Li Ming, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at DKU. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY An artificial intelligence system jointly developed by the 3rd Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and the Duke Kunshan University has achieved an 80 percent accuracy rate in screening 120 toddlers who were diagnosed with autism, the team behind the system said during a forum at DKU last week. The system represents a major development in autism screening for children, which is considered a challenge in China due to the lack of experienced pedestrians who can perform an accurate diagnosis. Experts say that early detection and intervention could substantially improve the prognosis of patients. China has more than 10 million children with autism. In the US, the estimated autism prevalence in 2018 is one in 59. It's quite hard for doctors to tell whether a two-year-old is autistic or not as there is no single cause for identification or a biomarker, said Zou Xiaobin, director of Child Behavior Development Center of the 3rd Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. A diagnosis is completely reliant on a doctor's observation of the toddler's behavior. The AI system was tested on 120 two-year-olds between last year and early this year. The toddlers were accompanied by their mothers in a room and their behaviors were recorded and analyzed by audio and video systems. Eye-tracking technology was also used. Doctors said that unlike normal children, an autistic child lacks the ability to pay attention to people's eyes. A number of indicators were included in the system for the screening, said Li Ming, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at DKU who is responsible for the development of the AI system. The indicators include whether the toddlers responded by raising their heads or answering when they were called by their names, whether they gazed at their mothers or stood up to follow when their mothers left the room, and whether they made eye contact or followed their mothers' visual cues, Li said. Li said he was confident that the accuracy rate will be improved by at least 10 percent following upgrades to the machine learning system and data processing technology. Obtaining a bigger pool of samples is crucial as well. The more the machine learns, the higher its accuracy will be, Li said. Contact the writer at [email protected]24 hour wristbandscustom made rubber braceletspersonalised silicone wristbandsrubber arm bandsbracelet maker onlinemotivational bracelets for athletessilicone keychaincustom wrist sweatbands
Lieutenant General He Lei, vice-president of the PLA Academy of Military Science and head of the PLA delegation, attends the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, which ended on Sunday. Joseph Nair/ap Two senior Chinese and Japanese military officials met in Singapore on Sunday, People's Liberation Army's delegation to the Shangri-La Dialogue said in a news release. Lieutenant General He Lei, vice-president of the PLA Academy of Military Science and head of the PLA delegation, met on Sunday morning with Lieutenant General Kazuaki Sumida, vice-chief of staff of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' Joint Staff, at the Shangri-La Hotel on the sidelines of the regional security conference that concluded later in the day. He told Sumida that Sino-Japanese relations appeared to be improving, but they are still sophisticated and fragile. China always holds a positive attitude toward communication and exchange with Japan in defense affairs and that the two sides should make efforts to improve their defense relations, He said according to the news release. He said China attaches great importance to the negotiation of an air-sea communication mechanism between the two countries' defense departments and has made a lot of effort on this matter. China hopes that Japan will consider this issue in a strategic perspective and use flexibility to handle it, the Chinese officer said. Sumida said more communication and exchanges between the two nations' defense departments would contribute to stable relations, which are crucial to security in the Asia-Pacific. Sumida was quoted by the Chinese news release as saying that the air-sea communication mechanism will be established through efforts from both sides. The Japanese officer also said Japan is willing to enhance bilateral exchanges and talks in defense, especially when the two countries mark the 45th anniversary of normalization of their diplomatic ties this year and as they mark next year the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China. [email protected]
