The association between chronic sinonasal inflammation and nasopharyngeal carcinoma - A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: There has been mounting evidence that inflammation is a key risk factor towards the development of certain cancers. Past studies have shown associations between nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and sinonasal tract inflammation. We aim to conduct a review and meta-analysis on the association between NPC and chronic sinus inflammation.

Prolonged Hypokalemia and Delayed Diagnosis of Primary Aldosteronism: Clinical Course and Risk Factors.

Context: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a common cause of hypertension (HT). However, diagnosis is often delayed, leading to poorer clinical outcomes. Hypokalemia with HT is characteristic of PA, and is an indication for screening.

Characteristics of contemporary drug clinical trials regarding the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Background: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a chronic liver disease, has no United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs for treatment.

Objectives: To examine fundamental characteristics of drug clinical trials for NASH treatment on the global clinical trials registry platform.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of clinical trials with NASH as medical condition that are registered on ClinicalTrials.

Climate change and population health in Singapore: a systematic review.

Unlabelled: Gaseous emissions have contributed to global warming, an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events and poorer air quality. The associated health impacts have been well reported in temperate regions. In Singapore, key climate change adaptation measures and activities include coastal and flood protection, and mitigating heat impacts.

Advancing pathogen genomics in resource-limited settings.

Genomic sequencing has emerged as a powerful tool to enhance early pathogen detection and characterization with implications for public health and clinical decision making. Although widely available in developed countries, the application of pathogen genomics among low-resource, high-disease burden settings remains at an early stage. In these contexts, tailored approaches for integrating pathogen genomics within infectious disease control programs will be essential to optimize cost efficiency and public health impact.

The impact of human cadaveric dissection on professional identity formation in medical students.

Background: As technology advances, some schools are moving away from human cadaveric dissection to teach anatomy, leading to concern regarding the possible loss of a professional identity building experience. This study explored the role of dissection in students' professional identity formation.

Methods: A mixed-methods study was conducted using survey methodology and semi-structured interviews of medical students at an American-style graduate-entry medical school in Singapore.

Mucosal SARS-CoV-2 vaccination of rodents elicits superior systemic T central memory function and cross-neutralising antibodies against variants of concern.

Background: COVID-19 vaccines used in humans are highly effective in limiting disease and death caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, yet improved vaccines that provide greater protection at mucosal surfaces, which could reduce break-through infections and subsequent transmission, are still needed.

Methods: Here we tested an intranasal (I.N.

The quality of telemedicine consultations for sexually transmitted infections in China.

The burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continues to increase in developing countries like China, but the access to STI care is often limited. The emergence of direct-to-consumer (DTC) telemedicine offers unique opportunities for patients to directly access health services when needed. However, the quality of STI care provided by telemedicine platforms remains unknown.

Evolution and ecology of Jeilongvirus among wild rodents and shrews in Singapore.

Background: Jeilongvirus was proposed as a new genus within the Paramyxoviridae in 2018. The advancement in metagenomic approaches has encouraged multiple reports of Jeilongvirus detection following the initial species discovery, enriching species diversity and host range within the genus. However, Jeilongvirus remains understudied in Singapore, where interfaces between humans and small mammals are plentiful.

The role of patients' stories in medicine: a systematic scoping review.

Background: Patients' stories provide Palliative Care physicians with a glimpse into the former's lives and their psycho-emotional, sociocultural, and contextual considerations. Yet, few physicians are trained to interpret and apply patients' stories in their practice. Inherent variability in how stories are transmitted and interpreted raises questions over their potential effects on care.

Fast Bayesian Inference of Phylogenies from Multiple Continuous Characters.

Time-scaled phylogenetic trees are an ultimate goal of evolutionary biology and a necessary ingredient in comparative studies. The accumulation of genomic data has resolved the tree of life to a great extent, yet timing evolutionary events remain challenging if not impossible without external information such as fossil ages and morphological characters. Methods for incorporating morphology in tree estimation have lagged behind their molecular counterparts, especially in the case of continuous characters.

Promoting Collaboration of Regulators and Patients in Improving Drug Safety and Regulatory Decision Making.

Pharmacovigilance involves a continuous process of evaluating, monitoring and communicating the safety profile of a medicine throughout its life cycle. This process involves a range of stakeholders, including national regulatory authorities, industry, health organisations, healthcare providers and patients. Although patients are the end users of medicines and experts in their medical conditions, patient involvement is still nascent in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Association of Dry Eye Disease with Functional Visual Acuity and Quality of Life.

Background: Dry eye disease (DED) is a common chronic condition with increasing prevalence. Standard discriminative visual acuity is not reflective of real-world visual function, as patients can achieve normal acuities by blinking.

Methods: Participants recruited from a tertiary referral eye centre were divided into two groups-Severe DED (with significant, central staining) and Mild DED (absence of such staining).

