Prognostic performance of qSOFA in oncology patients admitted to the emergency department with suspected infection.

Aim: We aimed to test the performance of the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (qSOFA) in predicting the outcomes of oncology patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) with suspected infection.

Methods: Retrospective cohort analysis of all oncology patients presenting to the ED of a tertiary hospital with suspected infection from 1 December 2014 to 1 June 2017. Patients were identified by cross-linkage of ED and Oncology electronic health records.

CoS engulfed ultra-thin S-doped g-CN and its enhanced electrochemical performance in hybrid asymmetric supercapacitor.

This work demonstrates a high-performance hybrid asymmetric supercapacitor (HASC) workable in very high current density of 30 A g with in-situ pyrolytic processed sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride/cobalt disulfide (S-gCN/CoS) materials and bio-derived carbon configuration and achievement of high electrochemical stability of 89% over 100,000 cycles with the coulombic efficiency of 99.6%. In the electrochemical studies, the S-gCN/CoS-II electrode showed a high specific capacity of 180 C g at 1 A g current density in the half-cell configuration.

Effect of Ergothioneine on 7-Ketocholesterol-Induced Endothelial Injury.

Ergothioneine (ET) is a naturally occurring antioxidant that is synthesized by non-yeast fungi and certain bacteria. ET is not synthesized by animals, including humans, but is avidly taken up from the diet, especially from mushrooms. In the current study, we elucidated the effect of ET on the hCMEC/D3 human brain endothelial cell line.

Determining the Concerns of Breast Cancer Survivors to Inform Practice.

Objective: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women across all ethnicities, accounting for almost one in three incident cancers in female, and the leading cause of mortality in Singapore. Literature reveals that survivors of breast cancer have many concerns, and these concerns can linger on for decades. The primary aim of this secondary analysis was to establish the concerns of breast cancer survivors and use the data to inform practice.

Telemedicine Usage Among Urologists During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, urology was one of the specialties with the lowest rates of telemedicine and videoconferencing use. Common barriers to the implementation of telemedicine included a lack of technological literacy, concerns with reimbursement, and resistance to changes in the workplace. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic declared in March 2020, the delivery of urological services globally has quickly shifted to telemedicine to account for the mass clinical, procedural, and operative cancellations, inadequate personal protective equipment, and shortage of personnel.

Clinacanthus nutans Mitigates Neuronal Death and Reduces Ischemic Brain Injury: Role of NF-κB-driven IL-1β Transcription.

Neuroinflammation has been shown to exacerbate ischemic brain injury, and is considered as a prime target for the development of stroke therapies. Clinacanthus nutans Lindau (C. nutans) is widely used in traditional medicine for treating insect bites, viral infection and cancer, due largely to its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties.

Gene Dispensability in Escherichia coli Grown in Thirty Different Carbon Environments.

Central metabolism is a topic that has been studied for decades, and yet, this process is still not fully understood in , perhaps the most amenable and well-studied model organism in biology. To further our understanding, we used a high-throughput method to measure the growth kinetics of each of 3,796 single-gene deletion mutants in 30 different carbon sources. In total, there were 342 genes (9.

Metal-free n/n-junctioned graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN): a study to elucidate its charge transfer mechanism and application for environmental remediation.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) has been regarded as a promising visible light-driven photocatalyst ascribable to its tailorable structures, thermal stability and chemical inertness. Enhanced photocatalytic activity is achievable by the construction of homojunction nanocomposites to reduce the undesired recombination of photogenerated charge carriers. In the present work, a novel g-CN/g-CN metal-free homojunction photocatalyst was synthesized via hydrothermal polymerization.

A Scoping Review on Cue Reactivity in Methamphetamine Use Disorder.

The experience of craving via exposure to drug-related cues often leads to relapse in drug users. This study consolidated existing empirical evidences of cue reactivity to methamphetamine to provide an overview of current literature and to inform the directions for future research. The best practice methodological framework for conducting scoping review by Arkey and O'Malley was adopted.

Effects of Antimalarial Drugs on Neuroinflammation-Potential Use for Treatment of COVID-19-Related Neurologic Complications.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus that is the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects not only peripheral organs such as the lungs and blood vessels, but also the central nervous system (CNS)-as seen by effects on smell, taste, seizures, stroke, neuropathological findings and possibly, loss of control of respiration resulting in silent hypoxemia. COVID-19 induces an inflammatory response and, in severe cases, a cytokine storm that can damage the CNS. Antimalarials have unique properties that distinguish them from other anti-inflammatory drugs.

Mental illness stigma's reasons and determinants (MISReaD) among Singapore's lay public - a qualitative inquiry.

Background: Mental illnesses pose a significant burden worldwide. Furthermore, the treatment gap for mental disorders is large. A contributor to this treatment gap is the perceived stigma towards mental illness.

Model-driven analysis of mutant fitness experiments improves genome-scale metabolic models of Zymomonas mobilis ZM4.

Genome-scale metabolic models have been utilized extensively in the study and engineering of the organisms they describe. Here we present the analysis of a published dataset from pooled transposon mutant fitness experiments as an approach for improving the accuracy and gene-reaction associations of a metabolic model for Zymomonas mobilis ZM4, an industrially relevant ethanologenic organism with extremely high glycolytic flux and low biomass yield. Gene essentiality predictions made by the draft model were compared to data from individual pooled mutant experiments to identify areas of the model requiring deeper validation.

