Subjective Quality Measures Research Articles

4159 Prostate cancer multiparametric MRI comparison study of 3T versus 7T in terms of lesion detection and image quality

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The goal of this study was to perform a comparative, multi-reader, retrospective clinical evaluation of prostate multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) at 3 Tesla (3T) vs. 7 Tesla (7T) primarily in terms of prostate cancer localization. Subjective measures of image quality and artifacts were also evaluated. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Nineteen subjects were imaged at 3T and 7T between March 2016 and October 2018 under IRB-approved protocols. Four radiologists retrospectively and independently reviewed the data, and completed a two-part assessment for each dataset. First, readers assessed likelihood of cancer using Prostate Imaging Reporting & Data System (PI-RADS) guidelines. Accuracy of cancer detection was compared to findings from prostate biopsy. The numbers of correctly or incorrectly classified sextants were summed across all four readers, then used to summarize detection performance. Second, readers assigned a score on a five-point Likert scale to multiple image quality characteristics for the 3T and 7T datasets. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Sensitivity and specificity of 3T and 7T datasets for sextant-wise cancer detection were compared by paired two-tailed t-tests. Readers identified more sextants harboring cancer with the 3T datasets while false-positive rates were similar, resulting in significantly higher sensitivity at 3T with no significant differences in specificity. Likert scores for image quality characteristics for 3T and 7T datasets were compared by applying paired two-tailed t-tests to mean scores of the four radiologists for each dataset. Readers generally preferred the 3T datasets, in particular for staging and assessment of extraprostatic extension as well as overall quality of the contrast-enhanced data. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Readers agreed 7T prostate mpMRI produced images with more anatomic detail, though with equivocal clinical relevance and more pronounced artifacts. Reader unfamiliarity with 7T images is a major extenuating factor. Forthcoming technological developments are anticipated to improve upon the results.

Relationship of CT densitometry to lung physiological parameters and health status in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: initial report of a centralised database of the NIHR rare diseases translational research collaborative

ObjectivesTo establish a database network for the study of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) and compare the results to CT lung density as the most direct measure of emphysema.DesignA central electronic...

0818 Cyclic Alternating Pattern as Indicator for Subjective Sleep Quality in Community-Dwelling Older Men

Abstract Introduction The micro-architecture of NREM sleep displays a cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) comprising activation phases of slow high-amplitude waves (A1), fast low-amplitude brain activity rhythms (A3) or a mixture of both (A2). In this study, we investigated the relationship between CAP and subjective sleep quality parameters reported by community-dwelling older men from the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Sleep Study. Methods CAP was scored in 2,811 overnight EEG recordings using a high performance automated CAP detection system. We quantified the ratio between CAP time and NREM sleep time (CAP rate), the number of A1-phases per hour of NREM sleep (A1 index), and the number of A2+A3-phases per hour of NREM sleep (A2+A3 index). Also, participants were asked to score the quality of their sleep on a Likert scale with five items from light to deep, from short to long, and from restless to restful. The relationship between CAP parameters and the subjective sleep quality measures was determined using ANCOVA with traditional sleep disturbance indices such as obstructive apnea-hypopnea index and arousal index as covariate. Results CAP rate decreased significantly with increasing quality of sleep for all three subjective measures (light vs. deep: 58.8±22.3% vs. 54.6±20.5%, p < 0.001; short vs. long: 58.4±21.4% vs. 55.1±20.5%, p < 0.001, restless vs. restful: 59.4±20.8% vs. 55.6±21.0%, p = 0.002). The A1 index did not show any significant variations across all three sleep quality parameters. The A2+A3 index behaved similarly to the CAP rate with decreasing values for each subjective measure (all: p < 0.001). Conclusion CAP rate, especially A2+A3-phases, are reduced in older men who report good sleep quality, while A1 index did not show any significant relationship with subjective sleep quality measures. Hence, CAP is an indicator of sleep quality. Support The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) provides funding for the MrOS Sleep ancillary study “Outcomes of Sleep Disorders in Older Men” under the following grant numbers: R01 HL071194, R01 HL070848, R01 HL070847, R01 HL070842, R01 HL070841, R01 HL070837, R01 HL070838, and R01 HL070839.

