Economic burden of adverse drug reactions and potential for pharmacogenomic testing in Singaporean adults.

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) contribute to hospitalization but data on its economic burden is scant. Pre-emptive pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing can potentially reduce ADRs and its associated costs. The objectives of this study were to quantify the economic burden of ADRs and to estimate the breakeven cost of pre-emptive PGx testing in Singapore. We collected itemized costs for 1000 random non-elective hospitalizations of adults admitted to a tertiary-care general hospital in Singapore. The presence of ADRs at admission and their clinical characteristics were reported previously. The economic burden of ADRs was assessed from two perspectives: (1) Total cost and (2) incremental costs. The breakeven cost of PGx testing was estimated by dividing avoidable hospitalization costs for ADRs due to selected drugs by the number of patients taking those drugs. The total cost of 81 admissions caused by ADRs was US$570,404. Costs were significantly higher for bleeding/elevated international normalized ratio (US$9906 vs. US$2251, p = 6.58 × 10-3) compared to other ADRs, and for drugs acting on the blood coagulation system (US$9884 vs. US$2229, p = 4.41 × 10-3) compared to other drug classes. There were higher incremental laboratory costs due to ADRs causing or being present at admission. The estimated breakeven cost of a pre-emptive PGx test for patients taking warfarin, clopidogrel, chemotherapeutic and neuropsychiatric drugs was US$114 per patient. These results suggest that future studies designed to directly measure the clinical and cost impact of a pre-emptive genotyping program will help inform clinical practice and health policy decisions

Time domain computational modelling of 1D arterial networks in monochorionic placentas

Published versio

Differences in psychosocial determinants by gender and physical activity index among undergraduates

Majority of Malaysians do not meet the recommendation of adequate and regular physical activity, with about 61.4 % (aged 15 and above) considered inactive. This study examined the differences of psychosocial determinants of physical activity in undergraduates according to gender and physical activity index category. Self-efficacy Assessment, Social Support for Exercise, Motivation and Physical Activity Enjoyment Scales were used to measure the psychosocial determinants of physical activity. The Physical Activity Index (PAI) was determined by multiplying exercise intensity, duration and frequency. The total PAI score was categorized as 'Needs improvement' [NI], 'Fair' [F], 'Average' [A], 'Good' [G] and 'Excellent' [E]. A total of 359 undergraduates (male = 74.4%, female = 25.6%) were conveniently surveyed. Result in physical index category revealed that 25% of the undergraduates each was in the 'fair' and 'average' category. About 15% of the undergraduates needs improvement and 34.8% was in the 'good' and 'excellent' category. Inferential statistics analyses showed psychosocial determinants of 'self-efficacy', 'exercise enjoyment', 'motivation' and 'support from family' were significant according to gender. Males involved in physical activity due to 'self-efficacy', 'motivation' and 'enjoyment' while females were more influenced by family support. Significant results on PAI category and psychosocial determinants were shown in self-efficacy, social support from friends, motivation, and exercise enjoyment. For 'self-efficacy' and 'social support from friend' factors, the 'Need Improvement' group had low self-efficacy and low social support from friends. However, for the 'motivation' and 'exercise enjoyment' factors, the 'Needs Improvement' was more motivated and enjoyed exercise more than other groups.La mayoría de Malasios no cumplen las recomendaciones sobre una actividad física adecuada y regular, ya que 61.4% (edad ≥ 15 años) son considerados inactivos. Este estudio examinó las diferencias de los determinantes psicosociales de la actividad física en estudiantes de grado según su género y su categoría del nivel de actividad física. Para medir los determinantes de actividad física se aplicaron: Evaluación de la Auto-eficacia, Evaluación del Soporte Social al Ejercicio, Escalas de Motivación y de Disfrute de la Actividad Física. El índice de Actividad Física (IAF) fue determinado multiplicando la intensidad de ejercicio, su duración y frecuencia. La puntuación total del IAF fue categorizada como: 'Necesita Mejorar' [NM], 'Justo' [J], 'Medio' [M], 'Bueno' [B] y 'Excelente' [E]. Un total de 359 estudiantes por conveniencia (hombres = 74.4%, mujeres = 25.6%) fueron encuestados. Los resultados de las categorías del IAF mostraron que un 25% de los estudiantes se encontraba en la categoría 'justo' y 'medio'; un 15% de los estudiantes necesita mejorar y un 34.8% se encontraba en las categorías 'bueno' y 'excelente'. El análisis estadístico inferencial mostró que los determinantes psicosociales de 'auto-eficacia', 'disfrute del ejercicio', motivación' y 'soporte de la familia' eran significativos en relación al género. Los hombres se involucraban en actividad física debido a 'auto-eficacia', 'motivación' y 'disfrute' mientras que las mujeres estaban más influenciadas por el soporte familiar. Se obtuvieron resultados significativos en la categoría IFA y determinantes psicosociales tanto en auto-eficacia como en soporte de los amigos, motivación y disfrute del ejercicio. Para los factores 'auto-eficacia' y 'soporte social de los amigos', el grupo 'Necesita Mejorar' tenía una baja auto-eficacia y bajo soporte social de los amigos. Sin embargo, para los factores 'motivación' y 'disfrute del ejercicio', el grupo 'Necesita Mejorar' estaba más motivado y disfrutaba más del ejercicio que los otros grupos

