Incense Use and the Risk of Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the Singapore Chinese Health Study.

Background: Epidemiologic studies have shown that daily exposure to incense smoke is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular mortality, which suggests that chronic exposure to incense could be linked to atherosclerosis. We studied the association between home incense use and the risk of chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), the most severe outcome of peripheral arterial disease.

Methods: We used data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, which recruited 63,257 Chinese participants 45-74 years old from 1993-1998.

Vaping among young adults in Singapore: a qualitative study of motivations, challenges and antivaping intervention perceptions.

Introduction: The increasing use of electronic cigarettes among young adults in Southeast Asia is concerning. This study explores the motivations and challenges faced by young adults in quitting vaping and their perceptions of current public health messages and interventions in Singapore, which has stringent antivaping laws and active public health campaigns.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted involving in-depth interviews with 15 participants aged 18-35.

Characterizing Cardiac Adipose Tissue in Post-AMI Patients via CT Imaging: A Comparative Cross-sectional Study.

Aims: To identify differences in CT-derived perivascular (PVAT) and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) characteristics that may indicate inflammatory status differences between post-treatment acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stable coronary artery disease (CAD) patients.

Methods And Results: A cohort of 205 post-AMI patients (age 59.8±9.

Maternal mental disorders, psychotropic drugs, socioeconomic status, and offspring congenital anomalies.

Objective: To evaluate whether there is an association between maternal mental health, purchase of psychotropic drugs, socioeconomic status and major congenital anomalies in offspring.

Methods: A register-based cohort study of 6189 Finnish primiparous women who had a singleton delivery between 2009 and 2015. Data on pregnancy and delivery outcomes, psychiatric diagnosis, prescription drug purchases and offspring congenital anomalies were obtained from Finnish national registers.

Cardiac-targeted delivery of a novel Drp1 inhibitor for acute cardioprotection.

Dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) is a mitochondrial fission protein and a viable target for cardioprotection against myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury. Here, we reported a novel Drp1 inhibitor (DRP1i1), delivered using a cardiac-targeted nanoparticle drug delivery system, as a more effective approach for achieving acute cardioprotection. DRP1i1 was encapsulated in cubosome nanoparticles with conjugated cardiac-homing peptides (NanoDRP1i1) and the encapsulation efficiency was 99.

Development and Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial of Healthy Ketogenic Diet Versus Energy-Restricted Diet on Weight Loss in Adults with Obesity.

: The ketogenic diet (KD) is widely used for weight management by reducing appetite, enhancing fat oxidation, and facilitating weight loss. However, the high content of total and saturated fats in a conventional KD may elevate low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels, a known risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, highlighting the need for healthier alternatives. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a newly developed Healthy Ketogenic Diet (HKD) versus an Energy-Restricted Diet (ERD) on weight loss and metabolic outcomes among adults with obesity.

Neuroprotective Effects of Functionalized Hydrophilic Carbon Clusters: Targeted Therapy of Traumatic Brain Injury in an Open Blast Rat Model.

Unlabelled: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes multiple cerebrovascular disruptions and oxidative stress. These pathological mechanisms are often accompanied by serious impairment of cerebral blood flow autoregulation and neuronal and glial degeneration.

Background/objectives: Multiple biochemical cascades are triggered by brain damage, resulting in reactive oxygen species production alongside blood loss and hypoxia.

Co-creation and community engagement in implementation research with vulnerable populations: a co-creation process in China.

Background Top-down implementation strategies led by researchers often generate limited or tokenistic community engagement. Co-creation, a community engagement methodology, aims to create a shared leadership role of program beneficiaries in the development and implementation of programs, and encourages early and deep involvement of community members. We describe our experience using a four-stage co-creation approach to adapt and implement a sexually transmitted diseases (STD) testing intervention among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China.

Exome Sequencing of Chinese Patients With Anticitrullinated Protein Antibody-Positive Rheumatoid Arthritis in Singapore.