0219 Subjective Sleep Quality Measured Before, Predicts Psychological Safety After Simulated Combat Training. Testing the Bidirectional Link Between Sleep and Social Processes in the Military Operational Context

Abstract Introduction The research on sleep in the social-psychological domain is sparse. Gordon and colleagues (Gordon, Mendes, & Prather, 2017) proposed a bidirectional relationship between sleep and social processes. The current research tests this model in the military by examining the relationship between subjective sleep quality and an important social cognitive process in the contexts of military teams - psychological safety (i.e., an individual’s perceptions of interpersonal threat in their work environment; Edmondson, 1999). Methods One hundred and twenty-eight U.S. Army tank crewmen were surveyed prior to (T1), and immediately after (T2), participating in a two-week simulated combat training exercise. Each survey included the seven-item Insomnia Severity Index (ISI; Bastien et al., 2001), which served as a measure of subjective sleep quality (SSQ), and Edmonson’s seven-item Psychological Safety Questionnaire which measured team psychological safety (TPS). A cross-lagged panel model tested the effects of SSQ and TPS over the course of the training. Results Both SSQ and TPS were stable over the two time points, SSQT1: M=2.83, SD=.85, α=.83; SSQT2: M=2.63, SD=.83, α=.83; B=.387, SE=.08, β=.397, p<.001, and TPST1: M=3.7, SD=.72, α=.79; TPST2: M=3.67, SD=.75, α=.77; B=.619, SE=.07, β=.600, p<.001, respectively. Although SSQ and TPS were weakly related to one another at both time points, rT1=.122, p=.086 and rT2=.171, p = .028, only the cross-lagged path between SSQT1 predicting TPST2 was significant, B=.129, SE=.06, β=.147, p=.038. The cross-lagged path between TPST1 predicting SSQT2 was not significant, B=-.098, SE=.094, β=-.086, p=.296. Approximately 40% of the variance in CPS, R2=.4 as opposed to 17% in SSQ, R2=.17, was accounted for by the predictors in the model. Conclusion These results provide support for a directional (vs bidirectional) link between SSQ and TPS, insomuch that, in the context of military training, SSQ influences TPS, as opposed to the other way around. Elucidating the directionality of this relationship is not only important for advancing theory, but more importantly, it helps practitioners develop programs and policies that precisely address the right mechanism at the right time to maximize team effectiveness and wellbeing. Support This work was supported by the Military Operational Medicine Research Program (MOMRP).

1056 Perceived Financial Difficulty Predicts Sleep Quality In Participants With Type 2 Diabetes And Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Abstract Introduction People with multiple chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at increased risk for poor sleep quality. It is unclear if social determinants of health (SDoH) such as race, perceived financial difficulty, education, gender, and marital status are associated with sleep quality in this population. The purpose of this cross-sectional secondary analysis of data from the Diabetes Sleep Treatment Trial was to explore SDoH and disease severity as predictors of sleep quality in persons with both OSA and T2D. Methods Disease severity was measured by Apnea-Hypopnea Index [(AHI) ≥ 5] and A1C for glycemic control. SDoH included perceived financial difficulty (none/moderate-severe), race (White/African American), sex (f/m), marital status (no/yes), education (≤ or > 2 years post high school), and age. Sleep quality was measured by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Correlations and linear regression modeling investigated associations between SDoH and disease severity on sleep quality. Post-hoc correlations were explored for significant relations among SDoH. Results The sample (N = 229) was middle-aged (57.6 ± 10.0; 66 % White and 34% African American; and 54 % men vs. 46% women. Participants carried a high burden of disease (mean AHI = 20.7±18.1, mean A1C = 7.9 %±1.7%). Disease severity was not significantly associated with sleep quality (all p >.05). The perception of worse financial difficulty was the only SDoH that predicted worse sleep quality (b=-1.54, p=.015). Characteristics significantly associated with worse financial difficulty were being African American, female, ≤ 2 years post high school, and younger (all p<.01). Conclusion Financial difficulty may be a more important predictor of subjective measures of sleep quality than disease severity in patients with OSA and T2D. Researchers and clinicians should be aware of these characteristics as potential markers of vulnerability to poor sleep quality in this population. Support The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK096028) and through the Clinical +Translational Research Institute grants UL1TR001857 and UL1TR000005.

