Automatic assessment of patient eligibility by utilizing NLP and rule-based analysis.

Assessment of patient eligibility is an essential process in the clinical trial but there are a lot of manual processes involved. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a promising technique to automate analysing of the massive volume of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) hence it can assist in the assessment of patient eligibility, especially in clinical trials that require complex inclusion/exclusion criteria. In this paper, we proposed a hybrid model which utilized both rule-based and NLP technologies to automate the assessment of patient eligibility.

Correction: Aung et al. Air Permeability, Shock Absorption Ability, and Flexural Strength of 3D-Printed Perforated ABS Polymer Sheets with 3D-Knitted Fabric Cushioning for Sports Face Guard Applications. 2021, , 1879.

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Air Permeability, Shock Absorption Ability, and Flexural Strength of 3D-Printed Perforated ABS Polymer Sheets with 3D-Knitted Fabric Cushioning for Sports Face Guard Applications.

Sports face guards (FGs) are devices that protect athletes from maxillofacial injury or ensure rapid return to play following orofacial damage. Conventional FGs are uncomfortable to wear owing to stuffiness caused by poor ventilation and often slip off due to increase in weight due to absorption of moisture from perspiration, lowering players' performance. Herein, combinations of 3D-printed perforated acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymer sheets and 3D-knitted fabrics with honeycomb structures as cushioning materials were investigated to balance better wearing feel and mechanical properties.

Aging is associated with a prefrontal lateral-medial shift during picture-induced negative affect.

The capacity to adaptively respond to negative emotion is in part dependent upon lateral areas of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Lateral PFC areas are particularly susceptible to age-related atrophy, which affects executive function (EF). We used structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to test the hypothesis that older age is associated with greater medial PFC engagement during processing of negative information, and that this engagement is dependent upon the integrity of grey matter structure in lateral PFC as well as EF.

Vagal Recovery From Cognitive Challenge Moderates Age-Related Deficits in Executive Functioning.

Decline in executive functioning (EF) is a hallmark of cognitive aging. We have previously reported that faster vagal recovery from cognitive challenge is associated with better EF. This study examined the association between vagal recovery from cognitive challenge and age-related differences in EF among 817 participants in the Midlife in the U.

Monitoring cognitive functioning: psychometric properties of the brief test of adult cognition by telephone.

Assessment of cognitive functioning is an important component of telephone surveys of health. Previous cognitive telephone batteries have been limited in scope with a primary focus on dementia screening. The Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT) assesses multiple dimensions central for effective functioning across adulthood: episodic memory, working memory, reasoning, verbal fluency, and executive function.

Domestic violence against women on Yap, Federated States of Micronesia.

Anecdotally there are high rates of domestic violence in the small Micronesian State of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), but there have been no studies to quantify the prevalence or characteristics of domestic violence in Yap or in any other state of the FSM. A survey was administered to women at the Yap hospital and community health centers from February through June 2011. Survey data were on domestic violence, which was supplemented by a focus group to explore the issues involved in greater detail.

Biological correlates of adult cognition: midlife in the United States (MIDUS).

Multiple biological processes are related to cognitive impairment in older adults, but their combined impact on cognition in midlife is not known. Using an array of measurements across key regulatory physiological systems and a state-of-the-art cognition battery that is sensitive to early changes, in a large, national sample of middle-aged and older adults, we examined the associations of individual biological systems and a combined, multi-system index, allostatic load, with cognitive performance. Allostatic load was strongly inversely associated with performance in both episodic memory and executive function.

The association of cardiac vagal control and executive functioning--findings from the MIDUS study.

Cardiac vagal control (CVC), an index of parasympathetic contribution to cardiac regulation, has been linked to enhanced executive functioning (EF). However, findings to date have been based on small or unique samples. Additionally, previous studies assessed the CVC-EF link only during rest or recovery period from a cognitive challenge, but not during both states.

The effects of aging on auditory processing and cognition.

Purpose: To briefly summarize existing data on effects of aging on auditory processing and cognition.

Method: A narrative review summarized previously reported data on age-related changes in auditory processing and in cognitive processes with a focus on spoken language comprehension and memory. In addition, recent data on effects of lifestyle engagement on cognitive processes are reviewed.

Social strain and executive function across the lifespan: the dark (and light) sides of social engagement.

We investigated how the association between social strain and cognitive efficiency varies with task demands across adulthood, from latencies on simpler speeded tasks to tests involving executive function. Participants (N = 3280) were drawn from the MIDUS survey, a large, diverse national sample of adults who completed cognitive tests including speeded task-switching (Tun & Lachman, 2008, Developmental Psychology, 44, 1421). After controlling for demographic and health variables, we found that higher levels of reported social strain were associated with slower processing speed, particularly for the complex task-switching test relative to simpler speeded tests.

Palliative care and traditional practices of death and dying in Wa'ab (Yap Proper) and in the Outer Islands of Yap.

Background: Death remains one of the most important and significant activities in Yap, an event that involves the entire island. A death of a Yapese not only unites the family, it initiates a complex series of reaffirmed kinship ties, rituals and exchanges that refocus the entire community and create new social identities for the participants. How these ties, exchanges, and identities are changing due to new economic challenges and new social pressures were the focus of this preliminary study, which sought to document the resiliency or fragility of traditional structures, measured in the efforts around death and dying in Yap and to identify ways that the health care system can intervene to improve palliative care.

Word recognition within a linguistic context: effects of age, hearing acuity, verbal ability, and cognitive function.

