International Heart Valve Bank Survey: A Review of Processing Practices and Activity Outcomes

A survey of 24 international heart valve banks was conducted to acquire information on heart valve processing techniques used and outcomes achieved. The objective was to provide an overview of heart valve banking activities for tissue bankers, tissue banking associations, and regulatory bodies worldwide. Despite similarities found for basic manufacturing processes, distinct differences in procedural details were also identified. The similarities included (1) use of sterile culture media for procedures, (2) antibiotic decontamination, (3) use of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a cryoprotectant, (4) controlled rate freezing for cryopreservation, and (5) storage at ultralow temperatures of below −135°C. Differences in procedures included (1) type of sterile media used, (2) antibiotics combination, (3) temperature and duration used for bioburden reduction, (4) concentration of DMSO used for cryopreservation, and (5) storage duration for released allografts. For most banks, the primary reasons why allografts failed to meet release criteria were positive microbiological culture and abnormal morphology. On average, 85% of allografts meeting release criteria were implanted, with valve size and type being the main reasons why released allografts were not used clinically. The wide variation in percentage of allografts meeting release requirements, despite undergoing validated manufacturing procedures, justifies the need for regular review of important outcomes as cited in this paper, in order to encourage comparison and improvements in the HVBs’ processes

Restoring Independent Living after Disability Using a Wearable Device: A Synergistic Physio-Neuro Approach to Leverage Neuroplasticity

The number of people living with various grades of disability is now in excess of 1 billion. A significant portion of this population is dependent on caregivers and unable to access or afford therapy. This emerging healthcare challenge coincides with new knowledge about the self-learning, self-organizing, neuroplastic nature of the brain, offering hope to those trying to regain independence after disability. As conditions such as stroke and dementia begin to affect more and more people in the younger age groups, there is an urgent, global need for a connected rehabilitation solution that leverages the advantages of neuroplasticity to restore cognitive and physical function. This chapter explains a novel approach using a Synergistic Physio-Neuro learning model (SynPhNe learning model), which mimics how babies learn. This learning model has been embedded into a wearable, biofeedback device that can be used to restore function after stroke, injury, the degenerative effects of aging or a childhood learning disability. This chapter enumerates the clinical studies conducted with adult stroke patients in two scenarios—with therapist supervision and with lay person supervision. The results indicate that such a learning model is effective and promises to be an accessible and affordable solution for patients striving for independence

Lasting DNA Damage and Aberrant DNA Repair Gene Expression Profile Are Associated with Post-Chronic Cadmium Exposure in Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells

Cadmium (Cd) is a widespread environmental pollutant and carcinogen. Although the exact mechanisms of Cd-induced carcinogenesis remain unclear, previous acute/chronic Cd exposure studies have shown that Cd exerts its cytotoxic and carcinogenic effects through multiple mechanisms, including interference with the DNA repair system. However, the effects of post-chronic Cd exposure remain unknown. Here, we establish a unique post-chronic Cd-exposed human lung cell model (the CR0 cells) and investigate the effects of post-chronic Cd exposure on the DNA repair system. We found that the CR0 cells retained Cd-resistant property even though it was grown in Cd-free culture medium for over a year. The CR0 cells had lasting DNA damage due to reduced DNA repair capacity and an aberrant DNA repair gene expression profile. A total of 12 DNA repair genes associated with post-chronic Cd exposure were identified, and they could be potential biomarkers for identifying post-chronic Cd exposure. Clinical database analysis suggests that some of the DNA repair genes play a role in lung cancer patients with different smoking histories. Generally, CR0 cells were more sensitive to chemotherapeutic (cisplatin, gemcitabine, and vinorelbine tartrate) and DNA damaging (H2O2) agents, which may represent a double-edged sword for cancer prevention and treatment. Overall, we demonstrated for the first time that the effects of post-chronic Cd exposure on human lung cells are long-lasting and different from that of acute and chronic exposures. Findings from our study unveiled a new perspective on Cd-induced carcinogenesis-the post-chronic exposure of Cd. This study encourages the field of post-exposure research which is crucial but has long been ignored

