Individual Quality Research Articles

Daily diary study of associations between alcohol, cannabis, co-use and sleep quality in individuals with intentions to use cannabis to cope with anxiety.

Sleep problems and anxiety conditions are common comorbidities and may be influenced by cannabis and alcohol use. This study examined daily within-person variation in subjective sleep quality among individuals with anxiety symptoms after cannabis or alcohol were used alone, and after co-use. A total of 347 individuals with intentions to use cannabis to cope with anxiety reported their cannabis and alcohol use in the previous 24 h and their previous nights' sleep quality for 30 consecutive days. Mixed-effects models examined whether the within-person daily variation in use of cannabis and alcohol (alone and co-use) was associated with subjective sleep quality. Models also examined whether daily cannabis and alcohol use associations with sleep were moderated by frequency of cannabis, alcohol and co-use during the study period. Compared to non-use, participants reported better sleep after cannabis-use-only and after co-use, but not after alcohol-use-only. People who more frequently use alcohol and cannabis reported sleeping better after cannabis-use-only days compared to those who use cannabis and alcohol less frequently. The study's utilisation of naturalistic data among individuals with anxiety symptoms replicated previously reported experimental findings among individuals without sleep and anxiety problems that overall, cannabis is associated with higher subjective sleep quality. The results expand upon other research to suggest that more frequent use of alcohol and cannabis may moderate daily associations of cannabis use and sleep, potentially through pharmacokinetics and cross-sensitisation.

Associations of low levels of air pollution with cardiometabolic outcomes and the role of diet quality in individuals with obesity

BackgroundExposure to air pollution is associated with adverse cardiometabolic health effects and increased mortality, even at low concentrations. Some of the biological mechanisms through which air pollution can affect cardiometabolic health overlap with health outcomes associated with diet quality and changes in diet. ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to investigate associations of air pollutants at average concentrations below the World Health Organization, 2021 air quality guidelines with cardiometabolic outcomes. Furthermore, potential interaction between air pollutants and diet quality will be assessed. Methods82 individuals with obesity participated in a combined weight loss and weight loss maintenance study for a total of 33 weeks. A secondary analysis was conducted incorporating air pollution measurements. Data were analysed with linear mixed-effects models. ResultsA total of 17 significant associations were observed for single pollutants with 10 cardiometabolic outcomes, predominantly related to blood lipids, hormones, and glucose regulation. Diet quality, as measured by the Baltic Sea Diet score, did not appear to mediate the association of air pollution with cardiometabolic outcomes, however, diet quality was observed to significantly modify the association of PM2.5 with total cholesterol, and the associations of NO and O3 with ghrelin. DiscussionThese findings suggest that exposure to ambient air pollutants, especially particulate matter, at levels below World Health Organization, 2021 air quality guidelines, were associated with changes in cardiometabolic risk factors. Diet may be a personal-level approach for individuals to modify the impact of exposure to air pollution on cardiometabolic health.

Adults' willingness to report sexual orientation and gender identity when registering for a digital health application: A cross-sectional quantitative study.

The collection of patient sexual orientation and gender identity information is crucial in identifying and addressing disparities in healthcare access, quality, and outcomes for sexual and gender minority individuals. While some studies have explored patients' willingness to disclose this information in specific settings, little is known about response rates in digital health applications. In light of the growing use of digital health, including virtual care, we sought to determine whether adults would respond to optional sexual orientation and gender identity fields during registration for a digital health application offered through their employer-provided benefits. We analyzed response rates for sexual orientation and gender identity by age, race and ethnicity, and region among individuals over age 17 between September 9th and December 31, 2022. Our study, which included over 41,000 commercially-insured adults from all 50 states, found that nearly 80% were willing to report their sexual orientation and gender identity. However, we observed higher nonresponse rates among older adults and individuals living in central and southern regions, with no consistent pattern by race and ethnicity. Our findings indicate that digital health applications could be a valuable resource for collecting this data from a diverse group of adults. Nevertheless, digital health companies must ensure that they use the data responsibly, identifying quality improvement initiatives and contributing to research that can inform health policies for sexual and gender minority individuals.

