Exome sequencing of Singapore Chinese anti-citrullinated-protein-antibody-positive rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objective: More than 130 susceptibility loci for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been identified with genome-wide association studies (GWAS). To investigate the genetic predisposition of Chinese anti-cyclic-citrullinated-peptides-antibody-positive RA, we carried out an exome sequencing study.

Methods: Patients were recruited from three major public hospitals in Singapore, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), Singapore General Hospital and National University Health System.

A comprehensive next generation sequencing tissue assay for Asian-prevalent cancers-Analytical validation and performance evaluation with clinical samples.

A well-validated diagnostic assay with curated biomarkers complements clinicopathological factors to facilitate early diagnosis and ensure timely treatment delivery. This study focuses on an Asian-centric cancer diagnostic assay designed and thoroughly validated against commercially available standard references and a cohort of over 200 clinical specimens spanning 12 diverse Asian-centric cancer types. The assay uses hybrid-capture probes capable of profiling DNA aberrations from 572 cancer-related genes and 91 RNA fusion partners.

Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and platelet to lymphocyte ratio reflect disease activity and flares in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus - A prospective study.

Objectives: To determine the association between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) with disease activity and flares in an inception cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using a prospective study design.

Methods: Consecutive adult patients (age≥21) who fulfilled the 1997 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) or the 2012 Systemic Lupus International Collaboration Clinic Classification (SLICC) Criteria for SLE were followed every 3 months, with SLE disease activity assessed by using SLEDAI-2K, and disease flares defined and captured by the SELENA-SLEDAI Flare Index (SFI). NLR and PLR were computed from the automated machine-counted blood count differentials.

A meta-analysis of clinical manifestations in asian systemic lupus erythematous: The effects of ancestry, ethnicity and gender.

Objectives: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Asians is a unique patient group that has been thought to present with more severe organ involvement in comparison to their non-Asian counterparts. We set out to perform a meta-analysis to compare clinical manifestations between ancestries, with a focus on Southeast Asian ethnicities and gender.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in conjunction with a meta-analysis to identify differences in prevalences of SLE clinical manifestations.

Impact of teleconsultation on subsequent disease activity and flares in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: Despite the widespread adoption of teleconsultations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, their safety in SLE patients has not been evaluated. Here, we examined subsequent disease activity and flares among SLE patients who received teleconsultation vs in-person consultation. To discern differences in physicians' prescription behaviour during both forms of consultations, we compared corticosteroid dose adjustments.

Disruptive behavior in a high-power distance culture and a three-dimensional framework for curbing it.

Background: Disruptive behavior can harm high-quality care and is prevalent in many Western public health systems despite increasing spotlight on it. Comparatively less knowledge about it is available in Asia, a region commonly associated with high-power distance, which may limit its effectiveness in addressing disruptive behavior.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive framework for tackling disruptive behavior among health care professionals in a public health system.

Fit to be good: Physical fitness is negatively associated with deviance.

While modern organizations generate economic value, they also produce negative externalities in terms of human physical fitness, such that workers globally are becoming physically unfit. In the current research, we focus on a significant but overlooked indirect cost that lack of physical fitness entails-deviance. In contrast to early (and methodologically limited) research in criminology, which suggests that physically fit people are more likely to behave in a deviant manner, we draw on self-control theory to suggest the opposite: That physically fit people are less likely to engage in deviance.

Experienced incivility in the workplace: A meta-analytical review of its construct validity and nomological network.

Although workplace incivility has received increasing attention in organizational research over the past two decades, there have been recurring questions about its construct validity, especially vis-à-vis other forms of workplace mistreatment. Also, the antecedents of experienced incivility remain understudied, leaving an incomplete understanding of its nomological network. In this meta-analysis using Schmidt and Hunter's [ (3rd ed.

Treating resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung disease in young children with cystic fibrosis.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common bacterial pathogen in the evolution of bronchiectasis in cystic fibrosis. The appearance of resistant strains of pseudomonas is increasing with the earlier and more liberal use of a range of anti-pseudomonal antibiotics for the treatment of bacterial chest infections. The rationale for treatment and potential benefits of aggressive treatment of resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from early in life are discussed.

Supervisor support: does supervisor support buffer or exacerbate the adverse effects of supervisor undermining?

Empirical investigations concerning the interplay between supervisor support and supervisor undermining behaviors and their effects on employees yielded contradictory findings, with some studies suggesting that support buffers the adverse effects of undermining, and others suggesting that support exacerbates these adverse effects. Seeking to explain such contradictory findings, we integrate uncertainty-management perspectives with coping theory to posit that relational uncertainty is inherent in the mixture of supervisor support and undermining. Hence, whether supervisor support buffers or exacerbates the adverse effects of supervisor undermining on employee health and well-being depends on factors pertaining to employee ability to resolve and manage such relational uncertainty.

Family incivility and job performance: a moderated mediation model of psychological distress and core self-evaluation.

This study extends the stress literature by exploring the relationship between family incivility and job performance. We examine whether psychological distress mediates the link between family incivility and job performance. We also investigate how core self-evaluation might moderate this mediated relationship.

Microarray with micro- and nano-topographies enables identification of the optimal topography for directing the differentiation of primary murine neural progenitor cells.

During development and tissue repair, progenitor cells are guided by both biochemical and biophysical cues of their microenvironment, including topographical signals. The topographical cues have been shown to play an important role in controlling the fate of cells. Systematic investigation of topographical structures with different geometries and sizes under the identical experimental conditions on the same chip will enhance the understanding of the role of shape and size in cell-topography interactions.

Graded Nodal/Activin signaling titrates conversion of quantitative phospho-Smad2 levels into qualitative embryonic stem cell fate decisions.

Nodal and Activin are morphogens of the TGFbeta superfamily of signaling molecules that direct differential cell fate decisions in a dose- and distance-dependent manner. During early embryonic development the Nodal/Activin pathway is responsible for the specification of mesoderm, endoderm, node, and mesendoderm. In contradiction to this drive towards cellular differentiation, the pathway also plays important roles in the maintenance of self-renewal and pluripotency in embryonic and epiblast stem cells.

Work and nonwork outcomes of workplace incivility: Does family support help?

This study extended incivility research beyond the confines of the workplace by exploring the relationships between incivility, work-to-family conflict and family support. Data collected from 180 employees from various organizations in Singapore showed that incivility is not a rare phenomenon in Asian cultures. Employees experienced more incivility from superiors than coworkers or subordinates, and these experiences were related to different outcomes.

Personal and workgroup incivility: impact on work and health outcomes.

This article develops a theoretical model of the impact of workplace incivility on employees' occupational and psychological well-being. In Study 1, the authors tested the model on 1,158 employees, finding that satisfaction with work and supervisors, as well as mental health, partially mediated effects of personal incivility on turnover intentions and physical health; this process did not vary by gender. Study 2 cross-validated and extended these results on an independent sample of 271 employees, showing negative effects of workgroup incivility that emerged over and above the impact of personal incivility.

Interpersonal mistreatment in the workplace: the interface and impact of general incivility and sexual harassment.

This article examined the relationships and outcomes of behaviors falling at the interface of general and sexual forms of interpersonal mistreatment in the workplace. Data were collected with surveys of two different female populations (Ns = 833 and 1,425) working within a large public-sector organization. Findings revealed that general incivility and sexual harassment were related constructs, with gender harassment bridging the two.