Concurrent Sessions Research Articles

Achieving theorical cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with high-volumen training in a phase II cardiac rehabilitation program

Abstract Background and Puropose Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) is an interdisciplinary therapeutic program with demonstrated success rates in reducing cardiovascular outcomes. To obtain these benefits, it is important to achieve a level of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRFIt) that should be close to the ideal according to age and gender (theorical). The best way to measure it, is through VO2p, or with its surrogate value in METs-load. In our Phase II CR program, both aerobic and strength training is supervised 3 times per week, but emphasis is placed on weekly aerobic training volume (TVol) for a sufficient dose, in order to guarantee outcomes. Our hypothesis is that with adequate TVol, CRFit will be achieved at ideal levels (theorical). The aim of the study is to evaluate the safety and achievement in CRFit measured by METs-load in patients with heart disease during a high-volume Phase II CR program. Methods Quasi-experimental study of a comprehensive Phase II CR program in which patients were evaluated by initial and final exercise testing. Depending on the result, they were assigned for 4-6 weeks (4 to those patients with >5METs and 6 to those with <5METs) to 3 weekly concurrent training sessions (30 mins of aerobic at 70-85% of their heart rate reserve plus strength training), in addition to the corresponding educational, nutritional and psychological intervention. TVol was calculated by METs/week (METs-minute obtained by ergo or treadmill multiplied by 90 minutes). Progressions were made to achieve a weekly program average TVol>500 METs/week according to guidelines recomendations. An adverse event was defined as malignant ventricular arrhythmias, cardiorespiratory arrest, or death. Results A population of 522 patients was analyzed, 72% men, average age of 58.8 years (+-0.59), with coronary ischemic disease, heart failure and cardiomyopathies as the most common heart diseases. Regarding the average theorical METs (8.23, +-0.6), our patients achieved final average METs of 10.2 (+-0.26) and 90.02% (+-0.53) of attendace (Figure 1). The average of TVol were 637.4 (+-37.35) METs/week. The differential between the initial and final METs (Delta1) was correlated by Spearman with the differential between the final METs and its theorical (Delta2) and a significant moderate correlation was found (r=0.32 Spearman, p <0.001). TVol and Delta2 shows a strong and significant correlation (r=0.72 Spearman, p<0.001) (Figure 2). No adverse events were reported in any of the training sessions. Conclusion The Phase II CR program with concurrent training only 3 times per week but with TVol>600 METs/week is safe and guarantees a CRFit above the ideal level (theorical). We recommend to measure and fullfill training volume as a strategy to achieve promising results in exercise tolerance and functional capacity in patients with heart disease.

1.C. Round table: Navigating the 17th European Public Health Conference: A Guide for First-Time Attendees

Abstract Are you attending the European Public Health Conference for the first time? If yes, this session is for you. Join us for an engaging session tailored specifically for first-time attendees of the 17th European Public Health Conference in Lisbon, Portugal. This session aims to provide newcomers with valuable insights and strategies to maximize their experience and effectively navigate the conference. Our seasoned conference veterans will share practical tips on a range of topics, including, but not being limited to: 1. Conference Navigation: Learn how to navigate the conference programme, the venue efficiently, locate sessions of interest, and make the most of your time between sessions. 2. Networking: Discover the importance of networking in the field of public health and gain strategies for initiating meaningful conversations, building professional relationships, and expanding your professional network. 3. Session Selection: Gain insights into selecting sessions and workshops that align with your interests, career goals, and areas of expertise. Learn how to prioritize your schedule and make the most of concurrent sessions. 4. Poster Presentations: Understand the significance of poster presentations and how to effectively engage with presenters. Discover techniques for synthesizing information and asking insightful questions. 5. Self-Care: Explore strategies for maintaining physical and mental well-being throughout the conference, including tips for managing fatigue, staying hydrated, and finding moments of relaxation amidst the hustle and bustle. Whether you’re a student, researcher, practitioner, or policymaker, this session will equip you with the tools and knowledge needed to navigate the 17th European Public Health Conference with confidence and make the most of this invaluable opportunity for professional development and networking. Key messages • First-time attendee at the European Public Health Conference? Don’t miss this tailored session for essential insights and strategies to maximize your experience in Lisbon. • Join seasoned veterans for practical tips on navigating the conference, networking effectively, selecting sessions, engaging with poster presentations, and prioritizing self-care. Speakers/Panelists Robert Klarecki EPH Conference Office Jinane Ghattas Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium

