| Volume 30, Issue 1 | |
| Association Between Chronotype, Social Jetlag, Stress and Sleep in Bulgarian Sports Students | 5-12 |
| Mariya Zaharinova, Nikolay Zaekov, Milena Nikolova | |
| doi: 10.7546/ijba.2026.30.1.001029 | |
| [ +/- how to cite ][ +/- abstract ][ full text ] | |
| Mariya Zaharinova, Nikolay Zaekov, Milena Nikolova (2026) Association Between Chronotype, Social Jetlag, Stress and Sleep in Bulgarian Sports Students, Int J Bioautomation, 30 (1), 5-12, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2026.30.1.001029 | |
| Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between chronotype, stress, sleep and social jetlag (SJL) in Bulgarian sports students. In total, 29 male and female university students were surveyed using the Horne-Ostberg morningness-eveningness questionnaire, smart watch for measuring the peripheral skin temperature, perceived stress scale (PSS), Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and a self-report questionnaire to determine SJL. It was determined that 2 students were morning type (MT), 7 were evening type (ET) and 20 were intermediate type (IT). Temperature measurements confirmed that. Mann-Whitney U test showed an association between stress scores and gender groups, PSQI scores showed association with PSS groups, chronotype and SJL. Females were more stressed than males. Students with high SJL levels (n = 7) were ET (n = 5). In our sample ET (n = 7) were more than MT (n = 2). Usually athletes tend to be MT. Age has a great influence in chronotype expression. ET perceived more stress and experienced more frequent daytime dysfunction than MT and IT. Collectively, these results suggest that stress levels are higher when imbalance exists between more than one circadian rhythm disruption indicators. Also training schedules should be arranged when taking into account circadian preferences.
Keywords: Chronotype, Stress, Sleep, Athletes, Students | |
| Strategies to Increase, Engage and Maintain High-quality Members of a Skin Cancer Clinical Research Network in Australia | 13-30 |
| Elizabeth J. Paton, Anthony G. Shannon, Gerald B. Fogarty | |
| doi: 10.7546/ijba.2026.30.1.001074 | |
| [ +/- how to cite ][ +/- abstract ][ full text ] | |
| Elizabeth J. Paton, Anthony G. Shannon, Gerald B. Fogarty (2026) Strategies to Increase, Engage and Maintain High-quality Members of a Skin Cancer Clinical Research Network in Australia, Int J Bioautomation, 30 (1), 13-30, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2026.30.1.001074 | |
| Abstract: Introduction: Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer globally and it is increasing. In Australia, two in every three trials are investigator-initiated trials developed by clinical research networks (CRNs). CRN trials rely on the participation of high-quality members who are essential to drive the research program. Attracting and retaining high-quality CRNs members is important. Methods: Applying grounded theory, data from six mature Australian cancer CRNs were evaluated to identify, define and evaluate strategies that could be used to grow, engage and retain high-quality members to a new skin cancer CRN. The impact of the strategies influencing membership growth, engagement and retention were evaluated for impact. Data from websites, reports and communications was analysed. Results: The skin cancer CRN established in 2007. Membership grew annually. 14 strategies for membership growth, engagement and retention were identified, defined, evaluated and priority-ranked for impact. Conclusion: The skin cancer CRN now has 1 700+ high-quality, internationally representative members who conduct high-quality trials. Other organisations can build upon these strategies by continuing to invest in initiatives focussed on increasing and retaining high-quality members to ensure the efficient conduct of high-quality clinical research which may improve patient outcomes.
