Self-administered questionnaires enhance emotion estimation of individuals with autism spectrum disorders in a robotic interview setting.

Background: Robots offer many unique opportunities for helping individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Determining the optimal motion of robots when interacting with individuals with ASD is important for achieving more natural human-robot interactions and for exploiting the full potential of robotic interventions. Most prior studies have used supervised machine learning (ML) of user behavioral data to enable robot perception of affective states (i.e., arousal and valence) and engagement. It has previously been suggested that including personal demographic information in the identification of individuals with ASD is important for developing an automated system to perceive individual affective states and engagement. In this study, we hypothesized that assessing self-administered questionnaire data would contribute to the development of an automated estimation of the affective state and engagement when individuals with ASD are interviewed by an Android robot, which will be linked to implementing long-term interventions and maintaining the motivation of participants. Methods: Participants sat across a table from an android robot that played the role of the interviewer. Each participant underwent a mock job interview. Twenty-five participants with ASD (males 22, females 3, average chronological age = 22.8, average IQ = 94.04) completed the experiment. We collected multimodal data (i.e., audio, motion, gaze, and self-administered questionnaire data) to train a model to correctly classify the state of individuals with ASD when interviewed by an android robot. We demonstrated the technical feasibility of using ML to enable robot perception of affect and engagement of individuals with ASD based on multimodal data. Results: For arousal and engagement, the area under the curve (AUC) values of the model estimates and expert coding were relatively high. Overall, the AUC values of arousal, valence, and engagement were improved by including self-administered questionnaire data in the classification. Discussion: These findings support the hypothesis that assessing self-administered questionnaire data contributes to the development of an automated estimation of an individual's affective state and engagement. Given the efficacy of including self-administered questionnaire data, future studies should confirm the effectiveness of such long-term intervention with a robot to maintain participants' motivation based on the proposed method of emotion estimation.

Social skills training using multiple humanoid robots for individuals with autism spectrum conditions.

Introduction: Social skills training (SST) is used to help individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) better understand the perspectives of others and social interactions, develop empathy skills, and learn how to engage with others socially. However, many individuals with ASC cannot easily sustain high motivation and concentration during such an intervention when it is administered by humans. We developed a social skills training program using multiple humanoid robots (STUH), including an android robot, that aimed to enable individuals with ASC to become familiar with the perspectives of others and improve their sociability and empathy skills. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of STUH for these individuals. Methods: In STUH, we prepared 50 social exercises that consisted of conversations and behavioral interactions between an android robot and a simple humanoid robot. We prepared another humanoid robot that featured a cartoon-like and mechanical design, which played the role of host. In the first half-session of STUH, participants worked on the exercise from the perspective of an outsider. In the second half-session of STUH, they simulated experience by using robots as their avatars. The intervention associated with STUH was conducted for five days in total. We conducted an analysis of variance (ANOVA) featuring the intervention time point as the independent variable to examine changes in each score on the sociability index items. Results: In total, 14 individuals with ASC participated in the study. The results of multiple comparison tests using the Bonferroni method indicated that all sociability index items improved between preintervention and follow-up. Our program enabled the participants to become familiar with the perspectives of others and improve their sociability. Discussion: Given the promising results of this study, future studies featuring long-term follow-up should be conducted to draw definitive conclusions about the efficacy of our training system.

Android Robot Promotes Disclosure of Negative Narratives by Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Many individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate some challenges with personal narrative writing. Sentence completion tests (SCT) is a class of semi-structured projective techniques and encourage respondents to disclose their private narratives. Even in SCT, only providing beginning of sentences is inadequate to compensate atypicalities in their creativity and imagination, and self-disclosure is difficult for many individuals with ASD. It is reported that many individuals with ASD often achieve a higher degree of task engagement through interactions with robots and that robotic systems may be useful in eliciting and promoting social communication such as self-disclosure for some individuals with ASD. There is a possibility that exemplification by android robots in place of human interviewers can result in a higher degree of task engagement for individuals with ASD. The objective of this study was to investigate whether additional exemplifications by android robots in the SCT can prompt self-disclosure for individuals with ASD. We compared the difference in disclosure statements and subjective emotion in the testing paper of the SCT in additional exemplification by an android robot and a human interviewer. In addition, we assessed the disclosure statements and subjective emotions in the SCT, for which exemplifications were written on testing paper to make the comparison. Our quantitative data suggested that exemplification by android robot promoted more self-disclosure, especially about the negative topic compared to exemplification by a human interviewer and that written on test paper. In addition, the level of participant embarrassment in response to exemplification by the android robot seemed to be lower compared to that in the human interviewer condition. In the assessment and support for individuals with ASD, eliciting self-disclosure is a pressing issue. It is hoped that the appropriate use of robots will lead to a better understanding and support for their application.