Unforgeability of Blind Schnorr in the Limited Concurrency Setting

Blind signature schemes enable a user to obtain a digital signature on a message from a signer without revealing the message itself. Among the most fundamental examples of such a scheme is blind Schnorr, but recent results show that it does not satisfy the standard notion of security against malicious users, One-More Unforgeability (OMUF), as it is vulnerable to the ROS attack. However, blind Schnorr does satisfy the weaker notion of sequential OMUF, in which only one signing session is open at a time, in the Algebraic Group Model (AGM) + Random Oracle Model (ROM), assuming the hardness of the Discrete Logarithm (DL) problem. This paper serves as a first step towards characterizing the security of blind Schnorr in the limited concurrency setting. Specifically, we show that blind Schnorr satisfies OMUF when at most two signing sessions can be concurrently open (in the AGM+ROM, assuming DL). Our argument suggests that it is plausible that blind Schnorr satisfies OMUF for up to polylogarithmically many concurrent signing sessions. Our security proof involves interesting techniques from linear algebra and combinatorics.

Validation of drug-nondrug choice procedure to model maladaptive behavioural allocation to opioid use in rats.

Increased allocation of behaviour to substance abuse at the expense of personal and social rewards is a hallmark of addiction that is reflected in several of DSM-5 criteria for diagnosis of substance use disorder. Previous studies focused on refining the self-administration (SA) model to better emulate an addictive state in laboratory animals. Here, we employed concurrent SA of sucrose pellets and morphine as two competing natural and drug rewards, respectively, to validate the feasibility of capturing pathological behavioural allocation in rats. A custom-made three-lever operant chamber was used. With one active and one inactive lever presented, rats were trained to self-administer morphine (0.5mg/kg/infusion; 2h/day) under a fixed-ratio 1 (FR-1) schedule until a stable response was achieved. Next, they were trained to self-administer morphine in the presence of a third lever dispensing sucrose pellets (20 mg) under FR-1. Concurrent morphine-sucrose SA sessions (2h/day) were continued until stable morphine taking behaviour was re-established. In another experiment, rats first established stable sucrose pellet SA (2h/day, FR-1) and then were trained to take morphine (0.5mg/kg/infusion; 2h/day). Subsequently, all rats underwent extinction training, in which morphine was replaced with saline while sucrose pellets were still available upon lever pressing, followed by cue-induced reinstatement of morphine seeking behaviour. Results showed that rats retained morphine SA when sucrose pellets were also available, but they showed binge-like sucrose intake when morphine was removed during the extinction sessions. However, morphine SA did not develop in rats that had previously established sucrose pellet SA. In conclusion, morphine SA developed even in the presence of a potent competing nondrug reward in rats. Adding an effort-based contingent delivery of a natural reward to the standard SA model, this protocol may provide an improved model of drug addiction in laboratory animals.

Preface: 3rd International Conference on Advances in Materials, Machinery, Electrical Engineering (AMMEE 2024)

The 3rd International Conference on Advances in Materials, Machinery, Electrical Engineering (AMMEE 2024) held at the city of Tianjin, China, during June 29-30, 2024, and provides two days' focus on the science and technology that are the basis for mechanical engineering and industrial informatics. The theme of the plenary session is “Materials, Machinery, Electrical Engineering” featuring invited speakers who will further explore this topic that is so significant for materials, machinery, electrical engineering. Concurrent sessions and a poster session will cover a wide range of topics and issues, including both contributed papers and special sessions developed on specific themes, all with a central focus of materials, machinery, electrical engineering. This 3rd AMMEE received a total of 71 submissions. And more than 20 submissions have been accepted by our reviewers. By submitting a paper to this AMMEE conference, the authors agree to the review process and understand that papers undergo a peer-review process. Manuscripts will be reviewed by appropriately qualified experts in the field selected by the conference committee, who will give detailed comments and-if the submission gets accepted-the authors submit a revised version that takes into account this feedback. All papers are reviewed using a double-blind review process: authors declare their names and affiliations in the manuscript for the reviewers to see, but reviewers do not know each other's identities, nor do the authors receive information about who has reviewed their manuscript. We would like to express their sincere appreciation and thanks to all the members of the AMMEE 2024 Conference Technical Program Committee for their tremendous efforts. They are indebted to the referees for their constructive comments on the papers. Without their dedication, it was impossible to have a successful AMMEE 2024 and a high quality volume of the conference proceedings. Jiayi Zhong and Axel Sikora Conference Organizing Committee Tianjin, China