Diagnostic Challenges in -Associated Retinal Degeneration: One Gene, Many Phenotypes.

(1) Purpose: -associated retinal degeneration (-RD) is a phenotypically diverse disease that often evades diagnosis, even by experienced retinal specialists. This may lead to inappropriate management, delayed genetic testing, or inaccurate interpretation of genetic testing results. Here, we illustrate the phenotypic diversity of -RD using a series of representative cases and compare these to other conditions that closely mimic -RD.

Longitudinal post-radiotherapy plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA trends inform on optimal risk stratification in endemic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Objectives: To characterize longitudinal changes in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA post-radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients, and investigate whether an early (0-2 weeks) or delayed (8-12 weeks) EBV DNA result better predicts for disease-free survival (DFS).

Materials And Methods: Histologically-confirmed NPC patients with ≥1 EBV DNA test quantified using the harmonized BamHI-W polymerase chain reaction-based assay at 0-2 and 8-12 weeks post-radiotherapy were included.

Results: We identified 302 patients with EBV DNA measured at 0-2 weeks post-radiotherapy; of which, 110 (36.

Associations of cord plasma per- and polyfluoroakyl substances (PFAS) with neonatal and child body composition and adiposity: The GUSTO study.

Background: The influence of prenatal exposure to per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on birth size and offspring adiposity is unclear, especially for the newer, shorter-chained replacement PFAS.

Methods: In the GUSTO multi-ethnic Singaporean mother-offspring cohort, 12 PFAS were measured in 783 cord plasma samples using ultra-performance-liquid chromatography-tandem-mass-spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS). Outcomes included offspring anthropometry, other indicators of body composition/metabolic health, and MRI-derived abdominal adiposity (subset) at birth and 6 years of age.

Stitched peptides as potential cell permeable inhibitors of oncogenic DAXX protein.

DAXX (Death Domain Associated Protein 6) is frequently upregulated in various common cancers, and its suppression has been linked to reduced tumor progression. Consequently, DAXX has gained significant interest as a therapeutic target in such cancers. DAXX is known to function in several critical biological pathways including chromatin remodelling, transcription regulation, and DNA repair.

Examining the Association between Coffee Intake and the Risk of Developing Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a highly prevalent disorder of brain-gut interaction with a significant impact on quality of life. Coffee is a widely consumed beverage with numerous bioactive compounds that have potential effects on human health and disease states. Current studies on the effect of regular coffee consumption on the risk of developing IBS symptoms have yielded conflicting results.

Nuclear RNA catabolism controls endogenous retroviruses, gene expression asymmetry, and dedifferentiation.

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are remnants of ancient parasitic infections and comprise sizable portions of most genomes. Although epigenetic mechanisms silence most ERVs by generating a repressive environment that prevents their expression (heterochromatin), little is known about mechanisms silencing ERVs residing in open regions of the genome (euchromatin). This is particularly important during embryonic development, where induction and repression of distinct classes of ERVs occur in short temporal windows.

Weak grip strength predicts higher unplanned healthcare utilization among patients with heart failure.

Aims: Frailty increases healthcare utilization and costs for patients with heart failure but is challenging to assess in clinical settings. Hand grip strength (GS) is a single-item measure of frailty yet lacks evidence as a potential screening tool to identify patients at risk of higher unplanned events and related healthcare costs. We examined the association of baseline and longitudinal GS measurements with healthcare utilization and costs among patients with advanced heart failure.

Use of a point-of-care test to rapidly assess levels of SARS-CoV-2 nasal neutralising antibodies in vaccines and breakthrough infected individuals.

Despite SARS-CoV-2 vaccines eliciting systemic neutralising antibodies (nAbs), breakthrough infections still regularly occur. Infection helps to generate mucosal immunity, possibly reducing disease transmission. Monitoring mucosal nAbs is predominantly restricted to lab-based assays, which have limited application to the public.

Cytochrome c regulates hyphal morphogenesis by interfering with cAMP-PKA signaling in Candida albicans.

In the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, invasive hyphal growth is a well-recognized virulence trait. We employed transposon-mediated genome-wide mutagenesis, revealing that inactivating CTM1 blocks hyphal growth. CTM1 encodes a lysine (K) methyltransferase, which trimethylates cytochrome c (Cyc1) at K79.

Protocol update and baseline characteristics for the TRIal to slow the Progression of Diabetes (TRIPOD) randomized controlled trial.

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D), a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and other adverse health conditions, is on the rise in Singapore. TRIPOD is a randomized controlled trial aimed to determine whether complementing usual care with an evidence-based diabetes management package (DMP) -comprising access to an evidence-based app, health coaching, pedometer, glucometer and weighing scale, with or without a financial rewards scheme (M-POWER rewards), can improve mean HbA levels at months 6 and 12.

Methods: The protocol was published in Trials, accessible via https://trialsjournal.