A chatbot-based coaching intervention for adolescents to promote life skills: pilot study

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is a challenging period, where youth face rapid changes as well as increasing socioemotional demands and threats, such as bullying and cyberbullying. Adolescent mental health and well-being can be best supported by providing effective coaching on life skills, such as coping strategies and protective factors. Interventions that take advantage of online coaching by means of chatbots, deployed on Web or mobile technology, may be a novel and more appealing way to support positive mental health for adolescents.OBJECTIVE: In this pilot study, we co-designed and conducted a formative evaluation of an online, life skills coaching, chatbot intervention, inspired by the positive technology approach, to promote mental well-being in adolescence.METHODS: We co-designed the first life skills coaching session of the CRI (for girls) and CRIS (for boys) chatbot with 20 secondary school students in a participatory design workshop. We then conducted a formative evaluation of the entire intervention-eight sessions-with a convenience sample of 21 adolescents of both genders (mean age 14.52 years). Participants engaged with the chatbot sessions over 4 weeks and filled in an anonymous user experience questionnaire at the end of each session; responses were based on a 5-point Likert scale.RESULTS: A majority of the adolescents found the intervention useful (16/21, 76%), easy to use (19/21, 90%), and innovative (17/21, 81%). Most of the participants (15/21, 71%) liked, in particular, the video cartoons provided by the chatbot in the coaching sessions. They also thought that a session should last only 5-10 minutes (14/21, 66%) and said they would recommend the intervention to a friend (20/21, 95%).CONCLUSIONS: We have presented a novel and scalable self-help intervention to deliver life skills coaching to adolescents online that is appealing to this population. This intervention can support the promotion of coping skills and mental well-being among youth

The Impact of Optimism and Internal Locus of Control on Workers’ Well-Being, A Multi-Group Model Analysis before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 crisis led to changes in different areas of workers’ lives, as well as repercussions in stress management, social relationships, and perception of personal and professional growth. Considering this, well-being in the workplace is crucial to carrying out effective activities and performance, and it is also essential to verifying the impact of the pandemic on the current situation of workers’ overall well-being. The study investigates the mediation of Personal Growth (PG) between two personal resources at work, Internal Locus (LOCI) and Optimism (OPT), on the Pemberton Happiness Index (PHI), an important multi-faceted indicator of well-being. This study was conducted on respondents performing professions (n = 666), both before (2019, n = 410) and during the pandemic (2020, n = 256). The relationships were tested simultaneously using a multi-group structural equation model (MPLUS7). The estimated model shows that personal resources at work increase PG (LOCI mostly during the pandemic; OPT mostly before the pandemic); OPT directly increases PHI; PG increases PHI (mostly before the pandemic); and personal resources increase through PG and PHI (LOCI more during the pandemic; OPT more before the pandemic). The study is cross-sectional, as it was not possible to compare the same workers over two years. The research offers ideas for activation of training programs, support and development of individual resources, and personal growth aimed at improving well-being and the work experience for workers

Mechanically robust gels formed from hydrophobized cellulose nanocrystals

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) that bind to each other through associative hydrophobic interactions have been synthesized by modifying sulfated CNCs (sCNCs) with hydrophobic moieties. These octyl-CNCs form gels at significantly lower concentrations than parent sCNCs, producing extremely strong hydrogels. Unlike sCNCs, these octyl-CNCs do not form ordered liquid crystalline phases indicating a random association into a robust network driven by hydrophobic interactions. Furthermore, involvement of the octyl-CNCs into multicomponent supramolecular assembly was demonstrated in combination with starch. AFM studies confirm favorable interactions between starch and octyl-CNCs, which is thought to be the source of the dramatic increase in gel strength

Thermosensitive supramolecular and colloidal hydrogels via self-assembly modulated by hydrophobized cellulose nanocrystals

