Development and validation of a screening instrument for cognitive fluctuation in patientswith neurocognitive disorder with Lewy bodies(NCDLB):the Mayo Fluctuations Scale-Thai version

Background Prevalence of neurocognitive disorder with Lewy bodies(NCDLB) is low in Asian populations, which may partially reflect its diagnostic difficulty. The Mayo Fluctuations Scale, a short questionnaire that evaluates cognitive fluctuation, has been shown to significantly differentiate NCDLB from Alzheimer's disease.Aim This study aimed to develop the Mayo Fluctuations Scale-Thai version and assess its validity to screen NCDLB in an elderly population.Methods The Mayo Ructuations Scale was translated into Thai. The process involved back-translation, cross-cultural adaptation, field testing of the prefinal version, as well as final adjustments. From all patients attending the Psychiatric and Memory Clinic at Ramathibodi Hospital, 135 patients accompanied by their primary caregivers were included.Caregivers were interviewed by research assistants using a four-item scale, and psychiatrists determined patients*diagnosis based on the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders(DSM)-5 criteria. Evaluations performed by psychiatrists and research assistants were blinded.Results Seventeen participants had been diagnosed with major NCDLB. At a cut-off score of 2 or over, the Mayo Fluctuations Scale exhibited excellent performance to differentiate major NCDLB from other major neurocognitive disorders(NCDs), with a sensitivity of 94.1%and a specificity of 71.4%, and acceptable performance to differentiate mild NCDLB from other mild NCDs, with a sensitivity of 60% and a specificity of 93.1 %.Conclusion The Mayo Fluctuations Scale-Thai version is an excellent screening tool for major NCDLB and an acceptable tool that may be used with other additional tests for mild NCDLB. The tool is practical for use in memory and psychiatric clinics. Further validation studies in participants with other specific clinical conditions are required.

Development and validation of a radiomics nomogram for preoperative prediction of lymph node metastasis in colorectal cancer

With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,the research team jointly led by Porf.Liu Zaiyi(刘再毅)at Guangdong General Hospital and Prof.Tian Jie(田捷)at the Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging,Chinese Academy of Sciences,developed a CT-based radiomics prediction model to preoperatively predict the lymph node metastasis in colorectal cancer(CRC),which was published

Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure STEM Undergraduate Students’ Comprehensive Educational Process

This study reports the development and validation of an instrument,“Undergraduate STEM Educational Process Questionnaire”(USEPQ)to assess the learning experiences of STEM(science,technology,engineering and mathematics)-major undergraduates from the perspective of a conceptualized comprehensive STEM educational process framework that consists of key essentials such as course learning and instruction,educational environment,assessment methods,and unique STEM attributes.Exploration Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis performed on independent samples indicate that the finalized 9-factor,41-item USEPQ possesses a stable factor structure and sound psychometric properties.The factors of the validated scale are Classroom Instruction of Courses,Support from Faculty Members,Alternative Assessment Methods,Cooperative Learning,Resources and Service,Academic Competition,Cross-discipline Features of Program Courses,Connectedness of Program Courses,and Examination Difficulty.

Towards Lessening Learners’Aversive Emotions and Promoting Their Mental Health:Developing and Validating a Measurement of English Speaking Demotivation in the Chinese EFL Context

While a plethora of studies has been conducted to explore demotivation and its impact on mental health in second language(L2)education,scanty research focuses on demotivation in L2 speaking learning.Particularly,little research explores the measures to quantify L2 speaking demotivation.The present two-phase study attempts to develop and validate an English Speaking Demotivation Scale(ESDS).To this end,an independent sample of 207 Chinese tertiary learners of English as a Foreign Language(EFL)participated in the development phase,and another group of 188 Chinese EFL learners was recruited for the validation of the scale.Exploratory Factor Analysis(EFA)and Confirmatory Factor Analysis(CFA)were employed to determine the factor structure of the scale.The EFA results revealed a six-factor solution with Teacher-related Factors in Learning Spoken English(TFLSE),Interest and Valence in Learning Spoken English(IVLSE),Self-efficacy in Learning Spoken English(SELSE),Negative Peer Influence in Learning Spoken English(NPILSE),Undesirable Environment for Learning Spoken English(UELSE),and Negative Influence of Assessment and Learning Materials in speaking class(NIALM).In the validation phase,Confirmatory Factor Analysis(CFA)was performed to validate the internal structure of the scale.The CFA results showed that the model fits the data well.Overall,the ESDS is a robust and trustworthy psychometric tool that could be utilized to examine L2 speaking demotivation.Implications for diminishing EFL learners’demotivation,lessening their aversive emotions and promoting their mental health are also discussed.