No abstract

As control of indoor microbial contamination has become an increasing concern around the world, feasibility and effectiveness of adopting ventilation approach has attracted a significant interest. This field investigation demonstrated, quantitatively, critical variables to be taken into consideration while applying such a measure, including the kinds of microbes to be removed and the types of ventilation system already in place.

Early social-communicative difficulties in autism involve early triadic communications involving joint attention and possibly dyadic turn-taking skills, which has implications for both early screening and early intervention.

Joint attention intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders was focused on improving joint engagement and joint attention skills. The purpose of this study was to develop a caregiver-mediated joint engagement intervention program combined with body movement play to investigate the effects of joint engagement/joint attention skills in young children with autism spectrum disorders. A quasi-experimental research design was conducted. A total of 34 young children with autism spectrum disorders aged 2-4 years were separated into an intervention and a control group. The program consisted of 20 sessions, 60 min per session, twice a week, for the target child and his or her parent. The results indicated that child-initiated supportive and coordinated joint engagement was greater for the intervention group compared with the control group at 3-month follow-up. This demonstrated that our joint engagement intervention could enhance joint engagement, especially coordinated joint engagement for young children with autism spectrum disorders. The limitations of the study and future directions were discussed.

This study examined the utility of the Chinese version Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (C-M-CHAT) in a high-risk sample. This study recruited 236 children aged from 18 to 47 months old in rural area of Southern Taiwan, including 113 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and 123 children with Developmental Delay (DD). Using failing any four of the 23 C-M-CHAT items as cutoff, it showed a sensitivity of 77.0% and a specificity of 72.4%. The positive predictive value (PPV) was 71.9% while the negative predictive value (NPV) was 77.4%. Using failing any three of the 14 new critical items--referred to as the ''Brief 14''--as cutoff, it yielded a sensitivity of 70.8% and a specificity of 82.1%. The PPV of the ''Brief 14'' was 78.4% while the NPV was 75.4%. The preliminary results of the C-M-CHAT and the ''Brief 14'' performance demonstrated an acceptable predictive validity and promising utility for use in high-risk, rural populations in Taiwan.