Publications by authors named "Jin W Kwek"

Objective: To examine the association between the performance of mapping biopsies and surgical outcomes postexcision of extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD).

Background: Primary EMPD is a rare entity associated with poorly defined surgical margins and difficult-to-access sites of lesions. Surgical resection with clear margins remains the preferred management method.

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Cross-contamination during pharmaceutical drug manufacturing can result in expensive recalls. To counter that, companies spend significant time and resources to ensure equipment cleanliness, often relying on the compound solubility data in various solvents as the main indicator of cleaning success. The aim of this work is to provide an alternative way to analyze the fouling and cleaning of surfaces in pharmaceutical manufacturing processes by using the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) and Raman spectroscopy.

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Background: The performance of MRI versus CT in the detection and evaluation of peritoneal surface malignancies (PSM) remains unclear in the current literature. Our study is the first prospective study in an Asian center comparing the two imaging modalities, validated against intra-operative findings. Methods: A total of 36 patients with PSM eligible for CRS-HIPEC underwent both MRI and CT scans up to 6 weeks before the operation.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the healthcare landscape drastically. Stricken by sharp surges in morbidity and mortality with resource and manpower shortages confounding their efforts, the medical community has witnessed high rates of burnout and post-traumatic stress amongst themselves. Whilst the prevailing literature has offered glimpses into their professional war, no review thus far has collated the deeply personal reflections of physicians and ascertained how their self-concept, self-esteem and perceived self-worth has altered during this crisis.

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Sugar-based surfactants are involved in skin related allergy cases in the past decade. Skin irritation starts with the interaction of the surfactant with the skin lipids leading to lipid emulsification and eventual barrier damage. Polymers or co-surfactants can be used to mitigate the allergenic effect but the mechanism of formulation mildness on skin remains unclear.

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Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the feasibility of interstitial brachytherapy under non-anesthetist-administered moderate sedation, to identify factors influencing the insertion, and the total procedural time.

Material And Methods: A total of 47 insertions with hybrid intracavitary and interstitial applicators were performed in 23 patients from March 2017 to March 2020. Moderate sedation was achieved with intravenous midazolam and fentanyl administered by non-anesthetist.

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Background: Empathy is pivotal to effective clinical care. Yet, the art of nurturing and assessing empathy in medical schools is rarely consistent and poorly studied. To inform future design of programs aimed at nurturing empathy in medical students and doctors, a review is proposed.

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Purpose: We present the strategy of a comprehensive cancer center organized to make operations pandemic proof and achieve continuity of cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Disease Outbreak Response (DORS) measures implemented at our center and its satellite clinics included strict infection prevention, manpower preservation, prudent resource allocation, and adaptation of standard-of-care treatments. Critical day-to-day clinical operations, number of persons screened before entry, staff temperature monitoring, and personal protection equipment stockpile were reviewed as a dashboard at daily DORS taskforce huddles.

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Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a global impact, and Singapore has seen 33,000 confirmed cases. Patients with cancer, their caregivers, and health care workers (HCWs) need to balance the challenges associated with COVID-19 while ensuring that cancer care is not compromised. This study aimed to evaluate the psychological effect of COVID-19 on these groups and the prevalence of burnout among HCWs.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted current models of healthcare and adaptations will likely continue. With the gradual easing of lockdown measures worldwide, cancer centres must be prepared to implement novel means to prevent repeated waves of infection. There are two limitations unique to oncology - a higher susceptibility of patients to COVID-19 and the multidisciplinary approach required of cancer management.

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Purpose To report the safety profile and 2-year functional outcomes of in-bore magnetic resonance (MR)-guided focused ultrasound on single cancer foci in men with prostate cancer. Materials and Methods Ethics approval was obtained from the centralized institutional review board for this prospective single-arm study, and patients provided informed consent. Patients with untreated low-volume low-grade prostate cancer (clinical stage T2a or lower; Gleason score, 3+3; index tumor ≤10 mm) underwent MR-guided focused ultrasound between July 2011 and February 2013.

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Crizotinib has been approved for the treatment of advanced ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer. Its use is associated with the development of complex renal cysts. However, there is limited literature regarding imaging features of renal cystic disease during crizotinib therapy and its complications or progression.

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Background: The selection of patients for cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intra-peritoneal chemotherapy infusion (HIPEC) is important, and relies heavily on imaging. However, it has been reported that Computer Tomographic (CT) scans may only achieve a low sensitivity of 33% for peritoneal disease. We propose a set of radiological criteria for pre-operative determination of resectability of peritoneal disease in peritoneal-based malignancies and validate this in our cohort of patients.

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Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) are used predominantly for the treatment of pulmonary diseases by delivering drugs directly into the lungs. The drug delivery efficiency is typically low and there is significant drug retention inside the DPI. An innovative 'green' initiative aimed at minimizing drug wastage via channeling the residual drug into the useful inhaled therapeutic fraction was pioneered.

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Purpose: To compare four different tracer kinetic models for the analysis of dynamic contrast material-enhanced computed tomographic (CT) data with respect to the prediction of 5-year overall survival in primary colorectal cancer.

Materials And Methods: This study was approved by the ethical review board. Archival dynamic contrast-enhanced CT data from 46 patients with colorectal cancer, obtained as part of a research study, were analyzed retrospectively by using the distributed parameter, conventional compartmental, adiabatic tissue homogeneity, and generalized kinetic models.

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Purpose: To compare the reliability of T(1)-weighted, T(2)-weighted, and different phases of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI in the detection and reproducible size assessment of known carcinoid hepatic metastases.

Materials And Methods: 22 patients with known carcinoid hepatic metastases qualified for the study. Three readers reviewed MRI images twice independently at sessions that were >2 weeks apart.

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The purpose of this research was to investigate why and how mechanical milling results in an unexpected shift in differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measured fusion enthalpy (Delta(fus)H) and melting point (T(m)) of adipic acid, a pharmaceutical excipient. Hyper differential scanning calorimetry (hyper-DSC) was used to characterize adipic acid before and after ball-milling. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate previous postulations such as electrostatic charging using the Faraday cage method, crystallinity loss using powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermal annealing using DSC, impurities removal using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Karl Fischer titration.

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We investigate the properties of latex particle templates required to optimize the development of ordered liquid bridge networks in evaporative lithography. These networks are key precursors in the assembly of solutions of conducting nanoparticles into large, optically transparent, and conducting microwire networks on substrates (Vakarelski, I. U.

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We present a case of leiomyomatosis peritonealis disseminata (LPD) after laparoscopic myomectomy with imaging features corroborating laparoscopic tract dissemination of the tumor. This would suggest a subset cases of LPD may be secondary to transcoelomic dissemination of a primary uterine leiomyoma rather than de novo peritoneal metaplasia. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of LPD and subcutaneous leiomyoma complicating laparoscopic surgery.

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Purpose: To investigate the anomalous phenomenon of particle size shift during post-milling storage.

Materials And Methods: Crystallised and ball-milled adipic acid were stored under different humidity conditions. Analyses were carried out to characterise changes in particle size distribution (laser diffraction), morphology (SEM), bulk flow properties (annular shear tester), surface adhesion forces (AFM) and crystallinity (PXRD and DVS).

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Objective: The purpose of this article is to show the appearance of atypical sites of metastasis in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

Conclusion: Metastatic disease from ovarian cancer outside of the peritoneal cavity is generally rare at presentation but is increasingly seen in patients who have recurrent disease, despite multiple therapies. It is important for radiologists to recognize atypical sites of metastasis in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer to facilitate earlier diagnosis and treatment.

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