CSI-Otter: isogeny-based (partially) blind signatures from the class group action with a twist

In this paper, we construct the first provably-secure isogeny-based (partially) blind signature scheme. While at a high level the scheme resembles the Schnorr blind signature, our work does not directly follow from that construction, since isogenies do not offer as rich an algebraic structure. Specifically, our protocol does not fit into the linear identification protocol abstraction introduced by Hauck, Kiltz, and Loss (EUROCYRPT’19), which was used to generically construct Schnorr-like blind signatures based on modules such as classical groups and lattices. Consequently, our scheme is provably secure in the random oracle model (ROM) against poly-logarithmically-many concurrent sessions assuming the subexponential hardness of the group action inverse problem. In more detail, our blind signature exploits the quadratic twist of an elliptic curve in an essential way to endow isogenies with a strictly richer structure than abstract group actions (but still more restrictive than modules). The basic scheme has public key size 128 B and signature size 8 KB under the CSIDH-512 parameter sets—these are the smallest among all provably secure post-quantum secure blind signatures. Relying on a new ring variant of the group action inverse problem (rGAIP\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\ extsf{rGAIP}$$\\end{document}), we can halve the signature size to 4 KB while increasing the public key size to 512 B. We provide preliminary cryptanalysis of rGAIP\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\ extsf{rGAIP}} $$\\end{document} and show that for certain parameter settings, it is essentially as secure as the standard GAIP\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\ extsf{GAIP}$$\\end{document}. Finally, we show a novel way to turn our blind signature into a partially blind signature, where we deviate from prior methods since they require hashing into the set of public keys while hiding the corresponding secret key—constructing such a hash function in the isogeny setting remains an open problem.

Novel Approach for Network Data Exchange Among Safety-Related Control Systems of Nuclear Reactors

Industrially mature digital networking technologies form the backbone of the distributed control architectures of nuclear reactors. Typically, hundreds of control systems responsible for assuring safer and secure plant operations are located in the field and interconnected via wired isolated local area networks, which are also connected to centralized servers and operating consoles located in the main control room. Many of such control systems require data processed by other systems situated far away in the plant, which mandates multiple concurrent reliable TCP sessions to be active or live for such field-level control systems. Multi-socket communication beyond 10 is practically difficult for embedded systems with limited memory and processing capabilities; hence, data accumulation, extraction, and routing are typically done with the help of commercially available high-performance servers and switches. The servers and operating consoles of a plant are generally Linux-based commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) industrial computers, whose development lifecycle is not accessible for review and in accordance with safety guides; hence, qualifying such components for safety operations is extremely difficult. This paper presents a novel way of independently offloading safety-related data transactions from such COTS components (reducing dependency) with the help of very simple, reliable, and secure hardware, which is referred to as a data exchange and processing unit (DEPU). An approach is proposed to realize distributed control architecture with this proposed hardware (to simplify qualification tasks) along with existing servers and operating consoles without compromising powerful and convenient human-machine interface as well as the data logging capabilities of such components. Hardware and software design perspectives, performance characterization, and qualification testing of the DEPU in accordance with nuclear power plant instrumentation and control system design guidelines are also briefed in this paper.

Benchmarking methodology for IPv4aaS technologies: Comparison of the scalability of the Jool implementation of 464XLAT and MAP-T

A novel method is proposed for the performance and scalability measurements of the IPv4-as-a-Service (IPv4aaS) technologies. It works according to the dual Device Under Test (DUT) setup of RFC 8219 and is suitable for benchmarking any of the five IPv4aaS technologies: Combination of Stateful and Stateless Translation (464XLAT), Dual-Stack Lite (DS-Lite), Lightweight 4over6 (Lw4o6), Mapping of Address and Port with Encapsulation (MAP-E), and Mapping of Address and Port using Translation (MAP-T). The method is based on the reduction of the aggregate of Customer Edge (CE) and Provider Edge (PE) devices to a stateful network address translation from IPv4 to IPv4 (stateful NAT44) gateway. The most important advantage of the novel method is that a stateful NAT44 tester can be used instead of a technology-specific tester, which usually does not exist. The proposed method is validated by the examination of the performance and scalability of the Jool implementation of 464XLAT and MAP-T. Scalability is defined by both (1) how performance increases with the number of active Central Processing Unit (CPU) cores; and (2) how performance decreases with the increasing number of concurrent sessions. Maximum connection establishment rate and throughput are used as performance metrics. The scalability of 464XLAT and MAP-T is measured from 1 to 16 CPU cores and from 1 million to 256 million connections. The measurement details and results are fully disclosed and discussed.

