Comparison of the Mini-Mental State Examination and Computerized Brief Cognitive Screening Test as Cognitive Screening Tools in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to establish the validity and reliability of the Computerized Brief Cognitive Screening Test (CBCog) for early detection of cognitive impairment. METHODS: One hundred and sixty participants, including community-dwelling and out-patient volunteers (both men and women) aged ≥ 65 years, were enrolled in the cross section study. All participants were screened using the CBCog and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The internal consistency of the CBCog was analyzed using Cronbach's α test. Areas under the curves (AUCs) of receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to test the predictive accuracy of the CBCog in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in order to set an appropriate cutoff point. RESULTS: The CBCog scores were positively correlated with the MMSE scores of patients with MCI-related dementia (r = 0.678, P < .001). The internal consistency of the CBCog (Cronbach's α) was 0.706. It was found that the CBCog with a cutoff point of 19/20 had a sensitivity of 97.5% and a specificity of 53.7% for the diagnosis of MCI with education level ≥ 6 years. The AUC of the CBCog for discriminating the normal control elderly from patients with MCI (AUC = 0.827, P < 0.001) was larger than that of the MMSE for discriminating the normal control elderly from patients with MCI (AUC= 0.819, P < .001). CONCLUSION: The CBCog demonstrated to have sufficient validity and reliability to evaluate mild cognitive impairment, especially in highly educated elderly people.

Optical design of automotive headlight system incorporating digital micromirror device.

In recent years, the popular adaptive front-lighting automobile headlight system has become a main emphasis of research that manufacturers will continue to focus great efforts on in the future. In this research we propose a new integral optical design for an automotive headlight system with an advanced light-emitting diode and digital micromirror device (DMD). Traditionally, automobile headlights have all been designed as a low beam light module, whereas the high beam light module still requires using accessory lamps. In anticipation of this new concept of integral optical design, we have researched and designed a single optical system with high and low beam capabilities. To switch on and off the beams, a DMD is typically used. Because DMDs have the capability of redirecting incident light into a specific angle, they also determine the shape of the high or low light beam in order to match the standard of headlight illumination. With collocation of the multicurvature reflection lens design, a DMD can control the light energy distribution and thereby reinforce the resolution of the light beam.