Annual societal cost of Alzheimer's disease in Malaysia: a micro-costing approach.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is expected to have a significant impact on resource use and economic consequences along with population aging. This study aims to investigate the annual economic burden of Alzheimer's disease along with underlying cost drivers.

Methodology: Patients with AD aged 65 and above accompanied with primary caregivers were recruited in 6 tertiary care hospitals.

Developing a Delphi consensus on the domains and conduct of brief geriatric assessments in Singapore.

Background: Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is a process supporting a multidimensional assessment of the health and well-being of older adults and leads to the development of long-term personalized care plans. CGA is resource intensive, hence shorter forms such as brief geriatric assessments (BGA) could be alternatives. However, little is known about BGA's implementability in community and primary care settings.

Development and Evaluation of the Antibacterial Properties of an Experimental Herbal Gel Against Cariogenic Bacteria.

Background: Recently, products with antibacterial properties derived from medicinal plants have increased as an alternative to conventional drugs. Thus, this study aimed to formulate and evaluate the antibacterial activity of an experimental gel based on Grindelia tarapacana essential oil in a bacterial consortium.

Material And Methods: The composition of the essential oil (EO) was determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

A comparison of the response-pattern-based faking detection methods.

The covariance index method, the idiosyncratic item response method, and the machine learning method are the three primary response-pattern-based (RPB) approaches to detect faking on personality tests. However, less is known about how their performance is affected by different practical factors (e.g.

Gait speed assessment in confined spaces: Development of a novel automated 4-m static-start test to measure dynamic-start gait speed.

Objectives: To promote standardization and feasible measurements of gait speed across the field, we developed a device that used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology to measure gait speed from a standing-start testing procedure conducted on a 4-m total walkway. We compared this automated (LiDAR-based) standing-start 4-m gait speed test (AS-4MG) with automated and manual (stopwatch-based) dynamic-start 4-m gait speed tests (AD-4MG and MD-4MG, respectively) on between-method agreement, measurement repeatability, and predictive validity with functional outcomes.

Methods: A sample of 48 community-dwelling adults (mean [SD], 69 [9] years) participated in this method comparison study.

Optimising dementia screening in community-dwelling older adults: A rapid review of brief diagnostic tools in Singapore.

Introduction: Timely detection of dementia enables early access to dementia-specific care services and interventions. Various stakeholders brought together to refine Singapore's dementia care strategy identified a lack of a standardised cognitive screening tool and the absence of a comparative review of existing tools. We hence conducted a rapid review to evaluate the diagnostic performance of brief cognitive screening tools in identifying possible dementia among community-dwelling older adults in Singapore.

Why misinformation must not be ignored.

Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g.

Single and Dual Task Gait Speed in Frailty Screening of Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Objective: This study compares dual task (DT) gait speed between robust and frail older adults in the setting of a community-based frailty screening program.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving older adults aged 50 years or older. Participants were categorized as robust, pre-frail or frail using the FRAIL phenotype.

Effect of screw placement order on range of proximal tibial fragment rotation adjustment and osteotomy gap formation when using manual reduction during tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO).

Aim: To determine the optimal first proximal screw position which permits proximal tibial fragment rotation adjustment while minimising osteotomy gap formation when a manual reduction technique is used for TPLO in dogs.

Methods: TPLOs were performed on bone models using Synthes 3.5-mm TPLO implants with a jig but without the use of an anti-rotational pin.

Acid-sensing ion channel 1a promotes alcohol-associated liver disease in mice via regulating endoplasmic reticulum autophagy.

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a hepatocyte dysfunction disease caused by chronic or excessive alcohol consumption, which can lead to extensive hepatocyte necrosis and even liver failure. Currently, the pathogenesis of ALD and the anti-ALD mechanisms have not been fully elucidated yet. In this study, we investigated the effects of endoplasmic reticulum autophagy (ER-phagy) in ALD and the role of acid-sensing ion channel 1a (ASIC1a) in ER stress-mediated ER-phagy.

