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Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at a high risk of developing future dementia. However, early identification and active intervention could potentially reduce its morbidity and the incidence of dementia. Functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been proposed as a noninvasive modality for detecting oxygenation changes in the time‐varying hemodynamics of the prefrontal cortex. This study sought to provide an effective method for detecting patients with MCI using fNIRS and the Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) to evaluate changes in blood oxygenation. The results revealed that all groups with a lower mini‐mental state examination grade had a higher increase in HHb concentration during a modified WCST (MCST). The increase in the change in oxygenated hemoglobin concentration in the stroke group was smaller than that in the normal group due to weak cerebrovascular reactivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoporosis is a prevalent chronic disease worldwide, particularly affecting the aging population. The gold standard diagnostic tool for osteoporosis is Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA). However, the expensive cost of the DXA machine and the need for skilled professionals to operate it restrict its accessibility to the general public. This paper builds upon previous research and proposes a novel approach for rapidly screening bone density. The method involves utilizing near-infrared light to capture local body information within the human body. Deep learning techniques are employed to analyze the obtained data and extract meaningful insights related to bone density. Our initial prediction, utilizing multi-linear regression, demonstrated a strong correlation (r = 0.98, p-value = 0.003**) with the measured Bone Mineral Density (BMD) obtained from Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA). This indicates a highly significant relationship between the predicted values and the actual BMD measurements. A deep learning-based algorithm is applied to analyze the underlying information further to predict bone density at the wrist, hip, and spine. The prediction of bone densities in the hip and spine holds significant importance due to their status as gold-standard sites for assessing an individual's bone density. Our prediction rate had an error margin below 10% for the wrist and below 20% for the hip and spine bone density., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a vascular abnormality characterized by progressive narrowing of the internal carotid, middle, anterior and posterior cerebral arteries and the development of basal collaterals forming the classic angiographic appearance-moyamoya. Protein C (PC) and its cofactor, protein S (PS), which are vitamin-K dependent, act as inhibitors of coagulation cascade by inactivating factor Va and factor VIIIa and facilitating thrombolysis. Deficiencies of these proteins leading to a prothrombotic state increase the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular accident. Herein we report a 3-year-old girl, who had an acute onset of right-side hemiparesis during an episode of herpetic gingivostomatitis. She was noted to have moyamoya syndrome in the angiographic examination and was later proved to have inherited deficiencies of both PC and PS. She received warfarin medical treatment and then bilateral encephalo-duro-arterio-synangiosis (EDAS) and encephalo-myo-synangiosis (EMS) due to neurological deterioration and is now under the use of low molecular weight heparin for preventing further ischemic stroke. The motor deterioration improved after medical and surgical intervention. We conclude that coagulopathy like PC or PS deficiency should be considered in children presenting with moyamoya syndrome.