Effectiveness and Acceptance of a Smartphone-Based Virtual Agent Screening for Alcohol and Tobacco Problems and Associated Risk Factors During COVID-19 Pandemic in the General Population

Background: During the current COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol, and tobacco are the most available substances for managing stress and can induce a risk of addiction. KANOPEE is a smartphone application available to the general population using an embodied conversational agent (ECA) to screen for experiences of problems with alcohol/tobacco use and to provide follow-up tools for brief intervention.Objectives: This study aimed to determine if the smartphone KANOPEE application could identify people at risk for alcohol and/or tobacco use disorders in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, to assess adherence to a 7-day follow-up use diary, and to evaluate trust and acceptance of the application.Methods: The conversational agent, named Jeanne, interviewed participants about perceived problems with the use of alcohol and tobacco since the pandemic and explored risk for tobacco and alcohol use disorder with the five-item Cigarette Dependence Scale (CDS-5) and “Cut Down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener” (CAGE) questionnaire and experience of craving for each substance. Descriptive, univariate, and multivariate analyses were performed to specify personalized associations with reporting a problem with alcohol/tobacco use; descriptive analysis reported the experience with the intervention and acceptance and trust in the application.Results: From April 22 to October 26, 2020, 1,588 French participants completed the KANOPEE interview, and 318 answered the acceptance and trust scales. Forty-two percent of tobacco users and 27% of alcohol users reported problem use since the pandemic. Positive screening with CDS-5 and CAGE and craving were associated with reported problem use (p < 0.0001). Lockdown period influenced alcohol (p < 0.0005) but not tobacco use (p > 0.05). Eighty-eight percent of users reported that KANOPEE was easy to use, and 82% found Jeanne to be trustworthy and credible.Conclusion: KANOPEE was able to screen for risk factors for substance use disorder (SUD) and was acceptable to users. Reporting craving and being at risk for SUD seem to be early markers to be identified. Alcohol problem use seems to be more reliant on contextual conditions such as confinement. This method is able to offer acceptable, brief, and early intervention with minimal delay for vulnerable people.Bordeaux Region Aquitaine Initiative for NeurosciencePhénotypage humain et réalité virtuell

Front Psychiatry

The rate of individuals with addiction who are currently treated are low, and this can be explained by barriers such as stigma, desire to cope alone, and difficulty to access treatment. These barriers could be overcome by mobile technologies. EMI (Ecological Momentary Intervention) is a treatment procedure characterized by the delivery of interventions (messages on smartphones) to people in their daily lives. EMI presents opportunities for treatments to be available to people during times and in situations when they are most needed. Craving is a strong predictor of relapse and a key target for addiction treatment. Studies using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) method have revealed that, in daily life, person-specific cues could precipitate craving, that in turn, is associated with a higher probability to report substance use and relapse in the following hours. Assessment and management of these specific situations in daily life could help to decrease addictive use and avoid relapse. The Craving-Manager smartphone app has been designed to diagnose addictive disorders, and assess and manage craving as well as individual predictors of use/relapse. It delivers specific and individualized interventions (counseling messages) composed of evidence-based addiction treatments approaches (cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness). The Craving-Manager app can be used for any addiction (substance or behavior). The objective of this protocol is to evaluate the efficacy of the Craving-Manager app in decreasing use (of primary substance(s)/addictive behavior(s)) over 4 weeks, among individuals on a waiting list for outpatient addiction treatment. This multicenter double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) will compare two parallel groups: experimental group (full interventional version of the app, 4 weeks, EMA + EMI), versus control group (restricted version of the app, 4 weeks, only EMA). Two hundred and seventy-four participants will be recruited in 6 addiction treatment centers in France. This RCT will provide indication on how the Craving-Manager app will reduce addictive use (e.g., better craving management, better stimulus control) in both substance and behavioral addictions. If its efficacy is confirmed, the app could offer the possibility of an easy to use and personalized intervention accessible to the greatest number of individuals with addiction. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04732676

Smartphone-Based Virtual Agents Can Help the General Population Concerned by Sleep Complaints: A Proof-of-Concept Study During COVID-19 Confinement

Background: The COVID-19 crisis induces psychosocial stress and sleep complaints that require early management. KANOPEE is a smartphone-based application, providing an interaction with a virtual agent dedicated to screen and deliver behavioral interventions to fight sleep disorders. This paper describes the feasibility study of this application, during the context of COVID-19 confinement in France. Method: 2,069 users of aged 18 years and over downloaded the app during the inclusion period (between 22 April and 5 May 2020). Users first answered a screening interview based on the insomnia severity index (ISI) that was conducted by the virtual agent. If participants were positive for insomniac complaints (ISI > 14), they could join a two-stage intervention program: a) complete an electronic sleep diary for one week, and b) follow personalized sleep recommendations for 10 days. Measures collected included socio-demographic information, ISI and sleep/wake schedules; and acceptance and trust of the agent.Bordeaux Region Aquitaine Initiative for NeurosciencePhénotypage humain et réalité virtuell

