Sequential Sessions Research Articles

Multi-Hop Multi-View Memory Transformer for Session-Based Recommendation

A Session-Based Recommendation (SBR) seeks to predict users’ future item preferences by analyzing their interactions with previously clicked items. In recent approaches, Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have been commonly applied to capture item relations within a session to infer user intentions. However, these GNN-based methods typically struggle with feature ambiguity between the sequential session information and the item conversion within an item graph, which may impede the model’s ability to accurately infer user intentions. In this article, we propose a novel Multi-hop Multi-view Memory Transformer (M 3 T) to effectively integrate the sequence-view information and relation conversion (graph-view information) of items in a session. First, we propose a Multi-view Memory Transformer (M 2 T) module to concurrently obtain multi-view information of items. Then, a set of trainable memory matrices are employed to store sharable item features, which mitigates cross-view item feature ambiguity. To comprehensively capture latent user intentions, an M 3 T framework is designed to integrate user intentions across different hops of an item graph. Specifically, a k-order power method is proposed to manage the item graph to alleviate the over-smoothing problem when obtaining high-order relations of items. Extensive experiments conducted on three real-world datasets demonstrate the superiority of our method.

Teleproctoring in therapeutic neurointervention: Experience from Iraq-Saudi Arabia collaboration.

Proctoring in neuroendovascular surgery is one of the potential solutions for the shortage of personnel and experience, particularly in unstable and limited-resource areas such as Iraq. The study was conducted at the Baghdad Neurovascular Center (BNC), the first Hybrid neurovascular institution in Iraq, where sequential online zoom-based meetings between the BNC team and the expert from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were used for teleproctoring for neurointerventional procedures. A total of 28 sessions were conducted, four sessions for each case. Seven cases with various intracranial vascular lesions were operated for neuroendovascular procedures from July/2021 to March/2022. The teleproctoring for each case included four sequential sessions: (1) preoperative planning, (2) device selection and preparation, (3) intraoperative live-stream proctoring, and (4) postoperative reflection and follow-up planning. The procedures include coiling for dural arteriovenous fistula; preoperative tumor embolization; preoperative, partial, and staged embolization for arteriovenous malformation; coiling for intracranial aneurysm; and attempted Giant aneurysm flow-diversion. Major complications were avoided through teleproctoring, and all patients had good outcomes. In addition, the teleproctoring provided an effective training experience to the local neuroendovascular team that is otherwise not feasible. Teleproctoring is an effective and feasible tool to improve patient outcomes and provide a training experience to the local neuroendovascular teams in resource-limited regions.

Data Exfiltration Detection on Network Metadata with Autoencoders

We designed a Network Exfiltration Detection System (NEDS) to detect data exfiltration as occurring in ransomware attacks. The NEDS operates on aggregated metadata, which is more privacy-friendly and allows analysis of large volumes of high-speed network traffic. The NEDS aggregates metadata from multiple, sequential sessions between pairs of hosts in a network, which captures exfiltration by both stateful and stateless protocols. The aggregated metadata include averages per session of both packet count, request entropy, duration, and payload size, as well as the average time between sequential sessions and the amount of aggregated sessions. The NEDS applies a number of autoencoder models with unsupervised learning to detect anomalies, where each autoencoder model targets different protocols. We trained the autoencoder models with real-life data collected at network sensors in the National Detection Network as operated by the National Cyber Security Centre in the Netherlands, and configured the detection threshold by varying the false positive rate. We evaluated the detection performance by injecting exfiltration over different channels, including DNS tunnels and uploads to FTP servers, web servers, and cloud storage. Our experimental results show that aggregation significantly increases detection performance of exfiltration that happens over longer time, most notably, DNS tunnels. Our NEDS can be applied to detect exfiltration either in near-real-time data analysis with limited false positive rates, or in captured data to aid in post-incident analysis.

