Prevalence of internet addiction and gaming disorders in Southeast Asia: A meta-analysis.

This meta-analytic review aimed to examine the pooled prevalence rates of Internet addiction and gaming disorders in Southeast Asia. Several databases including PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Central were searched and a total of 24 studies were included in this study. The selection of studies was conducted in accordance to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Two meta-analyses were conducted to examine data on Internet addiction and gaming disorders separately. A random-effects model was employed to derive the pooled prevalence rate. Mixed-effects meta-regression and subgroup analyses were performed to examine the moderators of the between-study heterogeneity. Publication bias was tested using the Egger's regression test and funnel plot. Only seven out of the 11 Southeast Asian countries were represented in the literature. All except for two of the included studies were cross-sectional in nature. The findings revealed a pooled prevalence rate of 20.0% (95% confidence interval: 14.5%-27.0%) and 10.1% (95% confidence interval: 7.3%-13.8%) for Internet addiction and gaming disorders respectively. Mean age and study population were significant moderators of the between-study heterogeneity in the prevalence rates of gaming disorders such that samples involving older participants showed higher prevalence rate than those involving younger individuals. Country of study was found to be significant moderator of the between-heterogeneity for both Internet addiction and gaming disorders, however the findings should be interpreted with caution due to the small and unbalanced sample sizes. There was no significant publication bias. Such epidemiology research should be extended to the Southeast Asian countries that have not been studied or are under-studied. Given that the prevalence rates appear to be higher in Southeast Asia than in other world regions, future research should also explore the factors behind these inter-regional differences. Further longitudinal studies should also be conducted to examine the trajectories of such disorders

Cancer Biomarker Discovery: The Entropic Hallmark

Background: It is a commonly accepted belief that cancer cells modify their transcriptional state during the progression of the disease. We propose that the progression of cancer cells towards malignant phenotypes can be efficiently tracked using high-throughput technologies that follow the gradual changes observed in the gene expression profiles by employing Shannon's mathematical theory of communication. Methods based on Information Theory can then quantify the divergence of cancer cells' transcriptional profiles from those of normally appearing cells of the originating tissues. The relevance of the proposed methods can be evaluated using microarray datasets available in the public domain but the method is in principle applicable to other high-throughput methods. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using melanoma and prostate cancer datasets we illustrate how it is possible to employ Shannon Entropy and the Jensen-Shannon divergence to trace the transcriptional changes progression of the disease. We establish how the variations of these two measures correlate with established biomarkers of cancer progression. The Information Theory measures allow us to identify novel biomarkers for both progressive and relatively more sudden transcriptional changes leading to malignant phenotypes. At the same time, the methodology was able to validate a large number of genes and processes that seem to be implicated in the progression of melanoma and prostate cancer. Conclusions/Significance: We thus present a quantitative guiding rule, a new unifying hallmark of cancer: the cancer cell's transcriptome changes lead to measurable observed transitions of Normalized Shannon Entropy values (as measured by high-throughput technologies). At the same time, tumor cells increment their divergence from the normal tissue profile increasing their disorder via creation of states that we might not directly measure. This unifying hallmark allows, via the the Jensen-Shannon divergence, to identify the arrow of time of the processes from the gene expression profiles, and helps to map the phenotypical and molecular hallmarks of specific cancer subtypes. The deep mathematical basis of the approach allows us to suggest that this principle is, hopefully, of general applicability for other diseases

Rave New World : partying with Singaporean youths, club drugs, and the rave culture : proposal for year 2001/2002 anti-club experimentation advertising campaign.

The study documents and analyses the shifting developments in contemporary drug use in Singapore. We will be focusing on club drugs and the emerging rave culture to examine how it affects youths (aged between 18-29 years old). Five types of club drugs will be highlighted-Ecstasy Ketamine, Ice, Speed and Yaba.Bachelor of Communication Studie

Diaphragm Used with Replens Gel and Risk of Bacterial Vaginosis: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) has been linked to female HIV acquisition and transmission. We investigated the effect of providing a latex diaphragm with Replens and condoms compared to condom only on BV prevalence among participants enrolled in an HIV prevention trial. Methods. We enrolled HIV-seronegative women and obtained a vaginal swab for diagnosis of BV using Nugent’s criteria; women with BV (score 7–10) were compared to those with intermediate (score 4–6) and normal flora (score 0–3). During quarterly follow-up visits over 12–24 months a vaginal Gram stain was obtained. The primary outcome was serial point prevalence of BV during followup. Results. 528 participants were enrolled; 213 (40%) had BV at enrollment. Overall, BV prevalence declined after enrollment in women with BV at baseline (OR=0.4, 95% CI 0.29–.56) but did not differ by intervention group. In the intention-to-treat analysis BV prevalence did not differ between the intervention and control groups for women who had BV (OR=1.01, 95% CI 0.52–1.94) or for those who did not have BV (OR=1.21, 95% CI 0.65–2.27) at enrollment. Only 2.1% of participants were treated for symptomatic BV and few women (5–16%) were reported using anything else but water to cleanse the vagina over the course of the trial. Conclusions. Provision of the diaphragm, Replens, and condoms did not change the risk of BV in comparison to the provision of condoms alone

Human Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor Is a Cellular Coreceptor for Adeno-Associated Virus Serotype 3

Ling et al. identify human hepatocyte growth factor (hHGFR) as a novel receptor/coreceptor necessary for AAV3 entry into liver-specific cells. Using a variety of methods, the authors show that interference with the cell surface expression of HGFR significantly reduces the transduction efficiency of AAV3 vectors. Subsequent in vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that AAV3 specifically utilizes human HGFR (hHGFR), and not mouse HGFR (mHGFR)