0824 Improving Subjective Sleep Quality Measures Through Mindfulness Training in the Elderly: Preliminary Data from the Mindfulness Sleep Therapy (MIST) Study

Abstract Introduction Poor sleep is a modifiable risk factor for multiple chronic disorders. Mindfulness-based therapies potentially improve sleep by enhancing awareness and acceptance of internal and external experiences, thus reducing pre-sleep hyper-arousal. In this pre-registered, randomized controlled trial, we tested the effect of mindfulness-based treatment for insomnia (MBTI) on subjective sleep quality measures (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire, PSQI) in the elderly. Methods Participants above 50 years old with sleep difficulties (PSQI ≥ 5) (mean (sd) age = 62.0 (6.35), 44 female) attended either an 8-week MBTI (N = 34) or sleep hygiene education and exercise program (SHEEP; N = 35). Before and after the interventions, we collected PSQI, insomnia symptoms and features measures (Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale, PSAS; Insomnia Severity Index, ISI; Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep, DBAS-30), mindfulness (Five-Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire, FFMQ), and mood and anxiety (Back Depression Inventory, BDI; State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI). PSQI and PSAS (N = 26 to date) were collected at 6-month follow-up. Data were analysed with repeated-measures ANCOVA with group as a between-subject variable for the first 69 participants who completed the study. Results We observed significant improvement across both groups for sleep measures (PSQI: F1,67=36.442, p<.01; PSAS-Cognitive: F1,67=12.664, p<.01; ISI: F1,67=36.442, p<.0; DBAS: F1,67=28.749, p<.01) and mood (BDI: F1,67=26.393, p<.01; STAI-State: F1,67=4.608, p=.04; STAI-Trait: F1,67=7.687, p<.01), but not for Mindfulness (F1,67=2.256, p=.14) nor PSAS-somatic. No significant group by time interactions were found. We observed a correlation between PSQI decreases and FFMQ increases in MBTI (r=-.53, p<.01), but not in SHEEP (r=-.07, p=.70) participants. ANCOVA of 6-month PSQI data revealed a significant group by time interaction (F1,24=19.525, p=.03), with reduction from baseline in MBTI (t12=4.769, p<.01), but not in SHEEP group (t12=3.813, p=.08). Conclusion Preliminary results support MBTI as an accessible but effective behavioural intervention with potential long-term benefits for improving sleep and mood, and reducing cognitive-emotional arousal in the elderly. Support This study was supported by an award from the 7th grant call of the Singapore Millennium Foundation Research Grant Programme

Temporal Links Between Self-Reported Sleep and Antibody Responses to the Influenza Vaccine.

Growing evidence suggests that sleep plays an important role in immunological memory, including antibody responses to vaccination. However, much of the prior research has been carried out in the laboratory limiting the generalizability of the findings. Furthermore, no study has sought to identify sensitive periods prior to or after vaccination where sleep may have a stronger influence on antibody responses. Eighty-three healthy young adults completed 13days of sleep diaries and received the trivalent influenza vaccine on day 3 of the study. Measures of self-reported sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and subjective sleep quality were assessed on each day. Antibody levels to the influenza viral strains were quantified at baseline and 1 and 4months following influenza vaccination. Shorter sleep duration, averaged over the collection period, was associated with fewer antibodies to the A/New Caledonia viral strain 1 and 4months later, independent of baseline antibodies, age, sex, and cohort year. Analyses focused on nightly sleep on the days preceding and after the vaccination revealed that shorter sleep duration on the two nights before the vaccination predicted fewer antibodies 1 and 4months later. Measures of self-reported sleep efficiency and subjective quality were unrelated to antibody responses to the influenza vaccination. These findings provide further support for an association between sleep duration and antibody responses to the influenza vaccine and suggest that perhaps sleep on nights prior to vaccination are critical. If replicated, these findings may support sleep as a target for enhancing vaccination efficacy.