Specialized Questionnaire of the QAA-25 Questionnaire System for Assessing the Potential Adherence to Treatment of Adolescents Aged 12–14 Years: Reliability and Internal Stability

The aim of the study is assess the reliability, internal stability and effectiveness of adaptation of individual questions of the QAA-25 questionnaire to assess the potential adherence to treatment of persons aged 12–14 years, in comparison with a similar QAA-25 questionnaire for persons aged 15–17 years. Material and Methods. In a descriptive observational study, including 314 students of general schools in Omsk the level of treatment adherence was determined using the QAA-25 questionnaire, using traditional and alternative formulations of individual questions. Results. For adolescents aged 12–14 years a good diagnostic value was shown higher individual testing quality (absence of blank answers to questions) of the tested version of the questionnaire compared to the alternative one. 96.8% of respondents indicated that the wording of the specialized questionnaire was “more accurate” and “more correct”. The tested version of the questionnaire demonstrated good reliability (Cronbach’s alpha total 0.901, based on standardized items αst 0.914) with high internal consistency (consistent elimination of scale items maintains questionnaire validity in the 0.886–0.909 range), with near perfect expert agreement (Cohen’s kappa 0.908). Conclusion. The questionnaire is characterized by good validity and has a high internal stability, and the content and wording of all questions of the questionnaire are adequately perceived by the audience for which the questionnaire is designed. This makes it advisable to use it to assess the potential adherence to treatment of adolescents aged 12–14 years.

Psychology’s reform movement needs a reconceptualization of scientific expertise

Science is supposed to be a self-correcting endeavor, but who is “the scientific expert” that corrects faulty science? We grouped traditional conceptualizations of expertise in psychology under three classes (substantialist, implicitist, and social conventionalist), and then examined how these approaches affect scientific self-correction in reference to various components of the credibility crisis such as fraud/QRPs, the inadequate number of replication studies, challenges facing big team science, and perverse incentives. Our investigation pointed out several problems with the traditional views. First, traditional views conceptualize expertise as something possessed, not performed, ignoring the epistemic responsibility of experts. Second, expertise is conceived as an exclusively individual quality, which contradicts the socially distributed nature of scientific inquiry. Third, some aspects of expertise are taken to be implicit or relative to the established research practices in a field, which leads to disputes over replicability and makes it difficult to criticize mindless scientific rituals. Lastly, a conflation of expertise with eminence in practice creates an incentive structure that undermines the goal of self-correction in science. We suggest, instead, that we conceive an expert as a reliable informant. Following the extended virtue account of expertise, we propose a non-individualist and a performance-based model, and discuss why it does not suffer from the same problems as traditional approaches, and why it is more compatible with the reform movement's goal of creating a credible psychological science through self-correction.

The Sequence of Administrative Decisions Due the Organisation of Physical Training Process of Commissioned Officers

The article highlights a problematic issue and shows that management process is of decisive importance for the effective use of the combat capabilities of military formations during their performance of combat missions in modern warfire. The process of making management decisions, the ability to approve these decisions, which are necessary for the performance of management functions, is the basis of management theory. The commander needs to combine the skills of a qualified military specialist, leader and teacher, capable of making successful decisions in order to successfully manage all aspects of routine, moral, psychological and combat training of personnel. Many factors affect the process of making and implementing management decisions. They are the most significant: society and the environment in which the decision is made; compliance of the management elements with the purpose, vision and mission of the military unit; individual qualities of the leader (existence of life principles, value system, ideology, education, life experience, knowledge, habits, etc.); interdependence of decisions (one important decision entails the need to make a number of less important decisions); the risk and possibility of negative consequences due to wrong decisions; the degree of provision of modern technical, material means and weapons and the possibilities of their application in the decision-making process. An important role in the process of making a management decision by a commissioned officer is military internship. During this internship various combat situations are simulated under extreme conditions of training and combat activities with increased physical and psycho-emotional stress. Also, favourable conditions are created for commissioned officers to master the practical skills of performing there official duties, studying the content of commanders' activities to ensure a high level of combat readiness, organization and order in the real conditions of the functioning of military units.

