Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article The U.S.-brokered Dayton Accords brought an end to the fighting in December 1995 and recognition of the Bosnian Serb Republic (Republika Srpska) with minority power in the country’s joint presidency Because Karadić was under indictment for war crimes a clause in the Dayton Accords prohibited him from standing for election and Plavšić was elected to the new government in his stead She broke with the SDS in 1997 after publicly accusing Karadić of having amassed a fortune through an illegal smuggling ring and she softened her stance on the possible return of Bosniak refugees to the Serb republic She was soundly defeated by a Serb ultranationalist in her reelection bid in 1998 She surrendered to authorities later that month and pled not guilty to the charges laid against her Plavšić ultimately pled guilty to the lesser charge of persecution based on political and in February 2003 she was sentenced to 11 years in prison In October 2009 she was granted early release for good behaviour An HIV adherence counsellor examines an HIV positive patient at the IOM treatment centre in Eastleigh LGBTQ+ Kenyans and others who are marginalised are served by community-led clinics whose funding is now at risk a 29-year-old transgender teacher from the city of Kisumu on Lake Victoria visited a local public health centre when she was diagnosed with HIV in 2023 "They said they don't serve people like me," she recalled She turned to Health Options for Young Men on HIV/AIDS/STIs (HOYMAS) a clinic based in the Nairobi suburb of Pangani to receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) and counseling The difficulty Okumu had starting life-saving ART illustrates how stigma, poverty and limited healthcare options can intersect to prevent some Kenyans from receiving help in the critical early stages following a diagnosis In Kenya, the suspension has led to the closure of 15 clinics the loss of 35,000 healthcare jobs and disruptions in HIV treatment for some 72,000 individuals according to Nairobi-based Health NGOs' Network Before the pause in U.S. foreign aid, Kenya was set to receive about $300 million this fiscal year to treat 1.3 million people This support reached at-risk communities like LGBTQ+ individuals through local organisations Community-led groups employ peer educators and outreach workers to serve patients who would otherwise struggle to get help from Kenya's conventional healthcare system where providers lack training in their specific needs an advocate at the Elite LGBTQI Safe House an informal self-help group in the western city of Eldoret "When people face judgment or outright denial of care and this impacts not only their health but also public health outcomes." A government report in 2022 revealed that 45% of LGBTQ+ individuals avoided healthcare services due to fears of discrimination according to human rights lawyer Carol Makana of the Centre for Minority Rights and Litigation a 32-year-old hairdresser from the town of Nakuru who resisted treatment for four years after he was infected in 2020 fearful he would face reproach from his community A support group at HOYMAS "gave me the courage to start treatment after years of fear," said Maina Limited official data make it difficult to determine how many Kenyans receive care at such community organisations Most are affiliated with the LGBTQ+ rights umbrella group galck+ Kenya's ambitious goal to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 will require the government to ensure strong data collection to find more underserved individuals Government health surveys often exclude questions on sexual orientation and fear of reprisals may lead to underreporting by LGBTQ+ individuals Groups like Ishtar MSM are well-placed to identify those gaps The Nairobi clinic has served more than 7,000 gay bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) and Ishtar MSM's nearly 200 peer educators mentored about 50 men each It's about saving lives and building resilient communities," said Duncan Kioko Already limited funding had restricted its ability to meet increased demand Fear of police harassment and other legal barriers have also hindered access to care at the clinic Ishtar MSM received more than $80,000 from USAID in 2023 The suspension of that assistance means it will now look for alternatives an official from Ishtar MSM said on condition of anonymity because of sensitivity surrounding the funding freeze "The progress we've made in reducing HIV stigma and improving access to care for MSM is at risk of being reversed," the official said former president Uhuru Kenyatta said the cuts in U.S aid should serve as a "wake-up call" for African nations "to help ourselves." HOYMAS receives funding comes from international groups but it has diversified its sources and does not receive USAID money as demand for other international funding now rises but self-reliance is at the heart of the group's model "Healing is not just about physical recovery but also about giving back and making a difference in the lives of others," Okumu said This story is part of a series supported by Hivos's Free to Be Me programme. (Editing by Sadiya Ansari and Ayla Jean Yackley) Context is powered by the Thomson Reuters Foundation Newsroom Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles By providing your email, you agree to our Privacy Policy What does a Donald Trump presidency mean for LGBTQ+ rights? Indigenous forest peoples can finally control nature finance Inside Trump's $6mn deportee deal with El Salvador mega-prison Half London councils found using Chinese surveillance tech Portable internet helps Asia's scam centres bypass blackouts How is Bangladesh preparing farmers for increasingly salty soil? Context is a media platform created by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. We provide news and analysis that contextualises how critical issues and events affect ordinary people, society and the environment. Find out more. The Workforce Disclosure Initiative is an investor-backed project to improve the quantity & quality of corporate workforce data via an annual survey & engagement process Trust Conference is the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s flagship annual event taking place in the heart of London each year TrustLaw is the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono service facilitating free legal assistance to NGOs and social enterprises around the world Which language would you like to use this site in Pro-Kyiv volunteer battalions are increasingly blocking humanitarian aid into eastern Ukraine in a move which will exacerbate a pending humanitarian crisis in the run up to Christmas and New Year the already desperate situation in eastern Ukraine