Entire Session Research Articles

How the helping process unfolds for clients in suicidal crises: Linking helping-style trajectories with outcomes in online crisis chats.

ObjectivesCrisis counselors’ active listening and collaborative problem‐solving helping styles have been associated with outcomes for clients in suicidal crises. These associations have been based on static conceptualizations of helping (i.e., helping style for the entire session). Our aim was to further understand how the crisis counseling helping process unfolds (i.e., helping trajectory) and helping trajectories’ association with clients’ outcomes.MethodsOnline crisis chats (N = 269) with suicidal adults were coded for crisis counselors’ helping styles (i.e., active listening and collaborative problem‐solving) and clients’ outcomes (i.e., resolved or unresolved). Each talk‐turn was coded for helping style, which were used to examine helping‐style trajectories.ResultsGrowth‐curve models indicated that helping styles varied over the course of chats and that helping trajectories were different for resolved and unresolved chats. In resolved chats, helping styles moved from primarily active listening to primarily problem‐solving—with a deceleration in the middle of chats. In unresolved chats, helping initially moved from primarily active listening to primarily problem‐solving, but this trajectory decelerated in the middle of chats and then turned back toward primarily active listening.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate that how the helping process unfolds is related to clients’ outcomes. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Kinematic Accelerometry Assessment Of Music-Based Motor Training in Stroke Rehabilitation

<h3>Research Objectives</h3> To use a novel limb acceleration measure to reveal mechanisms of improved paretic limb control following music-based rehabilitation. <h3>Design</h3> A consecutive sample. <h3>Setting</h3> A music and health research facility in Toronto, CA. <h3>Participants</h3> 30 community dwellers aged 30-79 years in the chronic stroke phase with minimal volitional control of the affected limb. <h3>Interventions</h3> Nine training sessions thirty-minutes in length were administered three times per week by a Neurologic Music Therapist. The music-based training incorporated mapping rhythmically cued functional arm movements onto digital sonification touch tablets. The paretic limb's acceleration profile was recorded at 1000 Hz from a wrist-worn accelerometer. <h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3> Estimates of power-spectral-density were obtained with an approximately 1-s sliding window and a 50% window overlap across the entire training session. The power-spectral-density was computed as the median of all the windows within each trace. The dominant peak in the function was then identified and quantified as the height of the peak (i.e., peak-power). Peak-power was then used to quantify functional changes in limb control across sessions. <h3>Results</h3> Repeated-measures ANOVA for peak-power revealed a main effect of session (p < .001) and follow-up trend analyses revealed a significant linear trend, highlighting continuous motor improvement across all sessions. T-tests were then used to determine that movements of the paretic limb increased in peak power (p = .001; 95% CI = -.0002, - .0007) from session 1 (M = .00004) to session 9 (M = .0002) with peak-power being localized within the lower frequency spectrum (i.e., 4.4 Hz). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Peak-power increases within the lower frequency spectrum indicates improved volitional motor control and intentionality of paretic arm movements. Such functional changes in limb acceleration represent a mechanism underlying improved motor outcomes in music-based stroke interventions. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> The authors have nothing to disclose.

Influences of Prior Experience on Current-trial Ensemble Perception

Introduction: Object ensembles are summarized quickly and efficiently by their summary statistics. While studies focused on extraction of current-view and current-trial statistics (i.e., short glimpses), little attention was paid to how ensemble perception is affected by prior experience (Crawford et al., 2018) and some studies were designed to avoid or eliminate influences of previous exposure to ensemble stimuli. However, statistical information about objects is learned over time, and Bayesian theories analyzed how priors influence perception. We now devised methods to directly test prior experience effects on ensemble averaging. Methods: To characterize influences of current-trial, recent-trial and long-term statistics (i.e., experimental session stimulus distribution), we measured implicit effects of these different statistics in a circle-size membership task. 100 Amazon MTurks participated. On each trial, circles of different sizes were presented in serial sequence. Then, two test circles were presented and participants chose which was present in the sequence. With this visual memory task, where it is hard to keep individual circle sizes in memory, we assume that participants unconsciously rely on ensemble statistics and choose test images closer to the ensemble mean. To differentiate influences from the current and from previous trials, in some trial blocks the 2 test circles were equally distant from the current trial sequence mean, isolating longer-term influences. Results: Participants biased membership judgements towards the ensemble mean of the current trial, when available – the largest effect found– and also towards the mean of the preceding trial sequence, when isolated. Lastly, participants also showed preferences to the longer-term (global) stimulus-distribution mean of the entire experimental session. Conclusion: Ensemble perception is influenced not only by the statistics of the set of objects presented in the current trial, but also by recently presented stimuli and by the long-term mean (prototype) which was learned and formed through the experiment.