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

Methods: Patients were recruited from 3 major public hospitals in Singapore: Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), Singapore General Hospital, and the National University Hospital.

Brief Magnetic Field Exposure Stimulates Doxorubicin Uptake into Breast Cancer Cells in Association with TRPC1 Expression: A Precision Oncology Methodology to Enhance Chemotherapeutic Outcome.

: Doxorubicin (DOX) is commonly used as a chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of breast cancer. Nonetheless, its systemic delivery via intravenous injection and toxicity towards healthy tissues commonly result in a broad range of detrimental side effects. Breast cancer severity was previously shown to be correlated with TRPC1 channel expression that conferred upon it enhanced vulnerability to pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy.

The bile acid chenodeoxycholic acid associates with reduced stroke in humans and mice.

Bile acids are liver-derived signaling molecules that can be found in the brain, but their role there remains largely unknown. We found increased brain chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) in mice with absent 12α-hydroxylase (Cyp8b1), a bile acid synthesis enzyme. In these Cyp8b1, and in Wt mice administered CDCA, stroke infarct area was reduced.

Youth Epidemiology and Resilience (YEAR) in a student population: prevalence and predictors of mental health symptoms.

Background: Adolescence is a pivotal developmental phase, marked by a high prevalence of mental health issues. The Singapore Youth Epidemiology and Resilience (YEAR) study aims to assess the prevalence of mental health symptoms, sociodemographic risk factors, and the protective role of resilience in a multi-ethnic, Asian school-going adolescent population.

Methods: School-based adolescents aged 11-18 and their parents were invited from a stratified sample of national schools, designed to be demographically representative of the mainstream school-going population.

What factors are associated with early childhood development in Thailand? A cross-sectional analysis using the 2022 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey.

Background: Early childhood development is essential for lifelong health and well-being. This study aims to assess the proportion of children aged 24-59 months in Thailand who are developmentally on track using the Early Childhood Development Index 2030 (ECDI2030) and to explore associations with household socioeconomic characteristics and environments.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from the 2022 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey by the Thailand National Statistical Office.

Retropupillary sulcus gas migration after retinal detachment repair surgery.

Purpose: To elucidate etiology and management of retropupillary sulcus migration of intravitreal gas after uneventful retinal detachment repair surgery.

Methods: 70 year old Caucasian man presented with a temporal macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. 25-gauge (25G) pars plana vitrectomy was performed with cryopexy to retinal tear and 12% C3F8 gas tamponade under sub-Tenon's anaesthesia.

Characterizing Nonculprit Lesions and Perivascular Adipose Tissue of Patients Following Acute Myocardial Infarction Using Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography: A Comparative Study.

Background: The comparison of coronary computed tomography angiography plaques and perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) between patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) posttreatment and patients with stable coronary artery disease is poorly understood. Our objective was to evaluate the differences in coronary computed tomography angiography-quantified plaque and PVAT characteristics in patients post-AMI and identify signs of residual inflammation.

Methods And Results: We analyzed 205 patients (age, 59.

Granulomatous secondary syphilis: two case reports and a literature review.

Historically, granulomatous inflammation has been described in association with tertiary syphilis. However, in recent years there have been increasing reports of granulomatous inflammation in patients with secondary syphilis. Here, we discuss two patients who presented with erythematous infiltrated papules and nodules and were eventually diagnosed with granulomatous secondary syphilis, with clearance of their rashes following treatment.

Increased purchases of prescription medicines in offspring of women with type 1 diabetes: a Finnish register-based cohort study between 1995 and 2018.

Objective: This study aimed to assess whether exposure to hyperglycemia influences prescription medicine purchases in the offspring of women with type 1 diabetes (exposed offspring).

Patients/materials And Methods: We identified all singleton exposed offspring born in the hospital district of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Finland, between 1988 and 2011 from the Finnish Medical Birth Register, maintained by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. For each exposed offspring, we obtained five age- and province-matched offspring of women without diabetes (reference offspring), from the Finnish Medical Birth Register.