Concurrent paper sessions.

Concurrent paper sessions.

571 - Case series of topical 1.5% ruxolitinib cream for pediatric vitiligo

Abstract Introduction/Background Pediatric Vitiligo affects 1.52% of 4-11-year-olds within the United States and 2.16% of 12-17-year-olds with non-segmental disease affecting 65% and 69% respectively (1). The FDA has not approved any medications for vitiligo for children younger than 12 years of age. Additionally, about one-third of pediatric vitiligo is segmental (1), and there is no FDA-approved topical agent for segmental vitiligo in any pediatric age group (2). Objectives To identify the efficacy of 1.5% ruxolitinib cream for pediatric vitiligo in clinical practice. Methods An IRB-exempted pediatric chart review was conducted addressing the usage of 1.5% ruxolitinib cream, currently FDA-approved for non-segmental vitiligo affecting 10% of body surface area or less for 12 years of age or older. All children and adolescents using topical 1.5% ruxolitinib cream including segmental, non-segmental, and mixed vitiligo including individuals up to age 17 years. Results Twelve children were identified with topical usage of 1.5% ruxolitinib cream for vitiligo ages 3-16 years (average age: 10.75 years). Demographics included 9 males, 3 females and race/ ethnicity included Black (n=1), Hispanic/ Latin X (n=4), Indian (n=1), and White (n=6). Vitiligo subtype included: Non-segmental vitiligo (n=7), Mixed type vitiligo (n=1), and segmental vitiligo (n=4). Regarding treatment subgroup of Non-segmental vitiligo and the non-segmental component of the Mixed type included 8 children, average age of 10.4 years (range 3-15 years), including 5 children under the age of 12 years (one 3-year-old, two 9 year-olds, and two 10 year-olds). Treatment was once daily in 1 child and twice daily in 7 children. One was lost to follow-up. Of the 6 children with documented response, average maximum repigmentation occurred at 6.14 months (range 3-12 months), with five achieving complete repigmentation, one partial repigmentation with only a three-month trial. The average length of disease before treatment began was 1.25 years (1 month to 6 years). The onset of response was 1.57 months on average (range 1-3 months). The initial location of response was the face (n=3), arms (n=2), and abdomen (n=1). No adverse events were reported. Four children had a complete blood count while on medication, with no laboratory abnormalities, including the 3-year-old. Two had a parent with vitiligo. Four patients previously failed tacrolimus topically, two patients failed topical class 2 corticosteroids, and one previously failed narrowband UVB, with no notable difference in response in these patients. Regarding treatment subgroup of Segmental vitiligo including five SV patients average age 11.2 years (range 5-16 years). One had facial segmental, one face and neck lesion (solitary stripe), one chest/back, and one on the lower abdomen. The five year-old did not repigment after 6 months of neck application, but never developed poliosis. The ten-year-old with segmental disease for 6 years had no response. The eleven-year-old SV of the chest/ back failed topical tacrolimus and responded with 40% repigmentation over 3 months, increasing to 90% after 5 months and 12 concurrent sessions of 308-nm laser. The 14-year-old developed slight poliosis, but started repigmenting within 3 weeks, with continuous usage and subtotal repigmentation at 14 months. The 16-year-old began to repigment after 1 month, with a concurrent weekly 308-nm laser, and subtotal repigmentation after 5 months. Repigmentation was One facial SV (12 treatments), one chest/back SV (12 treatments), and one NSV had concurrent 308-nm laser (24 treatments) with pulsed dexamethasone, without any notable adverse events. Two teenage males (ages 15 and 16 years) developed acne on sites of application on the face. Laboratory screening including complete blood count was normal during treatment for 2 patients evaluated. Conclusions NSV responds to 1.5% topical ruxolitinib consistently, with a solitary patient responding to once daily, and efficacy in children as young as three years of age with no notable lab abnormalities in screened patients. Topical 1.5% ruxolitinib cream appears very effective in repigmenting SV in children if used twice-daily and in combination with 308-nm laser sessions in the first 6 months. Topical ruxolitinib can cause acne in teenagers with facial segmental vitiligo. Early institution of topical 1.5% ruxolitinib cream appears to have a rapid onset of repigmentation (average 1.57 months) and rapid complete response (6.14 months). Clinical trials of 1.5% topical ruxolitinib in children are needed to identify outliers and long term outcomes. Early institution of therapy appears to speed up the response. Adjunctive 308-nm laser is promising but requires placebo-controlled trials.