Bilateral Selective Laryngeal Reinnervation for Bilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis in Children

Bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVFP) in pediatric patients is a challenging entity with multiple causes. Traditional approaches to managing BVFP include tracheostomy, arytenoidectomy, suture lateralization, cordotomy, and posterior cricoid enlargement. These interventions are used to create a stable airway but risk compromising voice quality. To assess the use of bilateral selective laryngeal reinnervation (SLR) surgery to manage BVFP and restore dynamic function to the larynx in pediatric patients. In this case series performed at 2 tertiary care academic institutions, 8 pediatric patients underwent bilateral SLR to treat BVFP (5 patients with iatrogenic BVFP and 3 with congenital BVFP) from November 2004 to August 2018 with follow-up for at least 1.5 years. Bilateral selective laryngeal reinnervation surgery. Flexible laryngoscopy findings, subjective and objective measures of voice quality, subjective swallowing function, and decannulation in patients who were previously dependent on a tracheostomy tube. Participants included 6 boys and 2 girls with a median age of 9.3 (range, 2.2 to 18.0) years at the time of surgery. All 8 patients were decannulated; 6 patients had preoperative tracheostomies and 2 had perioperative tracheostomies. Voice quality, as measured using the GRBAS (grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain) scale, improved in 6 of 8 patients after reinnervation, and swallowing was not impaired in any patients. In 2 patients, GRBAS scale scores remained the same before and after surgery. Inspiratory vocal fold abduction was observed on both sides in 5 patients and on 1 side in 2 patients, with no active abduction observed in 1 patient. The follow-up period was more than 5 years in 7 of 8 patients and at least 1.5 years in all patients. Bilateral SLR appears to be a promising treatment option for children with BVFP; it is currently the only option, to our knowledge, with the potential to restore abductor and adductor vocal fold movement. In patients with complete paralysis, this procedure may provide a strategy for airway management and restoration of the dynamic function of the larynx. It could be considered as a first-line technique before endolaryngeal or airway framework procedures, which carry a risk of compromising voice quality.

Emotions relating to romantic love—further disruptors of adolescent sleep

ObjectiveEarly-stage romantic involvement may resemble hypomania in its manifestation on behavioral, physiological, and psychological levels. Previous research suggests that self-reported sleep duration may diminish as a result of falling in love during adolescence. We investigated how feelings of infatuation are related to subjective and objective measures of sleep duration, quality, and timing. Methods1374 adolescents (66% girls; mean age: 16.9, SD=0.6 years) selected from the population register responded to online questionnaires regarding romantic love, mental well-being, and sleep behavior. A subsample (n=309) underwent a week-long actigraphy measurement (GENEActiv Original). We compared the sleep duration, quality, and timing of those who reported being in the early stages of love to those who were not. Results11% of all participants reported being in the early stages of romantic love. Those girls and boys who were in love had higher scores of depression and anxiety than others. Girls who were in love reported poorer sleep quality, later sleep timing, and shorter sleep duration both on weekdays (mean difference: 32 minutes, p≤0.001) and at weekends (15 minutes, p=0.037) than those who were not in love. Actigraphy measurements were similar (sleep duration mean difference: 27 minutes, p=0.04). ConclusionsWe conclude that romantic love is one further cause for short or poor quality sleep in girls and may relate to symptoms of depression and anxiety in both sexes. However, feelings of infatuation contain important developmental lessons.

The role of PTSD and TBI in post-deployment sleep outcomes

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the main and interaction effects of PTSD and TBI on sleep outcomes in veterans. Post-deployment combat veterans (N = 293, 87.37% male) completed clinical interviews to determine diagnosis and severity of PTSD and deployment TBI history, as well as subjective measures of sleep quality, sleep duration, and restedness. Sleep-related medical diagnoses were extracted from electronic medical records for all participants. PTSD and TBI were each associated with poorer ratings of sleep quality, restedness, shorter sleep duration, and greater incidence of clinically diagnosed sleep disorders. Analyses indicated main effects of PTSD on sleep quality (p < .001), but no main effects of TBI. PTSD severity was significantly associated with poorer sleep quality (p < .001), restedness (p = .018), and shorter sleep duration (p = .015). TBI severity was significantly associated with restedness beyond PTSD severity (p = .036). There were no interaction effects between diagnostic or severity variables. PTSD severity is a driving factor for subjective ratings of sleep disturbance beyond PTSD diagnosis as well as TBI diagnosis and severity. Despite this, poor sleep was apparent throughout the sample, which suggests post-deployment service members may globally benefit from routine screening of sleep problems and increased emphasis on sleep hygiene.

Validating the Adolescent Sleep Wake Scale for use with young adults

ObjectiveThere is a need for examination of sleep across the entire adolescence to young adulthood developmental period (AYA; ages 12–25 years). The Adolescent Sleep Wake Scale (ASWS) is a 28-item measure of overall subjective sleep quality, including five sleep behavior domains (difficulty going to bed, falling asleep, maintaining sleep, reinitiating sleep, and returning to wakefulness), and has been validated to assess overall sleep quality and insomnia symptoms in adolescents (12–18 years). The current study aimed to examine whether the ASWS could be used to assess sleep across the AYA period by investigating the validity of the measure in a national sample of young adults (ages 19–25) using validated adult sleep measures. Materials and methodsA national sample recruited through Amazon's MTurk (N = 332; Mean age = 23.37 (SD = 1.55); 53.8% female; 51.4% Caucasian) completed an online survey including the ASWS, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Bivariate correlational analyses were performed to explore convergent and discriminant validity. ResultsThe ASWS total score was strongly correlated with both the PSQI total score (r = −0.68) and ISI (r = −0.71) total score. The subscales of the PSQI, including Sleep Latency, Sleep Disturbance, and Daytime Dysfunction were correlated with corresponding ASWS domains. There were weak correlations with other subscales. Internal consistency was good (α = 0.88). ConclusionsOur results suggest that the ASWS measures areas of sleep problems in a manner consistent with the most frequently utilized self-report assessment in adults and supports the use of the ASWS across AYA.

Use of Detravenol in treatment of chronic venous insufficiency of lower limbs

The purpose of this study was to prove that Detravenol is not inferior by clinical efficacy to Detralex® in the course administration in patients presenting with chronic venous insufficiency of the lower extremities caused by lower limb varicose veins. Ours was a prospective randomized open-liable comparative trial aimed at determining efficacy and safety of the two drugs in parallel groups with active control. The trial enrolled a total of 106 patients with chronic venous insufficiency of the lower extremities secondary to lower limb varicose veins. The patients took the drug during 60 days twice daily. The primary outcome measure of efficacy was reduction of the malleolar circumference upon completion of treatment as compared with the baseline values, with the secondary outcome measures being the dynamics of parameters according to the Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS), CIVIQ-2 quality of life questionnaire, and the findings of ultrasonographic duplex scanning. The obtained findings demonstrated efficacy of therapy with the use of Detravenol in treatment of patients with chronic venous insufficiency of the lower limbs. The 60-day therapy with the study drug resulted in decreased oedema of the lower extremities: the malleolar circumference reduced averagely by 4%, the composite index of the venous clinical severity score diminished averagely by 50%, and the subjective measure of quality of life increased. Patients taking the study drug demonstrated positive dynamics according to the findings of ultrasonographic duplex scanning, with no serious adverse events during the trial observed. By the primary outcome measure of efficacy (reduction of the malleolar circumference) therapy using the investigational drug proved to be not inferior to therapy with the comparator drug. By the secondary outcome measures the compared therapies appeared equally effective. The study drug and the comparator were found to have a similar safety profile.

Relación entre funcionamiento cognitivo y el perfil sintomático con la calidad de vida de pacientes con trastornos del espectro de la esquizofrenia

Objective: To evaluate the association of psychopathological symptoms and cognitive functioning with the measures of subjective quality of life of a group of patients diag¬nosed with the schizophrenia spectrum. Methodology: The study included 102 outpatients who met the DSM-IV-TR criteria for the diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The data were obtained by means of the Seville Questionnaire of Quality of Life (CSCV), the scale for the positive and negative schizophrenia syndrome (PANSS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) as well as the state-trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Results: The multiple regression analysis showed, on one hand, that favorable aspects of quality of life are affected by cognitive disorganization, positive, depressive and anxiety symptoms. On the other hand, the presence of emotional symptoms is strongly associated with unfavorable aspects, which suggests that this symptomatic dimension impairs the subjective perception of well-being of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Conclusions: Psychopathological symptoms and cognitive function affect the subjective quality of life in patients with schizophrenia. If the aim of the treatment is to improve the perceived quality of life, the strategies should consider seeking the improvement symptoms of an emotional nature, such as depression / anxiety and emotional distress.