Development of Clinical Guideline for Drug Dose Calculation Using the Delphi Method

Background: Empirical studies in competence are lacking in the field of Drug dose calculation.Objective:To construct a clinical guideline for drug dose calculation and to enhance the comprehension of theforthcoming nursing students.Methods: Two rounds of the Delphi method were used. Data were analyzed by content analysis and withdescriptive statistics.Results: After two sequential sessions of discussion by the Delphi method, a clinical guideline for Drug doseCalculation was constructed. This guideline includes the formulas for Drug dose Calculations. The reliabilitywas achieved by Median and Consensus percentage.Conclusions:We constructed a clinical guideline for palliative sedation therapy using the Delphi technique. Theclinical efficacy of this guideline should be tested in the future.

First interim analysis of the SirTac trial: A randomized phase II study of SIRT and DSM-TACE in patients with liver metastases from uveal melanoma.

9511 Background: The liver is the most common site of metastases in patients (pts) with uveal melanoma (UM). Here, we present results from the prespecified first interim analysis of the SirTac trial, a prospective, single-center, randomized, investigator-initiated, open-label phase 2 study of Selective Internal Radiation Therapy with Yttrium-90-bearing resin microspheres; SIR-Spheres (SIRT) vs Transarterial Chemoembolization with Cisplatin and degradable starch microspheres; EmboCept S (DSM-TACE) in pts with liver-dominant metastatic UM. Methods: Pts with histologically confirmed, liver-dominant metastatic UM and ECOG PS 0-2 were enrolled and randomized 1:1 to SIRT or DSM-TACE. Randomization was stratified by lactate dehydrogenase (<2x vs ≥2x upper limit of normal) and pre-treatment with antiangiogenic agents. Extrahepatic metastases were allowed, if asymptomatic. Primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). A total of 108 pts (54 per arm) were planned to be enrolled. Pts received TACE every 4-6 weeks until tumor devascularization or disease progression or intolerable toxicity was observed, and SIRT either as one whole-liver application or in two sequential sessions for each liver lobe. The primary objective of this prespecified analysis was to assess response by RECIST criteria v1.1 in the per-protocol (PP) population of the first 40 pts (20 pts in each arm). Results: Two patients had been treated with previous liver surgery, whereas all other patients had not received previous treatment for metastatic disease. There were no clinicopathological differences between the groups, except for a difference in age (median age SIRT arm 64 y vs 75 y in the TACE arm, p=0.018). All but 1 pt received treatment as randomized. This pt was excluded and replaced by the next TACE pt for this PP interim analysis. There were no differences in best overall response rates between the groups (no complete response, 1 partial response in both arms, stable disease in 19 (95%) and 17 (85%) pts in the SIRT and TACE arm, respectively, and 2 pts with progressive disease in the TACE arm). At a median follow-up of 13.9 mo from treatment start, median PFS in the PP population was 4.9 mo in the SIRT arm vs 2.2 mo in the TACE arm (p=0.037), with a higher median liver-PFS in the SIRT vs TACE arm (8.3 vs 2.2, p=0.026). Conclusions: In this planned interim analysis treatment in both arms was feasible with no differences in response. The explorativePFS analysis allows no conclusions on the final outcome after completion of the trial. The study continues recruitment. Clinical trial information: NCT02936388.

Morphological and histological changes in the urethra after intraurethral nonablative erbium YAG laser therapy: an experimental study in beagle dogs

