A Systematic Scoping Review of Ethical Issues in Mentoring in Surgery.

Background:Mentoring is crucial to the growth and development of mentors, mentees, and host organisations. Yet, the process of mentoring in surgery is poorly understood and increasingly mired in ethical concerns that compromise the quality of mentorship and prevent mentors, mentees, and host organisations from maximising its full potential. A systematic scoping review was undertaken to map the ethical issues in surgical mentoring to enhance understanding, assessment, and guidance on ethical conduct. Methods:Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework was used to guide a systematic scoping review involving articles published between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2018 in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, ERIC, ScienceDirect, Mednar, and OpenGrey databases. Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis approach was adopted to compare ethical issues in surgical mentoring across different settings, mentee and mentor populations, and host organisations. Results:A total of 3849 abstracts were identified, 464 full-text articles were retrieved, and 50 articles were included. The 3 themes concerned ethical lapses at the levels of mentor or mentee, mentoring relationships, and host organisation. Conclusions:Mentoring abuse in surgery involves lapses in conduct, understanding of roles and responsibilities, poor alignment of expectations, and a lack of clear standards of practice. It is only with better structuring of mentoring processes and effective support of host organisation tasked with providing timely, longitudinal, and holistic assessment and oversight will surgical mentoring overcome prevailing ethical concerns surrounding it

A synbiotic intervention modulates meta-omics signatures of gut redox potential and acidity in elective caesarean born infants.

Background The compromised gut microbiome that results from C-section birth has been hypothesized as a risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases (NCD). In a double-blind randomized controlled study, 153 infants born by elective C-section received an infant formula supplemented with either synbiotic, prebiotics, or unsupplemented from birth until 4 months old. Vaginally born infants were included as a reference group. Stool samples were collected from day 3 till week 22. Multi-omics were deployed to investigate the impact of mode of delivery and nutrition on the development of the infant gut microbiome, and uncover putative biological mechanisms underlying the role of a compromised microbiome as a risk factor for NCD. Results As early as day 3, infants born vaginally presented a hypoxic and acidic gut environment characterized by an enrichment of strict anaerobes (Bifidobacteriaceae). Infants born by C-section presented the hallmark of a compromised microbiome driven by an enrichment of Enterobacteriaceae. This was associated with meta-omics signatures characteristic of a microbiome adapted to a more oxygen-rich gut environment, enriched with genes associated with reactive oxygen species metabolism and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, and depleted in genes involved in the metabolism of milk carbohydrates. The synbiotic formula modulated expression of microbial genes involved in (oligo)saccharide metabolism, which emulates the eco-physiological gut environment observed in vaginally born infants. The resulting hypoxic and acidic milieu prevented the establishment of a compromised microbiome. Conclusions This study deciphers the putative functional hallmarks of a compromised microbiome acquired during C-section birth, and the impact of nutrition that may counteract disturbed microbiome development. Trial registration The study was registered in the Dutch Trial Register (Number: 2838 ) on 4th April 2011

Genome-wide association meta-analysis of corneal curvature identifies novel loci and shared genetic influences across axial length and refractive error

Abstract: Corneal curvature, a highly heritable trait, is a key clinical endophenotype for myopia - a major cause of visual impairment and blindness in the world. Here we present a trans-ethnic meta-analysis of corneal curvature GWAS in 44,042 individuals of Caucasian and Asian with replication in 88,218 UK Biobank data. We identified 47 loci (of which 26 are novel), with population-specific signals as well as shared signals across ethnicities. Some identified variants showed precise scaling in corneal curvature and eye elongation (i.e. axial length) to maintain eyes in emmetropia (i.e. HDAC11/FBLN2 rs2630445, RBP3 rs11204213); others exhibited association with myopia with little pleiotropic effects on eye elongation. Implicated genes are involved in extracellular matrix organization, developmental process for body and eye, connective tissue cartilage and glycosylation protein activities. Our study provides insights into population-specific novel genes for corneal curvature, and their pleiotropic effect in regulating eye size or conferring susceptibility to myopia