ICT-Guided Glycemic Information Sharing Through Artificial Neural Telecare Network.

The revolutionary and retrospective changes in the use of ICT have propelled the introduction of telecare health services in the crucial corona virus pandemic times. There have been revolutionary changes that happened with the advent of this novel corona virus. The proposed technique is based on secured glycemic information sharing between the server and users using artificial neural computational learning suite. Using symmetric Tree Parity Machines (TPMs) at the server and user ends, salp swarm-based session key has been generated for the proposed glycemic information modular encryption. The added taste of this paper is that without exchanging the entire session key, both TPMs will get full synchronized in terms of their weight vectors. With rise in the intake of highly rated Glycemic Indexed (GI) foods in today’s COVID-19 lockdown lifestyle, it contributes a lot in the formation of cavities inside the periodontium, and several other diseases likes of COPD, Type I and Type II DM. GI-based food pyramid depicts the merit of the food in the top to bottom spread up approach. High GI food items helps in more co-morbid diseases in patients. It is recommended to have foods from the lower radars of the food pyramid. The proposed encryption with salp swarm-generated key has been more resistant to Man-In-The-Middle attacks. Different mathematical tests were carried on this proposed technique. The outcomes of those tests have proved its efficacy, an acceptance of the proposed technique. The total cryptographic time observed on four GI modules was 0.956 ms, 0.468 ms, 0.643 ms, and 0.771 ms.

Effects On Exercise Intensity Associated With Catecholamine Dynamics And Changes In Mood During Yoga Session

The exercise intensity of Vinyasa yoga has been established to meet the criteria for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity reported in an ACSM Position Stand. Little is known about the effects of a single bout of Vinyasa yoga on the sympathetic nervous system and mood in beginners. PURPOSE: To determine the effects of a single bout of Vinyasa yoga on exercise intensity, catecholamine dynamics, and mood. METHODS: A 60-minute yoga session for beginners consisted of Vinyasa as the main component (34 minutes), with warm-up and cool-down exercises from Hatha Yoga. Sixteen healthy beginners (8 women, 8 men) performed exercise while wearing breath gas masks and heart rate monitors. Measures were mean metabolic equivalents (METs), oxygen consumption (VO2), heart rate (HR), and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE). Catecholamine dynamics were measured at pre- and post-rest, and at 55 minutes into the session. Pleasure was assessed using the Two-dimensional Mood Scale (TDMS) prior to the session and after the session. T-tests and analysis of variance were performed for analyses. RESULTS: Mean values across the entire yoga session for METs, HR, and RPE were 3.4 (± 0.5) METS; 100.8 (± 11.2) bpm; and 10.6 (± 1.7); respectively. Although maximal oxygen consumption was significantly lower in women subjects compared with men subjects, there were no significant differences in METs during the yoga session. A single bout of yoga caused a significant increase in circulating plasma norepinephrine levels (pre; 270 ± 146 pg/mL, post; 318 ± 140 pg/mL, p < 0.05), but not epinephrine or dopamine levels. Vitality and stability in the TDMS subscales were significantly increased following yoga (p < 0.01), suggesting that a single bout of yoga improved mood status. CONCLUSION: A light to moderate-intensity yoga session for beginners, which meets the ACSM criteria, is sufficient to affect sympathetic nervous system activity. Additionally, increased pleasure scores indicated improved mood.

Evaluating Horse Owner Expertise and Professional Use of Auxiliary Reins during Horse Riding.

Simple SummaryAuxiliary reins, which function as mechanical training aids that exert influence on the posture of the horse, are often criticized, especially if they are used incorrectly and against animal welfare. The aim of this paper was to investigate, with an online questionnaire, how much knowledge horse owners have regarding auxiliary reins and whether they use them appropriately. In our study, the running side rein was the most popular auxiliary rein when working from the ground and the sliding ring martingale was the most popular for equestrian activities. Half of the participants did not change the auxiliary rein during the entire training session and most participants adjusted their horse too tightly and did not change anything at that time despite the related breathing problems. The study showed that most participants used the reins responsibly, but there is still a need for clarification of their correct application regarding animal welfare and training physiology among horse owners.Auxiliary reins are commonly used for the training of riders and horses as well as in daily training. They are often criticized when used incorrectly, as they will not help and can harm the horse by causing overwork, accidents, and injuries, which harm the horse in the long term. They also often conceal causal rider problems while trying to achieve quick success. The aim of this paper was to investigate, with an online horse-owner questionnaire, which and how often auxiliary reins were used and whether they were used appropriately. Only participants who were currently using auxiliary reins were selected. Consequently, 823 participants were questioned, of which 362 were currently using auxiliary reins at least every two weeks. Auxiliary reins were mainly used according to their discipline: the running side rein was the most popular when working from the ground and the sliding ring martingale was the most popular for ridden equestrian activities. Most of the test subjects only attached the auxiliary reins after the warm-up phase, but half of the participants did not change them during the entire training session. Most participants (75%) could at least identify what the correct head position of the horse should look like. However, there were still too many (50%) who adjusted their horse too tightly and did not change anything at that time despite the related breathing problems. The study found that most participants used the reins responsibly, but there is still a need for clarification and information relating to the functions of the different auxiliary reins among horse owners.