Beyond diabetes mellitus: role of metformin in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Introduction: Usage of metformin is associated with improved survival in lung, breast and prostate cancer, and metformin has been shown to inhibit cancer cell growth and proliferation in in vitro studies. Given the lack of clinical data on metformin use in patients with bladder cancer, we aimed to evaluate the role of metformin in their oncological outcomes.

Methods: Medication use data from a prospectively maintained database of 122 patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer treated with intravesical Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), who were recruited under a randomised, double-blinded, controlled clinical trial, was collected and analysed.

An Exploratory Clinical Study on an Automated, Speed-Sensing Treadmill Prototype With Partial Body Weight Support for Hemiparetic Gait Rehabilitation in Subacute and Chronic Stroke Patients.

Impairments in walking speed, capacity, and endurance are commonly seen after stroke. Treadmill training improves endurance and gait speed. However, the lack of variable training speed and automated speed progression increases the risk of backward displacement and falling.

Biomimicking Fiber Platform with Tunable Stiffness to Study Mechanotransduction Reveals Stiffness Enhances Oligodendrocyte Differentiation but Impedes Myelination through YAP-Dependent Regulation.

A key hallmark of many diseases, especially those in the central nervous system (CNS), is the change in tissue stiffness due to inflammation and scarring. However, how such changes in microenvironment affect the regenerative process remains poorly understood. Here, a biomimicking fiber platform that provides independent variation of fiber structural and intrinsic stiffness is reported.

Caregivers of cancer patients: what are their information-seeking behaviours and resource preferences?

Cancer impacts not only the patient but also the family members who share the distressing trajectory of the patient. The literature indicates that caregivers have many unmet information needs while providing care and support to the cancer patients, and caregivers have to resort to seeking information to supplement their information needs. This study aims to establish the prevalence of health-information-seeking behaviours among caregivers of cancer patients as a means of ascertaining if their information needs have been met and their information source and resource preference.

Causal beliefs of mental illness and its impact on help-seeking attitudes: a cross-sectional study among university students in Singapore.

Objectives: A considerable proportion of those who suffer from mental illnesses in Singapore do not seek any form of professional help. The reluctance to seek professional help could be due to misconceptions about the causes of mental illnesses. Research has shown that help-seeking attitudes can predict actual service use.

Bifunctional Z-Scheme Ag/AgVO/g-CN photocatalysts for expired ciprofloxacin degradation and hydrogen production from natural rainwater without using scavengers.

To maximize the employment of sustainable solar energy in treating the recalcitrant pollutant and hydrogen energy production, the development of a highly efficient photocatalyst is desirable. Herein, a Z-scheme Ag/AgVO/g-CN photocatalyst was synthesized via a wet-impregnation method. The amount of Ag/AgVO deposited onto g-CN has a significant effect on the photocharge carrier separation and migration of the as-developed Z-scheme photocatalyst.

The effects of blue-light filtration on sleep and work outcomes.

In this article, we investigate the effects of blue-light filtration on broad attitudinal and behavioral outcomes (i.e. work engagement, organizational citizenship behavior, and counterproductive work behavior).

Changing patient profile, hearing aid use and disability among first-time hearing aid users in Singapore over a decade.

Objectives: To examine the time trends in demographics, hearing characteristics, hearing aid (HA) choices, usage and patient-reported disability among first-time HA users in Singapore over a decade.

Design: Cross-sectional study. 1052 subjects issued with HAs at a tertiary hospital from 2004 to 2013.

Advancing Research to Eliminate Mental Illness Stigma: The Design and Evaluation of a Single-Arm Intervention Among University Students in Singapore.

Background: Anti-stigma interventions for school and college students have been studied in several countries, but to the best of our knowledge, this has not been addressed in Singapore. The current study was designed to address this lacuna and aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an anti-stigma intervention focusing on depression among university students in Singapore.

Methods: A one-off intervention comprising education and personal contact with a person with lived experience of depression was carried out in nine consecutive sessions over 6 months (October 2018 to April 2019) among 390 university students.

Severity of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy and early childhood neurobehavioural outcomes: The Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes study.

Background: Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) affects 50 to 80 per cent of women. The existing literature has examined NVP from the perspective of the mother, and relatively less is known about offspring outcomes.

Objectives: To study the relationships of NVP with social-emotional, behavioural, and cognitive outcomes of the offspring in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort.

Measurement properties of Pain Catastrophizing Scale in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Objectives: Pain catastrophizing impacts symptoms and outcomes for knee osteoarthritis (OA). We evaluated the internal consistency, content, construct and structure validity of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) in patients with knee OA.

Methods: We evaluated content validity of PCS via cognitive interviews.

Rational Design of Carbon-Based 2D Nanostructures for Enhanced Photocatalytic CO Reduction: A Dimensionality Perspective.

Photocatalytic CO reduction is a revolutionary approach to solve imminent energy and environmental issues by replicating the ingenuity of nature. The past decade has witnessed an impetus in the rise of two-dimensional (2D) structure materials as advanced nanomaterials to boost photocatalytic activities. In particular, the use of 2D carbon-based materials is deemed as highly favorable, not only as a green material choice, but also due to their exceptional physicochemical and electrical properties.