Changes in attitudes towards telemedicine in acute burn care following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Background: Telemedical referrals after burn injury had been shown to be advantageous over telephone referrals for multiple reasons, however there were several key barriers towards complete implementation. The Covid-19 pandemic facilitated the adoption of telemedicine to ensure the safety of both clinicians and patients. Due to the circumstances, it was unclear whether the pre-pandemic barriers still existed despite the complete implementation of telemedicine.

Re-Engineering Data Processing Workflow to Automate Abbreviations Audit of Clinical Documentation.

In KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), clinical case notes audits are conducted quarterly for compliance of approved acronym usage. Existing process involves the retrieval of mixed hardcopy and electronic case notes for referencing manually to the list of approved abbreviations by clinical coder. Through the use of process re-engineering and excel application, audit coverage can thus be expanded with reduction in human dependency and errors with significant resultant savings in time spent.

Assessing the effectiveness and implementation of a universal classroom-based set of educator practices to improve preschool children's social-emotional outcomes: Protocol for a cluster randomized controlled type 2 hybrid trial in Singapore.

Background: Providing high-quality early childhood care and education is understood as key to maximizing children's potential to succeed later in life, as it stimulates young children's development of skills and competencies needed to promote optimal outcomes and success later in life. Despite the government's efforts to support the early childhood sector, educators in Singapore continue to report difficulties in implementing practices in classrooms that promote children's social, emotional, and cognitive development. To enhance educators' skills in these domains, we developed the Enhancing And Supporting Early development to better children's Lives (EASEL) Approach, a set of universal, educator-delivered practices for use with 3-6-year-old children in early childhood settings to improve social, emotional, behavioral, and executive functioning (SEB+EF) outcomes.

Predictors of maternal distress among mothers in economic hardship: A classification and regression tree analysis (CART).

A recurrent observation in poverty research is the association between many attendant stress factors and the high incidence of maternal distress. In this study, we reason that such risk factors do not preclude mothers from possessing adaptive capacities, through perceived parenting efficacy and family hardiness, as buffers against two common distress sources in low socioeconomic status (SES) households-perceived children's emotional and behavioral problems, and family's economic hardship. Using classification and regression tree analysis, we examined the moderating roles of these maternal factors in emotional distress with 513 Singaporean mothers of elementary school-age children on government financial scheme.

Why did COVID-19 not further harm the mental health of poor mothers? A mixed-method study on low-income families in Singapore.

Objectives: This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on a disadvantaged group of financially poor mothers' mental health conditions in Singapore during the phase of acute COVID-19 infection.

Design: A mixed-method design is used. We conducted five focus group discussions with interviewers (n=39) who administered a third wave of survey questionnaire to 424 mothers from low-income families between June and September 2020.

Minimally invasive versus transcatheter closure of secundum atrial septal defects: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Limited data exists demonstrating the efficacy of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) compared to transcatheter (TC) closure of atrial septal defects (ASD). This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to compare post-operative outcomes of MIS versus TC repair in ASD closure.

Methods: PubMed, Medline and EMBASE were searched from inception until June 2018 for randomised and observational studies comparing post-operative outcomes for MIS and TC repair.

Targeted Lipidomics of Drosophila melanogaster During Development.

Lipids play critical roles in developmental processes, and alterations in lipid metabolism are linked to a wide range of human diseases, including neurodegeneration, cancer, metabolic diseases, and microbial infections. Drosophila melanogaster, more commonly known as the fruit fly, is a powerful organism for developmental biology and human disease research. We have previously developed a comprehensive biochemical tool, based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), to probe the dynamics of lipid remodeling during D.

Enhanced microextraction of endocrine disrupting chemicals adsorbed on airborne fine particulate matter with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric analysis.

A novel double-microextraction approach, combining dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) and vortex-assisted micro-solid-phase extraction (VA-µ-SPE) was developed. The procedure was applied to extract endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) consisting of three phthalate esters (PEs) and bisphenol A (BPA) associated with PM (airborne particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 µm).

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-multi-walled carbon nanotubes-coated-membrane solid phase extraction of glucocorticoids in aqueous matrices.