Unheard voices speak up: the Arabidopsis community and the representation of researchers from the Global South.

Abstract In June 2023, the Arabidopsis community met in Makuhari, Chiba, Japan, for the 33rd International Conference in Arabidopsis Research (ICAR). The meeting, at which more than 1200 researchers gathered, spanned the course of 5 days showcasing three keynote lectures, six plenary sessions, 11 workshops, and 33 concurrent sessions, in addition to two poster sessions.

Finback: a web-based data collection system at SSRF biological macromolecular crystallography beamlines.

An integrated computer software system for macromolecular crystallography (MX) data collection at the BL02U1 and BL10U2 beamlines of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility is described. The system, Finback, implements a set of features designed for the automated MX beamlines, and is marked with auser-friendly web-based graphical user interface (GUI) for interactive data collection. The Finback client GUI can run on modern browsers and has been developed using several modern web technologies including WebSocket, WebGL, WebWorker and WebAssembly. Finback supports multiple concurrent sessions, so on-site and remote users can access the beamline simultaneously. Finback also cooperates with the deployed experimental data and information management system, the relevant experimental parameters and results are automatically deposited to a database.

Resistance-only and concurrent exercise induce similar myofibrillar protein synthesis rates and associated molecular responses in moderately active men before and after training.

Aerobic and resistance exercise (RE) induce distinct molecular responses. One hypothesis is that these responses are antagonistic and unfavorable for the anabolic response to RE when concurrent exercise is performed. This thesis may also depend on the participants' training status and concurrent exercise order. We measured free-living myofibrillar protein synthesis (MyoPS) rates and associated molecular responses to resistance-only and concurrent exercise (with different exercise orders), before and after training. Moderately active men completed one of three exercise interventions (matched for age, baseline strength, body composition, and aerobic capacity): resistance-only exercise (RE, n = 8), RE plus high-intensity interval exercise (RE+HIIE, n = 8), or HIIE+RE (n = 9). Participants trained 3 days/week for 10 weeks; concurrent sessions were separated by 3 h. On the first day of Weeks 1 and 10, muscle was sampled immediately before and after, and 3 h after each exercise mode and analyzed for molecular markers of MyoPS and muscle glycogen. Additional muscle, sampled pre- and post-training, was used to determine MyoPS using orally administered deuterium oxide (D2 O). In both weeks, MyoPS rates were comparable between groups. Post-exercise changes in proteins reflective of protein synthesis were also similar between groups, though MuRF1 and MAFbx mRNA exhibited some exercise order-dependent responses. In Week 10, exercise-induced changes in MyoPS and some genes (PGC-1ɑ and MuRF1) were dampened from Week 1. Concurrent exercise (in either order) did not compromise the anabolic response to resistance-only exercise, before or after training. MyoPS rates and some molecular responses to exercise are diminished after training.

Preface: 2nd International Conference on Advances in Materials, Machinery, Electrical Engineering (AMMEE 2023)

The 2nd International Conference on Advances in Materials, Machinery, Electrical Engineering (AMMEE 2023) held at the city of Tianjin, China, during October 30-31, 2023, and provides two days' focus on the science and technology that are the basis for mechanical engineering and industrial informatics. The theme of the plenary session is “Materials, Machinery, Electrical Engineering” featuring invited speakers who will further explore this topic that is so significant for materials, machinery, electrical engineering. Concurrent sessions and a poster session will cover a wide range of topics and issues, including both contributed papers and special sessions developed on specific themes, all with a central focus of materials, machinery, electrical engineering.
 This 2nd MMEE received a total of 58 submissions. And 22 submissions have been accepted by our reviewers. By submitting a paper to this AMMEE conference, the authors agree to the review process and understand that papers undergo a peer-review process. Manuscripts will be reviewed by appropriately qualified experts in the field selected by the conference committee, who will give detailed comments and-if the submission gets accepted-the authors submit a revised version that takes into account this feedback. All papers are reviewed using a double-blind review process: authors declare their names and affiliations in the manuscript for the reviewers to see, but reviewers do not know each other's identities, nor do the authors receive information about who has reviewed their manuscript.
 We would like to express their sincere appreciation and thanks to all the members of the AMMEE 2023 Conference Technical Program Committee for their tremendous efforts. They are indebted to the referees for their constructive comments on the papers. Without their dedication, it was impossible to have a successful AMMEE 2023 and a high quality volume of the conference proceedings.
 Jiayi Zhong and Axel Sikora
 Conference Organizing Committee
 Wuhan, China