The purpose of this study was to investigate the morphological and histological changes in the urethra in beagle dogs after intraurethral Er:YAG laser irradiation in nonablative mode to confirm the safety of this therapy. Six 2-year-old healthy female virgin beagle dogs (13 ± 1.51 kg) were used in this study. The animals were divided into 2 groups: the sham group, which received sham treatment (n = 3) involving insertion of an intraurethral cannula and laser delivery handpiece into the urethra without laser irradiation, and the experimental group (n = 3), which received intraurethral Er:YAG laser irradiation. The laser irradiation parameters were set according to clinical criteria (4 mm spot size, 1.5 J/cm2, 1.4 Hz, and 4 pulses) in nonablative mode. All animals received three sequential sessions at 4-week intervals. Urethrography and urethroscopy were performed in the 12th week and 13th week, respectively, after the first treatment. After urethroscopy, the animals were sacrificed, and urethral tissue was harvested for histological investigations. All procedures were performed under general anesthesia (40 mg/kg 3% sodium pentobarbital, i.v.). Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression levels were measured to evaluate the biochemical characteristics of the scar. Urethral stricture was not found by urethrography or urethroscopy in either group. Urethral epithelium thickness and collagen expression under the urethral mucosa were significantly increased in the experimental group compared with the sham group. However, there were no significant differences in TGF-β1 and α-SMA expression between the experimental group and sham group (p > 0.05). Urethral stricture is not found in beagle dogs after clinically relevant intraurethral nonablative mode Er:YAG laser irradiation. Proliferation of urethral collagen and the urethral mucosa may be one of the mechanisms by which urine leakage symptoms can be improved.

Number of endoscopic sessions to eradicate varices identifies high risk of rebleeding in cirrhotic patients

Background and aimsRisk stratification to identify patients with high risk of variceal rebleeding is particularly important in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. In clinical practice, eliminating gastroesphageal varices thoroughly after sequential endoscopic treatment reduces the rebleeding rate, however, no simple method has been build to predict high risk of variceal rebleeding. We conducted this study to explore the value of the number of endoscopic sessions required to eradicate gastroesphageal varices in identifying high risk of rebleeding.Patients and methodsConsecutive cirrhotic patients received sequential endoscopic therapy between January 2015 and March 2020 were enrolled. Endoscopic treatment was performed every 1–4 weeks until the eradication of varices. The primary endpoint was variceal rebleeding.ResultsA total of 146 patients were included of which 60 patients received standard therapy and 86 patients underwent sequential endoscopic treatment alone. The cut-off value of the number of sequential endoscopic sessions is 3.5 times. Variceal rebleeding was significant higher in patients with endoscopic sessions > 3 times versus ≤ 3 times (61.5% vs. 17.5%, p < 0.001). Variceal rebleeding of patients with endoscopic sessions ≤ 3 times was significant lower than patients with > 3 times in group of standard therapy (19.6% vs. 88.9%, p < 0.001) and endoscopic therapy (15.9% vs. 47.1%, p = 0.028) respectively.ConclusionThe number of sequential endoscopic sessions required to eradicate the varices is related to the risk of variceal rebleeding in patients with cirrhosis. If three times of endoscopic treatment can not eradicate the varices, a more aggressive treatment such as TIPS should be seriously considered.

Impact of Art as A Therapeutic Intervention in Improving the Quality of Life among Geriatric Population

Objective: To study the impact of art as therapeutic intervention in improving the quality of life among geriatric population. Method: Quasi experimental pre-post test study design was used to allocate geriatric population in experimental group (n=5) and control group (n=5). Sequential session of 15 minutes of Mandala art coloring sheets followed by 15 minutes of personal counseling session and another 15 minutes of projective art time where the person can choose between creative writing or projective art, with transition of activities between the session the client was given with breaks of 5 minutes each in the experimental group. Only personal counseling sessions of cognitive behavior therapy were given to the control group. Results: All participants in both groups who began treatment completed the therapy program SF-36 was used both as screening method as well as outcome measure and showed significant changes in the quality of life in the experimental group. Conclusion: Art as therapeutic intervention for geriatric population shows positive effects on the mental health and wellness which in turn improves their quality of life.

