Metaverse-based social skills training programme for children with autism spectrum disorder to improve social interaction ability: an open-label, single-centre, randomised controlled pilot trial.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterised by abnormalities in social interactions and restricted and repetitive behaviors. Children with high-functioning ASD (HFASD), lack social communication skills, do not interact with others, and lack peer relationships. We aimed to develop, and evaluate the feasibility of, a metaverse-based programme to enhance the social skills of children with HFASD. Methods: This open-label, single-centre, pilot parallel randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted on boys aged 7-12 years with HFASD. Children were recruited from a treatment centre for children with HFASD in Korea or by self-referral through online community webpages for the parents of children with HFASD. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) by a blinded researcher to receive either four weeks of a metaverse-based social skills training programme or a control group. Randomisation was stratified by age (children aged 7-9 and 10-12 years) using permuted blocks (block size 4). The metaverse-based social skills training programme was delivered via the metaverse platforms (Roblox) and Zoom. Children in the intervention group completed the metaverse-based social skills training programme at home for four weeks. The intervention consisted of four sessions, one session per week, for 60 min each. The control group did not receive any interventions. The primary outcome measure was the median change in the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2) scores from pre-to post-intervention. SRS-2 is an assessment tool used to confirm the effectiveness of social interactions. Higher scores indicate lower social functioning. The trial is registered with CRIS Registration Number; KCT0006859. Findings: Between February 14, 2022, and March 31, 2022, 20 participants were enrolled. Overall, 15 children (median [Interquartile range (IQR)] age, intervention group: 9.0 [8.0-10.0]; control group: 8.5 [8.0-10.0]) participated in the programme. The intervention group included nine participants (60%), and the control group included six participants (40%). The SRS-2 total scores for the intervention group decreased from baseline 96.0 (IQR: 74.0-112.0) to post-intervention 85.0 (IQR: 84.0-103.0). The group median difference in SRS-2 scores between the intervention and control groups was 11.5 (95% CI: 8.5-14.0), with a further reduction in the intervention group. Similar trends were seen for social cognition (group median difference, 95% CI: 2.0, 1.0-4.0), social communication (group median difference, 95% CI: 2.0, 1.0-4.0), and autistic mannerism (group median difference, 95% CI: 4.0, 1.0-5.0). There were no adverse events related to study participation. Interpretation: The findings of this feasibility study suggest that children with HFASD can potentially be familiarised, through metaverse-based programmes, with real-life social situations to improve sociality and reduce emotional and behavioural problems. Such interventions could be delivered at home and possibly be extended to target groups that have difficulty in interacting with peers offline. Funding: The Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation grant, via the Ministry of Science and ICT of the South Korean Government.

Deep-learning-based personalized prediction of absolute neutrophil count recovery and comparison with clinicians for validation.

Neutropenia and its complications are major adverse effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy. The time to recovery from neutropenia varies from patient to patient, and cannot be easily predicted even by experts. Therefore, we trained a deep learning model using data from 525 pediatric patients with solid tumors to predict the day when patients recover from severe neutropenia after high-dose chemotherapy. We validated the model with data from 99 patients and compared its performance to those of clinicians. The accuracy of the model at predicting the recovery day, with a 1-day error, was 76%; its performance was better than those of the specialist group (58.59%) and the resident group (32.33%). In addition, 80% of clinicians changed their initial predictions at least once after the model's prediction was conveyed to them. In total, 86 prediction changes (90.53%) improved the recovery day estimate.

Respiratory Safety Evaluation in Mice and Inhibition of Adenoviral Amplification in Human Bronchial Endothelial Cells Using a Novel Type of Chlorine Dioxide Gas Reactor.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a growing demand for effective and safe disinfectants. A novel use of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) gas, which can satisfy such demand, has been reported. However, its efficacy and safety remain unclear. For the safe use of this gas, the stable release of specific concentrations is a must. A new type of ClO2 generator called Dr.CLOTM has recently been introduced. This study aimed to investigate: (1) the effects of Dr.CLOTM on inhibiting adenoviral amplification on human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells; and (2) the acute inhalation safety of using Dr.CLOTM in animal models. After infecting HBE cells with a recombinant adenovirus, the inhibitory power of Dr.CLOTM on the virus was expressed as IFU/mL in comparison with the control group. The safety of ClO2 gas was indirectly predicted using mice by measuring single-dose inhalation toxicity in specially designed chambers. Dr.CLOTM was found to evaporate in a very constant concentration range at 0-0.011 ppm/m3 for 42 days. In addition, 36-100% of adenoviral amplification was suppressed by Dr.CLOTM, depending on the conditions. The LC50 of ClO2 gas to mice was approximately 68 ppm for males and 141 ppm for females. Histopathological evaluation showed that the lungs of female mice were more resistant to the toxicity from higher ClO2 gas concentrations than those of male mice. Taken together, these results indicate that Dr.CLOTM can be used to provide a safe indoor environment due to its technology that maintains the stable concentration and release of ClO2 gas, which could suppress viral amplification and may prevent viral infections.

Characteristics of malodor pollutants and aromatic VOCs around an urban valley in Korea.

In this study, the environmental behavior of malodor pollutants (MPs) [including reduced sulfur compounds (RSCs)] and aromatic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs) were investigated around urban valley areas during several field campaigns (February through December 2006). The MPs measured in the study area include the RSCs (H(2)S, CH(3)SH, DMS, and DMDS), ammonia (NH(3)), and styrene (STY); the AVOCs include benzene (BEN), toluene (TOL), ethylbenzene (EB), m,p-xylene (MPX), and o-xylene (OX). The variation of most MP concentrations (except for DMDS) was found to be larger than that of AVOCs. It was found that STY (2,346 +/- 4,867 ppbv) was the most dominant MP followed by NH(3) (447 +/- 285), CH(3)SH (16 +/- 41), and the others (<8). The magnitude of AVOCs was found in the following descending order: TOL (1.4 +/- 2.2 ppbv), EB (1.0 +/- 2.1), MPX (0.9 +/- 2.0), and the others (<0.8). The concentration levels of most MPs on industrial (I) and downwind (D) sites were up to an order of magnitude higher than those at non-industrial (N) and upwind (U) sites. For most AVOCs, the former was ~3 times higher than the latter. For malodor intensity in RSCs, CH(3)SH was the dominant contributor. The concentration difference in target compounds between the sites/periods is likely to be caused by the combined effects such as emission sources, geographical features (e.g., semi-closed topography), and meteorological conditions (e.g., wind directions) in and outside the urban valley.