Characterization of Al-Ge anode materials for lithium-ion battery

Al1-xGex was synthesized as potential high capacity anode materials for lithium ion secondary batteries using melt spinning process. Electrochemical properties of Al1-xGex (with x=2,4,7,8 ) were measured and their Li storage capabilities analyzed. The Al1-xGex with an Al:Ge ratio of 3:7 showed the best Li storage properties, with a stable capacity of 900mAhg-1 and 1823mAhcm-3 over 50 cycles, superior to Ge metal and other Al1-xGex compositions. Furthermore, a capacity of 544 mAhg-1 is still obtainable at 1C. Notably, in terms of cycling stability and rate performance, it surpasses current Al-based anodes reported in literature. This positions Al-Ge as a potential candidate for applications that not only require high gravimetric but also high volumetric capacity. To elucidate the possible reasons for the good Li storage properties, the first cycle electrochemical lithiation and de-lithiation behaviour of the Al1-xGex anodes were investigated by ex-situ XRD. Diffraction peaks of Al and Ge broadened and showed reduction in intensity upon cycling, indicating an increase in disorder and possible amorphization of the material. The lithiation and delithiation steps were also observed to be different from pure Al and pure Ge, which also plays a role in the improved performance. The nanocrystalline/amorphous phases and the deviation in the lithiation/de-lithiation mechanism suggest a synergetic effect which mitigated the huge volume variations and enhancing reaction kinetics.Bachelor of Engineering (Materials Engineering

Total factor productivity of Singapore : the road to sustainable growth.

Two decades ago, in the early 1990s, academics have been so mesmerised by the rapid growth of the East Asian Economies; they coined it “The East Asian Miracle”. They cogitated about the unprecedented phenomenon and initiated an intellectually stimulating debate on the cause. Voluminous amounts of empirical papers poured into academic journals and two main groups emerged. One group can be identified as the fundamentalist who suggested that there was “no miracle” and the growth had been mainly input driven. They can be represented by (Young, 1992, 1994a, 1994b; Kim and Lau, 1994; Krugman, 1994; Collins and Bosworth, 1997). The other group was the assimilationist (Dahlman and Westphal, 1981; Dahlman et al, 1987; Hobday, 1994a, 1994b, 1994c, 1995; Romer, 1993a, 1993b), who disagreed with the “input driven” argument and suggested that the commonality among the achieving East Asian Countries was the acquisition and mastery of foreign technology. Singapore was one of the countries, which was covered in the debate. The question was whether Singapore can continue to grow through capital accumulation, given the negative productivity growth measured by Young (1992). The debate gradually quieted down and the episode concluded without a consensus. However in 2010, the Singapore government embarked on an ambitious campaign in 2010 to bring Singapore government back on path to achieve productivity growth of 2-3% annually over the course of the next 10 years. With the void in productivity growth estimates since 1990, this paper aims to address whether Singapore has moved on from the negative productivity growth in the 1970 to 1990. Further, the result after 1990 was evaluated to analyse the sources of growth. Lastly, based on our results, future implications were discussed.Bachelor of Art

Picture This! Social influence in a visually identified YouTube environment

This study examines how group effects of user-generated comments influence user evaluations and attitudes towards YouTube videos and their subject matter. Two main theoretical frameworks were applied in this study: the Social Identity Approach (SIA) and Social Identification/Deindividuation (SIDE) model. This study provides an update to the earlier research conducted by Walther, DeAndrea, Kim and Anthony (2010), through addressing changes in the YouTube's interface, which now includes visually identifiable users. This study also extends Walther, DeAndrea et al.'s (2010) research by applying the SIA as an alternative way of studying social influence on YouTube platforms. A 2 x 2 x 2 between-subjects factorial design was used in this experiment, which was conducted amongst Singaporean university undergraduates (N = 317). Using a YouTube mock-up page, this research examined the interaction between a controversial video about foreign-born sporting talents (FBST) in Singapore and the accompanying user comments from ingroup (Singaporeans) or outgroup (foreigners) members. Even though the manipulation of outgroup categorization did not work as planned, this study demonstrated that user-generated comments can affect user’s evaluation of the video and attitudes towards the subject matter. Clear evidence of social identification mediating social influence within social groups was observed. The findings of the present study suggest that social identification could occur even with visual information of commenters, contrary to SIDE’s theoretical predictions.Bachelor of Communication Studie