Key factors of using Crowd-technologies in the activities of Ukrainian local self-government bodies

The purpose of the article is to provide a conceptual justification of the fac-tors, conditions, and limitations regarding the implementation of crowd technolo-gies in the activities of local self-government bodies. It has been established that crowd technologies in local self-government are social technologies that involve the engagement of «informal public» in the govern-ance process through a public offer made by local self-government bodies. These technologies utilize the intellectual potential of online communities to address so-cially significant issues without entering into an employment contract. It is defined that crowd technologies in local self-government are also specif-ic public-private management technologies that introduce civil relations into bu-reaucratic practices. In this regard, it is important to distinguish various types of these technologies, including crowd-sourcing, crowd-funding, crowd-recruiting, crowd-creation, and so on. The utilization of these and other types of crowd tech-nologies in local self-government allows for addressing important tasks for territo-rial communities, such as involving the population in decision-making processes, mobilizing citizen funds for voluntary development of crowd projects through in-formation technologies, searching for talented professionals within the community, and facilitating the creation of new crowd projects by the «informal public». It has been proven that the implementation of crowd technologies as mani-festations of public-private management requires a set of necessary conditions for their integration into the practices of local self-government. These conditions in-clude: Regulatory and legal support for crowd technological activities. Generalization of experience (positive or negative) with crowd tech-nologies. Accurate identification of crowd technology objects. Institutionalization of a public actor interested in crowd technologies. Formation of civic competencies among the population as individual qualities socialized under the influence of civil society. Ensuring informational accessibility of decision-making practices by local self-government bodies and administrative services provided by them, as well as by communal institutions and enterprises. Demonstration of loyalty by local authorities towards organizing work according to the crowd technology model and the willingness of their leaders and officials to collaborate with the public. Development of integrated software products for local self-government bodies based on the principles of open-source software. It is argued that the structure of crowd potential in a territorial community is formed by two main components: the capacity and readiness of the population and local self-government bodies to participate in crowd technologies. Capacity in-cludes awareness of the organization of governance and knowledge of crowd tech-nologies, which is reflected in the societal and governmental understanding of the possibilities for implementing crowd projects at the community level. Readiness consists of the interest in voluntary participation in addressing social issues, the societal values of the population and local self-government bodies, and their moti-vational reasons for participating in crowd projects.

Assessing Event Volunteer Motivational Factors and Quality of Life among University Students

Volunteerism is a selfless and altruistic act of individuals dedicating their time, skills, and resources to support various causes and organizations without financial compensation. Hence, this paper aims to propose a conceptual framework for event volunteer motivation among university students and its impact on quality of life. Motivational factors measured by the volunteer motivational scale were proposed as independent variables, and quality of life as the dependent variable. This variable will regress to identify the relationship between quality of life among university students. The motivation to engage in volunteer work significantly impacts an individual's quality of life. However, few studies have been conducted on the impact of volunteering activities on quality of life. Therefore, this study aims to develop a quality of life framework by considering event volunteer’s motivation as independent variables. This study will take place at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Puncak Alam Campus whereby students from this university who already experience becoming volunteers will be involved as respondents. It is hoped that the contingency model of sports event volunteer motivation that is developed through this study will contribute to a better understanding of volunteerism and quality of life among students in higher institutions. Encouraging volunteering activities will educate youths to become responsible citizens by practicing a positive quality of life.

Enhanced sparrow search algorithm based on improved game predatory mechanism and its application

In response to the problems of strong randomness in initialization, imperfect search mechanism and tendency to fall into local optimum when dealing with complex optimization problems by sparrow search algorithm (SSA), an enhanced sparrow search algorithm (ESSA) is proposed, which combines Hammersley low difference sequence (HLDS) and centroid opposition-based learning (COBL), improved game predatory mechanism (GPM) and elastic collision strategy (EC). The ESSA can improve the initial individual quality, and avoid the attraction of local optima. In addition, the ESSA can effectively improve the search mechanism by increasing information exchange of individuals and balancing global search and local development. The effectiveness of ESSA is verified through simulation experiments of benchmark functions and variational modal decomposition (VMD) parameter optimization.

A novel approach to forecasting the mental well-being using machine learning

Mental well-being is critical to an individual's health and quality of life. It encompasses emotional, psychological, and social dimensions, making it a complex and multifaceted construct. Traditionally, assessing and forecasting mental well-being has relied on self-report measures, clinical evaluations, and surveys, which can be subjective, time-consuming, and limited scope. To overcome these drawbacks and offer more precise and timely insights into mental well-being, this study presents a novel approach that uses the power of machine learning. This has been achieved by creating a comprehensive dataset containing various variables relevant to mental health. These variables include behavioral traits like exercise routines, sleep patterns, and social interactions and psychological traits like mood, stress levels, and emotional states. Environmental factors, such as geographic location, climate, and accessibility to mental health care, are also considered. A comprehensive understanding of the elements affecting mental well-being is made possible by this diversified dataset. The data isanalyzedusing machine learning models, such as deep learning neural networks, support vector machines, and random forests. These models were selected since they can capture intricate correlations and patterns in data, making them suitable for forecasting mental health.

