Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma Histologically Mimicking a Plasmacytoma.

Anaplastic (undifferentiated) thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is a rare malignancy which may arise from transformation of a pre-existing differentiated carcinoma. We report the unique case where a lesion of thyroid origin presented with the histological features of mature plasma cells. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the lesion to be an anaplastic thyroid carcinoma arising from papillary thyroid carcinoma. A tumor mimicking a malignancy of a different cellular origin can lead clinicians to incorrect treatment approaches. Careful correlation with clinical details and knowledge of these unique presentations is important for reaching the correct diagnosis

Chemical Ecology of Marine Cyanobacterial Secondary Metabolites: a Mini-review

More than 300 nitrogen-containing secondary metabolites have been reported from the procaryotic marinecyanobacteria. A majority of these compounds are of the polypeptide or mixed polyketide-polypeptidestructural class and they are a potential source of novel pharmaceuticals. In spite of the chemical richnessof marine cyanobacteria, not much is known regarding their ecological functions. To date only a handful ofmarine cyanobacterial compounds have been examined for their involvement in predator-prey interactions.This mini-review surveys the various chemical ecology studies conducted on marine cyanobacterialcompounds. From these ecological studies, many marine cyanobacterial compounds are known to deterfeeding by several species of marine predators. Such chemical defense may be crucial in maintaining thepopulation of marine cyanobacterial bloom in nature. In addition, a series of ecological studies from ourlaboratory revealed the anti-settlement properties of a number of benthic marine cyanobacterialcompounds. These studies suggested marine cyanobacteria as a potential source of natural antifoulants forthe control of fouling organisms

Diversity, Distribution and Biological Activity of Soft Corals (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) in Singapore

The Southern Islands of Singapore are known to contain coral reefs which are high in biodiversity. However, the diversity of soft corals had received little attention to date. This study was conducted to determine the soft coral diversity in Singapore reefs as well as to conduct preliminary bioactivity tests on the organic extracts from these soft corals. A 100-meter line transect was used to survey soft corals at a 3m depth at ten different sample sites. Sclerites from samples were used to identify the soft corals to the generic level. This study uncovered the following genera of soft corals: Carijoa spp., Cladiella spp., Sinularia spp., Lobophytum spp., Sarcophyton spp., Stereonephthya spp., and Nephthea spp. In addition, an unidentified genus of soft coral was observed at Kusu Island. Cladiella spp. yielded the highest number of colonies, and Sarcophyton spp. had the highest coverage in terms of total colony diameter. The brine shrimp (Artemia salina) toxicity assay was carried out to screen for toxicity of the soft coral extracts at concentrations of 10, 100, and 1000 ppm. Results showed high levels of toxicity in extracts of Sarcophyton spp. and Cladiella spp., indicating that these soft corals are potentially good sources of bioactive compounds for drug discovery

Chemical Ecology of Marine Cyanobacterial Secondary Metabolites: a Mini-review

More than 300 nitrogen-containing secondary metabolites have been reported from the procaryotic marinecyanobacteria. A majority of these compounds are of the polypeptide or mixed polyketide-polypeptidestructural class and they are a potential source of novel pharmaceuticals. In spite of the chemical richnessof marine cyanobacteria, not much is known regarding their ecological functions. To date only a handful ofmarine cyanobacterial compounds have been examined for their involvement in predator-prey interactions.This mini-review surveys the various chemical ecology studies conducted on marine cyanobacterialcompounds. From these ecological studies, many marine cyanobacterial compounds are known to deterfeeding by several species of marine predators. Such chemical defense may be crucial in maintaining thepopulation of marine cyanobacterial bloom in nature. In addition, a series of ecological studies from ourlaboratory revealed the anti-settlement properties of a number of benthic marine cyanobacterialcompounds. These studies suggested marine cyanobacteria as a potential source of natural antifoulants forthe control of fouling organisms

Conditional Mutual Information Constrained Deep Learning for Classification

The concepts of conditional mutual information (CMI) and normalized conditional mutual information (NCMI) are introduced to measure the concentration and separation performance of a classification deep neural network (DNN) in the output probability distribution space of the DNN, where CMI and the ratio between CMI and NCMI represent the intra-class concentration and inter-class separation of the DNN, respectively. By using NCMI to evaluate popular DNNs pretrained over ImageNet in the literature, it is shown that their validation accuracies over ImageNet validation data set are more or less inversely proportional to their NCMI values. Based on this observation, the standard deep learning (DL) framework is further modified to minimize the standard cross entropy function subject to an NCMI constraint, yielding CMI constrained deep learning (CMIC-DL). A novel alternating learning algorithm is proposed to solve such a constrained optimization problem. Extensive experiment results show that DNNs trained within CMIC-DL outperform the state-of-the-art models trained within the standard DL and other loss functions in the literature in terms of both accuracy and robustness against adversarial attacks. In addition, visualizing the evolution of learning process through the lens of CMI and NCMI is also advocated

Effect of nitrogen on root morphology, shoot physiology and yield of contrasting rice (Oryza sativa) genotypes