A membrane-based solid phase extraction (SPE)-ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of nine glucocorticoids in water. This new hybrid SPE approach involved the deposition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on a piece of polypropylene membrane that served as the extraction device. Hitherto, such a sample preparation procedure has not been applied to the analysis of water contaminants before.

Human resources and curricula content for early child development implementation: multicountry mixed methods evaluation.

Objective: The WHO recommends responsive caregiving and early learning (RCEL) interventions to improve early child development (ECD), and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals' vision of a world where all children thrive. Implementation of RCEL programmes in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) requires evidence to inform decisions about human resources and curricula content. We aimed to describe human resources and curricula content for implementation of RCEL projects across diverse LMICs, using data from the Grand Challenges Canada Saving Brains ECD portfolio.

"I have HIV but I'm not the HIV" - the experiences of heterosexual Chinese men living with HIV in Singapore.

As HIV is widely acknowledged as a stigmatized chronic condition which impacts the self, it is important to study the experiences of people living with HIV in relation to their selves and identities. According to extant literature on HIV and identity, the incorporation of an HIV identity is essential to adapting to the diagnosis. However, most of the participants in this study reject HIV as an identity.

Contextual design choices and partnerships for scaling early child development programmes.

Translating the Nurturing Care Framework and unprecedented global policy support for early child development (ECD) into action requires evidence-informed guidance about to implement ECD programmes at national and regional scale. We completed a literature review and participatory mixed-method evaluation of projects in Saving Brains®, Grand Challenges Canada® funded ECD portfolio across 23 low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Using an adapted programme cycle, findings from evaluation related to partnerships and leadership, situational analyses, and design for scaling ECD were considered.

Identifying Positive Adaptive Pathways in Low-Income Families in Singapore: Protocol for Sequential, Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Design.

Background: This study aims to examine the adaptive process of children and mothers from multistressed low-income families in Singapore. It aims to bridge the knowledge gap left by existing poverty studies, which are predominately risk focused. Through a sequential longitudinal mixed-methods design, we will differentiate children and mothers who demonstrate varied social, developmental, and mental health trajectories of outcomes.

Why some children from poor families do well-an in-depth analysis of positive deviance cases in Singapore.

Purpose: Research documents that children from low-income families face higher risks in many areas of their development including academic performance. However, some children from low-income homes excel academically despite their disadvantaged environment.

Method: Using Positive Deviance methodology (PD), audio-diary and interview data were collected from ten children who scored at least 70 percentile in school examinations in spite of their financial deprivation.

Paternal involvement of Singaporean fathers within six months postpartum: A follow-up qualitative study.

Objective: This study aims to understand paternal involvement within the six-month postpartum period to identify the challenges and needs of Singaporean fathers.

Design: The study used a descriptive qualitative design.

Setting And Participants: This research is a follow-up study of 50 first-time and experienced fathers who were originally interviewed in the early postpartum period.

Factors influencing paternal involvement during infancy: A prospective longitudinal study.

Aims: To explore factors influencing paternal involvement at 6 months postpartum and to detail the trend of these factors over a period of 6 months.

Background: There is a dearth of studies on paternal involvement during infancy in the unique Asian context.

Design: A prospective four-time point longitudinal design was adopted.

Lived experiences of Asian fathers during the early postpartum period: Insights from qualitative inquiry.

Objective: this study aims to understand fathers' expectations, needs, and experiences in infant care during the early postpartum period in Singapore.

Design: a descriptive qualitative study design was adopted.

Setting: the study was conducted in a tertiary public hospital in Singapore.

How HIV patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of Singapore.

This article interrogates the mainstream healthcare narrative that frames human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as a chronic disease, and triangulates it with the lived experiences of people with HIV in Singapore. It also examines how HIV patients reconstruct their identities after the diagnosis of HIV. Four HIV patients (two males and two females) were interviewed in depth by an experienced medical social worker.

Vulnerable families as active agents of their own change process: a bidirectional perspective.

The literature on successful practice with vulnerable families reports social workers' efforts in forging therapeutic bonds with clients, their ability to both recognize clients' strengths and pain and support them as they work through adversity. Vulnerable families' own contribu- tions to their change process, however, have remained largely opaque. This article offers concrete conceptual tools to consider both social workers and clients from vulnerable families as active agents in the change process.