An Improved Approach for Atrial Fibrillation Detection in Long-Term ECG Using Decomposition Transforms and Least-Squares Support Vector Machine

Atrial fibrillation is a common heart rhythm disorder that is now becoming a significant healthcare challenge as it affects more and more people in developed countries. This paper proposes a novel approach for detecting this disease. For this purpose, we examined the ECG signal by detecting QRS complexes and then selecting 30 successive R-peaks and analyzing the atrial activity segment with a variety of indices, including the entropy change, the variance of the wavelet transform indices, and the distribution of energy in bands determined by the dual-Q tunable Q-factor wavelet transform and coefficients of the Hilbert transform of ensemble empirical mode decomposition. These transformations provided a vector of 21 features that characterized the relevant part of the electrocardiography signal. The MIT-BIH Atrial Fibrillation Database was used to evaluate the proposed method. Then, using the K-fold cross-validation method, the sets of features were fed into the LS-SVM and SVM classifiers and a trilayered neural network classifier. Training and test subsets were set up to avoid sampling from a single participant and to maintain the balance between classes. In addition, individual classification quality scores were analyzed for each signal to determine the dependencies of the classification quality on the subject. The results obtained during the testing procedure showed a sensitivity of 98.86%, a positive predictive value of 99.04%, and a classification accuracy of 98.95%.

Computation of Groundwater Quality of Baramati with the help of Fuzzy Water Quality Index (FWQI)

One of the natural resources having the latent for home, agrarian, and engineering use is surface and groundwater. Due to humanoid and certain natural reasons, the eminence of the groundwater serving Baramati City and Tehsil has deteriorated. Agriculture is using more pesticides and fertilizer, therefore this supply is being affected. Municipal water pollution can be caused by “septic boilers”, “bathe sewage”, “polluted aquatic”, “improper discarded management”, “public excretion”, “improper waste structure”, “public sewage discharges”, and “unorganized solid waste disposal”. The current study will improve the accuracy of the water quality index for areas in Baramati Tehsil that are affected by industry and drinking water supplies. The groundwater zones were created using a weighted index overlay analysis, which assigned weights based on several classes of individual water quality metrics and drinking water standards. Based on few observations, fuzzy logic offers an effective and practical tool for categorizing drinking water quality. This study's objective is to provide a fuzzy logic-based water quality indicator for basin-wide reservoirs. For a weight-based fuzzy quality index, a minimum of 6 physico-chemicals are needed.

Enhancing river health monitoring: Developing a reliable predictive model and mitigation plan

The escalating environmental harm inflicted upon rivers is an unavoidable outcome resulting from climate fluctuations and anthropogenic activities, leading to a catastrophic impact on water quality and thousands of individuals succumb to waterborne diseases. Consequently, the water quality monitoring stations have been established worldwide. Regrettably, the real-time evaluation of Water Quality Index (WQI) is hindered by the intricate nature of off-site water quality parameters. Thus, there is a pressing need to create a precise and robust water quality prediction model. The dynamic and non-linear characteristics of water quality parameters pose significant challenges for conventional machine learning algorithms like multi-linear regression, as they struggle to capture these complexities. In this particular investigation, machine learning model called Feedforward Artificial Neural Networks (FANNs) was employed to develop WQI prediction model of Batu Pahat River, Malaysia exclusively utilizing on-site parameters. The proposed method involves a consideration of whether to include or exclude parameters such as BOD and COD, which are not measured in real time and can be costly to monitor as model inputs. Validation accuracy values of 99.53%, 97.99%, and 91.03% were achieved in three different scenarios: the first scenario utilized the full input, the second scenario excluded BOD, and the third scenario excluded both BOD and COD. It was suggested that the model has better predictive power between input variables and output variables. Factor contributed to river pollution has been identified and mitigation plan for Batu Pahat river pollution has been proposed. This could provide an effective alternative to compute the pollution, better manage water resources and mitigate negative impacts of climate change of river ecosystems.

The Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional (BALANCE) Program improves diet quality in patients with established cardiovascular disease: Results from a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Dietary modifications are essential strategies for cardiovascular disease prevention. However, studies are needed to investigate the diet quality of individuals undergoing secondary prevention in cardiology and who received dietary intervention based on cardiovascular disease management. We prospectively evaluated the diet quality in the Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional Program Trial (BALANCE Program Trial). We hypothesized that the BALANCE Program could improve patients’ dietary pattern according to different indices of diet quality such as the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII); the dietary total antioxidant capacity; overall, healthful, and unhealthful Plant-Based Diet Index (PDI, hPDI, and uPDI, respectively); and modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index (mAHEI). This multicenter randomized, controlled trial included patients aged ≥45 years randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. Data from 2185 participants at baseline and after 12, 24, 36, and 48 months showed that the intervention group (n = 1077) had lower mean values of DII and higher dietary total antioxidant capacity, PDI, hPDI, and mAHEI than the control group. The results also showed differences between the follow-up times for DII, hPDI, and uPDI (48 months vs baseline) and for PDI and mAHEI (24 months vs baseline), regardless of group. The interaction analysis demonstrated that the intervention group showed better results than the control group at 12, 24, 36, and 48 months for the DII and at months 12, 36, and 48 for the mAHEI. Our results provide prospective evidence that the BALANCE Program improved the diet quality in those in secondary cardiovascular prevention according to different indices, with the intervention group showing better results than the control group.

Taste Abnormalities Emerging during Anti-Myeloma Therapies Including GPRC5D x CD3 Bispecific Antibody Talquetamab

Background: Dysgeusia is a common, yet underexamined side-effect of anti-tumor therapy. In multiple myeloma (MM) it has received more attention recently with the introduction of talquetamab, a bispecific T-cell engaging antibody targeting GPRC5D. Although GPRC5D expression is mainly restricted to plasma cells, cornified tissues including some cells in the oral cavity also express GPRC5D. This expression could be associated with changes in taste perception in patients undergoing therapy with talquetamab. Abnormalities in taste perception can negatively affect patients' quality of life and nutritional status, and in some cases may even require treatment interruption with a potential negative impact on outcome. Our objective was to determine the quality and severity of dysgeusia and its impact on quality of life in MM patients treated with talquetamab. To take our findings into perspective, we compared these results to patients who received high-dose melphalan, a treatment which goes along with taste abnormalities frequently (positive controls) as well as with BCMA targeting bispecific antibodies for which taste abnormalities have not been reported thus far (negative controls). Methods: We used a validated diagnostic instrument, “Taste-Strips”, to objectively assess gustatory performance in all five qualities of taste (sour, sweet, bitter, salty and umami). Further, we used a validated diagnostic instrument, “Sniffin' Sticks Identification Test 16”, to identify possible changes in olfactory perception. In addition, we used a questionnaire to document subjectively perceived changes in taste perception, oropharyngeal symptoms, nutritional status, individual diet-related symptoms, therapy compliance and quality of life. Results: We enrolled 55 patients with MM in our study. Seven (13%) patients were treated with a GPRC5D bispecific. Twenty-one (38%) patients received a BCMA bispecific and 27 (49%) patients received melphalan. All patients receiving a GPRC5D bispecific responded to treatment but also reported a significantly impaired overall taste sensation. They were significantly more likely to report loss of appetite ( P<0.01; Fisher test), loss of bodyweight (GPRC5D bispecifics: -4.3kg (SD4.6); BCMA bispecifics: -0.3kg (SD2.0); melphalan: -2.8kg (SD2.8)) and dry mouth ( P<0.01; Fisher test). Futhermore, patients receiving a GPRC5D bispecific reported a severe to very severe subjectively perceived level of impairment in quality of life due to subjectively perceived changes in gustatory perception of sweet, bitter, umami, and salty flavors (in descending order; P<0.01; Fisher test) and dry mouth ( P<0.01; Fisher test) than patients receiving BCMA bispecifics or melphalan. Forty-eight% of patients on BCMA bispecifics and 59% of patients on melphalan reported some level of dysguesia, which was objectified by “Taste-strips”-testing, highlighting the overall underreported frequency of this side effect. Of note, melphalan patients reported nausea and vomiting significantly more frequently than the other groups ( P<0.01; Fisher test). Objective olfactory testing did not show significant differences in olfactory perception between patients who received GPRC5D bispecifics, BCMA bispecifics or melphalan. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the importance of monitoring taste perception and quality of life changes caused by cancer therapies. The frequency of dysgeusia is underreported in MM patients receiving BCMA bispecifics and melphalan therapy. For optimal nutritional management, hospitals should consider patients' individual taste preferences.

