Physical Activity Practice and Healthy Lifestyles Related to Resting Heart Rate in Health Sciences First-Year Students

Efficient use of binned data for imputing univariate time series data

Time series data are recorded in various sectors, resulting in a large amount of data. However, the continuity of these data is often interrupted, resulting in periods of missing data. Several algorithms are used to impute the missing data, and the performance of these methods is widely varied. Apart from the choice of algorithm, the effective imputation depends on the nature of missing and available data. We conducted extensive studies using different types of time series data, specifically heart rate data and power consumption data. We generated the missing data for different time spans and imputed using different algorithms with binned data of different sizes. The performance was evaluated using the root mean square error (RMSE) metric. We observed a reduction in RMSE when using binned data compared to the entire dataset, particularly in the case of the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. We found that RMSE was reduced when using binned data for 1-, 5-, and 15-min missing data, with greater reduction observed for 15-min missing data. We also observed the effect of data fluctuation. We conclude that the usefulness of binned data depends precisely on the span of missing data, sampling frequency of the data, and fluctuation within data. Depending on the inherent characteristics, quality, and quantity of the missing and available data, binned data can impute a wide variety of data, including biological heart rate data derived from the Internet of Things (IoT) device smartwatch and non-biological data such as household power consumption data.

Selected morphological, cardiovascular and neuromuscular risk profiles among asymptomatic sedentary men performing Islamic prayer

Background

This study investigated morphological, cardiovascular and neuromuscular profiles among asymptomatic sedentary men performing the Islamic prayer (Salaah). This study emphasised the need for an inquiry into unique sedentary populations who perform Islamic prayer as physical activity.

Methods

An experimental study was conducted among male participants (n=20). Resting heart rate (RHR), resting systolic blood pressure (SBP), resting diastolic blood pressure (DBP), body mass index (BMI) and percentage body fat (BF%) were measured before a timed Salaah simulation activity. Electromyography (EMG) of the vastus medialis oblique (VMO) was measured for maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) and two movement transitions of the Islamic prayer (Salaah). Bilateral manual muscle strength (MMT) testing was also completed. Inferential and descriptive statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (IBM, V.27.0). Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to determine statistically significant relationships between variables. The level of significance was set at p<0.05.

Results

Negative correlations between post-Salaah SBP and MVC average (r=-0.19; p=0.42) and between the post-Salaah DBP and the MVC average (r=-0.40; p=0.08) were not significant. Weak correlations were found between the MVC average and the right (r=0.14; p=0.56) and left (r=0.18; p=0.44) quadriceps femoris MMT values.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that individuals who performed the Salaah were reasonably healthy in terms of BMI, BF%, RHR, resting SBP, resting DBP, MMT and MVC average values. The study further demonstrated the electromyographic activity of the VMO muscle through the Salaah for two movement transitions of the prayer. Verily, this demonstrates preliminary evidence of EMG activity for the VMO muscle in those who perform the Salaah.

Dietary Knowledge and Eating Habits among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Lebanon

Little is known about the dietary knowledge (DK) and eating habits (EHs) of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Lebanon. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the DK and EH of the population with T2D and determine their associated factors. A cross-sectional survey enrolling 351 patients with T2D was carried out, using the snowball sampling technique. The survey used the UK Diabetes and Diet Questionnaire and the Dietary Knowledge questionnaire to assess participants' EH including the frequency of consumption of certain foods and their knowledge of food groups and food choices. While a higher DK index indicated better knowledge, a higher EH index indicated less healthy EH. Independent sample T-test and Mann-Whitney test were used for dichotomous variables, and ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for polytomous variables. Correlation analysis tested the association between two continuous variables. Two multiple linear regression models were used to identify factors associated with DK and EH. Overall, 67% of participants had good or adequate DK, and around 25% and 75% of them had healthy and less healthy EH, respectively. Better knowledge was significantly related to occupation, BMI, presence of comorbidities, and HbA1c testing during the last 3 months. Higher family income, physical activity, family history of diabetes, receiving help in medication administration from family or friends, and higher DK level were factors associated with healthier EH. Nutrition education and awareness campaigns aimed at patients and their families are needed to empower patients with adequate DK and skills to facilitate the adoption of healthy EH.

Psychometric properties of the barriers self-efficacy scale for physical activity–Korean

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Barriers Self-Efficacy Scale-Physical Activity for Korean-speaking adults with osteoarthritis at risk for metabolic syndrome (N = 150). Factor analysis identified three dimensions of the Korean Barriers scale, explaining 65.9 % of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the structural validity adequately fits the data. Construct validity confirmed significant associations between the amount of physical activity and psychological variables. The test-retest reliability was 0.87; the alpha was 0.90. The standardized response mean (0.497) indicated responsiveness to medium-magnitude change. The Korean Barriers scale can assess self-efficacy to engage in regular physical activity in clinical settings.