Empathy and emotion recognition in people with autism, first-degree relatives, and controls

Empathy is the lens through which we view others' emotion expressions, and respond to them. In this study, empathy and facial emotion recognition were investigated in adults with autism spectrum conditions (ASC; N=314), parents of a child with ASC (N=297) and IQ-matched controls (N=184). Participants completed a self-report measure of empathy (the Empathy Quotient [EQ]) and a modified version of the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces Task (KDEF) using an online test interface. Results showed that mean scores on the EQ were significantly lower in fathers (p<0.05) but not mothers (p>0.05) of children with ASC compared to controls, whilst both males and females with ASC obtained significantly lower EQ scores (p<0.001) than controls. On the KDEF, statistical analyses revealed poorer overall performance by adults with ASC (p<0.001) compared to the control group. When the 6 distinct basic emotions were analysed separately, the ASC group showed impaired performance across five out of six expressions (happy, sad, angry, afraid and disgusted). Parents of a child with ASC were not significantly worse than controls at recognising any of the basic emotions, after controlling for age and non-verbal IQ (all p>0.05). Finally, results indicated significant differences between males and females with ASC for emotion recognition performance (p<0.05) but not for self-reported empathy (p>0.05). These findings suggest that self-reported empathy deficits in fathers of autistic probands are part of the 'broader autism phenotype'. This study also reports new findings of sex differences amongst people with ASC in emotion recognition, as well as replicating previous work demonstrating empathy difficulties in adults with ASC. The use of empathy measures as quantitative endophenotypes for ASC is discussed.

Continuity of care for people with psychotic illness: its relationship to clinical and social functioning.

Background: The relationship between continuity of care and user characteristics or outcomes has rarely been explored. The ECHO study operationalized and tested a multi-axial definition of continuity of care, producing a seven-factor model used here. Aims: To assess the relationship between user characteristics and established components of continuity of care, and the impact of continuity on clinical and social functioning. Methods: The sample comprised 180 community mental health team users with psychotic disorders who were interviewed at three annual time-points, to assess their experiences of continuity of care and clinical and social functioning. Scores on seven continuity factors were tested for association with user-level variables. Results: Improvement in quality of life was associated with better Experience & Relationship continuity scores (better user-rated continuity and therapeutic relationship) and with lower Meeting Needs continuity factor scores. Higher Meeting Needs scores were associated with a decrease in symptoms. Conclusion: Continuity is a dynamic process, influenced significantly by care structures and organizational change.

Emotions and the habitus: Young people with socio-emotional differences (re)producing social, emotional and cultural capital in family and leisure space-times

In this paper we explore the importance of emotionally inter-dependent relationships to the functioning of embodied social capital and habitus. Drawing upon the experiences of young people with socio-emotional differences, we demonstrate how emotionally inter-dependent and relatively nurturing relationships are integral to the acquisition of social capital and to the co-construction and embodiment of habitus. The young people presented in this paper often had difficulties in forging social relationships and in acquiring symbolic and cultural capital in school spaces. However, we outline how these young people (re)produce and embody alternative kinds of habitus, based on emotionally reciprocal relationships forged through formal and informal leisure activities and familial and fraternal social relationships. These alternative forms of habitus provide sites of subjection, scope for acquiring social and cultural capital and a positive sense of identity in the face of problematic relations and experiences in school spaces.

MAC protocols and mobility management module for healthcare applications using Wireless Sensor Networks

Using Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) in healthcare systems has had a lot of attention in recent years. In much of this research tasks like sensor data processing, health states decision making and emergency message sending are done by a remote server. Many patients with lots of sensor data consume a great deal of communication resources, bring a burden to the remote server and delay the decision time and notification time. A healthcare application for elderly people using WSN has been simulated in this paper. A WSN designed for the proposed healthcare application needs efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) and routing protocols to provide a guarantee for the reliability of the data delivered from the patients to the medical centre. Based on these requirements, the GinMAC protocol including a mobility module has been chosen, to provide the required performance such as reliability for data delivery and energy saving. Simulation results show that this modification to GinMAC can offer the required performance for the proposed healthcare application.