J Med Internet Res

Background: The COVID-19 crisis and consequent confinement restrictions have caused significant psychosocial stress and reports of sleep complaints, which require early management, have increased during recent months. To help individuals concerned about their sleep, we developed a smartphone-based app called KANOPEE that allows users to interact with a virtual agent dedicated to autonomous screening and delivering digital behavioral interventions. Objective: Our objective was to assess the feasibility of this app, in terms of inclusion rate, follow-up rate, perceived trust and acceptance of the virtual agent, and effects of the intervention program, in the context of COVID-19 confinement in France. Methods: The virtual agent is an artificial intelligence program using decision tree architecture and interacting through natural body motion and natural voice. A total of 2069 users aged 18 years and above downloaded the free app during the study period (April 22 to May 5, 2020). These users first completed a screening interview based on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) conducted by the virtual agent. If the users were positive for insomnia complaints (ISI score >14), they were eligible to join the 2-stage intervention program: (1) complete an electronic sleep diary for 1 week and (2) follow personalized sleep recommendations for 10 days. We collected and analyzed the following measures: sociodemographic information, ISI scores and sleep/wake schedules, and acceptance and trust of the agent. Results: Approximately 76% (1574/2069) of the app users completed the screening interview with the virtual agent. The virtual agent was well accepted by 27.4% (431/1574) of the users who answered the acceptance and trust questionnaires on its usability, satisfaction, benevolence, and credibility. Of the 773 screened users who reported sleep complaints (ISI score >14), 166 (21.5%) followed Step 1 of the intervention, and only 47 of those (28.3%) followed Step 2. Users who completed Step 1 found that their insomnia complaints (baseline mean ISI score 18.56, mean ISI score after Step 1 15.99; P21) did not respond to either intervention. Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that the KANOPEE app is a promising solution to screen populations for sleep complaints and that it provides acceptable and practical behavioral advice for individuals reporting moderately severe insomnia.Bordeaux Region Aquitaine Initiative for NeurosciencePhénotypage humain et réalité virtuell

Restaurer des enregistrements sonores : enjeux et pratiques

International audienceÉtudier la restauration des enregistrements sonores conduit d’abord à s’interroger sur la qualification de l’enregistrement. Il apparaît que celui-ci n’est pas réductible à une opération technique mais possède aussi une dimension esthétique. C’est dans ce cadre que l’on peut aborder l’analyse des opérations de restauration et le travail des restaurateurs. Pour autant, ce type de restauration n’est pas appréhendable dans la problématique des œuvres plastiques, car une restauration d’enregistrement consiste d’abord en un transfert, du support d’origine dont on extrait le son, vers un autre support. Et le son circule dans une chaîne allongée d’intermédiaires techniques, qui se retrouve aussi dans la situation de réception. Si donc l’acception du terme de « restauration » pour les enregistrements reste problématique, c’est néanmoins dans cette tension que nous pouvons trouver des ressources analytiques. Notamment en ce qui concerne la question des défauts, qu’il faut considérer en rapport avec le dispositif technique de reproduction du son (lecture et amplification) et une oreille contemporaine face à des enregistrements anciens. Cette interrogation débouche alors sur la question de l’authenticité des enregistrements restaurés, à travers les modifications dont ils sont la cible, pouvant ainsi laisser penser qu’ils sont « améliorables ». C’est ainsi dans l’analyse des opérations de restauration, dans le travail sur la matérialité du son que l’on abordera la question des enregistrements restaurés et de la figure du restaurateur d’enregistrements sonores

Trust and acceptance of a virtual psychiatric interview between embodied conversational agents and outpatients

Abstract Virtual agents have demonstrated their ability to conduct clinical interviews. However, the factors influencing patients’ engagement with these agents have not yet been assessed. The objective of this study is to assess in outpatients the trust and acceptance of virtual agents performing medical interviews and to explore their influence on outpatients’ engagement. In all, 318 outpatients were enroled. The agent was perceived as trustworthy and well accepted by the patients, confirming the good engagement of patients in the interaction. Older and less-educated patients accepted the virtual medical agent (VMA) more than younger and well-educated ones. Credibility of the agent appeared to main dimension, enabling engaged and non-engaged outpatients to be classified. Our results show a high rate of engagement with the virtual agent that was mainly related to high trust and acceptance of the agent. These results open new paths for the future use of VMAs in medicine

Variability of PCB burden in 5 fish and sharks species of the French Mediterranean continental slope

Despite being generally located far from contamination sources, deep marine ecosystems are impacted by chemicals like PCB. The PCB contamination in five fish and shark species collected in the continental slope of the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean Sea) was measured, with a special focus on intra- and interspecific variability and on the driving factors. Significant differences occurred between species. Higher values were measured in Scyliorhinus canicula, Galeus melastomus and Helicolenus dactylopterus and lower values in Phycis blennoides and Lepidorhombus boscii. These differences might be explained by specific abilities to accumulate and eliminate contaminant, mostly through cytochrome P450 pathway. Interindividual variation was also high and no correlation was observed between contamination and length, age or trophic level. Despite its major importance, actual bioaccumulation of PCB in deep fish is not as documented as in other marine ecosystems, calling for a better assessment of the factors driving individual bioaccumulation mechanisms and originating high variability in PCB contamination

