Publications by authors named "Yap A"

Background: There is limited understanding of how temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms, psychological distress, and well-being are related to each other and to OHRQoL in Chinese young adults.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify correlations between TMD symptom severity, psychological status, and OHRQoL while also examining factors associated with low OHRQoL.

Methods: Participants, recruited from a major university in the capital city, completed a survey that included demographics, the Chinese versions of the expanded five TMD symptoms (5Ts) screener, Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being-18 (SPWB-18), and Oral Health Impact Profile for TMDs (OHIP-TMD).

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Studies on the effectiveness of community-based health interventions (CBHIs) in improving lifestyle practices among older adults are limited. This study evaluated the impact of a CBHI on health knowledge, lifestyle goal attainment, and practices among older adults in Singapore. Older adults (aged ≥60 years) were recruited from 29 senior recreation centres to participate in the "Wise and Well" programme, a 3-month CBHI designed to empower individuals to make healthier lifestyle choices.

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Importance: Conclusions vary substantially among studies examining associations between area-based social determinants of health (SDOH) and pediatric health disparities based on the selected patient population and SDOH index. Most national studies use zip codes, which encompass a wide distribution of communities, limiting the generalizability of findings.

Objectives: To characterize the distributions of composite SDOH indices for pediatric surgical patients within a national sample of academic children's hospitals and to assess SDOH index precision in classifying patients at similar levels of disadvantage.

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Background Approximately 9,000 patients undergo ileostomy formation each year in England. This includes those formed in both the elective and emergency settings. Recent studies have indicated a stoma-related complication rate of up to 83%.

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While apoptosis dismantles the cell to enforce immunological silence, pyroptotic cell death provokes inflammation. Little is known of the structural architecture of cells undergoing pyroptosis, and whether pyroptotic corpses are immunogenic. Here we report that inflammasomes trigger the Gasdermin-D- and calcium-dependent eruption of filopodia from the plasma membrane minutes before pyroptotic cell rupture, to crown the resultant corpse with filopodia.

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Article Synopsis
  • Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic skin condition in children, and dupilumab is the first approved biologic treatment for moderate-to-severe cases; however, it can lead to ocular surface disease (DAOSD).
  • A study was conducted on Asian pediatric patients who developed DAOSD while being treated with dupilumab, analyzing their demographic information, eye symptoms, and treatment outcomes.
  • Among 216 patients, 16 (7.4%) experienced DAOSD, mainly presenting with symptoms like eye redness and conjunctivitis; however, the severity in children seemed lower than in adults, and prophylactic measures can help minimize complications.
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The first 8000 days of life, from birth to adulthood, encompasses critical phases that shape a child's health and development. While global health efforts have focused on the first 1000 days, the next 7000 days (ages 2-21) are equally vital, especially concerning the unmet burden of surgical conditions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Approximately 1.

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  • A nationwide study was conducted to explore the link between COVID-19 mRNA vaccinations and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), which had mostly been reported in isolated case reports.* -
  • Out of 76 patients diagnosed with acute AIH between January 2019 and February 2023, only 6 women (aged 40+) developed symptoms within 42 days post-vaccination, suggesting a very low incidence.* -
  • Both observed-over-expected and self-controlled case series analyses showed no statistically significant increase in AIH cases post-vaccination, indicating that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines don't appear to raise the risk for this condition, though more extensive studies are needed.*
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Background: Despite global popularity, Community-based Health Intervention (CBHI) programmes have yet to be fully incorporated into Singapore's public healthcare systems, with most initiatives focusing on specific diseases. This qualitative study aimed to evaluate older adults' perceptions of the "Get Well, Live Well" multi-domain preventive health programme, explore the effectiveness of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in promoting health literacy and modifying health behaviours, and examine participants' experiences in the CHW-delivered CBHI programme.

Methods: Purposeful sampling was used to recruit study subjects from participants in the "Get Well, Live Well" programme until data saturation was achieved.

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  • This special issue focuses on the intersection of physics and biology, showcasing how these two fields can enhance each other.
  • Leading experts in both areas were invited to share their insights on the collaborative potential and the challenges they face while working together.
  • The introduction by Wallace Marshall sets the stage for discussions on the benefits that emerge from integrating concepts and methods from physics into biological research.
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  • This study examined how different surface treatments affect the strength and failure types of high-viscosity glass ionomer cements (HVGICs) attached to silver diamine fluoride (SDF)-treated carious dentin.
  • Human premolars were used to simulate carious dentin, treated with SDF, and then various treatments were applied to analyze bond strength and failure modes.
  • Results showed that polyacrylic acid led to the highest bond strength for self-cured cements, while a combination of phosphoric acid and resin-modified adhesive was best for light-cured cements, with different failure patterns observed for each type.
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The medical affidavit is critically significant for asylum seekers. Studies have shown that asylum seekers applying with a medical affidavit (versus without a medical affidavit) have double the success rate. There are many training resources for clinician-evaluators on the interviewing process, but little instruction exists on the affidavit writing process.