The Cardiometabolic Responses to Eccentric Resistance Exercise are Attenuated Compared to Load Matched Concentric and Traditional Resistance Exercise

Introduction. It is well documented that eccentric contractions have a lower metabolic cost than concentric contractions. However, the net impact of this difference across an entire resistance training session is less clear. This study compared the cardiometabolic responses between full body resistance training sessions comprised of either eccentric only (ECC), concentric only (CONC), or traditional (TRAD) muscular actions. Methods. Twelve subjects (6 males) completed 3 work-matched exercise bouts of either ECC, CONC, or TRAD exercises (6 exercises performed at 65% one repetition maximum). Oxygen consumption (VO2), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were recorded continuously throughout the entire session, while blood glucose and lactate were measured during exercise and recovery. Results. Cumulative VO2 was greater during CONC compared to ECC and TRAD (423.4  35 mLO2/kg, 249.6  46.0 mLO2/kg, and 287.7  53.9 mLO2/kg, respectively; all P&lt;0.001). HR and MAP were also 46% and 4.3% greater during CON compared to ECC. Lastly, post exercise lactate accumulation was significantly greater in TRAD and CON compared to ECC (both P &lt;0.001). Conclusions. These results indicate that an exercise session comprised of eccentric work evokes an attenuated cardiometabolic response compared to concentric or traditional exercises.

Estimation of core body temperature by near-infrared imaging of vein diameter change in the dorsal hand.

Core body temperature (Tcore ) is a key indicator of personal thermal comfort and serves as a monitor of thermal strain. Multi-parametric sensors are not practical for estimating core temperature because they require long data collection times and a wide variety of settings. This study introduces dorsal hand vein dynamics as a novel indicator along with heart rate (HR) and dorsal hand skin temperature (Thand ) for predicting Tcore during rest following Tcore elevation. Twelve healthy males aged 27 ± 9 years old participated in the experiment. The experimental procedure consisted of a 10-min rest followed by 60 min of passive heat stress induced by leg immersion in hot water at 42°C and a 40-min thermal relaxation period after the legs were removed from the water. A near-infrared (NIR) imaging system was configured to monitor the dorsal hand veins during the entire experimental session. The values of HR, Thand , and Tcore were continuously monitored while the ambient temperature and relative humidity (RH) were maintained in a climate chamber at 20°C and 50%, respectively. Our selected predictor parameters demonstrated similar patterns in the Tcore such that the value increased as a result of passive heat stress and decreased in the thermal relaxation phase. The experimental data were divided into two phases: thermal stress and relaxation. At the resting condition, inclusion of the hand vein diameter (VD) improved the multiple linear regression value (R2 ) about 26%. At the relaxation phase, however, training regressions R2 = 0.68 and R2 = 0.94 were observed in the regression model with and without considering VD, respectively. The test regression value of R2 = 0.88 and the root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.18°C showed good agreement with the predicted values. These findings demonstrate acceptable validity of the non-invasive Tcore estimation at the resting condition. In particular, the inclusion of VD as a predictor in the regression analysis increases the prediction accuracy with a lower RMSE value.

Forecasting Price of Amazon Spot Instances Using Machine Learning

An auction-based cloud model is followed in the spot pricing mechanism, where the spot instances charge changes with time. The user is bound to pay for the time that is initially initiated. If the user terminates before the sessional hourly completion, then the customer will be billed on the entire hourly session. In case Amazon terminates the instance then the customer would not be billed for the partial hour. When the current spot price reduces to bid price without any notification the cloud provider terminates the spot instance, it is a big disadvantage to the time of the availability factor, which is highly important. Therefore, it is crucial for the bidder to forecast before engaging the bids for spot prices. This paper represents a technique to analyze and predict the spot prices for instances using machine learning. It also discusses implementation, explored factors in detail, and outcomes on numerous instances of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). This technique reduces efforts and errors for forecasting prices.

Effect of Intradialytic Aerobic Exercise on Relative Blood Volume in Patients Undergoing Maintenance Hemodialysis.