Pediatric formulation development – Challenges of today and strategies for tomorrow: Summary report from M−CERSI workshop 2019

A workshop on “Pediatric Formulation Development: Challenges of Today and Strategies for Tomorrow” was organized jointly by the University of Maryland’s Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (M−CERSI), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the International Consortium for Innovation and Quality in Pharmaceutical Development (IQ) Drug Product Pediatric Working Group (PWG). This multi-disciplinary, pediatric focused workshop was held over a two-day period (18–19 Jun 2019) and consisted of participants from industry, regulatory agencies, academia and other organizations from both US and Europe. The workshop consisted of sequential sessions on formulation, analytical, clinical, and regulatory and industry lessons learned and future landscape. Each session began with a series of short framing presentations, followed by facilitated breakout sessions and panel discussion. The formulation session was dedicated to three main topics pertaining to drug product acceptability, excipients in pediatrics and oral administration device considerations. The analytical session discussed key considerations for dosing vehicle selection and analytical strategies for testing of different dosage forms, specifically mini-tablets (multiparticulates). The clinical session highlighted the influence of pediatric pharmacokinetics prediction on formulation design, pediatric drug development strategies and clinical considerations to support pediatric formulation design. The regulatory and industry lessons learned and future landscape session explored the regional differences that exist in regulatory expectations, requirements for pediatric formulation development, and key patient-centric factors to consider when developing novel pediatric formulations. This session also discussed potential collaboration opportunities and tools for pediatric formulation development. This manuscript summarizes the key discussions and outcomes of all the sessions in the workshop with a broadened review and discussion of the topics that were covered.

An optimization framework for daily route planning and scheduling of maintenance vessel activities in offshore wind farms

To increase energy production, offshore wind farms are currently installed far from shore, providing a challenge for vessels to undertake maintenance tasks from the designated hub port. Service Operation Vessels (SOVs) are utilized to carry out the offshore wind turbines maintenance tasks, which act as a servicing station having required technicians and daughter crafts (i.e. Crew Transfer Vessels (CTV)) onboard to facilitate on-time and on-demand servicing of wind turbines. This paper proposes an optimization framework, called OptiRoute, for daily or short-term maintenance operations based on route planning and scheduling while minimizing the cost under different operational constraints. Different heuristic and clustering techniques are developed and integrated to make the framework computationally effective. OptiRoute considers climate data, vessels specifications, failure information, wind farm attributes and cost-related specifics. The series of the overall operational tasks are divided into sequential sessions, including maintenance crew pick-up and drop-off tasks while the vessel routing optimization is performed for all sessions separately. OptiRoute reliability is tested by employing different Case studies while a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) is also developed to depict the various maintenance scheduling scenarios. Experimental results reveal that OptiRoute can efficiently increase the operational window especially when SOV and CTVs are used together.

Effects of a dietary supplement enriched in palmitoleic acid on fatty acid composition of follicular fluid, granulosa cell metabolism, and oocyte developmental capacity in early lactation dairy cows

In high-yielding dairy cows, some fertility traits can be influenced by the fatty acid (FA) composition of the follicular fluid during early lactation. The first objective of the current study was to evaluate the potential of dietary supplements enriched in specific FA to influence the FA composition of follicular fluid lipid classes in early lactation dairy cows. The second objective was to determine the influence of the resulting follicular fluid FA composition on the folliculogenesis, lipid and energy metabolism of granulosa cells, as well as oocyte quality and embryo development. Twenty Holstein multiparous cows in late gestation were randomly assigned to 200 g/d of FA supplements enriched in (1) palmitic acid (control treatment; 82% 16:0; PA) in the rumen or (2) palmitoleic acid (sea buckthorn oil; 27% cis-9 16:1, 28% 16:0, 22% cis-9 18:1, and 11% cis-9,cis-12 18:2; SBT) in the abomasum. The treatment period ranged from 20 ± 5 d precalving to 67 ± 2 d postcalving. Cumulus-oocyte complexes, granulosa cells, and follicular fluid were recovered from 2 sequential sessions of ovum pick-up (OPU-1 and OPU-2) at 46 and 67 ± 2 d postcalving (mean ± standard deviation). On the same days, blood samples were collected. Milk performance was recorded, and feed and milk samples were collected from d 8 to 10 ± 3 (onset of lactation), d 35 to 37 ± 2 (before OPU-1), and d 63 to 65 ± 2 (before OPU-2). Treatments did not affect milk yield or fat concentration throughout the experimental trial. Compared with PA, SBT increased the cis-9 16:1 concentration in milk fat, in plasma esterified lipid classes (phospholipids, cholesterol esters, and triacylglycerols), and in follicular fluid phospholipids and cholesterol esters at OPU-1. Abundance of mRNA for stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 and 5, and perilipin 2 in granulosa cells was not different between treatments, but an increase in the level of stearoyl-CoA desaturase 5 was observed between the 2 OPU periods. Treatments did not affect oocyte quality and developmental capacity or embryo lipid metabolism when cultivated in vitro. These results suggest that limited modifications in the FA composition of the oocyte microenvironment via dietary lipid supplements enriched in specific FA had no major effects on granulosa cell metabolism and oocyte developmental capacity in early lactation cows.