MultiRes Attention Deep Learning Approach for Abdominal Fat Compartment Segmentation and Quantification

Global increase in obesity has led to alarming rise in co-morbidities leading to deteriorated quality of life. Obesity phenotyping benefits profiling and management of the condition but warrants accurate quantification of fat compartments. Manual quantification MR scans are time consuming and laborious. Hence, many studies rely on semi/automatic methods for quantification of abdominal fat compartments. We propose a MultiRes-Attention U-Net with hybrid loss function for segmentation of different abdominal fata compartments namely (i) Superficial subcutaneous adipose tissue (SSAT), (ii) Deep subcutaneous adipose tissue (DSAT), and (iii) Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) using abdominal MR scans. MultiRes block, ResAtt-Path, and attention gates can handle shape, scale, and heterogeneity in the data. Dataset involved MR scans from 190 community-dwelling older adults (mainly Chinese, 69.5% females) with mean age—67.85 ± 7.90 years), BMI 23.75 ± 3.65 kg/m2. Twenty-six datasets were manually segmented to generate the ground truth. Data augmentations were performed using MR data acquisition variations. Training and validation were performed on 105 datasets, while testing was conducted on 25 datasets. Median Dice scores were 0.97 for SSAT & DSAT and 0.96 for VAT, and mean Hausdorff distance was <5 mm for all the three fat compartments. Further, MultiRes-Attention U-Net was tested on a new 190 datasets (unseen during training; upper & lower abdomen scans with different resolution), which yielded accurate results. MultiRes-Attention U-Net significantly improved the performance over MultiResUNet, showed excellent generalization and holds promise for body-profiling in large cohort studies

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

Large-scale evolutionary surveillance of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus using resequencing arrays

In April 2009, a new influenza A (H1N1 2009) virus emerged that rapidly spread around the world. While current variants of this virus have caused widespread disease, particularly in vulnerable groups, there remains the possibility that future variants may cause increased virulence, drug resistance or vaccine escape. Early detection of these virus variants may offer the chance for increased containment and potentially prevention of the virus spread. We have developed and field-tested a resequencing kit that is capable of interrogating all eight segments of the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus genome and its variants, with added focus on critical regions such as drug-binding sites, structural components and mutation hotspots. The accompanying base-calling software (EvolSTAR) introduces novel methods that utilize neighbourhood hybridization intensity profiles and substitution bias of probes on the microarray for mutation confirmation and recovery of ambiguous base queries. Our results demonstrate that EvolSTAR is highly accurate and has a much improved call rate. The high throughput and short turn-around time from sample to sequence and analysis results (30 h for 24 samples) makes this kit an efficient large-scale evolutionary biosurveillance tool

Prevalence and factors associated with attempts to quit and smoking cessation in Malaysia

Smoking cessation significantly reduces risk of smoking-related diseases and mortality. This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with attempts to quit and smoking cessation among adult current smokers in Malaysia. Data from the National E-Cigarette Survey 2016 were analyzed. Forty nine percent of current smokers had attempted to quit at least once in the past 12 months and 31.4% of the respondents were former smokers. Multivariable analysis revealed that current smokers with low nicotine addiction and aged below 45 years were more likely to attempt to quit smoking. Being married, older age group, and having tertiary education were significantly associated with smoking cessation. Only half of the current smokers ever attempted to quit smoking and only a third of smokers quit. Stronger tobacco control policies are needed in Malaysia to encourage more smokers to quit smoking. Improved access to cessation support for underprivileged smokers is also needed

DECIPHERING MEALTIMES : IDENTITY, CONSUMPTION AND SOCIALIZATION IN THE SINGAPORE CHINESE FAMILY

Bachelor'sBACHELOR OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (HONOURS

How valuable is the hospitality and tourism management degree course offered by NTU

95 p.The hospitality and tourism industry is no doubt an industry which offers exciting career opportunities. The hospitality and tourism industry includes food services, lodging services, recreation services and travel-related services. It provides both economic and social benefits for many countries in the world. Despite the benefits it offers, not everyone is suited to work in the industry due to its unique characteristics. Due to these unique characteristics of the industry, hospitality and tourism education has become more important.ACCOUNTANC