is being made even worse by the volunteer battalions preventing food aid and medicine from reaching those in need It is no secret that the region is facing a humanitarian disaster with many already at risk of starvation,” said Denis Krivosheev acting Director of Europe and Central Asia for Amnesty International “These battalions often act like renegade gangs and urgently need to be brought under control Denying food to people caught up in a conflict is against international law and the perpetrators must be held to account.” Amnesty International has received information that the pro-Kyiv battalions have blocked aid entering territories controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR) along with members of Donbass battalion and Pravyi Sector militia are reported to have blocked 11 roads leading into the DNR-controlled territory They have refused to allow most aid convoys through because they believe food and clothing are ending up in the wrong hands and may be sold instead of being given as humanitarian aid They also insist on the release of prisoners held by the separatist forces as a condition for granting access to the humanitarian aid to the east At least four convoys sent by the humanitarian foundation of Rinat Akhmetov were blocked on the roads leading to the separatist-controlled territory by the Dnipro-1 battalion last week After stopping one of the convoys Vladimir Manko deputy commander of the Dnipro-1 battalion “We don’t have any control on the other side It turns out that we’re at war with them and we’re spilling our blood but in the same time we’re feeding them.” Over half of the population in these areas are now entirely dependent on food aid as wages pensions and social benefits are not being paid regularly as a result of the conflict that began in May The decision of the Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv to essentially cut off the region from the Ukrainian financial system in November is also contributing to the hardship of the local population An aid worker from the Luhansk Region has informed Amnesty International that Aidar battalion is also stopping and searching cars that travel from Starobil’sk to Luhansk and vice versa which was previously implicated in arbitrary detention and torture are reportedly stopping food and medicines getting through to the region The aid worker recalled a particular case when medicines for four elderly people in Krasnodon who are suffering from heart and blood pressure conditions “Checking the content of humanitarian convoys crossing frontline is one thing Attempting to create unbearable conditions of life is a whole new ballgame Using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime,” said Denis Krivosheev The population of the region has suffered from six months of fighting between Kyiv-controlled and pro-Russian separatist forces More than 4,700 people have died and thousands more live in fear of being caught in the crossfire or being entirely cut off from vital food and medical supplies Amnesty International reiterates its call for the Ukrainian authorities to reign in the volunteer battalions and to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those who desperately need it Together we can fight for human rights everywhere Your donation can transform the lives of millions If you are talented and passionate about human rights then Amnesty International wants to hear from you Metrics details Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosed by clinicians and experts through questionnaires Current diagnostic practices focus on social and communication impairments This delay in detection results in missed opportunities for early intervention has been previously shown to be aberrant in children with ASD and may be a biomarker for early detection and diagnosis of ASD The current study assessed gait in children with ASD using a single RGB camera-based pose estimation method by MediaPipe (MP) Data from 32 children with ASD and 29 typically developing (TD) children were collected The ASD group exhibited significantly reduced step length and right elbow° and increased right shoulder° relative to TD children Four machine learning (ML) algorithms were employed to classify the ASD and TD children based on the statistically significant gait parameters The binomial logistic regression (Logit) performed the best The present study demonstrates the use of gait analysis and ML techniques for the early detection of ASD it is essential to address the challenges of diagnosing ASD at an early stage and develop effective methods for early detection and intervention to improve outcomes for individuals with ASD gait appears to be a potential phenotype and biomarker of ASD The primary objective of this study is to objectively assess gait in children with ASD and compare it with gait in typically developing (TD) children Such a comparison is likely to reveal differences in gait function between the two groups providing insights into how motor impairments affect children with ASD and indicating the extent to which gait impairments might serve as a biomarker for ASD state-of-the-art machine learning (ML) algorithms could be employed to automate and assist in the early detection and diagnosis of ASD based on gait parameters Children with ASD were recruited from two rehabilitation centers in Kanpur whereas the TD children were enrolled from schools located in the same vicinity The study included 32 children with ASD who had a mean age of 5.97 years and 29 TD children with a mean age of 4.86 years The mean standardized Adaptive Behavior Composite (ABC) score for the ASD group was 59.19 (14.11) while the TD group had an average ABC score of 99.76 (8.37) The exclusion criteria were the known diagnosis of any neurological or genetic conditions and the use of medication that affected the nervous system in the last week The information about exclusion criteria was obtained through a screening interview conducted with each participant’s parent(s) before the actual testing took place The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK/IEC/2021-22/I/24) and the research was performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations The written consent to participate was also obtained from the parent(s) of the children prior to the initiation of the study Schematic representation of the walk pathway and position of the camera facing the walk pathway The gait patterns of children with ASD and TD children were captured using an RGB camera The camera was mounted on a tripod and positioned 0.61 m above the ground facing the walking pathway from a distance of 2.43 m The camera has 3-axis stabilization and an 80-degree field of view It uses a 1/2.3 sensor and offers stable video recording with the highest