Reduced Environmental Stimulation in Anorexia Nervosa: An Early-Phase Clinical Trial.

Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST) alters the balance of sensory input to the nervous system by systematically attenuating sensory signals from visual, auditory, thermal, tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptive channels. Previous research from our group has shown that REST via floatation acutely reduces anxiety and blood pressure (BP) while simultaneously heightening interoceptive awareness in clinically anxious populations. Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder characterized by elevated anxiety, distorted body representation, and abnormal interoception, raising the question of whether REST might positively impact these symptoms. However, this approach has never been studied in eating disorders, and it is unknown whether exposure to floatation REST might worsen AN symptoms. To examine these possibilities, we conducted an open-label study to investigate the safety and tolerability of REST in AN. We also explored the acute impact of REST on BP, affective symptoms, body image disturbance, and interoception. Twenty-one partially weight-restored AN outpatients completed a protocol involving four sequential sessions of REST: reclining in a zero-gravity chair, floating in an open pool, and two sessions of floating in an enclosed pool. All sessions were 90 min, approximately 1 week apart. We measured orthostatic BP before and immediately after each session (primary outcome), in addition to collecting BP readings every 10 min during the session using a wireless waterproof system as a secondary outcome measure. Each participant’s affective state, awareness of interoceptive sensations, and body image were assessed before and after every session (exploratory outcomes). There was no evidence of orthostatic hypotension following floating, and no adverse events (primary outcome). Secondary analyses revealed that REST induced statistically significant reductions in BP (p < 0.001; Cohen’s d, 0.2–0.5), anxiety (p < 0.001; Cohen’s d, >1) and negative affect (p < 0.01; Cohen’s d, >0.5), heightened awareness of cardiorespiratory (p < 0.01; Cohen’s d, 0.2–0.5) but not gastrointestinal sensations, and reduced body image dissatisfaction (p < 0.001; Cohen’s d, >0.5). The findings from this initial trial suggest that individuals with AN can safely tolerate the physical effects of REST via floatation. Future randomized controlled trials will need to investigate whether these initial observations of improved anxiety, interoception, and body image disturbance occur in acutely ill AN populations.Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov; Identifier: NCT02801084 (April 01, 2016).

Eficacia del programa educativo "exprésate" sobre los conocimientos del embarazo adolescente en jóvenes de Huancavelica

Objetivo: Evaluar la eficacia del programa educativo “Exprésate” sobre el nivel de conocimiento del embarazo adolescente en las estudiantes de la Institución Educativa. Francisca Diez Canseco de Castilla, Huancavelica, Perú. Material y métodos: Estudio de diseño cuasi experimental trabajado con 205 estudiantes femeninas distribuidos en 8 secciones (A-H), una de ellas (“E”) se tomó como prueba piloto conformado por 30 estudiantes, para la validación del cuestionario Pre-Test y Pos-Test a través del KR-20; luego se desarrolló sesiones secuenciales del programa educativo “Exprésate” con pre y post test. La variación de indicadores fue evaluada mediante la prueba de rangos de Wilcoxon para muestras pareadas, con un nivel de confianza del 95%. Resultados: En el Pre-Test el 24,55% mostró un nivel de conocimiento bajo (5,02±1,22); un 74,55% medio (9,52±1,76) y un 0,90% alto (15,5±0,71); mientras que en el Pos-Test, realizado concluido el programa educativo, se halló que el 23,90% presentó un nivel de conocimiento medio (13,02±1,36) y un 76,10% presentó un nivel alto (16,81±1,36), así mismo, la variación de los valores pre y post test resultó ser estadísticamente significativa (p&lt;0,001). Conclusión: El programa educativo “Exprésate” es eficaz sobre el nivel de conocimiento del embarazo adolescente.

