An investigation of the relationship between cyberbullying, cybervictimization and depression symptoms: A cross sectional study among university students in Qatar

Background Cyberbullying is a modern form of bullying that could be practiced electronically or on the internet. It is related to different mental health issues such as depression, which can affect both the cyberbully and the victim. Although a few studies have been conducted regarding the prevalence of cyberbullying and cyber-victimization among the younger generation in Qatar, no studies have been conducted among young adults despite studies showing that they are also prone to cyberbullying. Methods This is a cross-sectional study to investigate the prevalence and the relationship between cyberbullying, cyber-victimization, and depression symptoms among Qatar University students. A self-administered close-ended electronic questionnaire was used to assess student's cyberbullying/cyber-victimization behaviors and depression symptoms. The Revised Cyberbullying Inventory scale (RCBI-II) and Patient Health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were utilized to measure involvement in cyberbullying and depression symptoms, respectively. A total of 836 students participated in the study. Pearson Chi-Square test and binary logistic regression were conducted to analyze the data. Results Results indicated the majority of students have been involved in cyberbullying as follows: 6.8% cyberbullies, 29.2% cybervictims, 35.8% cyberbully-victims, and 28.2% not involved in either. Approximately 50% of the students scored a ten or higher on the PHQ9 test indicating symptoms of depression. Moreover, significant associations were found between cyberbullying experiences and gender (p = 0.03), depression and gender (p = 0.046), and between cyberbullying experiences and depression (p<0.001). Conclusion Our findings indicate that among Qatar University students, cyberbullying and cyber-victimization are prevalent behaviors that could be associated with the high reported rates of depression symptoms

Assessment of Knowledge, Practice and Attitude about Biomedical Waste Management among Healthcare Professionals during COVID-19 Crises in Al-Ahsa

Biomedical waste (BMW) management is an essential practice of healthcare professionals (HCPs) for preventing health and also environmental hazards. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic, posing significant challenges for healthcare sectors. A cross-sectional study was performed to assess the knowledge, practice, and attitude on BMW management among HCPs when taking care of patients with COVID-19 and associated with demographic variables. From Al-Ahsa healthcare sectors, 256 HCPs were selected randomly, of which 105 (41%) had excellent knowledge, 87 (34%) had good knowledge, and 64 (25%) had poor knowledge with a mean score of 13.1 ± 3.6. A higher mean score was (14.4 ± 3.2) obtained by physicians, and (13.6 ± 3.8) nurses than the other HCPs. Regarding practice, 72 (28.1%) HCPs used and discarded PPE while handling biomedical wastes. Additionally, 88 (34.4%) followed proper hand hygiene before and after each procedure and whenever needed. Physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists had a more favorable attitude than other HCPs. There was a statistically significant association found among knowledge level and educational qualification (p &lt; 0.0001), gender (p &lt; 0.001), and work experience (p &lt; 0.05). Emphasis is needed to train all HCPs regarding proper BMW management during this pandemic to prevent infection transmission

Towards Reliable and Energy-Efficient Incremental Cooperative Communication for Wireless Body Area Networks

In this study, we analyse incremental cooperative communication for wireless body area networks (WBANs) with different numbers of relays. Energy efficiency (EE) and the packet error rate (PER) are investigated for different schemes. We propose a new cooperative communication scheme with three-stage relaying and compare it to existing schemes. Our proposed scheme provides reliable communication with less PER at the cost of surplus energy consumption. Analytical expressions for the EE of the proposed three-stage cooperative communication scheme are also derived, taking into account the effect of PER. Later on, the proposed three-stage incremental cooperation is implemented in a network layer protocol; enhanced incremental cooperative critical data transmission in emergencies for static WBANs (EInCo-CEStat). Extensive simulations are conducted to validate the proposed scheme. Results of incremental relay-based cooperative communication protocols are compared to two existing cooperative routing protocols: cooperative critical data transmission in emergencies for static WBANs (Co-CEStat) and InCo-CEStat. It is observed from the simulation results that incremental relay-based cooperation is more energy efficient than the existing conventional cooperation protocol, Co-CEStat. The results also reveal that EInCo-CEStat proves to be more reliable with less PER and higher throughput than both of the counterpart protocols. However, InCo-CEStat has less throughput with a greater stability period and network lifetime. Due to the availability of more redundant links, EInCo-CEStat achieves a reduced packet drop rate at the cost of increased energy consumption

Two Hop Adaptive Vector Based Quality Forwarding for Void Hole Avoidance in Underwater WSNs

Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) facilitate a wide range of aquatic applications in various domains. However, the harsh underwater environment poses challenges like low bandwidth, long propagation delay, high bit error rate, high deployment cost, irregular topological structure, etc. Node mobility and the uneven distribution of sensor nodes create void holes in UWSNs. Void hole creation has become a critical issue in UWSNs, as it severely affects the network performance. Avoiding void hole creation benefits better coverage over an area, less energy consumption in the network and high throughput. For this purpose, minimization of void hole probability particularly in local sparse regions is focused on in this paper. The two-hop adaptive hop by hop vector-based forwarding (2hop-AHH-VBF) protocol aims to avoid the void hole with the help of two-hop neighbor node information. The other protocol, quality forwarding adaptive hop by hop vector-based forwarding (QF-AHH-VBF), selects an optimal forwarder based on the composite priority function. QF-AHH-VBF improves network good-put because of optimal forwarder selection. QF-AHH-VBF aims to reduce void hole probability by optimally selecting next hop forwarders. To attain better network performance, mathematical problem formulation based on linear programming is performed. Simulation results show that by opting these mechanisms, significant reduction in end-to-end delay and better throughput are achieved in the network

