• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.79-102
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• 2023

Objective : Autistic Spectrum Disorders(ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by atypical sensory adaptation, communication problem, stereotyped behavior, and feeding disorders. The reasons for ASD feeding disorders are oral sensory motor, cognitive, behavioral, and social problems. Major symptoms include picky eating, selective eating, food refusal, food neophobia, limited food variety, and food aversion. ASD feeding disorders could be accompanied by various problems such as health and nutrition intake problems, feeding development, eating-related sociability, and family and caregiver stress. Feeding problems and disorders in ASD can present from birth. However, ASD is diagnosed by the age of 3, and there might be an appropriate treatment gap. Usually, symptoms of feeding disorders tend to decrease with age. However, the symptoms often remain, so early evaluation, intervention, and periodic checking are necessary. In this study, the general information about the feeding disorder characteristics of ASD, influencing factors, and intervention were described through a literature review. Conclusion : Sensory-based therapy and behavior-based therapies are generally used for feeding disorders in ASD. Sensory-based therapy is effective for food sensitivity and behavior-based therapy for food selection. As the symptoms of feeding disorders in ASD are diverse, a comprehensive approach includes play and participation, oral motor exercise, diet, and daily life. However, appropriate evaluation, intervention protocol, and guidelines for the treatment of feeding disorders in ASD are limited. Therefore, a complex approach based on a more systematic understanding is needed. Feeding rehabilitation specialists, such as occupational therapists, should provide appropriate evaluation and intervention.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.76-86
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• 1991

Plasma $dopamine-{\beta}-hydroxylase(DBH)$ activity was measured in 37 autistic disorders, 26 atypical pervasive developmental disorders and 23 controls, to elucidate the biological etiology in pervasive developmental disorders. The results are summarized as follows : 1) In the autistic group, the mean plasma DBH activity was significantly elevated compared to the atypical and control groups. The mean plasma DBH activity was also significantly elevated in pervasive developmental disorders(autistic disorder+atypical developmental disorder) compared to control group. 2) In the atypical and control groups, the DBH activity significantly increased with age, but in the autistic group, the DBH activity was not significantly correlated with age. 3) No significant correlation was found between the DBH activity and the severity of psychopathology. These findings support the hypothesis of a possible involvement of brain catecholamine dysfunction in the production of autistic symptoms, and this dysfunction might be due to the abnormal ontogenetic process of DBH activity in autistic disorders.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.196-199
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• 2016

As the children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders(ASD) are increasing, and study of intelligent robot is dynamically proceeding, therapeutic robots are needed to help ASD children who have a lack of social interaction, inadequacy of communication. This paper deals with the design and operation of a cat robot for the treatment. To configure the behavior based on the results of field experiments, emotional treatment is suggested and robot structure considering ASD characteristic is designed with some sensors. In addition, we verified the effectiveness of the operation by field test.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.369-378
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• 2012

Analysis of synaptic plasticity together with behavioral and molecular studies have become a popular approach to model autism spectrum disorders in order to gain insight into the pathosphysiological mechanisms and to find therapeutic targets. Abnormalities of specific types of synaptic plasticity have been revealed in numerous genetically modified mice that have molecular construct validity to human autism spectrum disorders. Constrained by the feasibility of technique, the common regions analyzed in most studies are hippocampus and visual cortex. The relevance of the synaptic defects in these regions to the behavioral abnormalities of autistic like behaviors is still a subject of debate. Because the exact regions or circuits responsible for the core features of autistic behaviors in humans are still poorly understood, investigation using region-specific conditional mutant mice may help to provide the insight into the neuroanatomical basis of autism in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.3-9
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• 2011

Autism and autistic spectrum disorder are chronic neuro-developmental disorders characterized by social and language impairments and stereotyped, repetitive patterns of behavior. The etiology of autism remains unknown; however, a strong genetic component has been detected and environmental factors may also be involved in their etiologies. In the current study, we reviewed evidence for the presence of prenatal and perinatal factors, gastrointestinal factors, food allergies, metabolic and heavy metal factors, and other nutritional factors that may represent risk factors for the development of autism and autistic spectrum disorder.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to achieve a vision for autistic children and their parents aimed at generating interest in ideas such as "Sanitas Per Aquam" (SPA), massage and music therapy, which has begun to have widespread use and to attract attention. Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study was carried out with autistic children and their parents from February to April 2015 in $Mu{\breve{g}}la$, Turkey. The study was began by interviewing experts in the field and by developing a suitable assessment questionnaire. In order to direct the flow of conversation between the researchers and the autisitc children and their parents, the researchers conducted semi-structured face to face interviews in a form that had been determined by using reports in the literature and the opinions of experts in the field. Results: Forty two boys (84%) and eight girls (16%) with autism participated in our study. Children in the 0 - 7 age group spent long time in the bathroom (P = 0.001). Boys liked to be hugged more than girls (P = 0.01). Children ages 0 - 7 years liked bright lighting while those 15 years of age and older liked gloomy lighting (P = 0.009). Except for these statistically significant sex- and age-related differences, no other statistically significant differences were noted in the parameters of this study. Although the result was not statistically significant, more children with mild autism disorder obeyed commands like inhale or exhale (P = 0.051). Conclusion: Treatment for autism spectrum disorders is not yet fully possible, so many studies are being done to alleviate some symptoms and to improve the quality of life for individuals with autism and their families. As a result of our study, whether touching the areas the children want touched and listening to their favorite music are required to stimulate the brain remain as questions in our minds.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.25-34
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• 2005