MAC protocols and mobility management module for healthcare applications using wireless sensor networks

Using Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) in healthcare systems has had a lot of attention in recent years. In much of this research tasks like sensor data processing, health states decision making and emergency message sending are done by a remote server. Many patients with lots of sensor data consume a great deal of communication resources, bring a burden to the remote server and delay the decision time and notification time. A healthcare application for elderly people using WSN has been simulated in this paper. A WSN designed for the proposed healthcare application needs efficient MAC and routing protocols to provide a guarantee for the reliability of the data delivered from the patients to the medical centre. Based on these requirements, the GinMAC protocol including a mobility module has been chosen, to provide the required performance such as reliability for data delivery and energy saving. Simulation results show that this modification to GinMAC can offer the required performance for the proposed healthcare application.

The use of ICT by adults with learning disabilities in day and residential services

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by adults with learning disabilities has been positively promoted over the past decade. More recently, policy statements and guidance from the UK government have underlined the importance of ICT for adults with learning disabilities specifically, as well as for the population in general, through the potential it offers for social inclusion. The aim of the present study was to provide a picture of how ICT is currently being used within one organisation providing specialist services for adults with learning disabilities and more specifically to provide a picture of its use in promoting community participation. Nine day and 14 residential services were visited as part of a qualitative study to answer three main questions: What kinds of computer programs are being used? What are they being used for? Does this differ between day and residential services? Computers and digital cameras were used for a wide range of activities and ‘mainstream’ programs were used more widely than those developed for specific user groups. In day services, ICT was often embedded in wider projects and activities, whilst use in houses was based around leisure interests. In both contexts, ICT was being used to facilitate communication, although this was more linked to within-service activities, rather than those external to service provision.

Could in-home sensors surpass human observation of people with Parkinson’s at high risk of falling? An ethnographic study

Self-report underpins our understanding of falls among people with Parkinson’s (PwP) as they largely happen unwitnessed at home. In this qualitative study, we used an ethnographic approach to investigate which in-home sensors, in which locations, could gather useful data about fall risk. Over six weeks, we observed five independently mobile PwP at high risk of falling, at home. We made field notes about falls (prior events and concerns) and recorded movement with video, Kinect, and wearable sensors. The three women and two men (aged 71 to 79 years) having moderate or severe Parkinson’s were dependent on others and highly sedentary. We most commonly noted balance protection, loss, and restoration during chair transfers, walks across open spaces and through gaps, turns, steps up and down, and tasks in standing (all evident walking between chair and stairs, e.g.). Our unobtrusive sensors were acceptable to participants: they could detect instability during everyday activity at home and potentially guide intervention. Monitoring the route between chair and stairs is likely to give information without invading the privacy of people at high risk of falling, with very limited mobility, who spend most of the day in their sitting rooms.

Distribution and mobility of trace elements in soils and vegetation around the mining and smelting areas of Tharsis, Riotinto and Huelva, Iberian Pyrite Belt, SW Spain

Trace elements may present an environmental hazard in the vicinity of mining and smelting activities. However, the factors controlling their distribution and transfer within the soil and vegetation systems are not always well defined. Total concentrations of up to 15,195 mg center dot kg (-1) As, 6,690 mg center dot kg(-1) Cu, 24,820 mg center dot kg(-1) Pb and 9,810 mg center dot kg(-1) Zn in soils, and 62 mg center dot kg(-1) As, 1,765 mg center dot kg(-1) Cu, 280 mg center dot kg(-1) Pb and 3,460 mg center dot kg (-1) Zn in vegetation were measured. However, unusually for smelters and mines of a similar size, the elevated trace element concentrations in soils were found to be restricted to the immediate vicinity of the mines and smelters (maximum 2-3 km). Parent material, prevailing wind direction, and soil physical and chemical characteristics were found to correlate poorly with the restricted trace element distributions in soils. Hypotheses are given for this unusual distribution: (1) the contaminated soils were removed by erosion or (2) mines and smelters released large heavy particles that could not have been transported long distances. Analyses of the accumulation of trace elements in vegetation (median ratios: As 0.06, Cu 0.19, Pb 0.54 and Zn 1.07) and the percentage of total trace elements being DTPA extractable in soils (median percentages: As 0.06%, Cu 15%, Pb 7% and Zn 4%) indicated higher relative trace element mobility in soils with low total concentrations than in soils with elevated concentrations.