resolution being 3840 × 2160 pixels and a maximum of 120 frames per second the videos were captured at a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels and a frame rate of 30 frames per second The angles calculated include left and right heel angle The angle of the heel was determined by using the position of the ankle while the angle of the knee was calculated by using the location of the hip the angle of the hip was determined by using the position of the shoulder and the angle of the shoulder was calculated using the location of the elbow The angle of the elbow was determined using the position of the shoulder the angle of the wrist was calculated using the position of the elbow the required kinematic angles were calculated using the formula (1): the joint angles over several frames were averaged by summing them up and then dividing by the total number of frames: where N represents the total number of frames; Anglei denotes the angle value in the ith frame Graph of smoothed intersection points over time Following the application of the SG filter the intersection points were used to calculate step length Step length was defined as the horizontal distance in meters between two consecutive ankle strikes of opposite feet Step time was defined as the time in seconds between two consecutive ankle strikes of opposite feet Stride length was defined as the horizontal distance in meters between two consecutive ankle strikes of the same foot while stride time was defined as the time in seconds between two consecutive ankle strikes of the same foot Speed was calculated as the total distance covered in meters per second Given the total distance in meters and the total time in seconds speed was computed by dividing the total distance by the total time Cadence was defined as the total number of steps divided by the total time taken The correlation between ASD symptoms (ISAA) and significant gait variables in the two groups was evaluated using Spearman’s correlation Spearman’s correlation is a non-parametric statistical test that relies on ranks does not assume a linear relationship between the variables making it particularly suitable for the current study Multiple supervised machine learning classifiers were used to classify the two groups of children based on their gait parameters These classifiers included two ensemble algorithms called Random Forest (RF) and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) a non-linear model known as Support Vector Machine with Radial Basis Function Kernel (SVM-RBF) Schematic representation of analysis pipeline the RGB input data was fed into MediaPipe to obtain joint coordinates These coordinates were then used to calculate gait parameters the gait parameters of two groups of children were compared using statistical test such Mann-Whitney test Any gait parameters that showed a significant difference (p ≤ .05) between the two groups were selected as features machine learning (ML) classifiers were applied to these features for further analysis XGBoost is extreme gradient boosting machine SVM-RBF is support vector machine-radial basis function The three gait parameters were utilized as M input features and m features (m < < M) were selected at random to construct m decision trees for random forest The value of ‘m’ remains constant during the growth of the forest and each decision tree is expanded to the fullest extent possible where ${f}_{k}\in \left\{f\left(x\right)={\omega }_{q}\right\}\left(q:{\mathbb{R}}^{m}\to T,\omega \in {\mathbb{R}}^{T}\right)$is the regression tree’s space and q denotes the independent structure of each tree with T leaves Each fk corresponds to an independent tree structure q and leaf weights ω the following regularized objective is minimized where $\varOmega \left(f\right)=\gamma T+\frac{1}{2}\lambda {\|\omega \|}^{2} and \(\varOmega$ denotes the regularized term SVM with radial kernel uses a nonlinear kernel to transform the input data into a higher-dimensional space The Radial Basis Function (RBF) kernel function measures the similarity or closeness between two points xi and xj and is mathematically represented as: where exp denotes the exponential function ${\|{x}_{i}-{x}_{j}\|}^{2}$ represents the squared Euclidean distance between the two points {x}_{j}\right)\) is the similarity or closeness value computed by the RBF kernel function for the given points xi and xj Binomial Logistic Regression (Logit) is used to model the relationship between a categorical dependent variable and multiple independent variables It is commonly used when the dependent variable has only two categories (i.e. The model predicts the logit transformation of the probability of the event of interest A binary variable with two categories denoted as y and a set of p predictors denoted as $\left({x}_{1},{ x}_{2},\dots ,{x}_{k}\right)$ The model predicts the logit transformation of the probability of the event y being equal to 1 The final output is derived by the following: ${\beta }_{1},{\beta }_{2,\dots },{\beta }_{k}$ are the coefficients of the predictor variables ${x}_{1},{ x}_{2},\dots ,{x}_{k}$ These metrics were computed from a confusion matrix that provided four outcomes: true positive (TP) for correctly predicted positive instances from positive classes true negative (TN) for correctly predicted negative instances from negative classes false positive (FP) for incorrectly predicted positive instances from negative classes and false negative (FN) for incorrectly predicted negative instances from positive classes sensitivity reflects group assignment accuracy and specificity measures the accuracy of rejecting incorrect group assignment These metrics were calculated using the following: There were no significant differences between the ASD and TD groups in terms of age, sex, height, and weight. However, the groups did differ significantly in ABC and ABC domain scores. The detailed demographic and clinical characteristics are given in Table 1 Correlation heatmap of significant gait parameters and ASD symptoms in children with ASD were employed to classify the two groups on three gait parameters The Logit model outperformed the other models with an accuracy of 0.82 This suggests that the Logit model is the most effective in distinguishing between two groups using the three gait parameters These researchers found that ASD participants had elaborated elbow angle in comparison to TD participants Further research in this area may provide valuable insights into the underlying neural mechanisms contributing to gait dysfunction in this population may serve as a helpful tool in identifying and detecting ASD and may potentially serve as a biomarker Further research in this area can provide valuable insights into the underlying neural and psychological