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Introduction: A significant burden of unmet pediatric surgical disease exists in low- and middle-income countries. We sought to assess the associations between the installation of a pediatric operating room (OR) and clinical and economic outcomes for families with children in Ethiopia.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed of children who underwent elective surgery in a tertiary-level Ethiopian public hospital, comparing patient outcomes before and after OR installation in August 2019.

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A court may move the location of the trial to another jurisdiction if the jury pool is deemed biased by the judge, a legal maneuver based on a "Change of Venue" motion (CoVm). We surveyed the frequency and the factors associated with granting the motion at the state level when the defendant was charged with murder. We reviewed court transcripts of appealed murder convictions during the 2000-2020 years from Nexis.

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Objectives: Ageing populations present substantial challenges for healthcare systems. Community-based health worker (CHW) interventions for promoting healthy ageing and preventing/managing non-communicable diseases have gained considerable attention in recent years. This study aimed to assess the impacts of a multidomain preventive health initiative delivered by CHWs, specifically the 'My Health Map (MHM)' programme, on participants' health service utilisation using a propensity score matching methodology.

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Objectives: Quality improvement (QI) is critical in facilitating advancements in patient outcomes, system efficiency and professional growth. This paper aimed to elucidate the underlying rationale and framework guiding JurongHealth Campus (JHC), a nascent Regional Health System, in developing its QI capacity and capability at all levels of the organisation.

Methods: An exhaustive analysis of high-performance management systems and effective improvement frameworks was conducted, and the principles were customised to suit the local context.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to create and validate a mortality risk prediction algorithm for pediatric surgery patients in 14 low- and middle-income countries using data from KidsOR sites.
  • Using a SuperLearner machine learning model, the algorithm successfully analyzed data from over 21,000 patients, achieving a post-operative mortality rate of 3.1% and demonstrating excellent predictive accuracy with a cross-validated AUC of 0.945.
  • The findings suggest that while the algorithm performs well across different sites, it may require re-calibration when used in new locations, potentially benefiting clinical practices and resource management in pediatric surgical care globally.
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Aims: To determine the impact of microorganism virulence on visual outcomes in endophthalmitis.

Methods: Retrospective, multicentre cohort study of patients presenting with endophthalmitis between 2006 and 2021. A literature review was conducted to divide cultured microorganisms into low and high virulence subcategories.

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Objectives: The relationship of somatisation with facial pain duration/intensity, pain-related interference/disability and psychological distress was investigated in East Asian temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients. Correlations between somatisation, facial pain and psychological characteristics were also explored alongside the demographic/physical factors associated with moderate-to-severe depression and anxiety.

Methods: Anonymised data were acquired from records of consecutive 'first-time' patients seeking TMD care at a tertiary oral medicine clinic.

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Epithelial homeostasis can be critically influenced by how cells respond to mechanical forces, both local changes in force balance between cells and altered tissue-level forces. Coupling of specialized cell-cell adhesions to their cytoskeletons provides epithelia with diverse strategies to respond to mechanical stresses. Desmosomes confer tissue resilience when their associated intermediate filaments (IFs) stiffen in response to strain, while mechanotransduction associated with the E-cadherin apparatus at adherens junctions (AJs) actively modulates actomyosin by RhoA signaling.

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Purpose: Bleeding is an important health outcome of interest in epidemiological studies. We aimed to develop and validate rule-based algorithms to identify (1) major bleeding and (2) all clinically relevant bleeding (CRB) (composite of major and all clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding) within real-world electronic healthcare data.

Methods: We took a random sample (n = 1630) of inpatient admissions to Singapore public healthcare institutions in 2019 and 2020, stratifying by hospital and year.

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Purpose: Our aim was to describe the visual outcomes and determine the clinical factors in ischaemic retinal vasculitis (IRV) that were predictive of a poor visual prognosis or infectious aetiology.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of consecutive presentations of IRV to Auckland District Health Board from 2009 to 2022.

Results: The median age at presentation was 39.

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