Utilization of reversible non-covalent interactions is a versatile design strategy for the development of stimuli responsive soft materials. In this study, hydrophobic interactions were harnessed to assemble water-soluble macromolecules and nanoparticles into a transient hybrid network forming thermosensitive hydrogels with tunable rheological properties. Hybrid hydrogels were built of biopolymer derived components: cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), nanoparticles of high aspect ratio, and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC). To enable polymer/CNC assembly via hydrophobic interactions, the surface of highly hydrophilic CNCs was modified by binding octyl moieties (octyl-CNCs). The amphiphilicity of octyl-CNCs was confirmed by surface tension measurements. The molecular and particulate amphiphiles assemble into hybrid networks, which result in stiffer and stronger hydrogels compared to HPMC hydrogels and hydrogels reinforced with hydrophilic CNCs. Hybrid hydrogels retain the ability of HPMC hydrogels to flow under applied shear stress. However, significantly higher viscosity was achieved for HPMC/octyl-CNCs compared with HPMC/CNCs hydrogels. The inherent thermal response of rheological properties of HPMC hydrogels was further amplified in combination with octyl-CNCs due to temperature-induced polymer/nanoparticle association via hydrophobic interactions. Saturation transfer difference NMR spectroscopy demonstrated the growth of network-bound water with an increase in temperature, which correlates with the increase of stiffness and viscosity of hydrogels upon heating. Rheological properties of these hybrid hydrogels are defined by the content of the soluble polymer and the CNCs, and it is shown that they can be finely adjusted for a required application

High Molecular Weight Mixed-Linkage Glucan as a Mechanical and Hydration Modulator of Bacterial Cellulose:Characterization by Advanced NMR Spectroscopy

Bacterial cellulose (BC) consists of a complex three-dimensional organization of ultrafine fibers which provide unique material properties such as softness, biocompatibility, and water-retention ability, of key importance for biomedical applications. However, there is a poor understanding of the molecular features modulating the macroscopic properties of BC gels. We have examined chemically pure BC hydrogels and composites with arabinoxylan (BC-AX), xyloglucan (BC-XG), and high molecular weight mixed-linkage glucan (BC-MLG). Atomic force microscopy showed that MLG greatly reduced the mechanical stiffness of BC gels, while XG and AX did not exert a significant effect. A combination of advanced solid-state NMR methods allowed us to characterize the structure of BC ribbons at ultra-high resolution and to monitor local mobility and water interactions. This has enabled us to unravel the effect of AX, XG, and MLG on the short-range order, mobility, and hydration of BC fibers. Results show that BC-XG hydrogels present BC fibrils of increased surface area, which allows BC-XG gels to hold higher amounts of bound water. We report for the first time that the presence of high molecular weight MLG reduces the density of clusters of BC fibrils and dramatically increases water interactions with BC. Our data supports two key molecular features determining the reduced stiffness of BC-MLG hydrogels, that is, (i) the adsorption of MLG on the surface of BC fibrils precluding the formation of a dense network and (ii) the preorganization of bound water by MLG. Hence, we have produced and fully characterized BC-MLG hydrogels with novel properties which could be potentially employed as renewable materials for applications requiring high water retention capacity (e.g. personal hygiene products)

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of fluorinated cellodextrins identifies a new allomorph for cellulose‐like materials

Understanding the fine details of the self-assembly of building blocks into complex hierarchical structures represents a major challenge en route to the design and preparation of soft-matter materials with specific properties. Enzymatically synthesised cellodextrins are known to have limited water solubility beyond DP9, a point at which they self-assemble into particles resembling the antiparallel cellulose II crystalline packing. We have prepared and characterised a series of site-selectively fluorinated cellodextrins with different degrees of fluorination and substitution patterns by chemoenzymatic synthesis. Bearing in mind the potential disruption of the hydrogen-bond network of cellulose II, we have prepared and characterised a multiply 6-fluorinated cellodextrin. In addition, a series of single site-selectively fluorinated cellodextrins was synthesised to assess the structural impact upon the addition of one fluorine atom per chain. The structural characterisation of these materials at different length scales, combining advanced NMR spectroscopy and microscopy methods, showed that a 6-fluorinated donor substrate yielded multiply 6-fluorinated cellodextrin chains that assembled into particles presenting morphological and crystallinity features, and intermolecular interactions, that are unprecedented for cellulose-like materials

Hydrophobization of cellulose nanocrystals for aqueous colloidal suspensions and gels