mechanisms of motor impairments in ASD and help develop effective interventions The accuracy of Logit model is relative comparable to the other studies in terms of accuracy and the use of the Mann-Whitney test for feature selection and the classification accuracy of the Logit model based on statistically significant features between the groups can be considered a strength of the current study Machine learning and gait parameters seem promising tools for classifying ASD and TD children with potential implications for early detection Since these motor behaviors can be objectively quantified from the first day of life they hold significance for early detection of the disorder The study offers preliminary insights into motor behavior and gait as a potential behavioral marker for ASD suggesting that current diagnostic practices could be made more comprehensive by incorporating these motor impairments and behaviors Combining gait patterns with machine learning techniques could greatly enhance the automated and computer-assisted early detection of ASD machine learning models have the potential to identify subtle patterns that might be overlooked in traditional behavioral assessments which integrates objective gait assessments with machine learning could enable earlier and more accurate diagnoses of ASD this method may help reduce clinician bias and improve consistency in diagnosis ultimately leading to better clinical outcomes for children on the ASD spectrum based on the findings of this and previous studies tailored interventions could also be developed to address gait impairments in children with ASD The study assessed spatiotemporal and kinematic gait parameters in children with ASD and compared these parameters with those of TD children The associations between significant gait parameters and ASD symptoms were also evaluated Machine learning techniques were employed using a select number of gait parameters to classify the two groups of children The results revealed that children with ASD exhibited reduced step length and a smaller right elbow° The right shoulder° was significantly associated with sensory symptoms in children with ASD Several machine learning algorithms were tested to classify the two groups with the Logit achieving the highest accuracy of 82% (0.82) in accurately distinguishing between children with ASD and TD children While the study provides valuable insights into gait parameters in children with ASD several limitations must be considered when interpreting the findings which could limit the statistical power of the analysis and reduce the generalizability of the results A small sample may not adequately represent the full spectrum of children with ASD the study did not assess sex differences in gait patterns which may further limit the generalizability of the findings Without exploring sex-specific differences in gait parameters the study may overlook important nuances of gait in children with ASD the findings may be more applicable to male children with ASD and may not fully capture potential sex-specific gait patterns warranting further investigation in future research the associations between gait and ASD symptoms were weak which suggests that these findings are preliminary and should be interpreted with caution Future studies should consider recruiting a larger sample to represent a more diverse cohort of children with ASD ensuring that the findings are applicable across the full spectrum of the disorder as well as how these gait patterns are associated with ASD symptoms The relationship between sensory symptoms and gait parameters in children with ASD could be a valuable area for future research Investigating how sensory information integrates with motor commands in these children may offer further insight into the underlying neuropsychological mechanisms While supervised machine learning was used in the present study future research could benefit from more advanced techniques exploring the neural correlates of impaired gait in children with ASD would provide an interesting and important avenue for future studies could be explored and compared to MediaPipe for potential improvements in accuracy future studies may benefit from incorporating multiple RGB cameras and depth sensors placed on different planes This would allow for more accurate reconstruction of joint positions and limb movements wearable sensors attached to the body or marker-based systems offer highly accurate measurements of gait which are valuable in both clinical and non-clinical settings these systems tend to be costly and require controlled environments which may not be feasible for all research settings we suggest that future studies integrate advanced machine learning and deep learning techniques to enhance the accuracy and adaptability of gait analysis with a single RGB camera By combining these advanced methods with improved pose estimation models we can potentially overcome some of the limitations of current approaches and achieve more reliable results in real-world applications The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2013). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 Zeidan, J. et al. Global prevalence of autism: A systematic review update. Autism Res. 15(5), 778–790. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2696 (2022) Daniels, A. M. & Mandell, D. S. Explaining differences in age at autism spectrum disorder diagnosis: A critical review. Autism 18(5), 583–597. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361313480277 (2013) van’t Hof, M. et al. Age at autism spectrum disorder diagnosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis from 2012 to 2019. Autism 25(4), 862–873. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320971107 (2020) Crane, L., Chester, J. W., Goddard, L., Henry, L. A. & Hill, E. Experiences of autism diagnosis: A survey of over 1000 parents in the United Kingdom. Autism 20(2), 153–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361315573636 (2015) Vabalas, A., Gowen, E., Poliakoff, E. & Casson, A. J. Applying machine learning to kinematic and eye movement features of a movement imitation task to predict autism diagnosis. Sci. Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65384-4 (2020) Bradshaw, J., Steiner, A. M., Gengoux, G. & Koegel, L. K. Feasibility and effectiveness of very early intervention for infants at-risk for autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 45(3), 778–794. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2235-2 (2014) Dawson, G. Early behavioral intervention, brain plasticity, and the prevention of autism spectrum disorder. Dev. Psychopathol. 20(3), 775–803. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579408000370 (2008) Kojovic, N., Natraj, S., Mohanty, S. P., Maillart, T. & Schaer, M. Using 2D video-based pose estimation for automated prediction of autism spectrum disorders in young children. Sci. Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94378-z (2021) Ben-Sasson, A., Gal, E., Fluss, R., Katz-Zetler, N. & Cermak, S. A. Update of a meta-analysis of sensory symptoms in ASD: A new decade of research. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 49(12), 4974–4996. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04180-0 (2019) Robertson, C. E. & Baron-Cohen, S. Sensory perception in autism. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 18(11), 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.112 (2017) Whyatt, C. & Craig, C. Sensory-motor problems in Autism. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2013.00051 (2013) Gowen, E. & Hamilton, A. Motor abilities in autism: A review using a computational context. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 43(2), 323–344. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1574-0 (2012) Mosconi, M. W. & Sweeney, J. A. Sensorimotor dysfunctions as primary features of autism spectrum disorders. Sci. China Life Sci. 58(10), 1016–1023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-015-4894-4 (2015) Weiss, M. J., Moran, M. F., Parker, M. E. & Foley, J. T. Gait analysis of teenagers and young adults diagnosed with autism and severe verbal communication disorders. Front. Integr. Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2013.00033 (2013) Casartelli, L., Molteni, M. & Ronconi, L. So close yet so far: Motor anomalies impacting on social functioning in autism spectrum disorder. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 63, 98–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.02.001 (2016) Autistic disturbances of affective contact Fournier, K. A., Hass, C. J., Naik, S. K., Lodha, N. & Cauraugh, J. H. Motor coordination in autism spectrum disorders: A synthesis and meta-analysis. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 40(10), 1227–1240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-0981-3 (2010) Lim, Y. H., Partridge, K., Girdler, S. & Morris, S. L. Standing postural control in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 47, 2238–2253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3144-y (2017) Uljarević, M., Hedley, D., Alvares, G. A., Varcin, K. J. & Whitehouse, A. J. O. Relationship between early motor milestones and severity of restricted and repetitive behaviors in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res. 10(6), 1163–1168. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1763 (2017) Barrow, W. J., Jaworski, M. & Accardo, P. J. Persistent toe walking in autism. J. Child Neurol. 26(5), 619–621. https://doi.org/10.1177/0883073810385344 (2011) Fournier, K. A., Amano, S., Radonovich, K. J., Bleser, T. M. & Hass, C. J. Decreased dynamical complexity during quiet stance in children with autism spectrum disorders. Gait Post. 39(1), 420–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2013.08.016 (2014) Shetreat-Klein, M., Shinnar, S. & Rapin, I. Abnormalities of joint mobility and gait in children with autism spectrum disorders. Brain Dev. 36(2), 91–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.braindev.2012.02.005 (2014) Travers, B. G. et al. Brainstem white matter predicts individual differences in manual motor difficulties and symptom severity in sutism. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 45(9), 3030–3040. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2467-9 (2015) Travers, B. G., Powell, P. S., Klinger, L. G. & Klinger, M. R. Motor difficulties in autism spectrum disorder: Linking symptom severity and postural stability. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 43(7), 1568–1583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1702-x (2012) Radonovich, K. J., Fournier, K. A. & Hass, C. J. Relationship between postural control and restricted, repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorders. Front. Integr. Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2013.00028 (2013) Torres, E. B. & Donnellan, A. M. Editorial for research topic “Autism: the movement perspective”. Front. Integr. Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2015.00012 (2015) Esposito, G. & Paşca, S. P. Motor abnormalities as a putative endophenotype for autism spectrum disorders. Front. Integr. Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2013.00043 (2013) Anzulewicz, A., Sobota, K. & Delafield-Butt, J. T. Toward the autism motor signature: Gesture patterns during smart tablet gameplay identify children with autism. Sci. Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31107 (2016) Hilton, C. et al. Relationship between motor skill impairment and severity in children with Asperger syndrome. Res. Autism Spectr. Disord. 1(4), 339–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2006.12.003 (2007) Green, D. et al. Impairment in movement skills of children with autistic spectrum disorders. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 51(4), 311–316. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2008.03242.x (2009) Burnett, C. N. & Johnson, E. W. Development of gait in childhood. Part I: Method. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 13(2), 196–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.1971.tb03245.x (1971) Burnett, C. N. & Johnson, E. W. Development of gait in childhood: Part II. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 13(2), 207–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.1971.tb03246.x (1971) Forssberg, H. Ontogeny of human locomotor control. I. Infant stepping, supported locomotion and transition to independent locomotion. Exp. Brain Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00237835 (1985) Thelen, E. & Cooke, D. W. Relationship between newborn stepping and latter walking: A new interpretation. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 29(3), 380–393. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.1987.tb02492.x (1987) Ivanenko, Y. P., Dominici, N. & Lacquaniti, F. Development of independent walking in toddlers. Exerc. Sport Sci. Rev. 35(2), 67–73. https://doi.org/10.1249/jes.0b013e31803eafa8 (2007) Vilensky, J. A. Gait disturbances in patients with autistic behavior. Arch. Neurol. 38(10), 646. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.1981.00510100074013 (1981) Ghaziuddin, M., Butler, E., Tsai, L. & Ghaziuddin, N. Is clumsiness a marker for Asperger syndrome?. J. Intellect. Disabil. Res. 38(Pt5), 519–527. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.1994.tb00440.x (1994) Manjiviona, J. & Prior, M. Comparison of Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autistic children on a test of motor impairment. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 25(1), 23–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02178165 (1995) Kindregan, D., Gallagher, L. & Gormley, J. Gait deviations in children with autism spectrum disorders: A review. Autism Res. Treat. 2015, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/741480 (2015) Lum, J. A. G. et al. Meta-analysis reveals gait anomalies in autism. Autism Res. 14(4), 733–747. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2443 (2020) Rinehart, N. J. et al. Gait function in high-functioning autism and Asperger’s disorder. Eur. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 15(5), 256–264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-006-0530-y (2006) Rinehart, N. J. et al. Gait function in newly diagnosed children with autism: cerebellar and basal ganglia related motor disorder. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 48(10), 819. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0012162206001769 (2007) de Marchena, A. & Miller, J. “Frank” presentations as a novel research construct and element of diagnostic decision-making in autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res. 10(4), 653–662. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1706 (2016) Biffi, E. et al. Gait pattern and motor performance during discrete gait perturbation in children with autism spectrum disorders. Front. Psychol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02530 (2018) Nobile, M. et al. Further evidence of complex motor dysfunction in drug naïve children with autism using automatic motion analysis of gait. Autism 15(3), 263–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361309356929 (2011) de Belen, R. A. J., Bednarz, T., Sowmya, A. & Del Favero, D. Computer vision in autism spectrum disorder research: A systematic review of published studies from 2009 to 2019. Transl. Psychiatry https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-01015-w (2020) Ardalan, A., Assadi, A. H., Surgent, O. J. & Travers, B. G. Whole-Body movement during videogame play distinguishes youth with autism from youth with typical development. Sci. Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56362-6 (2019) Chakraborty, S., Thomas, P., Bhatia, T., Nimgaonkar, V. L. & Deshpande, S. N. Assessment of severity of autism using the Indian scale for assessment of autism. Indian J. Psychol. Med. 37(2), 169–174. https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.155616 (2015) Schopler, E., Reichler, R. J., DeVellis, R. F. & Daly, K. Toward objective classification of childhood autism: Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). J. Autism Dev. Disord. 10(1), 91–103. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02408436 (1980) Carter, A. S. et al. The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales: Supplementary norms for individuals with autism. J. Autism Dev. Disord. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1026056518470 (1998) Perry, A., Flanagan, H. E., Dunn Geier, J. & Freeman, N. L. Brief Report: The Vineland adaptive behavior scales in young children with autism spectrum disorders at different cognitive levels. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 39(7), 1066–1078. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0704-9 (2009) Ray-Subramanian, C. E., Huai, N. & Ellis Weismer, S. Brief report: Adaptive behavior and cognitive skills for toddlers on the autism spectrum. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 41(5), 679–684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1083-y (2010) Hii, C. S. T. et al. Automated gait analysis based on a marker-free pose estimation model. Sensors 23(14), 6489. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23146489 (2023) Pose Landmark Detection Guide. Retrieved May 20, 2023, from (n.d.). https://developers.google.com/mediapipe/solutions/vision/pose_landmarker/ Pelliccia, D. Savitzky–Golay Smoothing Method. NIRPY research (2019). https://nirpyresearch.com/savitzky-golay-smoothing-method/ Lim, Z. K., Connie, T., Goh, M. K. O. & Saedon, N. I. B. Fall risk prediction using temporal gait features and machine learning approaches. Front. Artif. Intell. 7, 1425713. https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2024.1425713 (2024) R Core Team. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R (Foundation for Statistical Computing, 2022). https://www.R-project.org/ Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.) Haury, A. C., Gestraud, P. & Vert, J. P. The influence of feature selection methods on accuracy, stability and interpretability of molecular signatures. PloS ONE 6(12), e28210. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0028210 (2011) Kuhn, M. Building predictive models in R using the caret package. J. Stat. Softw. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v028.i05 (2008) Breiman, L. Random forests. Mach. Learn. 45, 5–32. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010933404324 (2001) Zhou, Y. et al. The detection of age groups by dynamic gait outcomes using machine learning approaches. Sci. Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61423-2 (2020) Chen, T. & Guestrin, C. XGBoost, in Proceedings of the 22nd ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (2016). https://doi.org/10.1145/2939672.2939785 Noh, B. et al. XGBoost based machine learning approach to predict the risk of fall in older adults using gait outcomes. Sci. Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91797-w (2021) Boser, B. E., Guyon, I. M. & Vapnik, V. N. A training algorithm for optimal margin classifiers, in Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Workshop on Computational Learning Theory (1992). https://doi.org/10.1145/130385.130401 Robin, X. et al. pROC: an open-source package for R and S+ to analyze and compare ROC curves. BMC Bioinform. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2105-12-77 (2011) Tharwat, A. Classification assessment methods. Appl. Comput. Inform. 17(1), 168–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aci.2018.08.003 (2020) Vernazza-Martin, S. et al. Goal directed locomotion and balance control in autistic children. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 35(1), 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-004-1037-3 (2005) Damasio, A. R. & Maurer, R. G. A neurological model for childhood autism. Arch. Neurol. 35(12), 777–786. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.1978.00500360001001 (1978) Hallett, M. et al. Locomotion of autistic adults. Arch. Neurol. 50(12), 1304–1308. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.1993.00540120019007 (1993) Hannant, P., Cassidy, S., Tavassoli, T. & Mann, F. Sensorimotor difficulties are associated with the severity of autism spectrum conditions. Front. Integr. Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2016.00028 (2016) Goulème, N. et al. Postural control and emotion in children with autism spectrum disorders. Transl. Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.1515/tnsci-2017-0022 (2017) Glickstein, M. Cerebellum and the sensory guidance of movement. Novartis Found. Sympos. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470515563.ch14 (2007) Hannant, P., Tavassoli, T. & Cassidy, S. The role of sensorimotor difficulties in autism spectrum conditions. Front. Neurol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2016.00124 (2016) Al-Jubouri, A. A., Ali, I. H. & Rajihy, Y. Gait and full body movement dataset of autistic children classified by rough set classifier. J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 1818(1), 012201. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1818/1/012201 (2021) Bhat, A. N. Motor impairment increases in children with autism spectrum disorder as a function of social communication, cognitive and functional impairment, repetitive behavior severity, and comorbid diagnoses: A SPARK study report. Autism Res. 14(1), 202–219. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2453 (2021) Bhat, A. N. Fewer children with autism spectrum disorder with motor challenges receive physical and recreational therapies compared to standard therapies: A SPARK data set analysis. Autism 28(5), 1161–1174. https://doi.org/10.1177/136236132311931 (2024) Fang, H. S. et al. AlphaPose: Whole-body regional multi-person pose estimation and tracking in real-time. IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell. 45(6), 7157–7173. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPAMI.2022.3222784 (2022) Hill, T. L., Saulnier, C. A., Cicchetti, D., Gray, S. A. O. & Carter, A. S. Vineland III, in Volkmar, F. (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders (Springer, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102229-1 Download references The authors would like to thank all the participants that took part in the study and staff at the rehabilitation centers that helped in the data collection founder and director of AMRITA-School for Special Children for allowing us to collect data at their center Department of Humanities and Social Sciences All authors read and approved the fnal manuscript The authors declare no competing interests The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee The written consent was obtained from the parents of the children prior to the data collection Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85348-w Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Check out the trailer for Uncut Gems, featuring Tony winner Idina Menzel as Dinah a wife who refuses to let her husband fool around Joining Menzel and star Adam Sandler in the film are Broadway alums Eric Bogosian (Time Stands Still) and two-time Tony winner Judd Hirsch (Conversations With My Father) Rounding out the cast are Lakeith Stanfield Uncut Gems follows Diamond District jewelry salesman Howard Ratne (Sandler) as he resorts to mafioso-type behavior to settle his debts WATCH: Follow Elsa and Anna Into an Enchanted Forest in the Official Trailer for Frozen 2 Uncut Gems is directed by the Safdie Brothers with a script by the duo and Ronald Bronstein Great Performances will telecast the recent West End transfer of the Donmar Warehouse production later this month Pearson will be the first disabled actor to portray Joseph Merrick on screen Numerous Broadway favorites populate the period drama that is returning in June Overseen by the Walt Disney Studios Restoration team the 10-month remastery project included a meticulous digital scan and preservation process Great Performances will telecast the recent West End transfer of the Donmar Warehouse production next month In celebration of the cult classic's 50th anniversary The film will center on the Molina brothers three World Series-winning catchers in Major League Baseball Thank You!You have now been added to the list Blocking belongson the stage,not on websites Our website is made possible bydisplaying online advertisements to our visitors Please consider supporting us bywhitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.Thank you You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience © 2025 Time, Belgrade. Developed by cubes He was the Deputy Minister of Planning and Employment under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike He in his gruff voice would swear punishment seeing fault but it was nA leading light in social activitiesever executed He was a journalist who was a Deputy Editor of Lankadeepa and the Secretary General of the Afro Asian Writers’ Bureau; a live wire of the editorial team of Dinakara He was our ambassador in China; a lawyer who did not fleece clients and a speaker who could address issues to be heard by everyone My first meeting with him was during the Dedigama by-election when his brother Dharmasiri Senanayake contested against Rukman Senanayke Later I had the good fortune of working with him in Polonnaruwa from 1975 to 1977 Our experiences with him are memorable; especially when political character in society has now deteriorated to Kelaniya or Kolonnawa or Siri Kotha levels We the public officials had two wonderful MPs in Polonnaruwa- Leelaratne Wijesinghe and Deshapriya Senanayake The two were different in certain aspects such as dress firmness etc but had common attributes such as being humane These commonalities and differences have remained as mixed attitudinal hallmarks of successor politicians from Polonnaruwa He always had a personal approach in dealing with issues Once he summoned me to Giritale circuit bungalow when Government Agent (GA) Amaradasa Gunawardena was away in India and asked me how the water shortfall in Parakrama Samudra could be resolved irrespective of irrigation authorities’ rigid stipulations from Colombo There was only one way; it was to become “terrorists” in water management by breaking the spills at Radavige Oya and “stealing” water He wanted it done and repairs made afterwards for which I had the concurrence of an obliging Engineer Deshapriya Senanayake did not mind breaking rules and regulations or spills for the greater good of the farmers The next week he thanked me for resolving the problem I was told by his Private Secretary and journalist late Karunaratne Saputhanthri who was killed by terrorists when the plane he was travelling in was blown up that a certain SLFP supporter from Medirigiriya had complained against me as I was taking action against him for underhand disposal of state land reservations in Kaudulu Weva Stage II He was angered when Deshapriya Senanayake refused to take action against me