58 Sex Differences in the Relationship Between Sleep Disruption and Depressive Symptoms During Acute and Chronic Stages of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)

Objective:mTBI is trauma to the brain due to a blow or other mechanical force affecting the head. Prior research has established that common symptoms of mTBI include decreased sleep quality and onset/worsening of emotional dysregulation. However, there is little published research investigating how sleep disruption and depressive symptoms are experienced at varying stages of mTBI. We hypothesized that sleep disruption would change with differing time since injury, and that depressive symptoms should accordingly. Additionally, since females tend to have higher rates of depression, we predicted that there would be a significant difference between the sexes at different stages post-mTBI.Participants and Methods:This study included 145 healthy adults, split into six groups, comparing healthy controls consisting of 15 males (Mage=23.67, SD=5.066) and 17 females (Mage=25.35, SD=7.035) to individuals who had mTBI, 41 males (Mage=26.88, SD=8.509) and 72 females (Mage=23.79, SD=6.898) at five points post-mTBI: 2 weeks and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) global score was used to assess individual sleep quality and disturbances; higher scores indicated poorer sleep quality. The Beck Depression Index (BDI-II) was used to assess characteristics and symptoms of depression. We adjusted the score to exclude item 16, which measures changes in sleep. Higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms. We conducted a multivariate analysis of variance and Pearson correlation to examine whether there were significant differences in sleep and depression at different stages of mTBI for each sex.Results:We discovered that sleep quality was worse at chronic stages of mTBI (i.e, 12M, p=<.001), than at acute stages (2W, p=.049), and compared to healthy controls. There were also significant differences in depression scores compared to healthy controls at 2W, p=.008, 3M, p=<.001, and 6M, p=.012, but not 12M, p=.313, suggesting that depressive symptoms resolved by 12M in those with mTBI. To explain this, we investigated sex differences, as males tend to experience fewer depressive disorders than females. However, females reported fewer depressive symptoms than males at chronic stages of mTBI. This finding was not statistically significant as females had a Mbdi_total=6.84, SD=7.98 and males had a Mbdi_total=5.38, SD=6.078; still, this could be due to the low statistical power of the study, and with a larger sample size, could produce statistically significant differences between the sexes. Despite this, there is a statistically significant difference in the depression score for females between 2W and 12M post-mTBI (p=.046; effect size of d=.99). Comparatively, males showed no significant divergence between depression and sleep scores.Conclusions:Sleep disruption and depressive symptoms were correlated in individuals with mTBI in both acute and chronic stages; however, at 12M, there was a decrease in this correlation due to females exhibiting fewer depressive symptoms in combination with greater sleep disruption in the chronic phase of mTBI. Further research investigating the relationship between depression and sleep quality by looking at females with a much larger sample size would be helpful in clarifying these associations.

The Effects of Age on Prostatic Responses to Oxytocin and the Effects of Antagonists.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is an age-related enlargement of the prostate with urethral obstruction that predominantly affects the middle-aged and older male population, resulting in disruptive lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), thus creating a profound impact on an individual's quality of life. The development of LUTS may be linked to overexpression of oxytocin receptors (OXTR), resulting in increased baseline myogenic tone within the prostate. Thus, it is hypothesised that targeting OXTR using oxytocin receptor antagonists (atosiban, cligosiban, and β-Mercapto-β,β-cyclopentamethylenepropionyl1, O-Me-Tyr2, Orn8]-Oxytocin (ßMßßC)), may attenuate myogenic tone within the prostate. Organ bath and immunohistochemistry techniques were conducted on prostate tissue from young and older rats. Our contractility studies demonstrated that atosiban significantly decreased the frequency of spontaneous contractions within the prostate of young rats (**** p < 0.0001), and cligosiban (* p < 0.05), and ßMßßC (**** p < 0.0001) in older rats. Additionally, immunohistochemistry findings revealed that nuclear-specific OXTR was predominantly expressed within the epithelium of the prostate of both young (*** p < 0.001) and older rats (**** p < 0.0001). In conclusion, our findings indicate that oxytocin is a key modulator of prostate contractility, and targeting OXTR is a promising avenue in the development of novel BPH drugs.