Efficacy of a Smartphone-Based Virtual Companion to Treat Insomniac Complaints in the General Population: Sleep Diary Monitoring Versus an Internet Autonomous Intervention

International audienceBackground: Insomnia is the most prevalent sleep disorder worldwide and cognitive behavioral therapy is the front-line treatment. Digital health technologies have a role to play in screening and delivering interventions remotely and without the need for human intervention. The KANOPEE app, which provides a screening and behavioral intervention for insomnia symptoms through an interaction with a virtual agent, showed encouraging results in previous studies during and after the COVID-19 lockdown, but has not yet been evaluated in a controlled study. This study aims at comparing the benefits of KANOPEE, a smartphone application dealing with insomnia complaints, with another application proposing an electronic sleep diary named "My Sleep Diary". The acceptance and potential benefits of these digital solutions are tested in real-life settings (i.e., without soliciting human medical resources) and in the general population.Methods: Subjects were included if they downloaded one of the apps between December 2020 and October 2021, and were of legal age. Both apps were available on downloading platforms in France. Primary outcome was Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and secondary outcomes were total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE) and wake time after sleep onset (WASO).Results: A total of 535 users completed the intervention with KANOPEE and 489 users completed My Sleep Diary, both for 17 days. KANOPEE users improved their ISI score significantly more than sleep diary users (interaction Time*Group: F(2,2002) = 17.3, p < 0.001). Similar results were found for nocturnal sleep parameters (TST) (KANOPEE users gained 48 min of sleep after intervention, while My Sleep Diary users gained only 16 min of sleep), and particularly in the population with moderate to severe initial sleep complaints (F(4,1980) = 8.9, p < 0.001). Other sleep markers (SE and WASO) were significantly improved in the KANOPEE users compared to the sleep diary ones (p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: KANOPEE provides significantly greater benefits than an electronic sleep diary regarding reduction of insomnia complaints and estimated nocturnal sleep characteristics in a self-selected sample of the general population. Population with the most severe initial ISI score (≥15) benefited the most from the KANOPEE App compared to filling up a simple sleep diary

Wikipedia as a tool for contemporary history of science: A case study on CRISPR.

Rapid developments and methodological divides hinder the study of how scientific knowledge accumulates, consolidates and transfers to the public sphere. Our work proposes using Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, as a historiographical source for contemporary science. We chose the high-profile field of gene editing as our test case, performing a historical analysis of the English-language Wikipedia articles on CRISPR. Using a mixed-method approach, we qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed the CRISPR article's text, sections and references, alongside 50 affiliated articles. These, we found, documented the CRISPR field's maturation from a fundamental scientific discovery to a biotechnological revolution with vast social and cultural implications. We developed automated tools to support such research and demonstrated its applicability to two other scientific fields-coronavirus and circadian clocks. Our method utilizes Wikipedia as a digital and free archive, showing it can document the incremental growth of knowledge and the manner scientific research accumulates and translates into public discourse. Using Wikipedia in this manner compliments and overcomes some issues with contemporary histories and can also augment existing bibliometric research

J Sleep Res

Insomnia is the most frequent sleep disorder, and the COVID-19 crisis has massively increased its prevalence in the population, due to psychosocial stress or direct viral contamination. KANOPEE_2 is a smartphone-based application that provides interactions with a virtual agent to autonomously screen and alleviate insomnia symptoms through an intervention programme giving personalized advices regarding sleep hygiene, relaxation techniques and stimulus-control. In this proof-of-concept study, we tested the effects of KANOPEE_2 among users from all over the country (France) who downloaded the app between 1 June and 26 October 2020 (to focus on effects after the end of COVID-19 confinement). Outcome measures include insomnia severity (Insomnia Severity Index) and sleep/wake schedules measured by a sleep diary. One-thousand and thirty-four users answered the screening interview (M  = 43.76 years; SD = 13.14), and 108 completed the two-step programme (M  = 46.64 years; SD = 13.63). Of those who answered the screening, 42.8% did not report sleep complaints, while 57.2% presented mild-to-severe insomnia symptoms. At the end of the intervention, users reported significantly fewer sleep complaints compared with the beginning of the intervention (Insomnia Severity Index  = 13.58; Insomnia Severity Index  = 11.30; p < 0.001), and significantly increased their sleep efficiency (sleep efficiency  = 76.46%; sleep efficiency  = 80.17%; p = 0.013). KANOPEE_2 is a promising solution both to provide autonomous evaluation of individuals' sleep hygiene and reduce insomnia symptoms over a brief and simple intervention. These results are very encouraging for addressing the issue of insomnia management in people exposed to major psychosocial stress and the consequences of COVID-19 infection.Phénotypage humain et réalité virtuelleBordeaux Region Aquitaine Initiative for Neuroscienc