Background and Objectives There was no clinical data except literary study on mutual correlation with autistic disorder in Western medical diagnosis and five kinds of flaccidity in infants(五軟), five kinds of retardation(五遲) in Oriental medical diagnosis. This study was performed to investigate the correlation of five kinds of flaccidity in infants(五軟), five kinds of retardation(五遲) to the children with autistic disorder and to set the time table for clinical diagnosis of developmental retardation by making a comparative study of normal developmental children so we can treat the children with autistic disorder in good time. Method We made the comparative study of interview sheets recorded by parents of total 163 children who were diagnosed as autistic disorder who visited HaeMa Oriental Medical Clinic with interview sheets recorded by parents of generally accepted normal developmental children(263) and then we took statistics. Results : 1. There was significant correlation with speech and walking among five kinds of flaccidity in infants(五軟), five kinds of retardation(五遲) in autistic disorder statistically and clinically in comparison with normal children. 2. There wasn't significant correlation with growth time of tooth among five kinds of flaccidity in infants(五軟), five kinds of retardation(五遲) on diagnosis of autistic disorder in comparison with normal children. 3. There was significant correlation with retardation of times going to toilet by oneself (it does not consist in five kinds of flaccidity in infants(五軟), five kinds of retardation(五遲).) in both of autistic disorder. Conclusion Autistic disorder was significantly correlated with the faculty of speech(語遲), retardation in walking out(行遲) of five kinds of flaccidity in infants(五軟), five kinds of retardation(五遲). We need to concrete the index of diagnosis, because it is so difficult to measure times and register retardation in tooth eruption(齒遲), retardation in hair-growing(髮遲), debility of neck and nape(頭項軟), flaccidity of extremities(手軟) and flaccidity of muscle(肌肉軟). And we can also use times going to toilet by oneself as one of diagnostic criteria because of its significant correlation. It is required to make early diagnosis of five kinds of flaccidity in infants(五軟), five kinds of retardation(五遲) using these criteria, and to treat them early by oriental medicine.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.44.1-44.9
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• 2021

Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder, the prevalence of which has increased drastically in India in recent years. Neuroligin is a type I transmembrane protein that plays a crucial role in synaptogenesis. Alterations in synaptic genes are most commonly implicated in autism and other cognitive disorders. The present study investigated the neuroligin 3 gene in the Indian autistic population by sequencing and in silico pathogenicity prediction of molecular changes. In total, 108 clinically described individuals with autism were included from the North Karnataka region of India, along with 150 age-, sex-, and ethnicity-matched healthy controls. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood, and exonic regions were sequenced. The functional and structural effects of variants of the neuroligin 3 protein were predicted. One coding sequence variant (a missense variant) and four non-coding variants (two 5'-untranslated region [UTR] variants and two 3'-UTR variants) were recorded. The novel missense variant was found in 25% of the autistic population. The C/C genotype of c.551T>C was significantly more common in autistic children than in controls (p = 0.001), and a significantly increased risk of autism (24.7-fold) was associated with this genotype (p = 0.001). The missense variant showed pathogenic effects and high evolutionary conservation over the functions of the neuroligin 3 protein. In the present study, we reported a novel missense variant, V184A, which causes abnormal neuroligin 3 and was found with high frequency in the Indian autistic population. Therefore, neuroligin is a candidate gene for future molecular investigations and functional analysis in the Indian autistic population.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2017

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the portion of physical disability was 51.4% which was the highest among the registered disabled in December 2015, followed by visual disability(10.1%), disability of the brain lesions(10.0%), hearing disability(10.0%). The aim of this study is to investigate the types of disability in patients with disabilities visiting the Pediatric Dentistry, Chonbuk National University Dental Hospital in 2016. Of the patients who visited the pediatric dentistry, 196 patients (7.5%) had disabilities, and 19 patients had two or more disabilities. Twelve patients (6.1%) had both disabilities of brain lesion and intellectual disorder. Of the 177 patients with only one disability, 54 patients (30.5%) had physical disorders and 123 patients (69.4%) had psychiatric disorders. In psychiatric disorders, intellectual disorder was the most with 98 patients (55.3%), followed by autistic disorder with 23 patients (12.9%). In physical disorders, disability of brain lesion was the most with 37 patients (20.9%), followed by speech disability with 8 patients (4.5%). In this study, as a result of analyzing the types of disability with the patients who visited the Pediatric Dentistry of Chonbuk National University Dental Hospital, most of them had either intellectual disorder, disability of brain lesion, or autistic disorder. Dentists need to understand their general and dental characteristics to treat children and adolescents with disabilities. Since the most chief complaint of the patients was dental caries, early interventions should be made by dentist to reduce the incidence of the disease.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.429-440
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• 2010

It is known that as many as 1 in 91 children are diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder, and the incidence rate of the autistic spectrum disorder is much higher than that of cancer in Korea. It is necessary to develop a novel technology to sense their emotional status and give proper psychological diagnosis and therapy, since the children with autistic spectrum disorder usually do not express their own emotional status. This article presents the state-of-the-arts on the affective computing technologies that include recognition of emotional status through bio-sensing and virtual affective agent modeling, and then proposes a novel system architecture for diagnosis and therapy of autistic spectrum disorder. The diagnosis and therapy system of autistic spectrum disorder is composed of bio-sensing module, virtual environment module with affective agents, and haptic interface module. The architecture proposed in this paper will enhance the objectivity to diagnose autism spectrum disorders, and enable continuous treatment in daily life.