Factors affecting distribution and mobility of trace elements (Cu, Pb, Zn) in a perennial grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) in the Champagne region of France

Soil and Vitis vinifera L (coarse and fine roots, leaves, berries) concentration and geochemical partitioning of Cu, Pb and Zn were determined in a contaminated calcareous Champagne plot to assess their mobility and transfer. Accumulation ratios in roots remained low (0.1-0.4 for Cu and Zn, <0.05 for Pb). Differences between elements resulted from vegetation uptake strategy and soil partitioning. Copper, significantly associated with the oxidisable fraction (27.8%), and Zn with the acid soluble fraction (33.3%), could be mobilised by rhizosphere acidification and oxidisation, unlike Pb, essentially contained in the reducible fraction (72.4%). Roots should not be considered as a whole since the more reactive fine roots showed higher accumulation ratios than coarse ones. More sensitive response of fine roots, lack of correlation between chemical extraction results and vegetation concentrations, and very limited translocation to aerial parts showed that fine root concentrations should be used when assessing bioavailability. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genes related to sex steroids, neural growth, and social-emotional behavior are associated with autistic traits, empathy, and Asperger syndrome

Genetic studies of autism spectrum conditions (ASC) have mostly focused on the "low functioning" severe clinical subgroup, treating it as a rare disorder. However, ASC is now thought to be relatively common ( approximately 1%), and representing one end of a quasi-normal distribution of autistic traits in the general population. Here we report a study of common genetic variation in candidate genes associated with autistic traits and Asperger syndrome (AS). We tested single nucleotide polymorphisms in 68 candidate genes in three functional groups (sex steroid synthesis/transport, neural connectivity, and social-emotional responsivity) in two experiments. These were (a) an association study of relevant behavioral traits (the Empathy Quotient (EQ), the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ)) in a population sample (n=349); and (b) a case-control association study on a sample of people with AS, a "high-functioning" subgroup of ASC (n=174). 27 genes showed a nominally significant association with autistic traits and/or ASC diagnosis. Of these, 19 genes showed nominally significant association with AQ/EQ. In the sex steroid group, this included ESR2 and CYP11B1. In the neural connectivity group, this included HOXA1, NTRK1, and NLGN4X. In the socio-responsivity behavior group, this included MAOB, AVPR1B, and WFS1. Fourteen genes showed nominally significant association with AS. In the sex steroid group, this included CYP17A1 and CYP19A1. In the socio-emotional behavior group, this included OXT. Six genes were nominally associated in both experiments, providing a partial replication. Eleven genes survived family wise error rate (FWER) correction using permutations across both experiments, which is greater than would be expected by chance. CYP11B1 and NTRK1 emerged as significantly associated genes in both experiments, after FWER correction (P<0.05). This is the first candidate-gene association study of AS and of autistic traits. The most promising candidate genes require independent replication and fine mapping.

A shift to randomness of brain oscillations in people with autism

BACKGROUND: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) enables investigation of the intrinsic functional organization of the brain. Fractal parameters such as the Hurst exponent, H, describe the complexity of endogenous low-frequency fMRI time series on a continuum from random (H = .5) to ordered (H = 1). Shifts in fractal scaling of physiological time series have been associated with neurological and cardiac conditions. METHODS: Resting-state fMRI time series were recorded in 30 male adults with an autism spectrum condition (ASC) and 33 age- and IQ-matched male volunteers. The Hurst exponent was estimated in the wavelet domain and between-group differences were investigated at global and voxel level and in regions known to be involved in autism. RESULTS: Complex fractal scaling of fMRI time series was found in both groups but globally there was a significant shift to randomness in the ASC (mean H = .758, SD = .045) compared with neurotypical volunteers (mean H = .788, SD = .047). Between-group differences in H, which was always reduced in the ASC group, were seen in most regions previously reported to be involved in autism, including cortical midline structures, medial temporal structures, lateral temporal and parietal structures, insula, amygdala, basal ganglia, thalamus, and inferior frontal gyrus. Severity of autistic symptoms was negatively correlated with H in retrosplenial and right anterior insular cortex. CONCLUSIONS: Autism is associated with a small but significant shift to randomness of endogenous brain oscillations. Complexity measures may provide physiological indicators for autism as they have done for other medical conditions.

A novel Bayesian approach to drug design with simple and complex enzymes: Use with lens aldehyde dehydrogenase and the glyoxalase pathway

Purpose: Acquiring details of kinetic parameters of enzymes is crucial to biochemical understanding, drug development, and clinical diagnosis in ocular diseases. The correct design of an experiment is critical to collecting data suitable for analysis, modelling and deriving the correct information. As classical design methods are not targeted to the more complex kinetics being frequently studied, attention is needed to estimate parameters of such models with low variance. Methods: We have developed Bayesian utility functions to minimise kinetic parameter variance involving differentiation of model expressions and matrix inversion. These have been applied to the simple kinetics of the enzymes in the glyoxalase pathway (of importance in posttranslational modification of proteins in cataract), and the complex kinetics of lens aldehyde dehydrogenase (also of relevance to cataract). Results: Our successful application of Bayesian statistics has allowed us to identify a set of rules for designing optimum kinetic experiments iteratively. Most importantly, the distribution of points in the range is critical; it is not simply a matter of even or multiple increases. At least 60 % must be below the KM (or plural if more than one dissociation constant) and 40% above. This choice halves the variance found using a simple even spread across the range.With both the glyoxalase system and lens aldehyde dehydrogenase we have significantly improved the variance of kinetic parameter estimation while reducing the number and costs of experiments. Conclusions: We have developed an optimal and iterative method for selecting features of design such as substrate range, number of measurements and choice of intermediate points. Our novel approach minimises parameter error and costs, and maximises experimental efficiency. It is applicable to many areas of ocular drug design, including receptor-ligand binding and immunoglobulin binding, and should be an important tool in ocular drug discovery.

Under-investigation of older people with abnormal chest radiographs

Background: Whilst many authors have previously suggested that older people are under-represented in the investigation and management of lung cancer, few data are available as to the effect of age on the subsequent investigation and management of a patient with an abnormal chest radiograph. Methods: During a 3-month period in a university teaching hospital, all abnormal chest radiographs suggestive of a possible diagnosis of lung cancer were identified, and patients subsequently followed to determine investigation, management and date of death over a 5-year period. Results: Thirty-seven younger (less than or equal to69 years, median age 62 years) and 43 older patients ( 670 years, median age 80 years) were identified. Of the 80 patients with a possible bronchial carcinoma only 59% had a further chest radiograph performed. Bronchoscopy was performed in 34% of patients, but a biopsy of the lesion was undertaken in only 24% of patients. Sixteen of the 80 patients, irrespective of what investigations had been undertaken, were referred for an oncological or surgical opinion. During the study period ( 3 months), 24% of the patients died. At 6, 24 and 60 months, respectively, the total deaths were 40, 78 and 88%. Conclusion: Older patients compared with those aged less than 70 years were less likely to be investigated, further, were more likely to be managed differently (i.e., less aggressively) and more likely to die within each time interval. In more of the older group a presumed death certificate diagnosis of pneumonia was made. When an abnormal chest radiograph raises the possibility of an underlying bronchial carcinoma, the finding of this study suggests that an ageist attitude influences the subsequent management of some patients. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.