Automating the detection of breaks in continuous user experience with computer games

This paper describes an approach towards automating the identification of design problems with three-dimensional mediated or gaming environments through the capture and query of user-player behavior represented as a data schema that we have termed “immersidata”. Analysis of data from a study of an educational computer game that we are developing shows that this approach is an effective way to pinpoint potential usability or design problems occurring in unfolding situational and episodic events that can interrupt or break user experience. As well as informing redesign, a key advantage of this cost-effective approach is that it considerably reduces the time evaluators spend analyzing hours of videoed study material. Categories & Subject Descriptors

Reexamination of a multisetting Bell inequality for qudits

The class of d-setting, d-outcome Bell inequalities proposed by Ji and collaborators [Phys. Rev. A 78, 052103] are reexamined. For every positive integer d > 2, we show that the corresponding non-trivial Bell inequality for probabilities provides the maximum classical winning probability of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt-like game with d inputs and d outputs. We also demonstrate that the general classical upper bounds given by Ji et al. are underestimated, which invalidates many of the corresponding correlation inequalities presented thereof. We remedy this problem, partially, by providing the actual classical upper bound for d less than or equal to 13 (including non-prime values of d). We further determine that for prime value d in this range, most of these probability and correlation inequalities are tight, i.e., facet-inducing for the respective classical correlation polytope. Stronger lower and upper bounds on the quantum violation of these inequalities are obtained. In particular, we prove that once the probability inequalities are given, their correlation counterparts given by Ji and co-workers are no longer relevant in terms of detecting the entanglement of a quantum state.Comment: v3: Published version (minor rewordings, typos corrected, upper bounds in Table III improved/corrected); v2: 7 pages, 1 figure, 4 tables (substantially revised with new results on the tightness of the correlation inequalities included); v1: 7.5 pages, 1 figure, 4 tables (Comments are welcome

Joyousmeeting event management system (Table of contents and abstract only)

This paper describes a new monitoring and event management concept. Event management is the application of the management science of project management to the creation and development of festivals and events. JoyousMeeting Event Management System lets clients and staffs register venues and events in a simple manner. From registering of venue to informing attendees, JoyousMeeting Event Management System simplifies the reservations process, enabling staff to operate at peak efficiency. And, when everyone is working together with complete, accurate, real-time information, customers receive the best possible service. Generally, the project is about registering venues by vendors for events like meeting, exhibition, convocation etc and for clients to book venue for events. The staff will exist in registering attendees for particular events and send emails days before the event as reminder. The design of the system was illustrated using several types of diagrams, namely Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD), Data Flow Diagram (DFD), and also Data Dictionary and Data Normalization. This project was written on VB.NET and ASP.NET. (Author's abstract

RNA Viral Community in Human Feces: Prevalence of Plant Pathogenic Viruses

The human gut is known to be a reservoir of a wide variety of microbes, including viruses. Many RNA viruses are known to be associated with gastroenteritis; however, the enteric RNA viral community present in healthy humans has not been described. Here, we present a comparative metagenomic analysis of the RNA viruses found in three fecal samples from two healthy human individuals. For this study, uncultured viruses were concentrated by tangential flow filtration, and viral RNA was extracted and cloned into shotgun viral cDNA libraries for sequencing analysis. The vast majority of the 36,769 viral sequences obtained were similar to plant pathogenic RNA viruses. The most abundant fecal virus in this study was pepper mild mottle virus (PMMV), which was found in high concentrations—up to 10(9) virions per gram of dry weight fecal matter. PMMV was also detected in 12 (66.7%) of 18 fecal samples collected from healthy individuals on two continents, indicating that this plant virus is prevalent in the human population. A number of pepper-based foods tested positive for PMMV, suggesting dietary origins for this virus. Intriguingly, the fecal PMMV was infectious to host plants, suggesting that humans might act as a vehicle for the dissemination of certain plant viruses

Effects of MOOC and video conferencing deliveries on vocabulary usage and learning strategies

While vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) have primarily been taught in physical classroom settings, the potential for applying strategy training in an online environment remains under-explored. With the rising acceptance of remote education, there is a need to investigate the impacts of applying strategy training in online contexts. Hence, this study explores the effects of online deliveries on VLSs and vocabulary usage in writing among adult English as second language (ESL) learners via massive open online course (MOOC) and video conferencing platforms. A total of 50 pre-intermediate ESL learners completed a 5-week VLSs course on a MOOC while 44 students learnt from the instructor synchronously using Microsoft Teams. The data comprised questionnaires and learners’ compositions, which were collected before and after treatment. The data analysis procedures involved Lextutor’s version of lexical frequency profiling (LFP), descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that there was a significant increase of usage in all categories of the VLSs after the course for both groups. Additionally, the effects of VLSs instruction on vocabulary usage could be reflected in both groups’ writing though the choice of words might have been task-influenced. The findings from this study could yield useful insights on online vocabulary learning for ESL instructors and learners