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in the relative blood volume because of intradialytic exercise. Twenty patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) were assigned randomly to exercise or control sessions as a first test by simple randomization. All participants were crossed over and participated in both tests. In the exercise test, each patient underwent 30 minutes of exercise using a cycle ergometer from the initiation of HD. The control session consisted of routine HD without exercise. The blood volume (ΔBV) reduction in both types of sessions was calculated from the area under the curve of the ΔBV (ΔBVAUC) from the initiation of HD to the end of exercise (During Ex), from the end of exercise to the end of HD (Post Ex), and during the entire HD session (Whole HD). The ΔBVAUC of Post Ex in the exercise test (44.9 ± 14.3%h) was significantly smaller than that in the control test (50.3 ± 14.3%h) (p < 0.05), although other parameters such as ΔBVAUC either in the entire HD session or during exercise training did not differ significantly between two groups. This result suggests that intradialytic exercise at the beginning of the HD sessions may be altered the ΔBV in the latter part of the session.

PREFACE

The Conference on Sustainable Energy, Environment and Green Technologies (ICSEEGT 2021) organized by the department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering along with Applied Sciences, Poornima College of Engineering, Jaipur, India was the first International Conference on this theme. We are happy to that we could organize it with the publication support of SCOPUS indexed IOP Conference series Earth and Environmental Engineering. The objective of this conference was to bring together researchers from academia, government agencies, research laboratories and the corporate sector to present their research works carried out in sustainable energy, environment and green technologies.Initially the conference was planned in offline mode. Due to Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and worldwide lockdown, organizers were having difficulties conducting in offline mode. It was difficult for the keynote speakers and participants to reach the location of a conference in such a pandemic situation. Further, the predictions during on Covid-19 pandemic indicated that the influence will be for a long time and the long distance interactions through digital mode would be the best way in that condition. Considering all these situations and an enthusiastic response by the authors for the participation in online mode, organizers decided to conduct this conference in virtual mode instead of postponed. The conference was conducted through zoom and google meet platforms. The feedback of participants and appreciations during the feedback session clearly indicated that it was organized in a well-planned way.The Conference began with its Inaugural Session seeking the blessings of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Saraswati. The session witnessed addresses of dignified persons, Dr. Damir Brdanovic, Professor of Sanitary Engineering IHE Delft for Water Education, The Netherlands who was the Chief Guest of the programme, (Guest of Honor) Mr. Sunil Rajavaram, Senior Global WASH Advisor, The Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology, Calgary, Albreta, Canada and (Guest of Honor) Dr. L.M. Das, Former Professor, Indian institute of Technology, Delhi, India.The Inaugural session was followed by a Keynote session of Dr. Damir Brdanovic, on the topic, “From Idea to Innovation: The Shit Killer”. Two technical sessions were also organized on the first day where authors and participants from various universities around the world participated and presented their papers. Overall, 122 papers were received for ICSEEGT 2021 from various organizations all over the world, out of which 42 papers were selected for presentation by our expert team of Reviewers. The research papers from various participants were divided into three tracks viz. Sustainable Energy, Environment and Green Technologies. The presenters and attendees participated with full enthusiasm during the entire sessions. 22 papers were accepted and presented in the technical sessions on the first day. The sessions were chaired by Dr. Salifu Tahiru Azeko, Tamale Technical University, Ghana, Dr. T.N. Verma, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal’. Dr. Payal Bansal, and Mr. Vikas Sharma, PCE were the moderators for the session.The day came to an end with another keynote session on “Advances in Materials for Green Energy Storage Technologies” by Prof. M.V. Reddy, Institute of Research Hydro-Quebec, Centre of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage (CETEES), Hydro Quebec, Canada.On the second day of the International Conference, ICSEEGT 2021, two more technical sessions were organized where about 20 more accepted papers were presented. The sessions were chaired by Dr. Pankaj Gupta, MNIT, Jaipur, and Dr. Pradeep Kumar Gautam, National Institute of Technology, Meghalaya. Dr. Payal Bansal, and Mr. Vikas Sharma, PCE were the moderators for the session. Two keynote sessions, One on the title, “Green Technology, Innovative Nano-materials and Eco Sustainability” by Dr. Alka Sharma, Centre for Advanced Studies, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur and another on the title, “Green Energy Technologies for Sustainable Development” by Dr. K.S. Reddy, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras were also organized on the second day of the conference. On the contrary, the event turned out to be a great success with addresses and sessions of learned persons, wholehearted participation from all our authors, co-authors, attendees, and an expert team of reviewers, coordinators, staff members, organizers and last but not the least, the most powerful pillars of ICSEEGT 2021, the Management.List of Steering Committee, Organizing Committee, Advisory Committee, Technical Program Committee, Reviewer(s) and this titles are available in this pdf.