Rice plant (Oryza sativa) is a major cereal crop greatly consumed worldwide, and thus plays an essential role in achieving global food security. Since nitrogen is an essential nutrient required by all crops to achieve superior growth and yield, determination of the optimum nitrogen fertilisation amount required for different rice genotypes to achieve optimal yield production as well as root and shoot growth is crucial. In light of increasingly severe global warming, there is an urgent need to study root morphology of rice plants which plays a major role in resisting drought. The objectives of this study is to determine the optimal amount of nitrogen fertilisation required for optimal yield production, root and shoot growth in two Malaysian rice genotypes (MR220 and MR263), as well as to investigate difference between the genotypes in response to nitrogen fertilisation. The two rice genotypes were subjected to different nitrogen treatment levels (0, 60, 120 and 180 kgha-1), in two splits: during tillering initiation and panicle initiation. The data on nitrogen treatment effect on vegetative and dry weight parameters (chlorophyll content, total leaf area, root morphology, shoot and root dry weight) were then collected at active panicle development and flowering stage; while grain and dry weight parameters (grain weight, harvest index, total number of spikelets per panicle, spikelet fertility, shoot and root dry weight) were collected at maturity. Nitrogen treatment was found to have a significant effect on shoot physiology, root morphology and yield of both the rice genotypes, with optimal nitrogen application rates ranging from 60 to 120 kgha-1. As for differences between genotypes under nitrogen fertilisation condition, MR220 produced significantly higher shoot dry weight, average root diameter and root dry weight as compared to MR263; while MR263 produced root system that was more efficient in nutrient and water scavenging due to significantly higher total root length and surface area as compared to MR220. This study had provided an insight in role of nitrogen in affecting yield, root and shoot growth in rice plants, as well as genotypic differences between different rice genotypes in response to nitrogen fertilisation. As such, it can be concluded that proper nitrogen management and fertilisation in cropping systems is required for optimal growth and yield of different rice genotypes

Exertional heat stroke: nutritional considerations

Exertional heat stroke (EHS) is a life-threatening illness and an enduring problem among athletes, military servicemen and -women, and occupational labourers who regularly perform strenuous activity, often under hot and humid conditions or when wearing personal protective equipment. Risk factors for EHS and mitigation strategies have generally focused on the environment, health status, clothing, heat acclimatization and aerobic conditioning, but the potential role of nutrition is largely underexplored. Various nutritional and dietary strategies have shown beneficial effects on exercise performance and health and are widely used by athletes and other physically active populations. There is also evidence that some of these practices may dampen the pathophysiological features of EHS, suggesting possible protection or abatement of injury severity. Promising candidates include carbohydrate ingestion, appropriate fluid intake and glutamine supplementation. Conversely, some nutritional factors and low energy availability may facilitate the development of EHS, and individuals should be cognizant of these. Therefore, the aims of this review are to present an overview of EHS along with its mechanisms and pathophysiology, discuss how selected nutritional considerations may influence EHS risk focusing on their impact on the key pathophysiological processes of EHS, and provide recommendations for future research. With climate change expected to increase EHS risk and incidence in the coming years, further investigation on how diet and nutrition may be optimized to protect against EHS would be highly beneficial

Digital health promotion: promise and peril

The World Health Organization defines health promotion as process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health. As the world transitions into the information age, incorporating digital technologies into health promotion is becoming commonplace. This article discusses current applications of digital health promotion (DHP) and addresses its potential benefits, challenges, as well as how differences in cultures, governance models and digital readiness across the globe will shape the implementation of DHP differently in each society. The benefits include expanding access to health information and health promoting services, lowering scaling up costs, personalizing health advice and real-time ‘nudging’ toward healthier options. Key challenges would involve privacy control, appropriate use of data including secondary usage beyond the original intention, defining the limits of ‘nudging’ and the right of free choice, and ensuring widespread accessibility and affordability to minimize the exacerbation of social inequities. Finally, we discuss the enabling factors for successful DHP implementation, suggesting measures that should be taken at both individual and system levels. At the individual level, we explore the factors necessary to access and benefit from DHP meaningfully; at the system level, we examine the infrastructure required to provide wide access, establish trust among users and enable sustainability of behavioral changes.http://heapro.oxfordjournals.orghj2022Speech-Language Pathology and Audiolog

Associations of childcare arrangements with adiposity measures in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort : The gusto study

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Childcare arrangements shape behavioural patterns that influence the risk of childhood obesity. However, little is known of its influence on childhood obesity in Singapore. We aim to examine the associations between childcare arrangements at the age of 5 years and childhood adiposity at age 6 years. Children from the GUSTO study were grouped into three childcare arrangements at age 5: Full-time centre-based childcare (FC), partial centre-based with parental care (PCP), and partial centre-based with non-parents (grandparents and domestic helpers) as caregivers (PCN). Diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour information were collected at age 5, while anthropometric measurements were collected at age 6. Associations were analysed using multivariable regression models. Among 540 children, those in PCN had higher BMI z-scores (β: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.66), greater sum of skinfold thicknesses (mm) (β: 3.75; 95% CI: 0.53, 6.97) and were 3.55 times (95% CI: 1.78, 7.05) more likely to be overweight/obese than those in FC. Adiposity measures in PCP children did not differ from those in FC. PCN children were reported to have more screen time and greater fast-food intake. Children in PCN tended to have higher adiposity measures. Greater engagement of non-parental caregivers should be considered in interventions targeting child obesity.Peer reviewe

A calcineurin–Hoxb13 axis regulates growth mode of mammalian cardiomyocytes

10.1038/s41586-020-2228-6Nature5827811271-27