Urban mining of unexploited spent critical metals from E-waste made possible using advanced sorting

International audienceThe growing number of electronic devices has led to a surge in e-waste, making efficient recycling essential to reduce environmental impact and recover valuable metals. However, traditional recycling methods struggle to extract them due to their low concentrations in ewaste. Here, we developed a system to sort electronic components from printed circuit boards by elemental composition. It combines a convolutional neural network-based optical recognition with multi-energy X-ray transmission spectroscopy, demonstrating up to 96.9% accuracy in controlled conditions. Hence, with elemental enrichments by up to 10,000 for targeted elements, this method renders economically viable the recovery of previously unrecycled critical metals by enriching sorting bags in precious, semi-precious, refractory (Ta, Nb), transition (Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Ga, Bi, etc.) or other (In, Sn, Sb) metals. These findings demonstrate the promising applications of this technology in mitigating the environmental impact of e-waste and promoting the sustainable recovery of valuable metals

Mucosal microbiome associates with progression to gastric cancer

10.7150/thno.65302THERANOSTICS12148-5

Unraveling stroke gait deviations with movement analytics, more than meets the eye: a case control study

BackgroundThis study aimed to identify and quantify the kinematic and kinetic gait deviations in post-stroke hemiplegic patients with matched healthy controls using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM).MethodsFifteen chronic stroke patients [4 females, 11 males; age 53.7 (standard deviation 12.2) years; body mass 65.4 (10.4) kg; standing height 168.5 (9.6) cm] and 15 matched healthy controls [4 females, 11 males; age 52.9 (11.7) years; body weight 66.5 (10.7) years; standing height 168.3 (8.8) cm] were recruited. In a 10-m walking task, joint angles, ground reaction forces (GRF), and joint moments were collected, analyzed, and compared using SPM for an entire gait cycle.ResultsGenerally, when comparing the stroke patients’ affected (hemiplegic) and less-affected (contralateral) limbs with the control group, SPM identified significant differences in the late stance phase and early swing phase in the joint angles and moments in bilateral limbs (all p < 0.005). In addition, the vertical and anteroposterior components of GRF were significantly different in various periods of the stance phase (all p < 0.005), while the mediolateral component showed no differences between the two groups.ConclusionSPM was able to detect abnormal gait patterns in both the affected and less-affected limbs of stroke patients with significant differences when compared with matched controls. The findings draw attention to significant quantifiable gait deviations in the less-affected post-stroke limb with the potential impact to inform gait retraining strategies for clinicians and physiotherapists

Structuring Mentoring in Medicine and Surgery. A Systematic Scoping Review of Mentoring Programs Between 2000 and 2019.

INTRODUCTION:Evidence of novice mentoring's successes in having senior clinicians support junior doctors and/or medical students in their clinical, academic, and research goals has spurred efforts to include mentoring in the core medical curriculum. However, lack of effective structuring threatens the viability of mentoring programs, precipitating ethical concerns about mentoring. This review aims to answer the question "what is known about mentoring structures in novice mentoring among medical students and junior doctors in medicine and surgery postings?," which will guide the design of a consistent structure to novice mentoring. METHODS:Levac (2010)'s framework was used to guide this systematic scoping review of mentoring programs in medicine and surgery published between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2019 in PubMed, ScienceDirect, ERIC, Embase, Scopus, Mednar, and OpenGrey. A "split approach" involving concurrent independent use of a directed content analysis and thematic approach was used to analyze included articles. RESULTS:Three thousand three hundred ninety-five abstracts were identified. There was concordance between the 3 themes and categories identified in analyzing the 71 included articles. These were the host organization, mentoring stages, and evaluations. CONCLUSION:The data reveal the need for balance between ensuring consistency and flexibility to meet the individual needs of stakeholders throughout the stages of the mentoring process. The Generic Mentoring Framework provides a structured approach to "balancing" flexibility and consistency in mentoring processes. The Generic Mentoring Framework is reliant upon appropriate, holistic, and longitudinal assessments of the mentoring process to guide adaptations to mentoring processes and ensure effective support and oversight of the program