Selective Deficits in Contingency-Driven Ethanol Seeking Following Chronic Ethanol Exposure in Male Mice.

People with alcohol use disorders exhibit an overreliance on habitual response strategies which may result from a history of chronic alcohol exposure. Although habits are defined by behavior that persists despite changes in outcome value and in action-outcome relationships, most research investigating the effects of ethanol exposure on habits has focused only on outcome devaluation. A clear understanding of the effects of chronic alcohol exposure on the ability to flexibly update behavior may provide insight into the behavioral deficits that characterize alcohol use disorders. To dissociate the effects of chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure on contingency-mediated sucrose versus ethanol seeking, adult male C57Bl/6J mice were assigned to 2 separate experiments. In the first experiment, mice were trained to self-administer ethanol prior to 2 cycles of interleaved CIE exposure by vapor inhalation. In a second experiment, mice were trained to self-administer sucrose and ethanol in separate training sessions prior to 4 cycles of interleaved CIE. The use of contingencies to mediate reward seeking was assessed using a contingency degradation paradigm. In mice trained to self-administer only ethanol, 2weeks of CIE resulted in escalated self-administration. At this time point, CIE-exposed mice, but not air-exposed controls, exhibited ethanol seeking that was insensitive to changes in action-outcome contingency, consistent with habitual ethanol seeking. In mice trained to self-administer ethanol and sucrose rewards in sequential sessions, no escalation in self-administration across 4weeks of CIE was observed. Under these conditions, neither Air- nor CIE-exposed mice reduced ethanol seeking in response to contingency degradation. In contrast, sucrose seeking remained goal-directed. Our results suggest that chronic ethanol exposure impairs contingency-driven ethanol seeking more readily than sucrose-seeking behavior. Further, these findings indicate that the transition from contingency-mediated ethanol seeking occurs more rapidly than for sucrose seeking under similar ethanol exposure conditions.

The Clinical Response Time of Epley Maneuvers for Treatment of BPPV: A Hospital Based Study.

The Epley maneuver is one of the most effective canalith repositioning procedures fortreatment of posterior canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. It was found that response to BPPV varies with various factors such as types, single versus multiple canals BPPV, single or repeated cycles of head maneuvers in each session and duration of follow up of patient. Furthermore, less uniform result exists after treatment of BPPV among studies. Hence, the present study was taken with aim to investigate "The clinical response time of Epley maneuvers in treatment of BPPV: A Hospital Based Study. A total of 132 patients were included in study with age ranging from 30 to 50years These patient visited department of ENT from 2019 to 2020 with complaint of vertigo. The subjective balancing assessments along with Dix-Hallpike maneuver were done and dizziness handicap inventory were administrated for screening of BPPV. The patients, who were diagnosed as posterior canal BPPV, were treated with Canal repositioning procedure i.e. Epley's Maneuvers during the initial visit. In addition, the same maneuvers were repeated after 1week of sequential sessions if the patient reported no benefit or partial benefit from first session until the patient became asymptomatic and Dix-Hallpike maneuver were negative. The total number of sessions of Epley maneuver required by each patient was recorded. The findings of present study suggested that 37.69% of cases with posterior canal BPPV were asymptomatic after first CRP session of Epleys maneuver whereas repeated sessions were required in 61.52% of cases of BPPV and 0.76% of cases showed no response to repeated CRP up to 6months. BPPV involving posterior canals may be easily detected by position test with good response to Epley maneuver. Short-term and long term control of symptoms of unilateral posterior SCC through this easy and simple procedure can be achieved. This cost effective approach requires proper trained and committed professionals. The repeated session may be required as complete recovery may not be immediate. Sometimes partial response can be due to canal switching during BPPV Hence, it is necessary to counsel the patient regarding the importance of follow-up.