The development of an observational coding scheme to assess transgender and nonbinary clients' reported minority stress experiences.

Trans and nonbinary individuals experience high rates of identity-based stigma and stress (minority stress) in U.S. society. Despite research empirically linking minority stress with adverse mental health outcomes, the extent to which minority stress experiences are discussed in psychotherapy and how therapists respond is unknown. The primary aim of the present study was to develop and test an observational coding scheme, the Minority Stress Experiences and Interactions (MSEI) scheme. With this scheme, observational data from psychotherapy sessions with 19 transgender and nonbinary adult psychotherapy client participants were coded to provide pilot data for the initial development of the MSEI coding scheme. A total of 19 clients' entire 50-min psychotherapy sessions were coded over 3 phases of psychotherapy: beginning (Session 1), middle (Session 2), and end (Session 10/11). Results indicate that the MSEI scheme was reliable for most codes. Codes revealed that all (N = 19; 100%) clients in the study reported at least 1 minority stress event (MSE) over the course of the 3 sessions, with the mean number of MSEs being 7 per client. The most frequent proximal stressor reported by clients was related to internalized stigma and the most frequent distal stressor reported by clients was prejudice. A total of 2 clients' clinical exchanges with their therapists centered on MSEs are highlighted to demonstrate the nuance of how MSEs are discussed in session, specifically regarding multiple minority identities. Implications for the current study include the need for therapist training regarding minority stress interventions and attention to power and oppression within sessions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

MO779DETECTION OF INTRADIALYTIC SLEEP APNEA IN HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS

Abstract Background and Aims Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) has emerged as an important cardiovascular risk factor in hemodialysis (HD) patients. In patients with SAS, high-frequency oscillations of arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) and arousal can be used to characterize repetitive respiratory cessation. Although these repetitive patterns have been observed in SAS patients, it has not been studied during HD treatment. In this study, we aim to detect intradialytic SAS in HD patients to provide novel prognosticators of adverse events related to SAS. Method We use the Crit-Line® monitor to record SaO2 at 1 Hz frequency, and video recording to capture periods of wakefulness for the entire treatment session (3.5±0.5hr). We developed a recurrent-based time-series analysis to characterize the desaturation and arousal in SaO2. For each patient, we compute four metrics, namely: (i) the probability of recurrence for any given state (recurrent rate, RR), (ii) systemic predictability (determinism, DET), (iii) occurrence of laminar state (LAM), and (iv) permutation entropy to quantify complexity. These four quantities were used to detect episodes of SAS in patients while undergoing HD treatments. Results We study 16 HD patients with arterio-venous vascular access. Their age was 54±11 years, 63% were males and 69% were African Americans. SaO2 was measured during two HD sessions per patient. The mean SaO2 was 94.3±2.1%. We observe distinguishable patterns in which periods of awake and asleep are differentiated. Figure 1 shows a typical SaO2 annotated with the period of awake and asleep (shaded area in Fig. 1A), during which the four metrics decrease during the corresponding period where the patient is asleep (Fig. 1B-C). Figure 1D-E shows the consistency of the metrics in all 16 patients, in which DET and entropy are analyzed around the onset of sleep. We observe monotonically decreasing trends around the episode of sleep, suggesting that these results are sensitive to the sleep states, and potentially to an episode of intradialytic SAS. Conclusion Our preliminary analysis suggests that DET, LAM, RR, and entropy may contain characteristic properties that could be used to detect the onset of intradialytic SAS, which are characterized by the high-frequency oscillatory patterns in SaO2. Further studies are needed to identify SAS-related desaturation and arousal detected in the SaO2 measurement. The predictive power of these features and their relationships to clinical outcomes warrants further investigation.

UBAR: Towards Fully End-to-End Task-Oriented Dialog System with GPT-2

This paper presents our task-oriented dialog system UBAR which models task-oriented dialogs on a dialog session level. Specifically, UBAR is acquired by fine-tuning the large pre-trained unidirectional language model GPT-2 on the sequence of the entire dialog session which is composed of user utterance, belief state, database result, system act, and system response of every dialog turn. Additionally, UBAR is evaluated in a more realistic setting, where its dialog context has access to user utterances and all content it generated such as belief states, system acts, and system responses. Experimental results on the MultiWOZ datasets show that UBAR achieves state-of-the-art performances in multiple settings, improving the combined score of response generation, policy optimization, and end-to-end modeling by 4.7, 3.5, and 9.4 points respectively. Thorough analyses demonstrate that the session-level training sequence formulation and the generated dialog context are essential for UBAR to operate as a fully end-to-end task-oriented dialog system in real life. We also examine the transfer ability of UBAR to new domains with limited data and provide visualization and a case study to illustrate the advantages of UBAR in modeling on a dialog session level.