Evaluating the effectiveness of concurrent sessions and counselors' attention allocation in online counseling.

With its anonymity and accessibility, text-based online counseling has shown great potential in reaching people with mental health needs. One strategy adopted to meet the service gap is concurrent counseling, that is, each counselor attending to more than one client at a time. To date, there is no reported evidence supporting its rationality and effectiveness. This study investigated the potential opportunities, effectiveness, and caveats in concurrent service delivery and identified the optimal cutoff number of concurrent sessions while maintaining the quality of service at or above a set threshold. We analyzed the transcript of 54,716 online counseling sessions from Open Up, a free, 24/7 text-based counseling service, to develop an attention score that measures the attention allocation of counselors and examined the impact of the counselor's attention allocation on client satisfaction and service outcomes. On average, compared to nonconcurrent sessions, concurrent sessions were longer, more likely to end prematurely, and had lower client satisfaction. We also identified an optimal attention score of approximately 0.4 (out of 1.0, which denotes full attention), which translates to two to three concurrent sessions. This study provides empirical evidence for the feasibility of conducting multiple text-based sessions concurrently without compromising service quality and client experience. Our method of measuring the counselor attention allocation offers a way to systematically assess and evaluate concurrent sessions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Adaptation and Feasibility of the Mandarin Version of PEERS® for Autistic Adolescents.

The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is a group-based social skills training program for adolescents on the autism spectrum. Although the program has been shown to be effective in improving social skills in autistic adolescents, evidence of its effectiveness from the Mandarin-speaking Chinese population is sparse. The present study used a non-randomized, pre- and post-intervention research design to investigate the feasibility and cultural validity of the program, as well as examine the moderators of intervention outcomes. Thirty-three autistic adolescents with intelligence quotient above 70 (Mage = 13.57, SDage = 1.43; Male: Female 25:8) and their parents received 14 concurrent 90-minute sessions. Adolescents' autistic traits, challenging behaviors, emotional functioning, socio-cognitive process, social environment factors (school support), and caregivers' well-being were evaluated. The findings suggest that with minor adjustments, the Mandarin version of PEERS® was generally acceptable and feasible for autistic adolescents and their parents. PEERS® may improve the social skills knowledge, reciprocal communication abilities, and emotional well-being of autistic adolescents. Also, participants with a higher level of school support, and parents with lower perceived subjective well-being at baseline may gain more benefits from PEERS®. The cultural adaptation and acceptability of the Mandarin Version of PEERS® were discussed. This feasibility study (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2200061417, 2022-06-23, retrospectively registered) provides a basis for further randomized control trials of the Mandarin version of PEERS®.

Prologue: Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) 2022 Annual Meeting.

The 2022 annual meeting of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) was held from July 14 to 17, 2022, in New York City, New York, USA, and was attended by 420 rheumatologists, dermatologists, basic scientists, allied health professionals, patient research partners, and industry partners from 31 countries. A GRAPPA executive retreat, a Trainee Symposium, and the Patient Research Partners Network meeting were held prior to the annual meeting. Presentations included updates in basic research, focusing on biomarkers, personalization of treatments, and the promise of single-cell omics, elucidating the pathogenesis of psoriatic disease (PsD). Presentations also highlighted guttate and plaque psoriasis (PsO), the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its treatments on patients with PsD globally, and the effects of sex and gender in PsD. Reports of ongoing projects included an update on the recently published treatment recommendations, educational initiatives, and the Diagnostic Ultrasound Enthesitis Tool (DUET) study. A session on early identification of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) among patients with PsO included an update on PsA screening tools. Debates were held on whether early intervention for PsO will reduce PsA, whether interleukin (IL)-17 or IL-23 inhibition is a better treatment for PsO and PsA, similarities and differences between axial PsA and axial spondyloarthritis with PsO, and data affecting the understanding of guttate and plaque PsO. Reports from the International Dermatology Outcome Measures (IDEOM) and Young GRAPPiAns concurrent sessions were presented in addition to reports of several other partner groups. Here, we highlight features of the annual meeting and introduce the manuscripts published together as a meeting report.