Optogenetic inactivation of the entopeduncular nucleus improves forelimb akinesia in a Parkinson's disease model

We performed optogenetic inactivation of rats' entopeduncular nucleus (EP, homologous to primates' globus pallidus interna (GPi)) and investigated the therapeutic effect in a rat model of PD. 6-Hydroxydopamine (6−OHDA)-induced hemiparkinsonian rats were injected with either a virus for halorhodopsin expression that is used to inactivate GABAergic neurons or a control virus injection and received optic fiber insertion. All the rats were illuminated by 590 nm of light. Each rat was then subjected to sequential sessions of stepping tests under controlled illumination patterns. The stepping test is a reliable evaluation method for forelimb akinesia. The number of adjusting steps was significantly higher in experimental (optogene with reporter gene expression) (5Hz – 10ms: 15.7 ± 1.9, 5Hz – 100ms: 16.0 ± 1.8, continuous: 21.6 ± 1.9) than control rats (reporter gene expression) (5Hz-10ms: 1.9 ± 1.1, 5Hz-100ms: 2.6 ± 1.0, continuous: 2.5 ± 1.2) (p < 0.001). Continuous EP illumination showed a significantly higher improvement of forelimb akinesia than other illumination patterns (p < 0.01). Optogene expression in the GABAergic neurons of the EP was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Optogenetic inhibition of EP was effective to improve contralateral forelimb akinesia. However, further studies using prolonged illumination are needed to investigate the best illumination pattern for optogenetic stimulation.

The intra- and inter-rater reliability of the Goldsmith indices of body symmetry in non-ambulant adults with cerebral palsy

Purpose Non-ambulant adults with cerebral palsy are at risk of developing asymmetry affecting thoracic cage, pelvis and hips. The primary aim of this study was to establish intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the Goldsmith Indices of Body Symmetry in non-ambulant adults with cerebral palsy. The secondary aim was to establish comparative data for the Goldsmith Indices of Body Symmetry in healthy adults. Materials and method Thirty non-ambulant young adults with cerebral palsy (17 males), and 48 young healthy controls (19 males), were recruited. Thoracic shape and symmetry, pelvic orientation and hip range, was measured using the Goldsmith Indices of Body Symmetry. Intra-rater reliability was established by repeated measurement within a single session. Inter-rater reliability was established having two raters measure each participant on two sequential sessions. Analysis utilised intraclass correlation coefficients. Results The Goldsmith Indices of Body Symmetry has excellent intra-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients ≥0.97). Inter-rater reliability for all Goldsmith Indices of Body Symmetry measures was good to excellent (intraclass correlation coefficients ≥0.85). Range and variability of results was greater for participants with cerebral palsy compared to comparative data. Conclusion The Goldsmith Indices of Body Symmetry has good inter and intra-rater reliability for measurement of thoracic shape and symmetry, pelvic orientation and hip range, allowing accurate tracking of postural changes over time in non-ambulant adults with cerebral palsy. Implications for rehabilitation The Goldsmith Indices of Body Symmetry is a reliable clinical measurement tool to enable measurement of the thoracic shape and symmetry, pelvic and hip orientation in adults with cerebral palsy. The Goldsmith Indices of Body Symmetry, with an impairment focus, is a useful adjunct to the assessment and management of postural asymmetry in adults with cerebral palsy.