EFFECT OF LOCKDOWN ON EDUCATION OF RURAL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS DURINGCOVID-19 PANDEMIC IN UMARBAN (DHAR), M.P., INDIA

A survey was conducted to assess the impact of lockdown due to COVID-19 on online education of undergraduate learners of government colleges Umarban, district Dhar (454449) Madhya Pradesh, India. An online as well as offline survey was conducted from 10 October 2020 to 15 March 2021 to collect the information. To analyze the possibility and attention of students for online education, various online quizzes were conducted in which a structural questionnaire link using ‘Google form’ was sent to students through WhatsApp. A total of 265 students were taken for the survey. The simple percentage distribution was used to assess the learning status of the study participants. During the lockdown period, around 15.47% of learners were involved in e-learning. Most of the learners were used android mobile for attending e-learning. The present study revealed that around 60% of students were seen to involve in farming during lockdown instead of online classes. In addition to this, 45% of students never joined an online class during the entire session. Further analysis demonstrated that 13% of students do not have their own mobile phone, nearly 18% could not join due to poor internet connectivity, 21% of students faced unfavorable study environment at home and 3% of students have other reasons. This study also showed a comparative analysis of the presence of students before and after the COVID 19 pandemic. As the ratio of presence of students in physical and virtual classrooms was 2.32. The overall results from this study revealed that especially in rural areas COVID – 19 pandemic had affected more adversely on classroom attendance, where people already do not want to give importance to education. Higher education institutions may benefit from these findings while formulating strategies to support students during this pandemic. Moreover, to promote education in COVID 19 era strong strategies are urgently needed.

Bromodomain‐Containing Protein 4 (BRD4) Inhibitors as Emerging Therapeutics for Opioid Use Disorder

Aims Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) is a member of the bromodomain and extra-terminal domain-containing (BET) family of chromatin “reader” proteins. Small molecule BET inhibitors have been developed within the context of cancer and inflammation pathologies, and more recently are of interest for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including opioid use disorder (OUD). BRD4 has two bromodomains (BDs) that recognize specific post-translational histone variants to control downstream transcriptional outcomes. The protein-protein interaction between BRD4 and lysine residues of histones is driven through the two highly conserved N-terminal bromodomains BD1 and BD2. The aim of the present study is to pharmacologically characterize BRD4-BD1-specific inhibitors to facilitate investigations into the role of BRD4 mechanisms in preclinical models of opioid use disorder. Methods Selected potent BRD4 inhibitors were synthesized and scaled up for analyses of in vitro and in vivo drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK), blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration, and pharmacological profiles against a panel of CNS receptors, channels and transporters via the Psychoactive Drug Screening Program (PDSP). Based on initial profiles, we further evaluated one compound for in vivo efficacy in male Sprague-Dawley rats trained to stability on intravenous oxycodone self-administration (0.1 mg/kg/infusion). Results ZL0513, ZL0516, ZL0742, and ZL0969 exhibit selectivity for BRD4-BD1 over other BD proteins and are the subject of ongoing profiling. To date, ZL0513, ZL0516, and ZL0969 exhibit excellent in vitro DMPK profiles, including bioavailability greater than 35%, aqueous solubility, metabolic stability, and weak inhibition of CYP450 enzymes. ZL0987 (HCl salt form of ZL0516) exhibited a brain/plasma ratio (intravenous, 1 hr) of 0.08 which was improved to 0.62 for ZL0969. However, ZL0516 exhibited a cleaner PDSP profile than did ZL0969. ZL0742 exhibited a good in vivo DMPK, however its penetration of the BBB was suboptimal. Additional backup molecules ZL0513 and ZL0742 are undergoing further DMPK, BBB, and PDSP screening. Based upon our initial profiling of ZL0987, we assessed its efficacy in vivo and found that ZL0987 at the dose of 10 mg/kg suppressed oxycodone intake (p<0.05) which was sustained across the entire 180-minute self-administration session. Conclusion We have characterized several BRD4-BD1 selective inhibitors with compelling profiles of drug-like properties. Our initial in vivo data revealed that ZL0987 elicited sustained suppression of oxycodone self-administration. The development and characterization of specific BRD4 inhibitors will allow exploration of BRD4 mechanisms in preclinical models of opioid use and validate the BRD4 as a novel drug target for the development of epigenetic therapeutics for OUD.

