Author Reply : The relationship between alcohol intake and falls

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Could obesity be linked to falls in older adults?

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Ethnic-specific Sociodemographic Factors as Determinants of Cognitive Performance : Cross-sectional Analysis of the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) Study Article

Acknowledgement We are grateful to Prof Dr Chin Ai Vyrn and Prof Dr Shahrul Bahyah Kamaruzzaman from Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya for their help in MELoR study. We also thank members of the Ageing and Age-Associated Disorders Research Group for helping with patient recruitment and data collectionPeer reviewedPostprin

Comparison of Signal Strength Prediction Models for Indoor-to-Outdoor and Outdoor-to-Indoor Wireless Communications

In wireless communication system, the propagation characteristics of the radio coverage areas such as indoor, outdoor, indoor-to-outdoor and outdoor-to-indoor are very important to acquire the accurate received signal strength. In this paper, the experiments are conducted for both indoor-to-outdoor and outdoor-to-indoor wireless communication environments to investigate how much the received signal strength values are different between them. To obtain the accurate received signal strength between the outdoor-to-indoor and indoor-to-outdoor areas, the COST 231 radio wave propagation model is extended by including additional path loss factors (Af) such as the building parameters, the heights of the transmitter and receiver, the distance between the transmitter and the receiver for each scenario. The proposed received signal strength prediction models for indoor-to-outdoor and outdoor-to-indoor wireless communication are validated by comparing with the experimental and predicted the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values. According to the comparison results, the received signal power from the outdoor to indoor communication is higher than that of indoor-to-outdoor ones about -2 dBm or -3 dBm

Blood pressure variability and cognitive function : A scoping review

Acknowledgements The Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) study is now part of the Transforming Cognitive Frailty into Later Life Self-Sufficiency (AGELESS) longitudinal cohort study, currently funded by the Ministry of Higher Education Long Term Research Grant Scheme (LRGS/1/2019/UM/01/1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPostprin

Orientation and verbal fluency in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing: modifiable risk factors for falls?

Objectives:To determine the relationship between falls and deficits in specific cognitive domains in older adults.Design:An analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) cohort.Setting:United Kingdom community-based.Participants:5197 community-dwelling older adults recruited to a prospective longitudinal cohort study.Measurements:Data on the occurrence of falls and number of falls, which occurred during a 12-month follow-up period, were assessed against the specific cognitive domains of memory, numeracy skills, and executive function. Binomial logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between each cognitive domain and the dichotomous outcome of falls in the preceding 12 months using unadjusted and adjusted models.Results:Of the 5197 participants included in the analysis, 1308 (25%) reported a fall in the preceding 12 months. There was no significant association between the occurrence of a fall and specific forms of cognitive dysfunction after adjusting for self-reported hearing, self-reported eyesight, and functional performance. After adjustment, only orientation (odds ratio [OR]: 0.80; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.65-0.98, p = 0.03) and verbal fluency (adjusted OR: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.96-1.00; p = 0.05) remained significant for predicting recurrent falls.Conclusions:The cognitive phenotype rather than cognitive impairment per se may predict future falls in those presenting with more than one fall

Increased beat-to-beat blood pressure variability is associated with impaired cognitive function

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful to Prof Dr Chin Ai Vyrn and Prof Dr Shahrul Bahyah Kamaruzzaman from Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya for their help in MELoR study. Ageing and Age Associated Disorders Research Group for helping with patient recruitment and data collection. SOURCE OF FUNDING The Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) study is now part of the Transforming Cognitive Frailty into Later Life Self-Sufficiency (AGELESS) longitudinal cohort study, currently funded by the Ministry of Higher Education Long Term Research Grant Scheme (LRGS/1/2019/UM/01/1).Peer reviewedPostprin

Enhancement of Cluster-based Routing Protocol with Parameters Consideration in Wireless Sensor Network

A wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of large number of battery operated sensor nodes which are generally deployed in different environments. These sensor nodes have limited energy to sense, process and transmit information. Therefore, there is a need to design an energy efficient routing protocol to extend the lifetime of a WSN. Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) protocols are considered to optimize the energy consumption. In this paper, a cluster based routing protocol called Enhancement of Cluster-based Routing Protocol with Parameter Consideration (ECRP-PC) is proposed, in which an assistant Cluster Head called Vice Cluster Head (VCH) is introduced in addition to Cluster Head (CH).  In a cluster, the node with the highest residual energy among all nodes is selected as the CH, and the node with second highest residual energy is selected by the CH as the VCH when the cluster head distance is longer than the specified distance. VCH will serve as a backup node of the CH. The selected VCH will be in a sleep mode as long as the energy of CH is above a threshold, and it will become active when the energy of CH is below a threshold. According to the results, the proposed ECRP-PC protocol is able to increase the average lifetime of nodes up to 56% compared to the original LEACH

ミヤンマ一連邦における稲遺伝資源の探索収集

Collaborative exploration between Japan and Myanmar was conducted in the Southern Shan state and the Magway and the Sagaing divisions in Myanmar from November 16 to December 15, 1999. Of the low land rice varieties cultivated in Myanmar, 80 percent have been improved varieties introduced from foreign countries in the past 2-3 years. In the Southern Shan state and the border area of the Magway division and the Chin state, such genetic erosion of landraces has also occurred but some landraces which have sticky eating quality adapting the favor of local peoples, have still remained. Though all of the upland varieties in the both areas are old landraces, there is a strong fear that they will be replaced to cash crops such as oil crops or pulses due to their low yielding ability. A total of 179 landraces and 20 wild relatives, including Oryza granulata, O. rufipogon and hybrids between O. rufipogon and O. sativa were collected. Particularly landraces of upland rice which are adapted to dry and cool weather conditions were found in mountainous regions. Some landraces were grown for their high quality of sticky and glutinous endosperms