EFFECT OF HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY ON THE OSSEOINTEGRATION AROUND IMPLANTS AFTER MANDIBULAR RECONSTRUCTION BY DESTRACTION OSTEOGENESIS

Increases in mandibular width by distraction osteogenesis have recently been shown to be an acceptable and stable treatment option for deficiencies, and also, in the oral rehabilitation, where one of the major problems is the alveolar bone loss, and adjacent soft tissues.Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), on the osseointegration of implants retained partial mandibular overdenture after reconstruction of mandibular deficiency by distraction osteogenesis. Methods: This study was conducted on eight male patients with a lack of the anterior mandibular jaw bone due to anterior marginal mandibulectomy, and partially edentulous maxillary arch (different classes), selected from the maxillofacial outpatient clinic, Faculty of Dentistry, Misr University for Science and Technology, (mean age 43 years, minimum 35 years and maximum 51 years). For all patient, distraction the insufficient alveolar ridge by using an Extraosseous Track Alveolar Distractor (KLS Martin, Germany), after consolidation period, patients received maxillary and mandibular conventional acrylic partial dentures prior to implant insertion. Then, each patient received two endoosseous implants in the mandibular interforaminal region, (following two stage surgical protocols), to retain partial mandibular overdentures. Patients were randomly divided by closed envelops, into two equal groups. Group I; Patients were received hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), on a protocol of five sequential sessions (study group), while Group II; Patients were received no hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), as a control group. Ball attachments were screwed to the implants, after four months of surgery. All patients received new mandibular removable partial overdentures were retained by two implants, and designed as Kennedy class IV partial overdentures, to fitted partial mandibular overdentures. Marginal bone height changes and bone density were assessed using cone beam computed tomography(CBCT); at time of prosthetic loading, then after six, and twelve months.Results: Decrease in marginal bone height and increase in bone density through a follow-up period (one year) were observed in both groups , however; group I; that received HBOT revealed less marginal bone resorption and more increase in bone density than group II. Conclusion: After mandibular reconstruction by distraction osteogenesis, hyperbaric oxygen therapy effective treatment, and improve osseointegration around implants retained partial ovedentures, as it associated with increased bone density and reduced marginal bone loss after one year follow up.

WGIN: A Session-Based Recommendation Model Considering the Repeated Link Effect

Session-based recommendation systems have high application value. Determining how to make better use of anonymous user sessions to recommend items of interest is a considerable challenge for current recommendation systems. Existing research has mainly focused on sequential session patterns; however, due to the complexity and diversity of user interests, such interests cannot be effectively modeled in this way. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate the transition patterns between items by constructing a session graph and propose a novel model called Weighted Graph Interest Networks (WGIN) that collaboratively considers hidden user preference information and the potential order of items in the session graph for a session-based recommendation system. Specifically, we propose a repetitive weighted graph neural network (RWGNN), which pays attention to the transitions between frequent items in a session to deeply explore the preferences of users. In addition, we establish a new Transformer structure to model long-term and short-term user preferences and obtain rich session embeddings. Extensive experiments on two real datasets illustrate that the proposed model outperforms other state-of-the-art session-based recommendation methods.

Sustained restorative dialogue as a means of understanding and preventing sexually harmful behavior on university campuses

ABSTRACTThis article describes the development, implementation, and outcomes of the Sustained Restorative Dialogue process piloted at Victoria University of Wellington in 2018. The Sustained Restorative Dialogue explored the issue of sexual harm and harassment on campus. It was a ‘sustained’ dialogue in that it was run over four sessions with the same participants. It was a ‘restorative’ dialogue in that it was held in a circle format and the conversation moved in sequential sessions through the main steps of a restorative analysis – What is happening? What are the impacts? What is needed to make things right? The aim of the dialogue was to examine the broader climate that gives rise to sexual harm in the campus setting and beyond, and to explore possible solutions. The model provided a structure for breaking down a complex issue and a space to explore practical ways to strive for a healthier culture, both on campus and in wider society. The process yielded a number of positive outcomes both for participants as individuals and as a larger group, suggesting the implementation of the model in universities could contribute to transforming the climate that gives rise to sexual harm.