Dose‐Dependent Arterial Stiffness Responses to Binge Alcohol Consumption

Arterial stiffness is a known contributor to hypertension. While there is evidence that light to moderate alcohol consumption can decrease arterial stiffness, the impact of binge alcohol consumption on acute changes of arterial stiffness remains unknown. We tested the hypothesis that arterial stiffness would be increased after binge drinking. Participants (n=22; 50% women; age 24.5±1.1 years; BMI 26.8±0.9 kg/m2) arrived to the laboratory at 4:00 pm for baseline arterial stiffness measures, and provided a standardized meal verified by a registered dietitian. Three supine blood pressures were taken prior to each arterial stiffness recording. In a randomized order, separated by one month, participants received a binge alcohol dose or fluid control. Alcohol or fluid control doses were administered in two equally divided allocates at 8 and 9 pm, and participants were provided a 15 min consumption period. The entire binge alcohol session consisted of a 1:3 mixture of 190 proof grain ethanol and fruit juice based on body weight and sex (1g/kg men, 0.85g/kg women), while the fluid control was only fruit juice in equal volume. Thirty minutes post-consumption of each allocated beverage, arterial stiffness was recorded via applanation tonometry using a SphygmoCor system. Briefly, a tonometer was placed at the radial artery for pulse wave analysis. While gated to a three-lead electrocardiogram, a tonometer was placed at the carotid and femoral arteries for pulse wave velocity. Blood alcohol content (BAC) was estimated via breathalyzer at the 4 pm baseline, and 30 minutes after completion of each fluid consumption. Statistical analysis was performed using repeated measures ANOVA with a condition level of two (i.e., alcohol vs. fluid control) and three time points (i.e., baseline, 8pm post-drink, and 9pm post-drink). Means were considered significantly different when p<0.05. BAC was significantly and progressively elevated after the first (0.045±0.003%) and second (0.095±0.004%) alcohol doses. Mean arterial pressure was not significantly changed after alcohol or fluid control. However, aortic augmentation index normalized to 75 heart beats (AIx@75) was significantly different from baseline following the alcohol condition (time: p=0.004). Post-hoc paired t-tests revealed AIx@75 was significantly reduced after the first dose of alcohol consumption (Δ-7±2%, p<0.01), but was similar to baseline following the second dose of alcohol (p=0.29). Alcohol consumption did not change (time: p=0.147) carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV). Supine HR was changed after the binge alcohol and fluid control visit (condition × time: p<0.001). Specifically, HR was higher after the 2nd dose of alcohol (∆5±1 beats/min, p<0.001) and lower after the 2nd dose of fluid (∆-4±2 beats/min, p=0.030). In summary, our results indicate binge alcohol consumption depressed AIx@75 after the first dose in the evening and increased supine HR after the second dose. Our preliminary findings align with epidemiological evidence on chronic drinkers, and suggest that acute arterial stiffness and cardiovascular responses to alcohol are dose-dependent.

Risk-Driven Behavioral Biometric-based One-Shot-cum-Continuous User Authentication Scheme

The paper presents a risk-driven behavioral biometric-based user authentication scheme for smartphones. Our scheme delivers one-shot-cum-continuous authentication, thus not only authenticates users at the start of the application sign-in process but also, throughout the active user session. The scheme leverages the widely used PIN/password-based authentication technology by giving flexibility to users to enter any random 8-digit alphanumeric text, instead of pre-configured PIN/Passwords. Internally, the scheme exploits two behavioral biometric traits, i.e., touch-timing-differences of the entered strokes and the hand-movement gesture recorded during the random text entry, to authenticate users. And, for the entire user session, the scheme continuously authenticates the user by computing the risk-score every time the user initiates a sensitive activity. If the risk-score is higher than the predefined threshold, the current user session terminates. Afterward, the scheme requests the user to re-authenticate. Thus, our scheme serves three main objectives: Firstly, it offers users the flexibility to enter an 8 − digit random alphanumeric text as their secret enhancing the usability of PIN/password-based schemes. Secondly, it strengthens the security of PIN/password-based schemes as verification decision is not binary, and mimicking the invisible touch-timings and hand-movements simultaneously, could be extremely difficult as our security analysis determined. Lastly, the scheme does not require any dedicated device (e.g., a smart token for OTP generation) for 2-factor authentication. The results obtained on 11,400 user-samples (collected by 3 days in-the-wild testing) and user-experience responses (received from the Software Usability Scale4 survey) of 95 testers demonstrate our scheme as an accurate and acceptable user authentication scheme.