Keywords: Membership, Cancer, Clinical research networks, Clinical research, Australia | |
| Power-line Interference Elimination from ECG Signals Using Modified Notch Filtration: A Real Time Version | 31-46 |
| Georgy Mihov, Ivan Dotsinsky | |
| doi: 10.7546/ijba.2026.30.1.001136 | |
| [ +/- how to cite ][ +/- abstract ][ full text ] | |
| Georgy Mihov, Ivan Dotsinsky (2026) Power-line Interference Elimination from ECG Signals Using Modified Notch Filtration: A Real Time Version, Int J Bioautomation, 30 (1), 31-46, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2026.30.1.001136 | |
| Abstract: The traditional notch filtration (NF) seems to be appropriate for successfully suppressing the power-line interference (PLI) commonly encountered in electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings. However, this can be achieved by a very narrow bandwidth that does not correspond to the PLI variations inducing unacceptably long transition periods. The present study is based on previous works cited below, where the contaminated ECG recording is band-pass (BP) filtered, the introduced phase shift is compensated by a back filtration, and the ongoing first harmonic frequency is off-line determined by measuring the time between two consecutive zero-line crossings. The proposed in this paper methodology subjects the contaminated ECG recording to two-fold one-way BP filtration, the second one contributing to a more accurate first harmonic extraction. Further one, a more precise sinusoidal interpolation for zero-line crossing detection enables high fidelity calculation of the ongoing PLI first harmonic. The frequency deviation of the PLI is compensated by calculating the first derivative of the phase response of the two-fold BP filtration, and the amplitude variation of the PLI - by calculating the gain from the frequency response. The NF coefficients determined in this way are applied to the subsequent specific band-stop filtration of the ECG signals. Two additional problems are also studied and taken in consideration - the elimination of high-order harmonics in power-line interference and the procedure adaptation to low sampling rates. The experiments are carried out in MATLAB environment.
Keywords: ECG signals, Power line interference suppression, Unidirectional band pass filtration, Modified notch filtration, High harmonics | |
| Development of an Intelligent Meat Spoilage Detection and Grading System Using Particle Swarm Optimization-based Convolutional Neural Network | 47-66 |
| Isah Omeiza Rabiu, Adegoke Israel Adedolapo, Nuhu Bello Kontagora | |
| doi: 10.7546/ijba.2026.30.1.000987 | |
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| Isah Omeiza Rabiu, Adegoke Israel Adedolapo, Nuhu Bello Kontagora (2026) Development of an Intelligent Meat Spoilage Detection and Grading System Using Particle Swarm Optimization-based Convolutional Neural Network, Int J Bioautomation, 30 (1), 47-66, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2026.30.1.000987 | |
| Abstract: This research developed an intelligent meat spoilage and quality grading system using a particle swarm optimization-based convolutional neural network. It addressed the problems associated with the subjective manual assessment of meat quality and inefficient and expensive meat quality grading systems as well as the lack of a comprehensive dataset for meat quality detection. This research created a new dataset for meat spoilage and quality detection. Furthermore, a PSO-based convolutional neural network was trained with the new dataset for the classification and the grading of the meat. The Python code is then integrated into the Raspberry Pi 4 to make it a stand-alone system. Comparative analysis indicated that the PSO-based CNN performed better compared to the baseline CNN by 2.91% for accuracy, 2.49% for precision, 0.99% for F1-score, 1.87% for recall, 2.74% for specificity and 1.14% for sensitivity. The obtained results implied improved food safety in the food processing industry and retail environments. In addition, the intelligent system provides support to human experts for accurate assessment of meat quality.
Keywords: Particle swarm optimization, Convolutional neural network, Meat quality, Grading system | |
| Book Review. On Focus: Blockchain Integration | 67-74 |
| Ivan Popchev | |
| doi: 10.7546/ijba.2026.30.1.001139 | |
| [ +/- how to cite ][ +/- abstract ][ full text ] | |
| Ivan Popchev (2026) Book Review. On Focus: Blockchain Integration, Int J Bioautomation, 30 (1), 67-74, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2026.30.1.001139 | |
| Abstract:
Keywords: Book review |
Sponsored by National Science Fund of Bulgaria, Grant No КП-06-НП7/3, 2026
National Science Fund of Bulgaria is not responsible for the content of the materials.
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