Differences in the Optimal Motion of Android Robots for the Ease of Communications Among Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Android robots are employed in various fields. Many individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have the motivation and aptitude for using such robots. Interactions with these robots are structured to resemble social situations in which certain social behaviors can occur and to simulate daily life. Considering that individuals with ASD have strong likes and dislikes, ensuring not only the optimal appearance but also the optimal motion of robots is important to achieve smooth interaction and to draw out the potential of robotic interventions. We investigated whether individuals with ASD found it easier to talk to an android robot with little motion (i.e., only opening and closing its mouth during speech) or an android robot with much motion (i.e., in addition to opening and closing its mouth during speech, moving its eyes from side to side and up and down, blinking, deeply breathing, and turning or moving its head or body at random). This was a crossover study in which a total of 25 participants with ASD experienced mock interviews conducted by an android robot with much spontaneous facial and bodily motion and an android robot with little motion. We compared demographic data between participants who answered that the android robot with much motion was easier to talk to than android robot with little motion and those who answered the opposite. In addition, we investigated how each type of demographic data was related to participants' feeling of comfort in an interview setting with an android robot. Fourteen participants indicated that the android robot with little motion was easier to talk to than the robot with much motion, whereas 11 participants answered the opposite. There were significant differences between these two groups in the sensory sensitivity score, which reflects the tendency to show a low neurological threshold. In addition, we found correlations between the sensation seeking score, which reflects the tendency to show a high neurological threshold, and self-report ratings of comfort in each condition. These results provide preliminary support for the importance of setting the motion of an android robot considering the sensory traits of ASD.

The associations of the number of medications and the use of anticholinergics with recovery from tubal feeding: a longitudinal hospital-based study.

BACKGROUND: Several medications, such as anticholinergics, are considered to affect the swallowing function adversely; however, whether or not anticholinergics or polypharmacy should be avoided to prevent eating dysfunction in elderly populations remains unclear. We therefore examined whether or not the number of medications or the use of anticholinergics was associated with recovery from tubal feeding in elderly inpatients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective 1-year observation study in 95 Japanese hospitalized patients (83.3 ± 9.7 years old) receiving nutrition through a feeding tube. The anticholinergic cognitive burden scale (ACBs) was used as an index for quantifying the anticholinergic action. RESULTS: Thirty-six (37.9%) subjects recovered from tubal to oral feeding during the observation period. The logistic regression models showed that an increased number of prescribed medications and an increase in ACBs decreased the incidence of recovery from tubal feeding (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 0.66 [0.50-0.87], P = 0.003 and 0.52 [0.29-0.92], P = 0.024, respectively). Furthermore, the cumulative incidence of recovery from tubal feeding was significantly lower in the subjects who were given an additional ≥3 medications during the observation period than in those who were not (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval]: 0.08 [0.01-0.59], P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that an increased exposure to medications, especially anticholinergics, may be an important factor interfering with recovery from tubal feeding in hospitalized elderly patients.

In-situ imaging of Li intercalation in graphite particles in an Li-ion battery.

This paper presents the imaging of the expansion and contraction of graphite particles at the anode of a lithium-ion battery. The intercalation and deintercalation of Li ions in the graphite particles induced by charging and discharging lead to expansion and contraction of the layered materials. These changes in volume were imaged through current collectors using scanning probe microscopy, which permitted in-situ observation of the Li ion shift with high resolutions. We were able to evaluate the properties of each individual graphite particle. Here, we present variations in the images obtained by two methods of charging/discharging. In one method, the applied fields are changed, forcing the ions to move back into the graphite particles. Images showing detailed structures were obtained, allowing us to investigate the fine structures of the graphite particles. In the other method, the amount of ions is periodically injected into the graphite, which did not reveal the detailed structure but clearly distinguished inactive from active particles.