Surface hydrophobization of cellulose nanomaterials has been used in the development of nanofiller-reinforced polymer composites and formulations based on Pickering emulsions. Despite the well-known effect of hydrophobic domains on self-assembly or association of water-soluble polymer amphiphiles, very few studies have addressed the behavior of hydrophobized cellulose nanomaterials in aqueous media. In this study, we investigate the properties of hydrophobized cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and their self-assembly and amphiphilic properties in suspensions and gels. CNCs of different hydrophobicity were synthesized from sulfated CNCs by coupling primary alkylamines of different alkyl chain lengths (6, 8, and 12 carbon atoms). The synthetic route permitted the retention of surface charge, ensuring good colloidal stability of hydrophobized CNCs in aqueous suspensions. We compare surface properties (surface charge, ζ potential), hydrophobicity (water contact angle, microenvironment probing using pyrene fluorescence emission), and surface activity (tensiometry) of different hydrophobized CNCs and hydrophilic CNCs. Association of hydrophobized CNCs driven by hydrophobic effects is confirmed by X-ray scattering (SAXS) and autofluorescent spectroscopy experiments. As a result of CNC association, CNC suspensions/gels can be produced with a wide range of rheological properties depending on the hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance. In particular, sol-gel transitions for hydrophobized CNCs occur at lower concentrations than hydrophilic CNCs, and more robust gels are formed by hydrophobized CNCs. Our work illustrates that amphiphilic CNCs can complement associative polymers as modifiers of rheological properties of water-based systems

Co-creation and regional adaptation of a resilience-based universal whole-school program in five European regions

The co-creation of educational services that promote youth resilience and mental health is still scarce. UPRIGHT (Universal Preventive Resilience Intervention Globally implemented in schools to improve and promote mental Health for Teenagers) is a research and intervention program in the Basque Country (Spain), Trentino (Italy), Low Silesia (Poland), Denmark and Reykjavik (Iceland). UPRIGHT implemented a co-creation research process whose results, outcomes and policy implications are presented here. The co-creation had a mixed-methods participatory research design with nine specific objectives linked to paired strategies of inquiry for adolescents, families, teachers and school staff. The overarching objective was to generate a valid and feasible regional adaptation strategy for UPRIGHT intervention model. Participants answered surveys (n= 794) or attended 16 group sessions (n= 217). The results integrate quantitative and qualitative information to propose a regional adaptation strategy that prioritizes resilience skills, adolescents' concerns, and preferred methods for implementation across countries and in each school community. In conclusion, a whole-school resilience program must innovate, include and connect different actors, services and communities, and must incorporate new technologies and activities outside the classroom. A participatory co-creation process is an indispensable step to co-design locally relevant resilience interventions with the involvement of the whole-school community

Active Surveillance of Asymptomatic, Presymptomatic, and Oligosymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-Infected Individuals in Communities Inhabiting Closed or Semi-closed Institutions

Background: The high COVID-19 dissemination rate demands active surveillance to identify asymptomatic, presymptomatic, and oligosymptomatic (APO) SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals. This is of special importance in communities inhabiting closed or semi-closed institutions such as residential care homes, prisons, neuropsychiatric hospitals, etc., where risk people are in close contact. Thus, a pooling approach?where samples are mixed and tested as single pools?is an attractive strategy to rapidly detect APO-infected in these epidemiological scenarios. Materials and Methods: This study was done at different pandemic periods between May 28 and August 31 2020 in 153 closed or semi-closed institutions in the Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina). We setup pooling strategy in two stages: first a pool-testing followed by selective individual-testing according to pool results. Samples included in negative pools were presumed as negative, while samples from positive pools were re-tested individually for positives identification. Results: Sensitivity in 5-sample or 10-sample pools was adequate since only 2 Ct values were increased with regard to single tests on average. Concordance between 5-sample or 10-sample pools and individual-testing was 100% in the Ct ≤ 36. We tested 4,936 APO clinical samples in 822 pools, requiring 86?50% fewer tests in low-to-moderate prevalence settings compared to individual testing. Conclusions: By this strategy we detected three COVID-19 outbreaks at early stages in these institutions, helping to their containment and increasing the likelihood of saving lives in such places where risk groups are concentrated.Fil: Ambrosis, Nicolás Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Martin Aispuro, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Belhart, Keila. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Bottero, Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Crisp, Renée Leonor. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Dansey, Maria Virginia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad de Microanálisis y Métodos Físicos en Química Orgánica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Unidad de Microanálisis y Métodos Físicos en Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Gabrielli, Magali. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Filevich, Oscar. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Genoud, Valeria. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Giordano, Alejandra Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Lin, Min Chih. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Cálculo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lodeiro, Anibal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales; ArgentinaFil: Marceca, Felipe. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Investigaciones Matemáticas "Luis A. Santaló". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Matemáticas "Luis A. Santaló"; ArgentinaFil: Pregi, Nicolás. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Remes Lenicov, Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; ArgentinaFil: Rocha Viegas, Luciana. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Rudi, Erika. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Solovey, Guillermo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Cálculo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Zurita, Maria Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Pecci, Adali. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Etchenique, Roberto Argentino. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; ArgentinaFil: Hozbor, Daniela Flavia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentin