Dynamic Coati Optimization Algorithm for biomedical classification tasks

Medical datasets are primarily made up of numerous pointless and redundant elements in a collection of patient records. None of these characteristics are necessary for a medical decision-making process. Conversely, a large amount of data leads to increased dimensionality and decreased classifier performance in terms of machine learning. Numerous approaches have recently been put out to address this issue, and the results indicate that feature selection can be a successful remedy. To meet the various needs of input patterns, medical diagnostic tasks typically involve learning a suitable categorization model. The k-Nearest Neighbors algorithm (kNN) classifier’s classification performance is typically decreased by the input variables’ abundance of irrelevant features. To simplify the kNN classifier, essential attributes of the input variables have been searched using the feature selection approach. This paper presents the Coati Optimization Algorithm (DCOA) in a dynamic form as a feature selection technique where each iteration of the optimization process involves the introduction of a different feature. We enhance the exploration and exploitation capability of DCOA by employing dynamic opposing candidate solutions. The most impressive feature of DCOA is that it does not require any preparatory parameter fine-tuning to the most popular metaheuristic algorithms. The CEC’22 test suite and nine medical datasets with various dimension sizes were used to evaluate the performance of the original COA and the proposed dynamic version. The statistical results were validated using the Bonferroni-Dunn test and Kendall’s W test and showed the superiority of DCOA over seven well-known metaheuristic algorithms with an overall accuracy of 89.7%, a feature selection of 24%, a sensitivity of 93.35% a specificity of 96.81%, and a precision of 93.90%

Co-creating experiences through the use of arts in social work education

The inclusion of citizens in social work education was initiated over 30 years ago and continues to travel a ‘long and winding road’. Social work education in the UK faces increasing pressure from a range of stakeholders including citizens who use services, regulatory bodies and the media to demonstrate that newly qualified social workers are competent and uphold public trust. While social work education and practice within England and Wales draw on similar traditions in theory and practice, there are important differences in the national and institutional frameworks within which they operate. This article illustrates some of these differences through a focus on social work education provision in one English and one Welsh university. Drawing on the experience and views of the student participants, we examine the benefits of creative approaches that promote citizen involvement and suggest how European traditions can contribute to this process. We define key terms and summarize the literature, followed by presentation of the results and identification of the key learning. We identify that emancipatory models of education can encourage recognition of learners’ different strengths and can help to assist social work students’ readiness for practice. Finally, we acknowledge the need for cost-benefit outcomes research into if and how citizen coproduction influences subsequent service delivery

Challenges and barriers for first-year home and international students in Higher Education in the UK and Ireland: A scoping review

The challenges and barriers that occur when transitioning to university are widely acknowledged within the Higher Education (HE) sector (Thompson et al., 2021). Previous literature has focused extensively on the importance of breaking down barriers and cultivating a sense of belonging in order to generate student success (Daniels & McNeela, 2021; Thompson et al., 2021). There is also considerable research and literature surrounding the challenges and barriers that international students face (Gbadamosi, 2018). However, the direct comparisons between the challenges and barriers faced by home students and international students are less prominently researched. This scoping review aims to fill this gap by gathering literature on this topic and highlighting the similarities and differences between the challenges and barriers home and international students encounter

Using powerlifting athletes to determine strength adaptations across ages in males and females: a longitudinal growth modelling approach

Introduction: Several retrospective studies of strength sport athletes have reported strength adaptations over months to years; however, such adaptations are not linear. Methods: We explored changes in strength over time in a large, retrospective sample of powerlifting (PL) athletes. Specifically, we examined the rate and magnitude of strength adaptation based on age category and weight class for PL competition total, and the squat, bench press, and deadlift, respectively. Mixed effects growth modelling was performed for each operationalised performance outcome (squat, bench press, deadlift, and total) as the dependent variables, with outcomes presented on both the raw, untransformed time scale and on the common logarithmic scale. Additionally, the fitted values were rescaled as a percentage. Results: Collectively, the greatest strength gains were in the earliest phase of PL participation (~ 7.5–12.5% increase in the first year, and up to an ~ 20% increase after 10 years). Females tended to display faster progression, possibly because of lower baseline strength. Additionally, female Masters 3 and 4 athletes (> 59 years) still displayed ~ 2.5–5.0% strength improvement, but a slight strength loss was observed in Masters 4 (> 69 years) males (~ 0.35%/year). Conclusion: Although directly applicable to PL, these findings provide population-level support for the role of consistent and continued strength training to improve strength across the age span and, importantly, to mitigate, or at least largely attenuate age-related declines in strength compared to established general population norms. This information should be used to encourage participation in strength sports, resistance training more generally, and to support future public health messaging

