Managing Cognitive Decline Through a Social Robot-Based Intervention: Protocol for the engAGE Proof of Concept and Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Dementia is challenging society in terms of the quality of life, the costs of health care systems, and caregivers' burden. Dementia is often preceded by a status of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), during which a healthy lifestyle and cognitive therapy seem to be effective in counteracting the decline.

Objective: The engAGE (Managing Cognitive Decline Through Theatre Therapy, Artificial Intelligence, and Social Robot-Driven Interventions) project aimed to build a technological platform to counteract cognitive decline in older adults with MCI through both cognitive therapy and lifestyle management.

A Dashboard for Managing an Ecosystem and People With Dementia: Protocol for a Healthy Ageing Ecosystem for People With Dementia (HAAL) International Feasibility Pilot Study.

Background: Dementia is a syndrome characterized by a wide spectrum of symptoms and needs. There is no cure for this syndrome, which represents a major challenge to society in terms of quality of life for those affected and in terms of workload and stress burden for those who take care of them.

Objective: The Healthy Ageing Ecosystem for People With Dementia (HAAL) aimed to improve the quality of life of both people with dementia and their formal caregivers (FCs) and informal caregivers (ICs) by providing a personalized set of devices to the person with dementia, along with a dashboard designed for caregivers to monitor and manage the older person.

Circulating Bacterial DNA as a Novel Blood-Based Biomarker in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM2): Results from the PROMOTERA Study.

Blood bacterial DNA (BB-DNA) has been identified as a novel biomarker for metabolic dysfunction, yet its relationship with epigenetic features in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) patients remains largely unexplored. This study investigated the relationship between BB-DNA and epigenetic, inflammatory, and aging-related markers in 285 elderly both with and without DM2. BB-DNA levels were higher in DM2 patients than in non-diabetic subjects, with the highest levels in those with severe renal impairment.

A scoring model integrating CXCL9, GDF15, FGF21, and NfL, predicts long-term mortality in type 2 diabetes: a retrospective study.

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a chronic metabolic disorder associated with aging, systemic inflammation, and increased long-term mortality. Identifying prognostic biomarkers may improve risk stratification and guide personalized interventions. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term prognostic value of circulating biomarkers related to inflammation, metabolic stress, and organ damage in individuals with T2D.

miRNome profile in blood samples upstream and downstream of the coronary lesion and arterial aortic root before and after angioplasty in subjects with chronic and acute coronary syndrome: A pilot observational study protocol (Plaque study).

Currently the mechanisms that lead an atherosclerotic plaque to become unstable and those that trigger the coagulative/thrombotic processes leading to acute coronary syndrome have yet to be clarified. It has been suggested a possible role of microRNAs in the physiopathology of the atherosclerotic process related to acute and chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy. However, no data exists on the correlation between microRNAs expression in coronary (upstream and downstream of the coronary lesion) and arterial (at the aortic root level) blood from patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and chronic coronary syndromes (CCS) before and after angioplasty.

The Silver Agri Age project in Italy: a Montessori-inspired social intervention with older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Single-group pre-post pilot study protocol.

Introduction: According to literature, an estimated percentage of 10-15% of people diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment each year develop Alzheimer's dementia. Prevention and non-pharmacological treatments play an important role in dealing with this emergency. In this regard, literature has highlighted how exposure to nature, participation in horticultural and cognitive activities, and adopting a Montessori approach are useful to counteract cognitive decline and promote well-being.

Predicting Hospitalization Length in Geriatric Patients Using Artificial Intelligence and Radiomics.

(1) Background: Predicting hospitalization length for COVID-19 patients is crucial for optimizing resource allocation and patient management. Radiomics, combined with machine learning (ML), offers a promising approach by extracting quantitative imaging features from CT scans. The aim of the present study is to use and adapt machine learning (ML) architectures, exploiting CT radiomics information, and analyze algorithms' capability to predict hospitalization at the time of patient admission.

Thoracic spinal anesthesia for laparoscopic peritoneal dialysis catheter placement in older high-risk end-stage kidney disease patients.