and said “Sir you can do politics with the Additional GA and not with us.” Deshapriya Senanayake had reportedly said He (meaning me) does more valuable service than you do in colonization in Stage II and in providing water which are more important to the people than illegally disposing reservations!” He had his evaluation of everyone Were these good turns to the people and public officers what defeated him at the 1977 elections or the wave of defeat against the incumbent government We felt that the Sirimavo Bandaranaike government would be defeated at the 1977 elections which was proved when the UNP won with a 5/6ths majority After completing the count of Polonnaruwa where H.G.P I met Deshapriya Senanayake seated opposite the GA vehemently insisting that he should proceed to Colombo through Minneriya But we had information that his good work and humane qualities were to be ‘rewarded’ with physical assault at Minneriya for several years as District Political Authority you ordered me But today I order you to go through Bakamuna for your own safety.” Though he was unwilling we had late Major (later Brigadier) Tissa Jayatunga who ensured with Police assistance that Deshapriya Senanayake proceeded to Colombo safely via Bakamuna It was history repeated with the more or less comparable fate faced in 1970 by the late Minister C.P de Silva who “created the new Polonnaruwa District,” when ‘outsider’ Deshapriya Senanayake won I was GA Polonnaruwa for two years In those two years he telephoned me only once –to tell me that a very qualified candidate was being discriminated in the appointment of Marriage Registrars and request justice be done He understood the difficulties faced by public officers in standing against a very strong government and was not a bother at any moment- when in power and out Personally speaking I remember him as an extremely sociable personality There was always a dinner or lunch invitation when he was around Leelaratne Wijesinghe went a step further and always had some delicious dish or two prepared to add to the cuisine especially on circuits to places like Yakkure Those added to satisfying our taste buds especially in Yakkure when we had Mudiyanse Iskolemahattaya’s kurakkan pittu and curd Once I was hosting him and some officers from the Kachcheri for dinner at home and we were in high spirits by about 10 p.m when a man walked into my house and sought his intervention in a land dispute Deshapriya Senanayake verbally ‘blasted’ him “This is not the time to discuss land matters though I am with DLOs Go to the Kachcheri tomorrow and make representations.” As soon as the man left he said “Please look after that fellow’s case But he shouldn’t have come here to tell his grievances He should have come to Giritale.” I am confident the intruder heard him Quite recently I dreamt of him and I called Gloria Senanayake his amiable wife and told her that I dreamt of him and promised to visit him But I do not regret it much because had I gone he would have revisited old memories that could not have been communicated and he would have been sad since he was not communicating with visitors during the last days of his life It would have been equally painful for me to see a great communicator silent seeing his lifeless body laid in a coffin His life was full of lessons to everyone in humane politics and if learnt and practised by present day and future politicians it would be the best tribute paid to a great gentleman politician Due to a change in the political environment this may be a tough challenge May Ratne Deshapriya Senanayake attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana He was a prominent figure who took part in many social activities in the area As a Buddhist he lent a helping hand to the Buddhist temples of the area Three years have passed since that sad day It is difficult to express my sadness without him He was my companion and friend whom I looked upto for advice and assistance He fulfilled his duties towards the family He was such a loving father to our three daughters He loved music so much that he wanted the three daughters to learn music Our eldest daughter is at present the music teacher of St He left us all for God’s call cannot be ignored I am sure that he is still looking after us from heaven above May you rest in peace You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience. An Israeli government source says the green light has been given to roughly 400 new Jewish settlements in Har Homa Link copiedShareShare articleThe Israeli government has given the green light for the planning of more than 1,000 new Jewish settler homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem "The government has decided to advance the planning of more than 1,000 units in Jerusalem - roughly 400 in Har Homa and about 600 in Ramat Shlomo," the official in prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said The Israeli official also said that plans would be "advanced for infrastructure projects in the West Bank that will include roads for the Palestinians" He declined to comment on the likely political and diplomatic impact of such a move at a time when Palestinians and the international community condemned settler moves in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan where there have been almost nightly clashes for months Settlement watchdog Peace Now's Lior Amichai said it was unclear from the statement whether the government was close to issuing construction tenders or wanted to fast-track plans in their early stages "There is never a good time to do such things now more than ever as Jerusalem is burning," he said In September, Israel announced the appropriation of 400 hectares of land in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem in the West Bank Anti-settlement groups said it was one of the largest land takeovers by Israel for decades The land was not far from where three Jewish teenagers were abducted earlier this year. Ties between Israel and its close ally, the United States have become increasingly frayed over Israeli officials' public criticism of US foreign policy and the Obama administration's alarm at Mr Netanyahu's relentless settlement-building. CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) Veteran Sri Lankan actor and film director Rex Kodippili has passed away at the age of 85 Primarily acting as a villain for the most of his career Kodippili appeared in more than 130 films and produced two films He was also honored with Janabhimani Honorary Award in 2019 Kodippili made his debut film appearance in Kathuru Muwath in 1971 Some of his most notable character roles came through the characters such as: ‘Kadira’ in the film Muwan Pelessa ‘Ratne Ayya’ in the film Sagarika and ‘Sergeant Silva’ in the film Koti Waligaya