Barriers to personal protective equipment use among international seafarers: a UK perspective

Working at sea remains one of the most dangerous occupations and the workplace is geographically mobile, operating in internationalised, de-nationalised and national waters. This paper explores the barriers associated with the use of personal protective equipment by those who work at sea. One-hundred and six seafarers of various nationalities completed an online questionnaire. The findings revealed that seafarers found various items of personal protective equipment to be ill-fitting, with women seafarers particularly likely to experience equipment which does not fit correctly. Participants also reported issues associated with the availability of well-fitting personal protective equipment, compounded by their geographically remote mobile workplaces. This paper serves as a benchmark, highlighting the experiences of those who work at sea prior to the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention amendments on personal protective equipment and shows the clear need for such regulation given shipping companies prioritisation of profit over worker safety

Gaining more from doing less? The effects of a one-week deload period during supervised resistance training on muscular adaptations

Background Based on emerging evidence that brief periods of cessation from resistance training (RT) may re-sensitize muscle to anabolic stimuli, we aimed to investigate the effects of a 1-week deload interval at the midpoint of a 9-week RT program on muscular adaptations in resistance-trained individuals. Methods Thirty-nine young men (n = 29) and women (n = 10) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 experimental, parallel groups: An experimental group that abstained from RT for 1 week at the midpoint of a 9-week, high-volume RT program (DELOAD) or a traditional training group that performed the same RT program continuously over the study period (TRAD). The lower body routines were directly supervised by the research staff while upper body training was carried out in an unsupervised fashion. Muscle growth outcomes included assessments of muscle thickness along proximal, mid and distal regions of the middle and lateral quadriceps femoris as well as the mid-region of the triceps surae. Adaptions in lower body isometric and dynamic strength, local muscular endurance of the quadriceps, and lower body muscle power were also assessed. Results Results indicated no appreciable differences in increases of lower body muscle size, local endurance, and power between groups. Alternatively, TRAD showed greater improvements in both isometric and dynamic lower body strength compared to DELOAD. Additionally, TRAD showed some slight psychological benefits as assessed by the readiness to train questionnaire over DELOAD. Conclusion In conclusion, our findings suggest that a 1-week deload period at the midpoint of a 9-week RT program appears to negatively influence measures of lower body muscle strength but has no effect on lower body hypertrophy, power or local muscular endurance

A multi-attribute-based data forwarding scheme for delay tolerant networks

Routing in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs) is a challenging problem due to the absence of an end-to-end path between source-destination pairs of nodes, as well as limited resources on each node such as remaining energy levels or buffer space. The majority of existing DTN forwarding schemes mostly forward messages based on the node’s past encountered record to more popular nodes in order to maximize delivery ratio and reduce delivery delay, but do not take into consideration the energy and buffer utilization concurrently when selecting relay nodes. Additionally, forwarding a greater number of messages to a few popular nodes can easily cause early resource exhaustion, leading to more message delay or loss. To address this issue, we propose a new message forwarding scheme that considers the current service level, available buffer space, and remaining energy level of nodes to choose the most suitable relay nodes for message forwarding with the goal of achieving a desired delivery ratio within the deadline. Through a performance evaluation, we demonstrate that our proposed routing approach performs better than comparable routing schemes in terms of message delivery ratio before deadline expiration and the number of dead nodes, especially in scenarios where nodes have limited resources such as energy and storage capacity

Museum-based art therapy and wellbeing programme: experiences of veterans with PTSD

Background: Engaging in creative arts and heritage have both been shown to improve wellbeing.Aim: The aim of the current study was to explore veterans’ experiences of attending the Creative Wellbeing Programme (CWP) in a military museum.Methods: Seven veterans who attended the CWP programme were invited to share their experiences through a qualitative, semi-structured interview. The interview explored experiences of engaging in this type of programme and the impact this had on them. The interview was transcribed, and a thematic analysis was conducted.Results: Themes concerned three stages of involvement; Pre-programme, Programme experiences, and Post-programme. Pre-Programme themes concerned reasons for participation, pre-programmes feelings, hopes and expectations. Programme Experiences concerned general experiences, the role of social support, the role of the museum, and the art therapy process. Post-Programme themes concerned perceived outcomes. Overall, the museum created a relaxed and informal environment, and the familiar items in the museum stimulated the creative process. However, for some this led to disengagement due to fear that objects may prompt negative emotions.Conclusions: The findings suggest that engaging veterans in art therapy in a museum environment is beneficial. Future programmes should aim to focus on support post intervention.Implications: The study provides insight into the acceptability of art therapy within a military museum environment. It also adds to the growing international evidence concerning the role museums have in supporting mental health and wellbeing