A cosparse analysis model with combined redundant systems for MRI reconstruction.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used due to its noninvasive and nonionizing properties. However, MRI requires a long scanning time. In this paper, our goal is to reconstruct a high-quality MR image from its sampled k-space data to accelerate the data acquisition in MRI. We propose a cosparse analysis model with combined redundant systems to fully exploit the sparsity of MR images. Two fixed redundant systems are used to characterize different structures, namely, the wavelet tight frame and Gabor frame. An alternating iteration scheme is used for reconstruction with simple implementation and good performance. The proposed method is tested on two MR images under three sampling patterns with sampling ratios ranging from 10% to 60%. The results show that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art MRI reconstruction methods in terms of both subjective visual quality and objective quantitative measurement. For instance, for brain images under random sampling with a ratio of 10%, compared to the other three methods, the proposed method improves the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) by more than 9dB. To better characterize different sparsities of different structures of MRI, a cosparse analysis model combining the wavelet tight frame and Gabor frame is proposed. A partial norm regularization is leveraged to obtain the optimal solution in a lower dimension. Compared to other state-of-the-art MRI reconstruction methods, the proposed method improves the reconstruction quality of MRI, especially highly undersampled MRI.

The Effect of Nutrient-Dense, Portion-Controlled Functional Foods in Overweight Men with Reduced Libidos: A Prospective, Pilot Study

Background and Objectives: Aging and weight gain often lead to reduced male libido, testosterone levels, and reproductive health functions. Younger men, who have reduced libido due to no under-lying medical or environment cause, are often prescribed medications. Non-pharmacological treatment usually includes weight loss. Materials and Methods: The aim of this prospective, single-arm, four-month study was to evaluate the effect of a nutrient-dense dietary plan using portion-controlled, pre-packaged functional foods on body weight, sexual performance, free testosterone, semen volume, and sperm concentration in overweight men aged 20-50 years of age. Results: Eleven individuals began the study, and six completed it. Participants consumed either four or five nutrient-rich functional foods daily and ate mostly healthy foods otherwise. Baseline mean weight was 107±21 kg, decreasing to 97±24 by week 8, but was 104±19 at week 16. Mean waist circumference decreased at each measurement: 112±13 cm at baseline, 110±12 cm at week 8, and 108 ±11 cm at week 16. Everyone, except one subject who had no change, experienced a decrease in waist circumference of 2-8 cm. All participants for whom data were available experienced increases in salivary testosterone concentrations between 18 and 87 pg/mL; by week 4, all had normal readings. At baseline and throughout the study, all but one person had normal semen volumes (i.e., at least 1.5mL). Sperm concentrations were Optimal at baseline for three participants (i.e.,≥ 55 M/mL), and the remaining two had Moderate values (16-54 M/mL, inclusive). Sperm concentrations varied throughout the study with three men experiencing Moderate concentrations at week 4, and two had Low concentrations (i.e., 15 M/mL). At week 8, all five subjects had Moderate sperm concentrations. By week 12, four had Moderate readings and one had an Optimal sperm concentration; at week 16, this improved to three with Moderate readings and two had Optimal concentrations. Total sperm counts (semen volume x sperm concentration [in millions]) varied among the participants. Between baseline and week 16, two participants had a lower total sperm count (decrease of 12% and 50%), and three had increased counts (all had 40-45% increases). Sexual health was assessed via a questionnaire (Sexual Health Inventory for Men [SHIM]). Upon entry into the study, all participants had suboptimal SHIM scores (i.e.,  21); at the end, three of the six normalized. For the general quality of life questions, scores tended to be better for each quality of life indicator, except gastrointestinal issues (GI), which worsened over time. The greatest improvements were seen in energy level, diet quality, and passion. Conclusions: Overweight men with low libidos experienced benefits from consuming nutrient-dense functional foods for anthropometric measurements, quantitative measures of testosterone, semen volume, sperm concentration, and subjective measures of quality of life. These preliminary results are encouraging, and we are continuing to recruit more subjects to confirm these findings.

