index (KHEI) were used to assess the 10-year estimated risk of CVD and dietary quality, respectively. CD was experienced by 16.7% of the total subjects. Among subjects with CD, the 10-year estimated CVD risk was 8.71% of the subjects in the 30–49 years age group and 30.38% of those in the 50–64 years age group, which is a difference of approximately 3.5 times. Regardless of age distribution, the total score of the KHEI in subjects who had CD was significantly lower than in those who had no CD (NCD) (p = 0.004 for the 30–49 years age group and p < 0.001 for the 50–64 years age group, respectively). Among the subjects with poor KHEI in the 30–49-year age group, the adjusted odds ratio for the 10-year estimated CVD risk of the subjects with CD was 2.204-fold (95% CI = 1.385–3.506) higher using NCD as a reference. The findings showed that dietary quality could modify the risk for CVD according to chewing status

Generation of Fluorescent Bacteria with the Genes Coding for Lumazine Protein and Riboflavin Biosynthesis

Lumazine protein is a member of the riboflavin synthase superfamily and the intense fluorescence is caused by non-covalently bound to 6,7-dimethyl 8-ribityllumazine. The pRFN4 plasmid, which contains the riboflavin synthesis genes from Bacillus subtilis, was originally designed for overproduction of the fluorescent ligand of 6,7-dimethyl 8-ribityllumazine. To provide the basis for a biosensor based on the lux gene from bioluminescent bacteria of Photobacterium leiognathi, the gene coding for N-terminal domain half of the lumazine protein extending to amino acid 112 (N-LumP) and the gene for whole lumazine protein (W-LumP) from P. leiognathi were introduced by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligated into pRFN4 vector, to construct the recombinant plasmids of N-lumP-pRFN4 and W-lumP-pRFN4 as well as their modified plasmids by insertion of the lux promoter. The expression of the genes in the recombinant plasmids was checked in various Escherichia coli strains, and the fluorescence intensity in Escherichia coli 43R can even be observed in a single cell. These results concerning the co-expression of the genes coding for lumazine protein and for riboflavin synthesis raise the possibility to generate fluorescent bacteria which can be used in the field of bio-imaging

Identification of the Porcine Vascular Endothelial Cell-Specific Promoter ESAM1.0 Using Transcriptome Analysis

The vascular endothelium of xenografted pig organs represents the initial site of rejection after exposure to recipient immune cells. In this study, we aimed to develop a promoter specific to porcine vascular endothelial cells as a step toward overcoming xenograft rejection. Transcriptome analysis was performed on porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAECs), ear skin fibroblasts isolated from GGTA knockout (GTKO) pigs, and the porcine renal epithelial cell line pk-15. RNA sequencing confirmed 243 differentially expressed genes with expression changes of more than 10-fold among the three cell types. Employing the Human Protein Atlas database as a reference, we identified 34 genes exclusive to GTKO PAECs. The endothelial cell-specific adhesion molecule (ESAM) was selected via qPCR validation and showed high endothelial cell specificity and stable expression across tissues. We selected 1.0 kb upstream sequences of the translation start site of the gene as the promoter ESAM1.0. A luciferase assay revealed that ESAM1.0 promoter transcriptional activity was significant in PAECs, leading to a 2.8-fold higher level of expression than that of the porcine intercellular adhesion molecule 2 (ICAM2) promoter, which is frequently used to target endothelial cells in transgenic pigs. Consequently, ESAM1.0 will enable the generation of genetically modified pigs with endothelium-specific target genes to reduce xenograft rejection

GCF2/LRRFIP1 Represses Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Expression

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is an important mediator of inflammation, apoptosis, and the development of secondary lymphoid structures. Multiple polymorphic microsatellites have been identified in and around the gene, and there are also multiple single-base pair biallelic polymorphisms in the introns and promoter. The TNF-α −308 promoter polymorphism is a G-to-A transition which has been statistically associated with various autoimmune disorders. Some studies have found that it may directly mediate the increased transcription of TNF-α in some circumstances. This study characterizes proteins interacting at the polymorphic promoter site. Affinity purification of binding proteins and confirmatory chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were used to identify the proteins. Electrophoretic mobility shift analyses and surface plasmon resonance were used to define binding characteristics. Proteins interacting at this site include GCF2/LRRFIP1 and Ets-1. GCF2/LRRFIP1 appears to act as a repressor and occupies the −308 site in cells that do not make TNF-α. Cells competent to produce TNF-α have Ets-1 bound to the −308 promoter site. Active transcription is accompanied by NF-κB and c-Jun binding to the proximal promoter. Thus, dynamic changes on the TNF-α promoter, particularly at the −308 site, accompany the transition from repressed to active transcription. GCF2/LRRFIP1 is the first TNF-α repressor identified

Effect by presenting order and condition: Gating in and out effect.

<p>Statistics: Repeated measures using linear mixed model.</p><p>Dependent variable: Dipole Strength Q of response (logarithmically transformed).</p>1<p>Independent variables: order, condition, hemisphere, component.</p><p>Covariance structures: heterogeneous Toeplitz.</p><p>*P<0.05,</p><p>**P<0.01,</p><p>***P<0.001.</p