Rapid transformation of work integrated learning from the farm to virtual reality

All veterinary schools in Australasia require students in the first half of their course to complete work integrated learning (WIL) during vacation time on a range of animal enterprises. This allows students to gain an understanding of how the enterprises function on a day to day basis and compare to the theoretical training that students receive on-campus. The time on-property required is equivalent to 60 days of work with a requirement to visit several enterprises (AVBC, 2016). COVID-19 required immediate cessation of all on-property placements. Given the limited number of holiday weeks available for WIL we developed an on-line experiential program to support student learning.&#x0D; &#x0D; The backbone of the online WIL experience relied on previously developed or developing virtual reality (VR) farm resources; the 4DVirtual Farm and DookieVR (Barber etal, 2016). These resources allow students to visit properties via multiple 360 images through time on a property, allowing virtual travel through time and place to see what happens on an enterprise throughout a year. They also integrate environmental variables and both 360 and standard video to provide access to further information. They are viewable using mobile phones, laptop and desktop systems as well as VR viewers. The basic VR resource allows students to take their own tour around the property however the week of experiential learning was planned to reinforce the students’ ability to see what happens on the individual property throughout the year. This compares to an individual property visit where a student gains more “hands-on” insight for a much more limited timespan of the year, usually 1-2 weeks.&#x0D; &#x0D; The week of synchronous, experiential learning used Zoom as the primary tool to allow communication between staff and students with content managed on the learning management system, Canvas. The standard format for each day involved an initial entire class group session, mostly in didactic information transfer from staff to students and then a mixture of small group, full class or individual tasks. Assessment of content understanding was evaluated on a regular basis using multiple choice questions or word responses using PollEverywhere. The large class group of 100-250 students broke into small virtual rooms of 6 to 8 students. Each day this small student group had a task to complete and submit via Feedback Fruits, which then allocated individual students to provide written feedback on the group report by the next day. Time was allocated for students to review these reports both individually and then to discuss the multiple reports that group members were assessing and submit feedback. In addition, each small group reported on a relevant name to the veterinary industry, either from current or historical times. A short video detailing the link of this name to the veterinary industry was posted to Flipgrid for both staff and other students to review. Student understanding of the week was measured at the commencement and completion of the week using an online multiple choice quiz as well as receiving student feedback by an online survey. This presentation will cover the background, development and design of the week and associated material.&#x0D; &#x0D; References&#x0D; &#x0D; AVBC (2016), Standard 9.3 Extra Mural Studies (EMS or Workplace Learning), page 32, Australasian Veterinary Boards Council, https://avbc.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/documents/public/AVBCStandardsAug2016.pdf&#x0D; Barber S, Hallein E, Shallcross D, Weston J, Jacobson C, Bramley E, Celi P, McGowan M (2016), Final report: Development of 4D farms to improve student learning and safety, Office of Learning and Teaching https://ltr.edu.au/resources/ID12_2365_Barber_Report_2016.pdf&#x0D;

Relationships Between Aerobic Performance, Hemoglobin Levels, and Training Load During Small-Sided Games: A Study in Professional Soccer Players.

The purposes of this study were (1) to analyze between-session variations of external and internal load measures during small-sided games (SSGs) and (2) to test the relationships between the maximum speed reached (VIFT) during the last stage of the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test, hemoglobin levels, and training load measures during SSG intervals among professional soccer players. Sixteen professional soccer players (mean ± SD; age 27.2 ± 3.4 years, height 174.2 ± 3.6 cm, body mass 69.1 ± 6.4 kg, and body fat 10.4 ± 4.1%) participated in this study. Hemoglobin and aerobic performance were first tested, and then a 3-week SSG program was applied using a 3 vs. 3 format. During those 3 weeks, internal and external load of entire sessions were also monitored for all training sessions. Trivial-to-small, standardized differences were observed between sessions for external and internal measures during SSGs. Total distance (TD) and mechanical work (MW) were the only variables that indicated small changes. Large-to-very-large relationships were found between VIFT and external loads: TD (r range: 0.69; 0.87), high-intensity running (HIR; r range: 0.66; 0.75), and MW (r range: 0.56; 0.68). Moderate-to-large negative relationships were found between hemoglobin levels and internal loads: Edwards’ TRIMP (r range: −0.36; −0.63), %HRmax (r range: −0.50; −0.61), and red zone (r range: −0.50; −0.61). VIFT had unclear relationships with overall internal loads, while hemoglobin levels presented unclear relationships with overall external loads. In conclusion, no meaningful changes were found between sessions considering the format of play used. Additionally, the detected relationships indicate that VIFT and hemoglobin levels are good indicators of the performance capacity and physiological profile of players during SSGs. Also, the use of SSGs protocols as a monitoring complement of the 30-15IFT is suggested.