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheter placement is considered a controversial procedure in patients with a history of abdominal surgeries or peritonitis. In these subjects, video laparoscopic (VLS)-assisted placement under general anesthesia (GA) is the gold standard procedure. However, older multimorbid patients are at high risk for complications in GA.

miR-132-3p is down-regulated in plasma and CD171 extracellular vesicles isolated from patients with mild Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder in aging populations, demands minimally invasive biomarkers for early diagnosis and monitoring. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) show promise as such biomarkers. In this study, we examined the levels of five selected miRNAs, implicated in neurodegenerative processes, in plasma and neuron-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) from cognitively healthy controls (n = 5), and patients with mild (n = 10) and moderate AD (n = 10), stratified by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Triglyceride glucose index predicts long-term mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: The triglyceride glucose index (TyG index) is a marker of insulin resistance linked to the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in diverse populations. However, its long-term prognostic role in type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains underexplored. This study evaluated the predictive value of the TyG index for all-cause mortality and MACE in T2D over a period of more than 15 years.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging and 99Tc WBC-SPECT/CT Scanning in Differential Diagnosis between Osteomyelitis and Charcot Neuroarthropathy: A Case Series.

Background: Distinguishing between Charcot Neuroarthropathy (CN), osteomyelitis (OM), and CN complicated with superimposed OM in diabetic patients is crucial for the treatment choice. Given that current diagnostic methods lack specificity, advanced techniques, e.g.

Interactions between patterns of multimorbidity and functional status among hospitalized older patients: a novel approach using cluster analysis and association rule mining.

Background: Multimorbidity (MM) is generally defined as the presence of 2 or more chronic diseases in the same patient and seems to be frequently associated with frailty and poor quality of life. However, the complex interplay between MM and functional status in hospitalized older patients has not been fully elucidated so far. Here, we implemented a 2-step approach, combining cluster analysis and association rule mining to explore how patterns of MM and disease associations change as a function of disability.

DNA Methylation-derived biological age and long-term mortality risk in subjects with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) face an increased mortality risk, not fully captured by canonical risk factors. Biological age estimation through DNA methylation (DNAm), i.e.

Physical performance strongly predicts all-cause mortality risk in a real-world population of older diabetic patients: machine learning approach for mortality risk stratification.

Background: Prognostic risk stratification in older adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) is important for guiding decisions concerning advance care planning.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective longitudinal study was conducted in a real-world sample of older diabetic patients afferent to the outpatient facilities of the Diabetology Unit of the IRCCS INRCA Hospital of Ancona (Italy). A total of 1,001 T2D patients aged more than 70 years were consecutively evaluated by a multidimensional geriatric assessment, including physical performance evaluated using the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB).

Impact of a Discontinuous Training Program on Sedentary Behavior in Italian Type 2 Diabetes Older Patients: The Results of the TRIPL-A Randomized Controlled Trial.

: Physical activity is an important predictor of quality of life in older adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Unfortunately, most T2D adults adopt a sedentary lifestyle. The randomized, controlled TRIPL-A trial aims to verify the effect of a personalized, discontinuous exercise program on a sedentary lifestyle of T2D older adults.

Preact to lower the risk of falling by customized rehabilitation across Europe: the feasibility study protocol of the PRECISE project in Italy.

Introduction: Falls are a major worldwide health problem in older people. Several physical rehabilitation programs with home-based technologies, such as the online DigiRehab platform, have been successfully delivered. The PRECISE project combines personalized training delivered through the application with an artificial intelligence-based predictive model (AI-DSS platform) for fall risk assessment.

Association of Inflammatory Mediators with Mitochondrial DNA Variants in Geriatric COVID-19 Patients.

COVID-19 remains a serious concern for elderly individuals with underlying comorbidities. SARS-CoV-2 can target and damage mitochondria, potentially leading to mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). This study aimed to evaluate single nucleotide substitutions in mtDNA and analyze their correlation with inflammatory biomarkers in elderly COVID-19 patients.

Blood circulating bacterial DNA in hospitalized old COVID-19 patients.

Background: Coronavirus disease COVID-19 is a heterogeneous condition caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Generally, it is characterized by interstitial pneumonia that can lead to impaired gas-exchange, acute respiratory failure, and death, although a complex disorder of multi-organ dysfunction has also been described. The pathogenesis is complex, and a variable combination of factors has been described in critically ill patients.