Objective: Participants in traditional studies of the effects of context on spoken word recognition have been university undergraduates. When older adults have been included, they have typically been matched with these young adults for verbal ability or years of education. Although this may be a good strategy for eliminating confounding variables, it is not clear how results of these studies may extend to the general population of young and older adults.

Associations between cognitive function and naturally occurring daily cortisol during middle adulthood: timing is everything.

Objectives: We examined associations between cognitive function (CF) and the naturally occurring daily cortisol levels using data from the Midlife in the United States survey and the National Study of Daily Experiences.

Methods: A national sample of 1,500 (mean age = 57 years; range = 33-84, 56% female) completed a phone-based battery of cognitive tasks and 3-6 months later provided saliva samples upon waking, 30 min after waking, at lunch time, and at bedtime on 4 consecutive days.

Results: Higher CF, particularly executive function, was associated with healthier daily cortisol profiles, including a steeper diurnal cortisol slope, higher morning cortisol levels, and lower afternoon and evening cortisol levels.

Histories of social engagement and adult cognition: midlife in the U.S. study.

Objectives: To evaluate whether social contacts, support, and social strain/conflict are related to executive function and memory abilities in middle-age and older adults.

Methods: Longitudinal data on social contacts, support, and strain/conflict were examined in relation to executive function and memory at ages 35-85 years using data from the national Midlife in the U.S.

Response latencies in auditory sentence comprehension: effects of linguistic versus perceptual challenge.

Older adults with good hearing and with mild-to-moderate hearing loss were tested for comprehension of spoken sentences that required perceptual effort (hearing speech at lower sound levels), and two degrees of cognitive load (sentences with simpler or more complex syntax). Although comprehension accuracy was equivalent for both participant groups and for young adults with good hearing, hearing loss was associated with longer response latencies to the correct comprehension judgments, especially for complex sentences heard at relatively low amplitudes. These findings demonstrate the need to take into account both sensory and cognitive demands of speech materials in older adults' language comprehension.

The association between computer use and cognition across adulthood: use it so you won't lose it?

Understanding the association between computer use and adult cognition has been limited until now by self-selected samples with restricted ranges of age and education. Here we studied effects of computer use in a large national sample (N = 2,671) of adults aged 32-84, assessing cognition with the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (Tun & Lachman, 2005) and executive function with the Stop and Go Switch Task (Tun & Lachman, 2008). Frequency of computer activity was associated with cognitive performance after controlling for age, sex, education, and health status: That is, individuals who used the computer frequently scored significantly higher than those who seldom used the computer.

Fluid cognitive ability is associated with greater exposure and smaller reactions to daily stressors.

The authors of this study investigated whether fluid cognitive ability predicts exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors. A national sample of adults from the Midlife in the United States study and the National Study of Daily Experiences (N = 1,202) who had a mean age of 57 years (SD = 12; 56% women, 44% men) completed positive and negative mood reports as well as a stressor diary on 8 consecutive evenings via telephone. Participants also completed a telephone-based battery of tests measuring fluid cognitive ability.

Frequent cognitive activity compensates for education differences in episodic memory.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that frequent participation in cognitive activities can moderate the effects of limited education on cognitive functioning.

Design: A national study of adult development and aging, Midlife in the United States, with assessments conducted at the second wave of measurement in 2004-2006.

Setting: Assessments were made over the telephone (cognitive measures) and in a mail questionnaire (demographic variables, measures of cognitive and physical activity, and self-rated health).

Aging, hearing acuity, and the attentional costs of effortful listening.

A dual-task interference paradigm was used to investigate the effect of perceptual effort on recall of spoken word lists by young and older adults with good hearing and with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. In addition to poorer recall accuracy, listeners with hearing loss, especially older adults, showed larger secondary task costs while recalling the word lists even though the stimuli were presented at a sound intensity that allowed correct word identification. Findings support the hypothesis that extra effort at the sensory-perceptual level attendant to hearing loss has negative consequences to downstream recall, an effect that may be further magnified with increased age.

Monotic auditory processing disorder tests in the older adult population.

The purpose of this study was to determine if peripheral hearing loss of varying degrees in elderly subjects affected performance on monotic auditory processing disorder (APD) tests. A battery of monotic APD tests was administered to a group of well-educated and high-functioning older adults who were divided into three subgroups based on hearing acuity but similar in age: (1) normal hearing out to 4000 Hz with a slight high-frequency slope above that point, (2) normal hearing in the speech range but greater high-frequency loss (sloping configuration), and (3) hearing loss in both the low and high frequencies (low/high). The findings documented that subjects with normal hearing in the speech range performed well on all the APD tests.

Age differences in reaction time and attention in a national telephone sample of adults: education, sex, and task complexity matter.

This study demonstrated effects of age, education, and sex on complex reaction time in a large national sample (N = 3,616) with a wide range in age (32-85) and education. Participants completed speeded auditory tasks (from the MIDUS [Midlife in the U.S.

Cognitive supports and cognitive constraints on comprehension of spoken language.

Although comprehension of spoken language is ordinarily conducted without apparent effort, it is among the most complex of human activities. We illustrate this complexity by outlining the operations involved at the perceptual, attentional, and linguistic levels necessary for successful comprehension of speech in sentences and discourse. We describe how challenges to speech comprehension imposed by hearing loss and cognitive limitations in the capacity of attentional and working memory resources can be counterbalanced to a significant degree by utilization of linguistic knowledge and contextual support, including the use of naturally-occurring speech prosody.