Exploiting heuristic algorithms to efficiently utilize energy management controllers with renewable energy sources

In this paper, we comparatively evaluate the performance of home energy management controller which is designed on the basis of heuristic algorithms; genetic algorithm (GA), binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) and ant colony optimization (ACO). In this regard, we introduce a generic architecture for demand side management (DSM) which integrates residential area domain with smart area domain via wide area network. In addition, problem formulation is carried via multiple knapsack problem. For energy pricing, combined model of time of use tariff and inclined block rates is used. Simulation results show that all designed models for energy management act significantly to achieve our objections and proven as a cost-effective solution to increase sustainability of smart grid. GA based energy management controller performs more efficiently than BPSO based energy management controller and ACO based energy management controller in terms of electricity bill reduction, peak to average ratio minimization and user comfort level maximization

Additional file 1: of Pulmonary rehabilitation and cardiovascular risk in COPD: a systematic review

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Realistic Scheduling Mechanism for Smart Homes

In this work, we propose a Realistic Scheduling Mechanism (RSM) to reduce user frustration and enhance appliance utility by classifying appliances with respective constraints and their time of use effectively. Algorithms are proposed regarding functioning of home appliances. A 24 hour time slot is divided into four logical sub-time slots, each composed of 360 min or 6 h. In these sub-time slots, only desired appliances (with respect to appliance classification) are scheduled to raise appliance utility, restricting power consumption by a dynamically modelled power usage limiter that does not only take the electricity consumer into account but also the electricity supplier. Once appliance, time and power usage limiter modelling is done, we use a nature-inspired heuristic algorithm, Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO), optimally to form schedules with given constraints representing each sub-time slot. These schedules tend to achieve an equilibrium amongst appliance utility and cost effectiveness. For validation of the proposed RSM, we provide a comparative analysis amongst unscheduled electrical load usage, scheduled directly by BPSO and RSM, reflecting user comfort, which is based upon cost effectiveness and appliance utility

Inflammation and Treatment-Resistant Depression from Clinical to Animal Study: A Possible Link?

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and inflammation in humans and experimental models. For the human study, a retrospective cohort study was conducted with 206 participants; half were on antidepressants for major depressive disorder. The patients were divided into healthy and depressed groups. Inflammation was assessed based on the values of the main inflammatory biomarkers (CRP, WBC and ESR). For the animal experiments, 35 adult male Wistar rats were assigned to stressed and non-stressed groups. Inflammation and stress were induced using lipopolysaccharide and chronic unpredictable mild stress. A 10 mg/kg intraperitoneal injection of fluoxetine (FLX), a known antidepressant, was simultaneously administered daily for 4 weeks. Behavioral tests were performed. The plasma levels of inflammatory and stress biomarkers were measured and were significantly higher in the stressed and non-responsive groups in both studies. This study provides evidence of the link between inflammation and TRD. We further observed a possible link via the Phosphorylated Janus Kinase 2 and Phosphorylated Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (P-JAK2/P-STAT3) signaling pathway and found that chronic stress and high inflammation hinder the antidepressant effects of FLX. Thus, non-response to antidepressants could be mitigated by treating inflammation to improve the antidepressant effect in patients with TRD

Burnout, Resilience, Supervisory Support, and Quitting Intention among Healthcare Professionals in Saudi Arabia: A National Cross-Sectional Survey

Although personal resilience and supervisory support are known to reduce the impact of burnout and quitting intention, there is limited data available to explore these relationships among healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of burnout and explore its association with resilience, supervisory support, and intention to quit among Saudi Arabian HCPs. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was distributed to a convenience sample of HCPs between April and November 2022. Participants responded to socio-demographic questions, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel (MBI-HSS (MP)), the Connor-Davidson resilience scale 10 (CD-RISC 10), and the Perceived of Supervisor Support Scale (PSS). Descriptive, inferential, correlation, and logistic regression tests were performed for data analyses. Results: Of the 1174 HCPs included in the analysis, 77% were presented with high burnout levels: 58% with emotional exhaustion (EE), 72% with depersonalization (DP), and 66% with low personal accomplishment (PA). Females were associated with increased odds of burnout (OR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.04&ndash;2.06) compared to males. Burnout and its subscales were associated with higher intention to leave practice, with 33% of HCPs considering quitting their jobs. Furthermore, HCPs reported a low resilience score overall, and negative correlations were found between EE (r = &minus;0.21; p &lt; 0.001) and DP (r = &minus;0.12; p &lt; 0.01), and positive correlation with low PA (r = 0.38; p &lt; 0.001). In addition, most HCPs perceived supervisory support as low, and it is associated with increased burnout and quitting intention. Conclusion: Burnout is common among HCPs across all clinical settings and is associated with higher intention to quit and low resilience and supervisory support. Workplace management should provide a supportive workplace to reduce burnout symptoms and promote resiliency