178 Academic Quadrathlon as an In-Service Training Tool

Abstract The Animal Science Extension team at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture provides a yearly joint in-service training for county agents. In previous years, in-service trainings were held on a regional basis, with one one-day training in each region of the state for a total of 3 trainings. In 2021, the Animal Science team took a difference approach by offering a centrally located, conference style in-service training that lasted for 3 days. There were separate tracks for 4-H and Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) with concurrent sessions, and a few combined sessions with general program updates. A range of topics were covered in species-specific sessions, covering beef, dairy, small ruminant, equine, and poultry. On day 3, to increase agent interaction during the in-service training, the Animal Science Extension team created a mini-academic quadrathlon (AQ) to test the agents in a friendly competition. The AQ had species-specific hands-on lab sections and a quiz bowl competition. Teams were created by Specialists to ensure that each team comprised agents with varying levels of knowledge and experience. In December 2021, fifty-two agents participated in the training. An evaluation was administered at the end of the training to gauge effectiveness of each session. Of the 28 respondents, 15 were ANR agents, 7 were 4-H agents, 5 were ANR/4-H agents, and 1 was an area specialist. When asked to give an overall rating for the quiz bowl session of AQ on scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent, 71% of respondent responded “5: excellent.” When asked the same for hands-on lab portions of AQ, 95% of agents responded “5: excellent.” Selected comments regarding the AQ during in-service training included: “Day 3 by far was the most fun I have had at an in-service. I loved it.” and “I thought the stations and quiz bowl was a great way to tie in everything that was covered in the first two days. Fun and educational!” Specialists concluded that the AQ was a highly effective way to deliver in-service training to agents in an exciting way. Due to the success of the program, the 2022 in-service training taking place in December, will follow the same format.

Shining the Light on Learning: A recap of Training magazine's 2023 conference and expo

This article reviews Training magazine's 46th Annual Conference and Expo held February 13 through 15 in Orlando, Florida. It summarizes highlights from keynote presentations, expo hall events, and numerous concurrent sessions relevant to learning and development professionals

Rev up the engines for Indy!

ACS MEETING NEWS Rev up the engines for Indy! ShareShare onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail C&EN, 2023, 101 (8), pp 32–53March 6, 2023Cite this:C&EN 101, 8, 32-53(Credit: Grindstone Media Group/Shutterstock.com)Figure1of1Yes, 33 drivers circling a track 200 times at turbo speed at this year’s Indy 500 in May will be as thrilling as always. The question to ponder: Can it match the scientific experience thousands of chemists from across the globe will have at ACS Spring 2023 in Indy just 2 months before the races? Come to Indy, in-person or virtually, March 26–30 for Crossroad of Chemistry, where emerging leaders in chemistry will lead thought-provoking discussions that explore cutting-edge chemistry. You will have opportunities to network, share and receive knowledge, and explore innovative technologies in the chemistry enterprise.With more than 10,000 oral and poster presentations, ACS Spring 2023 has something for everyone. Want to learn about innovation that fuels the business of chemistry, visit the expo hall. Looking for information on academic paths in the chemistry enterprise, attend one of many student- focused events. Considering an encore career, sign up for a career workshop or one of several professional and leadership development courses. To register, click on “Registration” at www.acs.org/meetings.To register for ACS Spring 2023 and add some exciting courses and events to your schedule, visit www.acs.org/ACSSpring2023. Program by the numbers10,165 accepted papers, including 6459 oral presentations, 3696 poster presentations, and 800 Sci-Mix presentations—9 of which are unique to Sci-Mix1,093 half-day sessions, including 820 oral sessions (765 hybrid and 55 virtual), 240 poster sessions (152 in-person and 88 virtual), and 33 Sci-Mix sessions (23 in-person and 10 virtual)105 concurrent technical sessions, the most in one day, on Monday, March 27, 2023Online technical program available on January 23, 2023 More onlineTo download a pdf of the preliminary program for ACS Spring 2023 in Indianapolis, IN, and hybrid, March 26–30, visit https://cenm.ag/spring2023.