An artificial bee colony algorithm with a cumulative covariance matrix mechanism and its application in parameter optimization for hearing loss detection models

Artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithms which are applied to various complex problems for their competitive performance and simple structures are a relatively popular paradigm of evolutionary algorithms (EAs). Although many variants based on the basic ABC algorithm have been developed, most variants have limited performance on non-separable problems. This is mainly because these variants usually focus on only individual quality information, but neglect population distribution information. To address this limitation, in this paper, we propose a new ABC with a cumulative covariance matrix mechanism (CCoM-ABC), in which the population distribution information in all previous generations is involved to guide the evolution process. Specifically, the CCoM-ABC algorithm applies a cumulative covariance matrix (CCoM) mechanism by which the population information of every generation is involved to improve the probability of finding the optimum. It also applies an adaptive selection mechanism by which the proper coordinate system used to generate candidate solutions can be dynamically selected between a natural one and an eigen one during the search process. Furthermore, for improving the search ability, a new search equation is adopted in the scout bees phase. A series of experiments are conducted on the CEC2014 to evaluate the performance of the proposed CCoM-ABC algorithm, and the results show that the CCoM-ABC outperforms state-of-the-art ABC variants and EAs in terms of convergence speed, solution accuracy, and numerical scalability. For validating the practicality of the proposed CCoM-ABC algorithm, we further apply it to optimize the parameters of the neural network for hearing loss (HL) detection. This study involves 60 brain images consisting of 20 left-sided HL, 20 right-side HL, and 20 healthy control images. The results show that this model outperforms state-of-the-art related methods in terms of overall accuracy by about 2%.

Energy Efficiency Optimization for Backscatter Enhanced NOMA Cooperative V2X Communications Under Imperfect CSI

Automotive-Industry 5.0 will use beyond fifth-generation (B5G) technologies to provide robust, computationally intelligent, and energy-efficient data sharing among various onboard sensors, vehicles, and other devices. Recently, ambient backscatter communications (AmBC) have gained significant interest in the research community for providing battery-free communications. AmBC can modulate useful data and reflect it towards near devices using the energy and frequency of existing RF signals. However, obtaining channel state information (CSI) for AmBC systems would be very challenging due to no pilot sequences and limited power. As one of the latest members of multiple access technology, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) has emerged as a promising solution for connecting large-scale devices over the same spectral resources in B5G wireless networks. Under imperfect CSI, this paper provides a new optimization framework for energy-efficient transmission in AmBC enhanced NOMA cooperative vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks. We simultaneously minimize the total transmit power of the V2X network by optimizing the power allocation at BS and reflection coefficient at backscatter sensors while guaranteeing the individual quality of services. The problem of total power minimization is formulated as non-convex optimization and coupled on multiple variables, making it complex and challenging. Therefore, we first decouple the original problem into two sub-problems and convert the nonlinear rate constraints into linear constraints. Then, we adopt the iterative sub-gradient method to obtain an efficient solution. For comparison, we also present a conventional NOMA cooperative V2X network without AmBC. Simulation results show the benefits of our proposed AmBC enhanced NOMA cooperative V2X network in terms of total achievable energy efficiency.

Analysis on Food Security of Peatland Horticultural Farmer Households in Pontianak

Food security, denoting the adequacy of food supply in terms of both quantity and quality for individuals within a given state, is a critical aspect of societal well-being. This research focuses on assessing the food security status of households engaged in peatland cultivation in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The chosen research site, Siantan Hilir, was purposively selected due to its prominence as a hub for horticultural agricultural production within the sub-district. The study encompassed a population of 719 individuals, with a sample size of 42 respondents determined using the slovin formula. Primary data was procured through the observation and the administration of questionnaires to farmers, supplemented by secondary data. The findings unveiled a noteworthy trend where the household income of farmers exceeded their expenditures. However, a significant challenge emerged in the form of food expenditure constituting 64.86% of the total expenditures, thereby underscoring potential obstacles to maintaining food security. Furthermore, the moderate categorization of energy adequacy and the stark revelation that 88% of households lacked food security underscored the imperative for enhancements in managing food expenditures and refining consumption patterns in Siantan Hilir.