The Feasibility of Implementing the WHO Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) Framework in Singapore.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) introduced the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) approach to assist communities in evaluating the intrinsic capacities of older adults and proposing strategies to prevent, mitigate, or reverse declines. This study represents the inaugural attempt to assess intrinsic capacities among older adults in Singapore, aligning with the nation's Healthier Singapore (Healthier SG) initiative aimed at enhancing quality of life.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the feasibility of implementing Step 1 screening of the ICOPE framework, which assesses cognition, locomotion, vitality, psychological state, visual and auditory functions, within the Singapore context.

Automated speech recognition bias in personnel selection: The case of automatically scored job interviews.

Organizations, researchers, and software increasingly use automatic speech recognition (ASR) to transcribe speech to text. However, ASR can be less accurate for (i.e.

Associations of 2 Established Methods of Measuring Gait Speed and Sit-To-Stand Performance with Frailty and Life-Space Mobility in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Objectives: The 4-m gait speed (4mGS) and 10-m gait speed (10mGS) tests and the 30-second sit-to-stand (30sSTS) and 5-times sit-to-stand (5xSTS) tests are commonly used and advocated in consensus recommendations. We compared these tests on their predictive and clinical value concerning the risk of prefrailty/frailty and restricted life-space mobility (RLSM).

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Are automated video interviews smart enough? Behavioral modes, reliability, validity, and bias of machine learning cognitive ability assessments.

Automated video interviews (AVIs) that use machine learning (ML) algorithms to assess interviewees are increasingly popular. Extending prior AVI research focusing on noncognitive constructs, the present study critically evaluates the possibility of assessing cognitive ability with AVIs. By developing and examining AVI ML models trained to predict measures of three cognitive ability constructs (i.

A focus shift in the evaluation of misinformation interventions.

The proliferation of misinformation has prompted significant research efforts, leading to the development of a wide range of interventions. There is, however, insufficient guidance on how to evaluate these interventions. Here, we argue that researchers should consider not just the interventions' primary effectiveness but also ancillary outcomes and implementation challenges.

Why do understorey palm fruits turn from red to white and then black when ripe?

Becc., a tropical forest understorey palm, is observed to have fruits that appear red in colour when unripe, turning pink, then white, purple and finally black in colour as they ripen. We monitored 13 fruiting palms in rainforest fragments and recorded the consumption of fruits by animals via camera traps.

Thinking clearly about misinformation.

There is concern that many ills in Western societies are caused by misinformation. Some researchers argue that misinformation is merely a symptom, not a cause. This is a false dichotomy, and research should differentiate between dimensions of misinformation in these evaluations.

Killing Two Birds with One Stone: Accounting for Unfolding Item Response Process and Response Styles Using Unfolding Item Response Tree Models.

Two research streams on responses to Likert-type items have been developing in parallel: (a) unfolding models and (b) individual response styles (RSs). To accurately understand Likert-type item responding, it is vital to parse unfolding responses from RSs. Therefore, we propose the Unfolding Item Response Tree (UIRTree) model.

Effectiveness of a novel experimental herbal toothpaste against bacterial consortium associated with dental caries.

Background: To evaluate the effectiveness of an experimental toothpaste based on Juss. essential oil against a bacterial consortium associated with dental caries.

Material And Methods: The antibacterial activity of the essential oil was evaluated by the disk diffusion and microdilution tests against , and .

Olfactory Impairment and Frailty: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Olfactory impairment (OI) and frailty are prevalent conditions associated with aging, but studies investigating their association with each other have been discordant.

Objective: To summarize current evidence surrounding the association between OI and frailty.

Data Sources: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, SCOPUS, and CINAHL from inception to November 28, 2023.

The role and mechanism of SUMO modification in liver disease.

Liver disease affects millions of people in the world, and China has the highest prevalence of liver disease in the world. Small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) modification is a highly conserved post-translational modification of proteins. They are widely expressed in a variety of tissues, including the heart, liver, kidney and lung.