Association between combinations of glutathione-S-transferase M1, T1 and P1 genotypes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs) play a crucial role in antioxidant defence mechanisms, by detoxifying xenobiotics and by inactivating endogenous byproducts of oxidative stress. Functional failure, as a sequel of an altered GST genotype, may thus aggravate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study investigated whether the GSTs genotypes could affect the risk for NAFLD. METHODS: A cross-sectional case-control analysis included 253 Japanese participants in a health screening programme. The GSTM1 null, GSTT1 null and GSTP1 Ile105Val variant genotypes were determined as putative high-risk genotypes. RESULTS: The incidence of NAFLD was 27.3%. The frequency of the GSTM1 null genotype was higher in NAFLD than in the control [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 2.00; 95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.01-3.95]. Moreover, any combination of two putative high-risk genotypes exhibited a higher risk for NAFLD with an adjusted OR from 3.52 (95% CI, 1.08-11.43)-4.01 (95% CI, 1.28-12.56). However, the significance for the combination of GSTM1 null and GSTT1 null genotypes only remained after Bonferroni's correction. In addition, the risk for NAFLD increased as the number of high-risk genotypes, and the OR among three high-risk genotypes carriers was 9.67 (95% CI: 1.61-58.26). CONCLUSION: This is the first report to show the impact of the GSTs genotypes on the development of NAFLD. This finding, which should be confirmed in further studies in larger populations, may help to develop a more targeted prevention programme at an early stage for subjects with an increased risk for NAFLD.

Association between glutathione S-transferase A1, M1 and T1 polymorphisms and hypertension.

The importance of oxidative stress in hypertension has recently received increasing attention. The association between the incidence of hypertension and a super family of antioxidant enzymes, glutathione S-transferase (GST)A1, GSTM1 and GSTT1, polymorphisms was investigated in 468 Japanese participants in a health screening program. The frequency of the GSTA1*B allele carriers was significantly higher in hypertensive patients than normotensive participants [adjusted odds ratio (OR): 1.8; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-2.9]. The risk of hypertension was significantly increased in the GSTA1*B allele carriers having also the GSTM1 null genotype or both the GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotypes (adjusted OR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.2-4.9; adjusted OR: 3.1; 95% CI: 1.0-9.5, respectively). This is the first report identifying the GSTA1*B allele as a genetic risk factor for hypertension. The determination of the GST genotypes may help in identifying individuals at high-risk for hypertension.

Phenotype-genotype analysis of CYP1A2 in Japanese patients receiving oral theophylline therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the association between the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A2 genotype with the CYP1A2 phenotype and to search for the CYP1A2*1K haplotype, which has been shown to decrease CYP1A2 inducibility and/or other functional polymorphisms in Japanese. METHODS: Two polymorphisms, CYP1A2*1C and CYP1A2*1F, were genotyped in 126 patients receiving oral slow-release theophylline (TP) therapy and in 224 healthy volunteers. The CYP1A2 phenotype was assessed by the plasma [1-methyluric acid (1U)+3-methylxanthine (3X)]/TP ratio in the patients. The volunteers were given 150 mg caffeine, and the urine [1X+1U+5-acetylamino-6-amino-3-methyluracil (AAMU)]/17U ratio was used for CYP1A2 phenotyping. CYP1A2 intron 1 and six exons (exon 2-exon 7) were sequenced in the patients whose (1U+3X)/TP ratios were below the mean-2SD of those of all patients, and intron 1 was also sequenced in an additional 20 healthy volunteers exhibiting putative low CYP1A2 activities. RESULTS: The individual (1U+3X)/TP ratios ranged from 0.007 to 0.21 (a 30-fold difference) in the patients, and the (1X+1U+AAMU)/17U ratios ranged from 1.6 to 112 (a 70-fold difference) in the healthy volunteers. The CYP1A2 activities were not significantly influenced by CYP1A2*1C or CYP1A2*1F. We found no functional polymorphisms by a sequencing analysis. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the CYP1A2*1C and CYP1A2*1F genotypes are not crucial factors for the variability of CYP1A2 activity and that the CYP1A2*1K haplotype is either nil or only shows a very low frequency in Japanese.