Associations between subjective and objective measures of sleep quality and hemoglobin a1c in professional athletes

Associations between subjective and objective measures of sleep quality and hemoglobin a1c in professional athletes

Monaural speech separation using GA-DNN integration scheme

In this research work, we propose the model based on the Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Deep Neural Network (DNN) to enhance the quality and intelligibility of the noisy speech. In this proposed model, the Voiced Speech (VS) T-F mask is computed using correlogram, frame energy and cross-channel correlogram and Unvoiced Speech (UVS) T-F mask is computed using speech onset/offset. The T-F mask obtained using speech onset and offset represents both voiced and unvoiced segment of the noisy speech signal. The UVS T-F mask is obtained by subtracting the VS from the T-F mask obtained earlier using speech onset/offset. Next, the GA is used to find the optimum weight to combine the T-F mask of VS and UVS to improve speech quality and intelligibility. The weight obtained using GA may not be an optimum one for all sets of speech and noise. This research work focuses on this issue and proposes a DNN model to estimate the optimum weight for all sets of speech and noise. The DNN model is trained using features and optimum weight obtained using GA. Later, the trained DNN model is used to estimate the optimum weight for the testing speech and noise samples. The performance of the proposed GA-DNN based model is evaluated using objective and subjective quality and intelligibility measures. The results of the proposed model shows a prompt improvement in the speech quality and intelligibility with average of 0.73, 4.07, 0.17, 0.26 and 0.22 for PESQ, SNR, STOI, CSII and NCM when compared with the existing speech separation systems.

Journal Digest: Smoking Ban; Breath Collection; Flibanserin; Light Flash Therapy; Brain Imaging

Journal Digest: Smoking Ban; Breath Collection; Flibanserin; Light Flash Therapy; Brain Imaging

An Intellectual Capital Approach to Citizens’ Quality of Life in Sustainable Cities: A Focus on Europe

The quality of life of citizens in a city is related to the sustainable decisions made by their leaders. By using principal component analysis (PCA) and taking an intellectual capital perspective (all sources of knowledge in human, relational and structural areas), we explore which of the three dimensions used to measure the sustainability of a city—economic, social or environmental—has the greatest effect on a subjective measurement of quality of life. We propose an econometric model based on a tangible production model to study the relationship between the quality of life and sustainability. To that end, we perform an in-depth examination of the different effects on the four dimensions that comprise the measure of the subjective quality of life: satisfaction, mobility, integration and public service. The results of the estimated model of citizens’ quality of life confirm the existence of a direct relationship for the 52 European cities under study; however, the least relevant role is played by the environmental dimension, which is still unappreciated by citizens. Conversely, the economic and social dimension are found to be determinants in all cases, except for social integration. Therefore, a key requirement of the management aimed at achieving sustainable development in European cities is to activate the environmental dimension.

Objective estimation of subjective image quality assessment using multi‐parameter prediction

Objective evaluation of a subjective image quality assessment plays a significant role in the various image processing applications, such as compression, interpolation and noise reduction. The subjective image quality assessment does not only depend on some objective measurable artefacts, but also on image content and kind of distortions. Thus, a multi-parameter prediction of the objective image quality assessment is proposed in this study. The prediction parameters are found minimising the mean square error related to the known subjective image quality measure (DMOS). This approach includes mostly used image quality metrics (peak signal-to-noise ratio, multi-scale structural similarity image measure, feature similarity image measure, video quality measure) and two-dimensional image quality metrics (2D IQM). The proposed multi-parameter prediction has been verified on the test image database (LIVE) for compression, noise and blur distortions with available subjective image quality measures (DMOS). More reliable estimations are obtained using multi-parameter prediction instead of only one measure. The best results are reached when an image content indicator is combined with the 2D IQM measure separately for different kinds of distortions.